Head Games

It was another normal day, or so I thought. I packed my bag as the bell rang and rushed outside only to find myself lying unconscious in the street.

All I heard was the whispering of my classmates as I looked around.

“What happened?” I asked rubbing my head. A tall man in a suit stepped out of a black car and walked towards me.

“My apologies, that was quite the blow. Are you alright?” He knelt to see if I was alright.

He picked up my book bag and handed it to me. Before I could thank him, he walked off towards a car and drove away. Angry at his actions, I dusted myself off and started my walk home.

“You could have been more careful you know.” His young master swiftly retorted.

“I was only following your orders. I placed the little black book in his bag and gave him the bag as you requested.”

“Good. Let’s go home and prepare for the game.” Said the young master.

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I opened the door to the apartment and headed for the kitchen. I grabbed an apple and turned towards the door.

“Who’s there?” I was certain I heard something. As I scanned the room, I noticed my book bag had fallen over. That’s what must have caused the noise. I reached for my bag and noticed a little black book, a watch, and an envelope. I put the watch on and flipped through the book. The book was blank, there was nothing written in it but an address and a phone number.

I finished my apple and felt a vibration on my wrist and when I looked, the watch was ringing.

“How do you work this thing?” I fiddled with the watch buttons until I heard a voice.

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“Hello! My master has instructed me to give you your assignment. You will notice a little black book that I’ve placed in your bag along with a communication device and an envelope. You are not to open the envelope. It belongs to my master. Your first assignment is to get to England. Once there, you are to wait for my call, and I will give you the next assignment.”

Before I could search the book, the voice interrupted again.

“My master isn’t what you would call patient. The game has already begun, there isn’t much time. You have eighteen hours to get to England.”

“Wait! What’s in the envelope? What is the game?” The voice hung up before I could ask my questions.

I really didn’t understand what was going on and I didn’t want to know what would happen once the timer reached zero. I pulled at the watch to see if it would come undone. The timer kept going. Maybe it would come undone if I went to England. I was going to need my passport if I was going to England. I ran upstairs and grabbed my passport I knew I had to get to the airport. After several failed attempts to flag down a cab I began running. The airport wasn’t too far from my apartment and I was a fast runner. I arrived at the airport and at the entrance was a driver holding a sign that said my name. I approached him and asked if he was looking for me. All he asked was if I had the envelope. I nodded, reached into my bag and pulled out the envelope with the little black book. I remembered what the voice on the watch said… he said to not open the envelope. I gave him the black book instead and asked if this is what he was wanting. He opened the car door and told me to get in.

As hesitant as I was, I got in the car and stayed quiet. We circled the runway and soon approached an airplane.

“This aircraft belongs to my master. My master has chosen you to play the game. You need to be smarter than the smartest to beat the head.” He said looking at me through the mirror.

“You are to board the aircraft and once you arrive in England key in the phone number found on the front page of the book into your watches keypad and wait for instructions. The envelope you hid behind the black book is to be given to my master. Do not lose it. That is all I can tell you for now. My friend in England will stamp your book upon arrival. Good luck in the game.”

He hurried me along and up the stairs of the plane. The plane took off. When we finally arrived, I was greeted by the captain as I deboarded.

“Elijah, your book.” the captain reached out his hand to stamp my book.

“How do you know my name?” I asked handing him the book.

“Everybody knows who you are. Good luck in the Head Games.” I thanked him and deboarded. Outside I keyed in the phone number and waited.

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“It seems the boy has arrived. He moves rather quickly. Invite him to the game room so we can begin.” The young master said. Then my watch beeped... I knew who it was.

“Hello, in the black book there is a map along with an address printed on the front page. Follow the map to a door with the words “HEAD GAME”. Enter the room and take the hall to the end and go down the stairs. That is where the game will be.”

I flipped to the front page and my eyes widened. The book was completely empty before, how did this map appear? I followed the map and eventually found the place. The door led to a large circular room, but the room was dark. There was a pedestal in the center of the room with nothing but a light shining from a monitor. The screen had the letters ‘START’ written in bold. I pressed on 'START' and a young girl started speaking.

“The objective of the game is to be the first to get through six levels. Each level has a riddle you must answer correctly. After answering, bring your book to the pedestal and place it under the scanner to receive a stamp. You will also have the option to exchange your envelope at each check point or go through the game with the same envelope you started with.” The voice was silent for a moment. “If you fail… its game over and you will be forced to exit the game. Good luck to you.”

The room around me changed. I looked around and was able to see the other players. We were all at different levels of the room, but we couldn’t hear each other’s riddles, yet we could see one another. At level one I listened for the first riddle. The young girl spoke the riddle. ‘I have cities, but no houses. Mountains, but no trees. Water, yet no fish. What am I?’ a timer on my watch started counting down, I had fifteen seconds to answer. I realized then that this game was going to be very difficult to win. I knew the answer, I said out loud… “Is it a Map?” “Correct!” said the voice. I ran to the pedestal and put my book under the scanner for a stamp. The room changed again and soon I was on a different floor, I waited for the second riddle.

Level two was a bit more challenging. The riddle said, ‘I stay in one place, yet I travel the world. I do not need a passport, yet with one trip I can visit many locations at once. What am I?’ the timer started again. I knew the answer to this one from when my sister and I played riddle games on cold winter nights at our mansion in Paris, this was a riddle I once asked her. I quickly said, “a computer mouse”. “Correct!” the young girl replied. I collected another stamp and waited for level three. As I waited, one of the other players had fallen to the ground, shortly after their playing area went dark.

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“The boy is good. He’s progressing quickly. Let’s make this more challenging. Cut his time in half and let’s see how quickly he can answer.” The master said watching the game on a screen in a separate room.

I thought I would never figure out the riddle for level three. ‘I speak without a mouth, hear without ears. I have no body but come alive with the wind. What am I?’ I gave an answer and hoped it was correct. “Is it an echo?” “Correct!”

I looked around to see where the other players were. There were four players left. We started as seven, but our numbers quickly depleted. Now was not the time to get distracted. I got the stamp and listened for the next riddle. Level four was even more challenging. ‘What is round like an apple, deep like a cup and yet all the king’s horses couldn’t pull it up?’ this one was hard. I imagined the riddle in my head and then answered…“A well?” As I was giving my answer, I noticed one of the walls in the room was a different color than the others.

The riddle for level five was easy and I began to wonder if this game was all it was cut out to be. ‘What do you put in a barrel to make it lighter?’ the girls voice sounded shakier after each riddle. “A hole” I replied. So far, I have collected five stamps and needed one more to win. I scanned the room again to see if I could find the wall that looked different. The last riddle… ‘This belongs to you, but everyone uses it.’ I thought about it for a second, “Your name?” I answered. Thankfully, that was the correct answer. I started heading towards the off-colored wall.

The lights went on in the room and everything became clear. I looked around me and there were no other players. The man that came to my school entered from a door and was applauding me. A young child followed behind him.

“Congrats on passing all the levels. May I introduce my young master. Please present to her your book.” It didn’t occur to me that a young girl was the head of the game. She did look familiar to me though. I walked towards the girl. I gave her the envelope and the little black book. She smiled.

“You kept the envelope I see. Why didn’t you trade it?” asked the girl.

“I was instructed to give it to a young master, if you are the young master that everyone is talking about then the envelope belongs to you.” Her expression changed. She opened the envelope and handed it back to me. She held the book opened and I read the page. The stamps from each level spelled my name. Was I really the chosen one? But this all felt like a dream. I couldn’t actually be the winner… could I?

“My time has come. I announce Elijah the winner of the head games, your prize is twenty thousand dollars. You are now the new leader of the head games.” She said before she fell to the ground. I ran over to her and knelt beside her. I knew who she was. She was ill and I knew this would be our last game together for a while.

“The game was fun this time Selene.” I smiled looking at her. “What are you going to spend the money on big brother?” asked Selene.

“I’ve got a few ideas… let’s play again soon.” I carried Selene and took her to her bedroom. I woke from my dream and Selene was standing beside me telling me it was time for school… it was another normal day, or so I thought.