JINX

EPISODE 33 [pt 3]

[Back to the expansive backyard.]

"I'm sorry if we came a bit late." Kitty excuses as they join the big circle and start digging up the hole. The others look at them only to realize that only Kitty and Benji decided to join. They throw a glance over at Ion secretly for not more than two seconds before Miguel turns back to Kitty as she multi-task on digging.

"Why is Ion not here? Is he still having doubts?" He asks which concern, but Kitty shows no care for the man already.

"We tried convincing him, but he's persistent on digging his own grave." Kitty merely replies, as if she's not interested in talking about Ion anymore, even if Miguel just threw one question for them.

"I'm sorry if I sounded not interested in talking about him. . . It's just that, well, I thought he would trust you guys because that's what we needed right now. . . TRUST. But right now, he seems to be pretty convinced with his mindset of working alone."

"I agree. I think Ion thinks it's better to work alone because at least you've got to trust only yourselves and not getting backstabbed with anyone just in case." Benji agrees that makes Miguel's attention is captivated.

"Well, you sounded like you know something about him," Miguel says as he senses something between Benji and Ion. And this question sounding like a statement made Benji shrugs as they continue shoveling.

"I mean, yeah. I think I know a few things about Ion because we became neighbors. He's that type of guy who would certainly go out almost every night to party with his friends as I only watch him by the window because I don't seriously get the freedom he has." He confesses, making Kitty and Miguel want to listen more.

"You see, the reason why I am so quiet is that I exactly don't know what it feels like to just stay up late just for one night, or have a friend come over for a sleepover or me sneaking out into the house just to have fun with my friends. . . Well, I don't even have friends, to begin with, so, how would I even know the feeling of those things if I don't have someone, right?" He breathes out as his voice is starting to shake. Miguel feels his pain as he knows the feeling of being in that situation. And that made him decide to speak up.

"I know it feels sad to experience that and trust me; I know what it feels to be like that because I've experienced the same thing as you. But always remember that you're not alone because we are always here for you. . . Always." He explains enough to make Benji tear up secretly.

"Thanks, mister-"

"Just Miguel."

"Oh, okay. . . Thank you, Miguel. It makes me feel a bit relieved by now that seeing you, someone like me who feels so outcast, is here, being the bravest you can be. And I'm just so happy to hear that I'm not alone anymore."

"Benji, you've never been alone."

They continue to dig up, and as the minutes pass by, so are the hole they're digging expands and gets deeper and deeper. It was nearly half an hour when they could already feel the exhaustion, but that didn't make them stop to continue as this challenge holds their future of surviving it ending up on a grave.

On the other hand, Ion is as twice as exhausted as the others. Unlike them, he's working all by himself as there's a tiny fraction of progress into his grave. Ion is not used to this kind of thing because he's born with a silver spoon, making him feel more difficult than it should be. And so is his body, who reacts too quickly with cold and heat fighting at the same time. It makes him feel like he is sick that needs serious attention. But then, he also has the same determination as to the others. . . More determined for himself, to be exact.

Sweat continuously drips from all over their body as they start to forget about how cold the surrounding is. Their body temperature is getting hot, making them continue to work without shivering.

Inside the building are Pastor Roman, Ruther, the man with his thick French accent, and the man and his fluent English.

"Denver, do you think they will survive tonight's challenge?" Pastor Roman asks after sipping into his hot chocolate drink. Denver turns to him with a look of uncertainty after staring silently into his mug of hot white chocolate drink.

"I don't- I don't see a reason for that guy Miguel or that kid who knows how to speak French, to not to stay alive tonight." He speaks out that makes the other three furrow their brows.

"And what do you mean by that, Denver?" Pastor Roman asks as he finds interest in finding out the reason behind what he said. Denver looks back down as he stirs his coffee, watching the three marshmallows sinking slowly. Denver didn't talk and stay focused on the allows, leaving the pastor hanging. And to avoid the awkwardness, he turns to his other friend, who seems to be quieter than ever, now that he couldn't understand English.

"Et vous, Guillaume? Pensez-vous que le défi de ce soir n'est pas assez difficile pour qu'ils puissent continuer à vivre après ce soir?" [How about you, Guillaume? Do you think tonight's challenge isn't challenging enough for them to make them continuously living after tonight?]

Guillaume, the man with his thick French, scoffs before as he sips into his mug of hot chocolate before replying.

"Je ne sais pas, patron. Mais soit ils respirent encore après ce soir, ils finiront tous dans une seule chose de toute façon - dans les tombes qu'ils creusent en ce moment." [I don't know, boss. But either they're still breathing after tonight, they will all end up in one thing anyways- into the graves that they're digging right now.].

Ruther, pastor Roman, and Guillaume laugh at his statement, but it wasn't that humorous enough for Denver to join the party. He's starting to have trouble dealing with his current feeling, something he shouldn't be feeling at all— DOUBT.

And with the irritation of hearing them laugh as if they see nothing wrong with what is happening, he lifts his gaze and decided to let his concerns out.

"These kids are far more different than the others, pastor Roman. And I know you've noticed that too." He pauses, enough to make their shared laughter come to an end. They all turn to face Denver as he grips tightly into his mug, but not applying too much force to break the cup.

"Are you trying to say that our capability to grip them up into their necks is slacking?"

"I don't know, pastor. But this group. . . This group right here? They're thrice as determined to escape, and they see NO limitation, no boundaries at all just to escape this whole thing. . . And if they did, what will happen to us?" He asks as Denver could feel the crisis of trusting their power is already on the brink of falling. But then, his concern made the pastor turn to Ruther. And Ruther nodded.

"I agree with him, pastor. They're more than capable of doing anything anytime, and if we don't think fast to try and plot something that could be a contrast about everything they might have planned, I'm a bit scared about what might happen to us after if they were to ask for help and-"

"Hush now, my servants. Hush. . ." Pastor Roman says as he makes Ruther stop talking. Both Ruther and Denver are tensed as the thought of receiving payback hits them like they are about to face big waves from the sea. When the pastor successfully made them stop talking, he decided to smirk with the thought inside his head.

"Do you actually think that I don't know what they're planning?" He breaks the silence by dropping a question that made them all think. Pastor Roman then leans his back as he rests both of his elbows into the cushion as his fingers intertwined where his chin rests. He holds a grin on his lips as he manages to continue.

"I know they're planning an escape, and we will give them that, pretty soon. . ." he confidently confesses, but it made them more puzzled.

"Nous les laisserons s'échapper? Quel genre de putain d'idée est-ce, patron? Allons-nous vraiment les faire fuir comme la dernière fois? Rappelez-vous patron, nous ne les avons presque pas eu la première fois qu'ils ont planifié une évasion et ils ont pu l'exécuter presque parfaitement." [We'll let them escape? What kind of a f*cking idea is that, boss? Are we actually going to make them run away just like the last time? Remember boss, we almost didn't get them the first time they planned an escape, and they were able to execute it almost perfectly.] Guillaume raises the current situation they had to face a few days ago to support his claim of not understanding the point of the pastor's plan.

"Je sais, Guilaume. C'est pourquoi cette fois, nous retirons une dent de l'ensemble parfaitement conçu de dents connectées à la gencive." [I know, Guillaume. That's why this time, we're pulling one tooth out of the perfectly designed set of teeth connected to the gum.] His statement wasn't the most straightforward idea for them, but for some reason, they were able to make their own predictions of what it means.

"So, what you're trying to say is kill one of them again to break them. . . But this time, you're going to target the most likable one?" Denver asks as he understands French but isn't fluent enough to talk the language.

"Non, Denver. . . Tuer l'un d'entre eux n'est pas déjà une nouvelle nouvelle car il est déjà collé dans leur tête que tuer est presque tous les jours, mais bien sûr, ce ne sera pas en même temps à cause de l'imprévisibilité de savoir qui va mourir ensuite. Le fait est que nous n'allons pas tuer quelqu'un pour lui faire peur." [No, Denver. . . Killing one of them is not new news already because it's already glued in their heads that everyday, we could just kill someone who failed to finish their given task, but of course, it won't be at the same date because of the unpredictability of who's going to die next. The point is, we are not going to kill someone to scare them.] He corrects Denver's thought as he sips into his chocolate drink. Ruther then decided to talk.

"Alors, qu'allez-vous faire ensuite, pasteur? Quelle est cette action que vous avez en tête qui les fera sûrement se désagréger en équipe?" [Then, what are you going to do next, pastor? What will this action you have in mind that will surely make them fall apart as a team?] Ruther asks as he decided to speak in the French language for Guillaume to understand. As pastor Roman had enough of his hot chocolate, he places it down with finesse before getting the white cloth placed on the coffee table. He wipes the edge of his lips like a woman before placing it down and answering Ruther's question.

"Simple. . . Nous les faisons se méfier les uns des autres. Et je connais la bonne cible pour que cela fonctionne." [Simple. . . We make them negate each other. And I know just the right target to make this work.] He says as he watches Miguel and the others continue digging up.

"Il est presque temps, les garçons. . . Préparez-vous, car cela marque le jour de quelque chose de chaotique. . . Plus chaotique que ce à quoi ils s'attendaient." [It's almost time, boys. . . Get ready, because this marks the day of something chaotic. . . More chaotic than they were expecting.]

Guillaume and Denver look at each other as they share a questioning glance, and Ruther just watches them do it before turning his attention to Pastor Roman, who has his eyes focused in a specific direction. He follows his gaze as he realized that behind that silk curtain, they can still see what's happening on the outside. That made Ruther stand up from his chair, still holding his half-empty mug of hot white chocolate. We walk his way towards the window to see a clearer view on the outside, but he hides beside the silk curtain.

"What the hell are they doing?" Ruther asks himself as he noticed them digging in one place. But as he turns to the other side, he sees one of the newbies exploring independently. As he tries to sink everything that's happening in front of him, he snaps at that very moment, making him turn to the pastor.

'Don't tell me this is your plan, pastor. . .' He thought to himself, but as pastor Roman grins while locking their eyes at each other, it's already substantial enough for an answer that Ruther needed. 'Then you've got some tricks up on your sleeves, pastor. But, how long will you have your pockets emptied with tricks? I want to know when.' he says to himself.

"Okay, boys! The time is up. . . Let's get this thing over with for today. Now, I'm more excited to learn what they've done for tonight."