chocolate chip mint with caramel and sprinkles
Story: Timeless { backstory | index }
Title: Jackpot
Rating: PG (language)
Challenge: Chocolate Chip Mint #13: dazzling
Toppings/Extras: caramel, sprinkles
Wordcount: 413
Summary: The last thing they wanted to do was win.
Notes: An extract from my NaNo. I don’t think I’ve posted any Cairo or Jimmy before, they’re fairly minor but I sure do love ‘em! Context: they are being chased through a casino by a raging mob of criminals.
“Oh God,” Cairo said as they turned their backs on the approaching mob. “What do we do?”
Pulling a face, Jimmy pulled a card from his pocket and pushed it into its slot in the gambling machine. He was a bit of a miser when it came to money, but he supposed that he would rather lose money than his life.
“Keep pulling the lever,” he instructed Cairo calmly.
“OK,” he replied, and did so. The machine, which had blinked into life upon the entry of the card, gave a positively apoplectic shriek of gleeful music before the slots began to spin, a bright ringing like a telephone being electrocuted blaring from its crackly speakers, colourful lights blinking on and off across its surface.
None of the slots matched, of course.
“Damn it,” Cairo said, pulling the lever again. Jimmy watched, pained, as the money was subtracted from his account.
“Do you have to pull so fast?” he asked in irritation as Cairo pulled the lever after another loss. They could hear the stamping of the mob’s footsteps now and huddled together, lowering their heads and keeping their faces turned totally in the direction of the slot machine. Once more, Cairo tugged the lever down with a crunch.
“We might win,” he replied idly.
“What? These things are programmed not to win, it’s just for drunk losers with nothing better to-...”
The footsteps were close now. Right behind them.
Cairo pulled the lever again.
Bravely, Jimmy risked a glance over his shoulder as their pursuers strode past, grabbing various servants by the shoulders and demanding to know if they’d seen two men running this way.
The slots clicked and ticked into place.
Bing! Bing! Bing!
“Oh, shi-...”
The machine began to scream victory music at the top of its electrical (and figurative) lungs and bells rang above their heads. A slot machine’s version of a fireworks display was streaming and blinking and flickering across its surface and it was playing a loud loop of coins crashing and smashing into metal. The cacophony was deafening and every person in the casino was turning to stare. Even people in the cafe above them were leaning over the banister to see what the noise was about.
“Jackpot!” boomed a mechanised voice. “Jackpot! Jackpot! Jackpot! Jackpot...!”
Alistair’s eyes blazed with fiery hate as he turned and his gaze landed on Jimmy and Cairo, recognising them instantly.
“Get ready to fucking die!” he bellowed, charging towards them.
“-iiiiiit!”