Trinity

The entire room took notice of Miyuki as she neared Rylak’s table. In the corner of the room, Rylak began to shuffle the cards he was dealing to the two other men sat opposite him. As Miyuki walked past a group of men sat drinking at the bar, one of them stood up and began to stare at her intensely, before he finally opened his mouth.

‘You. I have not seen you before. Who are you? What is your name? If you refuse to tell me, I’ll simply call security and have them throw you into the gutter. ‘

‘My name? What’s it to you?’

The man was obviously used to getting his way all the time, as his face twisted with rage at the thought anyone dare oppose him.

‘Perhaps if you focussed less on me and more on that drink, you’ll not spill any on your suit.’ Miyuki remarked. The man’s face changed from anger to embarrassment as he sat back down.

Rylak got up from his table and walked towards Miyuki. His suit was the most expensive in the entire room , costing an eye watering 600 million credits, coloured in beige with a black tie. His dark blue eyes looked Miyuki up and down.

‘Care for a game of Numero Uno? Ms..?’

‘Yukinon. Yukinon Yukoshita.’

‘Right, Ms Yukoshita. This way, if you please.’

Miyuki recognised the other two men playing with Rylak, both were politicians. The first, was Migi, a renowned politician who had been involved in a public scandal just a few months ago. The second, was Roly, a well liked politician but one who was also a notorious gambling addict. Migi looked up at Miyuki before turning to Rylak.

‘Rylak? Why you letting this doll play with us?’

‘Migi. That’s enough. Ms Yukoshita here is willing to play with us. Don’t you think a fourth person adds more competition? Unlike the recent elections….’

‘Shut it Rylak. Until you get rid of this broad I ain’t playing’

Rylak turned to Miyuki with an expression of frustration on his face.

‘ I do apologise for my colleague’s shall we say uneeded comments. Please, have a seat. Is this your first time playing Numero Uno?’

Miyuki nodded

‘It’s a very simple game Ms Yukoshita. The person with only one card left at the end of the match is the winner. If you can make pairs out of each card until there is only one card left, then you’ve won. Now let’s begin shall we?’

The round ended with Miyuki winning.

‘Y-You son of a bitch! You cheated! ‘ screamed Migi

‘Migi! What did I say? That’s enough. Now sit down.’

‘Oh go to hell Rylak. You think your little operation could survive without ME changing the laws to allow you to run rampant? Did you really think that? Did you? I want an answer from you, you absolute scum. I want to hear it from the horse’s mouth! I wa-

Rylak pulled out a knife from his suit pocket and shoved the blade into Migi’s neck.

‘Ah, finally! Peace and quiet. Now then, Ms Yukoshita. It seems that little encounter just now KILLED my appetite for this. What say you and I retire to my penthouse? It’s just upstairs. As for you Roly, you go home. ‘

Miyuki knew this was her one and only chance to complete her mission.

‘Ok. Let’s go. To your penthouse’.

Rylak’s face twisted into a smug grin.

‘Certainly. Ms Yukoshita. This way if you please.’ Rylak and Miyuki left the gambling table and walked across the room to a set of double doors. Rylak scanned his keycard and the doors swung open, revealing a grand spiral staircase leading up to the penthouses. The Penthouses belonged to the secret third floor of the casino. Very few had seen it or even knew of its existence, and fewer still had managed to get inside a penthouse as to acquire one costed 1 Billion credits, money which the majority didn’t have. As they walked across the third floor, the two rows of penthouses were bathed in gold light emanating from the gold finish of the ceiling. A strip of velvet carpet split the two rows of penthouses up, as they both sat staring the other down on opposite sides. As they neared Rylak’s penthouse, something kept gnawing in the back of Miyuki’s mind. It had been far to easy to get close to him. She tried to call Trinity once more, but again was met instantly by the voicemail. The final penthouse on the left side belonged to Rylak. He turned towards Miyuki as he pulled out his keycard to unlock the door.

‘Come in, come in. Make yourself at home’

His penthouse smelt odd. Miyuki couldn’t exactly pinpoint what exactly it smelt like, but it smelt familiar to her. The penthouse was the size of a swimming pool, with a master bedroom, a small kitchen that was fully stocked, a bathroom and a living room that became available as soon as someone entered. On the kitchen counter was a bottle of whisky.

‘ I had that imported. You wouldn’t believe how expensive it was to do that, but it was worth it. Tel me, Ms Yukoshita, would you like some?’

Miyuki gazed at the bottle. There was a faint green substance floating around inside it. Any normal person wouldn’t have been able to see it, but to Miyuki, that faint green substance was definitely poison. She turned to Rylak and shook her head.

‘ very well then, suit yourself Ms Yukoshita. I’m just stepping out for a while. Cigarettes, I’ll be back shortly. Don’t do anything naughty while I’m gone!’

Rylak let out a hearty laugh as he slammed the door shut on his way out. Miyuki was drawn towards opening the master bedroom door. As her fingers wrapped around the door knob, she heard a noise behind her. As she turned around, she could hear people talking in the penthouse across the hall.

‘Dave! You dropped my damn glass! Idiot!’

‘I-I’m sorry dear!’

‘ don’t give me that! Clean this up right now.’

Miyuki breathed a sigh of relief as her attention turned to opening the door. Her fingers wrapped around the door knob and twisted it open, the lock made a satisfying click as it swung open. Suddenly, Miyuki realised where the stench had come from. There were three decomposing corpses on the floor next to the bed. The smell of blood and rotting flesh combined to create an overpowering odour. On the bed, there was something Miyuki wished she hadn’t seen. Now she realised why Trinity wasn’t picking up the phone. Her body was tied to the bed with red string, posed in a star with each of her four limbs tied to the four corners of the bed. Her dress had been ripped apart from the waist down. Her blood turned the once white bedsheets into crimson red.

‘M-M-Miyuk-k-ki?’

Trinity weakly let out Miyuki’s name

‘H-He found me out. Tortured me. Until I broke. I-I’m so sorry Miyuki. I told him who you were. I-I told him’

‘She’s right. She did.’

Miyuki turned around to see Rylak standing in the corner of the doorway.