Psychological Mind Game Novels & Stories

His expression had shifted—from fear to something harder, something that looked almost like determination born of two millennia of surviving the impossible. "You fight not by being stronger, but by being smarter. The game evolved to counter individual players. It evolved to counter pairs. It even evolved to counter small groups." He paused, his ancient eyes gleaming. "But it has never faced three hundred forty-seven players working together. It has never faced collective intelligence on this scale. It doesn't know how to fight what it doesn't understand." Aiden stepped forward, his gray eyes hard as steel. "So we give it exactly that. We reconnect them, all of them, and we let the game try t

I feel pity for the big guy. Right now, Roman and I are in a stand-off against his cousins Menandro and Lara in a game called Sapo. It meant Choke the Frog, but without an actual frog. A figurine frog sat on top of an erected log in the middle of the garden. Each team has ten gold coins and all we have to do is aim for the frog’s mouth, choke the figurine. It was easier said than done. Each team hasn’t been able to choke the freaking open-mouthed frog yet. We only have four coins left for each team. Menandro missed another shoot. Lara’s aim was no good as well.

I let out a slow breath and turned to face her. Her expression was blank, but I knew she was watching for something. A flicker of what was underneath. A crack in the surface. I didn’t give it to her. Instead, I smiled, soft and vacant, and let my fingers curl into the hem of my sleeve. “…Okay.” The child returned. And the game began. CONTENT WARNING This book contains dark and disturbing themes that may be triggering to some readers. Please proceed with caution. • Psychological manipulation (gaslighting, mind games, blurred reality)

“Coastal Legends will not wait forever. The board gave me time, but that clock’s ticking. And honestly, football is the only thing that makes sense anymore. If I do not have that...” “Earn it back,” he advises. “I know,” I mutter. We shake hands when the session ends. He thinks I’m golden. Reformed. A sex addict on the mend. **** Having to play mind games, especially against a professional, is exhausting, but those psychology classes in college finally earned their keep. Reading people, predicting their next move, pressing the right buttons without leaving fingerprints—it feeds a rush I never shake.

"Is this enough? I can get more. I'd rather the money come to me than go to the mistress." I counted the zeros. More than 150 million. Well, that was screw-you money, certainly. "More than enough. Alright, here's the plan. We can…" … We came up with the perfect plan and decided to fake our deaths. The date? My sister-in-law's birthday. The one to push the blame to? My husband's mistress, Lorelei. Oh, some people might call me cruel, but you should've seen the message she sent me. I'd love to make sure she gets a life sentence.

Seriousness charging up now. "Wow," I blinked, feeling stupid. "Better put the box down and start thinking." "The game is more of a mental exercise than physical. It'll probably be based on logic and something so simple. Not complicated at all." Not complicated? I wanted to argue to that, dropping the box as I faced him. But just as I did, something caught my left eye. I turned back quickly. To the box. Directly at the spot I thought I saw something. Didn't see it immediately though, had to take a minute to look all over. But then I saw it. A flicker. Something shiny on the surface of the box, just by the edges.

“No, Jenna. Nobody knows how to play the piano. I mean, look at all those buttons. There’s like a million of them. Luckily my phone has only one button.” I knew what he was driving at. He was going to pretend like he was playing the piano while he played the piano soundtrack from his phone. I once saw it in a movie where the character played the piano soundtrack from his phone and pretended to press the keys while the phone did the rest. But it has never really worked in real life so I doubt he would be able to pull it off. I scoffed, “Please, you’ll never be able to pull it off.” He smirked and ran his hand through his hair, “Is that a bet?”

I thought back to that tiny detail from the fifth loop. No. 99 had said, "There's no winner in this game. The only way for you to live is to kill me, but then you become the next me." That was a paradox. Killing him meant losing, because I would become the next hunter. But not killing him also meant losing. So, what if this "room"—or rather, this "game arena"—was fake to begin with? I remembered the fifth loop. I never saw the changes in the numbers on the elevator. He just appeared from the elevator after a Ding, like an NPC spawning in an online game.

"Honestly, I'm not even sure myself. I couldn't sleep so I decided I'd go for a run and somehow ended up here. Miles hasn't spoken a word to me since he returned to our room last night and that's disconcerting. Your father hasn't announced the winner of the last game either. And, you have the same stupefied disposition as my brother. So, what am I missing?" I feared that I had fucked things up last night by not following the script. Kara knew her father better than Miles or me and I trusted her deduction and her ability to solve the riddle. However, as I sat there and words rolled off of my tongue, the glint I caught in Alpha Killian's eyes had me doubting myself. It was then I was hit with

he exclaimed tugging on miras shirt till she finally woke from her fantasy. “What?” “This” “Oh no this is not good” “What is not good?” Ava asked moving closer. “There's a red card on you… it's” she paused. “ This is not just good” “Can you just tell me” Ava said confused. “Well” Zach interrupted “it's the night of the festival and each night of the festival starts with a newbie being kind of tortured with mind games hosted by the number 1 himself”. “Sooo..” “Yes you've been chosen for this nights mind games” Mira said “anyone one who dares messes with kael raven Croft doesn't always stay normal to tell the tale, Ava those mind games are traumatizing his going to use your fear against you an