Devil's Game

“Hey.”

David awoke with a start. He furiously looked around the room as he shot up from the place he was laying down in. And what he saw when looking around could be described as nothing short of the dream of any man above the age of forty.

It was a room made of the smoothest wood you could imagine, coated and sanded to the point it felt like it was already paper. The walls were lined with glass shelves housing aged wines and the finest whiskeys from all over the world, and there were plenty of cabinets on the bottom of the shelves with the most finely crafted drinking glasses. There was a ceiling fan in the center of the roof that served as the room's only source of light, as there were no windows.

And in the center of the room, on a rug that seemed like something more than a bear, was a pool table. One that clearly cost a lot of money. David stood up and approached the table. He ran his fingers along the sleek edges of the table, drawing from memories made and equally forgotten on nights in his college years. The green felt lining the table was perfect, and the colored balls were neatly arranged in the triangle rack on top of it. 

David missed those times, good drinks and better people, it was all so-

He didn’t recognize this room. Though it seemed familiar, he knew for a fact he had never been here before. And most importantly, somebody spoke to him. 

Now on high alert, David looked around the room once more and his eyes came to a corner that was a little darker than the rest of the room, a place where the light from the ceiling fan spinning so tiredly did not reach. In that dark corner, there was a leather chair with gold buttons embroidered on the front of the arm rest, and similar colored thread lining the back of the chair.

And sitting in the chair, was a man smiling so eagerly, it was terrifying. This man was wearing a simple black and white suit with a red pocket square and jet black hair slicked back to the point not a single strand fell over his face. 

“Finally,” He began, “You’ve noticed me. I’m an attention whore and I must be noticed at all times so I'd appreciate it if you didn’t lose focus again.”

“Where am I? And who the hell are you?” David wasted no time with his questions, anxious to find out what was going on, and interested in why it was all happening. 

“You’re in my Billiard Room, thought that was pretty obvious but whatever,” The man replied, muttering the last part to himself. “And for who I am, well, you’ve known me since you were born.” He said this excitedly, hoping for David to figure out the rest himself.

“Are you my like, long lost brother or something?”

The excitement dropped from the man's face and then quickly sprung back up like a boy on a bungee cord. “No,” He answered, “Though I am far older than you, I appreciate the compliment.”

The man tapped his foot waiting to see if David would answer again, but they just stared at each other, waiting to see what the other person would say. 

The mysterious man, in all his impatience, broke first, “Fine I’m not here to play guessing games anyway.” The man stood and bowed with an extravagant gesture, then went back up to say, “I’m the Devil, David. And I want to play some pool.”

David noticeably relaxed and simply responded by saying, “Oh okay. Yeah we can play some pool. I love pool.”

The Devil stood there and blinked at David as he moved to grab the pool cues standing in a corner. “Are you uh, not gonna ask about the conditions for the game?” He asked.

“Nope,” David replied, “Doesn’t matter what happens if I lose if I don’t lose.” He grabbed a chalk cube and began to apply it to the end of his cue. “And I don’t lose.”

In response, The Devil simply smirked and said, “Alright,” while grabbing a pool cue of his own. 

Obviously, there was a catch here. David didn’t know what it was, but he knew there was probably no way out of it aside from engaging in some billiards with this being. And putting up an air of confidence was key. During Homecoming weekend, there would be local tournaments for the student body to take part in, and displaying confidence was a better bet for victory than acting anxious or scared. 

Sure, it had been a little while since David played seriously, but he was positive he could get his head back in the mindset of a college kid with nothing more to lose than a round of drinks. Though David had a feeling that this time, it was worth just a tiny bit more than a fun night out. 

“Who gets first shot?” David asked, as he tossed the chalk to the Devil across the table.

He caught the chalk and began to apply it himself, “Simple. We’ll do a coin toss.” And once he finished applying the chalk to the tip of the cue, he pulled out a golden coin with his face on one side. “Look,” he said with a smile, “It’s me!”

David raised an eyebrow, “And the other side?”

The Devil put a finger to his lips then said with a slight snicker, “Sorry David my boy, can’t show you that!”

Interesting. But whatever. “Okay. Go ahead and flip it. You’ll be you and I can be… whatever’s on the other side,” He told the entity. 

The Devil set the pool cue down then took the coin and put it on his right thumb, flipping it in the air. The coin stayed in the air, flipping around itself like rolling clay into a ball.

He grunted then told David, “Sorry, it does this sometimes. Just give it a moment.” 

David stared at the coin until a whisper from the wall to his right caught his attention. He glanced towards its direction and saw a fly buzzing on the wall. No windows, no doors, and seemingly no ventilation. How did it get in here?

“Turn back around! Don’t take your eyes off the coin!”

It… talked. The fly landed on David’s shoulder and said in a hushed voice, “Make sure he doesn’t play any tricks.”

”Why… are you talking?” David whispered back. 

“This is his domain, anything could happen. Normalcy is no longer a word you can hope to say in your situation.”

“So then who, or what, are you?”

“I’m nobody who was once somebody, somebody offered the same game as you, and ended up here.” The fly whispered, “I can help you through this.”

David maintained his gaze on the coin, “Thanks, but I don’t need help,” he told the fly, “I’ve played pool before, I know what I’m doing.” 

“You’ve never played against the Devil before though,” The fly said, sounding more and more concerned with each sentence. “You cannot hope to play a human game with something so unhuman-like.”

The coin dropped from the air and the Devil caught it on the back of his hand. He looked down and smiled and then moved the back of his hand to face David, in which the side of the coin with the Devil's face clearly shined. The smile on both his face right now, and the face on the coin, were unmistakably identical.

“My turn!” He said, removing the triangle rack and placing it on a hook built into the bottom of the table. 

The Devil grabbed his pool cue and walked over to the far right corner where the white ball was facing and lined up the shot. He thrust the cue towards the white ball, sending it into the triangle through one of its faces as opposed to hitting the point directly. This caused the colored balls to explode outward away from the white ball, having them mainly be around the middle and corner pockets closer to David. It was like shooting a bullet through cans of paint. 

The solid red ball did however land in the middle right pocket of the table, deciding the sides this game would be played on. Stripes weren’t David’s favorite, but he was fine with it. 

Lining up his second shot, the Devil wasted no time hitting the white ball into a clump of balls, forcing them to separate. Two were David’s, the striped orange and blue, and one was the Devil’s, the solid orange. It got close to the left middle pocket, but thankfully not in. 

David began to move around the table, trying to decide which course of action was best to take. The striped blue and striped orange were both near pockets, so aiming for one of those might be best. He racked his brain as he knelt down, seeing which one might be the most strategic shot to take.

As he began to line up his shot, the fly whispered in David’s ear again. “I can help you, I know which way is best.”

David paid it no attention as he kept methodically moving around trying to get the perfect angle. It spoke up again, “Trust me, David, this is the only way out of here.” He still hasn't made the shot yet, and though the Devil already had a ball in the hole, he still had six left. 

What the hell, we’ll give it a try. “Okay, help,” David whispered back, hiding his mouth as he knelt down, faking an inspection of the table. 

The fly moved from David’s shoulder to the white ball and sat on the direct opposite side of where David was supposed to hit. Just follow the location with his eyes, and he should figure out where to aim. Thankfully, the entity across from them didn’t seem to notice, and if he did, he paid them no attention. 

David hit the ball based on where the fly told him was best, and the white ball launched towards the striped blue ball. It was going to be a direct hit, straight into the pocket.

If he wasn’t playing against the Devil.

The ball immediately took a hard right mere centimeters from where it was supposed to knock the striped blue in. 

“What the hell!” David shouted, angry at the obvious manipulation of reality. “That was not fair, dude.”

The Devil smirked, “What’s not fair was that you expected an even playing field when you’re up against me.”

“Do you have no dignity? Do you really have to stoop so low and cheat against me to win?”

“My dignity was left up there with Him,” The Devil said, lining up his next shot. He hit the white ball, sending it directly into the orange ball. It went into the pocket without so much as a wobble. “And insulting me won’t do anything, I’m already the lowest of the low. It’s home territory.” 

Another shot lined up. The sound of wood scraped against the felt of the table and the sound of ceramic balls clashing like a battlefield echoed across the refined wood. None made it into the pocket this time thankfully, but David was unsure if even that was on purpose or not. 

“We can still win this,” The fly whispered, “Don’t let his chides and remarks affect your mental state, that’s how he gets you.” 

David grumbled back in response. The ball would have hit if it wasn’t directed off course. So the fly can properly evaluate where is best to aim, but will that really matter if evil personified decides to mess it up every time?

He got down again and began to fake a line up as the fly moved to the point he should hit, this time not for the striped blue but the striped orange. David prepared the pool cue in between his thumb and index finger, then launched the ball once again. 

And the same thing happened. Barely a second away before it veered off course in a perfect right angle to crash into another colored ball, ruining his turn once again. 

And it happened again.

And again.

And again.

And again. 

And again.

And again.

Till eventually, the only solid left on the table was the black eight ball, and the white ball now stained with bits of green from the chalk. 

“We can still make this, David, trust me,” The fly whispered, that was beginning to get annoying. 

David didn’t prepare a shot this time. Instead, he stood against the wall and thought. Though this was the Devil’s game, there had to be some way out of this. There had to be a way to win. He wouldn’t have offered to play if there was only one outcome. Why watch someone go through the motions every time just to reach the same ending? It was either David or the Devil, and he just had to figure out how to get it to be him. 

Clearly playing fair wouldn’t work, so was there some way David himself could cheat? He grew up around the church, so he racked his brain for memories made during his childhood that could somehow be the key to defeating the entity who smiles so wickedly. 

Then he got it. 

“Okay fly or whatever you are,” David whispered, picking up his pool cue, “We’re gonna give this one last go around. But I’m gonna make the shot this time. No help.”

“Okay David, I’ll trust you,” The fly buzzed around and then landed on his right shoulder. David prepared the shot, elevating the pool cue above the wood a little bit, almost to his shoulder.

The Devil watched with clear anticipation, it was like he was watching a sibling open a christmas gift. You didn’t care what the result was, you just wanted it to be your turn again. 

David lined up the shot perfectly. This would surely be the winning strike. He loosened the cue in his hands, and then used all his force.

Sending it backwards.

The cue launched directly across David’s shoulder, catching the fly and squishing it on impact when it hit the shelves behind him. Smoke rose from the carcass of the fly, and David dusted off his hands and went to sit in the leather chair the Devil once sat in.

“What was that about?” He asked, looking back and forth between David and his aftermath, clearly astounded at the display. 

“I won.” David said, relaxing into the chair. 

“Uh, I’m not sure where you’re from but I don't think that means victory of any kind.”

“No, I think it does,” David said, now leaning forward, “You see, I just defeated the Devil, meaning I won.”

The entity began to feel around himself, as if he was searching for a key or something of the like. “Nope,” He said, “I’m still here.”

“Drop the act, we’re done here.” A voice boomed across the room, as if every inch of the wall was speaking at the same time, with different tones and levels of volume, all of them being assuredly sickening and evil. 

“Yes sir,” The man in black said. He let his shoulders slump and his head fall as he walked into the shadows, leaving the unfinished game of pool behind. David gave him a sarcastic wave.

“Nice trick,” He told the walls, “Should’ve given me a time limit on moves. Maybe then you’d have won.” 

“We’ll try that next time,” The walls spoke back, and they did not speak again. 

The wood began to crumble away, revealing a bright white glow illuminating from all around. David stood and grabbed himself one of the nicest looking wine bottles and glasses he had ever seen, and then poured himself a glass and drank it all.

As the light enveloped him, he simply said, “Let’s hope I can take this with me.”

And then the room fell away, an annoying buzz causing David to wake up on his familiar bed, in his familiar room, with his familiar life. 

And a familiar taste of wine, still lingering on his tongue.