by Ariel Roma
WARNING
When You Come to the Fork in the Road, Take It!
6
IT’S NO GAME!
LUCAS LEANED CLOSE to Sloane’s ear.
“Hey, who’s that kid?” He was looking at Maxx. “Who’s that kid that was sitting at my desk when I came in?” he asked, nearly in a whisper. He hadn’t even had the chance to take his seat this morning because of the fuss his late arrival had set off. When he did finally get into the classroom, he was blown over to see a strange boy sitting at his desk!
“Oh.” Sloane replied casually, “He’s the new boy.”
He had already gathered that there was a new boy, and this was surprising enough because it almost never happened, but the kicker was Sloane’s wacky attitude.
“New boy?” He was annoyed and wanted to play it all out one step at a time. “What new boy?” he asked.
“His name is Maxx,” Sloane smiled with a twinkle in her eye you couldn’t miss.
“Double X Maxx,” she added, star struck, as if he was some kind of super hero. “His name is spelled with two X’s at the end instead of one. Cool eh?”
What was that look about? Lucas wondered. And why was some new kid allowed to sit at his desk anyway? And why did Sloane seem to be OK with it too? He was trying hard to wrap his mind around it. And no, he didn’t think his name was cool. He didn’t think anything about this was cool. He didn’t like it at all.
“Didn’t you tell him that was my seat?” Lucas was edgy.
“There are no other empty desks, and you weren’t here yet. He just came over and sat down. I didn’t want to tell him he couldn’t sit there,” she replied.
Lucas wondered why not. Her desk was in front of his, it should have been easy. He was puzzled she was so chill about something that really mattered to him. He wasn’t sure what bothered him most, losing his desk or seeing his best friend all mushy over this new kid. The whole thing bugged him.
Sloane went on, “I just figured Miss Goodwin would sort it out and get him his own place to sit when she came in, but then she didn’t come in either. Sorry Lucas. I was wondering where you were this morning. I didn’t expect a new boy. I’m just as surprised as you are. It’s weird though, he came in with Lenny. Maybe they know each other,” she guessed, shrugging her shoulders.
Lucas’s ears turned as red as peppers. What the heck! Now he really didn’t like this guy if he was a friend of Lenny’s. Of all days to be late. How was he going to get his desk back? He dropped his head back, his eyes rolled. He was ticked that this new boy made such a great impression on Sloane too. Besides that, he didn’t want a new kid in his class anyway. Why couldn’t things just stay the same? Now he understood the Middling’s saying, change meant trouble. This whole thing made him crazy.
So far the morning had been a bust. And now, so was this stupid game. If there was anything good at all he figured, it was that everyone was too distracted to kick up a fuss. He hoped that the supply teacher would come whizzing through the door soon.
By now he was so unzipped that even the game had him rattled. What kind of junk was it anyway? He glared at Lenny. There he was in the spotlight like the leader of the band. He was postured up with his leg slung over the seat and his hands planted on the desk next to the game as if he owned it.
As usual he was whipping up attention for himself. There was an open-ended supply of expendable options to use to spin his web. Today it was the game, later it would be something else. Why couldn’t anyone see through him? He was always up to something. Lucas wondered for the umpteenth time how he got away with it.
A question? Is that what Lenny was calling for? He had questions all right. But not now. He decided that he wouldn’t play. And he didn’t. It was that simple.
His excuse was good enough if anyone asked. He was the class monitor. He needed to keep an eye on things. To start with, he eyed his desk, edged over, and with a twinge of satisfaction slid into the seat while he still had the chance.
Somewhere between the barricaded door episode and Sloane’s lured infatuation with Maxx, the world had sucked the normal out of his day. Since he felt like he’d just been jammed-in between a shyster and a Romeo, and he already knew the shyster, he figured he better find out what double X Maxx was all about.
Even with the dingy lighting and his preppy look, Maxx was looking pretty uncomfortable. He was definitely out of place trying to mesh with the crowd around the desk. His clothes screamed New York, or maybe LA. His trendy style made Target residents an instant fashion disaster.
It was rare to have any new students here at all. Most of the families around here knew one another, or at least they knew about each other. You could count on one hand the number of people that moved in or out of Target over the last five years.
Suddenly Maxx was smiling at someone. Lucas followed his gaze. It was Lenny. No wait… maybe it was Sloane. He wasn’t sure. A double whammy… both? His stomach twisted. He wished Maxx would just disappear.
That’s all I need, he thought. I have enough trouble already with Lenny, I don’t need anyone else pressing my panic buttons. Even though Maxx didn’t look like the bullying type he had a coolness that was hard to read.
He had the jitters. He wasn’t used to feeling this worked-up. He looked over at Sloane. She wasn’t paying any attention to Maxx. Good. She was a keeper. He would make sure they stayed tight.
A classmate, Nick, swaggered over to Lucas. He could tell something was bugging him. It was odd to see him so bummed-out.
“What’s up man?” Nick flicked his hair and bumped down at a desk near Lucas. Nick was an awkward boy stuck in a wanna-be, trying-hard-to-be-cool guy zone. His crack at dressing cool, acting cool, being cool, somehow always came off looking retro instead. Either way, he was likeable.
“Oh, nothin.” Lucas mumbled. He didn’t want to talk. He came up with, “They’re starting the game,” just for something to say.
“Oh, I don’t care. I don’t want to play,” Nick replied, lazily leaning back. He stayed with Lucas. The two of them just sat there. They watched like spectators behind an invisible barricade. If they were missing out, they didn’t know it. If they were left out, they didn’t care. Kept out? Held back? Well… maybe they were.
The game began. Sergio asked his question with the naïve group of kids hovering… holding their breath, captivated by the glass game piece in the center of the board. Depending on how easy-to-fool one was, the game could seem darker than it really was, and much lighter than it really was, both at the same time.
The game board came alive. No one dared to look away. Everyone was expecting some-thing to happen. They didn’t know what, but they knew something should and could happen.
And it did.
A few kids didn’t play, Lucas, Nick and Maxx, and a couple of others opted not to; it seemed like a no-big-deal decision at the time, but it was a game changer. You could put Sloane on the list too be-cause even though she was right up there with one particularly interesting question, technically she didn’t play.
You could or maybe should use a word other than interesting to describe Sloane’s question. Contentious, intimidating or even suspicious would do. She was hawkish. The vein in her neck was standing out, her face was flushing varying shades of pink racing to red, all clues that she was in a feisty mood. So yes, she did ask the talking board a rather testy question, but clearly she wasn’t playing games, and to be sure, she had no intention of being played.
Lucas, glued to his spot hovering around his desk, was only casually watching at first, until he became fixated on Sloane for his own reasons. Now he wondered what was winding her up so tight. Uh oh, he thought, something’s up.
But he was as surprised as everyone else that her question had clearly been a touchy one for the talking board game. And he was shocked just like everybody else too at what it did in response to the question she asked.
At first it seemed like the game might not be working anymore, like it wasn’t going to an
swer Sloane’s question at all; it sure seemed that way, but there was no way to know about the cussing out that was going on behind the scenes. All of a sudden the game was worked into a frenzy. You could feel it!
Up until now everything went smooth, working just like Lenny said it would, almost routine. Everyone was really into it too. At first it was a blast. But then some of the questions got more serious. There were questions about loved ones and then the fortune teller kind. To everyone’s amazement, every time, the talking board would spell out what seemed to be the perfect answer.
At least that’s what they thought. The know-it-all board was charming, just like they wanted it to be. They all stared into the blank space where Necro Mancy won them over. His old routine was always fresh and tantalizing. With each question his spider-leg fingers pretended to tap-dance on his cheek as if he was puzzled. The answers? He would get them. Like a newsfeed, headquarters checked and scanned the facts and the data was zapped to his memory bank receiver. There was no question they could ask that would stump him.
If the kids had any doubts before, they didn’t anymore. They could hardly believe it, but they did. Quietly, gently, they surrendered their guard. Some of them even heard the voice of their own heart pleading with them not to, but the lure of the thrill had won out. It was like the game knew everything about everyone! And maybe it did.
Well maybe not it, but he. Well maybe not he, but they. Well maybe not they, but… who?
And here was Sloane. Her face could have set off sirens. What did she know? She just stood there with her hands on her hips and tapping her toe. The flicker in her eyes said she was ready for a sword-fight.
“Well, answer the question why don’t you?” she demanded.
Necro Mancy was on fire, he was instantly vicious! Venom shot from the orchestra of lying teeth tucked behind his leachy lips. What kind of question was that? Who did this flimsy-whimsy, mortal Middling girl think she was anyway and how dare she defy his powers? He was a legend in his own mind and couldn’t get his head wrapped around what she was up to. She’s an air-head, his logic snapped. She has no idea who she’s jerking with, he speculated and hissed. And maybe she didn’t… but, what if she did!
“C’mon, we’re waiting. Tell us…,” Sloane’s words kicked like a bully.
The funny thing was, the gutsy look on her face told a different story. She had an I already know the answer look on her face.
“Where do you get your power from?” her words were hard hitting. The room went silent. No one knew what they were waiting for. No one knew what Sloane was up to or why she was so brassy. She didn’t know herself. She felt like a warrior with her first crack at taking on the world… and maybe she was.
No one dared to breathe. Then after a silence that felt like a million years, something startling happened. The glass game piece in the center of the board scared everyone when it began to move. It was different this time. It wasn’t fun like before when it answered their trivial questions, by now all the fun was siphoned out of the room. This time it was creepy.
Cold chills and hot flashes spun the room. Goose bumps popped on everyone. All eyes were stuck to the glass game piece shifting like a sloth across the board.
Lucas and Nick shot each other a blank look. By now they had boosted themselves higher than the crowd and were standing on the desks.
“Who is that girl?” a voice boomed. The gates of Darkotika rattled on their hinges. Wizard Caldron scrutinized the live images reeling across the screen. He teetered between a stupefied rage and panic. “She’s on to us! How could this happen! Get me her book… now!” A string of curses hurled from his mouth, he was nearly coming unglued. “This was not supposed to happen!” he shrieked.
There, in the simplest of classrooms in the easy-breezy, deeply-sleepy, snoring-boring town of Target, the sugar coated candy covered, sweet and sour, chocolate dipped, lollipop licked, candy striped, icing whipped game was about to be exposed for what it was!
It was a lying, cheating, stealing, scaring, spell-binding, enchanting game that wasn’t a game at all! It was a trick, it was a scheme, and it was wizardry. The hoax was that it was harmless fun.
But would they see it? Would they get it? Would- they-could-they see it for the trap that it was, or would they still think it was a game?
The crystal glass game piece was doing what it had to do. Not because it wanted to do it but because it had to. Why did it have to? It had to because someone was speaking the words of the King. This time the game would not win. They wouldn’t fool everyone this time.
This common little Middling girl with hair like a horse’s mane heard a voice rise up inside of her that told her something about this game was all-wrong. The red light came on. And even though she didn’t understand it all, she wouldn’t take the chance. She wasn’t willing to be duped. This was no game and somehow she knew it. She was the only one that had a problem with it. She was the only one that was right!
Necro was trapped. There was no way out. He looked at the girl. Even in the dim light her face glowed like a star. She was still tapping, still waiting. When he drifted in today he would never have guessed this end.
The glass pointer was shaky when it moved up to the letter D. With each move it fought to stay put before crawling again over to the next letter. If they weren’t so spellbound, the kids would have squealed with delight. Instead with their minds floating in limbo and their eyes wide, they followed the pointer from the D to the R, next to the A and the G… K… O… N. DRAGKON! The secret was unlocked. Dragkon, the prince of Darkotika was the source of the talking board’s power!
No one could have guessed what happened next. Suddenly, terror let loose! The glass pointer shattered! Crystal splinters and glass needles stormed straight up and then rained back down.
Fear stabbed everyone hard. Now there were screams and shrieks bouncing off the walls. The fun they had imagined was lost.
Yet… even with this, would you believe that all of these innocent rosy faced kids still believed this was only a game? All except Sloane of course. She was unmoved, with a satisfied, smug look on her face.
It may have looked like a game and played like a game and talked like a game, but it never was a game. At least not the kind of game it seemed to be, not the kind of fun they thought it was. It was fun… but never for them. It was a hook, it was a hunt. They were the hunted.
All of a sudden, like they’d had a taser-shot, the Nimmers went wild! The game was over and they still had to catch their ride. With way more Nimmers than kids to ride on, they were frantic! No jockey wanted to be left without a horse! They swung, sprung, leapt and climbed. Every single Nimmer was running around like a nut bouncing and soaring from shoulder to shoulder. Should they ride this one or that one? They just couldn’t decide.
Finally, some were settling down nicely, until out of the blue more horseplay broke out! Hysterical, desperate Nimmers with no ride sprang through the air. Knocking off unsuspecting ones, they stole their mount right out from under them! It was a brutal course to find a horse. Then as quickly as it had be-gun it was done. Those who were on were on and those who were off were out.
Leftover Nimmers on the hunt would need to scrounge up a ride somewhere else, and they would find one too. Out of the classroom the crowd mobbed the hallway. One with a sharp eye spotted Arnie Buggling. For the second time today he was heading to the principal’s office, lazily moseying along, swaying from side to side. He was an easy shot. Other’s had spotted him too. Whoosh! Two whizzed over and leaped up onto his shoulder. A fight broke out and one fell off.
The other rooms were searched for more dark horses, kids with a fascination for the dark-side. For now there were only a few, later there would be more. There weren’t enough to go around. They would invade the movie theater tonight. Success would depend on what was playing. They weren’t bound to just kids. They’d hitch a ride on anyone standing in the dark zone.
The few students that had decided no
t to play the game had escaped. In the wild scramble, not even one Nimmer tried to mount them. It was like they were invisible to them. And maybe they were.
There was no telling what the others had saddled themselves with. One thing was sure, these Nimmers meant terrible trouble. They weren’t ordinary monkeys just messing around. These little monkeys who weighed nothing at all were the ground troops. When the kids said yes to the game it was their ticket to ride! So now they would be riding until… until the kids bucked them off! But that wasn’t about to happen any time soon unless they found out about them. And that just might be a good idea before they tried out some of those potions and spells stowed away in those tiny backpacks they were carrying. These guys were serious.
Whether Lucas saw it or not and he likely didn’t, it seems that his bad, awful day wasn’t turning out so bad after all. It turns out that he and the others that didn’t play the game had just escaped the clutches of evil.
For those of you who still believe in game-playing there are many more spell-binding competitions ahead. If you’re heading that way you’ll be walking along the cliff path at Dark-edge. The battle for your spirit is fierce so look up and watch for the clues. Never look down unless you want to go there! It’s been proven that you’ll end up right where you’re lookin’. So if you don’t want to go down and believe-it you don’t, look up! Oh, and when you come to the fork in the road, take it.
