Game of Life

Short 3

"Did you wait so long because Underworld creatures require consent to interact with humans?" Calla tugged her shirt over her head and sat on the edge of the bed. Severin watched her with a bemused expression.

"My dear, I already gained your consent long ago."

"What?" She turned to face him, curling one leg onto the bed.

The horseman sighed, manuevering himself so he could lean against the wall. "Underworld creatures only need something that can be interpretated as consent, and we only need it one time. Once you've given that singular moment of consent we already have you in our grasp." He smiled at the confused expression on her face and crouched forward, taking her chin in his hands. "We are not humans who need continuous consent to follow the laws. Even a vague form of consent, even just a vague consent from someone who knows you will suffice. Which is why I was able to take your entire school with only you." Severin pressed his forehead against hers, breathing warm air on her face.

Calla swallowed thickly. It had been her fault that everyone died. Guilt seized her for a moment. Severin released his hold on her skin, returning to his previous position and continued. "You were not at fault. I would have gotten it from someone. I could have used any one of their consent to play my game. You weren't even the first I approached."

"Then who was?" she asked, honestly curious.

"Eric," Severin grumbled. "But when I asked if he wanted something interesting to happen he said no, and that he had enough going on without more excitement." The horsemen rolled his eyes. "Darren was the second. But he, like the next few, didn't even acknowledge my presence." Severin looked almost offended. "It was very rude."

Calla snorted.

"But you." He hummed and dragged his gaze along her body. "You were so clearly afraid and still gave me your time."

Calla raised her eyebrows. Was he seriously proud of her? "Is that why you gave me all the elements? Because I gave you what you needed to make the game?"

Severin shook his head. "I gave you all the elements in the hope that you'd survive long enough for me to have my fun. My dear, as the tool of my consent if you had died, when you died, I no longer had any claim to them."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," he explained, ever patient with her, "that the moment you died in my game everyone who still lived woke up in their beds."

"But they were dead."

"Because I killed them Calla. From the moment you died until the moment you woke up, almost 24 hours had passed. I used that time to kill them all."

"Why?"

"Because they didn't win."

"But we were so close," she argued.

Severin chuckled, shaking his head. "Not even remotely."

"We cut off its legs! We only had a bit more to go."

"My dear. You weren't supposed to cut off its legs. All you succeeded in doing was making it harder on yourself." She frowned at him. "It was a red herring. A trap you all fell for. All you did by removing the first segment of its legs was make it faster. You were supposed to hit each mark on its body with a sword that had been charged with each element. If you had managed to sever the legs again you would have had no chance at all."

"But we..."

Calla froze as Severin suddenly hovered over her, pressing her back against the soft sheets. "You failed," he cooed, stroking her face. "You could have severed half of its limbs to slow my pet down, but removing them all was simply the wrong move. And it cost you the game."