JINX

EPISODE 32

|Tuesday, 20th of February

He's hanging in there.

Neck gripped with a g*dd*mn tube that moved like a snake, measuring its target. . . And Chris is the unlucky one.

It f*cking hurts me to watch him die. In all honesty, I wasn't sure at that moment if I should continue watching or not. But, it the only day ill get to see him breathing, get to hear him panting, get to feel his presence as a human being. . . But his struggling scream will forever stay in my head. Why?

Because I had this hobby of collecting bad memories. . . Well, we all do, but most of us are probably wishing they had never experienced that in life. . . But to me, these are the only precious memories that keep me alive. It is as if these nightmares were a rocket cow drink from that freaking game— what is it called again? Oh, right, the CRIMINAL CASE: THE CONSPIRACY. But the only difference is that that drink doesn't make me die any sooner, but it motivates me more, gives me more and more reasons to live.

I don't know. . . I guess I just want to stay alive until I'm over with this sh*t and tell everyone my story. Maybe that way, they'll get to accept me and what remains of our population.

I don't know but, I can't seem to remember what's Chris's reason to be in here, anyway. I may not be the closest guy with him, I didn't use more of my time to waste it on him, but just the right amount of moments to get to know him, even just for a freaking bit. And it made me regret that I didn't even have the opportunity to hear his story.

But no matter what happens, I know that I can never revoke this time ever again. But then again, if I have the power to return time, I think all he wanted is to get away with this. . . And so do I. But then, we both want to be alive when we get out of it. Too bad he's not here anymore.

To Chris, I hope that wherever you are right now, I just want to say that. . . Well, I just want to say sorry that I couldn't do anything to save you. And thank you for being strong until the end. We may not be the best of friends, but you became a part of my family already.

And I will truly miss you. . . Guide as back here okay?

Sincerely,

Miguel—

"Chris shouldn't have died. . . My bro Chris shouldn't be dead. . ." Miguel immediately stops himself from writing as he decided to turn to see that Kyle and Blake are still sitting from Melissa's bed, who is already calming herself after more than five minutes of crying.

Miguel turns to the other side as he sees Ion, Kitty, and Benji also keeping their silence, a way for them to grieve for the man they just knew a few hours ago. And now, he's gone.

No one dared to go to sleep. All of them are wide awake, especially to Blake, who looks exhausted than anyone else. Blake is staring in a specific direction as he rocks his body lightly back and forth. He's also mumbling words that Miguel couldn't figure out what he's saying, but enough for him to tell that something is wrong with Blake.

"No, no, it can't be. This can't be. . . He's not dead yet. He's still with us. Right, Melissa? Kyle? Miguel?" Blake suddenly asks in a louder tone as he quickly lifts his gaze to stare at them.

But no one dared to answer.

"He's still here, right, Kyle? Where's Chris? Where is he? Is Chris sleeping in his bed already? Maybe I should check up on him—" Blake suggests as he stands up from the bed and walks towards the empty bed from the left corner, the bed where Chris used to sleep in. Melissa covers her face as she starts to sob again just by heading her friend Blake to act like Chris is still with them, physically.

Miguel finds his gaze on mister Valentine as he nods his head, a gesture of approval for him to follow Chris. But before he could even stand up, Kyle stands up and follows Chris. The rest of the watch as to witness what's about to happen next.

"Yo, Chris—" Blake doesn't intend to stop as he continuously walks towards the bed. But just when he's standing there only to see an empty bunker bed, Kyle decided to interrupt.

"Blake. . ." one call of his answer and a hand now resting on his shoulder is enough to make Blake turn around and snap back to reality. And as soon as his eyes locked info Kyle's, he could feel his pain too.

Kyle shakes his head at a slow pace that makes his face crumble in pain. He closes his eyes as tears start to roll down again and purse his lips into a thin line, not wanting to sob again.

"He's not here—"

"DON'T! Don't f*cking say that to me, Kyle. Don't you f*cking say it!" Blake bursts out as he pushes him away of his way before Blake walks past him. But before he could even take his third step, he immediately stops as he sees Benji, making his blood boil almost immediately.

"Y—you! You're the reason behind all this!" He points at him angrily as he furrows his brows and narrows his brows without rethinking his decisions. He immediately walks towards him that makes the rest of the alarmed, as Kyle follows him behind, trying to get his attention.

"Blake, you don't want to do anything—" he attempts to interrupt, but Blake's attention is more focused on getting his hands on Benji.

Benji, Kitty, and Ion quickly stand up from sitting on the bed as all eyes are on Blake. He holds a stabbing gaze, and sharp brows are almost colliding.

"Bro, look. . . I didn't know that I haven't placed a sticker on him because I thought I gave everyone a sticker—" Benji makes an effort to defend himself, but it wasn't just enough for Blake to stop. As soon as there's no gap between them, Blake picks him up by his collar and immediately headbutts him. It causes them to panic as they gather into their position, trying to separate the two.

"DON'T EVEN TEY TO DEFEND YOURSELF, YOU NEWBIE F*CK BECAUSE YOU SOUND TOO DESPERATE TO SOUND SO CONVINCING!" Blake screams on his face before his hands swing in a swift move, immediately landing perfectly into Benji's left cheek.

"Blake, no!" Melissa screams when Blake's about to hit him for the second time, but she made sure to make him stop. . . And he did. Blake, with such confusion in his mind, decided to turn to Melissa but still didn't let go of his grip on Benji's shirt collar.

"This is not what Chris would want you to do, Blake. . ." She mumbles enough for Blake to feel his heart soften.

"If he's still here, he would probably expect so much from you because Chris trusts you so much that he knows that you won't do things without thinking about it first. . . He knows that you'll never let your anger drive you to make a mistake you'd regret for the rest of your life. . ." She continues as tears start to flow again.

"Because. . . Because even if I wanted to hurt Benji too, I can't. Why? It's not his entire fault because he's also a victim. And we should acknowledge that truth." She speaks out as she continues to sob and to try her best not to c***k her own voice. Valentine then pulls Melissa close as she cries into his chest; at the exact moment, Kyle comes and pulls him away from Benji.

"You go take my bed over there for a second, guys," Kyle suggests that makes the three newbies nod before going there. Kyle then helps Blake take a seat on the bed as he starts sobbing like a five-year-old kid. Miguel then watches them as Miguel holds the notebook in his hands. As he turns around and sits back on his bed, he then slides his notebook back into his bag before sealing it close and ready himself to go to bed.

He turns to his left side, facing the dull wall before him. . . And as he does that, so makes the tear comes into action.

"F*ck. . ." He mumbles.

•••

"Now that you've heard about what my nightmare is, do you want to go to sleep now?" Carlo asks as he throws a gaze at Ash. She shortly replies with a shake of her head.

"No. . . I don't think I'm sleepy yet." She admits as Carlo yawns.

"Well, do you want to tell me what you have in mind?" He asks as he tries to keep the conversation alive, but it died quickly after she rejected by shaking her head.

"Okay. . . If you say so. . . I'll just go ahead and sleep then," Carlo announces after nods his head in understanding before leaning his back on the chair and closing his eyes to sleep. But before he could do that, he remembers something, making him open his eyes again.

"I know I should be lecturing you about going to sleep now, but I also understand that it's your choice so, I'll leave you to it. . ." He says before shifting his weight to the left, closing his eyes again and ready himself to sleep.

"I always wanted to be perfect. . ." she starts that makes Carlo furrow his brows, but kept his position and his eyes closed. He listens as Ash breathes in and out, as her voice is a bit shaky.

"I mean, who wouldn't wish for perfection, right? Like, you, being the perfect boyfriend to Lerissa and the perfect dad for Miguel? It sounds almost achievable in a very complicated way." She starts you this time; Carlo opens his eyes slowly.

"I've dreamt of being perfect. . . Like, I wanted to be the ideal daughter, the excellent musician in our music class, the best dancer in our dance class, everything! I WANTED to be the perfect one in terms of everything. . . But suddenly, that dream of mine changed after I hit my ankle from a spin on that f*cking ballet class. And I wasn't able to join a few lessons; I won't even perform for our school performance. And I felt so left out that it broke that dream of mine forever. . . And that's why I became inconsistent but at the same time, contented. . . But, those freaking kids continue to make fun of me. . . Saying that I'm already dislocated and can't do anything right anymore? And that became a nightmare for me. . . That I won't and will never be good enough, that's why that thought never got out of my system. It's because it's already built-in me like a part of a machine that without it, it won't let a machine function." She explains before Carlo hears her sigh. For a second, there's silence between them before he hears her yawn before talking again.

"I suddenly felt tired, mister Carlo. I think I'm going to have to sleep." She says, but Carlo didn't reply. "Have a goodnight's sleep, mister. It's a long day ahead of us again tomorrow." She talks before Carlo hears her go back into the passenger seat. A few seconds later, there's only silence and soft breathing. And before Carlo could even move and change position, Ash decided to talk.

"And thank you for listening, sir. It truly makes me feel as if something heavy inside me reduced. . . And I feel so happy with it. Thank you." She says before closing her eyes as she welcomes sleep.