Demonic Dreamers © a story by Animegamer2007

Chapter 3: Massacre at The Lady Luck

The streets are vacant as my boots click against the solid concrete. A soft yellow glow paves the path before me. Cigarette gleaming in my mouth, I make my way to my unknown destination. It seemed like an eternity until I stopped at an unfamiliar purple light.

I glance upward. The sign reads…

The Lady Luck

Where Fate is always on your side!

A casino, where all sorts of drunks, pimps, prostitutes, gamblers, and perverts gather. Against my better instinct, I walk inside. As I stride in I'm immediately bombarded with advertisements and deals on whores. Ignoring them I walk to a empty Craps table and sit down on one of the stools.

"Hello, Stranger. My name's Steve-O, and welcome to The Lady Luck! This is craps table three. Wanna play?" the man behind the table said. This man is very curious to me. Just an average Joe… nothing more; why does he intrigue me?

"Sure. I don't have anything to bet, though," I said.

"Then you can't play," Steve-O said definitely. "What's your name, kid?"

"Kyo. Why?"

"Nothing special. I'd hate to kick ya to the curb after only five minutes, so… I'll buy ya a drink. Yo! Anita!" he yelled at a nearby waitress wearing a French maid's uniform and fishnet stockings.

"Yeah?"

"Two beers, my tab."

"You got it." And the woman left swiftly.

"Alright. Well, now Kyo, what brings you here?"

I don't know why, but I decided to engage in conversation with this man. "To be honest… no clue."

"No clue? What's that mean?"

"Exactly what it implies. I don't know. I go where I want to go and when I want to go there. It's just sort of my nature."

He chuckled and gave a wide smile. "A young vagabond, huh? We get a lot of them here, but I must say… I ain't seen any quite like you." Just then the waitress walked up and delivered the beers. "Thanks. Here," He handed her a large bill. "Keep the change, honey." And she left to serve another customer.

"What do you mean?" I asked taking a swig of beer.

"You've got that 'The world can kiss my ass' kind of look, Kyo. A lot of the others here are just looking for some easy money or a good time."

I nodded. He had a point. He had seen something in me that I had never even seen in myself. I took another drink pondering this and a rocking tune entered my ears. "This song… who is it?"

"Ah, that? It's 'Crash' by Static-X. A lot of customers hate this song. I guess it's sort of a… acquired taste, I guess." He glanced at his watch. "Miss Lena will be dancing soon."

Lena? I had heard that name before. Where? When? And how? Did I know her? This name unlocked something in the deepest labyrinth of my mind, but before I could grasp what it was… it slipped from my fingers like water.

"Lena?"

"What?" Steve-O looked at me like I had just escaped from the stupid convention. "Don't tell me you've never heard of Miss Lena Ishii?"

"I'm sorry, but I haven't."

He sighed. "All well. You'll see her soon enough. About three…two…one…" and instantly the lights dimmed and the stage behind me lit up and a Japanese rock melody played through the casino speakers. "She's the owner of this casino. Her father, boss Ishii, was murdered about a year ago by a gang of thugs. She inherited it and made some changes. Hand picked everything… the staff, the music, the machines, everything."

"She is a dancer, I assume."

"Yes."

"Does she strip?"

"No! No, not Lena. She's a traditional Japanese fan-dancer. The only thing that's not traditional about it is her outfits'. More gothic than anything else. I suspect she'll be wearing her favorite outfit tonight."

Not a moment later a woman appeared on stage with red pigtails, cat-like green eyes, and pale skin. The woman from my dream. She was wearing a black shirt with fishnet sleeves, a leather mini-skirt, fishnet pantyhose and black platform shoes. She danced like I had never seen anyone dance before.

Why couldn't my dream be like this, instead of the horrific visions I see?

That question seemed to float in my mind a lot at that place.

Why?

Before I knew it the dance was over and everyone was cheering and whistling. But this moment of appreciation was wrecked by a thunderous bang from the front of the casino.

Three men dressed entirely in black leather and glimmering chains stepped in holding many firearms. Many people panicked and either tried to make a run to the nearest exit or duck under a table to avoid any open fire. The one with the heaviest artillery took a few steps forward, his chains clanking and jingling as he walked.

"Where is Lena Ishii?" he demanded. Without fear, the dancer jumped down from the stage and walked casually toward him. But in her stride I noticed a small glimmer of sweat on her pale forehead. She was terrified. I had to give her credit… she had nerve.

She took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as her emotions would allow. "I am Lena Ishii. What do you want from me?"

The man gave a cruel smile. "I want your pretty, little head on a silver platter, doll-face."

Steve-O grabbed a gun from under the table and hid it behind his back. Others tensed up while I calmly lit another cigarette and walked right up to this 'thug'.

"Want a cigarette?" I asked him coolly without taking the cigarette from my mouth. Lena's eyes widened a little and I could sense she felt uncomfortable with me making friends with the threat before her.

"No. Now get lost, buddy. I just want the girl, so get out of my way." He aimed a gun at my head.

"You gonna shoot? Or are you too brainless to do that? To get to her you have to get through me," I said without blinking.

"Ha! That won't be hard to do," He said with a confident smile as his finger started to clench the trigger.

"Don't be so sure." And without a second thought I made my hand into a fist and gave him the biggest upper-cut my strength could muster directly in the stomach. He gave a hard gasp and bent over in pain and surprise. Then I kneed him in the nose quick as lightning and sweep-kicked him to the ground.

I looked up. Gunfire had erupted during my short brawl with their leader. Many were injured, missing limbs, or dead. Lena was fortunate enough to not to be one of them. I grabbed the bottom of a poker table as one of the shooters started to aim for me. The bullets hit the table and gave me enough time to sneak behind him and put him into a sleeper.

The last one started to aim for Lena. Panic swept over me. He pulled the trigger. I clenched my eyes shut and heard the sound of many deflected bullets. I glanced and saw her fans open and her unharmed.

"I don't think so," She said coolly. "These are steel fans. Made specifically for martial arts, dances and…" She paused. "Repelling bullets." Then the man fell over, hit by a repelled bullet.

The casino seemed oddly empty then. It was once bustling with all sorts of colorful characters now smelt of fresh death. The lights were all shot out and the white floor was dyed a deep red. Just like the sun and the sky in my dream. Was I meant to protect this Lena?

"Steve-O? Are you okay?" Lena asked as she crouched down next to the busted Craps table.

"I'll be fine. What about you? You all right?" he asked a little shook up.

"I'll live to fight another day. Call 911. Have them clean up this mess. And you…" She looked in my direction. "Who are you? Why did you do that?"

I stamped out my cigarette and looked at her. "Reflex," I said jokingly.

"Reflex! You caused that fight!" Lena yelled angrily.

I burst out laughing. Something I had not done in a very long time. "I asked him if he wanted a cigarette, I was being polite. Not that you care, apparently. And you blame me for starting that fight? Oh, I almost forgot. I saved your ass!" I said. She gawked at me in disbelief.

"You self-centered punk. I ought to…" she started.

"What did you do to them anyway?" I muttered, lighting up another cigarette.

She blinked. "The leader of that gang tried to rape me a while back. I knocked him to the ground and hog-tied him with my belt. I called the cops and they took him to jail for first-degree assault. That didn't stand to well with his brother, the one you attacked first, and he and his band of idiots killed my father. They didn't get their target, so they decided to come after me."

I chuckled. "Hard-core chick. My kinda gal. The name's Kyo, princess… and if I'm not mistaken, you're Lena."

"Yes. How did you know my name?"

"Your buddy Steve-O told me about you. You know, you look like a girl in a dream I keep having."

"Funny, I can say the same about you. Only the man in my dreams is the strong silent type, smoking in a…"

"School yard?" I finished.

"How did you…?"

"Know? Because I have the exact same dream." I said puffing on the cigarette.

"Perhaps this is fate?" said Steve-O eavesdropping on the conversation.

This was beginning to make just a little sense… but I had a feeling it would take a lot longer to figure the meaning out. Maybe dreams aren't meant to be tampered with. I did what I had to do; I was where I was supposed to be at the time… right?

It's gonna be a long, long night.