Hearing the loud gun noise, I slowly turned to Luke.
His head was on the table, and he was bleeding nonstop.
When I looked at the man, he was still pointing the revolver toward him and had only just put it on his back.
"Game is completed. Congratulations, you won. Further instructions will be given after I leave the room."
I couldn't hear him clearly. Some words were cut off, and those I heard didn't make sense to me.
He went closer to Luke and lifted his body. As he lifted, the blood pouring out of his head could be seen.
He put Luke's body over his shoulder and carried him over the door. He opened the door and went through it.
After he closed the door, I heard the writing noise again, meaning the text on the wall was changing.
But I didn't look.
I couldn't.
It was hard for me to understand what was going on.
I lost my dad, and now Luke has died in front of me.
Why?
Why are these things happening?
I could not give any meaning to anything.
For that moment, I was just existing but not living.
…
And after a minute, I had fainted. Well, at least that was the explanation I came up with.
Because when I opened my eyes, I saw an endless darkness in the sky.
Under me, there was a finite area.
Looked closely, I realized what the floor looked like. It was a chessboard.
Around me, there were giant chess pieces. I was the size of an ant compared to those pieces, maybe even smaller.
I didn't understand why I was here.
Is this the new game?
Am I going to play chess?
While thoughts were going through my mind, the white pawn in front of the king moved.
Since I was in the middle of the board, I stood up and backed away to avoid being crushed under it.
Thinking that a game had begun, I turned to the black pieces to see where I should run.
At that moment, I heard something. As if someone was calling me.
When I tried to listen closely, I heard that indeed someone was calling me.
"It's your turn, Daniel."
"Daniel"
"Daniel"
"Daniel, wake u.p"
With a sudden deep breath, I opened my eyes and saw a masked man next to me, calling my name.
I had actually fainted and was dreaming again. At least this time, my dream didn't have dead bodies under my feet.
"Daniel, are you alright?" the man standing next to me asked.
"I am okay," I replied.
"Where is Lu-"
I was about to ask him where Luke was, but seeing the blood on the table, I remembered what happened. Before fainting, I saw him kill Luke and carry him out of the room.
"Why did you kill Luke?" while still looking at the blood.
"He lost the game."
I stood up, lifted my arms, and grabbed the man by the collar.
"You killed him…"
I was trying to threaten him, but tears started falling. I could not control my emotions like before. Instead of being angry, I was falling into sadness.
"Why, why did yo-"
"Daniel, I do understand your sadness, but I advise you to let me go," he said as he held my right wrist with his right hand and started to squeeze it.
I slowly let him go and took a step back with no other option.
"Now what?" I asked, "Who are you going to kill this time?"
"We did not kill your friend. Your poor planning's cost was his life." He said.
His words…
He knew what he was saying. He wanted to blame me…
I wanted to kill him…
I really wanted to…
But it would be pointless. There would be another man. And another one. Then another one.
The same would go on forever.
Suddenly, he asked an unexpected question.
"Are you hungry?"
"Huh?" I blurted out.
"Are you hungry? Do you wish to eat something? Whatever you want, I will bring it to you," he said.
"Are you kidding with me? After all you have done, you are gonna offer me food?"
"Please check the wall for more information," he said.
With a slight annoyance, I turned towards the wall and saw the text on it.
"Sadly, your time to answer 'Who Am I?' has ended.
And since you didn't answer, we can start the 4th game. But before that, you will see your close friend Jack.
Both of you will be having dinner.
Anything you wish for yourself and your friend, you can order from the man standing next to you.
Do not worry. There will be no poison in the food."
"No, no, no, no. Do not bring bring other people into this shit anymore. You have me. Do whatever you're gonna do. Do not touch him." I said, panic mixed with anger.
The text on the wall changed after my words.
"Do not worry. We will not bring harm to him."
As I read this, the man asked again.
"What would you like to eat?"