Prologue
“Dante’s Past”
The dark skies cried as I mopped the Yavana Entertainment Company’s lobby which its workers have dirtied upon their entry in the establishment from the pouring rain.
“Good morning, Dante”, a gentle voice greeted me. Turning to its speaker, I saw a woman with long blonde hair, sparkling brown eyes and the kindest smile.
“Charlene..!”, I bowed my head. “Good morning, ma’am”.
Charlene Evans, a woman who works as a stage director of Yavana Entertainment Company. She is a beautiful in her thirties who has every man’s eyes set on her. She had gained the trust of everyone in the company for she was kind to everyone. Even to a lowly man like me.
“It’s quite a downpour, isn’t it?”, she asked as she closed her umbrella and made her way to me.
“Yes,..ma’am”.
“Don’t be so formal. We’ve been good friends ever since you started working here!”, she smiled.
“It’s because of your kindness, Ma’am Charlene. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have gotten at least this job-”
“Why do you underestimate yourself so, Dante?”, she wondered, making me reluctantly look at her. “Here”, she offers me a hot cup of coffee, “to heat you up in this cold weather”.
“N-no, I couldn’t possibly-” She held my hand and secured the cup in them.
“You need it. You’re cold”. As she let go of my hand, she excused herself to work and bid farewell coupled with a smile. I watched her walk down the hallways and disappear into an elevator. Turning my attention to the hot cup of coffee she had given me, I noticed the eyes of two men in suits stare at me like I was some prey. I avoided their glare and returned to my work.
Making my way to the Storage Room, I kept on staring at the steam coming out from the hole in the cup’s cap. I walked to a seat and placed the hot cup of coffee there and leaned the mop against the wall. I returned to the coffee and sat down, drank a generous amount and let out a contented breath as the hot coffee rushed down my throat.
“Enjoying the hot cup of coffee, aren’t we?”, I turned to a familiar face. Studying his face, I remembered he was one of those men a while ago in the lobby. I stood up and asked, “Is there anything you need, sir?” He made his way into the room and stood in front of me. His eyes looked down on the coffee and said, “I’d like to have that”. I generously gave him the cup and as he took it in his hands, he studied it. All of a sudden, he shot me a look and spilled the contents over my head.
“Sir..!”, I flinched at the temperature of the coffee on my skin. He grabbed the collar of my blue uniform and threatened, “If you dare get all chummy with Charlene, you’re going to get more than that, got it?” He, then, released my collar and walked away.
Kill him…
Wha- Where’d that voice come from?
“Let go of me!”, the same man from a while ago struggled to release himself from something proximal to me. Looking at my hands, I noticed they were wrapped around the his neck. Since when did I..!?
