Midnight Creek Tales

#1. Cut The Deck / Chapter 7

Everybody entered the library and took a seat. Christina gave everyone drinks, (except for Gerald). She appeared distraught, and Gerald knew something wasn't right. The same look and attitude were on the faces of Antonio's wife Veronica and his daughter Linda. They seemed to be under a type of spell! And Antonio looked to be quite the manipulator.

Gerald began to wonder how Antonio was even a multi-millionaire, and how he made this much money. Was he a director? Invested in stocks? He couldn't really tell. Antonio did seem beamingly proud of his family, but aside from that he looked like any other man if it weren't for the expensive clothes and lavish lifestyle.

While Gerald was brainstorming up possibilities Veronica barged in, "Antonio I need to see you for a second, it's about Linda."

Antonio looked back at his wife and followed her out of the room while his henchmen were keeping a close eye on Gerald.

Christina leaned over to put the drinks down on the table while smiling to the other men. Gerald gazed upon her white apron, and while she was walking away he could've sworn that there was a little smear of blood on it! Gerald's heart raced, and his eyes widened.

Something was wrong...

Antonio came back in and looked at his wife. Gerald then saw a scratch on Veronica's neck that certainly wasn't there before! She smiled towards the henchmen, "Have fun gentlemen!"

As she opened the door to leave, Charles came into the library and carried a revolver and one bullet in his hand.

Gerald might've been the card player, but never in his life did he have the balls to play Russian Roulette. Because it didn't matter who you were, if that revolver spun to you, you were done! Gerald saw his opponent walk in. He had cuffs around his hands and behind him, Marcos and Diego held him fiercely. He sat right in front of Gerald and stared at him dead in the face. In the man's eyes, Gerald could see fear and hatred. Charles looked at Antonio and then put in the bullet. He spun the chamber behind his back and put the gun in place.

"We'll roll to see who goes first." Antonio said pulling a pair of dice from his pocket as he laid them on the table. "I'll go first." Replied the man. He rolled the dice and got double 4's giving him 8. "Not bad Paul," Antonio remarked as he handed the dice to Gerald.

Gerald rolled the dice and got an 8 also. "Damnit!" Paul jeered. He grabbed the dice from where they were and rolled a 6.

Gerald took the dice from him and thought about his chances. 'I'm safe; I'll surely win.'

His hands were sweaty and clammy with fear and hesitation. He shuffled the dice between his palms and rolled...

Seven. "So Mr. Counterferd, do you want to go first or do you want Mr. Landon to do so?" Gerald shrugged his shoulders and picked up the revolver. "By the way, after every shot, you can't spin the chamber over again. This will be a quick and intense game." Antonio said grinning mercilessly.

"And just in case there's any funny business." Men from behind both Paul and Gerald pulled out their guns and propped it next to their heads.

"I'll go first then," Gerald said putting the gun up to his temple. There was a 1/6 chance of Gerald getting his brains blown out. So he took the first hit to have better odds.

As he took a final breath, everything became silent.

He pulled the trigger and... CLICK! Nothing. Gerald took a deep breath of relief and handed the gun to Paul. Paul closed his eyes for a second and took a shot quickly. No bullet.

Nothing could compare to the mental pain that they were going through, as it was pure torture, and you could tell that Gerald was shaking to the point where you'd think he was having a seizure. Gerald grabbed the gun and put it up to his head again and pushed down on the trigger with a closed state of mind, trying to relax. Nothing.