OF KINGS AND PAWNS

♚ BONUS CHAPTER: PANIC ♙

Author's Note

In celebration of Amazon Prime Video's newest series Panic, I am thrilled to be teaming up with Amazon Prime Video and Wattpad to write this exclusive chapter that puts my characters from this story into the world of Panic!

I hope this chapter intrigues and inspires you to learn more about Panic. Visit the #PanicWritingContest on Wattpad for the chance to put your creative writing chops to the test and learn more about the show!

To find out more about the contest, prizes, and how to enter, check out the #PanicWritingContest here: wattpad.com/AmazonPrimeVideo

Don't forget to watch the series premiere on May 28th, only on Amazon Prime Video, here: http://primevideo.com/

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The seniors were at it again.

Sheets of paper drifted through the streets, the closest thing Carp, Texas had had to snowfall since that cotton truck flipped over two years ago. The air was heavy with dust. You could grow cotton inside of your lungs if you'd been living in Carp long enough. That or drill for oil. That was all people knew how to do around here. That, and of course, play the game.

Landon hadn't lived in Carp all his life, but he'd been here long enough that the locals had claimed him as one of their own. They were like fungus. They'd wrap around your bones and chain you to the earth. Besides, even though Landon had moved here in third grade, his mom had been born in Carp and her mom before that. There really was no escaping this place. The seniors still tried though.

The game. The chance to change a life.

Oh sure, you could apply for scholarships. You could leave the state. Go to school. Get a real nice job. Yet, it seemed that everyone wound their way back here eventually, even if it was in a casket. People were sentimental about those kinds of things. Landon never understood it, but his mom told him that she wanted to be buried beside her mother. That way their bones would have company for all eternity.

Playing the game was different. It seemed to break the curse. Or at least that was what everyone said. Landon didn't think it had been going on for long enough for them to know if winning broke the curse or if winning was just part of the curse.

"There's the biggest pot ever this year," Aphrodite said.

Aphrodite was one of the most beautiful girls to ever come out of Carp and Landon's best friend since he moved here. She was the only one willing to take a chance on the outsider. Unlike him, Aphrodite had been living in Carp her whole life, which really was a testament to her moms. Two women living together, raising a kid together, in Texas was hard. When that kid was Aphrodite it was harder.

"Really?" Landon asked. "Did you go watch the first challenge?"

Aphrodite hummed, pushing her curls from her face. "Yeah, it was last night. You must've seen the fireworks."

When they were in fifth grade, Aphrodite had already kissed all of the boys in their grade. By eighth, she'd kissed a good number of the girls as well. She was outgoing and energetic and had tons of friends which meant she went to tons of parties. Landon went with her some but he didn't like them as much. Aphrodite loved drinking and smoking and most of all, she loved Panic. She was probably going to play next year when they were seniors.

"Who didn't?"

"Anyway, they said that the grand prize was 50K."

Landon whistled. Then he turned his head to look at the third - and shortest - member of their group. "You wouldn't have anything to do with why that number is so high, 'ay Raymond?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ray said with the tiniest of smirks.

"Really?" Landon said. "Because last I checked - 'Dite correct me if my math is off here - but if like fifty seniors graduated, even if every one of them had been putting in a dollar a day every day this year that only adds up to a total of what? Eighteen thousand?"

"There were only forty-seven seniors this year," Ray said.

"And the rules say you only need to put a dollar in every day school is in session," Aphrodite added. "So... that's one-eighty. You overestimated."

Landon ran the numbers again in his head. "That's less than ten thousand dollars."

"Yes," Ray said, the pad of his finger tracing the glass rim of his Mexican coke bottle. "That is how math works."

"The extra money has to be coming from somewhere," Landon said. "And the adults don't know about Panic so it's not like they're donating anything. Which leaves us with only one possible suspect."

"And why would I dump over forty thousand dollars into a stupid game?" Ray asked, tilting his head in the way he knew would get Landon off his case. Ray was unfairly attractive. And unfairly rich. Landon, who had grown up on off-brand food, never really did understand Ray's spending habits. Even the Mexican coke was something that still threw Landon. Though it was only $2.50 in most places, Landon considered it overpriced when water was free.

Nothing was overpriced for Ray.

He did whatever he wanted. Young, rich, and arrogant, nobody could even come close to touching him. He lived in a mansion and owned some oil company. Inherited it. His father died in an accident years ago and his mother was never in the picture, to begin with. Ray had more than enough money to throw forty thousand dollars into a stupid game.

Because Ray loved Panic even more than Aphrodite did. He was probably there last night too. He liked the clues and he liked the risk. And most of all, he wanted that risk to be real.

"Do you think someone will die again?" Landon asked.

"Probably," Aphrodite said. "The pot is even higher. That means people are even more willing to do awful things to one another." She side-eyed Ray. "Do you think they'll get caught by the police this year?"

Ray shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Actually, it's probably better."

"If they get caught by the police?" Landon asked.

"Yeah," Ray said, taking a sip of his coke. "Death is an easy out. If you get caught and go to jail... you'll never get a job and you'll never leave." He smirked. "You going to play next year Landon? I think it would be fun if we all did."

"No way," Landon scoffed. "I know that you'll probably be one of the judges and I'm not stupid enough to risk that."

Aphrodite barked a laugh. "Come on, Landon, that's how you know it'll be fun!" She turned to Ray with the most wicked look that Landon had seen on either of their faces. Today, at least. "If I don't have nightmares about our Panic for the rest of my life then I'm going to be vaguely disappointed in you Raymond."

It was Landon's turn to laugh. "You want to know my favorite part of this stupid game?" Landon asked.

His friends looked at him expectantly.

The truth of the matter was that Landon didn't understand why Aphrodite or Ray liked it so much. He didn't get the thrill from watching people risk their lives. He didn't get the thrill from watching people risk their futures. But at the end of the day, he was even more of a fan of the games than either of the two.

"They show us what money makes us do." His eyes were cold. The ice in his water shifted, clinking together in his glass. "It shows us how awful humans can be."

Watching people die made Landon sick to his stomach. Watching people risk their life brought him no thrill. What he did enjoy, however, was watching people turn on one another. Watching them realize that there was nothing more awful in this world than a greedy human being.

There was a murmur of agreement. Sure the three of them were all awful - monsters and demons wrapped in human form - but at least they were honest in their awfulness.

At least they would never panic when presented with it.