MAFIA // 5SOS

Prologue

Greetings, dear reader.

I've been waiting for you. Of course, I knew that someone was bound to stumble across this book at some point, so I have prepared it for you to read. You may well regret reading this; in fact, you may turn the last page only to realise that you have made a terrible, terrible mistake. But you will only find that out if you continue to read on.

If you like, you can close up this book now and toss it into the nearest trash can or abandoned warehouse, never to be seen again. But beware, once you have started reading, it is not so easy to get rid of. If you want to stop at all, I strongly advise that you stop here.

Yes, shake your head, slam the book shut and walk away. Get rid of the shivers starting to make their way up your fragile, human spine. Maybe you will think about finding this book in the future, and shudder, glad that you didn't continue to read. Or maybe you will regret not reading it, and become overwhelmed with desire to recover the book once again. Both events have happened; unfortunately, the second is by far the worst.

Once you lose this book, and feel the need to find it again, the sad fact is that you simply will not be able to. You will look where you last discarded it; you will ask every bookshop in town; you will search from one end of the country to the other with no avail. For once someone has the desire to find it, the book simply cannot be found. A simple rule of fate, dear reader.

Speaking of fate, let's go a little deeper into the topic. I dabble in fate; in fact you could say I am somewhat of an expert. The sad thing is, fate is a topic little discussed now in this day and age. In the old times, the world both accepted and depended on it. Now, people are too stubborn, too headstrong, to be fanciful of such a thing. Fate is but a myth; flipping a coin will not give you the answer to your worries, rolling a dice will not give you the winning lotto ticket combination and picking petals off a daisy will not determine if your lover returns your affections.

But oh, every once in a while we will still come across those few poor souls who do care to gamble their fates. You can argue, really, if they are to be blamed or pitied for their misfortunes. Are they arrogant fools, deserving everything that they get? Or are they merely the ignorant offspring of a suffering society, unwittingly endangering their lives in a simple gamble to kill time?

That question is often debated; I will not go into the technical side of things here, but rather leave it up to you to decide. See, dear reader, how I have already put the metaphorical fate of these aforementioned people into your hands? Only you can decide whether they are still alive out there, or have fallen victim to a trap of fate never to be seen again. Either could be true; a concept that many humans cannot wrap their minds around.

Fate is not a single predetermined path or a one way road; it is an endless possibility of roads, that only you can choose which one to take. For example, you come to a crossroad and have to choose a path. Do you go left, or right, or straight ahead?

No matter what you choose, you will always wonder what could have happened if you had chosen a different path. That is the thing about fate; it is always hungry for more, and never satisfied with anything. At the end of your chosen path, you may well find your destiny waiting for you. That is where you can finally settle down, accept the results of your life and remain in this blissful state until death. Many people do not get to this stage, however, and are left wandering through twists of fate again and again until their life ends. A depressing subject, this is.

Destiny and fate are two very, very different things, so be careful that you do not mix them up. That would end with disastrous results. But I have been talking for a long time now, and I fear that if I continue I may bore you. So, without more ado, let us continue to the next chapter, which shall outline the characters in this story about to be told.

Turn the page, blow the dust from the paper and continue to read until you have come to the end of this tragic tale. Until then, I wish you luck.

Sincerely,

Your fate