Fate (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 29

"What... what do you mean who am I ? Naib?"

Jack had his both hands on the nowly unconscious brown-haired man as tears flowed down his eyes. It can't be. It can't be. His head had been wrapped in a white gauze with the blood seeping through.

The gunshot was still clear inside his head. The moment he dismissed it as something random. The moment he came to realize it was his friend being shot in the head.

***
"Jack the Ripper."

The tallest figure among all the hunters looked upwards to see everyone gathering around him, with uneasy looks on their faces. Usually those looks mean nothing to him and not even a single intimidating aura had gotten into him. But now, it is all different.

"We all would like to take how that Red Church incident happened from your side into account." Xie Bi An's stern voice echoed through the whole room, causing everyone, even the Ripper himself, to feel chills going down their spines.

Jack swallowed. He cannot help but feel his whole world is shaking as he watched the White Guard's every movement.

He is one of those whom survivors fear the most. He is unstoppable in matches. He gets to earn the rights to be a match official to those talking to him.

But why is he nothing but full of anxiety now?

No. He knew why.

The incident.

The very thing that happen to be the one he had lived under the most.

The very thing that had been the reason why he ended up being the Ripper.

The very thing that had made him lose the normal privilege of his left hand.

"Jack?" Bi An's voice snapped him out of his trance.

"I wasn't myself in that match! Something else had gotten into me. Okay?"

"That still doesn't explain how you had stabbed a survivor in the chest for more than two times, you idiot!" Hastur said, his fists pounding on the table.
"Do you even have any idea of what you're doing?! You nearly killed him!"

"He fucking survived, Hastur! Isn't that enough to satisfy you?!" The Ripper snapped, holding back his urge to cry.

"Hastur, enough." Bi An said again.
"Remember. Don't stop fire with fire."

The White Guard then approached the Ripper, whom had trembled in anxiety.
"Jack. This must be hard on you. I know. I know you're just doing everything us hunters usually do in matches. But, the ones you did just now wasn't normal."

The Ripper stared blankly at the White Guard as the latter went on with his words.

"First of all, you said it on your own that hunters don't kill survivors. Hunters don't commit foul acts once they are picked to play in a match. You were the one coming up with that rule. I remember it well. And we all went by it. Even Joker."

"What the fuck do you say my name for?!" The clown chimed in, which was then dragged aside by Leo the Hell Ember.

"With all your rules and what you did in your previous match..." Bi An continued.
"Don't you think that's a bit off?"

Jack sighed. More sobs had escaped through his lips.

"Let me ask you one thing. What made you do all this?"

The Ripper bit his lip before unexpectedly falling down on his knees.

"I..... I just want Naib to remember me...."

Survivors' Side
Aesop slipped in and out of consciousness despite the amount of care and attention Emily and William had given him.

He will be all talkative in one minute and fall into a deep sleep the next. Not to mention the alarming increase of his body temperature.

He is asleep, he needs privacy.
Those are the words Emily would always say as every of the survivors would bomb her with questions. But little did they know that the Doctor had fallen into a state where she is doubting herself.

The Doctor was still sobbing to herself when she noticed Joseph approaching her. She had told Xie Bi An that she needed him and that she will be waiting in the lobby of her side of the manor, and here he is.

"Ms. Dyer!" The Photographer said, his breath harsher than how he had always been.
"How is he?!"

"He's unconscious for now......" Emily said, putting a brave face with all her might.

"Can I... see him?" Joseph asked, the look of concern written all over his face.

The Doctor nodded.
"In fact, he needs you and only you, Joseph."

Beads of sweat trickled down the Photographer's forehead the moment the words escaped Emily's lips.

He needs you and only you.

Joseph's mind instantly went to the moment he held Aesop in his hands before unconsciousness took him over.
He had it pretty clear everything the Embalmer had said.

"I know this might be awkward for you since I'm the one stating this out, but Joseph.... I support you."

The Photographer was about to open his lips when they made it to the manor's ER.

The moment the doors were open, the Photographer immediately made his way to where the embalmer is, huge sobs coming out of him.

Joseph approached Aesop's bedside and placed his hands on top of the  embalmer's, his tears making droplets on the unconscious embalmer's palm.

It was such a heartbreaking sight to see. Aesop is there, lying unconscious on the bed, with thick white gauze on his wounded chest and the damp cloth on his forehead.

"Did... his body... spike a fever again?" Joseph said between sobs as Emily made her way in as well, her palm on the embalmer's forehead.

"Yes.... but it had gotten better than the one he had an hour ago....."

The Photographer felt more tears going down his eyes. He cannot even imagine how much of a painful state the Embalmer must be in, if only he was conscious in the moment.

"I'll leave him to you for the moment. Just don't hesitate to let me know once anything happens..." Emily said, giving Joseph her smile as she headed out for the doors.

"Oh, Aesop...." The Photographer said. The tears he had been holding finally came loose.

"I'm sorry, Aesop.... I'm so sorry....."

Joseph cried until he could cry no more, his hands still holding into the Embalmer's hands.

AESOP
What is this? Where am I?

Wasn't I in a match against Jack? Why can't I move my body?

I tried opening my eyes but nothing happened. They felt like hard bricks.

It was when it hit me. Jack. The action he did to me.
The stabs. The angry scratches.

Wait. Could it be......

I then caught a glimpse of someone sitting right by my unconscious body, his hands holding into mine. He seems like he had been there for quite sometime that he had fallen asleep.

My heart started beating as I finally took notice of that 'someone'.

Joseph.