Hellion’s Circle By Madeline Rose Comstock Rules of the Game 1. Once a player enters the game they cannot forfeit… 2. Six players must enter the game, no more, no less… 3. All players must wear a mask of their own design… 4. Players must never speak their name, especially to a demon… 5. There can only be one winner… Gold Digger Greed- Excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possession… Wealth was all Anita could think about; she wanted nothing more then to be rich. Being rich meant power, it was what made the world go around, and with money she could do anything she wanted and no one could touch her. It was an obsession that consumed her every thought. No, she was beyond obsessed. It ruled her very being. She never did anything for anyone unless she got something out of it. The obsession started when she was very young. She came from a family with six siblings and they were as poor as poor could be. Their home was barely livable for three people and she had to share it with seven. Anita was the fifth child born and no one really paid much attention to her. All accept her younger brother, Jacob. He was a year younger than her. Her next sibling above her was four years older. Anita related better to Jacob then any of her other brothers and sisters because of how close in age they were. They bonded well and she never let him out of her sight. She took him everywhere she went. Since her mother was never around to offer love, Anita took care of him. Jacob looked to Anita for everything, following her around like a loyal dog. In Anita’s early childhood she watched her life go by without realizing just how poor she was. She just figured this was the way it was and everyone was just like her family. Until one day when she was eight she went on a long walk with Jacob through the city. She didn’t know where she was going she just kept walking. She wanted to see something new. She got the shock of a lifetime when she left her small neighborhood. She came across a whole new world. A world filled with people who wore clothes that weren’t torn and tattered. These people were clean and well kept. They looked very different from Anita who was small, skinny from lack of food, sickly and pale. The people here looked fat, sun-kissed and all full of health. The houses were as big as mountains to Anita. The streets were clean; no filth to be seen. It was like a slap to the face for Anita. She had always assumed everyone looked and lived like she did. She walked slowly through the streets feeling a strange anger burning in her belly. She felt like she had been cheated out of something. She wasn’t really sure who she was mad at. She wasn’t mad at her mother because she knew she worked hard for her family. Perhaps she doesn’t know about this either Anita thought. Anita kept a good hold of Jacobs hand as she continued to explore the new place. There was so much here her brain was overloaded with all the things to see. They walked down one street that had market carts along both sides of it. All the food was so beautiful Anita didn’t know if it was truly real. She had never seen so much food all in one place before. She couldn’t get enough. Her brother walked beside her, also in full awe. He kept pointing at everything demanding to know what it all was. He had so many questions, questions Anita had no answers for. They turned one corner and ran into a very large man. He was so big Anita bounced off of him, yanking Jacob with her, who fell to the ground. Anita immediately jumped forwards to help him. She checked to make sure Jacob was alright before she took a good look at the man. He looked like a giant to Anita. He was so tall and his belly so big she wondered how his legs could handle the weight. He wore glasses and possessed a thick mustache on his upper lip. “I’m sorry.” Anita said stepping back, holding tightly to Jacob. The man smiled. “No harm done. It was my fault; I didn’t see you down there. You’re not from around here are you?” Anita felt her heart quicken. Was he going call the police on them? Slowly she nodded her head, taking a step back. She was going to get ready to run if she needed to. She reached over and took a hold of her brother’s hand again. The stranger’s smile was warm as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of gold coins, giving them to Anita. The coins felt heavy and odd in her skinny hands. “Go buy you and your little brother something to eat. You two look half- starved.” He walked around them and continued on his way. As Anita looked at the coins she felt something click in her brain. She didn’t have to be poor. That was the turning point in Anita’s life where the obsession began. She wanted more. Anita visited the wealthy part of the city more and more till it came to the point she started finding safe places to sleep on the street so she never had to leave. She took Jacob with her whenever she went. They started out just begging for money and people gave it to them. As they grew older they had to change their tactics. People would pity children but not teenagers. At age fifteen Anita’s life of crime started, and Jacob became her accomplice. They started small by pick pocketing in heavily crowded places. They made a fair amount of money this way, enough to buy a place of their own away from their home, and closer to the rich part of the city. That still wasn’t enough for Anita; she didn’t want to just live comfortably. She wanted a life of luxury where she never had to worry about anything again. She wanted money, servants, and a house as big as a mountain. It wasn’t long before she heard that the seven years were coming to an end and the game would begin again. The game that could and would change the life of anyone who won. When she first heard the game was going to begin again she had two years to prepare. Anita spent those two years training herself for all sorts of battle situations. She wanted to win so badly and she would do anything to get the wealth she wanted. The day the gate was to open Anita arrived early. A large courtyard stood before the gate that would open once there were enough players. The courtyard was ill-kept with dead vines crawling up the walls. The stone flooring lay uneven and covered in patches of moss. Small, stone benches stood about in odd places. A large fountain that had long since dried up stood in the center of the area. Anita walked around it to get to the gate and examined it. It was also covered in vines. She tore a few of them down to get a good look at it. It was engraved with detailed symbols she didn’t understand. To the left of the gate was a gold plate with the rules of the game inscribed into it. In the two years Anita had trained she had also studied. She examined the rules in every way she could so she followed them exactly, making sure there was no hidden meaning in them. She never found any because the rules were so simple; almost too simple for a game that had so many risks and complications. One of the rules stated that she needed to wear a mask. She created a mask that was shaped like the face of a fox. She also wore simple brown pants and a white shirt. They were made of light material so she could move easily. She wore a belt around her waist that held several knives around her lower back and a holster for her gun. She had no idea what she was going to face and wanted to be prepared in any way possible. According to the rules the gate was not going to open till five more players arrived so she moved to one of the benches and sat down. As the morning crept by other players started appearing. Anita studied each one of them closely as they arrived. She didn’t speak to any of them because one of the rules was to never reveal your name. She didn’t want to make any mistakes before the game even began. The first player to appear after Anita was a tall man who looked like he was in good shape but humble about it. He wore jeans and a black tee shirt. He was carrying no weapons. It made Anita a bit suspicious for a moment that he may know something she didn’t. She didn’t dare talk to him though. His mask was designed like a dog’s face. She could see he had blond hair because it hung slightly long around his neck. He spotted her and merely gave her nod before sitting on another bench.