Prologue

A raven haired boy sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. The room around him was an elegant array of silk clothed bed and fancy decorative walls in beautiful black trimmings.

He stares straight into his own golden amber eyes through the reflection, pursing his lips expressing his apprehension.

He hears a knock on the door which startles him lost in thought as he felt a jump on his heaving chest like a shock of electricity.

"John, he's already downstairs. You should greet him out. He'll be away for a week and he says he needs to talk to you."

A familiar dawned haired elderly lady said casually in the half open door of the boy's room. Noticing his tense eyes, she gave him raised brow.

"Still worried about the fight you two had last night? Don't worry he's not mad...he was just a little surprised..."

She comforted him with a warm smile whilst she entered his room and began to gather the neatly folded laundry on his bed.

"Really, just surprised, Marisol? He gave me a black eye!"

The raven haired boy, John, says loudly to Marisol, the house maid, in raging protest pointing to a deep blue bruise staining his left eye.

"John, he apologized, you know it. He didn't mean to. He even came to put the ointment on you by himself right after."

Marisol says handing him a tube of ointment whilst he grumbled.

To some point, he knew Marisol was right. John, himself, tends to lose control of his anger and cause a ruckus once in a while.

It seems having a short fuse ran in his family's blood.

He...

Even heard that his mother too...

Had a tendency to have a rampant rage tantrum..

But deep down, neither of them, as much John knew, meant any harm.

It wasn't that odd an occurrence that he himself would give his uncle the occasional accidental well mostly accidental bruise once in a while.

It was honestly a really bad habit...

John grits his teeth and looks away whilst dabbing the ball of cotton dipped in cool ointment on his twitching bruised skin.

Looking to the distance at the wide window illuminated by the bright morning light outside cascading his room's furniture in shadows in a picturesque scene...

He felt the old woman's gaze stilled on his form waiting for his reply. She wasn't going to let up that he needed to greet his uncle off, isn't she?

With a irritated tingle under his skin, he decided to nod. It was better to get over with it rather than prolong something she knew the stubborn hag won't give up on.

Understanding his reply although subtle, Marisol smiles and pats him on the shoulder.

"I made your something good for breakfast today, John. Don't be so glum, it's a new day."

She tells him as she left his room whilst he then heard the sound of the wooden door shut softly.

Back to his thoughts alone in his room, John groaned.

It was that dream again..

That very same vision that plagued his dreams like a fervent unyielding nightmare.

He could hardly remember that night all those years ago...

The doctors said it was because that moment must've been too painful for his young mind back then to remember.

But it didn't mean the feeling of fear shattering the nerves under his skin would ever be forgotten.

He remembers screams, blood, crashing..

His parents...

It was always those sights but no coherent picture...

But he only understood one thing, he was scared then....to the point that he felt as if his very bones were shaking inside his body..

He didn't even want to remember that night...

He only knew that it was the last time he ever saw his parents and not too long after his uncle, his mother's older brother, decided to take him in.

Even if the man wasn't perfect, John really appreciated his uncle despite flaws that they somehow seemed to share.

Ever since that night 14 years ago, living with his uncle was all he could remember.

But once in a while although vague, he would dream about memories he couldn't recall unless he was lucid or the sorts.

"JOHN! ARE YOU COMING DOWN OR NOT!?"

He heard Marisol yell from the kitchen with her irritatingly loud voice ringing painfully in his ear.

"ALRIGHT ALREADY!!"

He shouts back in annoyance as he swiftly ran out his room and down the stairs in a hurry.

He loved Marisol. After his mother's death, she became the only mother figure he knew.

Or the only mother he remembers having..

She could be a bit irritating at times with her constant stubborness and he knew if he couldn't come down in five minutes she'll continue to wreak havoc on his ears until the ringing makes him deaf.

...

Down the stairs John found himself catching his breath due to running like his life depended on it die to his irritation .

"Breakfast better be good or I'm gonna lose it", he thought himself with a fervent twitch in his amber eyes.

Entering the kitchen, the pleasant scent of waffles wafted sweetly in his nose bringing a delightful taste of nostalgia.

"I thought he said no waffles. Bad for the cholesterol, he says."

John says rolling his eyes sarcastically whilst eagerly sitting on the high chair infront of the counter top as he reveled in the pleasant scent.

"Once in a while wouldn't be too bad."

A familiar man's voice said entering the room whilst John scowled.

He knew his uncle was sorry about last night but that didn't mean he wanted to forgive the man just yet.

Looking behind him, John saw the middle aged white haired man walk towards him with a cold and elegant stance as usual.

His Uncle Cameron was the picture perfect example of a high tier. An example he was obliged to follow after.

If Marisol wasn't there, John was pretty sure he would've turned out like his stickler for an uncle.

"I'll be gone for a few weeks...Oh and tomorrow an old colleague of mine would be visiting. Her name's Valory.You see, I recommended you for an internship at the bureau of authority. She wanted to interview you herself."

Cameron says while drinking a cup of bitter coffee in his hands whilst the exotic smell made John's nose scrunch.

But...

The bureau of authority?...

That seemed to peak the boy's interest as the older man secretly smiled to himself.

"Yes, her nephew is the same age as you. I thought it would be best if you tried to gain work experience along with someone in the same age group."

Cameron explains finishing the coffee in his cup whilst looking to his phone with a displeased squint in his eyes.

"She'll explain more about it to you when she arrives. Remember to finish your homework and don't go out of the house without permission."

The white haired man says fondly ruffling his nephew's hair as he left.

The raven haired boy tutted with trembling agitation at his uncle's bad habit as he watched him leave. He just left without waiting for John's input after dropping a bomb shell at the last moment.

This usually wouldn't be a problem but....

Especially now, it went against John's current plans..

"Cut him some slack, John. He's a really busy man."

Marisol said with exasperated smile handing John the plated fresh waffles warmly sitting on the plate while the scent brought him the sweetest nostalgia in his life.

The very scent brought the raven haired boy in a eager flurry as the gentle bready and buttery scent accentuated by the overly sweet smell of maple syrup danced in his nose.

That alone was enough to make perhaps his very being smile as he scarfed down the waffles in absolute delight as the sweetest pleasurable taste paraded in his mouth.

"Oh, I just love you, Marisol!"

John exclaimed once between his joyful rampant bites as the sound of the eager clashing utensils pressing against the soft texture of the waffles reverberated in the room.

The elderly lady only chuckled and left to to attend to her other duties or the laundry she picked up from John's room specifically. She was sure she needed to wash John's old coat for the visit of that member of the bureau of authorities tomorrow.

Now left alone in the kitchen, John looks around with sudden change of mood in his once eager eyes.

He hated to do this, knowing it would get Marisol into trouble but he knew he can't just give this up.

He's been playing good boy for a while and he didn't regret that. He was grateful for his uncle and Marisol.

But maybe just once even for the last time ....

This was just something he knew he needed to do..

He scarfed down the last of his breakfast secretly peaking at the sound of the old woman down at the laundry room.

Hearing the washing machine start, John goes up to his bedroom.

Even if he wasn't sure if she could hear him..

"I'll be up in my room, Marisol! I need to finish my work!"

John says only subtly hearing the woman's reply which he chose to ignore.

With a cautious shut of his door, he swiftly grabbed the backpack he hid behind the curtains and silently pulled a rope and let it down.

With a final look back as he ran away, he gives the sight of his home a worried smile but shaking away the hesitance he had...

John ran knowing this was his only chance to do this...

.....

John leaned at the train station wall with exhausted tired breaths running here from his uncle's house.

He watched the other people in the train station look at him probably wondering why he looks as if he ran a marathon to which he only gave a shy smile and waved them off alerting them that he was okay.

He looks to the signboard above the train whilst looking to his phone.

'Wellston, 8 am.'

It read and with that he knew he came to the right place.

Why? You may ask?

What reason would he have to do something this crazy and out of proportion?

Wellston in itself was quite a few train rides from here but...

If it meant finding his dad, John couldn't care less.

With that thought, he went inside the train.