Still Alive

Chapter 01

"Run! Get out of here quickly, you must stay alive!"

With a trembling voice, a middle-aged woman who could no longer stand held her ten-year-old daughter by the hands. She placed the white gold necklace between her tiny hands, momentarily ignoring the pain piercing through her body from the bloody cuts on her legs.

"I don’t forbid you to cry, Emma. But get out of here, don't die!" She barked in a low but expressive voice.

"No! I can’t live without you, Mom," the girl’s sobs were still restrained.

She was under a table near the main door of her house. Meanwhile, her mother was reclining, writhing in pain and continuing to persuade her daughter to leave there.

It was Emma's birthday that night, and they were waiting for their Dad, who promised to bring a birthday cake. How ever, instead a tall man came and suddenly slashed his mother's back with a knife.

"Hey, can you two still talk?" A voice that suddenly came from the kitchen alerted the middle-aged woman.

With all his might, She made his body into a shield to protect her daughter. Meanwhile, the man who had just left was busy playing with a knife in his hand, grinning in horror.

"Ah, can you still move? I don't seem to be enough to keep you in place." He said it again.

"Stop! Don't do this, please let us live," Emma said between sobs.

The man laughed widely and said, "No way! Why should I obey what you say, huh?"

The man approached Emma, but her mother quickly put her arms around the man's leg and stopped in his path.

"Stop! Stay away from my daughter, let her live! You can kill me! Please let her go, she doesn't know anything!"

Emma's cries grew louder as the man holding the knife crouched down and pulled her mother's hair until she was dragged from her current position.

"Shut up, you bastard! I don't obey anyone, you understand?" 

"Please, just kill me. Let my daughter go, I beg you...

"No! MOM!" Emma screamed loudly when she saw a man stab her mother in the chest right in front of her eyes.

However, the boy only smiled broadly at the girl.

"Are you still here?" He asked, "Do you want to die like your mother?" 

The girl still couldn't move, her body felt limp, as if all the bones in her body had been torn apart.

Once again, an unknown person pulled a knife from the motionless body of the mother. The back struck the lifeless body several times, causing the girl to suddenly lose consciousness.

"You stupid girl! Looks like you really don't deserve to live," the man muttered as he wiped away the blood splatter that had fallen on his face. He rushed to draw his knife and walked over to the tiny body of Emma, which lay nearby.

***

The night was getting darker, and the wind was blowing harder than before. The atmosphere in the small alley with apartments was, as usual, always quiet. The only light at the end of the alley kept dimming. Several stray cats crossed paths to rummage through the trash. The squealing of gutter rats also reached her ears.

The girl looked back several times, but found no one there. Her steps quickened, she breathed harder and harder. Even though it was so cold that night, beads of sweat appeared on her face. In just a second, the girl fell, followed by a loud scream, just at the moment when the cat jumped in front of her.

The girl lowered her head, almost touching the asphalt with her head. She looked back again to make sure, but at that moment his chest growled louder and louder until it was crowded.

"He died!" she said softly, almost crying.

Her voice trembled, and the body trembled with fear. The girl stared at her hands, which were in the pockets of her black jacket. The bloodstains were still there, making him feel even more uneasy and sorry.

"No! I am not guilty. He is dead".

She quickly got up and ran to his house. Muttering about someone's death, that night was the last day he walked down the alley.

"He's dead," she whispered through the dark streets.

***

The man smiles as he looks at the news headlines printed in bold bold type on the newspaper page. Today, he feels proud again, because the news he published two days ago is still a hot topic for discussion among the public. Who is not interested in the loud news about the release of the convict from the iron bars. A suspect in a serial murder, who is just waiting for the death penalty.

After a second, he put the paper down on the table and took a sip of his usual bitter coffee. He will never start his morning without a cup of espresso. He grabbed a dark gray jacket that matched the trousers he was wearing. Don't forget an expensive shiny black watch on your right wrist.

When he was tired, the man grabbed a leather bag and slung it over his shoulder. He was ready to go to work. Today he will write another piece of news that will become a trend and become the center of public attention. Of course he was excited. He had just thrown a party last night after a successful promotion at GM and also celebrating his twenty-eighth birthday.

Well, aside from work now, he only needs to focus on finding a beautiful wife.

"William Austin. Tinggi 187 cm, berat 70 kg, lahir 17 Oktober 1990, meninggal 17 Oktober 2018. Jamnya malam."

Senyum memudar dari bibirnya saat ia berdiri tepat di depan pintu kamar tidur yang belum dibuka. Suara rendah yang asing ini dengan jelas menyebutkan nama, tinggi, bahkan beratnya, serta tanggal lahirnya. Namun, kalimat terakhir yang dia dengar sangat mengganggu.

Kemudian William berbalik dan melihat seseorang berdiri di samping tempat tidurnya.

"Wah, sial!" dia berteriak, benar-benar terkejut.

Tubuhnya hampir akan bergoyang jika tidak bersandar di pintu. Tangannya menyentuh dadanya, lalu dia menyadari bahwa seseorang yang berada di kamarnya terlalu percaya diri. William bahkan tidak tahu kapan tamu itu masuk.

"Kamu siapa? Kurang ajar masuk kamar orang sembarangan. Pencuri, hah?!" William meluruskan dasinya yang bengkok di lehernya.

Dia menatap tajam ke sosok tinggi berjubah hitam di belakangnya. Sangat tinggi. Kepalanya hampir menyentuh langit-langit kamar William.

"Kau sudah mati, William Austin."

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