Chapter 30 - Bet (II)

"Hit."

The air tensed as Raina watched the dealer hand her another card.

She took a deep breath as she flipped it over. An 8.

Glancing at her deck she peered over at Lezlo who simply scratched at the table, another card passed over to him.

"Stand." Raina sighed, placing her 3 cards on the table. A 2 of spades, 7 of spades, and 8 of hearts, a total of 17.

Letting out a chuckle, Lezlo carelessly tossed his deck as well. A 9 of diamonds, 6 of hearts, and 5 of diamonds scattering on the table. A 20.

"Ohh. Seems like I won this round too," Lezlo winced as he watched the dealer gather the cards again, shuffling them, "How many rounds has it been again?"

"…" Raina grit her teeth, her hand clenched so hard that drips of blood drop onto the table.

"That was the fourth round wasn't it?" He answered himself, seeing her biting her lip in response. He turned to the crowd gathered around them, tilting his head as if confirming if he was correct.

"Yes, sir." Martha nodded furiously as she stood at the front of the pack, the rest mimicking her as they too nodded.

A smile emerged from Lezlo's lips as he sat back, crossing his legs, "There's no point in continuing this game." He waved his hand in a shooing motion at the worker, who bowed and took a step back.

"Why don't you admit your loss rather than wasting our time here?"

[Condition of Bet has been met.

Winner: Lezlo Murdock

Reward: All In. 6 Tokens]

Raina watched as the 6 red tokens she had placed on the table were slid over with a long metal stick by the dealer.

Lezlo flicked them in his hand before they disappeared one by one into a small red pouch.

"Now, Ms. Tokenless." Lezlo leaned over with a nasty smirk plastered all over his face, "Why don't we have some real talk."

"What else do you want from me?" Raina huffed, her eyes glaring daggers at the arrogant face of her opponent.

"I'm proposing you an offer," Lezlo chuckled, "Work for me. In exchange, I'll pay you a total of 20 tokens a week."

Raina let out a scoff and her eyes rolled, "You know what?" She leaned on the table, "Fuck off,"

She told up, the metal chair letting out a loud scrapping sound against the pavement as she walked away.

However, now with no abilities, no tokens, and no one she could trust, her eyes stuck peeled to the ground.

"Hey!" A loud scream suddenly distracted her from her thought, turning around to see a fist directed at her face.

Then pain. A searing pain from her cheek as her eyes widened.

She felt her body fall backward as the perpetrator stood in front of her.

Martha Goodman. Rage was clearly visible in those emerald eyes,

"You fucking bitch!" She heard her scream before her head hit the floor. Her ears rang loudly as everything quietened around her, leaving nothing but the ear-piercing ring and the sight of Martha mouthing some words she couldn't make out as the world darkened around her.

"Fuck." Raina mumbled as she opened her eyes, around her was a black empty void, "Is this how I die…?"

She slowly began taking a step forward, trying to piece together where she was.

Suddenly a door in the distance.

Raina squinted her eyes as she raised her hand, pointing it to a blank space.

A wall appeared.

"This- This is a dream!" Her eyes widened as the black void suddenly shattered, replaced with the usual white space she was all too familiar with.

But no matter how much she attempted to exit the dream, it felt like an invisible barrier prevented her from leaving.

"What now…?" Raina mumbled as she sat down, her eyes slowly panning around as various random objects began appearing.

A ball, a toy train, a car. With a sigh, Raina swiped her hand, all the objects disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Without her dream walker skill, she couldn't escape her own dream,

Suddenly Raina's eyes widened as she stood up,

"I… I don't need to leave," she mumbled as she waved her hands, her eyes closing as she focused.

Around her in a 100-foot radius, tall skyscrapers and various small buildings began erupting out of the ground as the sky turned a beautiful pale blue. Asphalt roads formed beneath her feet as chatter and people began wandering the streets.

"The world I dream of," She opened her eyes as she marveled at her creation.

"Sister!" A shout rang out from behind her,

She turned around as the 3 people she missed the most stood there, their hands on their hips as she ran over as quickly as she could.

"Vera! Ivanna!" A giant smile on her lips as she pounced at them, giving them a bear hug, her eyes then turning to the woman who stood to her side, tears began flowing from her eyes,

"M-Mum!" She stuttered, her arms slowly retracting back to her side as she slowly walked over, "I- I miss you so much," she jumped into her mother's arms holding it as tightly as she could as if afraid her mother would disappear into thin air once more.

She felt herself breaking down emotionally for the first time. All the emotion she had locked tightly in her heart. All the human weaknesses she had purposely abandoned began pouring out uncontrollably. Her entire body dropped to the ground, curling into a ball as her mother simply knelt down and hugged her.

"I-I don't know what to do," she admitted, tears streaming down her eyes, "I don't know what to do anymore,"

Her mother continued to hug and pat her back, her mouth miming the words, "Everything will be okay." But not a sound escaped her lips.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Raina grabbed and tugged at her mother's arm tightly, "I abandoned my sisters. I left them behind when I should've looked after them! I should've had their back! I should've been there for them. But I ran away…"

"I-I thought I was strong, I thought I could do anything. But- But look at me now," Raina let out a soft chuckle as she took a deep breath, "I'm back to being the old useless me again. The powerless useless, Raina." She scoffed at herself as she slowly let herself out of her mother's embrace, "I'm so tired now. Why can't I just stay here forever…"

She slowly closed her eyes as the world she created began to crumble to the ground like shattered glass. The white void once again began being consumed in darkness whilst a giant cube of dark obsidian-like metal surrounded her and her family. Finally, they can be together forever. Peace and quiet.

…

…-Raina! Raina!"