"Don't you dare touch him, Chandler, I'm warning you," Anthony Jung growled at his brother. His hands were tied tightly behind a chair in the middle of a room with a single light shining above him.

 "I'm just letting out his real side, Anthony. Don't you want that?" Chandler said before he braced his hands on his knees so he was at eye level with his brother. "He's born to be like us."

 "No," Anthony said sternly. "I won't let him be like us. Let him live a normal life. Not a life like ours; full of chaos and nightmares."

 "Don't worry. I'll make sure he won't have nightmares. I'll teach him how to handle those kind of things, how to not feel emotions, like you years ago." Chandler tapped his brother's shoulder before he stood up straight.

 "Chandler, please, don't do this," Anthony said with pleading eyes. "Don't do this to your own nephew, your own bloodline."

 "If only you and Lionel didn't turn your back on us, I still would've trusted you. You betrayed me, Conor, Michael, and everyone who trusted you!" Chandler shouted with a menacing tone. "Michael sacrificed and got himself arrested and sentenced to death just to cover your schemes. And this is what you're going to do? Now then, face the consequences of your actions." he turned his back on his brother and walked away.

 "Chandler, you don't understand!" Anthony shouted but Chandler had already disappeared out of sight.

 Adam Jung

 She still doesn't come out of the room after I visited her a while ago. So I decide to go out to have some fresh air. I walk around the village for a while, before stopping to look at the river. I lean against the railing as I feel a strong wind pass by me, making me shudder. Good thing I decided earlier to bring my jacket.

 "Look who's here," a voice suddenly erupts from nowhere.

 My reflexes make me straighten up and put a hand on the hilt of my knife at my side as I turn to look who has spoken. Then I see a blonde guy, who's wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt and black jeans, with a silly smile on his face. When I realize who it is, my hand on my knife relaxes. "You scared me, idiot," I say with a snarl.

 He laughs. "You? Scared?" he mocks. "I didn't know you can get scared, Yong Hwa."

 "Oh, shut up, Hong Ki," I say with a serious face. Then he laughs, and I can't help but laugh too. "You annoying bastard." I punch him in the gut playfully.

 He punches me back on the shoulder and smiles. "How're you doing? Haven't seen you for a while."

 "Been busy," I reply. I lean back against the railing; looking at the road.

 He frowns at me. "Busy with what?"

 "You know, with killing and stuff." I kick a pebble near me and send it flying across the road, hitting a car's window. It creates a shattering sound which sets off its alarm. "The ," I mutter. I look away before the owner accuses me of destroying his car window.

 "You're so dead, Adam," he says with a laugh. "You are so dead."

 "Shut up, Marvin," I snarl at him. "Let's just go somewhere to talk."

 We start to walk away. When there is nobody else nearby us, we stop and look at the river again. "So," he starts, "what are those "stuff" you're busy at?"

 "None of your business," I say seriously.

 He raises an eyebrow. "Hmm, let me guess, been bringing girls in your place?"

 I don't answer. He laughs. "Wait, don't tell me...?" he points an accusing finger on me. "You're starting to bring girls to your place? Oh, crap. Since when?"

 I roll my eyes. "Screw you. I don't bring girls to my place."

 "Oh, reaaaaaaaaalllllyyy?" he says in a sarcastic way.

 "Oh, shut the up," I say, a little irritated. "What about you, huh? What are the things you're being busy with?"

 "Killing and stuff," he replies with a silly smile.

 I roll my eyes. "Don't mess with me, Marv. I'm gonna hang you on a pole."

 "C'mon, I'm just kidding." he pauses. "Still busy finding the man who saved me ages ago."

 "Who? The man who saved you from being killed on the streets and brought you to the orphanage?" I say.

 "Yeah. I need to find him. Maybe he has details where to find my brother." he sighs. "I don't even know what his damn name is."

 "," I mutter. "So how are you going to find him?"

 "I don't know, either. I remember him saying that dad told him to find me and so I can go find my older brother," he replies. He scratches his temple. "It was all he said. And it's the time I knew that I have abrother."

 "Need help? I'm good at tracking people," I say.

 "Thanks, buddy. But I'd rather not have it disturb your job. You know, you should focus on your job. I know killing people for a living ain't that easy," he says. "I know the damn feeling. I may have been a killer for quite a long time, but every single person I kill always haunts me in my dreams."

  I just smile. I've been taught to handle those nightmares and emotions. That's why I became like this. But there's always this one nightmare that I can never get over with; something that will always haunt me in my dreams as long as I live.

 Marvin's phone suddenly rings. He takes it out from his pocket and checks it. "Someone needs my hands on killing someone again. I'll see you around, Adam," he says.

 "Yeah, see you around, Marv." We give each other a friendly tap on the shoulder before he goes to his way.

 I lean on the railing again, looking at the calm river. I met Marv eight years ago when I did something bad on the streets that got me in trouble. He's the one to help me back then. We became friends and obviously, until now, we still are. He is always the one to tap me on the shoulder and give me a reassuring smile whenever I come to remember my nightmare and I'm lucky to have a friend like him.

***

 I arrive back at my place and find the lights on the living room open. I've left it off earlier. I walk to the living room and see the creature--Courtney--sitting on the couch comfortably. "You've gotta be tin' me," I say.

 She stares at me. "What? I didn't find you when I came out a while ago. Where have you been, anyway?"

 I sit on the other couch beside the table. "Just met an old friend."

 "Friend? Wow, didn't know you have a friend," she says with a laugh.

 I roll my eyes. "Are those side effects when getting shot? Being irritating and all?" I scowl. "I'm going to kick you out of here tomorrow."

 "What? You're so rude," she states.

 "Rude? I saved your damn back there then I'm the one who's rude?" I say.

 "C'mon, now. I'm just kidding." she laughs and goes silent.

 "You know what," I start, "I've been thinking, for a girl like you, why'd you decide to kill people for a living? A normal girl wouldn't wish for a life like this." I let the words slip out of my mouth.

 She doesn't answer right away. But after a few moments, she speaks. "I know. I never wished for this life, really. It's just that, my father's been killed right in front of me fifteen years ago. I became heartless since then and had my first kill when I was twelve."

 I don't why I start shaking. "How was your dad murdered? And have you found the person who killed him?"

 She looks down. "He was shot in the head. We were walking at the park, then a bullet suddenly hits him in the head. As for his murderer, I tried to find him for years. But no luck," she narrates and shrugs her shoulders.

 I'm shaking violently now. She notices it. "Hey, you're shaking," she says. "You alright?"

 I give her a small smile. "I'm fine. Maybe I've just inhaled too much air outside. It's very cold outside, you know."

 She stands up. "Is there anything I can do? Just say it. Do you need something to eat, drink, or read?"

 I shudder at the last word. "Read? Oh, , no. Just no," I say with disgust.

 She frowns at me. "Don’t tell me, you don't know how to read?"

 "It's not like I don't know how to read. I could read, but not anymore." I rub my eyes with a hand.

 "What? Why?" she says curiously.

 "Dyslexia," I reply simply. "Can't read, not even a short word. My eyes and head hurt easily every time I try to read." I exhale roughly. "You ask what you can do for me. Go back to your room and rest. So I can kick you out of here as soon as possible."

 She shakes her head. "Fine, fine. I'll go back to the room, Your Highness," she says and performs a curtsy.

 I look at her with disgust. "Yeah, yeah. Scram." I wave a hand to her. Despite the cold weather and atmosphere in my place, sweat runs down my temple and starts to wet my palms.

 When she disappears back to the room again, I scramble up from my seat and go out of my place again. I still am violently shaking as I walk out of the house. I walk back to the place I went earlier and look at the river. Her story makes me feel so uneasy.

 The memory suddenly starts rushing back to my mind. "Do it or I'll kill your family!" I don't know why I always flinch back whenever I remember the way my uncle Chandler shouted at me back then. I try to fight back the tears that are forming in my eyes. I try to shake of the memories of it deep down, but it still keeps on coming back.

 "At the count of three! If you don't do it, you'll see the bullet come out from your mother's skull!"

 I can hear their shouts in my head like a remixed music playing repeatedly in my head. I breathe heavily as the tears that I've tried so hard to fight back start to stream down on my face. I strangle the sob that has formed in my throat. I put my head in my hands and let out a frustrated shout; tears still streaming down my face. "Just stop!" I say to no one desperately. "Stop, please."

 I don't realize it but I think I cry and make a broken sound. Because inside me, I'm still the child trying to run away from his nightmare and memory that always haunt him every time he closes his eyes. Some people might think I'm heartless and as hard as a stone, but the truth is, I'm so broken inside.

 Then her story adds up to the nightmare I have. It makes me cry even more. Because there is no way, definitely no way, that it's her. "It's not you. No, no. It's not you," I tell myself numerous times as I shake my head. "It can't be you. It just can't. Please." I sink down to my knees and cry.