Spoiler! :
Prologue: 10 years ago (A)
The girl was trembling.
She was hugging herself, sitting down at a corner.
She was terrified by a man.
Around her, the living room was in a mess. The newspapers and homework on the table was thrown all over the place. The mug that was filled with warm milk was dropped onto the floor, and the white liquid dampened the papers and caused the ink to run. The piggy bank that belonged to her was smashed, with coins of all sorts of value riddled all over the table.
And at the door opposite her, a woman was desperately clinging onto a man’s leg.
“PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!! DON’T TAKE LIZZY’S MONEY!!”
“SHUT UP, YOU HAG! I’LL GIVE HER MORE MONEY ONCE I’M DONE WITH THIS!!”
The girl, Elizabeth Crowe, or Lizzy for short, was 12 years old.
Her father was a gambler, an addict, a lost cause who wasted all his earnings through gambling, and an alcoholic. The fine-looking woman, who was clinging onto her father’s leg, had her face ruined by the transparent drops of liquid. Bruised, battered, she continued to hang on.
“TCH! DON’T YOU PEOPLE BELIEVE IN ME!? FINE!! I’LL KEEP ALL THE MONEY! SCRAM!!”
The next moment, the man kicked the woman in the gut.
Elizabeth didn’t know how this ended up happening. Their family used to be a warm one, one that everyone lived in happily. The young girl was too immature to realize the changes in the world around her. The economic downturn that happened recently caused her parents to lose their jobs, and her father, who was desperate, turned to gambling to change the family fortunes.
At first, he won quite a bit, and was frivolous in his spending as he gave Elizabeth toys to play with. However, the casino would always win in the end, and the family suffered, trapped in a vicious cycle, and unable to break out of it. Right now, they had less than what they used to, in more ways than one.
“…”
Unable to say anything as she cowered in fear, she looked up at her father.
The man’s eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, having spent his days at the casino, losing even more of his money. He was bruised all over the place; a clear indication that he was beaten up as a result of failing to pay off his loans. To finance his gambles, he borrowed from loan sharks, people who offered unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates, but found that he was unable to win his money back.
Of course, any sane person would have pointed out that it wasn’t a smart thing to do. But when backed into a corner, many would use whatever means to get out of the situation. Such a situation wasn’t uncommon in the society Elizabeth was living in, and the government actively encouraged people to go for counseling and help. However, these were still insufficient as not many people took up the offers. There was no middle road, only all or nothing; and many people rolled the cruel dice of fate, only to find it empty.
After 5 minutes of growls, agonizing cries, slamming of drawers and sounds of rummaging, everything went silent.
Elizabeth’s father left the house.
Her mother was bleeding and sobbing.
Elizabeth went over to her mother, who was beaten up all over the place even though she was pregnant, and carried her up. Having heard the commotion, some neighbors entered this terrace house and helped them out, while others chased after Elizabeth’s father.
It was tough for Elizabeth’s mother, who had endured loan sharks harassing them, her husband’s outrage and greed, the collapse of her family, and the anticipated loss of their house. However, the likely death of the still unborn child within her would likely push her beyond breaking point.
Some neighbors could be heard muttering “What are we going to do now?” “Will they be alright?” “Do we need to take care of them for the time being?” On hearing these words, Elizabeth muttered to herself,
“…Why am I so weak?”
She wondered.
She reminded herself of her own uselessness, how she just cowered at the corner in fear and did not do anything to help her mother. Because of that, she indirectly caused the likely death of her unborn little brother, and that was not a good feeling.
She wept.
Some neighbors were already feeling pity for the Crowe family, who had it rough after a free-fall from cloud nine. The people in this area were on particularly good terms with each other, mostly because of Elizabeth's mother ability to befriend people easily.
On seeing Elizabeth cry, her neighbor, Aunt Maria approached her and said,
“Come stay over with us for the time being, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth nodded, and then muttered,
“…I want to be stronger.”
“Hm?”
Aunt Maria answered in a puzzled tone.
Elizabeth rubbed away the tears that were dripping from her eyes.
“I will take revenge for mommy, my little brother, on that man. Before that though…I need power to achieve my aim.”
Trembling with sadness and anger, she then declared loudly,
“I want justice!”
This time, the tears in her eyes were replaced with a fiery determination.
The girl was trembling.
She was hugging herself, sitting down at a corner.
She was terrified by a man.
Around her, the living room was in a mess. The newspapers and homework on the table was thrown all over the place. The mug that was filled with warm milk was dropped onto the floor, and the white liquid dampened the papers and caused the ink to run. The piggy bank that belonged to her was smashed, with coins of all sorts of value riddled all over the table.
And at the door opposite her, a woman was desperately clinging onto a man’s leg.
“PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!! DON’T TAKE LIZZY’S MONEY!!”
“SHUT UP, YOU HAG! I’LL GIVE HER MORE MONEY ONCE I’M DONE WITH THIS!!”
The girl, Elizabeth Crowe, or Lizzy for short, was 12 years old.
Her father was a gambler, an addict, a lost cause who wasted all his earnings through gambling, and an alcoholic. The fine-looking woman, who was clinging onto her father’s leg, had her face ruined by the transparent drops of liquid. Bruised, battered, she continued to hang on.
“TCH! DON’T YOU PEOPLE BELIEVE IN ME!? FINE!! I’LL KEEP ALL THE MONEY! SCRAM!!”
The next moment, the man kicked the woman in the gut.
Elizabeth didn’t know how this ended up happening. Their family used to be a warm one, one that everyone lived in happily. The young girl was too immature to realize the changes in the world around her. The economic downturn that happened recently caused her parents to lose their jobs, and her father, who was desperate, turned to gambling to change the family fortunes.
At first, he won quite a bit, and was frivolous in his spending as he gave Elizabeth toys to play with. However, the casino would always win in the end, and the family suffered, trapped in a vicious cycle, and unable to break out of it. Right now, they had less than what they used to, in more ways than one.
“…”
Unable to say anything as she cowered in fear, she looked up at her father.
The man’s eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, having spent his days at the casino, losing even more of his money. He was bruised all over the place; a clear indication that he was beaten up as a result of failing to pay off his loans. To finance his gambles, he borrowed from loan sharks, people who offered unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates, but found that he was unable to win his money back.
Of course, any sane person would have pointed out that it wasn’t a smart thing to do. But when backed into a corner, many would use whatever means to get out of the situation. Such a situation wasn’t uncommon in the society Elizabeth was living in, and the government actively encouraged people to go for counseling and help. However, these were still insufficient as not many people took up the offers. There was no middle road, only all or nothing; and many people rolled the cruel dice of fate, only to find it empty.
After 5 minutes of growls, agonizing cries, slamming of drawers and sounds of rummaging, everything went silent.
Elizabeth’s father left the house.
Her mother was bleeding and sobbing.
Elizabeth went over to her mother, who was beaten up all over the place even though she was pregnant, and carried her up. Having heard the commotion, some neighbors entered this terrace house and helped them out, while others chased after Elizabeth’s father.
It was tough for Elizabeth’s mother, who had endured loan sharks harassing them, her husband’s outrage and greed, the collapse of her family, and the anticipated loss of their house. However, the likely death of the still unborn child within her would likely push her beyond breaking point.
Some neighbors could be heard muttering “What are we going to do now?” “Will they be alright?” “Do we need to take care of them for the time being?” On hearing these words, Elizabeth muttered to herself,
“…Why am I so weak?”
She wondered.
She reminded herself of her own uselessness, how she just cowered at the corner in fear and did not do anything to help her mother. Because of that, she indirectly caused the likely death of her unborn little brother, and that was not a good feeling.
She wept.
Some neighbors were already feeling pity for the Crowe family, who had it rough after a free-fall from cloud nine. The people in this area were on particularly good terms with each other, mostly because of Elizabeth's mother ability to befriend people easily.
On seeing Elizabeth cry, her neighbor, Aunt Maria approached her and said,
“Come stay over with us for the time being, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth nodded, and then muttered,
“…I want to be stronger.”
“Hm?”
Aunt Maria answered in a puzzled tone.
Elizabeth rubbed away the tears that were dripping from her eyes.
“I will take revenge for mommy, my little brother, on that man. Before that though…I need power to achieve my aim.”
Trembling with sadness and anger, she then declared loudly,
“I want justice!”
This time, the tears in her eyes were replaced with a fiery determination.
Spoiler! :
Prologue: 10 years ago (B)
“Mission accomplished”
The boy said as he lowered his pistol.
This was the final trial for him to become a fully-fledged member of the Jacobs' family.
In front of him were 4 corpses, and each of them used to be bigger, stronger and faster than he was.
Right now, they were just a pile of bloodied corpses.
Cyrus Jacobs recalled how he made it this far.
By killing, learning the art of killing, and killing.
Killing was his fate, his mission, his raison d'être.
He couldn't escape it.
The Jacobs were a family of assassins, mercenaries who would take jobs to kill.
However, the catch was that they would kill the 'bad guys'.
This was a rule of the Jacobs' family ever since his great-grandfather, Terence Jacobs took over as head of the Jacobs' family. To fight against monsters, the family became monsters.
In some sense, they were like the allies of the police.
However, they work under the shadows, covertly, silently
The young boy was adopted by a member of the Jacobs' family who took pity for him after seeing him stranded in a warzone. However, that man was dead now.
Prrr!!
The boy switched the safety of the gun on, pulled the phone out of his pocket, and answered it.
“Good work, Master Cyrus. Please return back home as soon as you can.”
“Roger that.”
The boy put down the handphone.
It was his 5th mission in just a month, and soon, the boy will become the next head of the family due to the lack of a suitable heir.
However,
He hated killing, he hated to see people die, but he had no qualms about killing if it was the right thing to do. Having seen his own parents and older sister die on the battlefield, this brown-skinned boy was just an empty soul, a tool of the Jacobs' family who was to kill evildoers.
''Will someone like me achieve anything other than killing?'' He wondered.
Not knowing what the future has for him, the boy exited the warehouse.
“Mission accomplished”
The boy said as he lowered his pistol.
This was the final trial for him to become a fully-fledged member of the Jacobs' family.
In front of him were 4 corpses, and each of them used to be bigger, stronger and faster than he was.
Right now, they were just a pile of bloodied corpses.
Cyrus Jacobs recalled how he made it this far.
By killing, learning the art of killing, and killing.
Killing was his fate, his mission, his raison d'être.
He couldn't escape it.
The Jacobs were a family of assassins, mercenaries who would take jobs to kill.
However, the catch was that they would kill the 'bad guys'.
This was a rule of the Jacobs' family ever since his great-grandfather, Terence Jacobs took over as head of the Jacobs' family. To fight against monsters, the family became monsters.
In some sense, they were like the allies of the police.
However, they work under the shadows, covertly, silently
The young boy was adopted by a member of the Jacobs' family who took pity for him after seeing him stranded in a warzone. However, that man was dead now.
Prrr!!
The boy switched the safety of the gun on, pulled the phone out of his pocket, and answered it.
“Good work, Master Cyrus. Please return back home as soon as you can.”
“Roger that.”
The boy put down the handphone.
It was his 5th mission in just a month, and soon, the boy will become the next head of the family due to the lack of a suitable heir.
However,
He hated killing, he hated to see people die, but he had no qualms about killing if it was the right thing to do. Having seen his own parents and older sister die on the battlefield, this brown-skinned boy was just an empty soul, a tool of the Jacobs' family who was to kill evildoers.
''Will someone like me achieve anything other than killing?'' He wondered.
Not knowing what the future has for him, the boy exited the warehouse.