Short stories

castle 2

You can't do this!" Jasper shouted angrily. 

"Oh, but I will." 

  Jasper's arm shot out instinctively when a searing pain blazed down it. Rolling up his sleeve, he saw a circle with the number 20 inside it, stamped clearly on his forearm.

"What does this number mean?" Emery asked, showing Jasper his arm. He also had a circle but the number 18 was in it. He looked over at Silas, who also had one, but the number 15 was inside. 

"Hello?" Silas yelled to the person they had been talking to. But there was no response. Instead, the room brightened, showing the floor was lined with a checkered design, with different earth tone colors. The floor was dirty, with boulders scattered along it, and a few paths lead to some doors. 

  They jumped as two large square wooden things, (the size of a medium box) dropped on the ground in front of them. Jasper rolled one over, and he saw it was a big dice. It was light, so it probably was hollowed out. He rolled it over again, and saw a piece of paper was stuck to it. Taking it off, he read; "roll the two die together, and what you get is the spaces you are able to go. If you don't roll the die, they will roll for you, leading you to a certain death." 

"So it's a game," Jasper said with uncertainty. 

"It seems so," Emery said. "The whole layout plainly says it." 

"Roll now." Came the booming voice from off in the room. "Starting with the thief and going down the line." He said thief in a cold way which made Jasper snort. He leaned over, and grabbed both dice, throwing them towards Emery as he rolled them. One landed on five, and the other three. 

"Eight spaces," he said, looking down at the floor. He ran forward eight spaces, then he smacked into something, stopping him. An invisible barrier prevented him from stepping any further.  

"I can't move any more," he called out. 

"Yes..." Silas said. "You took eight steps, and in a game you can't move more than that, so you're stuck until the next turn." 

  Jasper groaned as he tried to calm himself down by watching his friends move. Emery moved ten spaces, and seemed to be heading towards a door. Silas unfortunately rolled a two, and didn't move far. 

  When it was his turn again, Jasper looked over and the saw the dice had somehow made its way beside him. He wasn't to startled, since this kind of thing wasn't to scary anymore. He picked them up, and spun them. When they landed, he smiled to see he rolled a six on each of the dies, ableing him to move twelve spaces. Looking to his left, he counted he had just enough spaces to make it to a door. Walking over to it, he grabbed the handle and pulled. He yanked it in frustration when he found out it was locked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Emery now rolling.

  Jasper looked slowly around the room, not obvious but stealthily, then reached into his pocket, as he pulled out a coiled flat piece of metal. He straightened it so it now formed a thin piece of metal, around the length of his finger. Slipping it into the doors key slot, skillfully moved it around until he heard the click of it unlocking, and was about to push it open, when he heard a pop, and pain coursed up his arm and throughout his body. He yanked his hand away from the doorknob, scowling. 

"No cheating!" The voice boomed. "You must play fair. Find the key. Next time you won't be so lucky."

"I would have counted that if this was my game," Emery said reassuringly, as Jasper rubbed his arms, since they were still sore from being shocked. He heard the knob click, being locked again. He picked up his piece of metal tentatively that he dropped, folded it back up, and shoved it in his pocket.

"Thanks buddy," he mumbled, looking around for a key to the door. He turned around, still looking when he saw the dice there, telling him it was his turn. As slowly has he could, he stooped over, picking up the dice and flipping them into the air. He saw he got a seven, and at the last moment caught a glimpse of what he had been looking for. The key. Or a key, it didn't matter. It was slightly under one of the rocks on the path, five spaces away.

  He walked the five spaces, yanked the key from under the rock, then walked two back.

"So now I need a key," Emery mumbled, looking around, but not spying it. He rolled, and having no where else to go, he went to his door and tried the handle. To his surprise, it swung open. He checked to see if he could, then walked inside. 

"There's literally nothing in here!" he yelled out, and laughed in desperation. 

"Well that's useless," Jasper mumbled.

"Maybe my roll will be better," Silas suggested. "Maybe not..." He muttered, rolling and getting a three. 

"My turn," Jasper said, eager to figure out what was in the room. He rolled, having enough to make his way to the door. Trying the key, it fit, unlocking the door. He went in, and nothing was inside but a single table in the center. Cautiously going over, he saw a stand, where a key on a string laying. Picking it up, he dangled it by the cord, watching it, wondering what he possibly could need with this. 

"There was just a key inside," Jasper said, walking out of the room. "What do I even need this for?" 

"Keep it," Emery instructed. "It was in there, so it must be for something." 

"It's on a string, so wear it," Silas suggested. "It won't hurt anything." 

  Jasper shrugged, pulling it over his head and tucking it into his shirt. They kept doing their turns, advancing spaces, and checked the other rooms. They found a weird vial of something, which they kept just in case, Jasper found his knife that Silas had flung earlier, but other than that, there was nothing. After that, they reached the end of the room. Large polished, iron, double doors met them there. Emery reached it first, and tugged on the doors. Jasper expected them to be locked, and he would have to use his key he found to unlock them, but no, they swung open without a noise. They all exchanged confused glances, as Silas was forced to take his turn, and be the first one to step though the doors.