Prologue

As I boarded the plane getting ready to depart, I thought back on what had transpired the night before and how I managed to escape my confinement. When I sat at my seat on the plane, I glanced out the window to notice several men in suits searching the airport. Sweat trickled down my forehead. Will I be caught? What punishment will await me when I get caught? Will I end up just like my brother? These thoughts slowly filled my head and made me incredibly anxious about the current situation. Just then, the pilot made an announcement,

"Dear passengers, due to an unexpected incident, our flight will take off later than planned. In the meantime, please cooperate with the authorities currently boarding the plane."

Oh no, they've boarded the plane. What am I supposed to do? Will they see through my disguise? Will I be made? NO! I will not let these kinds of thoughts consume me. I need to remain calm as I would be suspected if I act suspiciously. Although I say that, however, I freeze up the moment they step on the plane. Three grown men in suits enter the plane. One of the men appears to be in his late forties, with jet-black hair and a scar across his mouth. Casey! My father's right-hand man, damn, I need to make sure not to be seen by him.

He mumbles something to the other men-most likely orders-and they begin to split up. Thankfully, Casey walks in a different direction from me, and another man searches the area I am in. If Casey were to see me, he would be able to recognize me easily. The man whom my father put the most trust in, he has been my caretaker ever since I became old enough for… As I trail off in my mind, I look up to see the man staring down at me. He should not be able to recognize me like this. I have a completely different appearance from my usual look. After a moment, he continues walking, scanning each female passenger for me.

"Whew."

I let out a small sigh as he walked away. After around ten minutes pass by, the men regroup, they are mumbling to each other again, apparently, they had not found what they were looking for. I let out a small smile as I think that I'm going to get away. Just then, me and Casey make eye contact. Shit. Damnit. I am so screwed. He must have seen me. There is no way he didn't see me! He stares in my direction for a few more seconds and smiles softly. He mutters something to the men and waves them to follow. And just like that, they left the plane.

Huh?"

I unintentionally leaked out my confusion. What was that about? Did he not see me? No, there is no way he didn't. He clearly smiled at me. Did he ignore me? But why? There is no reason for him to do so. He, who has been my father's most trusted subordinate, had just ignored me? It is rather difficult to believe but, however, I shouldn't be thinking about things like this right now! I am about to start a new life! A fresh start away from my father, away from this Island, away from all the experiments and death. I cannot let the past get in the way of my future. This is what my brother sacrificed himself for! I feel a warm sensation trickling down my face.

"Hmm?"

"What is this?"

I touched my face to feel what it was and to my surprise, it was wet. One by one the trickles became more frequent. The woman in the seat beside me turns and asks, "Um, Ms, are you alright? You appear to be crying." She appeared to be in her late twenties. She had long dark brown hair and green eyes. Ah yes, these are tears. It seems that I am crying. How long has it been since I had last done such a thing? I turn towards the woman, who appears to have a worried expression on her face,

"Yes, I am fine. more so than that, I am happy." I let out a small smile and the woman's expression seemed to soften.

"Ah, that's good", she replied with a soft tone, "I don't want anyone to be as sad as me."

Though she said that with a smile on her face, it didn't seem like a topic that brought up happy memories. "May I ask you a question?" The woman turns to me once more, "Would you like to be friends?" I looked at the woman who had turned toward me with a confused expression. "Friends?" I answered back with a question of my own.

"Yeah, you see, my parents left me a house in the city we're flying to. It's currently just my brother living there. I think you'll have a chance to get acquainted with others." I stared at her with a blank face. She appeared to have a cheerful expression.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." I answered with a nod.

"Will it be fine if I lived with you since I have no place to stay?"

With that question, she appeared to smile even brighter than before, "That would be perfect, I've always wanted a cute little sister. Instead, I just got that jerk who pays no attention to me!" She exclaimed with a pouting expression,

"You look to be around his age, so I hope you two can get along, by the way, I never asked for your name."

My name? Right, my name, "I'm Che…" wait, I can't use my real name. If I end up being found, something horrible might happen to her.

"I'm Charlotte, Charlotte Somnium, and yours?" I asked back after I gave her the name I had come up with.

"Clara Umbra, weird name right, my mother named me and I got my father's last name." Umbra? That name sounds familiar, well, that doesn't matter. What matters is the new life that I will finally get to experience.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking, I apologize for that minor inconvenience", the voice of the captain of the plane begins to say, "We will now proceed with our scheduled flight to Platinum City in New California."

After the announcement had been finished, the plan began to move.

"It looks like we're finally moving! It was weird how those guys came in here, right?"

"Yeah, those guys were quite out of the ordinary."

I leaned back in my chair as the plane began to take off, "So what's your brother like?" I wanted to ask a question about something else to change the topic, I didn't really want to continue talking about those men.

"Oh, he's a jerk", she replied bluntly to my question, "he rarely calls me and ignores most of my calls, it's been around five years since I'd last seen him. Communication over the phone is the only way to even speak to each other."

She shrugged after she stated how he is. "If I recall, he had just turned 22. He should be off for summer break." She continued talking about her brother, "I heard he got accepted into this super fancy school for elites." She continued to boast about her brother's achievements until she fell asleep.

"A brother huh?" I said to myself in a tone unable to be heard by anyone else.

"If only he was still here." I close my eyes and begin drifting off, "Platinum City, here I come."