HOW IT ALL BEGAN (PART 1)

Castañeda knocks softly at his wife's office door, using a code in staccato that they had made together recently. It's their way of knowing who is at the door plus making sure that one or the other is not too busy and could be disturbed. If they were, they would simply not answer. 

This time, however, she does, "Come on in, husband!"

As he turned the doorknob, Reuben could not help but smile and remember how he met this amazing woman who had changed his life.

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He was just 14 years old but he already had a head of his own. He's been bred to be the way he is so you can't exactly expect him to be a "good boy". If anything, he has already decided that he won't be the norm and will make decisions based on what he believes is right and for the greater good.

Even if it means going above and beyond what is moral and ethical.

At least that's what his father had taught him…

But the thing is, he and his father have had so many differences in the past there is no love lost - nor left - between them now. And all he can think of is leaving the palatial home he grew up in so he can decide what he can do with his own life without worrying about anything or anyone else.

And this concept is so new to him that he's now fighting with himself up in his head.

What about your sister? And your brother-in-law?

They'll miss me but they can live without me. 

You make it sound so easy…

It is. At least when we're gone away from them we won't have to worry about people's expectations of me. Right now, being free is what matters the most if I want to stay sane.

He had cash on hand. Good thing too, coz he couldn't use any of his credit cards. All of them were connected to his father's bank accounts in one way or another. Earlier that day he already withdrew money from the ones that functioned as debit cards.

Even if he tried to trace when and where I made the withdrawal, paper bills aren't exactly traceable. Besides, they shouldn't have taught me how to make fake IDs. Since I look so much like an 18-year-old, no one's gonna doubt my new identity. They'll gonna have one helluva hard time finding me.

He went to the seediest part of the city to hide out that night after leaving his sister and his father notes that he'll be at a classmate's house finishing a project. He paid that friend a lot of money and was very willing to cover for him. Guess being good-looking and filthy rich does help a lot.

After ordering a meal from a nearby takeout, he locked himself up in the dirty and unkempt fourth-floor room of a dilapidated, cockroach-infested and hardly-maintained motel. He had no intention of sleeping or staying long either... 

I just need to wait before sunrise so I can ride my bloody motorbike into the river. Such a shame but I can't bring Scorpia with me. I'll just have to choose the nearest spot to dump the bike then walk to the airport, buy my ticket and leave for a random country of my choice as an anonymous backpacker.

Again, you make it sound so easy…

Believe me, it is.

Hey, did you see that?

What? That shadow? Probably just someone walking down the road…

In the middle of the night in a place that not even burglars are afraid to get robbed?

Well, maybe it's someone with a death wish or a suicidal tendency…

But that's a… girl! A weak-looking, underage dirty blond-haired girl! What the hell!

No way am I letting her walk there alone…

Hey wait, what about your plans to run away from home?

That can wait…

The youth opened the cracked and soiled window wide so he could exit through it. Like a gymnast, he expertly maneuvered his agile and silent downward descent. Of course, he could have exited through the motel's entrance but he didn't want to take the chance of losing her while he was on his way down the long trek down four flights of stairs.

What the hell is she even doing here at this time of night? That's crazy!

The athletic teen reached her within a minute of his monkey-like downward climb as he used the still-stable gutters that lined the bricked building's walls. Good thing he only dented one of the aluminum drainages lining each of the four floors. He had no choice but to swing himself to the ground so he could land safely enough after a swift roll that ended with him in a crouching position almost right in front of her. 

The girl, who seemed like she was around ten to twelve years old, looked at him but didn't even flinch. Her eyes were dark, blank and almost had the same hue as his own blue pupils. Her clothes were a little disheveled and dirty but it was a decent enough dress for someone her age. 

The male athlete stood up straight and walked towards her and she still didn't react negatively to his presence. It was just that straight unblinking stare that seemed to burrow into one's soul while was seeing the scene that was right through you.

Son of a bitch… There is something wrong with her! 

He tried his best to sound smooth and soothing, even adding a soft smile…

"Heya there, you going anywhere? Want me to go with you just so you're safe? This isn't the best place to be right now, you know…"

The blond girl's eyes sparkled for just a second as if it was giving him some sort of assurance that she was not afraid of him but the light died down almost instantly. She turned away from him and started walking back towards the direction from where she came from, her steps a little bit faster than before."

His curiosity now perked beyond his capabilities to control it, he steps in time with her pace. Realizing that she won't be speaking to him until, maybe, they reach their destination he focuses his attention on the ground and puts into practice his ranger scouting capabilities which were trained and honed into him when he was still in a single-digit age. 

Just her footsteps here on the dusty road. Good thing this place is so backwards they haven't even used asphalt on their streets. It makes her path easier to trace. Wait… what the fuck… 

The little lass paused at a corner of the rough and dusty path. She stops at a dark spot in between an abandoned unfinished cottage and a dilapidated rusty van and just stands there completely, then points one small finger in a darkened alley lined with typical bicycles and scooters lining both sides. He kneels and takes out his handy pen knife that has a flashlight function and illuminates the spot in the back of one pedicab, which was the only large vehicle in that dark and isolated corner. Reuben reading the marks left by a recent incident, recognized the scratches on the dirty ground that he was sure were that of an adult man and the little girl. 

Not believing what he just saw and realized, he even glanced at the young female's knees which were clearly showing since she was wearing a knee-length frock. He inhales in sheer anger when he confirms his horrific inference. The male academy student feels his blood go cold and his jaw tighten. He takes a deep breath to control his temper - the one weakness he is well known for even before when his age was still in single digits - the minute he realized what caused those scuffle marks on the ground. 

Rube was so furious that he almost missed his dirt-stained companion leaving him all of a sudden. Within a few moments, he had already run after her and was making sure that he stayed with her by placing his arm around her spindly shoulders.

NO WAY! Fucking bastard, whoever he is I'll kill him!

The disgusted and livid teen turned to his silent companion and asked her gently, "Where do you live little girl?"

The quiet child looked thoughtful for a moment as if deeply considering whether it was ok to bring him to her household or not, she then suddenly reached for the comely youth's hand and started to walk down an even seedier, darker and dirtier road than they were formerly walking on.

A few more minutes later, he found himself in the poorest and most backward part of the slums, a place that he thought was part of urban legends that people of his status made up to scare their children into staying in their mansions and always sticking with their bodyguards. 

And yet here it is… the smelly filth… the derelict spots for sleeping… the garbage that also poses as their source of food source… Reuben didn't even know that this street existed, much more the squatter-like houses that lined each side of the narrow and cement-less pathway. 

It was obviously, the poorest area in the slum district.

Fuckin' hell, is this where she lives? I've seen better places to reside in the zoo or a fucking penitentiary than this!

To the rich boy's relief, after a few more minutes of walking, the slim, pale blond-haired lass silently points at a small dingy house that is more like an old ramshackle wooden shack with large cardboard boxes holding the cement blocks together and a roof that looks like it once belonged to a pig sty. It was the only place there that had some sort of light coming from inside, clearly seen beaming from the narrow slit below the closed door. A worried and frightened middle-aged woman's voice was also coming from inside.

Since she was just standing there, the top of her head just reaching up to his chin, the wealthy dark-haired kid took it upon himself to knock loudly for both of them. He resolutely stepped up to the front door with a ragged and dirty welcome mat on the front steps and loudly knocked at the closed entrance with a sound combination similar to the present one he just used on his wife's office entrance.

Rube heard two voices inside reacting to his knocking. He heard a worried motherly voice within, acknowledging their presence and asking them to wait. But the male one sounded annoyed and irritated… 

Even angry.

The door opened wide to reveal a pale maternal-looking woman with teary eyes who looked like a mature mirror image of the girl he just met. She was in a baggy but clean dress, a pair of rubber slippers and a threadbare shawl wrapped around her shoulders as if she were about to step out into the night.

"Good evening Ma'am," politely greeted Reuben. "I hope I'm not bothering you folks but I came across this young girl and she wasn't speaking but she brought me here when I asked where she lived and…"

The young man never got to finish his explanation.

"Marina, my baby!" the young mother. She screamed in utter happiness and relief and hugged the still-silent child to herself as she ran swiftly past the surprised teen and kneeled to hug her thin and bedraggled daughter. "Why did you run away from your stepfather when he brought you with him? He was just going to buy broken rice for me to make into porridge for our meal tonight."

Above her bent form, the tall and sinewy boy's steady and cold gaze meets the savage and unwelcoming look of a dirty and disheveled man a foot higher than him who was still inside their home. All it took for the youth to realize everything that had happened was just a few more seconds of the sneering man's shifting stare towards the little girl's upturned eyes as if he was silently commanding his stepdaughter to remain quiet… 

The threatening gaze was very clear not just to the girl but also to him. And he did not back down by giving his sudden sworn enemy the same warning look as well.

Bingo! I got you now, you motherfucking cunt!