The board game

• ALTERNATE START -

Aaron, Ben, Camilla and John got off the bus. They were all 18 and were in the same class. About twice a week after school they'd hang out in Camilla's house, since she was the rich cool girl with absent parents and way too many gaming consoles.

"So your parents really just went to Australia again?" Aaron asked. "I thought they'd only come back from Singapore last week."

"Yeah," Camilla said. "You get used to it."

You definitely get used to it, John thought. He had a crush on Camilla once, and he was pretty sure Aaron did too, at least a little. She was stunningly beautiful, and always wore a mix of expensive jewellery and rugged rebel-fashion in a way that complemented one another. Her many piercings and tattoos added to her already cool, sophisticated look. But she was a lesbian. John eventually got used to it, though it took a while, and they remained good friends over their many afternoon sessions of COD on her Playstation.

Today was different. As they entered Camilla's living room small board game stood on the 3 metre wide dining table.

"Hm? What's this?" Camilla said, and went over to have a closer look.

"Something your parents left you?" John said.

She gave a small quick laugh as if he said the most ridiculous thing. "No," she retorted. "They left a few days ago. This wasn't here yesterday. Maybe it was the maid, she does her rounds on Wednesdays."

That didn't sound very likely. They huddled around the game, a small squarish type with dice and two stacks of cards on the side. Four small pieces - they looked like chess pawns - stood at the corner square, one of red, green, yellow and blue.

"Where are the instructions?" Ben said, as he picked up the dice and threw them. It landed a 4. "Maybe we can play this thing"

"Really? It looks boring," Aaron countered. "I want to get back to Halo." The last thing he expected was for the green chess piece to start moving on its own. "Whoa, shit! It's moving!"

"It must be magnetic or something," Ben said. A card from the first deck then flew in front of him, as if it was meant for him.

He looked hesitant for a second. He looked at his friends, all of which had no idea what to make of the situation either, except Aaron, who was finding all this amusing. "Pick it up bro, I want to see." Aaron bickered.

Ben slowly curved the edge of the card, then flipped it over.

BLESSING: + ATTRACTIVENESS

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

You are now twice as good-looking as before. Stay handsome, soldier!

"Whoa, Ben!" John gasped, before the others did the same. Ben wasn't himself anymore. They still knew it was him, but he was... he went from looking like a nerdy-studious kid to the school's hottest nerd. His hair was now trimmed short perfectly, his jawline accentuated and his cheekbones prominent.

"No fucking way!" Aaron yelled.

"Really? Anyone got a mirror?" Ben said, in his usual calm tone. They got him a mirror, and he checked himself out, and seemed pleased with himself.

"This is magic!" Aaron said, and attempted to pick up the deck of cards but they seemed glued onto the table with an impossibly strong ****. "Fuck it - I'm next," Aaron yelled, and threw the dice.

The blue pawn moved 3 spaces. A card flew to him, which he picked up with delight.

BLESSING: + ATHLETICISM

"It is health that is real wealth. Not pieces of gold or silver."

You are now a peak athlete, in form and physique. You're healthier, stronger, and have stamina of an Olympian.

Just like that, Aaron's body grew to be as fit as the ones in commercials. He was already pretty fit before, but this just got him that perfect body that every man wanted.

"Rad! Whooo!" he hollered, while doing some bodybuilder poses.

"Do you want to go next?" John asked Camilla.

Camilla nodded, smiling as John passed her the dice.

Her yellow pawn moved a 3.

BINDING CURSE: ILLEGAL ORGASMS!

"Short is the joy that guilty pleasure brings."

You must not orgasm until the end of the game. Otherwise, you will never orgasm again.

Camilla put down the card in shock.

"What the hell?" Aaron said. "That's nuts. Why would they even give you something like that?"

"I don't know! What the fuck is this game!" Camilla cried.

The three had never discussed about anything sexual with Camilla before - she just shut it down every time. So now it was kind of awkward to bring anything up. They took a minute before John started again, "okay, it's no big deal. It doesn't seem too hard to achieve, anyway."

"Right," Camilla said. "I know. It's just kind of weird."

Now it was John's turn. He hesitated before he threw the dice. They've seen that good things can happen, but what about bad ones?

"What's wrong, John?" Aaron said.

"Nothing," John said. "It's just... it could be dangerous. Like what if I turn into a turtle or something?"

"Pfft! Haha!" Aaron laughed.

"Well, I don't think they'll have something like that. It kind of defeats the purpose if the game turns everyone into turtles that can't actually play, doesn't it?" Ben said.

John clenched the dice in his hands. "Well, that makes sense." He looked over the Camilla, who was silent. He knew she would need the game to end. How many squares were there? 100. There were 100 squares. Though it seemed there were some sort of links from one square to another like snakes-and-ladders, and various different styles of a square he didn't know the meaning of.

He rolled the dice. It went a 7.

A card flew to his side.