BooksBarbecue
Back The Game
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. NOW
  4. One
  5. BEFORE
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. NOW
  26. Twenty-One
  27. BEFORE
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. NOW
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. BEFORE
  48. Forty
  49. Forty-One
  50. Forty-Two
  51. Forty-three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. NOW
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. Fifty-Three
  63. Fifty-Four
  64. Fifty-Five
  65. AFTER
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Acknowledgements
  68. About the Author

There was a sniff, but no tears. Not yet. ‘I heard about it online and I realised there was something to it.’

‘People online.’

‘Yes,’ John replied, even though it hadn’t been a question. ‘There was this group of people, just like me. All around my age. I found somewhere I could finally be myself. It wasn’t long until I saw a few mentions of The Game and what it could mean for people like us.’

‘You used it to do what?’

John sighed, his face still mostly buried in his hands. He wouldn’t look at Mark. ‘It’s a secret place we go to talk about it. Online. Only, I didn’t think it would actually happen.’

Mark tried not to react. ‘So, how did it come here?’

‘Where?’

‘To Liverpool,’ Mark replied, trying to keep his anger in check. ‘I know it’s happened in other parts of the country.’

‘It just happened one day. Someone talked about someone round here and there were a few people who needed to pay for things. That’s what he told us.’

‘Who told you?’

John acted as if he hadn’t heard him and continued on. ‘Each game needs two players. That’s how it works. Then we all vote on who wins. From everything I know though, it’s not like it’s a bad thing, really. It’s justice. Emily and Joanna were both the same – they needed to pay for what they’d done. And they lost. They were punished for what they had done. Only, I thought we were just messing about. I didn’t expect anything to actually happen to her.’

‘And what’s the story with Holly?’ Mark said, but he could already see it. It was crawling all over the room, embedded in the walls. This was just another sad, lonely, teenage boy, who hadn’t got what he wanted.