The Gambling Killer

Chapter 5

After a long day, I finally got home. When I got in, I saw my wife, Sylvie, making dinner. She was beautiful as always. Her long black hair moved to one side, her cherry lips curving into a smile and the beauty mark right next to her left eye, getting framed in her round glasses. She looked like when we first met.

We met online by an accident. At first, we were friends, but I asked her out on a date when I gathered some courage. To my surprise, she said yes. We appointed a meeting, to this day I still remember the date, on November 16th at 6 p.m. in front of Celestial Library. She wore a long black dress, a long coat and some heels. Her hair was moved on one side, falling over her chest. She was mesmerizing. We agreed on a library date. It was quiet inside, the only sound was people turning pages of books. We stayed there for about 2 hours. It was around 8 p.m. when we left the library and went to a cafe. That's where she told me her tragic story.

Her parents would often argue. She was always locked in her room when that happens. It was emotionally exhausting. Her biggest fear was them getting into a real, physical fight. And there she was, laying on her stomach, her back facing the ceiling and her head buried into the pillow. Tears wetting the pillow every second. But nobody saw that. Nobody wanted to see it or help her. She was alone. Her pillow knowing what she went through more than her parents. Every time she would cry, she would blame herself. Crying herself to sleep was normal to her. She got used to it.

Besides her parents arguing, they were abusive, both physically and mentally. They were also alcoholics and smokers. Their idea of parenting was beating their child when it makes a mistake. Saying something that the parents didn't want to hear or raising your voice at them would result in getting beaten. The bruises were getting from blue to purple and at last, some shade of black. But that became normal to her. Everything was slowly becoming normal.

At the age of 13, her mom kicked her out of the house for no reason. She didn't eat or drink for 2 days. Sleeping on the cold and dirty ground. She was alone again. She didn't believe that there was hope. Until one morning her aunt found her and legally adopted her. That was the first time in a while that she felt happy. From that day she was living happily with her aunt.

After she told me her life story, I could only stare at her. No words coming from my mouth. Her story left me speechless.

You saved me, Steve. Thank you.

- How was work today? – she snapped me from my thoughts.

- Well, I don't know what to say. – I replied.

I told her everything, from finding the dead body to talking with the victim's father. We talked more about the case while eating dinner. After a while, we went to bed. I spent the night overthinking the whole situation. Will it be that hard to find the killer, or even worse, will we even find the killer? I tried to stop thinking and go to sleep, but it wasn't that easy, but in the end, I got enough hours of sleep to survive the next day.

*************

- Boss, someone wants to see you. – A strange voice said.

- Let them in. – Another voice replied.

A man in a black suit came into the room. He sat on a chair and looked at the woman in front of him.

- I wanna play a game with you. – The man spoke.

- Okay – the woman laughed – come with me then, people are waiting.

- Oh and by the way, Haiman, my name.

- Nadia.

They entered a room that looked like a casino. The room was big. In the middle of the room was a table and people around it were waiting for the players to begin playing the game. Some people were screaming "NADIA". When the two players finally sat down, the woman started talking.

- Since you are new, Haiman, what are we playing today?

- Poker. – the man replied – how much cash are we gonna gamble?

- Oh don't be silly – Nadila laughed – we don't gamble cash or chips here. We gamble with lives here. The winner spins the wheel, the wheel has names written on there. On whatever name it stops, the loser has to kill them. Of course, the winner decides how will the victim die. Are you still interested?

- That's even better. Let's play now!

You could hear some people screaming "Nadia" and some "Haiman". They continued playing. After some time, the game was over. And the winner was...

- Ahahaha – Nadia laughed out loud – I told you that you were gonna lose.

- Damn. – Haiman said.

- And now, showtime. – the woman walked over the weel – who will be the lucky victim? Let's find out.

She spun the wheel with all of her strength. She was clapping with her hands. The wheel stopped. People are now even more excited. The woman's eyes were fully open with excitement in them. Who is the lucky victim?

- And the name is... – she paused for a second to make the audience even more excited – Ashley Nelson!

- How should I kill her? – the man questioned.

- Poison her – the woman spoke – Put the poison on a piece of thorn and put it on her body. You can pick the poison and the date.

With that, the woman went out of the room with a big grin on her face. She was delighted. Haimon was left in surprise. How can a woman be so confident and powerful? And that right there is Nadia, the woman who could do anything.