JINX

EPISODE 26 [pt.2]

The foul smell of the cloth covering their faces should be enough to make them all sick. All of them should be having nausea and the feeling of just wanting to vomit. Everyone should be wishing to complain about it because it should be giving them a headache. . .

But no one complained.

No one asked for mercy.

It's unusual for their captors to hear such silence. It's too loud for their liking. Their screams and whimpers and cries became music for their ears that this day; it's irritating them.

"Ces baises sont trop silencieuses, mon frère! Puis-je simplement frapper l'un d'eux pour pouvoir entendre un seul bruit de leur part?" [These f*cks are too silent, bro! Can I just hit one of them so I could hear a single noise from them?] The person behind Kyle asks as he readies his fist to throw a punch but got disappointed when the man who is driving the black man talks.

"Je ne pense pas que ce soit une bonne idée. . . Le plus jeune d'entre eux est mort et ils en pleurent. C'est mieux si nous gardons le silence de cette façon parce que nous entendrons BEAUCOUP de cris de douleur très bientôt quand nous arriverons à l'église." [I don't think that will be a good idea. . . The youngest of them died, and they are mourning for it. It's better if we keep the silence this way because we will be hearing A LOT of screams of pain pretty soon when we arrive at the church.] He explains that makes the others agree.

"D'accord, très bien! Vous gagnez. . . Je veux juste m'amuser, c'est tout. Inutile de me faire passer pour un connard stupide qui agit comme un gamin." [Okay, fine! You guys win. . . I just want to have fun, that's all. No need to make me look like a stupid piece of s**t who acts like a kid.] The man sighs in defeat before leaning his back on the chair and looks at Kyle. He then pokes smack Kyle's head and chuckles, expecting a swear from him, but no. Instead, Kyle bounces back slowly into the original position that immediately creeps him out. He then immediately let go of his desire to make fun of them, especially him.

On the other hand, is Miguel, who could feel his eyelids closing. He could feel his body about to shut off, but the thought of him seeing Ash die and fall into the water is what keeps her staying awake, even if his body is betraying him mercilessly.

‘I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you, Ash. I promised you that I'd get us out, but I was too late even to make my move. I'm sorry.’ he thought to himself, the only thought he remembers before completely closing his eyes and drifting away into reality.

‘Mister Miguel? Mister Miguel?’ someone calls out Miguel's name that makes him opens his eyes. His eyes widen as he sees himself standing on the edge of the ground, now just one push before he could fall.

‘Mister Miguel? Pst!’ the familiar voice calls him as he turns to look, but no one seems to be in there. But when he turns back, he is more surprised than ever to see that someone is standing at a great distance. He narrows his eyes as he tries his best to familiarize who it is.

As the person smiles at him, it immediately hits him like a rock when he recognizes the small smile. That's when the word MISTER MIGUEL immediately slaps him across his face, now concluding the only person who calls him that.

‘Ash!?’

‘Don't worry now. . . I'm in good hands now.’ she says that makes Miguel gulp.

‘What do you— what do you mean?’ he asks that makes her smile fall into a thin line. Without saying another word, she points it behind him that made him turn. And as soon as he does, he gasps.

"Uuuuhhhhhhhhhhh" he gasps for air and holds his neck when he's back to waking up. "F*ck." He says as he's back to being the person who has a bag covering his face.

"Tu es juste à temps pour te réveiller, tu dors salope inutile! Maintenant viens ici et allons-y!" [You're just in time to wake up, you sleep useless b***h! Now come here and let's go!] He hears someone talks that makes him turn to the voice.

"Excuse me, but what did you—"

"I SAID LET'S GO, vous enculé!" [you mothers*cker!] The tall man precipitously pulls him out of the van as Miguel almost stumbles with his feet due to the struggle of staring into the darkness. Luckily, there's still a guide that kept him standing.

Miguel starts to feel his bare feet walking on dry ground as the sun's burning heat begins to pinch his skin. Sweat starts to drip from his head as the hotness of the surrounding gets worse. Even the blow of air feels hot.

Miguel moves his head both left and right, hoping to see any light that would pass through the cloth that's covering his sight. But no matter how hot it is, even the sun seems lifeless to even share him with some light.

A metal door opens before him as he can only guess using his ears. The man beside him is still holding him, no hint of setting him free anytime soon. His grip is getting tight every step they take as if he's holding Miguel by the throat and squeezing it hard to cut his breathing in just a few seconds before he could become lifeless. . .  Like Ash, who they leave by running water, with no assurance if she's dead or alive. But either way, Miguel knows that the kid has been shot.

Almost faint footsteps echo around the hall the moment Miguel feels the temperature changing. He continues walking with his eyes wide open, but his vision is black. The door slides shut from behind, imprisoning the echoes of boots and slow dripping of liquid into the tiled floor.

"Where the hell are you taking us!? This place reeks depravity and sh*t!" Chris complains as he sniffs around them, triggering his dog aura. The men who are holding him captive start laughing as they start talking in their first language.

"Frère, ce fils de pute ici renifle!" [Brother, this son of a b*tch here is sniffing!] He says as the man holding Melissa replies almost immediately.

"Allez, mon pote! Laissez-le percevoir l'enfer de votre aisselle mouillée, hahaha!" [Come on, mate! Let him visit hell from your wet armpit, hahaha!] The rest breaks into louder laughter that makes the man pulls up his sleeve, revealing his hairy and indeed damp armpit.

"What are you all talking about, huh! You all are just a bunch of useless meats which will be dead too!" Chris threatens without thinking of the consequences. He is not a French person, but his feelings tell him that what they're laughing about is him.

"Allez, mon pote! Il a l'air confus! Faites-le ou il ne se sentira pas à l'aise! Hahaha!" [Come on, mate! He looks confused! Do it, or it won't make him feel AT EASE! Hahaha!]

Melissa, on the other hand, is already skeptical. She starts moving, shaking her body to catch her captor's grip.

"que diable-" [What the hell—]

"Salut les enculés! Arrête de jouer avec mon ami!" [Hey, you f*ckers! Stop messing with my friend!] Melissa interrupted the moment of fun when she decided to break the rising excitement over them. The created noise is enough to silence the men for a few seconds before the fiercest of them all, who is currently holding Kyle, lets go of him and takes a step forward. Melissa turns her gaze from both sides, unknowingly what's coming next.

"Ah, le cochon bruyant qui parle français" [Ah, the noisy pig who speaks French. . .] He pauses as he folds his fist as he continuously walks towards Melissa. The others couldn't react in such a way because they don't know what's happening. All they could feel at the moment is danger.

"Pauvre fille. . . - Il me semble que vous êtes intelligent. Mais je suis désolé de briser la vérité chérie parce que honnêtement, vous utilisez votre espionnage au MAUVAIS MOMENT de votre putain d'existence." [Poor girl. . .It seems to me that you are intelligent. But I'm sorry to break the truth honey because honestly, you're using your espionage at the WRONG MOMENT of your f*****g existence..]

"Melissa, what the heck is going on?"

"Mel, where are you okay? You're not talking. . ."

Melissa hears and feels the man standing in front of her already that it made her gulp. What makes the feelings worse are the flying concerned statements of her friends. She is about to take a step back when she feels the man's hand quickly grips a full stand of her hair as he bents it backward, revealing a skin on her neck. Melissa gasps loudly the moment she flinches, totally unprepared for what happened.

"MELISSA!"

"JESUS CHRIST!"

Melissa purses her lips as she froze there, couldn't fight with darkness. As she feels his face getting close to her ears, she then feels a cold tip item caressing her neck. She gulps as she starts to tear up.

"Écoutez-moi très attentivement, Miss Piggy. Je m'en fiche si vous savez parler le français ou le japonais, le russe ou même la langue philippine. J'en ai rien à foutre du nombre de médailles d'or que tu as quand tu es à l'école primaire parce que tout ce qui m'importe, c'est cette chose, cette chose que tu ressens sur ton cou tout le sang qui sort de ta peau blanche de rhin. J'ai compris?" [Listen to me very carefully, Miss Piggy. I don't f*cking care if you know how to speak French or Japanese, Russian or even Filipino Language. I don't give a sh*t to how many gold medals you've got when you're in grade school because all I care is this thing, this thing you're feeling on your neck, to stab your pretty neck mercilessly as I sip all the blood that's coming out of your rhin white skin. Got it?] He asks as he positions the blade of the newly purchased knife on her neck.

"Tu n'as pas la possibilité d'interrompre quand on s'amuse, d'accord? . . À moins que vous ne souhaitiez recevoir tous les coups de vos amis plutôt que de les recevoir. . Vous savez, nous l'apprécierions volontiers car non seulement cela vous fera gagner du temps pour choisir qui sera battu en premier, mais ce serait un spectacle pour nous. . . Surtout que nous n'avons pas goûté à une femme depuis des lustres." [You don't get to interrupt when we're having fun, okay? . . Unless you want to receive all of your friends' beating rather than them receiving one of their own . . You know, we would gladly enjoy it because not only it will save time to pick who'll get beaten up first, but it would be a show for us. . . Especially that we haven't tasted a woman for ages.] He warns as he pervertedly licks her ears that causes her to cringe.

"Et en plus, j'aime ton odeur, mon cochon. Que faire de plus si vous êtes sous moi, criant comme je—" [And besides, I love your smell, my pig. What more if you're under me, screaming as I—]

"C'est assez de vos jeux!" [That's enough of your games!]

All of them turn their attention to the man who talks behind them.

"Monsieur! . . Je ne savais pas que tu étais là!" [Sir! . .  I didn't know you were there!] The man says as he instantly gets away from Melissa, who is already shivering. Even if she doesn't want to let her fear be visible to the eyes, she's unconsciously shivering in fear that the man could clearly see without making eye contact.

"Parce que si tu avais vu ne plus tôt, tu essaierais de te retenir d'être excitée devant elle?" [Because if you saw ne earlier, you'd try to contain yourself from being horny in front of her?] He asks.

"Patron - Je -" [Boss— I—]

"Sauvegarde le. . . Priez simplement que je ne vous poignarde pas dans le dos et que je ne le rapporte pas au pasteur." [Save it. . . Just pray that I won't stab you in the back and report this to Pastor.] He says as he wraps his hand around Melissa's shoulder. He then leans into her as he whispers. "And you miss. . . Stay alive and keep away from triggering them, alright? They won't back down without a fight." He says before standing straight and throws them all a glance.

"Continuons d'avancer. . . Le pasteur Roman is nous attend dans l'autel." [Let's keep moving. . . Pastor Roman is waiting for us at the altar.]