Blackjack

The Deal

Five years ago, we were each approached with an offer to earn a lot of money. Of course, it seemed very sketchy. Despite our skepticism, we accepted the offer. Four of us. There were a few conditions, though. 

Condition 1: We are not allowed to know each others' faces.

Condition 2: We are not allowed to know each others' names.

Condition 3: We are not allowed to know each other's voices.

Condition 4: We are not allowed to know who is behind this.

The conditions were simple enough. None of us wanted to make friends, anyway. We just wanted money. 

Our first session was the first of January. "New Year's Game" they called it. I was escorted to a semi truck and was told to get in the trailer and sit in the chair, and so I did. It shocked me as I was suddenly in a small room. I didn't even recall being moved anywhere. I just sat down in the chair, and suddenly I was no longer in the trailer.

Right in front of me was a wall with a ledge sticking out of it, appearing as a desk, and a small window. I could see two other metal containers with these small windows, illuminated by a faint red light in the center of a triangular room between each of us.  The windows were still dark, and I could not see through them. 

I was suddenly strapped to my chair, with leather straps around my wrists, ankles, abdomen, and neck. Just above the window was a neon sign with a font akin to a digital clock. Part of it lit up and said "YOU ARE." After a few seconds, the second part beneath it lit up to say "KING." I was King. I was King? 

Someone was being lifted up into the center of the triangular room, and they were restrained in what appeared to be a straitjacket and a hood. They were seated in a chair, just like me, and they were also strapped to it. 

As if mocking the apparently-perilous situation, a PA crackled as it turned on and smooth jazz began to play. The room was still dark, rusty, and faintly-lit by red. 

The chair of the center person spun to face me, and two cards were dispensed onto my ledge desk: four and three. My total was seven. The center chair spun to face another small room, and then soon faced the third. It finally spun to face me again, and the red neon sign above the window showed two words: "HIT" and "STAND." 

I met a dilemma. I remembered the third condition. At the same time, I could not move my hands to gesture. My final option was to nod, suggesting I wanted to hit. A third card was dispensed: ace. I had a total of 18, but it could also technically be 8. I then chose to stand, shaking my head as if I was saying "no."

The chair spun to the next room. While I could not see inside the room, there were more of those neon signs on the outside that showed what cards that person had: ace and eight, being a total of 19. After a moment, a third sign appeared above the window saying "HIT." A fourth sign appeared showing that the person got a two, totaling to 21. How lucky.

The chair spun once more to the third room. The two signs showed the card values were seven and four - eleven. The third sign then said "HIT." A fourth sign showed the third card value as seven, giving the person a total of 18. The sign then said "STAND." 

It was the dealer's turn to reveal their cards. The sign above the window revealed the values of the first two cards: seven and two. A third value then appeared: two. A fourth value appeared: two. The final value appeared: jack. The sign then said "BUST." A spike shot up from under the person in the center, impaling them completely. 

As suddenly as when I appeared in that room, I appeared in the trailer. My body was no longer strapped to the chair, and I never even felt the leather straps leave me. The window and the signs were gone. Light came pouring into the trailer as the door was opened. "Congratulations!" A man's voice said. "Here's your money."

I stepped out of the trailer, and the man handed me a massive wad of cash. I looked around for the other people, but there weren't any other trailers in sight. It was just me and this man. As I was about to walk away, the man whispered in my ear. "See you next month." 

For five years, once a month, I've been going to this place. It's only a matter of time until I bust, but my luck hasn't run out so far. I'm only writing this so the world knows that this is happening, not that I know why it's happening or who's doing it.