I've been sitting in front of the board since morning.
I haven't slept. I couldn't.
Every time I close my eyes, I see the faces of the three men falling, blood splattering before me.
The board is silent, but it glows with a patchy red light.
"Are you awake?" I say softly.
"I don't sleep."
Her voice is inside my head now, clear as if she were standing behind me.
I turn around. No one is there.
"You said that each stone has a power... what do you mean?" I ask.
"Exactly what you heard. There are dormant powers within the stones, which are unlocked when the right condition is met."
"And what is the condition?"
"The emotion that guides you. Anger, fear, sadness, doubt... any strong feeling can move a stone."
I look at the board.
The stones are still in their places. The white and the black.
But there is one stone that glows a different color, a black stone in the last row, resembling the king.
"And this?" I ask, reaching for it.
"That's the first stone to respond to your blood."
"And why?"
"Because it was born of your first desire... revenge."
I hold it between my fingers.
The stone is cold, heavier than it looks.
Suddenly, I hear my heart pounding, as if it's being pounded on the table.
The patch whispers:
"Try making a wish, Silver."
I close my eyes.
I remember the face of the man who pulled the trigger that night.
I murmur:
"If only I could see him one more time..."
Suddenly, the air is cold.
I open my eyes.
And there he is.
Standing by the café door, in the same clothes, his body as clean as if he'd never been killed.
I recoil quickly.
"This... is impossible!"
The patch chuckles softly:
"It's not life. It's a shadow of your memory."
I look at him. He doesn't speak, just stares at me with blank eyes.
I feel the anger return, like a fire igniting my chest.
I scream, "Disappear!"
In an instant, his body explodes into black ash, vaporizing into thin air.
I gasp, my hands trembling.
"What happened?"
"You activated the Black Stone. Its power is materialization... You can summon those who dwell in your memory."
"Does that mean I can raise the dead?"
"No, you don't raise anyone. You only summon the pain they left within you."
I sit on the ground, trying to process what I've heard.
"And can I use this power on others?"
"Yes, but you'll pay a price every time."
"What price?"
"A piece of yourself. Every time you use a stone, you lose a small part of yourself: a memory, a feeling, or perhaps a face you love."
I fall silent for a moment.
"And what happens when I lose everything?"
"Then the game is over."
I look at the board and say,
"And that's what you want, isn't it? For me to use the stones until I die?"
"I don't want anything, Silver. I'm just obeying the rules set for me."
I chuckle softly.
"Rules set by someone who disappeared."
"Disappeared because he understood the truth before everyone else."
"And what is it?"
"That a person doesn't need someone to kill them... they do it themselves, slowly, in the name of power, in the name of motivation."
I fall silent.
I feel her words falling into my head like rain.
My silent friend,
I think I'm beginning to understand something terrifying.
The more I use this board, the closer I get to it... and the further I get from myself.
I look at the black stone in my hand,
and say in a low voice,
"If the game has truly begun... perhaps I should learn how to win it."
The patch replies with an unseen smile:
"Then let's begin, Silver. Your next move."