Chapter 2 Rebirth

A few Years Ago...

"Remember, the good guys always get the glory..." My father spoke slowly as he began reading another part of the novel,

*

[ "You think I will beg?"

Even with his facial muscles twitching in pain, he still managed to lift the corners of his lips while gazing at Dante.

With a broad and creepy mouth, his bloody chipped yellowed teeth appeared through the gaps between those parched lips.

"I am not afraid of death."

His legs were slowly getting ripped to shreds while his calves and muscles burned as they pushed him up the steep incline. It was one thing to run on flat ground, but this was a completely different story.

Every flinch would hurt like hell and he began doubting whether he would even make it out alive.

He stared straight into Dante's eyes with no remorse or fear.

"But you are wrong about me being scared of you." He grinned once again.

Dante lifted his sword and cupped both of his arms immediately, *CHINN* *CHINN* Rowen's hands fell on the ground like a dead fish being dragged from the ocean.

But that didn't make Dante sympathise with his old classmate at all.

If only he could see the outcome, if only he knew what exactly would happen the next moment.

But Dante had no idea and no other choice.

All he knew was, if he didn't kill him now, he might never have another chance to finish off this madman.

"You're dead," Dante uttered as he swung down the sword hard on the side of the man's head.

The demon screamed in agony before falling back onto the ground.

Dante watched the creature for a second before jumping over the body and rushing towards where the tunnel opened again, "it was nice knowing you," he glanced over his right shoulder before closing both of his eyes tightly and plunging himself into the darkness once again… ]

"This was it? Rowen died?" I raised my eyebrows and felt how a cold shiver ran down my spine while I looked dad in the eyes,

"Yes, now sleep, Liam," dad placed the black cover on my body and stood up.

But I couldn't just give up there. I couldn't understand why he chose to read this story to me and why dad liked the 'good guy' more than the side characters or villains of the story like Rowen.

It wasn't his fault that his father hated him and turned him into who he was! It wasn't his fault that the main villain manipulated him! And what was the last part of the story, why did he want to stop there?

"But dad..." I paused for a moment, hoping that he will give me some of his time. He stopped his movements and looked back at me, and this was my chance to ask him, "so why you don't like the villains so much?" I had to ask, hoping that he will read the remaining part of the story to me.

Dad smirked, and then let out a long sigh, "because the villains never get to see the end..."

His words reached my ears like an icy cold during the winter, "that's not true," I muttered to myself, "one day, I will prove him wrong..."

It was too bad that I never got to read the ending since that was the last night before my father was hospitalised and I never picked that book back up... And this was my biggest mistake...

----

Present:

I don't know how long I was in that dark abyss, aimlessly floating in the sea of nothingness until I got my consciousness back, but it felt like I had been sleeping for a couple of hours.

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ But with no windows or clocks around me to give me any indication as to what time it actually was, I didn't have any hint of the time either.

The only things I saw through the darkness were my own hands and arms that were moving up and down.

After another minute or so, my eyes slowly began adjusting to the light too. There was an overhead lamp on, so from that at least now I could see where I was.

I moved my arm and felt that someone was lying next to me, a flashback of memories went through my mind and I remembered that I was supposed to wake up alone, but if someone was lying next to me right now, that could only mean one thing.

"This should be really good," I murmured as I gradually opened my eyes, hoping to see someone cute, but my heart immediately skipped a beat when I witnessed a blue corpse covered in dark red blood lying in front of my very own eyes.

My body jerked as I pulled my hand away as soon as possible, and then I started breathing heavily, trying to stand up but only to fall back on my knees.

'This…this isn't real,' I continued to think, trying to stand again and that was when, "Good morning young master," a cheerful voice echoed through the room.

"Good morning," I replied habitually, still having a blank and dizzy mind, not quite understanding what was even going on.

A figure approached me and extended both of its hands towards me before saying, "you will feel better after some more rest."

I grabbed the hands and let the person pull me up.

As I lied down on a bed, he covered me with a blanket, "your clothes are ready for you in the closet." I somehow smelled the sweet scent of the fragmance, so I turned my head to look at the man who helped me.

I was shocked by what I saw.

He had a pure white complexion, his black hair was slicked back and his eyes were big. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties but his face was much older than that.

"Wha-what is happening?" I stuttered for a second, 'what is going on, an…and where am I?' A drop of sweat trickled down my forehead.

"Master, don't you remember how the assassin yesterday came through your window?" The man asked, smiling.

"Um, no," I shook my head.

'An assassin? I don't remember anything about it.' I thought and looked at the man, "but why do you know about that?" This made me suspicious.

"Because your father was the one who sent him for you," the man smiled, slightly leaning his head to the side.

"My father...." I whispered and paused.

Things didn't make much sense here, 'I don't even have a father,' I thought to myself.

I looked around the room once again, and then down at my hands which were also covered with the dried blood of the corpse, 'disgusting.' I frowned.

Something wasn't right, and I could feel it. I removed the blanket and looked down between my legs. I deeply breathed while lifting my chin up, 'okay...'

I wanted to grin when I saw it but then I put the blanket back down. I had to focus, I could still measure it later.

A dead body on my bed, a butler in my room and expensive-looking furniture, "can I get a mirror, please?" I asked politely not knowing how this person would react.

I saw the butler freeze for a moment, almost as if he was surprised by my request, but then he nodded and walked out of the room.

After a minute or two, the door opened and the butler returned again with a small silver mirror in his hand and gave it to me.

Taking it from him and bringing it up to my face, I was stunned by what I saw in it next.

The person in the mirror had silver hair and was covered in blood, his eyes were wide open but empty.

His body was twisted and covered in injuries, bruises and cuts all over it, he had been stabbed in the chest several times and from the looks of it, he even had a broken collarbone.

His dark brown eyes stared straight into the mirror, almost hypnotising me, and then he blinked.

No, it was me. I was the person in the mirror! My looks were completely different from what I just saw in this reflection.

Not that I wanted to complain about my looks, but I immediately had to check my body, 'this can't be right!' I started checking my neck to make sure that what I was going to find won't be there.

Raising my hand to inspect, my fingers touched something cold and hard, it was a thin metal chip inserted behind my neck, 'this can't be!' My eyes widened when I realised what was actually happening.

"Is everything okay, young master?" The butler asked hurriedly but that didn't matter to me right now.

As if I was almost right, this room and this place... I gasped again and paused, and then began looking around once again.

If I was right about it, this room had to have a large mirror behind the black bookshelf.

My eyes started wandering around maniacally as if they were looking for a hunt in the cold winter morning.

The muscles of my body began to twitch uncontrollably, "there!" I almost yelled getting up immediately, not minding what was on the ground, 'ouch!' I cried, feeling a piercing pain, and understood that I had stepped on something sharp. I quickly looked down and saw some shattered glass lying next to my bed, 'this probably happened during the fight.'

I regained my focus and not minding how sharp and painful it felt, not caring how the small amount of blood trickling by it will dirty the expensive-looking carpets, I forced myself to walk towards the mirror.

With every step, I could feel that my heart was beating faster, *dun* *dun* *dun*

This silence was so loud and uncomfortable that it made my lips twitch.

It was there, the same place that I read about in the novel.

The same ripped wooden corner that occurred during his childhood shone bright like a daylight beam waking everyone up in the morning.

I looked a bit down and stood up right before the mirror.

I kept staring into it, not knowing what I had to do next.

My lips could not move, as if I was turned into a mute and my jaw went slack when I saw that the person in the mirror was not anybody else, but the side villain of the story,

"ROWEN!"