Chapter 1.

A young man stepped out through the gate of the most robust and formidable walls of the prison.

His name is Slade Nyther. 

It has been three years since he went to prison in place of his girlfriend.

Three years ago, Mariana, his girlfriend, came running with tears streaming down her face, hoping that Slade would attend traffic court on her behalf as the driver. She claimed to have been speeding—a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in prison.

She begged him, saying she didn't want to have a criminal record. She had just been accepted into university and was starting her life.

Slade loved and trusted her too much. They were about to get married!

But reality was not as it was preached when Slade got into prison. 

He was accused of being a hit-and-run murderer!

Mariana seemed as panicked as he was. She told Slade that she had no idea how things had turned out this way and that she would do everything she could to get him out as soon as possible.

She claimed that she would take care of his family and care for them as though they were her parents. Also, she would come to visit Slade often.

Slade continued to believe in her, as always.

But then, Slade was thrown into the maximum-security wing, he was not allowed any visitor.

It was the most notorious prison side in the Northpole area, home to brute and wild inmates.

Slade was nearly on the brink of collapse. He couldn't eat or sleep.He didn't understand why something that should have been a simple penalty and educational lesson had turned into him being imprisoned with serious criminals, with his sentence endlessly extended.

He was being treated as if he were truly a murderer.

He was in immense pain, worrying about his family and his girlfriend… Fortunately, his family and Mariana were taking care of them. While enduring torment in prison, thinking of this gave Slade a slight sense of comfort.

He nearly died there, if not for a few unforeseen events…

Slade stood under the raging rays of the sun that poured fangs on him. The ugly memory of how he survived in the prison burnt even fiercer than the sun.

He felt a sudden pain in his wrist, which was heated by the sun, and he winced. There was a triangular-shaped scar etched in his wrist.

This is a gift from prison, but its significance goes beyond that. It comes from an old man in prison, bringing Slade unexpected strength and transforming him into a person completely different from before. 

Yet, at this moment, Slade doesn't care about it that much.

A gush of wind crashed against his face, tracing every corner of his tough face. The fierceness of the wind brought back the familiar feeling and longing for freedom.

Now he was free again! 

He can finally go home. 

He couldn't wait to meet his family and Mariana again. They were his solace. 

He got off from the cab and turned to what should be his family house!

"What the hell..." He gasped at first, not sure if that was the right thing to say.

He decided to turn around to the other side, "I think I'm in the wrong place."

When he looked around, he saw the familiar landmark and the lush garden opposite their building.

His family mansion was one of the proper buildings along this street three years ago. But what he was standing in front of right now looked like a haunted house. His heart dropped in his chest as anxiety started to bloom.

The garden was overgrown. What used to be bright flowers that justified the aesthetics of the building had been strangled to thistles. There was no roof on the building. There were cracks and dark remnants all over the walls, something which suggests that the building might once have been engulfed in fire!

What happened?! Didn’t Mariana promise to take care of his family? How did everything turn out like this?!

Slade swallowed a lump as he moved closer and closer to the building. His knees buckled and got weaker and weaker as he approached the door.

When he got to the doorstep, his whole hope was shattered. He looked through a big hole in the door. The exterior state of the building was just a feint shadow of what chaos crawls in the interior! Slade couldn't even begin to wonder what might have gone wrong.

"Slade???" A sudden voice called his name out of nowhere.

Slade spun around instinctively. Who could it be? Who knew him?

It was an elderly woman. Slade slowly started to walk towards the woman who seemed too grounded to the spot to move. She seemed to be in shock of a sort.

He was surprised that this woman knew him. How did she know him?

When he got to the woman and inspected the face of the woman closely. It would seem as though a scale had just fallen off his eyes.

"Mamita?..." He choked on the words, not believing it was her.

She was the nanny who had been with him since childhood. When he was just a few years old, Mamita was only a teenager herself. She had been with him through most of his life, like an older sister to him, even closer than a biological sibling.

She should be in her thirties. Why does she look so old? Why does his older sister look like she was in her late sixties? What happened to her?

Before Slade could even think of asking her any questions,

"My poor boy. They are all dead."

His nanny burst out in tears, throwing herself into his arms.