Before the Darkness (Edited)

The sky was overcast with a cool breeze when colorful dawn kissed the horizon. Thus, the children of mother nature welcome an upcoming beautiful day with the melodic pitch in the surrounding garden after drinking the morning dews. The chirping of birds and bees peacefully woke her up– it was the sounds she was forever hoping to hear every morning.

After a restful sleep, Lu Jingfei opened her eyes and couldn't help letting out a throaty chortle. After two months of reliving her past life, she was reluctant to accept the reality that she had transmigrated. However, her current regression into a romance novel, her first life that ended in a deadly collision, has become her current reality once again.

Before she was reborn into this cheesy romance novel, her life was all about erasing scums on earth. But, with her team's effort, one less innocent life won't have to be remembered by the name of crime; to the ugly side of humanity. So to speak, she recalled tailing a suspect of a well-known serial killer into a famous bookstore, a cafe, or perhaps also a library that stood out like a sore thumb, being surrounded by many infamous clubs and bars.

Such an esthetically pleasing cafe was designed to be loved by everyone, including the young and old, regardless of their sexes. The cozy cafe is known as a wonderland, a stop sign to the fast pace life for everyone in Miami— a sinful place of self-indulgence for debauchery and crimes. But, except for the mindful chatters of customers, the ambient of the cafe was nothing but calmed and relaxed. Unlike the traditional library where bookworms can't entertain themselves by introverting, Bookafe was all welcome to everyone from dawn to dusk.

Despite the serene and peaceful place of Bookafe, a place welcomed to all, it wasn't surprising for Lu Jingfei as she had already predicted he'd be hunting for his prey at a seemingly safe place deemed by society. Clever choice of sites for these monsters to blend into society to feel human again after the inhumane act of evil crimes they committed the nights before. But she had to be thankful as he made it easier to do her job.

As she was waiting and observing if the bastard would try to do any funny business with the mother and her spawns he had taken a liking to for the past two weeks; she overheard a few teenage girls behind her booth talking about a Chinese romance novel titled 'The Manipulative General Si.'.

'Is Chinese romance novel very popular in America's book market?' She questions her thought.

Playing romance is the first thing on her list of not-to-do as her career is in a category of a risky profession. A fleeting moment of feeling called 'love' was too heavy of a burden and pricy for her sentiment on life. Thus, she didn't heed the discussion between the teens.

Flashback of those moments of her past life was too shameful for her to address such feelings without self-loath. Nevertheless, the familiar events kept seeping through her formidable curiosity barrier as the teens continued to discuss the loopholes of the novel.

Now, she wouldn't care about anything other than to capture the bastard in red hand, the bastard that lured his preys to walk the road he paved with calculative planning. This son of a bitch is patient in hunting down his target when he would brutally slaughter the mother and her child to harvest their organs at the end of the day. To prevent any more lives from being lost at the hand of this scum, she and many undercover agents had to drop many ongoing cases just to sniff a cold trail for the last two weeks.

She got distracted when the events they excitingly mentioned sounded eerily familiar to the past life she remembered after her awakening after she got adopted as a toddler. The details were too accurate to brush it off as a coincidence.

Her chuckles came with a dark and cold glint in her eyes. The jitters she felt wouldn't go away when she realized the existence of her past life was nothing more than a few strokes on the paper of the author's imagination. If not for the time and place she was in, she wouldn't think twice about letting the public believe she was a lunatic by the sound of hysterical laughter from her.

She stood up abruptly in a panic when she noticed him leave the cafe to 'help' the lady in a blue dress carrying a stack of books while dragging her toddlers. Before coming back to reality, she almost ran out of the building to choke the bastard on the spot. She could only compose herself after her colleague gave a signal that he got the situation under control.

Only taking a deep breath could obviate her desperation.

Given action caught the attention of a few individuals from inside and outside of the cafe.

'When do people get this observant!? Mind your own business!'

She massaged her temples because of her internal struggle. Then, to avoid alerting the suspect, she turned around to the booth behind where she sat but still felt a hard stare through the back of her skull.

'Shit! Now I'm done for. I don't like observant serial killers!' Once again, she reflected on the agonizing truth.

While brushing off the anxiety from the unwanted stares, she took the books they discussed earlier and handed them five hundred dollars, all in a big note.

"Muchas gracias por los libros, mijas! " she said in Spanish. *A/N: Thank you very much for the books, huns!*

The two girls were stunned by her rude yet generous actions. But, at least they got something out of the books she took from them.

She swiftly left the cafe and contacted two of her trusted partners to take over her 'stalking' shift. However, she instructed them not to expose themselves as they hadn't collected any helpful evidence to put that cancer out of this earth for the innocent souls.

"Oh, and don't lose the mum and her spawns out of your sight. Take Nikki along with you for backup. I already informed her about the situation." she said to Ben, one of her most trusted partners in this force.

"What!? Do you think I'm such a loser that I can't take care of this small thing on my own? And who wants to partner up with that vixen?" Ben cried out frantically on the other side.

"Don't complain; it's for your safety. That bastard is like an eel. So slippery and quick-witted. I need two brilliant brainer to get him on a leash. " Lu Jingfei coaxed him to do her bidding.

As soon as Ben heard Lu Jingfei call him a 'brilliant brainer,' he swallowed all of his complaints about working with Niki, that rich and spoiled brat wanting to play detective out on a whim.

How could he not comply with his mentor? She rarely wants help unless she needs it. She was independent, capable, and a hidden gem in the field of intelligence. She taught him about computer hacking and programming. He couldn't be happier when she recognized his efforts.

Working days in and days out like she's a lifeless ghost during her internship at an advanced level FBI academy, she was deprived of the fundamental human relationship between men and women. But, perhaps it's the nature of humanity she saw through her line of work; the thought of forming emotional bonds with the opposite sex never crossed her mind.

She has no history of dating any guys despite swarms of hot bachelors trying to get a few minutes of her time at the after-parties of political and professional events.

Ben would get a slap on his shoulder from Nikki every time he brought up the matter of Lu Jingfei's sexual orientation to the team members. But, despite her lack of experience in a relationship, she knew too well the kind of love and dedication she is deserving of from her future partner.

His delusion that Lu Jingfei might have a crush on him and only waiting for him to ask her out came to a crash when he saw the messages on his computer screen. He didn't even have the chance to bargain for a partner replacement when that harlot asked him to get her at the lobby. Such luck he got.

"Alright! You owed me one!!! You should hang out with me next weekend! No work-related stuff!" Ben responded with a request to spend time with her leisurely.

He couldn't avoid that harlot, so all he could do was agreed with Lu Jingfei.

"Sure, kiddo! No more rain checks!" Lucy agreed.

Ahhh! How could she be so ruthless calling him kiddo! She is only a decade older than him! Getting her hint of rejecting him romantically, he doesn't pursue the matter any further.

After she promised to hang out with Ben, she quickly got to the parking lot and drove off. She could no longer hold the sudden anxiety. Her body unconsciously shook, and her breathing got haggard.

She was able to keep her emotion at bay when she was at the cafe. She couldn't feel more proud of her ability to handle intense emotional attachment related to her past life.

When she reached her condo, she placed the books on the coffee table and the rest of her belonging on the floor. She stared at the books for a good minute, unable to feel anything but melancholy.

Everything she remembered of her past life and

the future the author gave her a chance to know after her death laid out in front of her, but she could not open the book to confirm.

Perhaps Lu Jingfei knew she wasn't his beloved as he made it seem at any stage of his life, but an obstacle he needed to sweep under the rug to move forward with his forever love chosen on his own accord. Why would she still hold on to the past, unwilling to move on when she doesn't love him anymore. Is this unpaid karma dictating her fate and heart to teach her how to love magnanimously? She doesn't need to relieve that shameful reality. She had long embraced that no love is more significant than self-love because life is always moving on.