All In

 

Paul looped a thumb around the loose bra strap that had fallen off his shoulder and moved to pull it back into place. He paused as he realised every figure crowded around the monstrous dice table was watching his every movement. There was something in their eyes that he recognised – a not quite hunger, not quite lust, more a kind of desperation than anything else. He had seen it in his own eyes plenty of times. It was the look visiting the casino gave him – the look he got from gambling knowing that a big pot of winnings was in reach – the look he got when there was a prize worth winning. Paul shuddered, knowing that for each and every one of the figures watching him, he was the prize that had intoxicated them.

No-one knew for sure when the casino on the edge of town opened. It just seemed like it was there one day. As dark and uninviting as it was, it was still a beacon to Paul's brand of degenerate gamblers and the masses were soon queuing up for their fix. Each new member was given the standard chip and pin card for loading their gaming credit along with a mysterious black wooden poker chip – an anatomical heart carved intricately on one side. 'Your soul,' a female clerk had explained humourlessly as she handed it to Paul upon his first visit. 'Wager it wisely.'

Paul had chuckled nervously at those words but had kept the chip in his pocket all the same. In his frequent visits to the casino, he would see the occasional black chip pushed cautiously onto tables and thus concluded they did actually hold some value. This was in stark contrast to Paul's own fortunes, as night after night, he returned home from the casino in the early hours with nothing left in his pockets but for the black chip.

Finally, one night at a poker table he had gained a foothold in a game – amounting a modest collection of winnings. A woman at the table in a long dark robe continued to push for bigger and bigger pots and in spite his good luck in the draw, he was unable to match her raises. On one particularly good hand, he held pocket aces but had nowhere near enough chips to match the bet. 'I think you have one more chip,' she had taunted and he anxiously brought out the black 'soul' token. Two minutes later, the woman revealed a flush and hungrily swooped up his chip.

That had been seven days ago. In one week Paul had learned what it truly meant to gamble with ones life. The woman possessed him now and could craft him as she pleased. She made him into the delicate blonde creature with a snap of her fingers and led him from table to table on a leash. Eyes followed him everywhere – stares reserved for someone who had gambled it all and lost everything. And now, as be sat on the enormous dice table amongst the chips and cash, it was he who was being wagered. The stares were hungry – players who clearly wanted him for more than a pet to be led around on a leash. And judging by the number of black wooden poker chips on the table, they were willing to risk everything to have him...