Prelude to a New Tomorrow
“You knew it already, didn’t you?”
(Current: Yes…? No…? Maybe so…?- 002)
(Previous: Mr. Ruby Eyes-001)
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(003: Sylus Archives(Article: I))
The coming days have been…well…weird for you, you still did harbour thoughts of Zayne and MC together, crying often at times, but another new thing had occupied your mind as well…You just couldn’t get the man you saw at the auction, you couldn’t explain how but it definitely had piqued your interest, and you allowed it to infiltrate your mind…it was a pleasant distraction from your constant thoughts about Zayne and MC, after so long…
If only you remembered his name, if only your memory didn’t suck
…“Oi why’ve you been so distracted these days? Is it about Zayne again?” “Hmm? Oh no no I’m good…” “Well if you say so…but don’t shut me out again k? I missed this…” “Of course, would never make that dumb mistake all over again…” “Well that being said, customer at the Daisies section, is nagging she can’t find a single good one, handle it with me?” “To the rescue lets!”
…“When are you planning on taking your CBC and Haemoglobin tests again?” “I will I will…” “When?? Dude you’ve already neglected your health enough, and who knows how much you’ve bled when you were at your lowest…now that you’ve been doing a bit better…at least I hope…get them, you need to check…plus I know it’s hard but he’s a busy man, he might not be available when your appointment date gets fixed…”, all you could do I nod, “Yeah you’re right…I’ll go…”
…When you reached back home that day, your mind pondered about what Raya had said earlier, she was right, you have been planning on it for sometime too, but there was always that part that told you to stay away…It is Akso after all, and the last thing you want is seeing, them together, holding hands, talking and chatting, her giggling alongside him, going out to lunch or dinner, maybe even dessert…triggering your past memories… You thought it’d have been a better choice if they had a complete online, no-call appointment process, but they didn’t…you had to talk to Serene for that… ohohoho it was gonna be hella awkward, it’s been five months and neither have you gone there nor talked to any of them. You felt bad, too bad for doing that to Serene…especially Yvonne, you two clicked so well. As you change and freshen up, getting ready to prepare for dinner, you phone beside you, contemplating on whether to dial or not. “It’s for my health! I should just do it…cmon cmon cmon…”, you repeated to yourself…aaaand well good job you finally did. Dialling the number, you put it on speaker, while you made dinner. It wasn’t too late, around 08:45, like you usually return on Tuesdays. Hopefully they pick—
“Hello this is the reception desk of Akso Hospital, how may we help you?”
“….Yes Ma’am sure, let me check her schedule once…she has appointments all day…so could you come at around say…06:00 to 06:30 p.m.?”
“Okay sure, that works for me. Thank you…Where should I proceed with the payment?”
“….Yes Ma’am sure, let me check her schedule once…she has appointments all day…so could you come at around say…06:00 to 06:30 p.m.?”
“On that day itself. You’ve had your registrations done on your number, so all you need to do is speak to the front desk of the specific department, pay your consultation fees and wait till they call you. Standard procedures.”
“Thank you…” you want to ask but are too nervous…
“You’re welcome, is there anything else we can assist you with?”
“…Alright, same old same old…you? We’ve been missing you, didn’t think you’d totally cut off ties…”
“I’m sorry, it just, you know…”
“Yeah I know…anyways I’d have to cut the call now, but see you on Sunday?”
“Yes yes thank you, on Sunday.”
“Oh dear I’m gonna get a looong lecture from Dr. Stryx…”
…you eat while your mind goes back to wandering about that man you saw at the auction…what intrigued you the most were his eyes and the power they held in them…his name…you still couldn’t recall… “Something with an S? Yea yes S…but S what?”
…Sunday evening arrives soon, time feels as if it’s passing by too fast, you dreaded today, neither did you want to go, nor get the check up…you sigh as you enter through the automatic doors of Akso, and inside…it was like any other usual day, patients, doctors and nurses here and there, stretchers, wheelchairs, the familiar smell of antiseptic, you’d grown used to at some point in your life, but now it all felt too foreign. You smile and greet Serene, as she does too, and walk to your designated place. Fingers crossed hoping you don’t run into you-know-who.
…Oof finally you were done with it, she told you to take care of yourself better and take every medicine and supplement on time, giving two new ones to start with and advised you to continue with your old ones as prescribed before. Writing about the tests to be done in your prescription. Now the question remains when should you do them and with whom…Maybe you’ll take the break on the first half on a Saturday and take Raya along…you hate needles…As you walk along the escalators to the ground floor guess who you run into!
“(Name)…it’s been so long, how are you holding up?”
She really had the audacity to ask you that? After everything? She’s nice and you admire that about her, but often times she’s just too nice, and that annoys the heck out of you. Your eyes meet his for sometime as you soon move your gaze away…oh it was gonna bother you tonight…
You smile politely, “I’ve been alright thank you. If you’ll excuse me I’ll have to leave now—”
“Oh… ok alright….take care…”, as you leave without sparing them a second glance…
Why did you have to meet them? You were finally making progress little by little, but then this happens…Yes you understand you were at the hospital where he worked…but still why why why—
You thoughts wander haywire, ‘Where were they going, to get coffee? Or maybe early dinner? Maybe to a sweet shop or bakery…he looked so calm, his gaze was so soft with her…never was the same with me…no no no I’ve had enough…I can’t not now, not when I’ve been making gradual progress…should I call Raya, she’s not offf work yet…ugh…’, as you desperately try to shove away any past memories cluttering your mind. You walk ahead and straight, setting your destination to Destiny Cafe, somewhere in the mess in your brain…
You reach the shop, hoping that they won’t be coming here…as you enter, eyes scanning the place, they weren’t there…phew... Your eyes stop their search as they fall upon a similar pair of slanty-sharp red eyes, silvery white short hair, and a tall…too too tall of a figure sitting at the table by the windows, scrolling through his phone, even though his eyes stared down at his phone, you could see the familiar strong presence emanating from within them, that was how powerful their color was. Oh it was him…it was him it was him it was him…
You get the sudden urge and curiosity to walk upto him and talk maybe introduce yourself and a word or two? Why? Again you had no answer for yourself, it was something in those eyes that drew you in…You walk in, because of course you can’t hog the doorway forever, customers enter and exit at all times…walking up to the counter you place an order for your usual Boba-drink and find a place to sit, not at your usual, but just a table behind him so that he couldn’t see you…girl you’re seeming like a creepy stalker stop…Soon you come back with your drink, have it while still contemplating. ‘Should I go or should I not go?’
Finally as I push you with my words, an invisible urge strikes inside of you, making you stand at your seat and walk over to his table…fuck your palms and feet were sweating…
“Umm excuse me, hello…”, his eyes fleet up at you, a color of nonchalance painted all over his face. He doesn’t seem like the type to initiate a conversation, you thought, so you went ahead.
“Hi! Umm I’m so sorry if I just came here out of nowhere, I usually don’t do so promise me, and I’m so so sorry if it’s creepy, I don’t mean any of that. I really just wanted to have a small conversation with you…I umm I don’t think you remember me—well of course you don’t, there were a lot too many people there…anyways what I’m trying to get at is I guess, umm I was at the Banquet Hall of Mr. Jameson’s last to last week, I saw you there…well actually what happened was that me and my friend, we were there for a delivery service, and he told us to enjoy the night…I don’t know why I just told you that…but yes so I uhh, we were about to leave and I didn’t want to leave before I could see the one of the famous things of an Auction event, the bidding so we stayed for sometime…And there was a call, starting price 1 Million and you immediately called 5 Million, that intrigued me really, I was like wow! And then I guess our eyes met for a while, but you don’t remember probably and I really wanted to get a chance to talk to you and now I’m here rambling, I’ve probably made you all uncomfortable, I’m sorry I’m so so sorry…”, dang girl you rambled on, in one flow—almost…
He let’s out a small, husky laugh, as he waves his hand, “Okay first of all breathe…and secondly, I’m flattered to hear that I intrigued you~ To answer to another question, yes I do remember you, you were the girls who got the flower bouquets, I had my eyes around…”
“Please sit, you entered the shop thinking how to approach me and talk to me and came all the way from your table after contemplating so hard upon how to do so, I’m thoroughly impressed.” He smirked slightly, as you sat, feeling embarrassed.
“I’m so sorry if I came out a little too strong, ohhh this is embarrassing…sooo I’m (Name), it’s a pleasure to meet you officially!”, you hold out your hand.
“Skye”, he shook it… ‘that’s it just Skye? But it doesn’t bring out the tone I heard at the auction…could he be lying about his name?’
You see him text on his phone, trying to study his expressions but all you could decipher was that he was texting, you couldn’t understand the emotion beneath…maybe he was good at hiding?
“You said you were intrigued, you might have question flooding your mind? Maybe one like if that’s my real name, or what you heard at the auction sounded different yet you can’t recall it…or maybe how to try and read my face as I text.”, he spoke while texting
‘Damn he’s good! Fuck I feel like a fool, uhh can I divert or dodge his accusations somehow? I don’t wanna look like a creep—’
“It’s okay to be curious, you’re not a creep.”
“Are you a mind reader or something Mr. Skye?”
“Who knows.”, as he stood up, before you could even think of anything else to ask him.
“Keep your question bank to yourself for now, and when we meet again pour them out. And try to recall harder, maybe you’ll find your answer…”, he exited through the doors…
That night when you returned you paces around your room trying to recall what was that you heard at the auction…finally a pleasant distraction…
“Skylar? No…that’s like a bird’s name…ooo ooo maybe Sans! …nope nope nope…Steven? Not even close… it was like a ‘shhh’ sound…like a ‘shhhh-i…shy…’ shy? Ughhhhhh!”
You take the help of your trusty old friend, ‘the Internet’, typing ‘Rich business man names starting with the word S’…you read out most of them, some do fit, others simply ruin your mood…You search up until, 01:30 in the morning, that was when you started getting sleepy…but you didn’t want to give up just yet…your bed was a mess, food pieces here and there, pages from your notepad lying around, having scribbles on them everywhere, pen thrown across the bed in frustration, when google literally gave you a search list of eligible bachelors in your area who are businessmen…You get up to clean everything up, yawning to yourself…while you mind was still reeling over the names, seeing if their tones hit the right vibe…but none did…You soon closed your laptop, keeping it away in it’s proper place as you get to bed…
…‘Shy…Shy…Shy…shyl…it had an L for sure…shile…no no a Y…shy…’ “Shylock!”, you shout out as Raya looks over at you from the section where the Iris flowers were arranged at display, “Huh?” “Oh nothing just nothing…” “So you randomly yell out Shylock in the middle of the day and claim it’s nothing? You’re lucky it’s our break time, and no customers are here.” “Nothing nothing just something I remembered…” “About the Merchant of Venice?” “No leave it, do your job.”, as she goes back to neatly arranging them, while you go back to pondering while you eat…
“Oh btw! Oi Raya listen.” “Hmm?” “I have my CBC and Haemoglobin tests this Saturday…dude please accompany me…you know how much I fucking hate needles…” “Yeah sure I’ll be free I’ll go…”
That night a flicker of something strikes you while you were eating dinner. “Sylus! Yes! That was it! Sylus something surname, not important but yes! Now the question remains why did he hide his true name…”, you were almost done with dinner as you quickly finish up and in your bedroom you dash off to, opening your laptop to search… ‘Sylus business man’…
As you read the results gaining info about him, well the one publicly available, then there’s also some Govt. sites but you don’t open them… “He’s…one of the most feared and successful mafia leaders of the N109 Zone…head of Onichynus, richy rich rich…what’s that? Probably the name of his organisation…emmm emmm…wow…the Linkon City police are all after him, but nobody knows about his whereabouts…well I do now…makes sense why he has an alias…I’m freaking out too, I might seem calm, but I am…I talked to the guy, what if he’s planning to execute me…cuz I found out his identity…what if he’s watching me now—”, you look around your room…well duh even if he was you wouldn’t see a drone or something thing in plain sight just zooming around… “—what do I do now…do I tell the police? No no no I’ll get taken…should I tell Ray…she’ll freak out, best not to…he did say we’ll meet again, maybe he knows about my location…dammit why did I ever go upto him…!”
…Saturday arrives. “I think I might’ve gotten a good bone bruise in my right hand…” “I’m sorry…I’ll buy you coffee as compensation…” “That’s a sweet offer but I’ll have to decline, got a call from my mum, have to go now, my nephew’s coming over so gotta take him to the park…” “oh! Well goodbye then…tell them I said hi! Text me when you reach.” “Will do!”, as she walked in the other direction, while you head towards the coffee shop, dreading each step, as you felt a ominous ring to the idea of going there…what if he’s there and he takes you away…well maybe not in broad daylight but still. Suddenly your mind reels off to Zayne, since you’ve always relied on him and his presence whenever you felt uneasy or scared or anxious, it always calmed you down, although now that you think about it, it was all out of compulsion, always has been…So you have two options to yourself, go home and cry about Zayne, orrr go to the coffee shop and meet your probable doom…
“Latter sounds better, at least the chances are highly unlikely…I mean if he’s a mafia leader, he’s probably out to do something there, whatever it maybe…”
So you head in the direction of Destiny Cafe, plus you would like to blame your Destiny for putting you in such a mess…
You were just about to enter as you see a similar figure looming over you, eyes glued to his phone, entering at the same time… ‘Uh oh…this is it…’
You watch him take his seat, where he sat earlier and you quickly avert your gaze, hoping he’d not notice you…and walked over to your usual seat—
“I’m assuming you’ve figured out.”
“…if I say anything will I be hurt?”
“That depends on your next action, which will determine the result whether you will be or won’t. It is as simple as a causal-effect relationship.”
You don’t speak any more, you’re genuinely scared…
“Come on sit, maybe we can have a deal and arrangement to see which path you lead to.”
You go obeying, sitting across him.
“Now—”, his eyes still glued to the phone, “Place your offers and I’ll see what can be done.”
“B-But I don’t have enough money on me now, only a couple hundred bucks and—”
He suddenly breaks out laughing, in that similar deep, husky voice of his…
“That was fun.”, he looks up from his phone. “Look I don’t know how to make you convinced, but I’m not going to hurt you or anything, you’re not on my radar.”
“So you do have targets!”
“Seldom, but yes. Also a bit softer please, you’ll scare the whole cafe like this…or maybe even give them the wrong context.”
“You won’t harm me right…?”
“What if I tell the police?”
“I’ll be gone before you ever get the chance.”
“Why do you dress like some sort of frat boy street biker guy aesthetic?”
“Maybe because I do have a bike.”
“Yes I’ll get some drinks for us…”
After sometime he brings them to your table, your usual Boba flavour that you get, and an Americano-Large for himself…
“I told you I’m keenly observant. I’m not stalking you if that’s what you think.”
“What if you added something in my drink or poisoned them…”
“Well unless I had magical, invisible substances on me, or the barista was my subordinate, I couldn’t have done so…”
“So the barista is your subordinate?!”
He sighed, rubbing his temple, “At this point I’ll just let your imagination run wild…”
“I’m not gonna drink it still.”
His earlier tone seemed to be quite believable, but you still had your doubts, he’s a criminal, he can fake emotions and tones like it’s a piece of cake.
“Look listen, the last day you had ordered and I heard it.”
“You remembered it becauseeee…”
“I knew today would come.”
“Now you’re being all creepy again…”
“Ok ok I sincerely apologise, do ask me whatever you want to ask me.”
“What business do you deal in?”
“Woah straight-forward. I’m in a successful fruit selling business, I’m a real good fruit vendor…”
You take a sip of your drink…
“And I’m supposed to believe that? I wouldn’t even have believed that if you told it last time…”
“Well sweetheart, I can’t go on spewing my real profession now can I, you searched it yourself, the police are after me.”
As you both drink in silence…it was awkward for you, maybe not for him. He takes out his phone and texts. You can’t help but ask.
“…You’re telling your henchman the time and place to take me hostage aren’t you…”
“Very creative…but as a matter of fact, I’m texting my ‘Bestie’—”
Pffft Bestie? That sounded funny in his voice.
“Is that a codeword for—”,
He let’s out a hearty chuckle and sighs…finally showing you the phone and it’s contents as well…it was a chat opened, with many messages, here and there with the username of the other person saved as, “Kitten”, huh weird? It’s funny, also kinda cringe—
“I’m sorry for suspecting you but I’m still suspecting you.”
…So that was how your second meet went, he was a bad guy(?) but at least he had a sense of humour.
“Isn’t it only fair that you tell me your profession too, since I told you mine.”, he spoke as he stood up from his chair, smirking.
“You know mine, you did say it last day, me and my friend came to deliver the bouquets.”
“Mhm so you’re a delivery person?”
“…I don’t want to tell you but then again you already know…I’m a florist, I work at a flower shop at—no not telling you that no no. Besides you lied about your job.”
“Well you know the truth. See you.”, he left
It grew amusing and kind of concerning to you? As over the next few weeks, you’ve had both your third and fourth meetings as well.
Your third meeting was uncalled for too, meeting at the same place, ‘Destiny Cafe’, cuz of course, you have such great luck and Destiny. He entered while you were munching onto their star shaped rich buttery cookies, as they would just melt inside your mouth with every bite. It was such a delicate and sweet taste, making you want to gobble down more and more and more.
Your mouth filled, you quickly, try to chew and gulp, while wiping it with a napkin.
“Easy easy there, no rush. I’m not leaving so soon”
As you finish it up and take a sip of your Boba, “Sorry, excuse me…how did you…you know what doesn’t matter. I’ll be nice to you.”
“What’s with the sudden change in attitude?”, he speaks while keeping that smirk on his face, you swore it never left…
“I gave a little girl a yellow rose and she hugged me.”
“You’re always texting, is it always your best friend?”
You drum against the table a bit, not knowing what else to ask or say…
“The Lavenders were really fresh by the way, thank you.”
“I never gave you—oh! So you were one of the special guests of Mr. Jameson?”, of course he was.
“Is he a part of your organisation?”
He chuckles, “He’s a stand-alone businessman, dealing in Protocores and Aether Cores. Know what they are?”
“…Why did you pick the name Oni-dot dot dot?”
“You know why did you pick that specific name for your organisation?”
“I have no answer to that.”
“I wanna show you to the flower shop.”, he looks up from his phone upon hearing that, those red eyes, casting a spell of determination within yourself…
“I’ll be honoured then.”, he said with a smile.
“Maybe on our fourth meet up?”
“Sure.”, you offered him the last two of your cookies.
“Mhm. You have good taste.”
“I’ll have to leave now, get up early tomorrow, we’re having new shipments arrive. When can I meet you again?”
“Works for me, I leave early on Thursdays. Soooo here at Destiny Cafe?”
Failing to see the soft smile that you had casted upon his lips…now what might that indicate…
You were at work the next day, it was a Wednesday, it’ll be a long day and it’s going to be hectic, with the shipments coming in…yet you felt light, it was a strange sensation but it was definitely welcomed…
“Girlll!” “Yes?” “What are you daydreaming about? The things are here, cmon let’s go look to them.” “Oh yes.”
…“Is there something bothering you?” “Nope.”
Thursday came around very quickly and heck were you excited! You were really excited, you didn’t register why but you were…but you had to keep your guard up, he’s still a dangerous man (?)…as you walk towards the cafe, it was a pleasant evening…the streets bustling with people. “Hello!”, you greet him as he stood in front of the coffee shop. He looked up from his phone into your eyes, with a sly smile, “Someone’s excited.”
“You bet I am! I don’t know why though…the fact that you could still k*dnap me remains…”
“…Are we getting coffee first? Let’s take those biscuits on the go! We can eat while we walk.”
…The both of you walk along the streets of Linkon, which were brilliantly illuminated by the street lights. It was a new moon day, so the moon wasn’t visible in the sky. As you both chew and walk along…
“Sooooooo it’s down Hashcrew Lane, which we e reached as we speak…aaaand taaadaaah! This is where I work, I love this place…”
“Yeppp and thanks, although we are planning on renovating the shop.”
“…Why do I have a feeling you already knew..”
“The bouquets also came with your shop’s business card.”
“Ahh I should’ve figured it out. That one’s on me…why didn’t you tell me earlier though?”
“I wanted you to trust me…besides you are always too paranoid.”, he says with a slight chuckle, eating the last of the cookies.
You felt a smile creep up to your face as well…
On the way back, he nudges you slightly, “So you finally trust me now, don’t you?”
(All credits, TW, Index have been mentioned on the Storymode page.)
