GAME OF THE CENTURY
by Lee Ivory
Game of the Century
Copyright 2011 by Lee Ivory
At Smashwords
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied, and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.
Preface
Never before have I attempted to understand the minds of the sick and twisted. Once you find out the true reason for someone’s crazy decision you regret knowing that, especially if you are at the end of it. When I met him and saw what he was doing, I couldn’t help but search through his mind. Even though it was disturbing, I hate to admit that it was sort of intriguing. Once he started to explain his game, I had no choice but to listen until the end. As soon as he was done, I had the feeling that I would have to participate, hopefully as the hunter. But, in the end, I was chosen to be the prey. So many thoughts rushed through my head at that time. The most profound being a way to get out of there without having to play. The second being doubt because of my location. In the end, I would have no choice. That was the thought that weighed heaviest on my mind. No one could anticipate the coming events that took place on those grounds, and no one could predict the mental anguish that something like that could do to a sane person’s mind. Ultimately, I learned that life has to be lived by the strong, because the weak will not prevail in the end.
Spencer Rainsford
Chapter 1
Outside of Spencer Rainsford’s house in Chattanooga, Tennessee, his friend, Walter, was impatiently waiting in the driver’s seat. He blew the horn several times to let him know. Once he saw that he would get no reply, he jumped out of the car and raced to the front door. He knocked repeatedly, but got no answer. Finally, he just opened the door and walked inside. In the entry of the home, there were numerous bags alongside the walls, about 7 suitcases. No one was downstairs, but he suddenly heard running footsteps upstairs.
“Dude, you need to hurry up. We have to get on the road,” yelled Walter.
“I’m coming,” replied a muffled voice from upstairs. Just then, Spencer was coming down the stairs with two duffle bags.
Walter is confused, “Why do you have all this stuff? We are only staying for a weekend.”
“You never know what you’re gonna need.”
“That’s why you buy things if you forget something.”
“I would rather not have to spend the extra money. Can you help,” Spencer asked as he pointed to the row of luggage. Walter grabbed as many suitcases as his hands and arms could carry. Spencer grabbed the remaining along with his two duffle bags and jammed them into the trunk and backseat of Walter’s car. At last, they were off on their long trip to Somerville, Tennessee to visit their families.
About five hours later, they were finally in their hometown, located in the center of Fayette County. They decided to visit Walter’s family first, who owned a farm on the outskirts of town. As they pulled into the long winding driveway, Walter could see the house. In his mind, a bunch of memories began to flood back of his childhood. As they pulled up in front of the house, his parents were standing on the porch waiting for them. He parked the car and hurriedly walked over to greet his parents.
His father said, “Good to see you,” as he hugged his son.
“I’m glad you made it here safe,” says his mother as she too hugged him.
Walter replies, “It feels good to be back home.”
Standing beside Walter, Spencer says, “How are you doing, Mr. and Mrs. Green,” as he shook both of their hands.
“We’re good,” she answers. “You two have to come around and visit more.”
Walter replies, “I promise, we will.”
“Well, there’s no point in standing around out here,” says Mr. Green. “Grab your bags and bring them upstairs.” Walter grabbed his two bags out the backseat and took them upstairs to his old room. When he came back down, his mother, father and Spencer were sitting in the living room catching up. So, he sat down with them.
About an hour later, their conversation wraps up and Spencer and Walter are back in the car.
“It was good talking with you guys,” says Spencer out the window to Mr. and Mrs. Green.
“You, too. We see you guys later,” his mom replied. Walter and Spencer waved as they drove away from the farmhouse. A few minutes down the street was Spencer’s house, where they were headed now. Spencer’s family doesn’t own a farm, but a nice sized home on a large patch of land surrounded by tall trees. Just like arriving at Walter’s house, Spencer’s parents were waiting on the porch for him. Spencer has an brother and younger sister, who were not present for the greeting. As soon as the car was parked, Spencer jumped out as did Walter and rushed to the porch. His parents were just as excited to see him as he was to see them. He gripped them both in a giant hug.
“Good to see you, too,” exclaimed Mrs. Rainsford, with a huge smile on her face.
His father says, “I can’t believe it’s been five years.”
“I know, right,” responds Spencer.
“Nice to see you again, Walter,” says his mother, as he waves to them.
Spencer asks nervously, “So, where are Janis and Reed?”
“They are inside,” Mr. Rainsford reassures. Just as he speaks the last word, Spencer races into the house. By the time everyone else has caught up, they find Spencer and his siblings in one big, giant hug.
“Took you long enough to come back,” says Reed.
Janis questions, “What was keeping you?”
Spencer replies, “Work,” as he quickly glances as Walter. Janis notices Walter standing behind and bolts over to hug him.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re here,” she exclaims.
Reed walks over to shake his hand. “You guys really have to come back around more. People are gonna forget you guys live here,” he jokes. After helping Spencer unload his bags out of the car into his old bedroom, everyone sat down for some catching up. About an hour later, Spencer and Walter decided to take a drive around their old hometown. As they were driving down the cracked back roads of Somerville, they noticed how their town has changed since they left five years ago.
“I can’t believe how much has changed in just five years,” said Walter.
Spencer replied, “I know right,” as he pointed out the window.
“It feels great to be out of the city for a while. I was kinda getting sick of it,” Walter announced.
“You aren’t the only one,” Spencer answered, “I’m thinking about moving back out here.”
Walter was surprised, “So was I. How about we just get a house together? It’ll be a lot cheaper for the both of us.”
“That’s a great idea.”
They continued on up the lengthy highways, which were oddly empty for that time of day when Walter interrupted the silence.
He spotted their old alma mater out the window and asked, “Do you remember when we were in high school?”
Spencer also noticed and replied, “Ugh, I try to forget about it. Those were not the best years of my life.”
“Come one, you can’t say you didn’t have a little fun,” Walter suggests. “You remember that week before prom when we let that cow loose in the school as our senior prank?”
Spencer reacts, “I remember all of us getting suspended for a week, after we had to clean up after that thing.”
“I also remember getting grounded for a month.”
“Exactly,” Spencer began sarcastically. “While everyone was out partying at the prom and after graduation, we were stuck in the house doing nothing.”
“I guess, in hindsight, the timing was wrong” said Walter.
“You think?”
As they turned a curve, Walter was still in memory lane mode and wasn’t paying attention to the road. Suddenly, a huge tanker truck was in his line of sight. All at once, all they could hear was the sound of crumpling metal, and the only thing they could feel was the force of the collision. In a flash, they both blacked out.
Chapter 2
Spencer woke up in a ditch about thirty minutes later. He was amazed that he only had a few cuts and scratches, but continued on. He hiked down the road to where the heap of metal that was once their car was sitting there in the middle. Though he clearly remembered them being hit by tanker, there was no sign of any other vehicle present. Off to the side he saw Walter lying there, not moving. So, he ran over to him, in a state of fright.
He began shaking him and started to sob, “Walter, wake up.”
A few minutes passed and nothing was working. He decided to call the police.
He glanced down at his phone and cried, “I can’t believe this, no bars.”
He looked around and instantly remembered the location he was in and began to jog around the curve to the high school. As he entered the parking lot, he noticed the many cars parked in the parking lot, some of which looked like they had been sitting there for an extensive period of time. The one thing he didn’t acknowledge was the large fence circling the grounds. Though he was reluctant to enter the place that caused him so much pain, he fought up some courage and burst through the royal blue front doors. He frantically ran into the main office. Strange enough, the office was completely empty.
“Hello! Is anybody in here?”
He saw a phone sitting on one of the desks behind the counter and ran a grabbed it. He began to dial when he heard that there was no dial tone. He slammed the phone down on the receiver and ran back into the hallway. He began to run down the hall, when he heard a voice coming from somewhere in the building. He listened and determined that it was coming from a room to his right. Right away, he realized that the room was the school’s cafeteria He burst through the doors and saw a man sitting at a table on the far left side. Just as he remembered, there were three rows of tables lined up all the way to the back of the room. And, to the left of the doors, there was a stage. On the right side, there was a large section of the wall that was completely made out of windows with a door in the middle leading outside. He hurried towards him, but was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a very large man, who seemed as if he came from nowhere.
“Oh, thank God you’re here,” Spencer began to plead as he regained his composure. “I need to use a phone, now.”
The big man just stood looking down on Spencer as if he heard nothing had said.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said I need to use a phone. I’ve got a friend dying out there!”
He suddenly heard a voice coming from the side, “He can’t hear you.” A large man, not as big as the previous, strode over to Spencer and began to speak, “Irving is a very big and strong man, but he has the hardship of being deaf and dumb. He doesn’t know how to speak. But, I take care of him.”
“Well, that explains a lot,” he replied as he glanced back at him.
“I’m so sorry,” the man interrupted, “my name is Greg Sanders. And you are?”
“My name is Spencer Rainsford and I need to call the police. We were in an accident and my friend is lying out there in the street dying.”
“That would explain your appearance.” Greg looked Spencer up and down and continued, “I’m sorry to tell you that there is nothing we can do for you friend --,”
“What! You can do something.”
“If you call the police, they won’t come. No one comes to this school anymore. That’s why Irving and I are the only two people around here.” He pointed to the large man signifying that he was Irving.
“There must be something you can do,” Spencer pleaded.
“I’m sorry. There is nothing we can do.”
Spencer looked as if the life was sucked out of his face. He sat down at one of the tables and began to weep for his dead friend.
Greg walked over to him and said, “Maybe some food would help. I’ll go to the kitchen and get you something.” He signaled to Irving and he followed him through one of the four doors at the back of the room that lead to the cafeteria kitchen. He returned with a plate of chicken and a bottle of water. He sat it down on the table in front of Spencer and said, “Eat this. It’ll make you feel better.”
Spencer began to eat his food, calmed down, and questioned, “What happened to the school?”
Greg explained, “After they built that other school on the other side of the county, everyone transferred out, and the building was left vacant.”
“You two don’t get lonely out here by yourself?”
“We can always choose to go out into the town, but I just decide to pass the time by hunting around the school.”
“You hunt,” Spencer asked surprised. “So do I. I live in the city, but I try to go out into the mountains sometimes. I have never hunted out this way, though.”
“I hunt all the wildlife out here. This is such a nice variety that I am always occupied. I am a passionate and great hunter, but I recently became kinda bored with it. There is no challenge anymore, seeing as I have hunted them all before. So, I invented a new type of game.”
Spencer was stunned, “You invented a new game? What kinda game is it?”
“Since the normal animal has become too easy to hunt, I had to invent a new one.”
“A new animal? You’re kidding me, right? How does one invent a new animal?”
“No, I’m absolutely serious. I needed a new animal and I found one. And, I stayed at this school because it is big and offers a variety of places for hiding.”
“What about the animal,” asked Spencer as he noticed Greg getting off subject.
“This animal supplies me with the most exciting hunting I’ve had in a long time. Everyday, I hunt and I never get bored, now.”
Spencer was starting to get bored with the conversation, “Can you just tell me what the animal is?”
“I wanted an animal that had courage, cunning, and most of all, reason,” Greg explained.
“Reason? There isn’t such a thing as an animal that can reason,” Spencer accused.
“You would be surprised to find that there is.”
“I know you aren’t talking about--,“
“Yes, I am,” Greg interrupted as he heard the understanding in Spencer’s voice.
Greg got up and signaled Irving to follow him. Spencer pushed away his plate and followed them into the hallway. They began to walk the empty hallways of the school.
“Why would you do something like that? Do you not have a conscience,” Spencer questioned Greg.
“Sure, I do, but that does not mean that I can’t do what I do. I love hunting and I had to do something to take away my boredom,” said Greg.
“You are killing innocent people to cure your boredom. In what world does that justify a conscience,” yelled Spencer.
“You’ll change your mind when you go hunting with me. It’ll be the greatest thing you’ll ever experience,” suggested Greg.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. I like hunting animals. I don’t murder people.”
“Please don’t use that word. I look at it as a pleasure for me. Life is for and to be lived by the strong. The weak are put here for the pleasure of the strong. I am strong and I wish to hunt the weak,” Greg explained.
“But all the men you come up against aren’t weak.”
“That’s exactly why I hunt men. They are more of a challenge. They learn faster and adapt quicker to a situation.”
“But where do you get them?”
“How did you get here?”
“I was in a wreck--,” Spencer broke off.
“Exactly! I staged that wreck.”
“Does that mean that I am gonna be hunted, too,” Spencer inquired.
“Not necessarily. I already have a few men locked up in reserve.”
“How does this hunt work?”
“It’s really more of a game. I tell one of them that we are going hunting. They know what I mean when I say ‘hunt.’ I give him a weapon and a three hour head start. When they are up I go out after him. If he avoids me for three days, he wins and is free. Those are the basic rules,” Greg clarified.
“But what if he refuses?”
“He has the choice. If he chooses not to I turn him over to Irving. He has his own ideas of hunting. So, eventually they choose to hunt. Besides, the entire perimeter is surrounded by an electric fence.”
“What fence,” asked Spencer. As they reached the end of the hallway, they stood in front of a large window looking out onto the backside of the school.
Greg pointed to a section of fence and said, “That fence has so much power being pumped through it that a slight touch could cause anything to become immobilized. So, I would think twice about trying to escape.”
As Spencer pondered this he asks, “Has anyone ever made it out, alive?”
Greg smiled a huge smile, “As of today no one has beaten me. There was one that had almost won, but I outsmarted him. He had the game going for about two days.” He looked at Spencer and saw that he looked nauseated. “Are you okay?”
“I just need to rest for a second.”
“If you need to rest, there is a cot in the nurse’s office in the main hallway. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes, I do. Thank you,” Spencer replied as he hurried down the hallway.
“Rest up,” Greg yelled, “because you’ll need all the sleep you can get for our game.”
Spencer hurried into the nurse’s office and lay down on the cot and began thinking about his strategy. In a matter of minutes, he was asleep.
Chapter 3
Spencer woke up and went into the cafeteria where he found Greg and Irving sitting at the same table eating breakfast. He paced over to them in a determined manner.
He sat down in front of Greg and demanded, “Greg, I want to leave, now.”
Greg looked up at him surprised, “You haven’t been here that long. You haven’t even hunted, yet.”
“Well, too bad. I want to go, now,” Spencer yelled.
“Okay, later today, we will hunt, just you and I.”
“No, Greg,” Spencer commanded slamming his fist down on the table, “I am not hunting with you.”
Greg humped his shoulders and said, “Fine. But, may I suggest that you will find my game more merciful than Irving’s.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Decipher it in your own way, but you will play. This will be one of the greatest and most challenging games, yet. Your strong will against my strong mind and hunting abilities.”
“And if I win?”
“If you win, I will guarantee that you will be safely escorted off this land.” Spencer looked doubtful and Greg answered, “You can trust me. But, you must agree to not say anything about this if you do get out.”
“I promise not to say anything to anybody,” lies Spencer with his most compelling and earnest face.
“Okay, Irving will supply you with the proper tools. When you go out, I suggest that you avoid the staircase entrance at the end of the hall on the west. As soon as he gives you all of your tools, the game begins. You are free to hide anywhere on the land or in the school.”
Spencer went back to the nurse’s office to think.
* * *
A few hours passed and Irving came into the room with a bag of food, what looked like a hunting knife, and a bag of tools. Spencer looked into the bag and saw a hammer, some nails, some rope, and a few other tools that could be of use to him. As soon as Irving was out of sight, Spencer darted down the hallway to the left of the office. He decided that the best idea was to confuse Greg. So, he ran downstairs using the stairs that were located on the left side of the gym. He purposely dropped crumbs of food in different directions to throw Greg off. As soon as he was done he ran into the massive gymnasium. On both sides, there were a large set of blue and brown bleachers with open sides. Spencer took advantage of this opportunity and decided to hide underneath the set on the right side.
A few hours passed and he finally heard signs of Greg. He heard him walking on top of the bleachers. Spencer tried his best to hold his breath. When he heard that the steps had stopped he had the impulse to run, but suddenly he heard them again.
Greg was standing unpleased on top of the bleacher. Out loud he said, “Maybe I have chosen a weak prey. It seems as though he has made an obvious mistake that most also make.” He laughed to himself.
Spencer heard the footsteps fade into the distance and let out a gust of wind. He thought for sure that Greg was going to catch him, seeing as he knew where he was. He decided that it was safe to go out and he continued on with the game. He peeked into the hallway and saw that Greg was nowhere to be found. He walked a short distance down the hall and turned into a small area that led to the school’s band room. He began to set up some sort of trap for Greg.
* * *
Spencer was asleep in one of the four small rooms located in the back of the band room. He was dreaming about his family. Like him, they two were trapped inside the school being hunted by Greg. Greg caught and killed everyone in his family, but when he was just about to kill him, he woke up. He heard footsteps approaching and sneaked over to one of the small windows in the tiny room. Greg was so intent on finding Spencer that he accidently stepped on the trigger to the trap that Spencer set up. He sensed his danger and quickly leapt backward, but it was too late. A chair struck him on the shoulder. He swayed, but did not fall, or drop his weapon from his hand.
“Spencer, if you are can hear me, I want to congratulate you. Not many men have the ability or sense to use traps. You are becoming quite the target, Mr. Rainsford. Now, I am going to attend to my shoulder, but I promise to come back.”
Spencer saw Greg leave and as soon as he was out of sight, he sprinted for an exit. He chose another door in the room, which led outside of the school. Spencer searched the back of the school for any usable materials, but found none. He then ran up one of the outside staircases on the backside of the gym and back into the school. When he entered, he was standing on a balcony of the upstairs portion of the gym. Over the railing he saw Greg and Irving hunting downstairs. He quickly jumped down and began to crawl to the doors at the front of the gym’s upper floor. He opened the door, which let out a loud creaking noise. This signaled Greg and Irving, who began sprinting towards a staircase to get upstairs.
Without thinking, Spencer got up and began to run. He proceeded, hurriedly, to the cafeteria where he set up another trap. He then ran for the door at the back of the cafeteria. This door led to another hall that wrapped around to some small classrooms. He bolted out the door and hid there. He heard a loud inarticulate scream and peeked back in. He saw Irving lying there on the ground with Greg looking over him. Spencer thought to himself that though his target was Greg, one is better than two. He then ran off and hid for the rest of the day. Greg was getting tired and decided to end the game for the day.
Chapter 4
Spencer woke up that afternoon in a janitor’s closet. He peeked out and saw no sign of Greg and decided to go out. He was walking down the hall on the west side of the building when he heard footsteps on the east side. Suddenly, he began to run to the end of the hall, which led him to another stairwell. He entered into the stairwell and skipped down the steps quickly. Greg heard the doors slam shut and hurried after him. It wasn’t until Spencer got to the bottom of the stairs that he realized what Greg had warned him about. He wondered what he was talking about.
He quickly found the answer to his question. On the bottom floor he pressed down on the bar trigger of the door but nothing happened. The door was immovable. Suddenly he heard the sound of the door upstairs opening. It did not close. Spencer looked over and saw that that the staircase had no underside and hid under it.
Suddenly, Greg shouted, “I know you are down there. There is no escape for you. Just come out and face reality. You lost the game.” There was no response, and finally Greg left. He left the door open to ensure that Spencer could get out.
Spencer began to panic. He did not know if he should just go out or if he should stay. He decided to stay in there for a few hours. Hopefully, Greg would get tired of waiting for him and end the game.
A few hours passed and Spencer crept up the stairs to the door. He was hoping that Greg was not standing out there. He slowly opened the door and peeked out. To his amazement, Greg was gone. He crept out into the hallway. He tiptoed down the hall to the cafeteria. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He decided that the best idea was to go around to the side of the cafeteria that had the windows.
So, he tiptoed out of the front door to the side of the cafeteria and peeked in. Not surprised, he saw Greg sitting at the table eating. He saw that he was not armed and decided to knock on the window. Greg looked around and saw him. He quickly got up and ran to the door and let him in.
“I have to say you are quite the challenge, Mr. Rainsford. Unfortunately, they all lose.”
Spencer did not respond to his coming demise but said, “Here’s the deal. You never caught me, and that means that you didn’t win, yet. So, we are gonna fight to the death.” Spencer took out his knife and held it out ready to fight.
Greg was surprised. He did not have a weapon on him at the time. He had never been so vulnerable a day in his entire life. Though he slowly stepped backwards, he put on a brave face, showing Spencer that he was not scared. Out of the blue, Spencer ran up on him and stabbed him in the stomach, taking Greg by surprise. Greg fell to the floor holding his wound. Blood gushed out all over the floor.
Spencer stooped down beside the bewildered Greg, “Before you die, you are gonna tell me where the cutoff switch is for the fence.”
Greg raised his finger and murmured, “It’s on the wall behind the stage.”
“Thanks, a lot.” He raised up the knife and stabbed Greg in the chest through to his heart. Greg took his last breath and died. He left the knife in his chest and walked over and found the switch to turn off the fence.
Spencer walked out of the building a stronger man. He thought of himself as a beast, but nevertheless stronger. Greg’s words echoed in Spencer’s mind: Life is for and to be lived by the strong. The weak are put here for the pleasure of the strong. I am strong and I wish to hunt to weak. A smile then spread across his face.
Epilogue
It’s been a year since the incident. It came as a shock to a lot of people, and it helped solve many missing persons’ cases at the police department. Once they invaded the school, the men that were trapped there, were released to their families. Because the town didn’t want the school to be remembered for such grotesque events, they decided to bulldoze the entire thing. I was kinda happy. At least I knew that the monster that terrorized me had gone down with it. Even though I went through so much, I still decided to move back home with my family. I continue to have nightmares about my traumatic experience as anyone would if put into a situation like that. I could only imagine the lives of those men who were freed, who never knew if they would ever get to see their families again. I still miss Walter, but in the end, he has moved on to a better. So, I must move on with my life, too. Though he devastated so many lives, I can’t help but to hear that infamous sentence over and over again in my mind. At the end of the day, I learned that I, along with everyone else, resided in the population of the strong. Only the people who think like him are the weak.
Spencer Rainsford
###
Connect With Me Online:
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/loirhyme2010
Discover other titles by Lee Ivory
At Smashwords.com:
A Very Wimpy Kid: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65932
Murder in Mo-Town: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/71563