"My first letter will be 'A'" said Brad as he leaned back on his chair.

"That is correct Mr. Smith. Next letter?" replied the voice enthusiastically. A piece in the shape of a square falls from the center of the table. Brad's sister-in-law widens her stance. Brad cringes at the site of the woman struggling.

"Here is what your puzzle looks like."

A screen drops from the ceiling, and show the results of Brads guess.

_ _ _ _ _ _ A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"What is your next letter?"

"B"

"That is incorrect." replied the voice.

A square that was the same size as the square that fell from the woman's table fell from the man's. He could be seen screaming as the piece fell. He was shaking terribly. Brad took several more guesses. His other incorrect guesses were C and E, and his corrected guesses were S, T, H, I, and M resulting in his this puzzle.

_ _ _ M S T A _ T T _ _ I _ I S H

Brad's sister-in-law was standing on the narrow border of the table. The table was terribly unstable and Brad's sister-in-law was shaking. Tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were telling Brad to save her. The boy's circumstances were not near as severe as Brad's sister-in-law, but he was crying just as much as she was. So much for his tough guy attitude. There was still about a foot and a half left of his table. Brad closed his eyes and tried to see the empty letters in the puzzle, but he could not. He was only decent at these kinds of games. With all else failing, he resorted to the thing he hated most, guessing.

"Take as long as you need Mr. Smith. The last thing that I want is to have you feel rushed. People's live are at stake." informed the voice.

"You think I don't know that." shouted Brad. "It is your fault that anyone is even here. What do you care if someone gets killed? You are only looking for entertainment!"

"Yes, I am looking of entertainment. It may be my fault that they are here, but who's fault will it be if they die?"

"Are you trying to put blame on me?" shouted Brad.

"Not in the slightest. I was just asking who's fault you think it would be." replied the with pleasure.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Just playing a game." laughed the voice.

"Stop messing with people's lives!"

"Then that would be no fun. What is your next guess?"

"Is that all you can thing about!?" Brad yelled as he stood up from his chair.

"As you stated yourself, all I am looking for is entertainment. Your letter please."

Frustrated Brad sat down. This has done what only a very few people have done. He has successfully pissed Brad off. Most of the time he could shrug it off, but this guy was something else.

"I will go with N."

"That letter is…" as the voice paused, Brad had a knot in his stomach. "correct."

Tears began to stream down Brad's face. He opened them to see his sister-in-law's table crumble. Her body seemed to fall in slow motion. When she reached the end of her rope, there was a sudden jolt and she jerked around for a few minutes, but after a while, her body swung lifelessly back and forth. Brad bowed his head and cried into his hands.

"I do not mean to cut short your mourning, but I need the next letter for your puzzle." said the voice. "You did the best you could Mr. Smith, there is nothing to be ashamed of. No reason to cry about trying your hardest."

Brad slowly looked up from his hands and stared at the window.

"I am not crying because I couldn't save her. I am crying because I know the answer right after she died." sobbed Brad.

"And that would be…"

"FROM START TO FINISH."

"That is correct. Well done. At least you saved one of the two. Neither you nor your brother will have to pay for any of the funeral arrangements. It will all be paid and full."

"You think that is going to make what you did ok?"

"Probably not, but it is the least I can do for creating this game. I am willing to make a little offer for you Mr. Smith. You may either decide to kill this boy in order to save the finger you are going to lose, or you can just lose the finger and things go on as if this deal never came up. What do you say?"

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Shauny realized that the chair was the one that his sister gave to him for his birthday several years back. He has been using it for the past four years. It was a little small for him now, but it was still a good chair. He sat down in order to relax a little. He always felt at ease when he sat in his chair. It allowed him to escape into his mind. Unfortunately, this time he could not do that. His frustration was getting the better of him.

"My first letter will be the letter E"

"Correct. Let see the result of your guess."

A rectangular piece of the table, about an inch in width, fell from the back of the table, leaving a hole about an inch and a half in from the back border. Shauny saw that his Tai Chi teacher did not even flinch. He was as calm as if he was having a cup of tea with a friend. Shauny realized that he needed to relax. He took a deep breath and exhaled, then sat up straight. A TV screen lowered from the ceiling and revealed what his puzzle currently looked like.

_ E _ E _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Thanks, I needed that. My next letter will be A."

"Again, that is correct. Very good Mr. Takei. Here are your results."

_ E _ E _ _ E A _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Sadly, it did not help very much."

"Every letter gained helps." replied Shauny.

Another board fell from the teacher's table, except this time, it fell from the front. Again, the teacher did not flinch; it almost looked as if he was humming. Shauny picked five more letters, three wrong and two right. Neither of the two people were in any significant danger.

"I will finish your puzzle. SEVEN DEADLY SINS."

"That is correct answer. Congratulations on your win. Your rewards are the same as before, except you are not allowed to pick the path of knowledge again. I would really find myself bored if the same reward was picked. I think I will give you an extra path that can only be taken now. At the cost of the lives of the two people that have escaped death, you will have a one hundred percent chance of completing your dream of becoming a Cognitive Therapist. Let us call this the path of opportunity. Which is the path that you choose Mr. Takei?"

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Arthur leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes in order to think.

"Four words, thirteen letters, and I am involved." he thought. "This puzzle must have something to do with me. Maybe about my life, no, about my way of thinking. That is what this game is about anyway. They way I think and act."

"I will go with the letter T" Arthur said in calmly. He looked as if he was in a trance.

"That is correct Mr. Douglas. Here is the result of your guess." replied the voice as a screen descended showing the progress of the puzzle.

_ _ T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Arthur opened his eye to about half way so he so he could see what would happen to the old lady. A rectangular shaped piece fell from the side behind the lady. Arthur sees that she is saying a prayer. It was nothing life threatening at the moment, so he closed his eyes again.

"I will choose E next."

"That is also correct." confirmed the voice. "Here is what your puzzle looks like now."

_ E T _ _ _E _ _ L E _ _

Arthur smiled. He only needed a few more letters to confirm what he suspected the answer to be. This time, Arthur did not open his eyes to see what had happened to the lady. He knew how many more right guessed he had before she died, and he would not need that many tries. In fact, he believed that he only need no more than three more guess.

"I will go with O now."

"You certainly are on a roll Mr. Douglas." said the voice excitedly. "I am very impressed. Here are the results."

_ E T _ _ _E O _ _ E _ _

Again, Arthur did not open his eyes.

"L will be next."

"Now I am beginning to that you know the answer to the puzzle." stated the voice. "If you know it, then please answer it. It is a waste of time anyway and will only end up hurting you.

"All right." answered Arthur. "The answer is 'LET MY PEOPLE GO'"

"That is correct. Well done Mr. Douglas. You conquered your anger and successfully solved the puzzle in four tries. That if very impressive. I did not expect that from you. An exciting game indeed. As for your rewards, they are the same as previously stated, except you will not be allowed to pick the outcome of knowledge. It would be very boring if all you picked was that reward. Nothing would ever happen. Instead, I will give you the outcome of revenge. In this outcome, you will have to sacrifice the two people that just escaped death because you were able to conquer you anger. The question now is whether or not they will be able to survive your revenge. In sacrificing these two people, I will give you the full name and pictures of the man that killed Jill, Sophia, and Elia Douglas. Ohohohoho! This is getting exceedingly exciting and fun. I love coming up with these rewards. Which is the next outcome you would like to have Mr. Douglas?"

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