Fate (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 14

Hunters' Side
"Wait. You're making us team up with them? You joking?"

The hunters, every single of them, had gathered in the manor's private lounge, the place where they take it easy for the day. It is the only place  in the manor where they can sit down, relax, and listen to classical music with the help of the phonograph. The lounge also has a piano, in which had never been laid a finger on due to no one among the hunters being able to play it.

"Do I look like I'm doing so?" Jack said, giving Joker the stink-eye from the two eyeholes in his mask.

"But why?! Why do I have to team up with those rascals?!"

"It's something new, Joker. It's another new way of playing! Besides, we hunters are not even allowed to literally eliminate survivors! The only thing those rocket chairs do is send them back to this place with all the injuries we gave them! Chill up!" Xie Bi An chimed in, his hands holding into the papers Jack gave him.

Just then, a voice from Bi An's umbrella piped in.
"You're acting all tough and gentle, Fan WuJiu. You want to eliminate them all, do you? Do you? Do you?"

"Oh shut up! I'm in the middle of something right now!" Bi An yelled as Jack is now eyeing him.

"Guys, huddle up and look at the papers I gave you. This is a whole new match gameplay that Hastur and I will be organizing. Before I start, is everyone here?"

The hunters raised their hands, heads nodding.

"Okay. So this gameplay will be called BlackJack and I myself will be hosting it. In this gameplay, instead of one hunter going against four survivors, we will have 5 teams, each team having one hunter and one survivor paired up. These teams will be competing with one another, and the team that is the first to reach 21 points wins."

"Then how do we rack up points?" Leo asked, placing his both feet on the table.

"That's the unique part. So I will be giving you all cards, each of them being rewarded with specific numbers of points. And my fellow hunters, keep in mind that your role is to take over the survivor with the highest points. Do not hurt those that you're teaming up with. Do not!" The Ripper said as he glared at Joker, thus earning a scowl from the clown.
"Do I make myself clear, guys?"

Everyone had their thumbs up, except for one.

Despite his body being there listening to the ripper's words, none of it is the same deep down inside. In fact, it feels like he is listening to nothing at all.

It had been three days since his last harsh conversation with Aesop before never hearing anything about him ever since.

He might have been the one telling the embalmer to stop approaching him, but if he were to tell him the truth, it hurts.

It hurts so much that he feels like being stabbed over and over in the chest.

He missed talking to the grey-haired man. He missed having the embalmer sitting next to him while the latter lets him know how he is doing. And most of all, he missed seeing Aesop's face.

The memory of him hugging the embalmer went through him, playing inside his mind as if it is an endless movie.

Jack was still talking when the photographer noticed a commotion going in the survivors' side of the manor. Exactly like how it goes in the dining hall, the lounge where the hunters are currently huddled up is also connected to the survivors' side where they and only them can see through and not the other.

This sight that he just noticed made his heart sink even more.

He noticed Emily, the doctor he encountered back then, along with Eli the seer, the two having a tense look on their faces.

He gulped, holding back the urge to swear.
This can't be about him, right?

"Joseph Desaulniers!" Jack yelled out, snapping the concerned photographer off his trance.

With his eyes full of worriness, Joseph was greeted by Jack's tall form standing before him. It was really hard for him to notice the expression on the ripper's face due to how tall the latter is. He is well aware of Jack being the tallest hunter here in Oletus Manor, and now he feels the pressure of it.

"Jose. Everything okay? You have been off these few days and you seem troubled. I noticed from the start that you are barely listening to me. Is everything alright? Talk to me." Jack said, kneeling down to the photographer's level. He had his mask off and Joseph couldn't help but had his eyes on something he didn't quite notice the last time the ripper had his mask off for him to see.

The long scar on his face.

"Jack! I.. I'm so sorry for not listening to you! I....." Joseph stuttered. He had lost his ability to form words since he has lots going inside him and it is too fast for him to process anything.

Aesop. The sight of Emily and Eli he saw earlier. Not to mention his curiousity had reached its peek the moment he noticed the ripper's scar.

Jack had his hand on Joseph's shoulder.
"Imma give you some alone time. If you have time, just look at that piece of paper I taped into the wall. It has everything you need regarding BlackJack. Bye for now, Jose."

Before Joseph could barely react, Jack had disappeared into a huge mist of fog and back to his chamber. It is a skill that the photographer admires yet despises at the same time. He admired it for it makes an excellent offensive skill, and Jack knows what he is doing with that skill, making winning his daily intake.

On the other hand, he hates it due to the ripper being able to know everything that is going on in both his and the survivors' side. He really hates it. He knows Jack had once said he does not use his skills to infiltrate people's privacy, but again, the photographer barely trusts anyone. Giving people his full trust had always been his biggest issue.

What if he finds out about that moment? Joseph muttered to himself as he went over to look at the paper Jack had told him about.

His eyes went wide as he finished reading it. He can feel his heartbeat rocketing. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and eventually his whole face.

Does he..... know about it?

***
"Jack, stop it! You look like a kid waiting for his mom to show up after hours of  timeout! You're acting ridiculous!"

Hastur and Jack had themselves in the second floor of their side of the manor, with the ripper having his hands holding into the stair rails.

"Shush it, eight-legs. You remember what you told me the day Joseph went on a match and we were there spectating it?" The ripper said, squinting his eyes as dust had gotten all its way through his mask and into them.

"Oh? The one about him acting all sweet with a survivor? What about it? What about it? I'm so curious that I can literally jump off this railing! And Jack the Ripper, for goodness' sake please stop calling me eight legs! I only have two and you have seen those!" The Feaster pouted in dismay as he pulled his cloak off him, showing his human form.

"I can't believe someone your attitude gets to be the feaster and my partner of being a match official....." Jack facepalmed.
"Now listen. About Joseph...."

The ripper then took his mask off, his lips forming a menacing smile.

"I'm close enough to figuring out the truth."