MIND GAMES

MIND GAMES

An ancillary prelude to BLOOD QUEST

By James Donaldson

Chelsea attempted to wrap her mind around her boyfriend cheating on her, never imagining the truth was much worse.

I can't believe he did this to me!

Despite her domestic problems, Chelsea smiled and energetically catered to the needs of her customers all day long. Few of the guys who patronized the local Game Swap purchased new games, most simply traded used video games for other games. As a gamer herself, Chelsea enjoyed her job immensely. Delighted to help those unfamiliar with video games, her favorite customers remained the regulars. She'd enjoy the long conversations about game play. Their awkward attempts to flirt with her secretly flattered the twenty something. None of the regulars could break her melancholy mood today however. Beneath the perky facade, Chelsea's mind wrestled with the future of her and Dylan's relationship.

They'd met about a year ago and hit it off right away. He'd used to come in about once a week, trading one game for another. Slightly older than Chelsea, he had a secretive job working for the government in the newly constructed Utah Data Center. Dylan would never talk about his work and the mystery made him even more attractive to her. Of course, she knew he did something with computers or cooling systems and not super-secret government spy stuff.

Their problems began a couple of weeks ago. Text messages devolved from long, late night chats, into single word replies. He'd stopped playing video games altogether and strangest of all, Dylan hadn't tried to kiss her in weeks. At first, Chelsea thought Dylan's lack of affection had something to do with his work, never suspecting infidelity. Her outlook changed when she saw him with "that bleach blond witch".

Before opening the chain store this morning, Chelsea uncharacteristically stopped by a local coffee shop. Up late, conquering the latest expansion in her favorite MMO, she needed a pick-me-up. Approaching the overpriced coffee shop on Thana Street, the sleepy store manager spied Dylan sitting inside with a strange woman.

What the hell? Dylan doesn't even drink coffee.

Unwilling to believe what her eyes told her, Chelsea continued to spy on the couple through the large window. Dylan and the woman, both wearing sunglasses, sat at a small table directly across from each other, engaged in a private conversation. Without warning, the woman stood up and left. As the attractive woman exited the store, Chelsea debated confronting her, but couldn't muster the courage. Chelsea placed the woman in her thirties and couldn't help but notice her expensive outfit. As the woman remotely unlocked her white BMW, Chelsea observed the strange way she walked, deliberately over exaggerating the sway of her hips while her arms hung rigid at her sides.

Maybe that's how the fancy Paris models walk?

Chelsea immediately hated her.

Watching the woman drive away in disbelief, Chelsea failed to notice Dylan exit the coffee shop. Even worse, Dylan didn't notice her either. He walked straight to his car, hands in his pockets, and drove away, presumably to work.

After several stunned minutes, Chelsea finally drove herself to work, crying the whole way.

. . . . .

"Let me know how you like it!"' Chelsea enthusiastically called out to the last customer of the day. Outside, the sun set behind the mountains. She locked the door and turned off the neon OPEN sign. Entering the back room, the cheerful mask Chelsea struggled to maintain all day fell away and she began weeping uncontrollably.

I did everything for him! That's it! It's over!

Her mind made up, Chelsea texted their breakup to Dylan. She told him everything: how he'd changed, whom she saw him with and how she never wanted to speak to him again. After sending the text, Chelsea turned off her phone and spent the next ten minutes crying. Finally, emotionally spent and satisfied she'd done the right thing, Chelsea went to work on the daily inventory sheets.

Completing her reports in under an hour, Chelsea freshened up and got ready to leave for the night. As usual, she turned off the lights, set the alarm and left out the back. Corporate lock-up protocol dictated employees look out the peephole before exiting the rear of the store when they leave. Distracted by her breakup with Dylan, Chelsea didn't follow the normal safety routine. The heartbroken gamer never detected the shadowy figure standing in the alley behind the strip mall.

Chelsea exited the shop, locked the back door and turned around to leave. As she did, Chelsea came face to face with the woman from the coffee shop. Their faces only inches apart, the strange woman stood perfectly still, her expression unreadable. After a few seconds, Chelsea's body began trembling uncontrollably. Her boyfriend's perceived infidelity, nor the woman's unwelcomed appearance at her work, caused Chelsea's intense shivering. The shaking came from a long forgotten, primal instinct warning her of danger. Chelsea stood transfixed in the woman's gaze. She couldn't remember ever being more terrified in her life.

Conjuring up a buried reserve of bravery, Chelsea slowly backed away, pressing up against the brick wall. The woman reached out and seized Chelsea around the shoulders. Chelsea closed her eyes tight in fear as both women became bathed in a blinding white light.

Chelsea's attacker turned her head away angrily as headlights briefly illuminated the darkness of the alley. Chelsea capitalized on the distraction.

Run!

She broke the woman's surprisingly strong grip and ran as if her life depended upon it. Reaching the end of the long alley, Chelsea risked a look back to gauge her lead. The bizarre woman hadn't moved from behind the Game Swap. Her lack of pursuit confused Chelsea enough so, as she turned the corner, Chelsea ran headlong into the man she recently dubbed "the cheating jerk".

Dylan reached down and helped Chelsea to her feet. She knew Dylan had betrayed her, but right now, Chelsea didn't care. He held her tight against his chest. "It's alright." Dylan whispered repeatedly in her ear.

"There's a woman back there..." Chelsea cried into his shoulder.

Dylan softly shushed her. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head as he would a small child woken from a nightmare. As he did, Chelsea happened to glance over his shoulder and noted the lone BMW parked behind him, the same white car from the coffee shop.

Dylan drove here with her?

Chelsea tried unsuccessfully to push away from Dylan. "Let me go!" She screamed. As Chelsea prepared to knee Dylan in the groin, she felt an additional set of hands cover her mouth from behind her.

Wait! What's happening? No!

. . . . .

Humming cheerfully to herself, Chelsea Bagley climbed out of bed the next morning, completely unaware of everything which had transpired the day before.

This marked the third time in the past year Chelsea had unknowingly repeated the exact same cycle of events.