The location was different from last time.

It was in the basement floor of an abandoned mall, in the parking lot. The escalators didn't work anymore, so Raymond had to pick his way down gingerly, one step at a time.

There was a locked door. When he approached, he tried it and it didn't open.

He didn't know whether to knock, and sudden hilarity struck him.

He hated going outside. Being around other people. "Other" people, like they were the same species, two of a kind.

The feeling hadn't really lessened. He wasn't around anyone else enough to tell.

Someone else was approaching. He turned to them.

"I," he said, "I was here before."

The person ignored him.

Raymond stepped in front, blocking his way.

"I want to be let in."

"If you don't have a ticket, then you don't get to."

His tone made Raymond's blood boil. It made him flinch. Go away. You're not a part of us. You don't get to be. Fuck off. He knew he'd leave quietly, without putting up a fight, without saying anything. Since he'd been trained into it.

He turned around.

Just then, Vincent arrived.

"What's going on?" he asked from the other side of the door. "There some sort of argument or something?"

"Someone who's not invited showed up."

Raymond met eyes with him, and Vincent said, "Oh."

"I saw your car," he told Vincent.

Vincent put on a smile. "It sounds like he's in the wrong place." He wasn't talking to him.

"But you..."

"Seriously," Vincent said, "don't host it here next time. Anyone can just walk in. Haven't you heard of hiring security?"

"Where the hell would we hire security?"

"Have someone do it while they're benched."

The voices were getting fainter. The conversation didn't seem real. It was like he was listening through water. They were talking, but he didn't know what to do but stand there, like an idiot. If that night on the bridge was real, he should've done it then and there!

Vincent finally turned to him. "Yeah, he's in the wrong place, but you know what? I bet you something. I bet you he can go up there and win."

"Yeah?" the other said. "That's pretty funny. How much?"

"One hundred."

"Make that two."

Vincent laughed. "You're on." He reached over and slapped Raymond on the back. "Okay, come in."