And Then There Was One

Boston’s young fan favorite offensive defenseman sat at a desk in Dougie Hamilton’s newly purchased condo house. He was typing laboriously on a small Mac laptop computer. He was creating a new status on his twitter account.

“Hanging out with @dhamilton27 ---- going to play some videogames #funtime”

A ginger-haired man walked into the room. “I got everything set up!”

“Okay!” Torey mumbled back, finishing up his tweet. He didn’t lift his eyes from the screen.

“Oh, Krugger, really? Twitter, again? You are the only Bruin player who spends every day on that damned site!”

“I’m sorry, that I’m just like every other normal human being in the world right now.” He slammed the lid to his computer down, shutting off the Mac. He stood up from his seat.

“You should really give it a rest.”

“Do you wanna fight me on the digital ice or what?”

“I’m worried about you, Torey!”

“Don’t be. Let’s play!” The dark haired man races past his fellow defenseman and disappears into the other room.

Dougie shrugs and follows him, sighing deeply. He entered the living room, where Torey had already taken his seat and was gripping the controller in his fingers, eagerly. Dougie Hamilton joined his friend on the couch and snatched up his controller.

Torey instantly started the game, almost catching Dougie off guard. “Settle down, will ya. I need to get myself ready!”

“How long does it take you to get ready, man? You take as long as a woman!” Torey teased, jamming his finger against some buttons.

Before they could get into the NHL hockey video game, the doorbell rang. Torey groaned rather boisterously. He slammed his index finger down hard into the pause button. “Make it quick, I really want to kick your ass!”

Dougie rolled his eyes and vanished out of the room. Torey leaned back against the couch and folded his arms. He wasn’t exactly happy.

“Torey, it’s for you!” Dougie booming voice came after a few seconds. “There’s a man here, who says that he has a special letter invitation!”

Torey Krug grunted and got to his feet at once. He made his way through the kitchen and down the hallway, passing the office. At the end, he spotted Dougie gazing at him, with the door open. The small Bruin halted beside his friend.

Dougie backed away, vanishing down the hall. Torey peered out and found himself gazing into a pair of hard brown eyes. He wore a mardi gras mask that made Torey a little suspicious. The man held out a red envelope with a bloody looking stamp, concealing the message. Torey took the paper.

He continued to stare at the man, flummoxed to his real identity. “Who are you?”

“I can’t tell you that. Just read the letter and follow the instructions, it’ll be worth your time. Oh and if you don’t, just know that there is always another way!” With those last threatening words, he whirled around on his heels and stalked away.

The sound of screeching tires greeted Torey’s ears, but he rolled his eyes, shut Dougie’s door and returned to the couch. Along the way, his curiosity spiked and he opened up the envelope letter. He read the message rather quickly and smiled.

“Sick!” he screamed.

Dougie turned to him. “What happened? What’s that?”

Torey faced his friend. “I’m going to be an NHL All-Star! They picked me to be on one of the teams!”

“Sick, man!”

“I have to go to some address and receive a few items for the event.”

“That’s so cool, buddy. I’m proud of you, now get your pasty ass over here, so I can destroy you!”

Torey narrowed his eyes, which glittered with vengeance. “You’re on!”

Torey tossed the letter onto the counter and rapidly jumped onto the couch. He snatched up his controller and both young Bruin defensemen prepared to fight one another for glory and video game dominance.