Piece of the Game

Six people sit in a circle at a table. Anyone who looked at this scene would have guessed that these people were friends playing a game. Friends they were not, and "game" was a twisted word for what they were playing. Each person had a card in front of them, face down. They stared at each other, as if daring the others to flip their card. Each card had a "dare" of sorts. It had some devious thing that they each had to do. A round played out like this; each player was given a card. you could flip your card over, complete what was written on it, and you were given a prize. If you didn't flip your card, you were subjected to any kind of punishment the game master decided. Yes, kind of like Saw. 

Most people who play this game play with easy things, like a game of spin the bottle or truth or dare. The game wasn't made so that you would die... the six people thought this was what was going to happen, they were wrong. This game master, an ex-military man who had watched all his friends die in some tragic way, made this game terrifying. The cards, which he never told the people playing, had things like taking fingernails out, cutting your wrist, or getting a bone broken. The prize for each round was being able to live to see another five minutes.

The six people, each with their own story as to why they even agreed to play this horrible game, still stared at each other with fear-stricken faces. The game master loved this part. the tension was so delightful to him that he would record these parts just to watch them over and over again. Think of it as his own form of heroin. He watched in ecstasy as they looked at each other. The first person, Maxine, was a nurse who was told that if she completed the game, the game master wouldn't tell her husband she was cheating. She reached down to flip her card, but stopped. "Is it worth it?" she asked herself. She picked her hand back up and set it on her lap. She looked to the two way mirror where the game master sat, waiting for her punishment with tearful eyes. The game master smiled, Maxine could feel it, even though she couldn't see him. He pushed the little red button on the microphone and spoke. "Dear Maxine, your punishment is to cut a toe off. If you succeed you will go onto the next round. But first, flip your card over" Maxine felt a terror she was not ready for. She took a deep breath and flipped the little card in front o her. "get shot by a blindfolded person" she let out a shaky breath, she had dogged a bullet -literally.

 Maxine stood up and walked to a small table filled with tools, guns, knives, and anything you could think of for torture. She picked up a butchers knife, and a screwdriver. She sat on the concrete floor and took her shoe and sock off. She wrapped her sock around the screwdriver and bit down on it. Tears hung in her eyes and cold sweat rolled down her face as she raised the butchers knife in the air. The other fiver people at the table looked away, one woman covering her ears and putting her head down on the table. Maxine slammed the knife down, the sound of metal hitting the floor was followed by a loud, semi-muffled scream. The game master turned the microphone on again and clapped. "Congratulations Maxine, you did well. I was very surprised when you decided to use the screwdriver and your sock. You can sit back at the table."

Maxine cried as she wrapped her sock around the still bleeding foot and sat down at the table. The person to her right seemed fearful, he knew it was his turn.