The Game (The Game is Life, #1)

by Terry Schott

watch Carl. When Trew is out of sight, Carl looks back at me and sits down across from me comfortably. “He’s a good looking boy, Steph. How powerful is his Talent?” I give him an annoyed look.

“What are you doing here, Carl?” He shrugs, looking towards the counter, appearing uninterested in me. A tiger’s way of showing he doesn’t feel threatened. “I was in the neighbourhood. This kid of yours is the talk of all the towns. I figured I’d drop in and take a quick look.” His eyes light up as he looks back at me. “Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll have to deal with him. It's always good to know your opponent. You know, be able to put a face to a name.” “That wouldn’t be smart to try,” I warn him. “Oh, I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult at all,” Carl says. “You best stay away from him, Carl. He has powerful

“Which tends to attract powerful enemies. I know who’s watching him, and I know who’s watching you, too, Stephanie.” Carl taps his head. He looks into my eyes and waves. “Hello in there, Angelica. You didn’t show up for our last meeting together. I’m very disappointed in you, young lady. ...

dialled a number. “Hey, Michelle, Carl’s in play and he's sniffing around Trew. Yes, that’s right. Nothing for now, but try and find out what the rest of his pack are up to as soon as possible, please. I know. Not right now. Okay.” He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket, looking at Angelica.

“Carl doesn’t seem to accept that. He’s used to getting what he asks for.” “He’s there for a reason and we need to find out what it is.” “He said he’s going to start killing; lots of killing.”

Brandon considered the threat for a moment, and then he nodded. “He likely will. He’s a predator surrounded by too much prey, I expect he’ll thin the herd out somehow. There are too many players inside the Game, that’s for certain.

“Really? Okay, let’s say you’re right. Why would it work for prayer too?” “Easy,” Angelica shrugged. “Mainframe saw what you wanted to attempt and piggybacked so that she could

do the same.” Brandon laughed. “Damn it, you’re likely right. I bet that’s how George communicated with her! I just assumed he imagined signs and signals in the news, songs and through subtle messages from others, like how we communicate with the Eternals now. I wonder how long she’s been communicating with avatars through prayer.”

“What can you do to stop her?” Angelica asked. “Nothing. Mainframe is playing her own game, but she has to behave as programmed. I’...

with Gabriel?” “Um, maybe…” Angelica said doubtfully. “But no one has seen or spoken with Gabriel in a long, long time. Most believe he somehow got kicked from the Game.”

Third were the Eternals. They were extremely active since the anniversary events started. Most of them didn’t concern Brandon, but the Eternals floating into the lives of his players certainly did. The biggest concern was Carl, but he seemed intent on another game at the moment. Michelle had reported earlier today that Carl had started his killing spree. He was targeting the old, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, making the deaths appear peaceful.

No one in the Game was aware of what was happening; the only reports coming in on the news feeds were the increase in mortality from natural causes. It was

easy enough to view the truth with Brando...

“The girl,” His father said. “You want to spend more time keeping her in the Game. For as long as you can, son.” “The girl? I don’t understand,” Brandon said. “Nor do I, Brandon, but she’s the one.”

Both of us are convinced that

the universe is trying to communicate with us. Not a booming voice coming from the sky or anything like that; it seems to be more intuitive and subtle. If you drive down the

Every once in a while I go in and sit with her. I scramble most of our interactions, so I remain unseen to her fans. See that guy over there? The one in the red hoodie? Yeah, if anyone is bothering to view me, that’s the one you need to look into. He’s coming out of the Game today, courtesy of me.

He strolled into town two weeks ago and immediately set up shop near the library, following my girl from here when she leaves. I can see he’s looking for a pattern to her routes, but lucky for us, I’ve spent time teaching Danni not to ever take the same route more than once or twice. When you hire me you don’t just get protection, you get training as well.

Danni has been making it impossible for this hack to get a good bead on her, which has allowed me to get a real good pattern on him. He’s low quality. No clue that he’s being followed at all. Just because

you’re the hunter doesn’t mean you can’t also be prey.

cut his throat. As he slowly bleeds out, I look him right in the eyes, and speak my message to whoever sent him and is likely viewing him right now. “You don’t come into my territory playing this game, threaten mine, and get to walk out alive if you lose. When I find out who you are, no one will be able to save you.”

“I bet it has. I remember unlocking our first Eternal. We were so excited, then extremely confused. It took us quite a few plays to begin to get any type of results out of them. They often have their own agenda.”

“Secondly, I’m guessing that you haven’t figured out what he means, asking you to confirm that he’s being viewed?” “No idea at all.”

“There are certain papers and television shows that the Eternals have set up to receive messages from us,” Brandon explained. “Most of them are gossip and rumour vehicles. Also songs played in different sequences. Very subtle methods, but effective most of the time. I’ll give you the address to send your message to, where it gets processed and inserted into those avenues to be hidden for them to find. Often this results in silly stories about three headed aliens and that type of thing, but the masses don’t pay attention to the stories and the Eternals get their communication from us.”

I’m surprised you haven’t come to me sooner.” “I didn’t know if I could trust you, Brandon.” “You can. You always can.” Lilith looked uncomfortable. “Maybe, Brandon. But after what I just viewed, I had no choice.” Brandon raised his glass of brandy towards his lips. “What did you just view?” “Raphael caught someone following Danielle. They were going to use a Sever Spike on her.” Brandon froze mid-sip. His

eyes darkened, the gold flecks in them began to swirl. He put the glass down slowly on the table and reached into his pocket for his cell phone. After dialling, he raised the phone to his head and asked Lilith, “How long ago was this?” “Yesterday, our time.” Lilith could see the fury hidden below the surface of Brandon’s calm appearance. “He asked for confirmation that he was being viewed, which he does often, but this time he was very, very angry. Is there a weapon in the Game that can permanently kill players? I need help, Brandon, Alex is way out of her league on this play.”

I’ve never understood why some Eternals go bad and join the group that long ago started referring to themselves as ‘Infernals.’ I guess I’m just too sweet to understand a group so sour.

The smell of him! It’s horrible. Sure enough, though, I see the red swirling in his dark eyes and realize it must be him. “You’ve sunk low,” I say. “Not where I’d expect my boss to be hanging out.” The old man chuckles. “That’s because your kind isn’t promoted by killing the boss. If three of your lieutenants were ready to take over and all they had to do was kill you… you’d be hiding safely in a garbage pile, too.”

“Is that true?” I ask. I wonder how the Infernals ever get anything done; they always seem so busy killing and fighting each other.

He shrugs. “It could be true. I know three are ready, even if they don’t realize it. I’ll likely ...

before the third figures out what’s going on. It should be a bit of...

“Well, if you’re not here to talk, then you shouldn’t be telling me someone tried to kill her, little girl. You should just walk up to me, give me your best intimidating look, and say ‘Clean Mark the girl, now.’” I stand up and lean in towards him, giving him my best intimidating look. He chuckles and says, “That’s more like it!” “How long have you been running the Infernals?” I ask. “I don’t run the Infernals, girl, you should know that. The

one who runs the Infernals has been around for over five thousand years.”

“You know what I mean,” I sigh. “You’re the one with the word. You give an order, every other Infernal obeys.” “Unless my boss gives a different order; yes, yes, you’re right. Okay, then, to answer your question, I’ve been running things for two hundred and twelve years.” “That’s it?” I ask. He snorts with disgust. “Don’t you pay attention, girl? We kill for the position I hold. I’ve held onto this position longer than almost everyone who ever had it. And, si...

serious.” “Did he now? Well, let me hear what my old buddy Brandon has to say.” I calmly give him the message, repeating it exactly how it was told to me. I don’t understand what half of it means, but apparently this old creepy guy does. His face goes from not interested to extremely serious. Halfway through my message he loses his appearance of being a drunk old homeless man and sits up straight. I finish and he stands up, nodding to me. He’s tall, and underneath all those dirty clothes, I can tell he’s very muscular. He’s definitely in a costume; I bet he looks only forty or so underneath all that. He looks me straight in the eyes, but I know he’s looking at

the person Firsting me. “Okay, fine, Brandon,” he says. “I will make sure none of ours touch her. You’re going to piss a lot of big names off, both here and on Tygon, Strayne, but you’ve scared even me a tiny bit. Count this as one of your favours called in though, boy, and don’t ask me for any others while this one is in play. As of this moment, Danielle Benton is Clean Marked by the Infernals. When she dies, it won’t be at our hand.” I shiver inside as he smiles and says, “You’ve the Devil’s own word on it.”

As I walk past, the child looks at me. His blue eyes sharpen in alarm. What’s wrong, little fella? See something that bothers you? I appear to smile kindly at him, but it’s not truly a kind smile. He begins to cry, waving his arms towards his mother, looking for protection. His eyes dart to mine, then frantically back towards his mother. I shake my head. It’s okay, little

boy, I’m not here for you today.

with your words.” She flutters her eyelashes playfully, using that teasing voice that always makes me grin. She looks concerned when she notices I’m not grinning. Then she notices something else; the fact that I’m down on one knee beside her in a fancy restaurant after a fantastic day and a knockout meal. Her eyes begin to get misty. I smile. Yeah, she’s figuring it out now. “Danielle Benton, since the day I first laid eyes on you I recognized that you were rare and special. Not long after that, I kicked your ass in karate.” She laughs, unable to speak as she sits there looking me in the eyes. She’s so beautiful. I want this moment to last forever. “I talk a lot, and you know how

much I love you. You also talk a lot, and I’ve got a very good idea how much you love me too. If we’re playing a big game, then I hope there's a big audience watching us right now. We’re awesome, and together I believe we’re going to change this world.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the little box. I open it up and there it is, a gorgeous diamond ring that I know she will love. It sparkles like her eyes, and it shines like our love. She gasps and a small choked cry escapes her lips. Her eyes are swimming in tears, the happy kind. Her smile is huge. It’s time to ask her the question that will make history sit up and take notice. “Danielle Benton, would you do me the immense honour of

becoming my wife?” I hear her say yes. The blood rushes to my ears as the restaurant erupts in applause. I’ve never been happier in my life. I don’t know if I ever will be....

This dream is a particularly disturbing one… I open my eyes and suddenly I’m in a maze. I know I’m under a large old building; the walls are solid stone and it’s cold.

Water trickles down the rocks and I can feel hot air coming from some of the paths and cold air from others. I’m being chased. I can feel their hunger — to catch me and rip me apart with their bare hands. Their rage at my presence is like a high pitched scream inside my brain, and it doesn’t help me concentrate on the race I know I am about to run.

You know better than anyone that my experience in these matters is extensive. I will guide him easily through the process of creating a revolution, just like I’ve done so many times over the ages. With his talent and my knowledge, this revolution will

engulf the planet.” “Revolution?” I’m confused. “I thought he wants to start a religion?” Raphael nods. “It’s the same thing, Sister. The very same thing.”

“So are we partners, or adversaries?” Brandon asked. “We are what we have always been, Brandon. If you can figure out what that is, then you are beyond me in scope of intelligence. No matter what the answer, I think our relationship is good for the universe. I hope that it is.”

A woman on the other side laughed in disgust. “Pray to who? Tygon doesn’t have a God. And even if we did, why would we bother to pray for a video game character?” The entire table looked up at her. She looked surprised at her own outburst and began to stammer an apology. Brandon held up his hand to silence her.

He looked at her calmly as her eyes darted quickly from left to right looking for support. He slowly dropped his hand to rest on the table, still looking blankly at the girl. “Out you go, Claudette,” Brandon said. “Where?” she asked with a look of worry. “For how long? Sir, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” “You’re done, Claudette. I don’t care where you go or what you do, but you had best stay out of the circles I inhabit. And I inhabit every circle worth being in. Leave. Now.”

Claudette stood up and slowly walked out. Everyone sat there stunned. This wasn’t something Brandon had ever done before. Answering the silent question, Bran...

have it. It doesn’t help anyone to allow that t...