Death's Claws

The club's garage was relatively dark due to poor lighting. Luckily, a bright light flashed not too far away when Jim pushed a button on his key holder. Staggering, he made his way to the flashing light as he continuously pushed the same button.

Suddenly, his body hit a hard surface, and the next second he felt his body collapse to the ground. Using his hands, he stopped himself from falling flat on the floor. Still unstable, he swivelled to his feet, staring at the large shadow in front of him. The man stood at least six feet tall, and wore a fedora hat on his head. His vision was relatively hazy and the garage was too dark to tell what clothes the man was wearing.

"Who are you?" Jim assumed the man standing in front of him wished to take his life. Taking a couple steps back, a hand suddenly latched onto his, pulling him forward.

"My name... is irrelevant," the man said, and suddenly, Jim could feel a shooting pain as a sharp blade had penetrated his abdomen. Pushing the handle further in, the pointed part had punctured his back, more blood oozing out of his body.

Jim did his best to struggle against the mysterious man, but as the two clashed in strength, there was a clear winner, as the dagger had created two new holes in his body, damaging multiple internal organs, and causing a severe blood loss. Eventually, his body lost the will to move, slumping against the cold floor.

The mysterious man held the bloodied blade in his hand, placing it away, he looked down at the corpse. "My job... is done," exiting the club garage, he swiftly disappeared into the night.

________

'Where... am I?' Jim thought. Although his memories we're still hazy, he remembered everything that had happened.

'Why... can't I feel anything?' he was keenly aware of how much pain the blade had inflicted on his mind and body, so not being able to feel anything now just didn't add up to recent events. Unless...

'Am I... dead?' that seemed like the only plausible explanation available. He felt his vision go blank right before now. He must have died, and is now in existence as a spirit. Although he never believed in ghosts, his current presence did make him reconsider some of his beliefs.

'This must be it, huh? After death, you find yourself like this...' Although Jim had many things he wanted to do while he was still alive, now that he was dead, the desire to live had suddenly vanished. It sounded ironic, but at the same time didn't. The desire to live one's life can only be felt in life, not in death.

Still, that didn't stop him from missing his former life. The lack of desire for his past life didn't mean he had stopped caring about it. He still had Amanda, Tyler, Blake, and June in his mind. The first three more present in mind that the last. Despite what she had done for him, that didn't change the fact that Amanda and his two friends had been with him through it all.

'I wonder what'll I'll be doing with all this free time?' Jim wondered.

[Congratulations: Host has awakened his attribute]

"..."

[Child Of Death]

'I must be hallucinating.'

________

Meanwhile, back in the land of the living, life went on like one hadn't been claimed by death not too long ago. Such was life. Live it or not, once your time has come, there's nothing you can do to stop it from happening.

Before the party was over, a few hours prior, Tyler and Brandon had called Jim to a different part of the club to discuss something important.

"Jim, I think we should get outta here. Look, we've already made enough money to sustain this lifestyle and we could always come back here to win some more cash if ever we were in need of it.

"It's already eleven, I think we should get outta here. Haven't you heard that there's been an increase in murder cases during the last two months?"

It was true. Citizens were advised to be I doors before eight, and it was already eleven. However, clubs and other night centres could remain open past the stipulated curfew due to legal reasons not disclosed to the public.

Jim had to admit that Tyler had a point, but still, he refused to leave. The rush of being fresh out of highschool had taken over him. In the end, Blake and Tyler left the club and headed back home ordering an Uber that works for the club.

While Jim choose to stay and party some more. Tyler and Blake weren't the only ones who were loaded. After experiencing loss after loss, Jim finally started to win, and his winning streak lasted well into the night. His total win came up to an estimated sum of one million. The big boys of the club saw Jim as an overnight legend, offering to buy him drinks and give him the best seats in the club. The wanted him to feel comfortable and hoped to get in his good books. Someone so lucky when it came to gambling wasn't someone one should distance themselves from or make their enemy.

It felt weird to Jim. Being someone who would usually receive all the hate and disapproval from people, he felt like he didn't deserve the admiration and respect the people were currently showing him. He had grown up getting used to pain and disrespect. It felt natural for him to be treated like shit. However, he would never tolerate any level of disrespect from his only two friends.

While there were many who acted friendly towards him, there were those that seemed to keep their distance. From experience, Jim assumed that they were of a higher social statue who felt like it was below them to acknowledge a newbie winning by dumb luck.

Although Jim paid little no no attention to them as he started to enjoy the good feeling of being a winner in people's eyes. He started to consider that he would also visit this club soon in the future. With his current winning money, he bet he now had enough cash to obtain a new VR set from the black market.

"Haha! I win again!" Jim shouted, stretching his hand to sweep the bet cash towards his side of the table. Considering his wins, he had been giving the best seat at the betting table he was at, and a few people had seemingly sworn allegiance to him saying they will show him a few tricks in exchange for a few sums here and there.

Feeling in a light mood, Jim agreed and they did just as promised. Raking a now 1.5 million dollar sum, Jim started to consider that it might be time to leave, however, there was a problem. The game involved chugging down shots of alcohol. Jim considered it a miracle that he was still able to think relatively straight. Perhaps it was the adrenaline or feeling of absolute freedom for a first time in a long time.

"Have you noticed the kid who seems to be getting a bit too lucky over there?"

"I know. Ever since not too long ago, his luck seemed to have drastically changed."

"I think he's cheating. I don't know how, but I'm sure of it. No way in hell are all his wins valid!"

The discussion had turned heated amongst those seated at the VIP area. Word had quickly spread about the lucky winner, and naturally, they felt like it was necessary to gain more information about him, perhaps have him under their thumb. That was how they did things. Whenever they spotted a rising star, they would offer him something his cash couldn't afford in exchange for a sum of his winning cash amongst other things, if one was willing, of course. At the end of the day, it was all based on the circumstances.

Meanwhile, Jim had decided it would be best to head back home. Fortunately, no one gave him a fuss as he exited the club, although heavily drunk, with all his cash transfered into a credit cash; services which the club attendants offered to do as part of their job.

Everything else had taken place, leaving Jim dumbfounded by the piece of information floating in front of him. But that wasn't all that took place in the realm of the living.

Once Tyler and Blake had made it home, they had both tried contacting Jim, considering the state he was in once they left, they really didn't expect him to pick up the phone, but luckily he did, albeit sounding drunk on the other line. Once they had confirmed he was alright, they ended their respective calls. However, they still felt like something wasn't right.