N City- A metropolitan wonderland and a paradise for the modern society. The city epitomizes the luxury and benefits people need to sustain their lives. World-class healthcare, education, and recreational ventures- shopping malls, amusement parks, 5-star hotels, and skyscrapers overlooking the city panorama. It sounds glamorous... but nothing is perfect in this world.
This was the case for this city. Beneath the prosperous metropolis was a dark and hideous underbelly: The Velvets.
The Velvets are gangsters controlling the underworld of N City. They committed every crime known to humanity, most notably- smuggling, human trafficking, extortion, and rape. In recent years, they have seen a meteoric rise in power as the higher-ups slowly started to infiltrate the political framework of the city.
The Velvets managed many clubs, pubs, casinos, and even mahjong places. They were set up to act as masks to hide their crimes. The casinos and mahjong places also helped turn black money into white.
The general population paid no attention to their antics moving on with their lives. But among the unfazed populace, some were scarred for eternity by them. Ray Vange was one of those people whose life was altered by the Velvets.
Currently, he is in a mahjong place directly under the control of the Velvets, indulging in mahjong with some drunkards, sporting a tucked black shirt and trousers with black boots, a box of cigarettes, and a lighter in his trousers' pockets, and a metallic card in his shirt's pocket.
The interior was decorated with traditional Chinese lanterns and bamboo decorations, and every room was divided by a bamboo gate resembling the shrine gates. Streams of water ran down the slit bamboo pipes mimicking the natural beauty of the springs in China. Despite the lavish decorations, the chairs felt cheaper and uncomfortable.
Gambler 1: "Guys, let's play another round!"
Gambler 2: "No- no, I've no money left!"
Gambler 3 (looking at Ray): "Let us ask Ray if he wants to play another round cause he is on a winning streak."
Gambler 1: "Yeah, Ray, what do you think?"
Ray (standing up): "I don't think I will... but you can play if you want."
The gamblers sigh and continue to play another game.
Ray got up from his chair and walked towards the washroom, but on his way, he stopped in front of the staff-only section. He slowly unlocked the door and went inside. Ray found the manager resting on his chair with a cap over his face. He approached the manager and whispered into the manager's ears.
The manager removed the cap from his face and squinted at Ray. Yawning, the man says, "Where is your card?" Ray promptly took the card out of his pocket and gave it to the manager. The manager examined the card thoroughly before running a scan on the QR code printed on the back of the card. He glanced back at Ray and asked, "Your name is Ray Vange? Twenty-six years old?"
"Yes, I am," Ray replied.
"First time?" The manager asked again.
Ray silently nodded in agreement.
"Fine, then follow me." The manager instructed, and he returned the card to Ray. The man walked over to a wall painting of Princess Kaguya, sliding it towards the right, slowly revealing a secret passage. First, the manager advanced, and Ray followed suit.
The passage was heavily decorated with wall paintings of Chinese warlords enjoying the game of mahjong along with their peers with a side of alcohol and their concubines treating them. Treading down the corridor, they reached a room hidden behind curtains made of garlands of glass beads. The manager gestured for Ray to get inside. Ray clenched his fists and removed the curtain.
As he entered the room, strobe lights flashed on his face. His eyes widened as he scanned the room. An array of tables and chairs filled with young men and women, including high schoolers, with a dazed look in their eyes. Trembling hands of the teenagers as needles pricked pale skin, white powder disappeared into nostrils, and pills vanished down dry throats. Without any hesitance, they consumed the poison with glee, hastening their death.
I am the same as them... slowly dying inside by keeping the fire of revenge alive... burning all the human emotions I have. Ray thought while observing the room. Apart from the drugged men and women, eight burly men were standing at the four corners of the room, staring daggers at Ray. He ignored them and kept on inspecting the room.
A sense of déjà vu hit him. The memories he repressed came rushing back. History was repeating itself. The place resembled the room where it all began ten years ago.
A vein popped on Ray's forehead as he rolled up his sleeves. He grabbed the five-foot-six-inch manager by his collar and slammed him onto one of the tables, breaking it into several pieces. Everyone present in the room was bewildered by his actions.
The manager lay unconscious among the rubble. People hurried towards the exit, pushing each other in a stampede. While the chaos ensued, his eyes narrowed as the first goon charged at him, katana raised. Ray took out a dagger from the secret compartment in his leather belt and, with a quick flick of the wrist, sent it at the man, spinning, burying it deep in his forehead. The lifeless body folded Ray's feet.
Ray scooped up the fallen goon's katana in a swift motion. Before he could admire his fighting skills, Ray noticed a glint of metal at his periphery. He ducked in one fluid motion, missing the blade by an inch. Ray slashed upwards, slicing off the man's sword arm. He fell back screaming, clutching the bloody stump.
Without hesitation, Ray placed his sword on the man's neck and swung it across, silencing him.
Ray grabbed a chair from nearby and blocked the next attack, then slid towards his right before plunging his katana deep inside the goon's chest. As the man slumped, Ray wrenched the blade free.
Three men were left. They encircled Ray, gripping their katanas firmly. Ray held his ground with his katana, ready for action.
The first went on the attack. Ray blocked the first two attacks with the attacks of his own. Putting pressure on his back foot, he leapt forward and hit the man with a decapitation strike. One head thudded to the floor.
The remaining men charged at him simultaneously. Ray spun his sword around, deftly cancelling oncoming attacks, and pushed a man into his companion, forcing him to get stabbed by him. Taking advantage of the immobile man, Ray somersaulted from the table's edge and lopped the last man's head off his body.
Ray wiped the blood off his face and overlooked the room. The stench of blood hung thick in the air as he gazed upon the corpses, emotionless.
He looked over to the manager, but he was not there. He turned around to find the manager crawling over to the exit. His eyes red with fury, Ray dashed over to the manager. "Did you think you can leave so easily?" Ray said as he pinned him down with his knees.
"P-P-Please leave me alone... It will do no good if you come in between the Velvets w-ways." The manager begged for mercy, his voice cracking in fear.
Ray increased the pressure on his knees, making the manager shriek in pain.
"I don't give a fuck about them! I want information! Who is your boss?!" Ray continued interrogating the manager.
"Fine, fine... I'll tell you. But let me take a breath first." The manager said, gasping for air.
Ray removed his knees from the manager, lifted him, and pinned him to the wall. Ray looked into the manager's eyes and said, "I am not here to fight with you, lowly fries. I want to know the whereabouts of your boss and what is happening inside the Velvets."
"In the Velvet, we don't have names except for the higher-ups, so I don't know the boss' full name, but everyone calls him K."
"Kieran..." Ray thought to himself.
"Where is he?" Ray inquired.
"I can't tell for sure, but he is hosting a masquerade ball in the Edison Club this Saturday." The manager replied.
Raising his eyebrows, Ray asks, "A masquerade ball, why?"
"Edison Club is the biggest club in the city, with some of the most influential people in the country, if not the world a member of this club. Despite being the most popular club in the country, it is controlled by us, the Velvets. Here, we host lavish parties to attract our members and strike deals with them, ranging from weapons, smuggled gold, drugs, humans, and secret information."
"This means you have something to make a deal for?" Ray questions back.
"Yes... there is news about a new pill; even the defence minister is interested and will attend the ball."
"I- I don't know. Only the higher-ups know."
"Then what do you know?!" Ray asked the manager as he shook him vigorously.
"I can give you the pass to enter the club." The manager pulled out a gold card from his shirt pocket.
Ray seized the card from the manager's hand. It was a gold card with letters engraved on either side. The letters on the front read the club's name and address below, whereas on the other side, it read 'The Guest of K'.
"If you show this pass to the guards, then only you can enter the club else you will be kicked out of the place. Now that I've told you everything I know, can I go now?" The manager joined his hands in a plea.
"When did I promise that?" Ray replied.
The manager's eyes widened with shock as he realised his fate.
Ray pocketed the card and coiled his arms around the manager's neck, slowly suffocating him to death.
Ray left the room and went back to the playing area. Ray pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his lighter as he passed through the empty room devoid of the people who gambled their savings away for a meagre amount of money.
Ray's life was no different. He gambles with his life only to seek revenge for what happened ten years ago.