Claimed by the Minotaur

“Drink! Drink! Drink!”

I wait alone in the corner, watching college athletes chant and holler. A frat boy stands in the crowd’s center, drinking through a massive funnel. Guys stand on chairs, emptying beer cans into the tube and forcing him to consume an endless supply of the golden liquid.

Disgusting.

I can’t believe I came to this party. Friday is usually when I hang with my friends and play Swords & Sorcery—a tabletop roleplaying game. Our session was canceled tonight though. Almost everyone on campus is here at the party. Halloween is a big deal at our school, and this is an annual event.

All around me, frat bros and sorority girls dance and mingle. Thumping music and drunken laughter fills the air while I scan the room. Most of the student-athletes showed up dressed as knights in cheap plastic armor—they apparently coordinated in advance. Most of the cheerleaders seem to have settled on skimpy maid or nurse outfits. They sit alongside the jocks on the dorm couches, flirting and slipping into deep makeout sessions. The scene looks set to devolve into an orgy.

“Hey, Mick.” A voice rings out beside me. “We’re gonna go downstairs. Wanna come?”

I turn to see Sean and Caden, two of my gaming buddies. Sean is a short guy with thick glasses and dark black hair. He’s dressed as a wizard, wearing a floppy hat and a long gray beard. Tall and lanky, Caden is dressed as a fantasy archer. He’s got a toy bow in his hand and a quiver on his back.

“Why? What’s downstairs?”

“The basement. We’re gonna play a board game.” An excited smile forms beneath Sean’s fake beard.

“Yeah, I snuck it out of my dad’s shop.” Caden cuts in. “You know he owns an antique store. He just bought this game from a dealer. It looks wild.”

“Oh really?” I raise an eyebrow.

Now this is more my speed. Maybe this party won’t be so bad after all.

I follow them down the hall, passing through a door to the basement. We move down a dark corridor, stepping atop creaky wooden stairs. The music and laughter grows fainter with each step, and it isn’t long until silence surrounds us. It’s a relief.

Caden flips a switch at the bottom of the stairs, causing a single flickering bulb to illuminate. The space is cold and spartan. Stacks of cardboard boxes line the brick walls, packing every available nook and cranny. Forgotten pieces of furniture are strewn about, each coated in a white sheet. Here in the dim light, they look ghostly. Everything is coated in a thick layer of dust. Cobwebs flutter in the corners, sending an anxious chill racing down my spine. It smells so musty down here…what a dump.

But I guess I shouldn’t expect much from a frat house basement.

In the center of the room, Sean and Caden have already set up a folding table and a few chairs. A small wooden box rests on its surface, illuminated by the lone light bulb hanging directly overhead. I move closer, taking a look at the rare treasure.

Coated in a glossy lacquer, the surface depicts a bird’s-eye view of a sprawling maze. “LABYRINTH” is written along the top in ornate crimson letters. A man with the head of a bull is drawn over the maze—a minotaur. His beastly face is a sharp contrast to his shirtless, elegant physique. His full pecs and tight nipples are shown with an unsettling level of detail.

“Greek mythology?” I run my hands along the smooth surface.

“That’s right.” Sean sits down and grins. “It’s based on the old legends. I tried looking this game up online, and I could only find a handful of references. It was apparently made by a small company in the early 1900s, but their factory burned down after starting production. Investors pulled out soon after, forcing the owner to abandon the project. Customers were uncomfortable with the game, and some blamed it for the fire—like it was cursed. Only a few copies survived, and they’re prized by collectors.”

“So don’t break anything. My dad would kill me.” Caden flops onto a chair.

“Now we’re talking.” My heart beats with excitement as I take a seat opposite them. “This is a Halloween party I can get behind.”

Caden reaches forward and unfastens a set of metal clasps on the box. He lifts the lid and removes a gaming board made of polished marble. The surface is raised slightly, creating a textured labyrinth with canals the game pieces can be moved through. The winding pathways are engraved with intricate drawings and symbols from Greek mythology. Warriors…serpents…and images of the gods themselves.

The marble board is light around the edges, but it grows progressively darker until turning black near the center. A small figurine of a minotaur rests in the middle, surrounded by blank, dark space. He’s standing alone in a little room…something about the sight makes me uneasy.

And that unease only grows.

As I examine the images scattered throughout the maze, a distinctly sexual pattern emerges. Only men are depicted in the drawings, and their cocks are all erect. The gods…the mortals…they all sport huge boners. Sick, twisted scenes are drawn in the maze’s dead ends. In one, a warrior is chained while a serpent slithers around his cock, constricting the erection. In another, a mortal kneels while sucking a stone cock jutting from the labyrinth wall.

And in the board’s center, I realize the minotaur is nude too. He’s got a dick bigger than all others. Thick and veiny, it’s sculpted with a disturbing level of detail.

“What the fuck is this…?” I mutter.

“Pretty weird, right?” Caden laughs and passes me a game piece.

It’s a little man with an erect penis and deep ass cleavage. The other guys place their game pieces near the entrance of the maze. I grimace and do the same. Sean pulls an instruction book and a set of black dice from the box. The dark little cubes have numbers printed in what appears to be gold leaf.

“So, how do we play?” I ask.

Sean clears his throat and begins reading from the booklet.