1 PILOT: Encounter

In every step, muddy water splashed the leather shoes of a man who was rushing away from something. He was holding his briefcase closer to his chest while sweat drastically streaming down from his face. He kept running aimlessly in the darkness of a warehouse.

"What the fuck is happening?" he muttered under his breath as he hide into some piled-up cargo boxes and took a few rest.

He was about to rest for more with the thought of finally being freed from a shadow that was hunting him but no. He jolted when a clattering sound from some metals around the warehouse began echoing in the silence of the area. Fear began to throb all over his body and quietly tried to hide in different spots but the noise was getting much louder and closer.

"Who are they?" he quivered as he looked for a way out as quietly as he could but when hope began to plaster over his body, he quickly ran toward a door. "Fuck." Sadly, it was locked. 

With the loud noise around the space of the warehouse, he tried to open the door as fast as he could but it was not happening. The noise was getting closer causing his hope to slowly shattered. He began to panic once again as he tried his best to break the door but still he couldn't. It was not a wooden door in the first place until a chuckle began to echo around him. He flinched in fear.

"Found you." a sinister giggling voice from a lady echoed somewhere and heavy footsteps came closer making him gulp as sweat fell from his face.

He decided to run away again but something made him stumble causing the briefcase that he was holding to fall away from his grip. He tried his best to reach it out forgetting the pain all over his feet if the sinister giggling voice didn't bother him.

"You're bleeding and you still after it?" whoever the lady was, taunted him alongside with her giggles. "What a pitiful man you are." But hearing those words, the man stopped in his tracks and slowly looked to check what the voice was telling him.

Seeing his detached feet from his legs, he screamed from the top of his lungs while crying. He whined in pain as he saw that he was already bleeding too much. Growing weakly, he tried to crawl away until a pair of boots from a man made him stop from doing so.

Light shone in his eyes. "Please, help me." He cried as he weakly reached out to the owner of the boots before him. Yet, there was only silence. "Please, help." He weakly begged again but he started groaning in pain even more when his hand was being stepped on.

"Your filthy hand shouldn't touch my things, my properties." a familiar voice from a notorious man stung him. He knew that his life was already dead end.

"Please…no…I have no choice…please…save me…" he pleaded but the light that he only had left was already leaving him. He was bleeding out too much.

"Too late for that, asshole." two voices speak in unison before a last strike from a bullet and a black knife hit the bleeding man causing serious death.

As the dagger and the bullet were being delivered on its prey, both hunters of that night sternly looked at each other. Silver grey eyes meet dark hazel ones. It was a heated stare and they were about to make each other pay for interfering when they were disturbed by some cluttering noise from an opening warehouse door. Both clicked their tongue in annoyance and disappeared from the scene.

Even in separate ways, "Who was that?" both of them were thinking the same thing and asking themselves about their sudden encounter. Yet, feeling the danger around each other, they hope not to meet again.

But as the quiet ride went on for hours, the man in a black suit got out of his car as soon as it entered a huge parking space. Before heading to another car where his bodyguards await.

One of his bodyguards greeted. "Good evening, Boss." He opened the door for the man.

The man coldly hopped inside the car. "There's nothing good when somebody interferes with my work." he was pissed but at the same time, his curiosity over the person he collide with started bugging him. "Find that mysterious lady as soon as possible."

"Yes, boss." all of his bodyguards with him that night responded and his car drove off back to his mansion.

The mansion was huge and spacious with lots of greenery but as soon as the car was parked, the man in a suit came out and hurried inside his house. The lights inside the mansion began to flicker and illuminated everything including the man in suit. He removed his mask that was covering his entire face but it was followed by an annoyed groan.

"Dammit." The man slammed the door of his office.

'Welcome back home, Sire.'

He sighed when he heard his AI security system's polite greetings. "Thank you, Art." His voice went low as he calmed himself down. 

The man pressed one button from his stainless glass table which opened the security system of his whole property. Including the surveillance camera around the area that is ruling at night. But it was not that long when the mansion began to buzz. He had no idea who could visit him late at night.

"Art, who was it?" he asked as he looked for a new pair of comfortable clothing at the cabinet in his office.

'It's Lady Ashley, Sire.'

"Let her in and tell her that I'm at the office." He informed as he finally changed his clothes.

'Yes, Sire.'

"What does she want so late in the evening?" he wondered.

A soft giggle began to echo behind him. "Nothing." A lady named Ashley grinned as she went inside his office. "Just checking on my baby brother again."

He sighed. "What do you need? It's late you know." 

"I'm a Salazar. I don't need anything for now but..." Ashley trailed off as she stopped in front of her brother. "...something bothers you."

The man just gave him a stern look for a couple of seconds before sighing in defeat. "Someone interfered with my hunt earlier but it is done," he answered.

"I see, was it any enemy or..." Ashley tried to guess but her brother stopped her.

"I don't think that lady is my enemy yet there's something about her that I don't want to meet again." He admitted followed by a sigh.

Ashley found herself smirking at what she heard. "Baby brother, are you perhaps curious about this mysterious lady?" she teased.

The man that Ashely called baby brother didn't say anything but he subconsciously smirked. It was confirmed but he immediately glared to his sister who was laughing at him.

"Don't deny it, baby brother." Ashley tried to hold her laughter. "You're interested in that girl since you did not sense her presence when you did your night work." she pointed out causing him to sigh.

"Fuck…" was the only word that he could react to what his elder sister pointing at.

Ashley stopped laughing and gave her brother an assuring kiss on his head. "You will find out who she is. It might not be too soon but maybe one day, you two will meet in some typical way or unexpected one." Then she walked out of his office. "Sweet dreams of her, baby brother."

He didn't respond but his mind was flooded with that incident. He might be annoyed to the point he doesn't want to cross with that lady again. But he was undeniably curious about who the person lying beneath the mask was.

The man went to the window and looked at the serene night sky. "Who are you to catch me interested in you?" he wondered.

Without them knowing that the fate of love began to play its part and there's no room for them to escape.