Fate (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 20

3rd PERSON POV
"Vera, what are you doing?! Start decoding or he'll find you!"

Here goes the perfumer, assigned for a match along with the Mind's Eye, Eli, Emily, and Kevin. The four had been spawned in the Moonlit River Park and little did they know that Jack the Ripper is the one they are going against.

The ripper hummed to himself, toying his claws as if it is newly given to him while heading for the four.
He had taken notice of what is happening between the new Photographer and the Embalmer from the survivors and he cannot help but object it.

He knew everything, even the moment Michiko snuck the embalmer into his side of Oletus for Joseph's sake despite how fatal it can be for the two once he gives his final cut on it. However, he decides not to, thanks to the feeling of thankfulness he had owed the Geisha after what happened to him the moment he came in.

He slipped his fingers into the gap of his mask, tracing once again the scar that had became an inseparable part of his face.

If only I had been smarter...
They say true love has no boundaries, but to me it's nothing but a bunch of baloney.....

Jack walked and walked, with every bit of his past haunting him.

"Are you okay?"
Jack lifted his head up from his knees to find a brown-haired man kneeling before him.
"Why are you crying?"

Jack stared at the man. He is for sure heads shorter than him if only he was standing up. Over his years of being someone who is being picked on because of his height, he never expected this man would be here. Not to mention he has never met him before.

Jack didn't respond. Tears and misery had choked his whole throat, preventing the words to come out.

"Hey, these are awesome!" The man said, his hands on the hat resting on the tall man's knees.
"You should come with me! Let's go!"

Jack shook his head. He was indeed, too afraid to break a voice. In fact, he didn't even budge from his sitting position.
He closed his eyes, recalling the moment everyone bullied on his height and his heavy voice.
He happened to be one of those who caught puberty too fast, and in his case, no one supports him.

"No." Jack mumbled.
"I'm fine being here all on my own."

Rage had taken over the Ripper, and by the time it happened, he came across Helena, who is working on a cipher all on her own.

The Ripper said nothing as he lunged his claws straight towards the blind girl, knocking her down with a terror shock. He noticed from his eyes that the girl is trembling as blood seeped out of her back, staining her clothes.

Despite that, he is still not satisfied. He approached the Mind's Eye, who is still incapacitated with her hands on her injured spot, then tied her on a balloon.

"It hurts!" The blind girl yelled, but Jack didn't even bother to care. Instead, he tightened his grip even more on the rope attached to her back.

"Thank you... for being so kind to me...." Jack said as he and the brown-haired man are now sitting on the docks, staring at the blue horizon before them.

"Why all the thankfulness? I can't see someone so powerful and tall being miserable like that. I had to do something!"

Jack stared at the man before reverting his attention back to the sea. The man's kindness had triggered his will to talk, and now he is going to do it.
"I'm Jack. I never caught your name, which would be not good after everything you did to me earlier...."

"Oh, sure!" The man said, ruffling his own hair.
"My name is Naib Subedar."

***
"Shit! I failed to have Luke protect her!" Eli cussed to himself as Helena's yells reverberated through the carnaval tent, with the Ripper's position visible in his eyes.

"I have yeet my last haw, and I failed miserably...." Kevin said beside him, his hands typing on the cipher machine's rusty surface.

None of the survivors seemed to get everything done. 4 ciphers left, and Jack had fatally wounded the Mind's Eye, thus stopping all their common senses to work right.

"Hey Seer'io, do you notice something is strange with that ripper?" Kevin said to the seer as he placed his lasso on the pallet next to them.

"Hm?" Eli said, ordering Luke to keep on spectating at the ripper, with him preparing to make the rescue.
"I do. He seems way more brutal than he usually is. He does injure people with his claws, but none of those are as bloodlust as this."

The cowboy nodded, doing the hats-off gesture.
"Now how are we going to explain things to Emily? And where in the name of YeeHaw Land is that perfumer?!"

The look on the Seer's face went into a concerned look at the mention of Vera. Neither the two had seen her in this match, and with the fact that Helena is down, the perfumer obviously will not show her presence even more to them. It's true that she had said unpleasant words to him that time, but if the seer were to be honest none of it had really gotten into him. He is ready to admit that he and Naib were totally going off at that day. The main reason why he didn't even start a conversation with the perfumer is because he wants Vera to realize how much words can actually hurt someone.

"Kevin, just finish this cipher." Eli said, motioning the cowboy to keep on decoding.

"Wait, Eli? What are you doing?" Kevin asked.

"I'm going out for Helena's rescue with the hope of finding Vera's whereabouts. Decode for us, okay?"

The seer then dashed with Luke on his shoulder, not bothering to listen what the cowboy has to say as response.

***
"Oh my God....."
Vera stopped still the moment she took notice of the Mind's Eye.

She had hidden herself exactly behind the wall where the Ripper had chaired her friend with the latter's condition being too gruesome to witness. The ripper's claws had tore into her back, forming three long angry scratches. With the thorny rocket chair ropes and how violent Jack had been to her, it's all just a matter of time before infection occurs.

The blind girl was in so much pain that she cannot even muster up the energy to warn everyone that the raging ripper is still there, watching her every move.

Vera stared at the bottle of perfume she has. Her head was running mental calculations, figuring out whether she is able to make the perfect rescue or not.

It was when she felt the Ripper's footsteps approaching her. She then realized that Helena had been sent back to Oletus in that condition.

"There's something I have to tell you, Ms. Perfumer." Jack said to her as he lunged for her.
"You've fallen right into your own trap."

The perfumer scanned her surroundings. He was right.
She had placed all the pallets nearby her downwards just in case if the hunter goes straight for her, but her trance of figuring Helena's rescue had taken over her, without realizing that the Ripper had anticipated every of her move.

Vera focused her attention on the very window before her. If she can somehow distract him, she would be able to avoid him.
But the problem is.... how?

There was no other way left but to let herself take Jack's hit. She had always been afraid of his long claws and most of all, blood.

Usually, on moments like this with the other survivors, she would get all panicky and yell out random names, but right now, it seems like her subconsciousness had taken the whole act, shutting all her spoiled attitude down.

She then pushed her way towards the Ripper. She could feel his claws reaching her neck.

To her surprise, a bird's cooing sound came, followed by the feeling of something smooth hitting the surface of her neck.
"Run, Vera Nair! Run!"

The perfumer's head perked up to see who the voice came from.

It was Eli.