The boy woke to the dull thump of his own beating heart. His head throbbed horribly and wasn't getting any better. Wincing as he got up from the floor he was lying on, he surveyed his surroundings with a note of confusion in his eyes. Every wall was painted black, including the concave ceiling over his head. "Now then..." he whispered, stepping away from the wall and spinning himself around in a 360, "Where am I?"

As if in answer, a hidden door flung wide open, silently beckoning for him to pass its threshold.

The boy took cautious steps toward the door, his sneakers barely making a hint of noise. When he walked through the door, it moved on its own, softly clicking shut.

The room before him left him wide-eyed. A large glass board stretched from one side to the other and likewise from the back to front to create the overall shape of a square. It was checkered in black and white. Glass pieces sat in neat rows, on one side transparent white and the other, a translucent black that seemed to swirl in a cloudy haze.

What was displayed before him was a game of chess.

A game of chess lacking the most vital piece of the game — the king.

An unfamiliar voice came from behind the boy, making him jump in surprise.

"Your reaction is different than the one I was expecting."

Turning, he found himself staring at the girl. There was something that flickered around her, making her overall appearance shift so that he felt like he wasn't looking at the same person. She couldn't be more than a year older than him, but he had a feeling that their ages were decades apart.

A tall but slender man stood beside the girl, his gloved fingers interlaced with hers. Underneath a long fringe of lashes were dark eyes directed towards her, soft and affectionate. The boy looked from him to the girl, registering the fading color on her cheeks.

"Did I perhaps interrupt something between the two of you?" He asked without thinking.

The girl opened her mouth to respond, crimson bleeding back into her face, but before she could, the man waved a hand in the air to dismiss the matter. His eyes were impassive as he unlaced his fingers from the girl's and took a step forward. "William Sullivan," he said, voice monotonous. "You do know how to play chess, correct?"

The boy — William — nodded, suspicion lingering in his mind. How did this man know his name?"And what about it?"

The man didn't answer his question. "You know the difference between life or death." This was more of a statement rather than a question, but William nodded again.

"Play the game and you'll know if you lie with death or life."

It was at this moment that he thought that something was awfully wrong with the entire scenario playing out in front of him. "What are you talking about? Is this some sort of a joke?"

The man studied him briefly before shaking his head — almost in pity. "Even I wish it were."

The response made shivers run down William's spine. "Who are you?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Eyes once again impassive, the man bowed curtly. "You may call me Death if you wish." He reached for the girl's hand and pulled her gently forward. "This is Camille."

Camille seemed to have collected herself, no longer flushed in embarrassment. Now, she wore a smile as she beckoned someone forward. "A game of chess cannot be played with just one player, can it?"

A boy, considerably younger than William himself, stepped out from behind the queen's piece of cloudy black and took his position as king.

William took this as a cue and walked the length of the wide room before stepping up as king of the white pieces. He looked at his opponent, offering a nervous smile. He still didn't know how this would play out. "I'm William. You?"

The young boy didn't return the smile. Instead, his icy eyes pierced William's. "Life."

The smile William wore cracked as he heard this, a sinking feeling of dread weighing down on him. However, he tried to not show this, settling into his usual chess face that was devoid of any expression. Although he didn't want to think of Death's words, his mind wandered to it anyways. A game of life and death? Since when did such dark fantasies decide to become true?

"Second pawn from the right up two spaces."

The loud voice filled the air, bouncing off the walls and reverberating in the air into an echo. William snapped out of his train of thoughts and blinked. A black pawn had moved up two spaces in Life's command. He pursed his lips, eyes darting to each of his pieces. How should he play this game like the millions he'd played? Should he pretend to know nothing of chess for the first few moves and allow the opponent to underestimate him? It was a strategy he used often... so why not use it now?

He took a deep breath before speaking. "Second pawn from the right up two spaces."

The younger boy's eyes flickered to the moving piece. He didn't seem surprised or curious at the same move. "Right knight to the third row, left."

The exchanges went on for a few more turns with nothing out of the ordinary happening until Life moved to capture William's pawn with his own. A sharp sting of pain made William's eyes widen as they flew to his arm. Crimson bled through a fine cut on his forearm, tracing bloody lines down his hand before breaking into a splatter on the chess board. "What..." He stared at the wound in shock.

Death's head came up sharply, realizing William's cut. His dark eyes traced the red lines, no emotion crossing his features. "Your life, William," He reminded, "Is in play."

Pressing his arm to his side, William strategized as his eyes swiveled from his pieces to Life's. Every time one of his pieces were captured, a new cut appeared on his arm. Although the pain was repetitive and painful, he would ignore it altogether, gritting his teeth to pull himself together.

However, Life didn't endure the suffering William went through. Yes, a piece of his would be taken away by William at times, but no cuts appeared on his body.

Seconds grew to minutes that grew to an hour. William found himself alone with only his queen. Cursing under his breath, he did all he could to avoid the final blow of a checkmate.

"Lone knight, capture the white queen." Life's voice was its usual level tone, eyes still emotionless.

When William's queen disappeared off the board and appeared at his opponent's side, a vicious cut sliced his wrist open. Gasping, William grabbed the hurt wrist with his other hand, shaking as blood seeped between his fingers. He was delirious now, the overwhelming pain and agony clouding his thoughts like poison.

It didn't take long for him to be cornered. Beaten.

"Checkmate." The voice was whispered, barely heard.

It was the last thing William heard before his seemingly promised death.

Death watched this quietly as Life took away William's existence.

The small boy had tears dripping off his chin by the time he finished his work. "He chose to take his own life at the end." He looked up at Death. "I thought... I thought that he would've stopped hurting himself, but by the time I captured his queen, he'd already inflicted such a wound onto himself. It was irreversible."

Death looked into Life's sad eyes, barely comprehending the emotions within. The was the first time he had seen such tears. "Why did you decide to participate in this game, Life?"

Life swiped a hand across his eyes, leaving the question unanswered. "You chose someone as the opponent for the games."

Death stood close to Camille. "Yes?"

"And you seem fond of her."

"I am."

Life nodded, his cheeks raw from tears and eyes red. "I approve. After all, she's already death." He turned, back facing Death. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be leaving. This scent of death is too much for me."

"You handled William's death well," Death said softly, "I know it always hurts you."

Life smiled weakly. "My gift to you."

Death nodded, watching as Life disappeared.

Camille gazed across the room where Life had left. "He couldn't sense that I was alive."

"I'm too close to you for him to pick that up, especially in the state he was in," Death explained, "You've been here for a few days now. The scent of death is overpowering to Life."

"Did William — " Her voice caught as she lowered it. "Did he actually die?"

Hesitating, Death sighed. "Yes. The game was to show whether or not he would take his own life. It confirmed that he would."

A hint of confusion touched Camille's eyes. "Why do we have the games?"

Death's eyes flickered to the floor. "That's a question I cannot answer."

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.