Six friends sat around the oval shaped dining table. At the head of the table stood Zachary, looking like how you’d expect the devil to look in human form, which wasn’t too far from the truth. To Zachary’s left sat Opal, a timid and slightly chubby woman with curly brown hair that reached her jawline, she was wearing her favourite white floral sundress. Caleb was at the same side of the table as Opal, he was a skinny guy and slightly short, he wore broken glasses tied up with tape and currently had a black eye as well as a few unseen bruises. At the opposite end of the table sat Tara, she was the second tallest person at the table, her brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail and her blue tank top showed off her muscular arms. On Tara’s left was Rodney, he had a shaved head and short beard, his tank top allowed him to show off his tattoo sleeve and toned body. Lastly was Molly, who was on her phone as usual, she wore her wavy blonde hair down and wore a pink sundress that hugged her curves.

“Tonight’s game is a simple one,” Zachary explained as they shuffled the deck with a flare a magician would use. “We take turns drawing from the deck and the cards will decide what happens.” They smiled at the group of players they managed to get. Only a few of them knew each other. Rodney and Molly were currently dating each other but Rodney fancied Tara and was using this game night to get to know her more outside the gym. Tara and Opal were childhood friends and Opal and Caleb were co-workers and knew each other from college. Zachary was the new person at the table, who had convinced Opal to put this game night together.

“Now who’s ready to play?” Zachary asked as they placed the forty card deck in the centre of the table in reach of everyone else.

“That hardly explains anything,” Rodney complained as he stared Zachary down. He was wondering who they were and who wore a suit to a game night.

“No, I have not,” Zachary gave a toothy smile as they emphasized each word. “Isn’t that the fun of the game though, playing and seeing what happens?”

“I guess…” Opal said sheepishly.

“You may as well try it,” Tara turned to Rodney. “If you don’t like it you could always stop playing.”

“Not with my games,” Zachary taunted. “Once you agree to play, you play until the end. After that you can decide if you want to play again or not.” Zachary would’ve held their tongue if they weren’t obligated to give them the necessary information to back out.

Rodney was about to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “He’s joking,” Tara said, trying to defuse Rodney’s annoyance. “You’re joking right?” She turned back to Zachary. Zachary smirked and shrugged. All they had to do was give them the information, they weren’t obligated to correct assumptions.

“Fine, I’ll play for now,” Rodney agreed as they pouted, crossing their arms. Though he didn’t take his eyes off Zachary.

“Excellent,” Zachary clapped their hands. “Everyone else?” They checked with each person. Opal, Caleb and Tara all nodded while Molly gave a ‘whatever’ all good enough for Zachary. They then turned to Opal and gestured towards the deck. “Your turn,” they smiled.

Opal reached out to the deck and recoiled as she felt a static shock as the light above them flickered. “That was weird,” she remarked as she drew the top card of the deck. She brought it close to her chest then turned to Zachary. “So do I show it or keep it secret?” she asked, not having looked at it yet.

“Reveal it,” Zachary nodded towards the table. As Opal placed the card down on the table and paused as she saw it. On the card was an elegant drawing of herself wearing her current outfit. The other noticeable detail on the card was a thought bubble showing her head.

“What is this?” she asked cautiously as she examined the card she then turned back towards Zachary. “When did you have this made?”

“When you chose to play,” Zachary dismissed the question. “As you got yourself, nothing happens and it’s now Caleb’s turn.” They pushed for the game to continue.

“Seriously?” Tara asked as she looked at the card with Opal’s portrait. “This looks professionally done and it’s a drawing of how Opal looks now….” Tara was suddenly interrupted by the next card. This time it was a picture of her as she looked now, only it instead had the bruised face of Caleb in the thought bubble.

“There’s no way you could’ve made these up on the spot,” Tara was so focused on the card she didn’t notice the room shift around her. “I mean this card…” she reached forward and paused, as that wasn’t her hand. She looked up to see that she was now sitting opposite Rodney and at the end of the table was her body looking equally confused as her hands raised up to her chest. “Don’t…” she warned, causing Caleb to stop. She then turned back towards Zachary. “What is this?” She tried to keep her cool. “Why am I Caleb?” Opal and Rodney just looked at her confused.

“This is the game,” Zachary grinned. “You draw a card and swap with that person.” They then looked at the stunned Caleb watching them react to being in Tara’s body. “Oh and the turn order goes by bodies so that makes it your turn again,” they informed him.

“What’s going on?” Opal looked at Caleb and Tara concerned as she looked at the card on the top of the discard pile.

“We swapped bodies,” Tara explained. “It’s me Tara.”

“You’re joking, this is a prank,” Opal shook her head in disbelief.

Rodney looked over at Tara and tilted his head, he could see that her mannerisms had already changed so he wasn’t so sure. “If they have then we should stop playing,” Rodney offered the only solution he could.

“And leave us stuck like this?” Tara looked at him horrified.

“Better just you two than all of us,” Rodney shrugged. Of course had he been swapped he would’ve objected to what he was saying.

“Well it’s not up to you,” Tara looked back at her body. “Draw,” she told Caleb.

Caleb looked at his former body with the broken glasses and bruised eye. He then looked down at Tara’s body and wondered if he could truly keep it. Rodney did have a point about involving the others, and so far only he and Tara were affected. He reached forward with his new hands and hesitated.

“Caleb…” Tara warned.

“How many cards are in the deck and what happens when it runs out?” Caleb looked across the room at Zachary, amazed he could see them without wearing glasses.

“Thirty-eigh cards now and the game ends when the last card is drawn,” Zachary answered honestly while also holding off giving crucial information.

Caleb put his elbows on the table and crossed his fingers and stared more intently at Zachary. He knew this game and would have to ask the correct questions to get the correct answers. “What’s on those cards and do we go back to our original bodies when the game is over?” He tilted his head forward and to the left, feeling Tara’s hair brush up against his exposed shoulder.

“In the deck there are four Opals, five Calebs, four Taras, five Rodneys, five Mollys, five Zacharys and ten mystery cards. As for what happens when the game is over you stay in whichever body you end up in.” Zachary confirmed Caleb’s fear about that last part.

Caleb turned back to Tara with a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry Tara, but it’s only us. Did you really want to risk everyone else?” He asked as he shifted his eyes to Opal knowing how much Tara cared about her. Of course he didn’t dare mention the real reason he agreed with Rodney. Though he suspected Tara might already know. He then turned back to Zachary. “I’m out,” he said calmly as he went to stand up off the table.

“Really?” Zachary frowned before clicking his fingers and making him freeze in place. “Did I not say once you agree to play, you play until the end?” Zachary’s eyes changed colour to their natural purple. “Now Draw!” Zachary’s voice shook the room as the lights above them flickered. “Or don’t and see what happens,” their voice was smooth again and Caleb could finally move again.

“What are you?” Caleb and Tara asked in unison.

“Something beyond your mortal comprehension,” Zachary shrugged. “Now what’s it going to be?”