The Game

Trigger warning: suicide

 One day, my girlfriend and I were at the county fair and we were asked to play a game. It was a basketball marathon against 98 other people, My girlfriend loves when I play basketball, she loves how excited I get and how into the game I always am, so of course I played. I won but little did I know there were strings attached. It was all fun and games til, I was walking home from work one day, when the game host called me, “Meet me at the stadium.” He said then hung up. I did as he said because he seemed trustworthy, and if he was in trouble or something I didn't wanna be the person to let him get hurt.

When I got there he, and 3 other people were sitting on the bleachers. I got scared because they were all some serious looking guys, I finally decided to speak up, “W-whats going on?” 

“Ahhh, there she is. We have a choice for you to make.” he said as he turned around to look at me, giggling like a maniac, “You checked the box, when you signed up for the game, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well did you read the terms?”

“No one reads those, and It was just a game anyway so, no.”

“Well, here’s something you must have missed, ‘after the game, no matter what, you must follow the host’s rules, no matter the circumstances.’ now would you like me to cut to the chase?”

I rose an eyebrow, “I guess...” I was acting tough but inside I was terrified.

“You can either kill all 98 people you played against, or you kill that girlfriend of yours.” 

My heart dropped, “Nah, this is some crazy shit,” I said then started walking away. 

“If you chose not to do anything, we’ll kill them all, including her,” he yelled, still laughing. 

I turned to look at him, “I can’t commit mass murder what the hell is wrong with you?!” I yelled back, “and I sure as hell can’t kill her, AND I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HER!” 

He just laughed, one of the guys he was with, a tall muscular man, with tattoos coating his arms and not a single hair on his head, started saying addresses and names, he walked towards me with a laptop in his huge hands, he opened it revealing a long list of links. He clicked on one, it was a video recording, security CAMRA footage, of a man sleeping in his bed, I recognized him as one of the many people I played against. 

Tears streamed down my face and I said, “What is wrong with you!” He rose his eyebrows and said, “What’s wrong with you, can’t have a little fun?” I turned around and ran as fast as I could back to my apartment. 

I ran into my bedroom and shut the door, “I must do it,” I thought, opening the safe looking at the gun inside. “She’s the love of my life but I must do it, I can’t kill 98 people its insane,” my hand gripped around the gun, I refused to let any tears fall. I stood up to go to dinner, shoving the gun in my waistband. 

“Hey, honey!” my wife said in a slightly sad tone. 

“Hello, my love,” I responded, kissing her on the forehead. Her soft, happy eyes, killed my soul, she has so much trust in me, and I have to kill her. I sat next to her and sat the small handgun in my lap. She talked to me about work, but I wasn’t listening, all I could think about is the fact that I’ll never be able to see her again. 

“She doesn’t deserve this..” I thought, I looked up at her and smiled. 

“Babe, I got fired. Why are you so happy?” she said in a quiet voice, “You weren’t listening were you?” 

My face dropped, “I’m sorry babe. I..” I sighed, “I need advice.” 

She rose an eyebrow, “That’s new, what’s up?” she said curiously. 

“If you had to choose between someone you love and a large group of strangers... Who would you choose?”

“That depends on what you have to do,” She said, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes. 

“Kill them,” I replied staring deep into her eyes, “And if you don’t, they’ll all die.” 

She stayed quiet for a second, “Babe?” I looked up at her and finally, let the tears fall. “What are you talking about?” She starting to cry. 

“I love you, my love,” I looked at her, tears creating a lake down my cheeks.

“I...love you too, but what's going on?”

I looked back down, “God, please forgive me for this,” I said, pulling the gun from my lap, “It’s unethical to kill 98 people to save one.” I turned the safety off and pointed it at her head. 

She looked up at me and said, “Go ahead, it’s ok, I forgive you,” she closed her eyes and I pulled the trigger, but all that happened was a quiet click. I didn’t have any experience with guns, so I smacked the gun with the palm of my hand, then pulled the trigger again. 

My heart dropped when I heard the blow of the bullet landed on her head. Someone came inside the house, clapping. With tears streaming down my face, I stared at the blood on my clothes and walls. I didn't even care that someone was in my apartment, the pain in my girlfriend's eyes as I pulled that trigger killed me to the point that emotions were nothing but memories. 

“Didn’t think you’d do it,” the game host said, I wasn’t gonna let him get the best of me, not again. I took the gun and put it in my mouth, 

“There will be none of that,” he said as the gun was pulled from my mouth by the same bald guy, I tried to scream but another guy, who looked the same as the other, punched me in the face, everything went black.