GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

CHAPTER 27

“ACTUALLY, NOPE, I don’t have something to tell the both of you,” Denton replied as he flashed a smile. Paul and Sandra raised their brows, as if thinking Denton was weird for not telling them something he must have been keeping for himself. Paul went back to eating and Sandra never replied anything, he was just staring at Denton who wad chewing his food. “What?” he asked. He wiped his whole face. “Why? Is my face dirty? What part must I wipe? Tell me, Sandra. Why are you staring at me? It is getting creepy to me.”

“Nah,” Sandra replied while shaking her head. She scooped a piece of the food as she started on munching it. Denton peeked at Sandra who was eating and avoided gazes upon Sandra seeing him peeking. “Look at you peeking at me. You surely have something inside your mind that you want to tell the both of us,” Sandra added. It caught Paul’s attention who stopped eating first and listened to the other two’s responses to each other. “Whenever you look weird like this, acts like this, you surely have something to tell us but you are hesitating. You don’t have to think twice upon telling the both of us. We will listen for sure.”

“Uhm, it was just... I was just... yeah, I was thinking about the next main and escaping match,” Denton replied. Sandra nodded her head, trying to push Denton to say more. “It was just, as the game continues to run and the game is slowly reaching its end... the lesser the player, the more the probability it has pair two players in the game.” Sandra and Paul nodded, as they digested what Denton was talking about. “If, for example, I was paired to Sandra and one of us will continue on the next round, but the other one will be eliminated, how would you feel about that?”

“Just...” Sandra hesitated talking as she avoided Denton’s gaze. “Yeah, just like you said, we must play the game fairly. Beating the other one with your pure skills and with no help of cheating must be one of the best things to experience when winning. I am not saying that I want to experience this, but if it were to happen, I will, for sure, do my best to win, since I have the will to win.” Denton ate a portion of his food while listening. “However, as much as I wanted to, I want that not to happen, since I do not want to fight with a teammate. Yes, we are individual players but you three, including Jannah, has grown to me. It must hurt me, if ever, I get to face one between you two in a match.”

“Likewise with Sandra said, I also have the will to live and escape this hell,” Paul added. “So, yes, of course, I will do my best to win that particular game. Nevertheless, if one of you win in a match against me, I will feel bittersweet, I guess. I feel bitter that I lost that game but it will be a sweet feeling to see you win and survive or escape.” Denton felt the sincerity from Sandra and Paul’s remarks. “Do not worry about us if you win, if by any chance we are opponents in a game. We are individual players here but the success of the teammate will always be a success of the others as well.”

Denton nodded. “I was just thinking about that. I am glad to hear your thoughts about that possibility for it to happen.” Paul went back to eating, and so did Sandra. “And if that possibility happen, I don’t think I would end up not feeling the guilt of when, for example, I win. I really hope that the game tomorrow will not be one by one player.” Denton heaved a deep sigh before he looked at both the two who was busy eating. “Yeah, I should have just ate and never muttered those words.”

Sandra told Denton that she heard all the words Denton has said. She also said that they were just hungry so they never got the chance to reply to all his remarks. Denton, on the other hand, laughed at the idea and let them continue eating their foods. His smile, however, faded as he remembered what the lost guard has told him to do. “We must sleep early and well,” Paul muttered as he looked at the arena. “The arena was once really tight for a lot of players but now that there are just eight, it looks so wide and spacious. I never really cared until this happened.”

“True,” Sandra muttered, as she agreed to what Paul noted. “The arena was really small to me, after seeing this place filled with hundreds of players, but now that there are players that can be counted by the hand, it feels so big.” Sandra smiled. “However, shouldn’t I be thankful that I get to see this? Seeing fewer people means fewer distance to sucess, survival or escape. I just have to win the escaping match and I will get to go...”

Hearing that statement leave Sandra’s mouth was like a magnet that attracted Denton’s attention. He again remembered the lost guard who told him to tell his teammates to lose on purpose and not try to win. “Should I trust that lost guard and tell them? Isn’t it too risky for me to do this?” Sandra looked at Denton who was talking on his own. “He has helped me a lot but not to the extent that I am going to trust him and make these two do something risky. It’s their life that is in risk here.”

“You know what, Denton, I am really worried about you. I know that the pressure here is somehow depressing but not to the point that I talk to myself,” Sandra muttered, all of a sudden. Denton turned his gaze to Sandra who he knows saw him mouthing some words. “Are you really okay? I just saw you talking to yourself, or do you have any imaginary friend? Are you going nuts?”

Denton went back to reality as Sandra mumbled all those words. “No,” he plainly replied. He avoided gazes, as if he was being cornered as a witness of a crime. “I was just talking to myself. I developed this thing upon my entrance in this game. You know, maybe, I was just overthinking that I resorted talking to myself. Do not mind me. I am not going nuts, I was just talking to myself. Nothing more.” He sighed, a big one. “And also, whenever I do this, just do not mind. If it makes you uncomfortable, then tell me, and I will immediately stop myself.”

“Nah, if that is your best resort to feel alive and well, then that is not the case. We just felt that we must talk to you, since we do not know how much you are suffering right now,” Sandra replied. “But, I am always telling you this. Whatever it is in your mind and if you want someone to talk to with your thoughts, Paul and I are always here to listen. Do not hesitate telling us.”

Denton nodded. “I know, I know that you are both there if I have someone to talk to, but you also have your own problems and I do not want to add those,” Denton replied, with a flashed smile on his face. “However, there are certain things we like to keep to ourselves rather than talking it out with people. That is the case now. I want to think about it, but I would rather talk myself like I am someone who listens to my own words. Anyway, I appreciate that you are always there to listen. Thank you.”

Sandra nodded upon Denton’s remark. They eventually became silent and never gave a damn on each other’s own things. It was not so long after the dinner when the lights turned off and immediately, the speaker announced the bedtime. Denton, Paul and Sandra told each other a good night before they eventually sleep. As they lied their bodies down on the bed, Denton was still caught in dilemma of telling both Paul and Sandra about what the guard has told him. “I don’t think that I should told them to lose on purpose,” he muttered as he rubbed his palms all throughout his face. “I should decide what to do tomorrow morning.” And some time after that, Denton already closed his eyes and slept on the thought of what to do.

The lights flashed and Denton’s eyes, which were closed, immediately reacted to it and avoided the light. Since it was too bright, the players immediately reacted to the light. “It is too early to wake us up,” Paul muttered as if he knows the time. “Why did they suddenly set the waking time differently? I am so confused.”

Sandra looked at Paul who was scratching his eyes. “How did you know that they set the alarm differently?” Sandra, who was combing her hair with her own hands replied. There were no combs inside that arena, so she resorted to combing her hair with her hand, until she was already used to it. “It is as if you have a time to base that guess to, Paul.”