Once inside, he found a room the same as the previous ones, but with a small tent in the middle of the place. This was extremely strange, and very out of tune from the classic bureaucratic monotony of the BH Org offices. The strange tent looked like something out of a Faire, or a Circus, with vertical stripes drawn on it's exterior. There were strings of Christmas lights, tied to the pole of a small flag perched at the top and draped around the tent like long plant vines.

-Welcome... -said a voice from inside the tent.

-Who are you?! -answered Kaleb.

The tent opened, and revealed a man, or at least what looked like a man, smartly dressed: a shirt layered with a tight vest and a bow tie. The man's skin was strangely blueish, and he had a big smile, full of perfect teeth, except that they were shaded yellow, like his eyes. His very well-groomed hair looked more like that of a plastic doll, as it did not appear to be made of individual strands, but rather of a "single piece". The man was seated at a table that appeared to be made in half a circle and was upholstered in a green material.

Gently, the man gestured with his hand, as he addressed Kaleb.

-Oh, excuse moi, garçon. 'Ow seelly of me. -he said with a French accent that only makes his gentle, but varying voice a little more strange, so it seemed that his voice wavered between serious notes and nonsensical high tones.

-Je suis monsieur Crupier, but zey also call me "Ze Gamblehr".

Kaleb turned to you, surprised, as if you could explain to him what was up with this man.

-You must be exhausted from runneening away. Asseyes vous s'il vous plait.

-What did you say?

-'Ave a seat, zen.

-No, no. How did you know I was running away from something?

-Oh, I made a bet, zat you must 'ave been ageetated from escapeeng from... Ze 'Ound.

-The Hound? Is that what you call that thing?

-Oui. Zat 'orrible creature eez ze Guardeean 'Ound of You-Know-'Oo...

-Black...

-Chapeau. Oui... Ze 'Ound tends to follow zose 'oo eentend to escape from zis... realeety, eef you can call eet zat.

-Have you seen it too?

-Oh, no, no, no, and I don't plan to. But I 'ave 'elped many to... escape from eet.

-Really?! How?

Crupier giggled.

-Ze 'Ound tends to persecute all zose 'oo constantly move between realeeties. Ze more you move, ze better you will smell. So ze best way to avoid deetection eez... arrête de bouger.

-What?

-Eez to stop moveeng, zen.

-I can't do that! I have to get out of here! There are people out there that depend on me. It doesn't matter if that thing won't stop chasing me, I'll get out of here.

Crupier laughed again

-Oh, monsieur. What a deceesion, quelle intrépidité! In zat case, I can 'elp you.

-You can?

-Correct! Zere eez a labeereenth, one zat zey say leads to ozzer worlds.

-Yes, I've heard of it, on the thirteenth floor.

-C'est correct. You just 'ave to take ze elevator and... Voilà! La liberté!

-I already tried, but it's locked! It only has one button and it doesn't work.

-Ha... zat's because you didn't 'ave ze key...

Saying this, Crupier took from his inner vest pocket an ancient key with a red string on the handle.

-Surely you noteeced a lock on ze ascenseur.

Kaleb's face began to light up with hope and he leaned in, his arm naturally stretching out for the key, but Monsieur Crupier pulled it away before the boy could even touch it.

-Ha-ha-ha. Oh, no. Excuse moi, monsieur, but zis key eez mine. I won eet by betteeng against someone who 'ad eet een zeir possession. So eef you want eet, you weel 'ave to ween eet een ze same way and bet avec moi.

-Bet...

-A seemple bet, nozzing more. You see, eet's not ze only key I 'ave...

Crupier smiled and took another key,extremely similar to the first, also from his vest pocket-. Een fact, I 'ave five.

Crupier produced three more keys, identical. But this was not what made Kaleb jump in his chair, with a little fear and surprise. The three identical keys were held by three new arms that came out of the guy's back, unfolding as if they'd been stored away.

Crupier let out yet another laugh, this time with a slight hint of malice.

-Oh, don't paneek. S'il vous plait. My arms only appeared to "geeve me a 'and" -he let out a laugh, which honestly seemed to be not because of the bad joke, but because in some twisted way, he was clearly enjoying this whole situation.

-What's the bet? -Kaleb asked seriously.

-Oh, eet eez très simple, mon ami -exclaimed the Dealer, returning to his usual tone of voice-. Let me explain: ze ascenseur zat you want to use was made for ze staff zat work een zese offeeces, so Monsieur Chapeau gave zem a series of keys to be able to travel zrough ze different floors of zis place... each key geeves access to a deeferent floor and each one was assigned to ze guardeean of each floor, after many bets all of zem arrived... a moi.

-Now I see why they call you the Gambler, you're obsessed with gambling -said Kaleb, annoyed.

-Oh, monsieur. We all are, every day, every leeving being makes bets een zeir life. We all make daily deceesions zat are nozzing more zan fun bets zat take us to one place or anozzer... deceesions as seemple as "what weell I eat today?", zey can lead to absolute bleess, wiz an exquisite deesh, or zey could cause très terrible suffereeng when faced wiz ze meezery of food poisoneeng... ozzer bets are more dangerous and we make zem wizout realizeeng eet... somezeeng as seemple as "I'll go for a walk" can turn eento meesfortune eef ze supreme chance and cruel destinee mean zat at zat precise moment we decide to go out, we are part of an acceedent.

"Everyzeeng eez a gamble, mon ami. What does any personne do more zan gamble daily wiz zeir lives, accustomed to leaving zeir destinee to chance... ze only deeference eez zat I am aware of eet et je l'adore.

-So much talk about bets, and you haven't told me what the bet you want to make with me is -Kaleb exclaimed, defiant and impatient.

Crupier gasped in astonishment and narrowed his eyes.

-Oh, très bien, très intelligent. Oui, cèst correct. Let me reward zat adorable sarcasm...

Crupier's five arms moved at the same time, placing all the keys on the table and shuffling them. Then he elegantly arranged them side by side.

-Choose any of zese keys, just one and you can take eet wiz you to us eet een ze ascenseur, but... I bet... you can't choose ze right one -Crupier's voice drastically changed to a threatening tone-. Of course, I won't tell you eef you peeck ze key to ze zerteenz floor, but eef you do manage to pick ze right key, you'll be able to get out of here.

-That's it?

-C'est tout...

Kaleb glared at Crupier in annoyance. The boy's eyes were fixed on the Gambler's.

-Look on ze bright side, mon ami. I guarantee you zat whatever ze outcome, you weell walk out of zis room weez a key.

Kaleb looked at the keys, then turned to look at you. Seeing his eyes, you knew he was quietly coming to you to help him make a decision.

So... what do you suggest?