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Burned from cold. That’s all they could feel right now. It felt as if they had rubbed a block of dry ice over their eyes and eyelids and had put some to their side. Their legs burned with pain as they sprinted on, desperately trying to avoid their assailant.
Was that what he was now? An assailant?
They thought that he and them were tight, that they were “buddies” even. Perhaps partners. All of that was shattered within an instant. If they didn’t run faster, he’d cut their body into pieces and throw them out like they were trash.
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Crimson and purple lights illuminated the space below the loft Chance was lounging in at the moment. The people playing below them probably didn’t fully grasp that Chance was their overseer. They could be dealing cards or simply working on some paperwork right now, but they’d rather be idling in one of their favorite spots. It was going to be another late night. Tomorrow was the weekend, which meant a lot more work for Chance. At least there weren’t many around to bother them tonight. Some absolute sirens of women and men shot them glances and little seductive winks, but they didn’t bother with wasting their attention on them. They weren’t feeling like getting into some action now. Chance didn’t do romance at the moment, either, and they knew all these people wanted was their money.
Chance supposed that they were looking for a few debtors right now, but then again, they had a nice drink in their hand and were savoring it. They were really procrastinating finding those in debt to them and their casino. The numbers were piling up. Chance wasn’t sure what to turn to to get help with this. The admins were of no help, and the banks could only do so much.
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They should’ve known.
They should’ve known when to quit.
They should’ve known that he’d never quit.
It was their fault that they had taken such a massive gamble.
It was their fault entirely.
How could they be so stupid? They were smarter than this. They knew when others tried to use them. What made him so special that he could cut down their walls like they had never existed? Why didn’t they do something when they saw through it? It was like they liked being used. Liked being used as a pawn. Pathetic, really!
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Chance noticed something. They set down their drink and rose to their feet slowly, looking over the balcony. One of the guests was getting pretty handsy with another guest. That guest… He looked familiar.
No, no. Chance knew that man. He was one of the debtors. Ellernate was his name. He was one of ITrapped’s buddies, the one that ITrapped had… Chance didn’t want to think about it. He should’ve been trapped in the Banlands.
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They should’ve been smarter. He only wanted the key and their cash.
It was all their fault for falling for such a ####ing scammer! They were so, so unbelievably stupid!
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Chance tried to get that thought out of their mind. The guest was being pushed out of the room by Ellernate, likely being dragged to the back alley of Chance’s casino. They couldn’t let that #### slide, especially considering it was Ellernate. He was down 200k to Chance’s casino and he had yet to pay any of it. If he didn’t pay up in Robux, Chance would make him pay another way. Chance didn’t mind doing a few bad things every once in a while. They were a casino owner, for Telamon’s sake, not some saint.
Chance checked to see if they still had their flintlock with them. Concealed under the left side of their black suit jacket, they felt it there. Chance discreetly loaded it before standing up to go deal with the debtor.
Chance went down the stairs of the loft, trying to make their way past the movement of people as they went. They crept quietly, keeping their distance. The guest himself didn’t stand out that much amongst the well-dressed patrons of their casino. He was wearing black headphones, a black hat, a black suit vest with a white undershirt, and black slacks. Ellernate was dressed mostly in orangish-crimson. A red hood covered his face and most of his head. He looked stupid with his white tie and grey and red knockoff army vest and shirt, or at least, in Chance’s opinion. He could afford a dominus infernus but couldn’t pay off debt? When Chance got their hands on him, that would be the first thing to go. If that didn’t cover it, Chance would go further.
The guest was shoved out one of the lesser known back doors. Ellernate slammed it behind him. Chance waited for a moment outside the door, trying to look casual and not draw too much attention to what was happening. They didn’t want to bother the other patrons with this mess.
Chance could hear the guest being slammed into a wall outside, and then dropped. Chance pulled out their flintlock. They opened the door and shut it behind them.
Ellernate had the poor guy cornered. The guest looked pretty frazzled, his once orderly appearance growing disheveled. He looked frightened, certainly. Chance wondered what this guy could’ve done to deserve such treatment. By the way Ellernate was trembling, he probably gambled something he couldn’t lose and got pissed when this guest won against him. Maybe.
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They could taste the blood from the top part of their face dripping down from their eyes and down the bridge of their nose. It began to coat their lips and cheeks, as if they were crying blood. Their tears followed the blood. It hurt. It hurt so ####ing bad…
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“Give me back the cash you cheating little #####, and maybe I won’t burn you alive,” Ellernate threatened.
Bingo. That was it. What a sore loser.
“Getting yourself into further debt, Ellernate?” Chance asked casually from behind him.
Ellernate spun on his heels to look at Chance face to face. Chance grinned at him calmly. They held their gun behind their back, ready to put holes into this guy if he tried something. Chance was almost hoping to. Maybe threatening this guy with physical violence rather than possession seizure notices from the bank would get him to pay up.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Ellernate asked sharply.
“I’m here to collect what’s due to me. It’s pretty reckless of you to be gambling here when you’re still two-hundred thousand in debt to me,” Chance reminded him.
Ellernate drew his sword from his scabbard, but Chance raised their flintlock first. He flinched back. The guest had managed to get up behind him. He had practically cornered himself.
“I’m going to put a bullet through you if you don’t pay up sooner than later, Ellernate,” Chance threatened.
“You wouldn’t,” Ellernate spat.
“I would. This flintlock’s locked and loaded, #####” Chance retorted.
The guest smacked Ellernate upside the head with a closed fist. Ellernate turned sharply and slashed at the guest, cutting into his arm but not managing to get far. Ellernate grabbed the guest by his shirt and picked him up, tossing him at Chance. Chance dodged easily, but it gave Ellernate time to charge at Chance from the side. Thanks to Chance’s great reaction time, they had the chance to aim. Before Ellernate could even get his sword close to them, Chance had shot a bullet through their right shoulder. That caused the man to fall back and let go of his sword. He clutched his arm and let out a loud curse.
“I don’t play with this type of stuff, Ellernate. Pay up or I’ll shoot you in the chest next,” Chance threatened.
“You damn opportunistic coward…! You don’t dare come to me face to face when I’m here with ITrapped, you ####ing #######!” Ellernate retorted.
Chance let out a warning shot, narrowly missing Ellernate’s head with that one. Ellernate shifted back. Chance tried not to let it get under their skin. There was a witness.
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He had been one of their only friends. They didn’t accept russian roulette at first, but he talked them into it by ignoring them until they couldn’t take it anymore.
They shouldn’t have survived that game. Everything was pitted against them, but their luck pulled through. That was why he had to pull the Darkheart on them. They couldn’t be beat without the other person cheating, and even then, they still won. “The luckiest man alive”...
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“He’ll find out about this and finish the job,” Ellernate threatened.
“You shut up! You know better than to be messing with me!” The Guest spoke up.
“#### are you gonna do? You can’t even defend yourself. You have to rely on the owner to save your ###,” Ellernate mocked.
“I’m still waiting for you to pay up or piss off, Ellernate,” Chance said.
Ellernate glanced between the two of them before glaring at Chance.
“This won’t be the last of me you see,” Ellernate said.
“Next time you come, come with the cash,” Chance said.
Ellernate grabbed his sword hastily from the ground. He turned and ran off quickly into the night. Chance let out a soft groan of pure annoyance.
The air was soured with blood. The wind blew against the two of them sharply, reminding them both that they should go inside. The guest straightened out his vest and his hat quickly, trying to sweep off any debris.
“You know that guy?” The guest asked.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Chance nodded.
Chance wished they didn’t. The top part of their face felt a bit uncomfortable at the thought of ITrapped. They straightened their fedora and shades.
“Aside from him owing you, what’s his deal?” The guest asked.
“You could say that he’s a rival of mine. You?” Chance replied.
“I won against him fair and square. He couldn’t pay up, so he attacked me instead. Can you believe this loser?” The guest said.
He seemed friendly.
“Psh. Yeah,” Chance nodded.
The guest made proper eye contact with Chance.
“I owe you one for saving my ###. What’s your name?” The Guest asked.
“The name’s Chance. I own this casino, if it’s not obvious. You?” Chance replied.
“My name’s Contractee. Nice to meet you,” Contractee said.
Something about the way that he told them his name told Chance that “Contractee” wasn’t his actual name. Oh well. Not like Chance cared. The chances of them seeing him around here again was slim. They hoped the chances were, anyway.
Contractee rummaged in his pocket for a moment before pulling out what seemed to be a business card of some kind. He outstretched it to Chance. Chance hesitated.
“He’s also in some debt to me and my… friends. What do you say we go out together and collect our respective dues from this guy?” Contractee offered.
Chance looked at him and then at the card. They weren’t sure whether they should accept an offer like this. Who were this guy’s friends? If he actually had friends, surely he’d be with them right now? Unless he was…
“You sure you know what you’re getting into, right? This guy has some pretty dangerous friends,” Chance asked.
The door opened. Another man entered. Chance was glad for their shades. It looked like they were paying full attention to the deal that was being made in front of them, but they were rather looking behind Contractee.
“He’s just a debtor that both of us share. We can handle this in a night or two,” Contractee said.
Contractee slipped the card to the man by the door for a moment. He wrote something before slipping it back to Contractee and extending it back to them.
Something about this other guy that just entered gave Chance chills. He was unusually tall for a Robloxian, for one. He was suspiciously well dressed as well, wearing a massive overcoat over a full tuxedo. His face was obscured by his fedora, his eyes barely visible. Chance could tell he had red eyes like a rabbit, though. This man could have been Contractee’s boss, or one of his “friends”. Chance’s gut screamed at them to finish the deal as fast as possible and get the hell away before something else went down.
Why the hell did Contractee have to reveal the purpose of this interaction to this guy?
“I’ll see if I have time. I’m quite a busy guy, you know?” Chance said quickly.
They grabbed the card quickly from Contractee’s hand, sliding their poker face on and smiling at him. This other man watched them take the card. The card itself felt filthy under their hands, as if it were stained with blood that Chance couldn’t see.
Chance’s hand tightened around their flintlock. This man, this stranger… He was eye-catching, unfortunately. Another siren of a man. Chance hadn’t seen him around that much, however. If they got lucky, maybe they’d never see him again. Yeah, no. Chance didn’t want Contractee’s help.
“You’ll make time, won’t you?” Contractee stated.
“Yeah, yeah. ‘Course,” Chance nodded.
The man behind Contractee nodded subtly in approval. Chance saw him. He left as quietly as he entered. It was like the interaction was watched by a spirit rather than by a present man.
Contractee grinned at him. He went to the door quickly and waved goodbye before leaving Chance in the alleyway with the card in hand. Chance waited for a short moment, leaning on the exposed brick wall to give time to process. They quickly stuffed the card straight into their pocket, not wanting there to be a chance that they’d be caught with it in their hand.
Contractee knew that man. He probably was more aware of things than he let off, just acting nice and friendly to get people to drop their guard. Perhaps he tried to act like an average Robloxian with an average life. Chance had dealt with a few men, women, and people kind of like him before. They all had one thing in common, in fact!
They were all members of certain mafias.
Chance ran a casino. They were destined to run into these types of people, whether it was at bars, slot machines, or tables. Especially at tables, in fact. Even before Chance had met ITrapped, they avoided dealing with these people directly. For Chance, mafia members were not people to be dealt with. It didn’t matter if Chance would be missing out on a deal or a bet or a gamble of some kind, the payout or reward would never be worth it. Chance, admittedly, could be reckless at times, but they weren’t stupid.
When one’s playing with a mafia member, one always loses no matter what.
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“No kind act goes unpunished.”
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The words painfully echoed in Chance’s head. It tempted them to bash their skull in on the bricks, but they didn’t want brain damage, so they didn’t.
Chance had helped a person. Now, they ran the risk of falling into the hands of a mafia, which would likely end with them getting killed in a gruesome way. That guy looked like the type to have a motorbike; if Chance stuck around him too long, they’d probably be tied to it and dragged down a highway. That made them shiver.
There had to be a way to get Contractee and that guy off them that didn’t involve running to the next county over, right? There had to be. Maybe, if Chance just ghosted them, they would leave them alone. Or, they could just deal with Ellernate and then act like they never had seen them before. Would that work? Chance hoped that would work.
Maybe Chance was wrong about this entire thing. What were the chances that they were mafia members? Maybe Contractee and that guy were just intimidating like that.
No, no. Chance knew what they saw and what they felt. Those two were definitely mafia members.
Chance had a problem on their hands… a problem they could hopefully deal with tomorrow. For now, Chance just needed to get away from their thoughts. They would try and go on business as usual. Chance wasn’t expecting anything to happen. There were no events being hosted this weekend, and their parents were away, so they wouldn't have to deal with them. All Chance needed to do was just… work through this. They got this. Surely. Hopefully. If they got lucky, which was always.
As of right now, though? Chance needed a drink.
Chance slipped their flintlock back into their suit pocket and went back into the building, going to return to their spot at the loft.
Tomorrow, they thought to themself.