Sarah was wearing sunglasses, a white jacket and black trousers with lace ups.

The man in front of her was chubby, wore a suit and smoked a cigarette. He held his cigarette near the mouth, looked at every person sitting there and pushed all of his chips to the center, making for a huge prize.

“I’m out…” said the man to his left during his turn.

“Out” complied the woman playing at his side.

The next one didn’t even say anything. He was so much in the red he couldn’t muster any words to show his spirit - or the lack of it. His money has been sucked dry and the same thing happened to four of the players.

Only Sarah had actually won something, and that guy who was so filthy rich losing meant nothing.

She took a brief moment to think, but her decision came to be since the moment that chubby bastard put all of his cash in the game. It was just for the sake of fun, creating pressure for those who didn’t even have a chance to fight back.

She plucked all of her chips and dumped then in the bowl. Everyone immediately stared at her with eyes filled by astonishment.

“I’m in.”

Sarah and the man called King were the actual players on that table, the others were just small fry. The thing is, it was Sarah’s first time on that gambling house – her face has never been seen there.

She was a stranger that appeared out of nowhere and swallowed them all like a hungry carnivorous.

And if she played her cards the right way, would also disappear just like that.

The stacks were raised to the max. Aside her, none dared to go all out. It was a fight between a shark and a whale, a confrontation even idle players and house attendants decided to watch.

The 5 cards on the table were all revealed, if King called all in, who would be crazy to go into it? This fear induced a stupid way of thinking. But Sarah wasn’t stupid. The second the man looked at her eyes, he handed himself over. It was something few people could notice, and rather hard to pick up on a seasoned player, but without a doubt it was there.

He grimaced. It was just for a millisecond, but he grimaced. Not to any of them, but to Sarah, the only one he knew would dare call him on his game.

It was a bluff.

“Reveal your hands.”

Hearing the announcement, the two of them lowered their cards on the table and all gaped in awe.

Royal Straight Flush, the strongest hand in the game. She had it hidden under her sleeves the entire time.

Sarah gobbled up all of his money, cashed it in and left the gambling house before anyone could notice what had just happened.

“W…Wait a minute! You there! Who the hell are you?!” yelled King carrying his wounded pride, but Sarah didn’t even turn to look at his face, laughing heartily at his despair.

The man now was running out to catch her, but it was useless. She had disappeared into the dark streets. He was a fool that made a dangerous play for no real money. High risk, low reward.

That wasn’t the first time Sarah entered a gambling house with a false identity, tricked someone into losing their money and got out unscathed, never to be seen again.

After nights such as these, she would go to an Italian food stall near her house and order some fried rice balls. The sun was sleeping and nightlife was at its peak. She hurriedly walked, not to reach home too late.

And there it was, Dennis’s food stall. It was open during the morning and late at night, his main source of income was students and people from the neighborhood, but his food was good enough for him to put down a successful restaurant and attend to a larger public. Whenever someone suggested it, though, he would say the stall was just fine.

It was a neat and clean place, although the booth needed a hand of paint. There hasn’t been anyone for some time, Dennis was thinking on packing his stuff and going home, but then he saw Sarah’s figure – she was always dressed in shady clothes, just like the day of her first order. His stamina rocketed up at the sight of an old sponsor.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Sarah, girl! I’ve got homemade potato croquettes!” he shouted while leaning his arm on the wooden balcony, she gave a quick motion in response.

“Two croquettes, aye?” bringing about a pretty box, he took the croquettes and began to lightly heat them on a sheet.

“Get me a Bellini”

“You know i can’t be selling this to a minor, don’t you?”

“Shut up and fill that glass already”

Dennis laughed as he prepared the Bellini. In his eyes, legal drinking age was sixteen. Plus, he knew Sarah wouldn’t rat on him anyway.

“So… What is snow white doing in such late hours?”

“I work on night shift” she replied, remembering the chubby man’s crunched face as she trampled his honor. It was worth more than the money.

“Theeere it go. It’s on the house!”

“I’m flattered but i prefer paying”

“Well, i won’t push it!”

Sarah looked at the pink colored liquid filling the glass. She then took a refreshing sip and a bite of the croquette.  It was truly delicious.

“Sarah… Is that an alcohol drink?”

She closed her eyes, enjoying the delicate flavor, and opened its lids in slow motion.

“It’s just peach juice with sparkling water”

“…I don’t think it would acquire this color”

“No wonder you’re a bad student” she gulped down the glass’s content and snatched another bite at the croquette. The guy took a seat near her and ordered the same thing she had asked for.

“What is it, Jacob?”

“… Sarah, i’m willing to do anything to stay with you. Won’t you at least give me a chance?” he said, his serious eyes trying to delve into her soul.

“Jacob…”

“… Yes?”

Sarah finished the croquette, wrapping the other on a napkin, and approached the boy all of a sudden, making him flustered.

“Would you be willing to kill someone to stay near me?” Jacob’s hands sunk down and his pupils widened in surprise. He was caught off guard - surely he wouldn’t do such a thing.

“I…”

“I thought so. Farewell, Jacob”.

She dropped the money on the balcony and left without a word spoken.

“Sarah! Why do you do this to me?!” he shouted at a distance, trying to catch her attention.

She stopped midway and stole a quick glance at him.

“The right question would be… Jacob, why do you do this to yourself?”

Sarah left him to his doubts and climbed the stairs to her apartment, turning the lights on as soon as she got in. She was tired of dealing with conceited opponents in poker, although she was quite grateful for them to exist – that way, she wouldn’t need to worry about money for a long time.

She moved the canvas to the left, removed the blank door and pulled a painting from the hall within, revealing a safe. She then withdrew chunks and more chunks of green papers from her bag, opened the lock and shoved all inside it. There were at least two more of those safes hidden in the house.

Arranging things back to their original state, Sarah stripped her clothes on the floor, dropped her glasses at the bed and took a bath before going back to Talisman.