South Korea. 10/09/2012. 02:00.
Outside of Seoul, there was a little and peaceful town called Gwangju. Gwangju was the home of around three thousand people who had a very quiet life there. But on the outskirts of the town there was a little house who was quite infamous here in Gwangju. That broken down old house had the reputation to harbor evil spirits. Just walking in front of that home could be a bad omen and so even the people leaving near here would avoid it. This inhabited house could make even the stronger man in the town shiver in fear and he would run before even passing the gateway.
The first mistake people made about this house was that it was not inhabited. Even if the main floor seemed abandoned, there was activity in the cellar. The second mistake they made was this house did not harbor any ghost or evil spirit but something far more dangerous than that.
In the cellar dimly lit by a few candles disposed around the room, a man could be seen strapped in a chair. He was around forty years old with black hair and a strong jaw who demonstrated that he was a very strong willed individual. The once expensive suit that he wore had been torn at multiple areas making him look like a beggar. He was in a very sorry state at the moment as he was bleeding from multiple wounds on his body. He was even missing several toes that had been cut off and all of his fingernails had been torn off. Despite the intensive torture that he experienced, that man jaw was still locked, proof that he was still holding the information that his torturer wanted.
At that moment a man with black clothes appears in the light. He was wearing a hood and a face mask making him impossible to recognize. He would be considered short by many people considering that he was around 5"5" but the dangerous and murderous aura around him would make him appear taller in the eyes of people. Behind his shoulder, the handle of a saber could be seen and there was a gun and a knife on his belt.
Even his weapons were black as well as his eyes that could be seen behind his hood. The man seems to be an incarnation of darkness as he appears from the shadow without even a sound.
"I will ask again. Where are they?" He asks in a chilling tone.
"Go f**k yourself!" The man shouted in an exhausted voice.
The man looked unbothered by the insult and just lifted a finger. The next moment, a saber seems to materialize from the darkness and cut off another toes.
"ARGHHHHHHH"
"You know we are going to find them eventually, so spare you some pain and just tell us, it's for the better."
"Never!"
The saber came out of the darkness again but this time it cut off his right tomb making him yell even louder, blood starting to form a pool beneath him.
"Hee-Joon stopped being so stubborn. Tell me what I want to know or we would have to get your pretty girlfriend and put her through everything that we did to you."
"I don't have a girlfriend." Hee-Joon said weakly, his head lower.
"What about Sun-Hi living in Seoul and working as a hairdresser?"
Hearing that, he could not help to lift his head up in surprise, his already pale face getting even paler.
"Please don't hurt her, she knows nothing about this and she is innocent! Don't harm her, I would do everything that you want." He begged for the first time since being tortured here.
"We won't if you tell us what we want to know. For the last time, where are they?"
Hee-Joon lamented in his heart. 'I'm sorry my friend, I delayed them as long as I could but I can't let anything happen to my sweet Sun-Hi. She is innocent and does not deserve to be hurt. I hope you will forgive me in the afterlife.'
"They are in America." He said in defeat.
"Where? I want the name of the city!"
"New-York. They are in New York."
"Good, if you lied to us we will kill your cute girlfriend and everyone you ever consider friends in this life."
"I know. I know who you are and who employed you. You will go to hell for this." He cursed.
"That's why you are a dead man." The man said.
The next second in a fluid and well practiced manner, he unsheathed his saber and thrust it into the heart of Hee-Joon who died instantly, the light leaving his eyes. In a second movement, he retracted the saber and cut off his head. The next instant, three other persons wearing similar attire came out of the shadows. Wiping his bloody saber on the clothes of their dead prisoner, the man in charge looks at one of his brothers.
"You are going to stay here and clean everything, after that get his girlfriend and find out everything she knows and then kill her. We can't leave loose ends. You two, you are coming with me, we will go to New York and we are going to get them back in Korea. Our employer insists on killing them himself."
They nodded, acknowledging his order and back out into the darkness. Second later, the candles were cut down and the obscurity filled the room. The infamous house became silent again, not a living soul could be found inside or outside but the people living near here shiver in their sleep, feeling an inexplicable coldness in the air.
*****
At the same time, New York.
Nathaniel was sitting behind his piano in their penthouse apartment busy looking at his musical score. The college would start in two weeks and he needed to get his album ready before that because he would likely not have the time after the school started.
True to their word, his grandparents left him the piano and they decided to keep it in the living room. He wanted to move it into his room at first to not bother his mothers but they firmly disagreed. They loved watching him play and sing. They were still surprised and a little resentful to hear that he had an amazing voice like that, knowing that he never sang when he was younger because his voice was not ���good enough' for him. Mary could not help but to bitterly shake her head about it. If his voice was not good enough, she would have to fire almost 60% of her singer.
"When the movie is scheduled to be in the theater by the way Maggie?" Nathaniel asks.
Maggie came earlier today since she had documents to sign and they wanted to have a meeting to talk about everything that was happening. She was sitting on the couch not that far from the piano, a cup of tea on the coffee table, and a stack of documents beside it.
"December 12th. The premier would be the ninth."
"What about the tv apparition to advertise the movie?"
"They accepted your demand. You would do only the one in NY and only if they don't interfere with mandatory class."
"Good. Thanks Maggie." He knew very well they accepted only because of Maggie.
"Don't worry about it. I still received a request from a show in LA. Ellen wants you back, she said they would adapt their schedule to accomodate you, she knows that you were accepted in Columbia and don't want to burden you. I hear that your first interview was a success in terms of audience viewership and the commentary on Youtube are really good."
"Ok, we will organize that when I have my class schedule but for Ellen we will go." Nathaniel said.
He was not surprised that Ellen knew about Columbia as she was following him on twitter. He had configured twitter to receive alerts only if the person following him had 1 million followers or more. After missing the follow on a couple of important people, he had realized that his idea to block all alerts was not ideal. He did not want to appear arrogant or impolite to fellow singers and celebrities.
"I knew that you would say that." She smiles, noting down something on her agenda.
"When do I have to post my new single?"
"October 24th. The trailer would be released at that time."
"Good, I would program it tonight. Anything else?"
"One thing, I receive a few requests for you to pass an audition in LA. Small production."
"Not interested. I don't have the time at the moment so don't bring the topic again please. We will talk about it next year, okay?" Nathaniel said truthfully. He had still some subject where he needed to get back his retard and in addition finishing his album, his days were booked until the college start.
"Alright, I would get the word out." Maggie nodded. She was glad that he did not pick the offer. One of the dangers of this job was burnout and Nathaniel was still sixteen. Even if he did accept, she would not have agreed. She was testing him and she was happy that he passed.
"Thanks Maggie." Nathaniel smiles with gratitude.
Life was good at the moment, he was going to enter the college he always dreamed of going into. His album was coming along nicely and he would soon be up to pair for College in the academic side of his study. Even if it was tiring, he was doing what he wanted and was happy about it.
but still, he was feeling unrest inside of him. Like if a storm was coming.
Looking at the cloudy sky outside of the window he hoped he was wrong.