The GAME

By Gloria Salapo

One evening nears Falls Lake of Raleigh North Carolina, Lucy lived in a small house near the

lake with her little brother Mark. One day, Lucy received a letter from an organization called The

Game Shakers. In the letter it stated, Dear Mss. Lucy Brown, we are excited to invite you to our

fifth annual meeting for a chance to win seventy-five thousand dollars. At the meeting, we play a

game, if you win the game you win the money. You have twenty-four hours to call and let us

know if you want to be added to the list. Thank you. Lucy thought about it, she went back and

forth trying to make a decision with a pros and cons list. On the pros side, if she won, she would

have enough money for her brothers kidney transplant, they would also be able to move into a

proper house and start fresh. On the cons list, she never heard of the organization and thought is

was sketchy that they give out a lot of money, she didn't know if they were sponsored by the

government, or even if they were a legitimate organization.

Time passed, and she had 2 hours to call the organization, she finally made her decision. She

picked up the phone and called. She said,

Hi, this is Lucy brown, I'm calling to accept my invitation to be put on the list and come

to the meeting for Game Shakers. The secretary answered

yes mam, you will be put on the list, and the meeting is this saturday, eight o'clock pm,

dont be late, goodbye. and hanged up. Lucy was excited, she was eager to win the prize money,

but she didn't want to tell her brother what she was doing, she wanted it to be a surprise, she was

doing this for the both them. They've always had each others back, she knew she would do

anything for him. After they lost their parents to a car accident, they had no other family relative

who was close enough to live with them, they all lived in different countries. Lucy and Mark had
to learn how to live on their own, they worked hard and earned some money, and as soon as they

thought they were good, Mark found out that his kidney wasn't working well and he needed a

kidney transplant. If Lucy wins the money, she knows they could finally afford the transplant and

still have money left to get other things done, and that's exactly what she intended to do.

Saturday, seven-thirty pm, a car arrived at lucy's house, Mark noticed and asked lucy if she was

going out, lucy responded,

Yea, Im going out with some friends,they're just waiting for me, I'll be back by midnight,

feel free to order out for dinner. Then gave him a kiss on his forehead and walked out the door,

before she closed it Mark quickly said, goodbye! have a good time but don't have too much

fun! laughing as she closed the door. Lucy entered the car, and the driver began driving, she

asked where they were going but he did not respond. After thirty minutes of driving, they

arrived. Lucy opened the door, and looked out to see a huge mansion. She stepped out and

walked up to the front door. She rang the doorbell and one of the butlers opened it telling her to

come in. She entered and saw four other people there, miglingling. She grabbed a glass that was

half full with wine and drank some. She went up to a guy, his name was Drake. Drake was a

biracial male, he had beautiful light blue eyes, silky brown hair and looked like he kept his body

in good shape. She said,

Hi, Im lucy,

Hi, Im Drake

Are you part of the game too?, lucy asked

I would think so, I was invited, do you know how this works? Drake asked

No, but I think we're about to find out, it's about to be eight oclock in one minute.

Suddenly a bell rang, and the butlers told everyone to follow them. Lucy began to get nervous
but she knew she couldn't back out now. They arrived and in front of them was a red door, one

of the butlers opened it and told all of the guests to have a seat at the table. It was a big table,

lucy sat on the left side next to Drake. On the opposite end, a women named Ricky sat across

from Lucy, a guy named Robert sat across from Drake. There was a another guy at the end of the

table named Jacob. After about five minutes, a man came in, he had a business suit on, he looked

good for a middle-aged guy. He announced his name saying,

Hi! My name is Ed, I am the founder of Game Shakers and the one who sent you all the

letters inviting you here. All of you were randomly selected, but you all have something in

common, you're in need of money, and that's exactly what I want to help you with. Jacob

interrupted saying, so you're going to give us all money?! Ed replied,

no! that's too simple, you're all going to have to earn that money.

After he said that, all the butlers left the room and after a minute or so, they came back with all

sorts of weapons and one had two glass bowls with cards inside. They put them all on the table,

then Ed begun saying,Let the games begin! I began getting really nervous, I realized those

weapons could be used to kill people. I saw a knife, a chain. a sword, a dagger, two guns, a bow

and arrow, and a big hammer. Ed began speaking again saying,

This game is called kill or be killed, everyone will take turns drawing a name from one

bowl. With the name that you pick, you must choose another card from the other bowl, this

second card will state your weapon. Ricky interrupted saying,

You're not implying that we have to kill each other to win right? Ed responded with,

My dear that's exactly what you have to do. Once you have your name and weapon, you

either choose to kill that person with the weapon and earn fifteen thousand dollars or

don't kill them and you will be taken to another room, but you will not know anything
about this room, I want to keep the mystery alive. If you choose to kill, for each of the

five rounds, you win fifteen thousand dollars, if you kill and is the last alive, you get to

go home with seventy-five thousand dollars. Lucy didn't know how she could ever work

up the nerves to kill, but she knew the only way out was winning.

Ricky was first, she pulled a card from one of the boxes and one from the other. She said

the name and weapon out loud. The name was Jacob, and the weapon was the chain. She

looked like she didn't want to do it, but Ed looked impatient, so she stood up, grabbed the

chain and walked towards Jacob. Jacob started yelling,

No, please don't do this, I'll do anything, please don't kill me! Ricky replied

saying,

I'm sorry Jacob Jacob tried to run away but one of the butler's went up to him

and chained his hands and feet to his chair, he couldn't move anymore. Ricky wrapped

the chain around his neck and began choking him, he was trying to speak up but couldn't

and after about three minutes, he was dead, the chain markings on his neck was visible

and sickening. Ed started laughing, and said out loud,Fifteen for Ricky! .Ricky stood

there, then took her seat. Everyone looked traumatized, but at this point we knew it was

either kill or be killed. It was Robert's turn, he chose his two cards, he read them clearly

out loud,

I have Ricky and a hammer he looked upset, I could see the fear in his

Eyes.

I'm sorry Ricky, I wouldn't do it if I could, Ricky responded,

But you do have a choice, don't kill me!, Robert replied,

I wish I wouldn't have too but I need this money for my sister, she has leukemia,
 I need to pay for her hospital bills and I can save her life if I win, Ill be her hero

He began walking towards Ricky, a butler chained her to the chair, she closed her eyes

and he began smashing the hammer on her head, he had to do it for about a good minute

to really kill her. I could hear the gushy noise as her brains were being smashed over and

over again, it was morbid. After he was done, he put the hammer down and his hands

began shaking. Ed gave him a smile and yelled out again, fifteen for Robert!.I was

nauseated. It was Drake's turn now, I begun shaking, I knew he had to pick one name and

my name had a fifty percent chance of being chosen. I closed my eyes as if I heard him

shuffling the cards, finally he said Robert and a knife. Robert said out loud, Really!

Me! Just make it quick. .I was surprised that he wanted to make his death quick, he

knew he was going to die either way, at least he was going to die quick, he was brave. A

butler chained him also and Robert closed his eyes, I'm assuming he was praying,

because when he opened them again, he said Amen. Drake asked,

Are you ready?, he replied

Yes

Robert reminded me of my dad, I looked up to him, I missed him. Before we knew it,

Drake did it, he sliced his throat, it was clean and precise, as if he had done it before. He

turned around, looked at me and said, Ive had practice, I'm a chef then went to his

seat. Ed yelled again fifteen for Mr.Drake!. It was my turn, I was nervous but I had

been anticipating this moment because I knew exactly what I was going to say. I stood up

and said

I want to be taken to the other room, I'm not picking cards Ed replied,
 Are you sure Mss. Lucy? I said

yes he said, because Mss. lucy wants to be taken to the other room for the

mystery surprise, Mr.Drake you will also be taken there. Now follow me. We followed

him and came upon a black door, he opened it and all I could see was a table with two

guns, and the bustlers. Ed told us to grab the gun so we did, he said with these to guns

you're holding, I will choose a person to initiate, and once I do that person will either

shoot themselves or their opponent. Once we have one person left, that person will win

the grand prize of seventy-five thousand dollars and go home. He continued, since its

Mss. Lucys turn, she must choose to kill or be killed, good luck!. For some reason

holding that gun was natural to me, probably because my brother and I used to go hunting

with our parents when they were alive, those were good times and special moments.

Before I made my decision, I asked to make a phone call to my brother, surprisingly Ed

let me. One of the butlers grabbed a phone and handed it to me. I called and Mark picked

up. I started speaking,

Mark, I just want to say I love you Mark replied

I love you too but where are you? all I said was

I'm coming home soon he didn't reply, I said hello, hello? Mark you there?

then I heard choking noises in the background, I realized it was Mark because no one else

was home. I began yelling Mark stay with me! Mark stay with me! Mark!! and I heard

a big thump on the ground and then the room got silent. The butler grabbed the phone

from me and hanged up. I stood there, with a blank face, I didn't know what to think or

say, I just stood there, as if I were brain dead. I looked up and knew exactly what I was

going to do, before Ed could say a word, I shot Drake. The bullet went straight through
his head, Ed looked at me and smiled. He was about to yell out that I won, I couldn't bare

the thought of hearing his voice again, he opened his mouth and the bullet went straight

through his chest. He did not fall yet, so I shot him again, he looked at me, began falling

and I shot him once more straight though his heart, he fell, and died. I yelled, seventy-

five thousand dollars for ME! I could feel a tear go down my face, one of the butlers

tried to take the gun from me but I pushed him away. I looked at him and started aiming

the gun towards my head, he looked horrified. I had no reason to live if my brother was

gone, all I wanted was to feel serenity and then I would be free, I pulled the trigger,

Amen.