Chapter 3

The city felt more full than usual but any observant person could tell that it is this time of the year, in any country that a city fills up to the brim. Vacationers, tourists, families, work and so on.

Deck of card sees a city burst to the seams, with thousands of people coming from all over the world, some with their families. Now the government could complain about this annual meeting but the kind of revenue that deck of cards brings to a country, makes it a dream come true.

Government officials call it Vendetta annual meeting but amongst the cult members, they know the real name.

Sydney, Australia got lucky this time and within the last three weeks, the city hotels had been fully booked and the markets were selling like crazy.

Inside one of these prestigious hotels, Wilbur's snore reverberated within the suite he got with Amina and Zayn, one would think there was a tired pig nearby.

"For a dangerous man he sure snores louder than a train horn can try, Jesus Christ", Amina grumbled, causing Zayn who was too focused on his tie to chuckle.

"Better get used to it…..", Zayn started but a mischievous smile etched across his face as he whirled around to face the exasperated girl.

"Or…. Stuff him with paper. Excellent tactics, works like magic", he finished.

"My neck is the best place for my head, thank you very much", Amina scoffed and took a seat while waiting for the men to be done.

Dressed elegantly with brown slacks and a silvery black blouse with stilettos to go with it, something about wanting to feel powerful on her induction into the baddest cult, her words too, Amina fiddled with her fingers, half dreading the occasion which was in a few hours.

One would be harder than steel not to feel even the tiniest pinch of dread with the way the city got crowded for the occasion and the stage lights were definitely going to be focused on her.

"Get up Willie boy", Zayn sent his shoe clad foot flying at Wilbur's thigh in a harsh kick, causing the man to jerk up and get ready to attack, much to Zayn's amusement.

"I'll kill you one of these days", Wilbur grunted and grabbed his flask on the coffee table.

"That's my boy", Zayn cackled and threw his suit on as Wilbur threw his head back and drained the contents before raiding the mini bar for more liquor.

"What did your mama feed you as a kid? Burborn and rum?", Zayn asked Wilbur.

"Maybe I should send you to her, since you're so curious. Get up kid, we're almost late", Wilbur grunted and picked up his suit.

"No wonder he ain't married, no woman could cope with his grumpy ass", Zayn whispered to a grumbling Amina, imitating an Australian accent and failing horribly at it.

"Please don't ever fake that accent again", Amina laughed, causing the man to laugh along with her as the three of them left the suite into the beautifully decorated halls and down to the front where their car pulled around.

It was a gigantic house, no a magnanimous house, three storey high and sitting pretty on acres of land, with beautiful shrubs, trees and flowers adorning the long driveway where expensive cars lined up. Helipads could be found on the roof of the building as some members of Vendetta were coming in from other countries on that day.

The first two storeys and the ground floor had an open floor plan, strictly for the Deck of cards but the top floor held game rooms and sitting rooms for family members of Vendetta, for the people that came along with their families. These extended families that came along for this event were not just children and spouses that came to eat and play, the children that tagged along would later be brought into the house and the spouses held professional roles in Vendetta.

The gates were highly sensitized to detect any weapon and every house head must be present to let their house in because among houses were special codes given to everyone that only the head of house knew. Due to their large numbers and them being spread across the world, impersonators could gain access to the meeting so Vendetta maintained an airtight admission into the meeting.

Wilbur and Zayn joined their houses after sending Amina off to where she would join her fellow newborns to access the meeting.

Inside the house greetings could be heard, glasses clinking, murmured pleasantries and as much as one wants to stay positive, a gathering as large as that wouldn't be perfect without a little bit of animosity here and there, afterall, drama is necessary spice in an eventful life.

Stephan walked into the house, eyes focused like an eagle's own and attire looking exquisite as ever. When he accessed the stage he used the ring on his index finger to clink on his champagne flute, drawing the attention to himself.

"Good afternoon gentlemen and distinguished ladies", he greeted when he had their attention, receiving a couple cheers and greetings from the crowd.

"We meet again this year. Vendetta has had a fruitful year and once again, we are blessed with new additions to our little family", Stephan continued, putting emphasis on the 'little' causing the crowd to chuckle.

"Alan Poza if you are here this might be the best time to show your mask", Stephan called out to the crowd, causing people to look amongst themselves.

Alan had a way of entering the mansion without anybody noticing him so it would not be surprising that he is in their midst.

"Way to start the show Stephan", Alan's voice rang out from the crowd.

Tall as a pole and built like an iceberg, a masked man man emerged from the crowd, his all black attire giving his already cold aura a dark vibe.

"Greetings boys and girls, now without much ado, let's get right into it. First order of business, where are my babies?", Alan perched on a stool instead of going up the stage.

Fifty people are brought up stage, all of whom were the newbies.

"I'm eager to hear what challenge you have in store today", Alan mused.

"Something has been stolen off you. Now these items are shared among the house leaders. The meeting will run for one hour. You have until then to find what was stolen from you, who stole what, which house they belong to and locate the house leaders. Good luck", Stephan addressed them.

The confusion on their faces was amusing as they patted every part of their body in search of what's lost.

"ISIS keeps advancing on the South Korean soil and their government have reached out to our Asian siblings"

"Our trade routes are compromised", a Korean man spoke up from the crowd, causing others who looked Korean to agree with him.

"ISIS is an international terrorist group. I don't believe that they will attack without information and reason", a man with a thick German accent stated.

"Two years ago, a large deposit of plutonium was found in Pocheon-dong in Gyeonggi-do province. All the miners involved were slaughtered, I was one of those miners, except I escaped. If the ISIS is after Korea, someone from the inside is feeding them information because that information is highly classified", an African man spoke up.

"So they enter Korea through their trade routes", Stephan mused.

"If they lay their hands on plutonium, God know what hell they will unleash on the world", an Indian woman with Saree draped over her shoulder spoke up.

"So there won't be any hands to lay. I've had enough of ISIS. It's time they are locked back in whatever cage they came crawling from", Alan said.

The meeting droned on, problems from around the world being discussed as the fifty newbies went hunting for their lost possessions. The test was harder as everybody acted natural, no body to suspect.

"One hour is over. Let's see what our babies came up with", Alan announced, quieting the crowd.

They started mentioning what was stolen, the method used to take from them, who took it from them and the house leaders in possession of their items.

"My pocket watch is dear to me, it was my grandfather's. Whoever took it would have watched me closely, scratch that, whoever took it was in the bathroom with me earlier today", the forty-eight person spoke up. A young English man, from his accent.

"Collete, honey, I didn't take you for a thief", he called out to a blonde woman who was the epitome of seduction.

"You are a great kisser English boy, but I don't have daddy's watch", the lady responded, earning whistles and oo's from the crowd.

"Yes you don't. But your house leader does, which begs the question, who is your house leader? Youthful, mischievous and lives spontaneously, you are a member of club of cards", he advanced towards her, earning a smirk from the woman who knew that he was about to put the pieces together.

"What's your point pretty boy?", She mused.

"The devil in Prada, isn't that what you said earlier today?", He asked, earning a hum from her.

"There are a lot of people on Prada, there are a lot of devils in designers but I see only one devil in Prada", he smiled wolfishly at her before climbing the stairs to the first floor and stood before a Caucasian woman in elegant attire, elegant Prada attire.

"My daddy's pocket watch ma'am", he asked the leader of Club, earning a round of applause when the woman produced his watch.

Amina stood last, studying everybody.

"And you young lady?", Stephan asked.

"Oh nothing was stolen from me", Amina shrugged, earning chuckled from the house.

"Except my fingerprints", she finished.

"Whoever took my fingerprints is a nerd. Like the one who came to ask me for a dance. You are one hell of an actor, Edison", Amina taunted a scrawny looking young man. His eyeglasses looked very big on his face as he smiled a shy smile at her.

"I went last because I needed to know each house leader, since a techy smart guy took my biometrics. A hot one too", Amina winked at Edison who blushed as the house erupted in coos.

"Leader of spades, what do you need my fingerprints for?", Amina asked Edison.

"I knew you were smart", Edison stepped forward, handing her a pouch where a silicon strip that had Amina's fingerprint was.

"I think every house has found her newborns. Welcome to the family guys", Stephan announced in time with the loud applause from the crowd.

"Where is Alan?", Stephan asked after the noise dialed down.

"Fucking son of a blooper", Stephan mumbled softly.

"Enjoy the party people", he announced and the event carried on.

Foods from all over the cultures in the world was present as the people danced to the upbeat music and familiarized themselves with each other.