We all gave each other the same perplexed look at his bold statement. I knew what I wanted to ask, but John beat me to it.

"Where exactly are you from then, if not the outside world with the rest of us?" John said with a visible grin forming on his face. He was obviously amused, but not in a patronising way, he was simply enjoying the conversation.

There was another pause before the man answered. Drew placed his coffee in front of him quietly, not wanting to disrupt the silence. The man raised one of his hands to hold on to the cup as he carefully brought it to his lips and blew on the steaming liquid softly. He took his other hand to his right hand pocket and took out what seemed to be a deck of cards, and then he placed them on the counter of the bar beside his saucer as if that answered all our questions.

"I'm from the underground world. Would you like to play a game, my dear?" The man asked as he shot his glare from John, to Drew, then fixated it on me. I felt uneasy, but my curiosity always got the better of me, so I nodded.

"Sure, why not? I used to play a bit of poker. But first, what's your name? I'd like to know who I won or lost against." I said lightly, quite impressed that I spoke so smoothly when I was so confused by the way he acted.

"You can play too, if you like?" He said, motioning his head towards Drew and completely disregarding my question. Obviously. A bit more digging will be required with this one. Drew's face dropped with the idea of being part of this, but his curiosity was stronger than his anticipation in most cases, so I had no doubt he would want to take part as well.

"Yeah, okay then. How do we play?" Drew asked politely, giving the strange man a forced smile.

"Well..." The man teased, before placing the deck of cards face down on the bar and spreading them slightly with his hand. He took one more long sip of his coffee before setting it down and placing both his hands together behind the cards. He looked up at us and smiled, before hovering his hands over the cards like a puppeteer playing with his toys.

"These are tarot cards." He hissed whilst still hovering his hands above them. "They will tell you your future and I will be their messenger." He locked eyes with me as he spoke.

"So... We are reading cards then, not really a game, is it..?" I asked, cautious not to anger him with my accusation, as god knows what he would be capable of. I was surprised, however, by his reaction. His face lit up like the sun shining through a mass of dark clouds. His smile was beaming, like the rays of sunlight fighting their way through the cloudy obstacles hindering its brightness. The smile even grew into his eyes, truly lighting up his face, making it a lot more attractive than what it was a moment ago.

"Not a conventional game I must say. But I find it fun. The real game begins when people don't accept their fate, you see? Sorcery doesn't take kindly to mortals thinking they know better." He spoke articulately and with competence, but it was hard to take what he was saying seriously. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, and was beginning to reconsider my voluntary participation.

"Do you want to go first or shall I?" I asked whilst looking at Drew, who by this point had completely disregarded everything this man had said, and wasn't taking much notice any more.

"Yeah, I'll go first. What's the worst that they could tell me? That I'll be working here forever?" Drew chuckled at the thought and went to the end of the bar where the cards were perfectly placed. "Where do I start?" He asked whilst still looking carefully at the cards.

John and I were both watching intently at the scene unfolding before us. It wasn't even mid-day and Drew was having his tarot card reading done on him by a mysterious man none of us had ever seen before. Drew seemed to be excited by it though, and he looked much more awake now than what he did an hour ago. Might have to do this more often I thought.

"Pick the first card that jumps out to you." The man instructed, to which Drew obliged to, picking a card near the centre of the sprawled out deck. "Now, take the next which calls to you." Again, Drew listened to the man's instructions, carefully picking another card and flipping it over. "Now... Just one more..." The man practically whispered this, with the sound of his voice practically creeping through the air at a snails pace. Drew hesitated at the way he was given the instruction, but after gaining a reassuring nod from myself, he continued.

There were now three cards placed on the bar facing up. I'm no expert on these readings, but I was sure there was a few more cards needed for a full reading. The stranger seemed content with the results though as he was staring at them with a small grin spreading across his lips.

"This card here..." He said whilst pointing to the first card Drew picked "Indicates that you are in love."

"Ooooh really now?!" John whistled and cackled at the revelation. The man gave him a stern look at his interruption, before turning back to the upturned cards.

"The next card indicates a loss. It is likely that your love interest will get lost, in what way I cannot promise, but therefore your love will not be returned." He spoke with no emotion in his voice, which was quite harsh consideration the accusations he was making towards Drew.

"Okay, ouch..." Drew said, deadpan.

"And finally... This card shows..." He paused before looking up at Drew. "Mortality."

"What does that mean? Is that like getting the death card?" Drew asked in a flustered manner.

"Not quite. This could be interpreted in many ways. I will say though, from experience, don't take any unwarranted risks..." He kept eye contact with Drew as he said this, but didn't alter his expression in the slightest. It was still emotionless, whilst Drew looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Well... Thanks for that. It was very... Informative..." Drew said this sarcastically, but still with his regular politeness, which earned a modest nod from the customer before he began to put the cards back in their rightful place of the deck.

"Hey, what about my reading?" I asked as I saw he was putting the cards away entirely. I didn't think he heard me for a moment with his lack of response, but after a pause he looked at me firmly.

"Yours is going to be the most fun. But you are not ready yet." He said with a sly half smile. His eyes seemed to twinkle with his words, which made the blood rise to my throat and face. I could feel that I was blushing, but I wasn't sure whether it was from the way he looked at me, or from being rejected my reading.

"Oh... Okay..." I finally managed to say. "Can I at least get your name now that I can't play?" I asked, changing the subject away from my embarrassment.

He tilted his head to the side as he stood tall and began to head out of the door. He still held his sly, smug smile of his face as he turned to me again before completely being out of the door.

"I'm the Ringmaster." He answered in his chillingly deep voice, giving me a wink before he left my view.