The game begins
1419 Words
Elias held the envelope tightly, his fingers pressing into the expensive paper. The elegant handwriting inside still burned in his mind:
"How far would you go to rewrite your past?"
He exhaled slowly, trying to push down the uneasy feeling in his chest. Around the room, the other guests were still digesting their own cryptic messages. Some whispered to each other, some stared at Voss like he was insane. Of course he was. But no one uttered anymore words. No one dared.
Voss, standing by the fire with his usual unreadable smile, let the silence stretch before speaking again.
“I see some of you are... unsettled.” His calm voice was unsettling. “Good. That means you're beginning to understand.”
Celeste, sitting beside Elias, gave a quiet snort. “Understand what? That we’re in some twisted psychological experiment?”
Voss’s smile widened. “Not an experiment, Miss Sinclair. A game.” He gestured toward the roaring fireplace. “One with rules, challenges, and, of course, consequences.”
The word consequences hung heavy in the air.
Elias wasn’t sure what disturbed him more—Voss’s confidence or the way no one had asked to leave yet. He knew they all knew, deep down, that leaving wasn’t an option.
Voss turned slightly and motioned toward a dark-haired woman in a sleek black dress. She stepped forward, carrying a small velvet pouch. “Inside this bag,” he explained, “are tokens. Each of you will draw one.”
A man with salt-and-pepper hair, who had been skeptical since breakfast, frowned. “Tokens for what?”
Voss’s eyes glimmered. “For your first challenge.”
Elias felt Celeste shift beside him. He didn’t have to look to know she was scared, and all the initial excitement had left her eyes.
One by one, guests stepped forward, reaching into the pouch. Some hesitated. Some were too confident. When Elias’s turn came, he stepped up, slid his hand into the bag, and pulled out a small golden coin.
A wolf was etched on one side. The other was blank.
Celeste glanced at his token. “Let me guess. This means something awful, doesn’t it?”
“Depends on your definition of awful.”
Celeste reached into the bag and pulled out her own. It was silver, with an engraving of an hourglass.
She made a face. “Yeah, this must concern my time to survive.”
When everyone had their tokens, Voss clapped his hands once. “Now, onto the first challenge. We’ll be splitting you into groups, based on the symbols you pulled.”
Elias had no idea what that meant, but he didn’t like the way Voss’s eyes flickered toward him.
***
Challenge One: The Ice Run
The guests were led outside, past the grand entrance and down a snow-covered path. The island estate looked even more surreal in the daylight—tall, imposing, and surrounded by nothing but the vast, icy ocean.
Eventually, they reached an open courtyard, where a large frozen lake stretched before them. It was surrounded by tall pine trees, their branches heavy with snow.
In the center of the lake sat a single black box, perched on the ice like some kind of prize.
Voss turned to face the group. “This challenge is simple. Those with the wolf token will retrieve the box. Those with the hourglass will stay here and observe.”
Celeste frowned. “Observe what?”
Voss’s lips curved slightly. “watch and see.”
Elias’s was nervous, but he couldn't show it, he needed all the confidence within him to get on that ice.
Before he even found the courage to get on that ice, two staff members brought out a large hourglass, filled with dark red sand. They placed it on a nearby pedestal.
“The sand marks your time limit,” Voss explained. “When the last grain falls, anyone still on the ice... loses.”
“Loses how?” Someone behind asked in terror.
Voss didn’t answer.
Elias exchanged another glance with the nervous Celeste. She shook her head. "I don’t like this."
Neither did he.
But there was no time to hesitate. The hourglass was turned, and the challenge began.
***
The Ice and the Fire
Elias took his first step onto the frozen lake, testing the ice beneath his boots. It was solid, but that didn’t mean it was safe.
Around him, the other wolf token holders moved cautiously, watching for cracks. No one wanted to be the first to make a mistake.
One man refused to join them. Mr Voss looked at him and smiled again, then he pulled out a silver revolver and put a bullet between his head to the terror of everyone present. The death of that man further shook them, it was worse for the ones on the ice. One of the women broke into tears.
"Another thing I failed to add is, I'll take no disobedience." He said, his smile unwavering then he turned and resumed watching the ones going after the
Celeste stood at the edge to encourage Elias, she was trembling. “Be careful.”
Elias without turning around answered. “Always.”
He moved forward, keeping his pace steady. The black box wasn’t far, but he knew there was no way it would be this easy. Too easy.
Then he heard something, it was a low groan beneath his feet.
The ice.
Someone cursed behind him. The young woman in a fur-lined coat who was crying earlier had completely stopped moving, her teary face pale. “Did you hear that?”
Elias didn’t answer. He was too busy calculating.
The weight distribution. The pressure points. The fact that Voss has just shot that man let him know that there was no way he would let them just waltz to the box and back without—
A sharp crack split the air.
Elias’s head snapped up. Across the lake, the poor woman had just stepped in the wrong place. His foot went straight through the ice.
Panic rippled through the group.
“Don’t move too fast!” Elias barked.
The woman hurriedly wrenched her foot out, stumbling backwards in terror as she did. The ice held for now, but for how long?
Voss, still watching from the edge, looked amused. A satisfying expression swept over his face.
Elias forced himself to keep moving. The black box was close now, just a few feet away. He reached for it, grabbed the handle, and—
“Elias!”
Celeste’s voice.
He turned just as the ice behind him shattered.
A man went plunging into the freezing water.
Gasps rang out from the other guests who had now frozen in horror.
Voss didn’t, he merely watched.
Elias ignored all that was happening around him, he had to if he wanted to survive. He hauled the black box into his arms and started back. The ice beneath him groaned in protest, but he didn’t stop.
By the time he reached the edge, Celeste was there, reaching for him.
She grabbed his arm, pulled him onto solid ground.
His breath came fast. “Well, that was fun.” He said in sarcasm.
Celeste’s grip on him lingered for a moment too long. “Yeah, tons of fun. We should do this every Christmas.” Her voice was shaky, she was almost sobbing.
Despite himself, Elias let out a quiet laugh. It was probably because of fear.
Voss stepped forward, clapping once. “Congratulations, Mr. Carter. You retrieved the box.”
Elias barely looked up at him, his detective mind was already working out how he was going to get on that cruise and get out the island.
“Open it,” Voss said.
Elias hesitated, then he unlatched the box and flipped the lid.
Inside was a small, red envelope.
He pulled it out, unfolding the single slip of paper inside.
only one word stared back at him:
"Boo."
"What kind of sick joke is this?" Celeste questioned him in fearful anger and disgust.
Mr. Voss walked closer and slapped her right across the face. "You will refer to me as Sir."
The exhausted Elias made to stand up and defend her, but Mr. Voss would have none of it. He pointed the revolver at him. "Don't be the hero son, you'll have plenty of time for that."
Even Celeste held him back, not wanting the sick man to put a bullet in his head like he had done the other man.
- Writer
