JINX

EPISODE 25 [pt.3]

"Let go of me, you pr*ck! Or I'll kick your balls out!" Blake shouts as he tries to move more in hopes that he could slip away from the man's grip.

"ferme ta gueule, gamin! Ou je vais diviser ta putain de bouche en deux!" [Shut the f*ck up, kid! Or I'll split your f*cking mouth in half!] The man replies as he tightens his grip, making him yelp in more pain.

"Then can you at least make me check Chis up!? He's been panting heavily for so long!" Melissa pleaded in a shout as she wishes to see if Chris will be okay. The man holding her pushes her forward as the irritation builds up.

"Mlle, voulez-vous mourir ensuite !? C'est mieux si vous fermez la bouche avant que les choses ne deviennent moche." [Miss, do you want to die next!? It's better if you zip your mouth before things could even go ugly.]

He answers, clearly not understanding the English language. Melissa narrows her eyes at him and speaks up again.

"Je pense que mon ami a un choc, espèce de merde! Donc, soit vous me laissez aller le vérifier, soit vous vous mettez en difficulté. . . Nous savons tous les deux que ce pasteur psychopathe que vous chérissez a besoin de nous. Alors, laissez-moi partir, ou vous perdrez votre vie." [I think my friend has a shock, you piece of sh*t! So you either let me go to check up on him, or you get yourself in trouble. . . We both know that that psychopath pastor you cherish needs us. So, let me go, or you'll lose your life.]

Melissa always knew when its time to obey the rules, snd when she fights with an alas in her hands. She plays well with her cards, and that it gets her in leas trouble.

The man then looks at his other friends as they talk using their gazes. A few seconds later, the man's holding her capture pushes him to the ground making her fall without any preparation at hand, even to dodge it. She landed on the floor with pebbles, her hands and knees as her support. She then throws an angered look at the man, but he only lifts his chin as a sign of confidence.

"Putain de chatte. Vous n'avez que cinq minutes - oh non. Faites-en trois" [F*cking cunt. You only have five minutes— oh no. Make it three.] He chuckles. "C'est pour essayer de me déranger." [Thats for trying to mess with me.] He says before signaling the guy holding Chris, who still looks unwell.

"Chris!" Melissa rapidly makes her way into him as she checks him out. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?" She asks as she continues to see anything wrong. The man just nodded as the blood from his nose already dried up. Melissa then pulls him close as the other watch them.

"We will get seeing the lights, Chris. . . Just trust me. Stay with us, and we will soon be seeing the light and freedom." She says as she pushes her body away from his to see his reaction. Chris weakly nods as it made Melissa smile, even if it's just small.

"D'accord, fils de pute. Votre temps est écoulé. La mort s'impatiente." [Okay, you son of a b*tch. Your time is up. Death is getting impatient.] He says as he harshly pulls Melissa back into her feet. Melissa's eyes widen as she feels the fear once again. But when everyone is coped up to the thought of going back, one of them noticed something.

"What did she say, Melissa? Why did you look like you've seen a ghost?" Miguel asks as he noticed Melissa's sudden reaction to what he said. The men holding them didn't react, making him wonder. "Do they—"

"No, they don't understand English. That's why we are lucky." Melissa says as they continue to walk.

"So, what did she say?" He says, eager to find out what made Melissa shiver in fear.

"He said that death is getting impatient." She breathes out as Miguel feels her fear. "And I'm having this thought that maybe, they're going to kills us when we get back. . ." She explains that makes Miguel wonder.

"But if they're going to kill us when we got back, aren't you wondering too why we're walking? I mean, we've come a bit far, so why walk if they're going to kill us back there?"

But then, as they're too coped up with the secret conversation they're dealing with at the moment, they feel the people around them stop, making them look around.

"Ahh, how loyal you are, kids, to escape."

It was Pastor Roman, standing from a great distance to catch a glimpse at them. The men holding them puts them into a horizontal line as they now realize where they're standing.

Dead end. It is the dead-end for where the land lies. Behind them is the unstoppable flow of water below. The surrounding is dark, and that thinking of falling into the water is scarier than expected. Pastor Roman then looks at his watch as he licks his upper lip, showing a sign that he's getting impatient.

"So, I don't want to beat around the bush. . . Kill them—"

"No!" They all protested as the guys ready their guns as they point in their direction.

"No? Why no?" Pastor Roman asks as he pulls his sleeves up into his elbow. "It seems to me that all of you don't have more reason to let you live. You've made your choice and—"

"The week's not over yet!" Melissa interrupts him that made Pastor Roman furrow his brows.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"You're not the only one who's got the belief, Pastor. I know why just can't kill us yet." She pauses to keep them, especially Pastor Roman, thrilled about what she's about to say next. "Because God wanted you to follow the procedure, and He wanted you to continue working just like what he did when he created the world. He worked for six straight days and only rested on the seventh. Now, if you are to claim yourself as the most faithful servant he has, they would be killing us as one, be fair? Or did you decide to cheat in front of his eyes?"

Everyone's stunned at how complacent she is to defend everyone else. But then, Miguel knew what she has in mind. ‘We've got to continue playing,’ he thought to himself.

"Remember, Pastor Roman. He's always watching from above." She mocks as she points up in the sky to ascertain who she is pertaining to.

Silence evaporated quickly after her statement. Even Pastor Roman couldn't find the words he can use to scare the woman, for he is starting to get intimidated. He knew deep inside that her theory is correct. Pastor Roman wanted to be the Holy Chosen One. And to be chosen for that degree, he knows that he has to follow His every step.

"Am I right, Pastor?" Melissa continues to trigger him, enough of a reason for him to chuckle.

"You know, Miss Laney. . . You're right. I AM not the only one who's got belief. In fact, all of us here have one, don't you agree?" He asks as he starts to walk towards them, slowly closing the gap between them all. This time, Melissa could feel her conviction that she managed to lure the prey into the trap starts to fade away. The table begins to turn as the enthusiasm is slowly changing into a notion of awe.

"And since you've given me the idea, I might as well consider it because back when I was a kid, these cruel dudes decide just to throw all of my thoughts and ideas like a piece of trash. . . As if they don't matter at all. So, don't worry because the next time, I'll make you feel the TRUE feeling of what it feels like to defend yourself in a very chaotic situation." He says as his eyes scan around them all, sticking his eyes into a specific person. All of them quickly trace who he is looking at, only to realize that he's picked the person that could trigger them all.

"Hello, child." As soon as he says that, one of his men pushes Ash as everyone stampedes to what Pastor Roman decided to choose among them. They try to save her, but the men holding them captive have great reflexes, making them do nothing.

"So tell me, child, who should I kill tonight?"

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, YOU F*CKING PRIEST! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS!? SHE'S JUST A KID—" Miguel tries to defend but only gets interrupted when the pastor interrupts with his sentence, cutting him in the middle.

"Is she JUST a kid? Come on, Mister Miguel. We all know she's MORE than just a kid. . ." he pauses as he pushes a strand of his hair on his side not to cover his face.

"Well, how about I choose that nerdy man with thick eyeglasses and an old-fashioned leather shoulder bag like Dora or Doraemon to die tonight? Will you do that?" Ash asks as she points to Ruther, who is standing a step back behind him. Pastor Roman throws a glance over his shoulder as Ruther steps forward, taking out a gun from his shoulder bag.

"I don't know if I should call you witty, of stupid, child. . . You don't want to test my patience. . . Besides, we only have ten more minutes before our service arrives. So, should I just pick anyone from you?" He asks, but then, he chuckles. "Pull him back in the line." He says that made the man pull Ash back into her feet and harshly pull her back into the line.

"How about you give me a random number. . . Any digits particular in mind, Ruther?" Pastor Roman asks the moment he turns to face Ruther as he wears an evil grin into his lips. Ruther nods as he thinks of a number pretty quickly.

"How about Thirteen, Pastor?"

"Ahhh. . . What a nice number." He says as he turns his full attention back to them, with his outstretched arm with one finger on the trigger as the others hold firmly into the grip.

"Let's start with you." He says as he points at Melissa. They all start to scream their anger out as the mixture of frustrated, noisy, and high-pitched voices make his head thump in pain. But before their voices even got into his head, Pastor Roman shrugs his shoulder.

"You know what, kids? I'm tired of this bullish*tting. I'll just have to kill you—"

Without any warning, he swiftly changes positions as the pastor aims at a specific target.

*bang!*

All of them flinches as silence arises quickly. Miguel and the other's eyes are now wide open to see who is unlucky enough to receive the bullet.

All eyes lead to Ash, who is looking at them one by one. When she noticed that everyone is staring at her already, she looks at her body to see blood growing faster in a circular form.

"Mister Miguel?" She manages to say before feeling herself heavy.

"No, Ash!" Miguel shouts as she forces himself out of the man's grasp. The man purposely lets him go with a grin on his face as he dashes into her. Blake and Kyle are now furious as they do the same thing, the three of them scurrying into Ash's position.

Ash looks at them with such weakness that it was the first time they saw her hopeless. Miguel's tears start to build as it blurry his vision. And before they could even reach their hands out and have a full grip on her, Ash, with a stain of tear and fear into her complexion.

"NO!" Miguel shouts as the three of them were too late to save her. Ash falls straight into the water with no trace of her. As if she didn't even fall over there.

The sun is missing that makes the world dark, and hope is nowhere to be found as one life has ended. Feverish, dejected, almost getting numb and feeling worthless, seeing no light, no path towards freedom and justice.

"You three of them could do SO many things. . . And saving your dear friend is not one of them." Pastor Toman lectures as all of them decided to keep silent.

"GOD made us imperfect, and that requires you to understand that you can never be a hero. . . Why? Because GOD didn't want you. You all break his law, and that is why HE SENT ME to bring equality to what he has planned. You will NEVER be able to save anyone because you can't."

Pastor Roman hands Ruther the gun as he sighs. Ruther then gives him a white cloth to wipe his hands.

"Now I need to cleanse my soul." He says before turning his back on them and heading into the car where he came out earlier. It didn't take long before they hear the car starts up as the men pull them into the van waiting for them.

"So, what should we do now, Pastor Roman? Will you continue with the Jinx?" Ruther asks, now starting to feel different after watching the live execution.

"They wanted to play; they're asking for it. THEY wanted to continue, then why don't we give them what they want?"