Autor can't avoid such a direct question. And he can't escape out the window, either. He's never confronted why he still wants to play chess with a man who terrifies him--and that thought scares him even more. He looks down and away from William.

"He frightens me because he's intelligent and manipulative," Autor says quietly, fisting his hands in the covers. "He gets into people's heads. And I suppose I... I want to... play chess with him because he's already in my head. Sometimes it's difficult remembering that I'm terrified."