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Odessa

A knock on the door was all it took to completely dismantle my life.

The Summons arrived on a Tuesday at half past three.

I'd just poured myself a shot of espresso when the mail monkey knocked four times on our purple painted door.

Now, most people wouldn't be alarmed by a simple knock on the door, but today was no ordinary day.

Today was the annual summons from Nocturne Abyss, the deadly game created by the God of Death, that once invited to play there was no refusal.

And a knock on the door could only mean one thing— someone in this house was being required by law to play the game of the gods.

Knots twisted in my stomach as I walked nervously to open the door. Sweat gathered in my palms as I turned the handle of the door— heart beating wildly inside of my chest. Maybe it was a mistake? They’d gotten the wrong house number and were looking for directions.

But as the door opened wider, I saw that I wasn’t mistaken.

There was a small grey haired mail monkey decked out in its finest red and white uniform, with a small hat to match.

The typical garb of official delivery members.

It was waiting with a scroll in its small furry hands.

The parchment was tied with a red ribbon around it that was gently blowing in the wind as if it belonged in someone’s hair and not wrapped around the offensive offering.

“Good day, miss,” the monkey stated in a cheery tone.

“Good day,” I croaked out, sounding as if someone was squeezing my voice box.

The paper found its way into my hands, and I nearly dropped it as if I were being handed a ticking bomb.

The mail monkey smiled at my misfortune, tipped its hat, and scurried down the lane— I assumed to go and ruin someone else's day.

Once inside, I stared at the paper, running my fingers over it, wondering who it could be for.

My brother was conscripted into the army and set to head off to training in a few weeks’ time, so it couldn't be for him.

My parents were far too old being over the age of thirty, so that only left me and my sister, Marley.

"Who was at the door, Pigeon?" My father called out from his workshop.

My parents called me Pigeon because they said as a baby, I used to squawk like one when I cried.

They loved to tell the story about how they had to keep the windows closed, otherwise I would call whole flocks over into the house.

And the name stuck ever since. Everyone else called me Odessa, or Des for short.

"Mail monkey,”I replied, feeling dazed with worry at the document in my hands. It felt heavy and rough about the edges.

"At this time of day, but it's—" He walked out into the living room and stopped talking the moment he saw what was clutched in my hands.

His apron still hung around his waist with smudges of clay stuck to it and his nearly gray hair was tied back with a black leather ribbon to keep stray pieces off his sweaty face.

As one of the most esteemed potters in Paris, his workload was always full.

He never complained though, because it kept food on the table and a roof over our heads.

"Let me see that," he said, grabbing the parchment from my hands. I let him take it, too terrified to look at the contents. Though, a heavy sense of dread was hanging about my shoulders like a coat warning me that I already knew the answer to my unasked question.

The red ribbon holding it together was discarded, wafting onto the floor appearing as if it were a slash of blood staining the white tile, feeling like a bad omen of what was to come.

My father read over the summons, face white with terror and lips moving as he skimmed over the words to himself more than once.

“What does it say?” The suspense was killing me, and I had to know what was making him look the way he was.

When he finally lifted his gaze to me, I knew without a word being uttered that my fate had been sealed.

Still, I took the parchment for myself and looked upon the black ink scrawled across the paper, confirming what I already knew— that the trajectory of my life was forever altered in that moment.

I was officially summoned to play at The Nocturne Abyss.

I heard myself reading aloud from the paper, as if my mouth hadn’t caught up to my brain just yet and needed to audibly speak the words in order for me to fully believe my bad luck.

“Odessa Devereaux, you are cordially required to attend The Nocturne Abyss. Beware that not all who play will make it out alive. You are to be escorted from your home tomorrow morning. Be ready to receive the god’s guards or face the consequences.

All family members who are able bodied are required to accompany you for the parade.

You may bring one piece of luggage for clothing and toiletries.

No more than one bag is allowed. Weapons are not permitted and will be subject to your immediate dismissal from the games.

It is an honor to be chosen as one of the summoned.

You will not be allowed to transfer your summons to any person or animal.

Once the summons has been received, you are considered an official contestant and must act accordingly.

Best of luck.” As I read the words, a dark winged figure appeared at the top in a ring of fire, eating up every inch of the scroll while I read line by line, until all that was left was my calling card.

My confirmation. An Ace of Hearts sitting in the palm of my hand with the date of the competition etched into the upper right corner and my name scrolled in gold ink across the black background.

I had one day. One day to gather my things and say goodbye to my family before I was escorted, whether I wanted to go or not, down into the catacombs where the games were held.

“Des? What’s going on?” my sister Marley asked, having been upstairs. I didn’t even hear her come in.

“I got summoned.” The disbelief was evident in my tone. Though, logically, I knew there was always a chance, but in the way that you knew you could get struck by lightning or win the lottery. It was a distant possibility. The odds were one in a million, and yet fate had called me by name.

“What an honor!” she squealed. While I was the more timid one, always playing by the rules, Marley lived for adventure.

A part of me thought they had chosen the wrong sister.

Marley would probably win the entire tournament with her eyes closed and an arm tied behind her back. “What mask do you think you’ll pick?”

“That depends when my name is called, Mar. You know how it works. First come, first serve.”

“Right, but it’s good to strategize just in case you’re the first one called with your choice of masks at your fingertips.

Just think, you could be walking away a winner this time next week.

Imagine, all that money! Imagine having a power!

” Her large brown eyes that matched mine, shimmered with the hopeful possibility I wish I could muster, but all I could feel was dread.

The death toll Nocturne took each year was enough to make even the most cunning and agile warriors wary of the games.

But Marley was always dreaming of bigger and better things, no matter the cost.

“Have you told Maman yet?” she asked.

“No, we just received it,” father said, sounding every bit as crestfallen as I felt inside.

He stood there, hands on his hips looking lost in his own house.

With my brother, Jean, about to go off to training, and mama’s health quickly declining, this news had come at the worst possible time.

I didn’t know if I was more upset for myself, or for my family that I’d be leaving them behind. Perhaps forever.

“Well, get ready for the waterworks. Let’s go over what you’re going to pack later, because we can’t have you showing up looking a wreck.

Oh, this is just so exciting. I’m a little jealous, I’m not going to lie,” Marley said, practically skipping out into the kitchen to grab herself a snack.

She was acting as if I’d been asked out by a cute guy and had to pick out a sexy outfit and completely oblivious to how dad and I were feeling.

But that’s typical Marley. If it didn’t affect her directly, she didn’t pay much attention.

While I loved her dearly, she could also get on my nerves.

She arrived back in the living room with a bag of chips in her hands, chomping loudly on the cheddar flavored snack. “If you die, I get your room though, okay?”

“Marley, leave it okay? I’m going upstairs to tell Mama,” I snapped.

The words ‘if you die’ spun around my brain on an endless loop.

My thoughts were a vortex, tipping between panic and numbness.

The appearance of the summons changed everything.

While I’d been planning for my graduation in just a month’s time and a wedding next summer, I hadn’t accounted for this.

I was so close to achieving all my dreams and now, my future was uncertain.

Even if I won, I wouldn’t be allowed back to finish the remaining month.

Magicks, haven’t ever mixed with us at university.

They kept themselves locked away in the First Arrondissement, while the rest of us were divided in the lower Arrondissements.