Not-So-Friendly Competition

Emma peered across the table at her grandfather, her knuckles white as she gripped her property deeds. The withered old man smiled at her, but she knew it was a facade. Ever since her great-grandmother had passed, games like these had been frequent. Her family had opened her will and stacks of money and bartered them away in games of poker of blackjack. This had been the most heated game so far. Though she was only twenty years old, she had decided to try and get the money and ever since she had played her first game and earned her first wad of cash, she had yearned for more, as if it was a drug, a need. It had corrupted and twisted her, as money often does.

They were playing with real property deeds and cash in a game of monopoly and, as much as she loved her grandfather, she loved money more than blood. After all, money was thicker than blood. Her grandfather rolled the die and laughed. Emma scowled. He had landed on the property on which her great-grandmother owned. He purchased it and stood to leave. Suddenly, the lights turned off. Emma jumped up so fast that her chair landed on the floor with a crash. She felt a sharp tug on her properties and she kicked the air blindly.

She heard a grunt and she turned back to the table and grabbed a dinner knife. She was grabbed from behind and she felt a hand cover her mouth. She shoved her knife as hard as she could into her grandfather's stomach and he fell to the ground like a rag doll. The lights turned back on and she looked down to see her grandfather lying face down in a pool of crimson blood, his mouth wide open in shock. She yanked the deeds from his limp hands and dragged his body out to the back yard and into the shed, the blood dripping onto the grass and being illuminated by the moonlight. She then walked out to her car and drove into the night. To her grandmother's house for another game of monopoly. Another murder.

She had been driving for hours, her trunk filled to the brim with cash and deeds. She sighed contentedly and dried to rub the dried blood off of her hands. She sighed. She had been hoping that it wouldn't come to this, but then again, they hadn't exactly come quietly, she thought, rubbing a nasty scar on her arm that her aunt had given her.

She jumped when she heard a blaring sired behind her. There were no cars on the road and the sun was just rising, though it was still deathly quiet. She ignored the police shouting behind her and pressed her foot down hard on the gas. The chase was on.

Gunshots echoed in her ears as she gripped the steering wheel until her hands ached. She saw a small side road out of the corner of her eye and she jerked the wheel, the scent of burning tires filling her nose. Trees blocked out the rising sun as she sped onward, her engine humming and heart drumming loudly in her chest.

Abruptly, she stomped on the brake; the car screeched to a halt. She slammed shut the car door, grabbed the cash and the deeds, stuffed them into a suitcase, and bolted into the pitch-black woods.

Braches clawed at her hair and ripped her clothes. Thorns scratched her bare arms and she could see her breath in the cold winter air. Wolves howled in the distance, but still, she pressed on. Eventually, she stopped to lean against a tree and catch her breath when she heard a muffled voice in the distance.

She began to run again, not caring about the branches and foliage snapping under her feet. She could hear the footsteps getting closer and rain began to pour out of the sky in torrents and she slipped and toppled down the side of a hill. She lay at the bottom of the hill groaning and covered in mud when a flashlight fell over her. She gasped and got to her feet, just as she was tackled from behind by a police officer and shoved back into the mud.

"How did all of this start," he demanded, his voice rough.

"Oh, it's not my fault officer. It was just a family game night," she said innocently. She was then shoved into a police car, her hands clasped around her suitcase.

"At least I won," she whispered to herself.

Inside the police station, she sat inside of a cold, damp, moldy cell and played a game of solitaire with a deck of cards that a cellmate had given her. Her huge, baggy jail uniform draping off of her arms.

She stared at the cards on the floor with wide eyes. She stood and screamed throwing her cards onto the floor. She then wrapped her baggy jail uniform 'round her neck and pulled. All the while she laughed. At first, it was quiet, but then it grew louder and louder. Eventually, the sound stopped and it was replaced by the sound of her gasping for air, then all was quiet.

Later guards rushed into the cell and saw her laying on the floor, a wide, insane smile across her face and cards laying around her body. Her suitcase was found beside her body, full of cash and property deeds. The money was given to a distant relative, but strangely they died only two days after the money was given to them. Neighbors swore that they heard a scream from the house, but no signs of murder or foul play were found on the body.

Inside her grave, a smile spread across Emma's face. Her money was safe. After all, she had won it at family game night. Fair and square. Well, everything was fair so long as blood was paid and though the money had betrayed her, she still yearned for more. She would simply have to wait and find out where her money would go next. It was no matter to her though. Wherever it went, she would get it back, that she promised.