Prologue: Fake

"Fake, you said?" A young high school student, Jykrain, smiled as he swiveled around in his chair. Straddling the seat, he rested his arms on the backrest and directed his gaze toward his rather pretty classmate, sitting a few rows away.

"What could you mean by that, Miss Rebecca Sullivan?" he asked, stroking his chin in mock wonder.

Their classmates chuckled, turning towards Rebecca, eagerly awaiting her response to Jykrain's confident demeanor.

"I said you are fake, Jykrain," Rebecca repeated firmly.

"Yes, I heard you, but I'm asking," Jykrain began, raising his hand and moving it through a series of gestures, ending with a sign of curiosity.

He finished his question with sign language.

Rebecca wasn't deaf, but Jykrain was clearly teasing her since she had repeated herself without giving a direct answer.

Seeing Rebecca wince, Jykrain arched an eyebrow and turned towards the girl he had been speaking to, or rather flirting with, until now.

She was exceptionally pretty, with radiant strawberry blonde hair tied neatly with a ribbon, and some strands falling delicately on either side of her face. Her big, round blue eyes watched the situation attentively.

"Didn't I do well?" Jykrain asked his neighbor, Melody, using sign language, as she was the one who was deaf.

Melody giggled a little before raising her hand and making a simple gesture. "So-so."

Jykrain understood immediately what it meant.

"So-so? Really, Miss Melody?" Jykrain's brows twitched as he clutched his chest dramatically. "Even though I worked hard for four years just to speak with you, ugh!"

Melody rolled her eyes, but there was a slightly amused smile on her lips as she waved her hands beside her face. "Noisy."

"Noisy? That's harsh. Besides, I just wanted to know why Rebecca is such a poor loser," Jykrain sighed, fiddling with his deck of cards. He had been showing Melody a magic trick, impressing her until Rebecca interrupted.

"I'm not a poor loser. I'm pretty sure there's something up with that. And since when can you do magic anyway?" Rebecca asked.

"Since always. I just showed a simple trick. Did you like it, Miss Melody?" Jykrain asked, moving his hand to display the cards.

Melody smiled and nodded, handing back the Queen of Hearts to him.

"You should keep it. It suits you," Jykrain smiled.

Melody pointed her index and middle fingers at Jykrain, twirling them inquisitively. "Flirting?"

"Nope," Jykrain replied, shaking his head with a playful grin.

Melody looked at the card for a moment in thought before rummaging through her bag until she found a small object.

She seemed to hesitate a little before giving it to Jykrain.

He looked at her hand and saw a pink whistle.

"Is that for me? Oh, thanks," he said, quickly taking the whistle and putting it between his lips.

"Ha-aa..." Melody let out a broken voice as he put it in his mouth, but Jykrain ignored it and blew the whistle.

*Tweeeeeeeet!*

"Oh, my freaking ears!"

"Fuck off, Jykrain!"

"Stop that!"

"Sorry, guys," Jykrain said without a hint of remorse, grinning as he took the whistle out of his lips. He flashed a smile at Melody and touched his chin with his fingers. "Thank you."

Melody's cheeks flushed a little as she looked at the whistle where Jykrain's lips had just been. She had used it not long ago, and Jykrain didn't seem to care before using it himself.

Seeing Jykrain, who seemed either ignorant of the significance or just disinterested, she shook her head with a smile.

Jykrain smiled and put the whistle away. Noticing Rebecca leaving the classroom, he quickly packed his bag and waved at Melody. "I'm off, losers."

Melody waved back, casting a curious glance at Jykrain as he followed Rebecca out. Then, she focused on her tasks.

❖❖❖

"Come on, you promised you'd show it to me," Jykrain urged, trailing behind Rebecca with his hands tucked into his pockets.

"If I show it to you, promise me you won't laugh," Rebecca said seriously as she took off her bag, opened it, and reached inside for a thick book.

"I won't. I swear on my dad's head," Jykrain raised his hand in mock solemnity.

"Didn't you say you hated your father?" Rebecca raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Oh, come on," Jykrain said, grabbing the book from Rebecca's grip.

The duo walked together as the sky darkened. They had stayed late after school because of homework and because Jykrain was eager to read a book Rebecca had mentioned frequently. He suggested they take a longer route to her home so he could start reading it.

Rebecca watched patiently as Jykrain's blue eyes scanned the pages of the book. But when she saw a smirk forming on his face, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!" She complained, feeling her cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

Jykrain quickly dodged Rebecca's attempt to snatch the book back, taking a step back.

He merely smiled. "An academy for exorcists purifying malevolent entities, magic, some magic island—what else?" Jykrain recited each detail, sending waves of embarrassment through Rebecca.

"Give it back!"

"I didn't know you were writing your own novel, Rebecca," Jykrain said with a teasing smile, dodging her again as she jumped to reach his hand. He was taller than her, making it an easy feat.

"It's not a novel!" She retorted.

"I know." Jykrain said curtly, finally stretching out his hand to return the book or Rebecca thought so.

Thud—!

"Ouch!" Rebecca's words were cut short by a sharp grunt of pain as she crashed onto the concrete road. "What the hell—" Her voice choked in her throat as she turned to her left.

A truck hurtled toward her at a terrifying speed.

Her body seized with terror as the realization of imminent death struck her.

BANG—!

Fresh blood splattered across Jykrain's face as the truck raced past, blowing his dark hair in its wake. His eyes seemed to move in slow motion as he watched Rebecca's body flung into the air, a fountain of blood erupting from her.

They seemed suspended in time until her lifeless form tumbled to the ground, lying motionless in a growing pool of crimson.

"Oh, shit!" The driver's panicked voice echoed as he slammed on the brakes and leaped out of his truck. His face drained of color at the sight of Rebecca's limp body, bathed in her own blood, the pool expanding beneath her.

Trembling, he fumbled for his phone, but froze when he caught sight of a young man, Jykrain, striding past him to reach Rebecca's side.

Jykrain gazed down at Rebecca's dying form.

"You! I saw you push her! This isn't on me! You better explain yourself to the police—" The driver's accusation was cut short with a gurgle of agony as a knife sliced through his throat.

He grasped at his neck in horror, blood gushing between his fingers, his eyes wide with disbelief as he collapsed to his knees, unable to comprehend the sudden turn of events.

"Not supporting having killed a highschool student, the driver of the truck killed himself, that might work," Jykrain muttered under his breath but he made sure it was audible for the driver. 

Any feelings of anger or betrayal were swiftly engulfed by sheer terror.

The driver's last moments were spent in a state of panic and dread, consumed by the looming specter of death.

His gaze fixated on Jykrain, who calmly wiped the handle of his knife on his jacket before placing it in the driver's dying hand.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Jykrain said, unsettlingly composed, before turning his attention to Rebecca, who lay fading.

His eyes twitched strangely at the sight prompting him to reach out in his pocket.

From his pocket, Jykrain retrieved a small bottle containing several dozen black pills. With a swift motion, he swallowed one before extracting another book of dark blue color from Rebecca's bag, smaller than the one he had taken from her hands.

Upon its cover, the name [Thomas Castell] gleamed in golden lettering, as though it were an author's name emblazoned on the spine of the book crafted from a material resembling unique skins.

"Finally," Jykrain whispered, his bloodied fingers tracing the engraved name with a smile of satisfaction.

"Show me your story, Castell."