The heart of cards

A Game of Cards

I didn't know so much harm could be caused from a single game of cards. Lives were lost, relationships can be broken, everything you've worked so hard to achieve can be gone in a second. It's almost terrifying, the thought of everything you've worked for, to just crumble at you're feet. I didn't introduce myself, my name is Owen, Owen Birch. I am female, but my parents thought I would be a boy. My mother said the name fit me, so they kept it. People think my name may have made me into a boyish girl, but I think I'm just me. I don't play many sports, but I like to be active. I'm only fourteen so I'm just learning makeup, hence why I haven't worn much. I am not the shy, misunderstood type of protagonist, nor am I the super popular, secretive type either. I have friends, not too many, but I'm not at all shy. Enough about me, let me tell you the story. 

I pulled my chestnut brown hair into high ponytail, which made my sun kissed skin glow in the naturally lighted living room. I threw on my white converse, shoved my hands into jean shorts pockets, and headed out to my friend Allisons house. I shielded my crisp, blue eyes with my hand from the beaming sun. I reached Allisons house in a matter of ten minutes, for she only lives about eight blocks away. She had the biggest house in the entire town, it was an extremely pale yellow, an off white I guess, and it had white shingles. When we were little, we would call her house the eggy house, since yellow and white are egg colors. I mean, she was the mayors daughter so the large house made sense. I reached into a potted plant, and grabbed the spare key. I unlocked the door and dug the key back into the moist soil. I walked in, and a gust of cold air greeted me as I closed the door. I walked through the kitchen, where Delilah, also known as Allisons mom, was making spaghetti for dinner. "Hey Delilah! The spaghetti smells delicious by the way!" I said, walking past the cooking mother. "Aww thank you sweetie, the girls are upstairs." She said, turning around on her heels so she could face me. I nodded, and headed upstairs. I made a turn to a white door, covered in posters for different celebrities. I opened it, and threw my arms out. "Ally and Xi, my two best friends!" 

I put my arms down, and plopped down onto a light blue bean bag chair, which was next to Xi, but across from Allison. They were giggling at my entrance, and I threw the army green backpack I had on, onto the purple bedded bed. "Owen you are such a goof!!" Xi said, smiling. "We have been waiting for you for ten minutes, what happened?" Ally said, looking straight at me. "My mom was making sure I everything, my spare key, pajamas, you know." I answered, shrugging my shoulders. "Ok, well I finally got the cards!" Ally said, grinning from ear to ear. A couple weeks ago, we saw this old deck of playing cards in Ally's dads study. We asked about them, but her dad seemed to put the question off, and he locked away the cards in a filing cabinet. We just wanted to play a game of hearts! Hearts is a card game Xi, Ally, and I made as kids. Its basically Go fish, but we mix in another set of hearts, and whoever gets all the heart cards wins instantly. Well, we didn't really make the game up ourselves, we saw it on an old piece of paper in Allys house, but we couldn't find it anywhere on the internet, so we kind of took it as our own. Xi tightened her jet black hair braid, while Ally got the cards from a high shelf. Ally jumped down, making a loud thud. She walked over to the triangle of beanbag chairs, tucking a strand of her honey drizzled blond hair behind her ear. Finally, she put the box of cards into the middle of us all. 

We all looked down at the box. Its cardboard was thick, but opening up as age started wearing it out. I could tell instantly that this box was thicker then the usual box of cards. It had me thinking, and I just blurted it out, "What if these cards go with the instructions we found? It would make sense, since the box is a lot thicker then normal card boxes, and they are both being destroyed by age." I looked up from the box, after breaking the silence. Xi, and Ally stared at me, their mouths open a bit. "I think you might be right!" Xi said, pulling the instructions from her baby pink backpack. Ally, and I looked over her shoulders, and we studied the instructions as if they were the study guide for a big test. I snapped my fingers and pointed to the box of cards. "Hand me the cards Ally, please." I asked, my eyes glued to the instructions. "Ok. Sure." Ally said, handing me the box. The cardboard left a soft feeling in my hands, as if the cardboard was falling apart in tiny pieces. I carefully slide open the top, and I put the entire stack of cards in my left hand. I gently placed each card on Allys white, desk. Each of us were amazed by the sight of an extra set of hearts. "Um guys, somethings happening to the instructions!!" Xi said, her voice cracking from fear. Ally and I whipped our heads to see what was going on. Writing slowly started to appear on the brown, wrinkled paper. It read; WARNING!!! PLAY AT YOU'RE OWN RISK, GREAT DANGER SEEKS YOU ONCE THE FIRST HEART IS FOUND!!! We all looked at each other, confused and scared. "Is this some sort of prank? I really just want to play this game." Ally said, grabbing the deck of cards. Suddenly, the ground started quaking, but once Ally sat the deck down by the beanbags, everything went perfectly still. "That was..... scary...." Ally said, sitting down. I looked at Xi, kind of worried. We both sighed, and sat down in our beanbag chairs. Ally dealt the cards, and we started the game. The game that would change, everything. 

We started playing, and about three minutes later, there was a knock at the door. "Girls, food is ready!" It was Delilah. We quickly got up and rushed out of the bedroom, Ally closing the door tightly behind her. It was an awkward dinner, since Delilah joined us. After eight minutes of nothing but eating, and silence, I finally said something. "The food is delicious Delilah! Thank you so much!" I looked over at her, and she smiled. "Oh you're welcome! And thank you." It was really all that was said at that dinner.

 After we helped clean up, we ran upstairs and locked the white door. We went back to our game of Hearts. The game was full of tension, the anxiety of finding a heart card filled our heads. What would happen? What if some sort of danger would be after us? It seemed impossible, but no one saw a single heart card. It got us even more nervous. The fear of the unknown was starting to get to us more and more, as the game went on. And trust me, it went on. 

 Finally, after 30 minutes, I found the first Heart card. It was my turn, and I stared at it, afraid to place it on the ground. I took a deep breath, and swallowed my fear. You'd think I was about to slay a dragon, or something. I placed the card down, and everything was normal. "Nothing happened?" I asked out loud, my voice quivering. Then suddenly, everything started to shake. The world felt like a brand new snow globe, being shaken. The cards defied gravity, and starting to fly in a continuous circle around us. Our shrill screams filled the room, but to the rest of the world, we were silent. "HELP!! SOMEBODY!!" I feel like each of us screamed that at the top of our lungs. Then it happened. Everything went black. But the heat of our terror could be felt for miles. Our screams made our faces red, and tears stream down our young faces, and we were exhausted from our booming voices.

 I saw light, and it was bright as the sun. "Guys, there's a light!! Maybe its outside?" I said, trying to catch my breath. I crawled towards that light, I could hear Xi, and Ally not too far behind. I stood up once I reached the light, and Ally, and Xi had gotten to their feet as well. The three of us looked around, not knowing the environment we have just entered. Where were we?