1 1 – First Quarter

Three men with dangerous eyes gathered in a room, sitting around a fairly large round table. Their gazes judged each other.

A man with short hair, wearing a thin short t-shirt, took a deep breath. Two other men, a man with long messy hair and a man with red long hair tied, stared at him, waiting.

"Okay. So, we agreed, no one will be allowed to violate each other's territory," the short-haired man said.

The long messy one nodded nonchalantly, while the red long-haired looked not so satisfied.

"And if anyone violates?" demanded the man with red long hair.

"The county boss can decide the sentence and no one has the right to interfere," replied the short-haired man.

The red long-haired man snorted softly, then nodded and leaned back in his chair. He wore a sleeveless t-shirt, making the dragon tattoo on his upper arm clearly visible.

"One more addition," the short-haired man continued.

"Don't add as much as you like," protested the long messy hair disapprovingly. He folded his arms across his chest, making his biceps visible under the black t-shirt he was wearing.

"This will also benefit you both," said the short hair one.

The red long-haired man narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

The short-haired man looked at the red long-haired man. "Don't touch my important person."

The red long hair snorted mockingly. "Is it profitable for me?"

"I heard you're secretly married," said the short-haired man.

There was no answer, but the stern expression on the red long-haired man's face was self-explanatory.

The messy long-haired man sighed dramatically. "I'm not married, I don't have an important person. What's in it for me?"

"Then you can try. If you touch my important person, I will destroy all your people," said the short hair.

The messy long hair rolled his eyes. "You always like to make things complicated."

"So, we agreed?" asked the short hair to make sure.

The red long hair nodded curtly, then stood up and just walked away.

"That cunning devil really has to learn manners," said the messy long hair. He then looked at the short hair. "But, what are your plans after this?"

The short hair did not answer and stood up from his seat.

"You should also learn manners!" shout the messy long-haired one in annoyance as the short-haired man left the room.

***

The night was dark, starless, drizzle began to fall. The road to the peak area was deserted. Not a single vehicle passed. There were only two cars on the road.

A sedan with three people appeared to be badly damaged and crashed into a cliff. The front of the car was crushed after colliding with a Rover that stopped not far from him. Inside the sedan, it appears that the three passengers were also seriously injured. The driver was unconscious with a bloody head, while in the back seat, an old man also lost consciousness. The window glass shattered, while blood continued to flow from his temples.

Only one passenger is still semi-conscious. A young girl in a white dress that was now turning red with her blood, groaned in pain.

"Papa ..." he called weakly.

The old man next to him, slowly regained his senses and groaned softly. "Carol … you have to go," he said weakly.

The girl shook her head.

"You have to go … you have to survive. Later … if I'm gone … you can only come back …"

The girl shook her head as she sobbed. "Papa, I will never leave you and we will be fine."

"No … you have to go. Only then will you be safe." The old man seemed to be having trouble breathing. "Remember. You can only come back ... hhh ... after I'm gone. Because once I dies ... you will inherit all my power. That's when … you'll be safe. Because of that … I had to die so you could live …"

The girl sobbed louder and held her father's hand, but his father let go of his hand and pushed her away with the last of his strength.

"Hurry … go …" the old man urged.

The girl was still reluctant to move until she heard the sound of the car door slamming. She saw that the driver of the Rover that had crashed into her car had gotten down and was approaching her. She recognized the Rover's driver.

"Go … Carol …" her father said one last time, before he lost consciousness.

The girl was about to leave, but the door beside her was already open. Then, the man with the stern face and cruel gaze bent down to speak to her,

"My poor little sister."

The girl looked angry, the tears that fell down her cheeks were red, mixed with blood.

"You shouldn't be alive. Why are you still alive?" The man smiled coldly. "You trouble me."

The girl moved her hand back, felt the stab of the glass in her hand, then grabbed the broken glass and swung it forward. However, the man she attacked swiftly dodged by jumping back.

Taking advantage of that, the girl got out of her car and with a limp step, she tried to get away from the dangerous man.

"Where do you want to go in such a state? Don't try to run away from me. After all, you're going to die tonight, Little Sis."

The girl kept trying to run with her limp legs without looking back. She went off the road, down the valley on the side of the road that led to the pine forest. However, because the valley was quite steep and with her injured leg, her footing was wobbly.

The girl slipped and ended up rolling down. Her whole body ached, but her heart ached even more. Anger filled her chest when she heard a cruel laugh from above.

She won't die. She swore that no matter what happened, she would not die.

***

Troy was on his way to the restaurant where he worked when he saw a hunched-back old woman sweeping by the side of the road. Troy approached the woman and greeted her,

"Grandma, if you leave the house this early, don't forget to wear a jacket. The weather is so cold."

The old woman smiled. "You want to go to work?"

Troy nodded, then took off and slung the jacket over the old woman's shoulders, leaving her in nothing but a black short-sleeved t-shirt.

"Don't do this again. I already have a dozen of your jackets at my house," the old woman grumbled.

"That's because you never heard my words to wear thick and warm clothes," Troy grumbled back.

The old woman laughed and thanked him. Troy finally made his way to the restaurant. Troy checked his watch. It's still less than six o'clock. Since the restaurant where he worked had been open since morning for his loyal customers, Troy had to leave so early. In fact, the restaurant is arguably more like a charity venue.

Troy's steps suddenly stopped when he heard a low groan from the side of the road. Troy turned his head, staring at the garden on the side of the road. Could be say, it's a forest, even though the kids here call it a garden as their playground. However, the garden ended in a forest.

"Please … I …" The voice came again.

Then, a girl with long, messy hair that covered the side of her face, appeared from behind the tree. The girl was holding on to one of the trees, her steps faltering as she drew closer to Troy.

"Help …"

Troy frowned when he saw the white dress she was wearing was stained with blood. As the girl began to lose strength in her legs and nearly fell forward, Troy jumped at her and grabbed her body.

In Troy's arms, the girl's consciousness left her.

***