Inanimate Insanity Games Novels & Stories

The girl’s hair was in colorful braids; a small tattoo of a broken collar circled one wrist. “You’re overextending your queen,” Dima warned. “Respectfully,” the girl said, “you’re wrong.” Three moves later, he blinked down at the board as his king fell. Imani leaned against a support beam nearby, smirking. “Told you,” she said. “She’s terrifying.” Further down, Nia ladled soup into bowls, loudly insisting that “hydration is not compensation for unresolved trauma, eat the damn vegetables.” Echo perched on a stool by the wall, legs swinging, listening to Kora explain the finer points of a faintly ridiculous board game someone had brought in involving cards, dice, and occasionally shouting “bet

I grab them and inspect them, pursing my lips as I read the descriptions. Would Soren enjoy these games? One is a so called ‘escape room in a box’ while the other is an intricate game of world domination and war. If the other games are too simple, then these must be a good way to keep our minds sharp, right? Right. Out of the corner of my eye, movement catches my attention. I look up from the boxes, leaning to the side to try and see what it was. Goosebumps slowly form across my skin, the back of my neck tingling from anticipation. I swallow the lump that forms in my throat and place the boxes of games inside the metal grocery cart, looking up at the solider.

he snapped. Opening up her laptop and connecting it to the large screen in the room, she projected the first slide of her presentation. "Okay everyone, I'm sure we are all familiar with the usual action packed games we usually submit for the competition, but this year, I thought we might just try something new. We don't wanna be predictable right? So the name of this game is Campus Silence, it is going to be mystery and suspense filled." "Sounds interesting," Harry said with a smile, but on the inside was thinking of ways to sabotage the club.

She, too, was going to play her foolish game with a pawn layer only by her and Raymond in the other side and to what heavens knew what on the other side "Tell me. What kind of game are we really in? Raymond still was silent. He knew too it was an insane game." . . s.e.. d.t.. m.. .". . . g.?"g.."t.."."t.."g.e"d.?"? d.d.."e... . . d.. s.. . . s.. . . d.. g.. o.. . . . . l.. . t.aher side. "Tell me. What kind of game are we really in?" Raymond still was silent. He knew too it was an insane game.

c⁠lench, finally began to dissolve. Once th‍e p‍lates were cl‍e‌ared, I leaned my chin on my hand. "Since you’re doing so well with the sil‌ence‌, let’s move to level tw‌o. The 'What If' Gam‌e. But remembe⁠r⁠ the rules, you can⁠'t be a Blackwood in any of these scenarios." Luci‍en leaned back, his silver eyes‍ reflecting⁠ the candleli‍ght. "Proceed."

She asked nervously as if she was afraid she would ask the wrong question and I would lash out again. I let out a huge breath of air and took a long sip of the cold water, hoping it would help to control my temper and keep me serene. "I feel like he has transported me back to that unforgettable day and I see him, punching and kicking that innocent man, it's all so real that I begin to have a mental breakdown, but when I pull away from him, the nightmare disappears." I trailed of not thinking I can continue describing what I have to go through everyday. I blink repeatedly to stop the tears from falling.

I see the three remaining screens spin as I wait, the seconds ticking by as my cigarette burns down, dangerously close to singeing my fingers. “Are you kidding if Soley is leaving? My money is on her,” Marius adds as I feel the blood boil in my veins. “We could tag team her. I bet that one likes it rough,” Alex mocks as I wait for the spinning images to land. My wolf is growling in my head. I feel my black fur pushing through my skin. I can’t shift here or do anything. All I can do now is wait. If I show my hand, these entire games will feel fixed. There is too much riding on these games, I can’t intervene I need to play these through as I had imagined. I need to keep a clear head. I will no

“I won’t—” “You will,” the Game corrected pleasantly. “OR BOTH DIE.” The last words boomed, letters ten feet tall across every hovering screen. My hand spasmed around the pen. *Safe‑out,* I thought wildly. *Misfire. Glitch. A trap that opens under both of them and dumps them belowstage. A drone malfunction. A fire alarm. Anything.* I grabbed for the world the way I had in every other arena—the floor, the air, the countdown numbers—feeling for a loose seam.

Malakai The four high-definition monitors mounted above the steel workbench flickered in the dark bunker, casting a cold, metallic blue light across my bare, scar-laced chest. On the center display, the feed from the Thorne Industries penthouse suite was still running. The boardroom was empty now. The heavy mahogany table was abandoned, littered with forgotten water glasses and torn legal papers, but the memory of her performance was burned into the back of my retinas.

"I’m working, Lena. Don’t you have a presentation today?" "That's not what I asked." Serena kept her hands moving. She reached for the next stem, measured it, and cut it. "I'm fine." "You keep saying that." "Because it keeps being true. It’s not my fault you don’t want to believe me." "Oh, you’re so fine that you freaked out at the club," Lena said. "The crowd." Serena did not look up. "I already told you there were too many dominant wolves in a small room. I got overstimulated, I needed a second. You've seen it happen before."