Sirius Chapter 2: Chapter 1: A Broken Man

Read chapter 2 of Sirius by Dealer on NovelPedia.

"Gambling. Long before the first casino ever opened its doors, men were already doing it. 'Why?' you ask. Well, there are plenty of reasons." A young man hurried through the streets of a metropolis, wearing long pants and a black jacket, the hood pulled over his head; he looked like your standard high school delinquent. "The first reason is the adrenaline of risk. Money? That's just a side effect. A gambling addiction never starts with someone who wants to get rich, but with someone who can't let go of that frenzied feeling. It's born from doubt and belief; doubt that it's possible, and the belief that it can happen. Without one, the other doesn't exist. Risking everything... to win everything." Reaching the entrance of a restaurant, he glanced both ways, as if suspicious of the air itself. As he looked up, the glass door reflected his face, and he immediately looked away from his own reflection before stepping inside. "I went far beyond that, because I have something only a handful of people in the world possess: Hyperthymesia, also known as highly superior autobiographical memory. I don't forget. Essentially, everything I've lived, felt, read, and heard is just one thought away. Feelings are always just as strong as the first time I felt them." Passing through the door, he scanned the few customers eating lunch and quickly made his way to the back. "You're probably thinking I was born lucky, some kind of silver-spoon kid, and I don't blame you for thinking that. But it's not quite like that. Remembering isn't always a good thing... I have plenty of things I'd like to forget." Descending a flight of stairs at the back of the restaurant, he came face to face with a metal door. "Honestly, it's lonely, to say the least. That's why I spend so much time talking to myself inside my head: building stories, narratives, imagining what it would be like to have a real conversation with someone, going through all the situations I've lived through or could live through, just like I'm doing right now." Toc Toc Toc "I wasn't born with a silver spoon. Not even a spoon, actually. My mother worked as a maid for a middle-class couple. When she first started working at that miserable house, the family was just a man and a woman. A few years later, they had a son. That's when the problems started showing up." "Password?" a deep voice called from the other side. "The marriage was already falling apart. The husband got fired and started drinking every night to 'cure' his anguish. One day, the bastard came home so drunk he decided it was fine to force himself on the maid... well, that's where I come from." "Open up, Gordon!" he answered. "When the lady of the house found out, she threw my mother out on the spot and filed for divorce. The bastard disappeared the next day. I heard he died somewhere. I hope he suffered." The creak of hinges followed. On the other side, a tall, broad-shouldered Black man looked down at the boy. Tsc "Just you, kid; how many times have I told you to stop coming here?" The man, despite his appearance and his words, scolded the boy gently. "You know I don't have a choice..." he answered, grinning as if talking to an old friend. "I don't have any other way to pay my debts!" "You always say that... if you were a millionaire you'd still come here..." Gordon thought to himself, but without much of an option, he let him through. "Watch yourself, Li. The boss wants to see you again..." "Does he? Alright, I'll go talk to him." Li didn't seem scared or anxious, just a little restless. "Same as always, this place." Looking around, he took in the wide open space; big enough to hold several hundred people, a proper arena with bleachers. Nobody would ever guess this place sat beneath a century-old family restaurant. Li made his way to the last room and, knocking, stepped inside. "Liii! My golden boy, there you are!" A large, heavyset man seated behind an office desk shouted as soon as he saw the kid walk through the door. "Sir, I was t