A small wager, perhaps?

((re-posted 3/17 - retyped))

The evening continued to be humid, yet the weather had no effect on Reed, other than rise his body temperature close to a human. He walked alone in the dusty road after being dropped off - the darkness holding her grip hard on the landscape - but that didn't matter since Reed was able to see clearly in the darkness.

He didn't know how long he had been walking until he found himself at a gas station. The gas station seem an old building that had seen better days - operating with new upgrades but still showing the age. Reed blink for moment before nearing the store - his eyes wander to a couple of bikes park in front of the entrance.

The biker were a new model that was unknown to him - curious he went to inspect the bikes. He looked at the bike - with a bit of appreciation in his eyes. If I had a bike - transportation would be easier. He thought. It was at this moment that the owners of the bikes had walked out of the building. They were a group of three man - late forties and wearing a leather jacket - when they saw Reed looking at the bikes.

"What the hell are you doing, boy?" the leader of the group asked.

Reed glanced up, "Nothing, just looking at your nice bikes."

Reed stood up and circled the bikes as he 'switch on' allowing his essence to engulf the bikers. In moments, the eyes of the bikers continued to follow Reed's form, "And I do admit they pretty rad, man."

"How about we make a wager?" He said.

"A wager? and what would that be?" The leader grunted.

"Simple - we play a simple game - whoever wins get to choose his prize from the other person. But, there is an entry fee for this little wager, my friends." Reed playing it cool.

"Oh, what would be that?" the guy on the right asked.

Reed smiled, "Here, I'll put this as a deposit for the game," pulling out the envelope containing his money, "which will serve as part of the prize, and you will be wager something that will serve as part of your prize." The leader looked at his group - wondering if they should bother with the crazed man - but yet something about made him want to take the bet.

"I'm game." The leader finally replied, pulling his watch from his wrist, "I use this as bet. You said the prize would be anything - does it mean anything?"

"Anything that is reasonable - I may not looking it but I'm pretty rich. I'm bored and want to have a thrill before my ride comes back." He indicated at the envelope. The leader's eyes fell on the envelope and pull it closer to the light - within they saw very large bills. "Shit damn."

The three smiled at one another.

"So what's is this simple game we're suppose to be play?" The leader asked.

"The liar game." He said, when they looked at him in confusion, "It's a game that is based on smuggler smuggling money. Anyways - the objective of the game is to guess the amount of your opponent's smuggling - whoever is able to stop the others smuggling attempts while smuggling the most money is the winner.

Easy right?"

The leader looked at him, "What's the rules?"

It took Reed a moment about rules of the games - after each was satisfied with the understanding of the rules - he turned to one to the right of the group. "And to be fair - we'll have him as third party." pointing to the clerk in the store, "Since this will be quick - I'm sure he'll do it. Remember this is only five rounds and afterward - we'll make the score and see who comes on top."

"Agreed."

One of the man went inside to ask for the clerk's assistance - and with his help - the game started. Then, after five round, and the score tallied up - Reed was shown to be the winner. "Thank you, thank you." He said as he went to retrieve his envelope.

"How did you win?" The leader asked. Pausing at mid-reach, Reed could see that if he said something that was unsatisfying then he would probably have to fight them. "You played it safe, I play it on the edge. And I won this time."

The biker met his eyes and nodded.

Then replacing the envelope on his person and putting on his watch, "Oh, I'll like the keys, please."

It took a moment for the group to understand what Reed meant - in which they did afterward - they became angered. However, the leader held them back and said "A bet is a bet."

Reed took the keys, "Don't worry, old man, I'll be taking care of her."

Reed hop on the bike and turned it on - the engine sprang to life and Reed revved the engine and starting to pulling out, "If we ever meet, next time, let's play again."

And with that, Reed had a new mode of transportation, the lights cutting away the darkness.