Chess

Ryan sat down at the chess board, and could feel his heart racing. He had never been particularly good ay chess, and the pressure that was weighing down now on his shoulders only made him more sure that he would lose the game. He wasn't entirely sure how he had managed to get dragged into this mess, but now he was playing with major stakes on the line. The pieces weren't just pieces. They were people. And if he lost, not only would their lives be forfeit, but his as well.

His opponent across from him appeared to be unfazed by these conditions, however. Her eyes were flat, calculating, and Ryan had a feeling that she would not hesitate to sacrifice her pieces in order to win, even if it meant willfully killing them. She had been described to him as highly skillful as well. Taught how to play at a young age and quickly having become obsessed with the game, she was an incredibly dangerous opponent, and her losses were incredibly few and far between.

Ryan wasn't sure what to do. To win meant taking the lives of the people on the other team. To lose meant sacrificing his own. He was very much in a no-win scenario. Unfortunately, he had no choice. He had already signed the contract, because not doing so would have ensured his life forfeit right then and there. He was desperate to live, if even just a little bit longer, but this... This was not what he had been hoping for. As he stared at the board in front of him, he almost wished he had chosen death.

He was black, and so the girl sitting across from him moved first. A pawn two spaces forward. A fairly typical move. He followed suit. They navigated their pieces on and around the board, setting up both their defenses and offenses. Ryan was the first to lose a piece. As his pawn was struck down, he could swear that he felt the pain of death in his heart. He had caused this. He had been the one who put that piece in danger. He didn't know what to do anymore.

He sat in silent solitude, staring at the board, trying to think of what to do, but his mind was drawing a blank. It would not be long before he lost his king. Somewhere in his soul he knew that. He could not deny it. He could not even hope to prevent it from happening. There was nothing he could do. He was out classed and out maneuvered. He was doomed.

Without thinking, he moved his next piece. There was no point in trying anymore, as far as he could see. This chess board in front of him was a desolate wasteland of oncoming death, and he was the god throwing people forwards without purpose or chance of survival. He couldn't bare to think about what was happening.

But in doing so, he changed the expectations. His opponent knew how to plan ahead, to read her foe's moves and predict what was to come, but there were no predictions to be made. Not as long as Ryan was no longer thinking. She became confused by the erratic, seemingly random moves he was making. She tried to set up checks, to force the game back in her favor, but she was struggling to comprehend what was happening on the board in front of her.

Ryan didn't notice as she began to struggle. He was lost in the sea of despair he had set himself on. It was only when the bell rang and the call of checkmate was made that he came back to reality. He assumed it was his own king that was mated, but he was surprised to find that it was not. In her desperate attempt to force him into defeat, his opponent had managed to doom herself. He watched as she was dragged away.

He didn't know how to feel, as he blindly shook the hands of the men who had given him the contract. He was free, and he was alive, but in doing so he had killed another. It was bittersweet.