"I've been here before"   I whispered.  The familiarity of the place was haunting. 

                "Of course you have. "  His words snaked across the worn table. 

                The dry rotted vinyl of the armchair cracked and groaned as I took my place in front of the black and white marble board.  "Why did you make me come here?" I said as I methodically set the pieces in their places.  The sound of the marble figures landing on the board echoed off of the now bare, paint stripped walls.  A single bulb pulled from the fixture hung by its cord above the table. Its light cast ominous shadows across the dust covered floor.  The walls looked down on me from every angle.  

                "I am only here because of you."

                "I'm having dreams again." I said, as he moved the king's pawn to the center of the board.  I noticed a slight tremor in his skeleton of a hand.  It was scarcely noticeable, but it was there none the less.  This man was strangely familiar.   

"You're move"

"I'm thinking"

"Did thinking about it help you last time" He said cynically as a sideways grin overtook his face.  I matched his move knowing what he was going to do next.  We had played this game a thousand times before.  I saw it happen before he even thought about it.  Queens pawn center then a trade off. I knew what was going on yet I was powerless to stop.  I had been here before.  Too many times to remember and the game always turned out he same. 

"Check!"

The sound of his voice caught me off guard.  How had the game progressed so far?  Even as I looked at the board I could not remember the moves I had made.  It was as if I was stuck in time and everything in the world around me kept moving. 

"It's going to end in a stale mate."

"It always does." He sighed. "Why are we here?"  His face was rigid, its thin skin stretched tight over his clenched teeth.  His eyes sunk deep into their sockets staring at me with such darkness that I had to look away.

"I don't know." I stammered.

"Tell me about your dream."

"My dream?"    

"That's why we're here isn't it?"

"I... I'm not sure."  I muttered.  Those dark eyes continued to stare at me.  This man was staring directly into my soul.  Fear enveloped me like a black cloud, thick and suffocating.  I had been here before.  It was becoming all too familiar.  Who was this man across from me?  Playing the game like it was my life at stake.  "Who are you?"

"I am the fear inside of you.  I am the one who does the things that you cannot.  I am the one who feels the pain you can't feel.  I see the things you can't bear to see and I hear the words you can't stand to hear.  You're the one who brought me here."

"I don't un... understand."

"Sure you do. I do the things that you are afraid to do.  I am your strength, because God knows you couldn't have done those things by yourself."

"What things?" I breathed.   The shadows from that light seemed to be darker, deeper, drawing in every ounce of light in that tiny room.  How had I come to such a place? 

"You don't remember?" He asked. "Why aren't you wearing your wedding ring?"

His face expanded into a wide toothy smile as I looked toward my left hand.   There was a faint pale ring of skin around my finger.  I never took that ring off.  Even after she died I couldn't leave the house without it.  That ring represented her beautiful face, the way she would wrap her arms around my neck, the way she would whisper my name through the sheets.  She owned my heart and she knew it.  And that ring was the only thing I had left.  "What have you done?"

"I believe the real question is what have we done."

As I continued to stare in disbelief at my hand I began to remember.  It came slowly at first.  The pain began to swell from deep inside.  An image I had buried long ago.  Her infectious laugh, those hypnotic blue eyes, her hand on my inner thigh, but I couldn't save her.  Twisted metal, glass, smoke, gasoline leaking, flames, burning flesh, blood boiling screams, I could see her face.  Slowly, painfully I watched her disappear into the smoke.   

"You remember?"  He asked, but it wasn't a question.  "You weren't supposed to live."

"STOP IT!!!  AAGHH"

"How could you have known that you would survive?  It was a good plan."

"Stop it, stop it, stop it."  I screamed.  That smell, the sound of her screams, flames, it wasn't supposed to happen that way.  "You lied to me!"

"I only told you what you wanted to hear.  You are the one who wanted things to be different.  You came to me.  You said if only you hadn't married so young, you could do the things you had always wanted to do.  Now you are free."

Free... How could I ever be free?  Fear, pain, and regret are my prison.  There is only one way I could ever be free.  "This is going to be our last game."

"I have been waiting and preparing for this day to come.  I knew you would need my help again."  He smiled as he stood from his chair.  Peace, calm, the smell of gasoline, he placed his hand on my shoulder as he struck the match.  Heat, flames, burning flesh, now I am free.

Keyword: Free

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Comments (9)

Posted by philneale1952 2008-07-23 06:35:11 Oh Yes! Great story and I really liked the twist at the end. Any longer and it would have lost any meaning, shorter and I'd have been scratching my head. The length was spot on, the characters were perfect and the entire story beautifully told. Excellent - one of the best I've read on here. Phil + Report this comment
Posted by r.e.potter 2008-07-23 11:37:43 .... This was a good story mixed with a compelling chess match to move the story. However, its not clear for me just who he was playing against. I assume he was playing against his own tortured mind and that he set himself on fire at the end to feel the pain his wife felt from all the remorse he suffered...but I can't be sure. Very good story regardless of my confusion. + Report this comment
Posted by lemon 2008-07-23 13:05:49 .... I've ot to agree with Potter here. I assumed the same thing, that he was playing against his own self, and that he set HIMSELF on fire to deal with what happened/he did to his wife? Good job though, it was a very interesting read. =] + Report this comment
Posted by resistanceisfreedom 2008-07-23 16:28:43 .... quite interesting for sure. i loved how you had this character playing himself in a game of chess. + Report this comment
Posted by eternalsunshine 2008-07-24 15:29:37 .... i loved the use of the chess game, its always been a game i've found interestingly confrontational. its inspired me to write a story of two characters playing chess. :) anyway, i really liked this story, great length as someone else said...the only thing that bothered me was this part: "You remember?" He asked, but it wasn't a question. Don't use a question mark if its not a question! + Report this comment
Posted by Something Indecent 2008-07-24 17:35:21 .... Very well done. You did a great job starting with confusion and then slowly unfolding to the clarity of what the character had done. I liked how the story progressed. A good read. + Report this comment
Posted by harmattan 2008-08-02 09:42:07 free Very subtle progression from puzzle to clarity I chose a horror story to see the standard as I tried one a few years ago and it is not a genre I go for normally, though I love to read and watch particularly gothic. If your example is an indication of the standard then I shall think twice before entering this particular arena. A good reda Sensible length. (I like short, short stories, trained as a journalist and disiplined to 1000 words which is not easy habitto break out of. I will ook for some more of your stuff. I like it Kind regards harmattan + Report this comment
Posted by harmattan 2008-08-02 09:43:50 free and you might have noticed that I am not my own best proof reader! + Report this comment
Posted by gtmike 2008-08-14 21:23:09 .... Very good, existential exploration of guilt and concience. Your description of the opponent drew a picture of death at a chessboard and a man tortured by a deal he'd agreed to with himself and the devil, and we all know how those trades end up. Thoughtful. GTMike + Report this comment

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