A coin-flipping game where my soul acts as the betting chip, one where it could either be taken away if it landed on a scratched-out head or I win the right to keep my soul if it lands on the side of a picture of a little monkey jumping around in a crowd of faceless people.
This thing approached me not long after me and my wife divorced, all because I pushed that cunt one time after getting sick of hearing her constantly nagging me over how I kept betting my money after winning it big on a lottery card I swiped from some clueless smuck.
Cunt didn’t understand that my luck was unstoppable and was the reason we were able to live the millionaire lifestyle. Of course, she found out the hard way just how powerful my luck truly was when she tried to call the cops on me after I had pushed her, only for them to arrive and find no evidence of injury to her person, and thus she was unable to successfully press changes.
That then led to the divorce, where she tried to get half my earnings along with taking our son, arguing that I’d piss away all his savings with my gambling ‘addiction’ if he continued to live with me. Thankfully, due to an old loophole my lawyer had discovered, along with the judge and her defence lawyer being more than willing to accept an under-the-table bribe, not only did I get to keep all my money but even won custody of our child if I wanted.
Decided she could keep the brat though since he was always quite a nuisance to deal with and just got in the way of my passions. It's been so long that I don’t even remember the little punk’s name.
After spending so long dealing with the courts and my bitch of an ex-wife, I was more than ready to enjoy my first day of being a bachelor again, only for Dealer to appear for the very first time in my home and make his typical snarky comment towards me.
I must confess that seeing him for the first time was horrifying, especially when I took a closer look into his hoodie and saw that there wasn’t even a face to be seen, just pure, unending darkness.
I don’t remember our conversation since it was so long ago, but I for sure could never forget the paralysing terror I felt that night, believing that my life was going to come to a quick end that night.
At the time, I didn’t truly understand just how powerful my luck is and actually feared that I’d lose the game and have my soul taken from me...Of course, the coin landed on tails and had been spared by an entity he liked to refer to as Lady Fate before making his exit by walking into my bedroom and somehow completely vanishing into thin air since there was no other way to leave the room besides the way you came in.
For a while, I believed that encounter to be nothing more than a bad dream and went about my life until months later, when he had returned out of nowhere, this time in a huge crowd, yet not a single soul could see him, proving to me that this creature was no man and feared that he’d get me this time...Only for the coin to land on tails once more, sparing my soul yet again.
Over and over, he returned at random moments in my life, each time challenging me to that silly coin-flipping game, and each time I’d win without fail and shoo him away till his next visit.
It made me realise that this Dealer creature was nothing to fear; in fact, he was an opponent I was always eager to see since what could be more of a thrill than placing the ultimate bet?
The bet of one’s very soul.
A chuckle left the creature, flipping that same coin of his up and down like he always did, one that was intimidating at first, but now it was clear this was nothing more than a silly little habit he liked to do. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? Lady Fate seems to have a never-ending list of people for me to play my favourite game with; it looks like it took a while for your turn to pop up again.” picked up on the fact that he refers to Fate as a woman for some odd reason, one time curiosity got the best of me and I asked him why, to which he just kept quiet and quickly changed the subject.
I wonder if it really was a smoking hot woman bossing him around or some sort of disgusting Lovecraft-type creature that only some freak would be into.
“Damn, and here I thought all this time this was a special game shared just between the two of us, breaking my heart here, man,” I mock the try-hard creature, holding my hand to my chest and wiping away the fake tears from my eyes. “I thought we had something truly special between us.”
The creature chuckled. "Oh, there is something special between us, alright,” he said, looking up to the ceiling. With a sigh, I prepared myself for another one of his inane ramblings. “Never in my many years existing on this plain has anyone won Fate’s game nine times in a row; most only manage that feat twice, yet here I am challenging you for the tenth time.” His sights, if he even has such a thing, were set back on mine all the while still flipping that coin of his.
“Heh, just goes to show how unstoppable my luck truly is.” I rest my hands in my pockets and circle around the good ol' Dealer with an excited grin. “Since we've done this sooo many times already, don’t you think I should win some sort of reward for kicking your ass so many times now? It seems only fair if you ask me.”
“My my aren't you confident? Don’t you have any worries about what will happen if you lose this game?”
“Nope! Not a single one in the world.” I stop circling him and lean myself on one of the walls, hands wrapped behind my head, embracing yet another win that will come my way. “Haven’t lost in over ten years now, and I know for a fact I’m not going to lose this one either, so like I said, I should get a nice reward for winning our tenth game.”
Another chuckle left the creature as he shook his head. “You truly are a fascinating creature, one that has been quite interesting to observe so closely." I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not, but either way, it was the nicest thing this creature has ever said about me, so I’ll accept it as one. “To answer your question, though, the point of the game is not to win a prize but a test to see if Lady Fate deems you worthy to win and continue to keep hold of your soul.”
“Boooo! That’s lame as hell." It might still be a thrill to bet my own life, and I know I’m going to crush this again, but it’d be so much better if I could get some sort of sick reward after playing this game so many times already!
“I don’t make the rules; it’s just how Lady Fate decides it.” This Fate chick sounds like she’s got a massive stick shoved up her ass. “Now then, what shall Fate decide for you-
Will you claim yet another win and continue about your days in peace?
The creature flipped the coin in the air as per the norm, a yarn leaving me as I rested my head down and fit in a quick power nap, already knowing the outcome.
Or will today be the day when your luck finally runs out?
Like always, he went on his tangent about what would happen if I won or lost, something that was utterly pointless since we had done this song and dance nine times already, but it was part of the tradition now, so I just left him to have his fun.
Heard the coin land on his palm, causing me to open my eyes and see that he still covered it with his hand. "Well, what are you waiting for? Move your hand so we can officially confirm my tenth victory in a row.”
A chuckle left the creature as he looked up to me with his never-ending void of a face. “You truly have a lot of faith in yourself to believe you already won without even seeing the coin.”
“Faith has nothing to do with it.” I shake my head at such a preposterous suggestion. “All I’m doing is stating the facts, which is that once you reveal that coin, we are going to see that dancing little monkey for the tenth time.” I point over to his hands, getting quite impatient that he hasn’t already shown the coin.
“Well then, let’s see if such confidence is warranted.” About damn time, it took forever, but the creature finally lifted his hand and peaked at the coin, a chuckle leaving him as I waited for the official result.
…
…
...
“It looks like your luck hasn’t eroded one bit,” the man said, reaching out his hand and showed me the obvious outcome: that ol' little Monkey dancing about and having the time of its life, a sight that is deeply burned into my mind at this point. “Once again, Lady Fate has decided that you get to continue on another day.”
A chuckle of my own leaves me not surprised by this outcome in the slightest. “Was there any doubt I’d lose?” I shrug while hosting a proud smile, once again avoiding the hand of death like an absolute boss. “Now that this is the tenth time I’ve won your little game, does that mean you’ll finally leave me alone now? Or am I going to have to keep schooling you and that Fate chick of yours?”
Fun as it may have been to best this thing for over three years now, I think it was about time for them to accept they can’t defeat me and leave me alone. As fun as it was to beat death itself, it’s starting to get old seeing this freak pop up out of nowhere to challenge me to this same game over and over.
If I wanted to beat my life at this point, I’d find somewhere to play Russian roulette to get that same thrill.
“That’s all entirely up to Lady Fate, but more importantly, yourself to decide.” The hell did he mean by that? I’m not the one asking this creature to stalk me and challenge me to this game at the most inconvenient moments.
At this point, I learnt long ago that it was best to not even bother having him explain himself since he’d either ignore me or give me some vague ass explanation that would only leave me more confused. Besides, he placed his coin back in his coat, which meant he was about to leave and would rather not interfere to keep him here any longer than needed.
“Sounds like I’m not getting rid of you anytime soon.” My shoulders flopped down, and an exasperated sigh left my very soul as I glanced up to the ceiling. “Aw well, guess I will just have to keep kicking your ass whenever you come a knocking.”
One last chuckle left the creature as he rested his hands in his pockets. “Looking forward to it...Though I shall leave you with this one last warning,” the creature’s strange voice seemed to get much deeper than usual, turning its back to me as it delivered its message. “The more you keep tempting Fate like this…
The more you risk losing
“The hell does th-...And he’s gone.” Not even allowing me a proper clarification, the creature walked into one of the many vacant stalls, which I didn’t even bother to check if he was still there since I knew by now that he had just vanished back to wherever he came from.
Seeing that creature again left me exhausted and really hashed the buzz I had after my many winnings of the day. I decided to look into the mirror once more to make sure my hair didn’t end up in a mess after that encounter.
I wondered if that annoying thing would ever leave me alone so I could enjoy building my fortune in peace...I guess it didn’t matter if he kept hounding me till the end of my days, because no matter how many times we played this silly little game…
I’ll always come out victorious
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