For Carson Bradley, Stiles Stilinski, and Scott McCall, they were used to having a Plan B. This time, however, they were merely pawns in a far more deadly game.
(season 3, book 3)
(no longer updating)
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PROLOGUE ❝CHECKMATE❞
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Everything in the small town of Beacon Hills was in ruins.
If there was an easy way to explain how a group of misfit teenagers got to their current position, you would be given that. But there never was an easy explanation, was there?
Everything started that night before the beginning of sophomore year, when Stiles Stilinski dragged his two friends, Scott McCall and Carson Bradley, out into the woods. That was the catalyst, the game changer.
That's what turned their world into a mass of ruins.
One way it can be described would be talking about their lives as if it were a game of chess. Chess, because their battle was not just one of brawn. It was more of a mental battle, one of wits and strategy. To win at chess, you have to make very careful and precise moves. You have to be tens steps ahead of your opponent, knowing every possible move they can make and how you can counteract it. You have to make sure that your strongest players are protected. In a game of chess, that would the queen. Technically, the purpose of chess was to protect the king. But the king also happens to be the weakest piece on the board.
Now, our tale's main character would be Carson Bradley. And I wish I could say that she was the most important person. That Carson was the queen in the game. But, that would be a lie.
A little over a year ago, she might have been the queen. She was popular, royalty in her own right amongst the halls of Beacon Hills High. She had a vast majority of friends, she went to the best parties and she could probably have her pick of the lacrosse players. From a popularity standpoint, she was the queen on the board. No doubt about it.
But in the middle of sophomore year, roles began shifting and power was being distributed elsewhere. But it was a necessary thing and everything balanced out evenly. Things were still okay in Beacon Hills. Everyone she knew who was involved in the supernatural still had a purpose on their board.
Then summer came and went and everything started changing once again. Things were different now. Carson and her friends, they went from being the kings and the lion hearts to being weak and useless. Helpless without power. They were subjected to cowering in the corner, waiting for the opponent to make their next deadly move.
Because there's a new contender in Beacon Hills now. A new enemy who was lining up attacks on the board faster than they can handle. A contender who was sacrificing everyone at their whim. For everyone else, life has become a nightmare. They didn't know who this deadly foe was or what they wanted. They had just merely become pawns in a much more deadly game.
But the thing about chess, the reason it was so alike to their lives right now, was because the power can shift. Just because you were powerful didn't mean that you couldn't be captured and taken down. If you stopped for a while to see the whole board, if you tried hard enough to make the most effective and most strategic moves, you could win. The weak could rise to power if they so deserved it. Pawns could become queens. That was how they planned to win.
Checkmate.
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author's note: This story has been changed to third person. I understand the last two books were in first person, but I literally cannot do it anymore. I wanted to continue Carson's story but it was never going to happen until I changed it from first to third. please don't hate on my decision, thank you. Between the prologue and chapter ten, if there are any mistakes with the POV, please inline comment on it and I'll be sure to fix it! Thank you!
Anyways, this is Bleeding Out, the third installment in the Carson Bradley Series. I'm really, really excited for this and I hope you are too. I have a lot planned for it, so be prepared!!
