Ariel's Journey.

Chapter Three

After spending the morning hours,the trio decided to spend the day having fun on the streets the go to the casino in the late evenings.Later,they walked in the casino.The panther' was the name of the casino,"Karl didn't even bother to hide the name of his casino,he really likes to show off!"complained Jace.

"Why don't you start yours and name it galaxy?"Jack replied.

Jace forcefully smacked the back of Jack's head,"what kind od stupid name is that?"He rubbed at his chin with his thumb and furrowed his eyebrow as if in deep thought,"come to think of it,I think opening my own casino would be a great idea,but maybe in another continent.Mother would preach to me every chance she gets."

"But come to think of it,I think the Panthers are better than the Phoenix."Jack changed the topic.

"Be careful,last week there was a man who gave a light comment about the two leading groups,the next day his corpse was found at the police station gate."Jace said

"Wasn't it all a cover story?I heard that man had a mishap with one of the leaders of the gang?"

As they were speaking,Ariel was busy calculating the amount of money she should win tonight,she didn't want to cause alot of suspicions at the casino."Is the owner that scary?"

"yeah."

"yeah."They both answered while vigorously nodding their heads."The man doesn't like it when his casino loses too much money.I you win much,he will try to recruit you,and if you refuse, then that is A DEAD END for you."Jack said.

"His wife is called..."Jace squinted his head.

"Jessica."Jack completed his thoughts.

"Exactly,that was so quite that even her name always dissappeared from my memories everytime I want to mention it."The two were so engrossed in their conversion that they didn't realize that they had left Ariel behind, until Jace called her name.

Ariel was frozen in place after she heard the name Jessica,'was it a coincidence?'She tried going through the former's memory to see if she knows the Jessica girl,but she didn't.Infact she can't blame her,the original owner's body had bruises all over her body,that her face wasn't any better,she always covered it with her long dark hair.She had been bullied by everyone since she was young, after her mother' death she became a lab rat for her father and her step mom.Wait...suddenly,a memory hit her.'Where is my brother?'she asked no one in particular.She came back to her senses only after Jack patted her shoulders.Jack and Jace are the only ones who had seen her face,and that was when she had ran away from her bullies who were in the washroom,but after she took over the body she no longer had the idea to hide her face,she was going to use every alternative medicine to clean all the wounds.

"Are we still going to the casino, or did you change your mind?"Jack asked."we almost left you behind.Is everything okay?

"I'm fine, lets go to the casino,I need money."The other reason why she wants to go to earn money was also to resources and build up her own foundation,but first and foremost,she has to find her brother.

"Where do you want to start?" They were now inside the casino staring at the machines.

Ariel looked around,"I want to start with playing dice."There weren't many people at the poker table and she didn't want to draw to much attention for now,it's better to play poker at the end when there will be alot of people around, that way, it would be easier to run incase it doesn't enfd well.

"You know how to play dice?"Jace asked, and before waiting for her reply,he continued,"don't worry,I know how to play it,I will help you win."

Jack scoffed,"says the guy who lost twenty five thousand last week in a row."

Jace' whole face turned red,"can't you just let me flaunt for a while?Anyway,what do you know,apart from politics and business management."

"I am going to buy some chips," After getting the chips,she went to the dice table followed by Jace who had also bought some chips. As time went buy,she had earned alot,everytime she won she did the calculataions,but she made sure she also lost some bets to avoid suspicion,"Two and five"she said.

"Two and five,"Jace followed,by now Ariel was already used to Jace coping her,He gave a sideway glance to Jack and shrugged innocently after noticing that he was watching him.

After earning eighty thousand dollars,Ariel went to play cards.By now, the casino was already occupied by alot of people.

"Aren't you going to play cards too?"Jack asked Jace,with a dissatisfied glance all over his face.

After Jace realized how Ariel played the dice game and the tricks she used to avoid being suspected,he had followed every word he said from then on,but everytime he saw Jack gazing at him with disgust, he always shruegged and said,"you can't blame me for being too clever!"

Jack sneered,"why don't you put your brain at the poker cards then,"he left him there and followed Ariel.He was not a gambling fun, he was more of a bookwarm,but he felt interested in watching her play.

Ariel placed all in for the first game,"young girl that's a very risky move,"said one of the older men.

"Honey,isn't it good for us,at least we will earn more to buy that car I requested,"as she said this,she kissed his cheeks.

"It's just a school girl who gained the identification card yesterday and now thinks that they can do whatever they want,"said another girl.The girl was looking at Ariel with disgust,it was as if she wanted to swallow her whole.She was seated next to a middle aged man,rubbing his thighs seductively while giving Jack seductive glances at the same time.

"At least I am spending and wasting my money, not a married man's money,"she smiled at them,"what do you think?"

Both of the girls looked very angry,"what's your problem, is it your money!"the one with the red dress said.

"It's none of my business,it's just that I pity the woman who stays at home waiting for her husband when he is being seduced by some street models!"Ariel said.

"Honey!"

"Baby!" They both called their men,acting coquettish and angry at the same time.

"I pity the babies,"she turned to Jack,"what should parents call their kids if old men are now babies?"Jack was now sweating,he was trying to signal her to calm down, but it was like she didn't see it.He knew this men very well."What makes you think that I will let some old man take my money just to buy you a stupid car?"

The man slapped the table very hard,"young girl,do you think you can come here and insult us.Just because you played poker with your agemates at school doesn't mean you understand everything!"

Now everyone had started paying attention to them."You see what I'm talking about?You call me a young girl yet you are bickering with me like a child.What a shame,with that big belly full of dirty money that you steal from the streets make you feel superior?"

Everyone gasped, no one has ever talked to those two men like that,"is she courting death?"Soon murmurs started around the casino,their faces filled with sympathy as if she was already a dead meat.