Pawn

Austin woke up standing, stark still, staring into a dusky horizon. He was in a dark field with individual blades of grass each around eight feet tall which gave Austin an unfamiliar feeling of being small. The grass was all around him except for the small clearing he was in. Austin felt a pain in his hand. He looked down and saw he was gripping a sword. Without warning, a figure in a full metal suit attacked. Austin gave two lucky panic blocks, one on the left and one on the right. 

Austin tried to shout, “Stop!” but his throat could produce no voice. Questions ran through Austin’s mind: What’s happening? Who is this person? Where am I? How did I get here? The figure gave Austin no time to do anything other than defend. Austin ducked but a metal boot to his knee laid him onto the ground. Think, Austin, think! Is there a way you can reason with this man? How did you get here? Remember anything you can. 

He remembered going to school that morning. It had been a cold winter morning. Thankfully, there was no wind. He saw his friend Colin before class and they texted each other from their separate math classes. They met up again for lunch, but from there, Austin could not remember anything.  

Think, damnit! 

Austin’s eyes adjusted and he could see the dark attacker a little clearer now. It was in a metal suit whiter than classical knights but nonetheless it is in a knight’s suit.  Its head was cloaked in darkness still.

Austin tried to think again of the morning.  Colin had gone over to another table at lunch with some other friends to talk to the gamers.  “Gamer nerds,” they were called by most of the students. Colin smiled and laughed easily with them as they talked about video games. Then things had changed. Colin knew what each of them were insecure about and exploited it like Alex’s weight and Nathan’s nose. Even Derek, whose insecurities no one really knew, was easy prey for Colin. Austin did have some things on Derek. He saw him shove the crippled girl. And there was that time he ran over that bunny. Austin ignored the bullying. Derek did not seem to mind. He just stared blankly at Colin.

Austin got up and stepped back. He tried to scream but his throat produced nothing but a weak and quiet croak. The knight continued forward. His sword was heavy but the knight’s sword looked like it weighed twice as much. Austin desperately blocked the swipes which are becoming increasingly more exhausting to block. The next blow could kill him. 

But why? Why is he hurting me?

The knight was strong and swift.  He was a warrior, unwinded, patiently wearing out the weaker opponent.  It was easy.  

Austin could not help but panic.  His mind raced into memories still trying to make sense of his situation. 

He remembered a boy named Ricky in middle school. Now, that was a real bully. He had really kicked Derek’s ass. Derek used to cry about it. Austin would watch along with everyone else. No one did anything. No one told on Ricky. That is until Ricky turned his attention to someone else. Ricky liked Ashley like most of the boys in class. But Ashley along with most of the girls in class liked Austin because he was nice and handsome. One of the girls left Austin an unsigned love note that Ricky had found in his math book then proceeded to find Austin at lunch and attack him. Ricky broke Austin’s arm. Ricky got expelled because Austin was too popular to be bullied. 

The knight swung down three hard times and left Austin crouching. Anticipating the next blow, Austin rolled away. The ground was marble. It’s dirty, and large blades of  grass grow in between the square tiles. He looked up. The knight was advancing again. Austin looked back at the ground. Black marble tiles, then white tiles, then black. It looked like his grandfather’s checkerboard. 

Colin had walked away from the “Gamer Nerds” table and had said terrible things just loud enough for Austin to hear. Austin cringed at his insults and knew that students nearby could hear Colin too and thought of him as the worst sort of bully.   

Austin had always thought that he was doing Colin a favor by not telling him that others think he’s a mean-spirited bully. Colin complained loudly to cover, “Ugh, I can’t believe we already have another test today. Give us some fucking time to read the book! Am I right? Damn Mrs. S is an asshole.”   

Austin was not even sure what book Colin was referring to since Colin did not bother to study,  Colin continued, “God! Derek looks so fucking creepy. He seriously looks like he is going to shoot up the school.” Austin could see Derek’s reflection in the stainless steel colonnades around the lunchroom tables. His cowlick stuck straight up.  His image was asymmetrical, but Austin recognized the glower. Derek is a little unstable. 

Austin looked up. A change of plans. Go on the offensive. Austin swung wildly but his blow was blocked easily. He made a decisive thrust but was evaded. The knight punched Austin’s face so hard it knocked two tiles back. 

Austin had often let Colin cheat off of him in junior high.  It was probably the only reason Colin was still in school. Austin thought he would start trying a little harder now in high school. Despite all of the help Austin gave, Colin never seemed to appreciate it. Austin was numb to him. 

He remembered one afternoon talking to Derek. He remembered it was the first time he had seen Derek smile in some time. He was going on about how when people are dying their brains release a chemical making them basically dream while they are dying. The Ashley called him a freak and his smile faded and his face became bright red.

Austin got up and started to run back to the fight but stopped. It finally occurred to him that he could run away. 

Why did it take me so long? 

He tried running through some of the tall grass but it would not move. It is not hard but his muscles do not want to work against it. He turned around. The knight lunged at him.  Austin barely moved out of his path in time. The sword tore through his shirt beneath the armpit. The knight withdrew the sword. Free to move, Austin only tripped over his own feet. He looked at the knight who walked towards him. Austin cringed and crawled away in horror.

He did not remember much of what Derek had said after that and Ashley and Colin had left that conversation almost mid-sentence being bored. Austin followed. 

The knight crept closer. Austin’s eyes were finally adjusted, but there was something else not right. The knight’s helmet was not a helmet. It was a large headpiece with a big round base where the head should be. It rose decreasing gradually in circumference and out again to a sphere on top.

The final period of that cold winter’s day had been dull.  Another worksheet, fill in the blank. Colin wadded his up and tossed it at the back of Derek’s head.  The gray sky did nothing to dispel the boredom of class.   Austin tried to remember what it was they had talked about.  A party? Ashely’s scholarship? Colin’s dream car?  Maybe it had been their plans after high school.  What will they be? What was Austin going to be? He could not decide between a future as a lawyer or life as a professional football player. He dreamed of a full-ride scholarship to USC.

Austin got up. He did not want to die. He unfolded from the crouch and threw himself furiously at the figure moving in for the kill.  He swung his own sword wildly, hacking and slashing with every ounce of strength he could muster. The figure blocked and blocked, then countered. Austin narrowly dodged. Austin stepped back and for a brief moment really looked at his enemy. His mind was unable to comprehend what it saw.  This was not a human. The headpiece does not make biological sense. There is no mouth, no nose, no eyes.

Austin had joined in as Colin whispered insults and threw broken pencil pieces at the back of Derek’s head. 

Ashley added, “He’s so ugly he should die.” Before long, she and her friends were talking about nail polish.

 Austin ignored them and did the busy work. Derek did not look well that day. Derek used to be more fun when we were young. We were buddies, We used to play catch. Austin tried to get Derek to join football with him but Derek refused. He remembered that he had joined the football team so he could be a leader, maybe be somebody to look up to. 

I don’t know what happened to me. 

The figure did not wait for Austin to catch his breath. He struck again and Austin lost ground. He tried to counter with swipes at the top of the headpiece but it merely made him vulnerable to a smack to the face with the hilt, a left jab to the stomach, and a kick in the shin.

Think, Austin. You need a plan, a play. “Think smart,” Coach always says.  

He ran into the open.  He felt secure with his athletic body.  He planted his feet strongly on solid ground. The figure moved towards him. Austin found that he can more easily block his opponent when he looks at his hands rather than the sword.  He struggled to anticipate the knight’s moves before he made them.  The knight was large and while quick was now seemingly more predictable.  Austin blocked and hacked at the figure, but he found he cannot compete with the speed and was growing increasingly tired. A punch fell him harder than ever before. He was knocked several feet back and onto the ground. The sword fell by his side.

What else had happened that day? He did not do too much really.  He remembered that he hung out with Ashley right after school then Colin later in the afternoon.  He had eaten dinner then gone to bed. What else? What else? Remember! 

Derek had not talked to him during dinner. Austin tried to talk to him, “Hey, everything okay? Do you know what time Mom and Dad are getting back? Want to watch a movie?” Nothing. Austin finished dinner alone and went to bed.

The figure walked slowly towards him. Austin knew the knight intends to stab him through the heart this time. Why?!! The figure stabbed forward, but Austin’s sword deflected the stab into his shoulder. He screamed in pain. A real scream. A scream that echoed in the air. The figure swung its large metal foot around and kicked Austin in the head. 

Austin remembered being woken up.  His bed was soaked with sweat.  He was terrified. His chest was wet. There was a shadow in his doorway. It walked toward him. In one hand was a large shadow. As he got closer the shadow in its hand became clear. It was Colin’s head! The shadow raised a knife but before he could swing his arm or duck to the left to defend himself, the figure stabbed him and…  

Was he in the marble field or was he in bed? Which one was real? Austin realized that the field must be a dream. His body was only imagining this pain. He scurried away. He found he hardly had the strength to stand back up. Wait! If this is a dream, then is the other thing real? No, it cannot be. Who is in my room?

He looked at the figure. The figure was not done with him. It dawned on him now that this figure was not a knight with a strange headpiece. The headpiece was a chess pawn. It was a humanized pawn. 

Thoughts echoed in his head. Derek’s words about when the body dies, the brain releases a chemical that makes a person dream.   

Maybe that’s what this is. The dream before death. Am I dead? He looked at the pawn as if it would answer him. Not dead but dying. 

But why? It did not feel true, but Austin accepted that either he was really here or he was lying there bloody and poked full of holes in his bed while the last synapses in his brain fired and his heart came to a halt. Maybe death here will hopefully speed up the process. 

He swung at the pawn a few times but was blocked.  Then the sword pierced his abdomen. He looked down at his bloody shirt. 

This is too painful. Get it over with.

 He moved a few inches back without falling.  He looked at the pawn,  

Just finish this. 

The pawn withdrew the sword from his abdomen and then drove it into his heart. 

Suddenly, the figure in his room was clear. Derek was standing above him with a knife in hand. But why? It had always been Colin and Ashley who degraded him. Austin felt no responsibility for his brother’s safety.

Death did not come to Austin, not immediately. His body fell limp and the pawn let him slide off the sword. He landed on his back and the pawn dragged him away. The pawn leaned him against the grass. Austin could not move. He watched the other chess pieces come and he watched them play. Like Austin and Derek used to do.