2000 YEARS AGO

The soft footsteps of a hooded man barely made a sound in a dark hallway. The night was silent and calm despite the ongoing civil war in the entire kingdom.

The eerie silence was suddenly cut by the raspy voices of men. The hooded man, with quick steps; retreated into the shadows. In silence, he watched a group of five guards match past him. It was expected to see them there considering that the location was the royal castle of Dark Star.

As soon as the voices turned faint, the man continued on his pursuit. He walked for a little while and paused at a corner. Stretching his neck forward, he carefully peeped down the hall. No one was in sight, so he walked on—his senses still on high alert.

The man went down the hall and came to a closed steel door. He carefully turned his head sideways before pulling out a 14-inch golden key. With a swift turn of the key, the door clicked open. Inside were a line of torches that lit the passage brightly. The man locked the door behind him and made his way through the passage.

As he walked, he took care not to step on any of the blocks that triggered the traps. He came to a halt at a force field covering the end of the passage. The hooded man; after much thought, decided to walk through the force field. His decision consequently triggered an alarm. Knowing well enough that Gamarax Manipulators and Warriors were rushing to his position, the hooded had no choice but to hurry up and complete his mission before they got to him.

He walked into a room of gold, diamonds, rubies, silver and money. The man ignored it all and went further. He found himself staring at a pit of golden coins and without a second thought, he slowly made his way into it. He wadded his way through the coins until he came to another door. The hooded man got into the hidden room and was met with darkness. His beamed purple and with their new form, he was able to clearly see in the dark.

Another hidden door was revealed and it was quickly opened. Behold was a golden floating medallion in a glass case.

The medallion was round in form. In the center was a five star shaped diamond. At its tips were tiny red rubies. The whole medallion glowed bright red—perfectly illuminating the tiny room around it.

The hooded man smiled to himself and slowly picked up the glass case. He set it aside and marveled at the floating medallion. The man reached out for it and when his finger touched it, it stopped glowing.

That prompted him to reactivate his special night vision eyes.

The man jumped startled by the sound of guards in the treasure storage. It was only going to be a matter of time before they found him. He took the medallion out again and held it up high.

"Oh great and powerful wish granting Infinite Medallion, my only wish at this moment is that you get me out of here." he asked it. a faint light enveloped the medallion.

A bright light enveloped the medallion, engulfed the man now smiling to himself. Guards kicked down the door. The man disappeared out of the room right before their eyes. They remained roaring in anger.

The man found himself in the woods; miles away from the royal castle. Feeling triumphant, he smiled to himself and put the medallion back into his pocket. He was about to tear open a portal out of there when he heard a deep laugh.

A giant with long dark cow horns stepped out of the shadows. His coal-black webbed wings spread across and cast an intimidating shadow on the hooded man. It stood barf in its masculine physic while its cow like legs with powerful hooves rooted it to the ground. It grimly fixed its soul piercing eyes at the hooded man.

"You aren't thinking of taking the Infinite Medallion away from here, are you Dano?" the giant asked.

Dano took off his hood and his old warm eyes looked back at the giant. The purple and solid star birthmark of the Seers was clearly visible on his forehead.

"You know better than to come into darkas god territory, Beelzebub."

"I live by my own rules, Dano." Beelzebub grimly answered and let out his large hairy hand. "Hand over the medallion." Its beastly face cringed into a powerful scowl.

"Its power is far beyond your comprehension, Beelzebub. It has to be destroyed or else it will bring forth a war far greater than this one." Dano stepped back, protectively holding onto the pocket with the medallion.

"I am a fallen angel, you fool. I do not care for peace." Beelzebub stretched his hairy hand further towards Dano. "I will not ask you again." he threatened.

Dano turned to run but Beelzebub appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the neck. "Big mistake," Beelzebub grunted in annoyance.

Dano frantically kicked his legs in the air, trying with all his might to loosen Beelzebub's hold. "You will not be able to use the medallion. One of your subordinates will steal it from you before you get the chance." Dano sprayed out his prophesy.

Beelzebub stabbed Dano in the chest with his tail and Dano coughed out blood in his face. Beelzebub licked it off with a smirk. He plunged his tail deeper; completely forcing Dano's heart out through his back. It fell to the dusty ground with a plum. Beelzebub snatched the Infinite Medallion and threw the body hard against the tree. Grinning evilly, Beelzebub disappeared into thin air.

It was morning when steam water rained down on caramel skin. A hand as soft as silk tenderly rubbed a soapy sponge through slender hands. It trailed all the way down a long leg that was neither too thick nor too slim. The sponge was brought back up and it made its way underneath a big breast before shifting to the other. Circular motions were made around the breasts and then to the neck.

The whole time the woman was lathering, she kept her head back as if protecting her hair from the water despite having a shower cap on. As soon as she was done, she rinsed the sponge and let the soothing feeling of hot water relax her sore muscles. She set her hands on the wall and took in the hot water pouring down her back.

"Why is my head hurting so much?" she wondered.

"So, what do you say Whitney Stewart?" a man of Hispanic descent grinned at Whitney.

They sat in a pub in the company of two huge bodyguards. The Hispanic man had a lit cigar in between his tattooed fingers, and a glass of whiskey the other. Whitney stared back at him with a bored look.

She ignored the glass offered to her, but instead leaned back in her neat suit and crossed her legs. She heard one of the body guards crack his knuckles, and checked the time on her wrist watch. From the corner of her eye, Whitney saw the waitress set the glass of whiskey beside her.

Facing back at the man, she said, "I will never take your case, Louis. I would rather slit my wrists than defend a child trafficker in court."

Louis snickered with his hands wide, "What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"The same thing that happened to the innocence of those little children." Whitney got up, and pushed her jacket down.

One of the goons put his hand on her shoulder. Whitney jerked her brow up disgusted at his dark long fingers. She flashed Louis a glare but he kept on laughing. Whitney clenched her jaw at the goon tightening his hold, and she dropped her purse.

She grabbed hold of the man's hand, and threw him over her shoulder. Whitney set her pointy high heel on his head and twisted his arm. Her actions forced the other goons to pull out their guns while Louis smirked. The people around rushed out in panic.

"Don't think I'm an easy target." Whitney squeezed harder and the man groaned. She let go of him, picked her glass and gulped the whiskey. "Thanks for the fucking drink." and at that, she left.

Whitney stepped out of the shower rubbing on her pounding forehead. She met a brown-eyed gaze on the bed. The bearer was putting on a pair of brown boots. She smirked at Whitney setting her hands on her hips.

"I see you have taken a liking to my new boots." Whitney commented, shaking her head.

Her words were met with a giggle, "You mean my boots,"

Whitney rolled her eyes playfully at the bubbly teenage version of herself. "What happened to the ones I got for you?"

The girl waved her hand dismissively at Whitney, "Oh, those don't go with this dress."

"Britney, you are too much. Go away now, I want to get changed. As you know, today is a big day for me. I just hope my head stops pounding soon. I'm all out of aspirin."

Britney lowered her chin concerned, "I actually also came to check up on you because of that. You were so weak last night." she remarked with a furrow.

"I'll see Dr. Matthews after work. I'm sure it's nothing serious." Whitney giggled after, "Now out you go."

Britney snatched a scarf off Whitney's headboard and ran out laughing before closing the door. Whitney rolled her eyes at her with a smile—overtime, she got used to Britney hijacking her things. Having a little sister did indeed have its ups and downs.

Not wasting any more time, Whitney pulled out a navy blue dress and slid it down. She picked out a black jacket to go with it and ended her look with a pair of black heels. Deep in thought, she brushed her long brown curly hair.

Pumping her brakes, and coming to an abrupt halt inches away from a wall. Head bowed and face covered by hair.

Whitney blinked once at the memory. She put her brush down in thought, "What happened last night?"

Gulping the whiskey in anger. Louise grinning at her behind his glass.

"Wait, could that bastard have drugged - " her phone rang.

Whitney glanced at it vibrating in place on her dressing table. What caught her eye, however, was the picture frame facing down. Whitney picked it up before bringing her phone to her ear. She listened for the caller to speak with her eyes on the Caucasian man and African woman smiling from ear to ear at a carnival.

'Whitney, where are you? Mr. Martin will soon announce you senior partner.' a husky voice calmly asked through the speakers.

"I am about to leave home, Steve. I'll be there soon." Whitney responded, still bearing the puzzled look on her face as she stared at the picture.

'Alright, just be sure to hurry over.' Steve cut the call.

Whitney slowly put the phone down, and held the picture with both hands. She traced her finger on the face of the man before moving to the woman. "Mom, dad, I wonder how your picture ended up facing down." she set it down next to her picture that had her taking a stance in her black belt with Britney cheering in the background.

Whitney grabbed her purse and hurried downstairs where she found Britney finishing up her cereal. Britney pulled out a golden bracelet with an oval navy blue ruby from her handbag. She wore it in silence as she watched Whitney look for something. Britney took note of Whitney's baffled look at the car keys on the floor by the bin.

"You dropped them last night after nearly crushing into the garage." Britney explained. "I couldn't find them at the time." she added with a shrug.

"That was weird." Whitney remarked, rubbing her throbbing forehead. "Come on, let's go." she picked up the keys.

"No thanks, I don't want to get into a car with you in that state. I'll take the school bus." Britney teased and picked up her bag.

Whitney knew better than to argue with Britney. She got into her Porsche, waved goodbye to Britney and drove off down the road. It only took a few minutes to get to her work place; Darwin's Law Firm. Whitney slammed her door closed and hurried her way in.

She heard chatter in the lounge room and headed straight there. To her convenience, no one but Steve noticed her arrive. Whitney stood beside his tall stature, and he glanced down at her through his glasses.

"Took you long enough." Steve said to her and averted his blue eyes back to the front.

"I overslept," Whitney quickly explained with her eyes on Mr. Martin, co-founder of the firm; clicking on his glass, "It looks like I am right on time, though." she smirked to which Steve chuckled in response.

"I am proud that this firm has produced an excellent lawyer worthy of the senior partner title." Mr. Martin cheerfully spoke up. Whitney buttoned up her jacket and straightened her dress. "I am pleased to announce that our new senior partner is," Mr. Martin paused and Whitney took a step forward, "Rose Peterson." he finished and everyone clapped.

At the mention of Rose Peterson, Whitney fell into a trance. Her whole world blackened. She couldn't believe her ears when Mr. Martin called Rose to give her acceptance speech. She refused to believe her eyes when she saw them shake hands. When she heard everyone congratulating Rose, her reality became clear.

Whitney was more than sure that she was the one to get the promotion. Hell, Mr. Martin told her that himself. Now it appeared that everything she knew was wrong. She looked up at Steve who appeared calm and collected. She would have understood if it was him who got the promotion instead, but Rose?

Anger swept through her body, increasing the pain of her already pounding headache. She worked her ass off for the firm and this was the thanks she got? She took an angry step forward, but Steve held her back.

"I would want to give him a piece of my mind too but this is neither the time nor the place, Whitney." Steve advised without looking at her.

"This is so angering." Whitney blurted out.

"I know," Steve sympathized.

"What the hell is this supposed to mean?"

Steve patted her shoulder, "Keep it together."

Whitney faced down trying so hard to hide her anger. The last thing she needed was to let the office gossips to see her upset. The lump in her throat hurt so bad that she snatched a glass of wine from an intern and drank it all in one gulp. Without saying a word, the intern backed away.

Rose came off the stage, strutting her way to Whitney and Steve in all smiles, "Hello you two, aren't you going to congratulate me?" the mockery behind her voice thick.

"Congratulations, Rose," Steve said.

"Why, thank you, Stevie." Rose purred, licking her teeth before finally fixing her gray eyes on Whitney. "What about you? I'm still waiting for you to congratulate me." she whipped her red hair back and swayed her head back in place.

"Bite me," Whitney blankly answered.

"Whatever, the fact is that I am senior partner and you're not." Rose gloated, her smirk clear for all to see.

Whitney's tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she pressed her lips together. She breathed in at the anger threatening to erupt on the red head's smug. The sudden sight of Mr. Martin brought her back to her senses.

"I want to see you in my office right after Rose's reception is done." he whispered and walked away.

Rose chuckled triumphantly, "It looks like someone is in trouble."

"Shouldn't you be shoving your cake right up your ass?" Whitney snarled back at Rose.

Steve laughed but when he caught Rose glaring at him, he cleared his throat and turned away smiling. Rose pressed her lips into a thin line flustered and walked away with her nose in the air.

****

Whitney assumed that Mr. Martin wanted to give her an explanation as to why Rose got the promotion and not her. When the reception was over, she went over to his office. He was busy typing into his computer when she arrived. Whitney cleared her throat in order to announce her presence.

"Sit down, Whitney." he ordered, and she sat. "You met up with Louis White?" he asked, cutting to the chase.

Whitney lowered her chin inquisitively. "Um, yes I did last night."

Mr. Martin took his eyes off his monitor and leaned back on his chair—his eyes studying Whitney's baffled face. "Any particular reason you'd like to share?"

Where is he going with this? She cleared her throat. "He asked me to defend him but I declined."

Mr. Martin slowly nodded his head. "Well, I think you did much more than that." he said looking right into Whitney's surprised eyes.

"Excuse me?" Whitney tilted her head confused.

Mr. Martin picked up his laptop, turned it to face Whitney and hit play. The pictures sliding after each other were the last things Whitney expected.

"What the hell is this?" Whitney asked wide-eyed.

"I assumed that you would know better considering that it is you in the pictures." Mr. Martin shrugged.

"Yes but - " Whitney tried but Mr. Martin put his hand up to silence her.

"You were in your house and in your bed with Mr. White." Mr. Martin added fuel to his argument.

Whitney abruptly got up annoyed, "I completely hate that man. You know that people like him disgust me."

Mr. Martin doubtfully shook his head, "You seemed to enjoy his company enough to invite him over to your place."

"Mr. Martin!" Whitney raised her voice.

"Look, Whitney, I wouldn't care less about what you decide to do with your life. If want to screw around that's up to you. What I cannot tolerate is you putting the firm in jeopardy. Because of your actions, the firm is being blackmailed and you don't want to know how much they have asked for."

"For what? A few pictures that don't mean shit?" Whitney asked annoyed.

"No, for this video." Mr. Martin played a video.

Whitney watched stupefied as Louise White got on top of her and kissed her while she did nothing to stop him. She blinked when she saw him pull the cover above his head. The moment she saw him going up and down, Whitney closed her eyes annoyed.

"That man is just playing you. We never even had sex. I woke up just fine without any signs of a previous sexual encounter. I am telling you the truth. I met him in a pub. He threatened me and I left soon after finishing my glass - You know what, I am now sure that he drugged me."

Mr. Martin got off his chair and stood face to face with Whitney. "Regardless, this video looks bad, Whitney. All the founders have seen it, and they are pissed off. We have decided to fire you."

"What?" Whitney's mouth fell agape.

"I'm sorry but this is it for you." Mr. Martin returned to his desk. "My hands are pretty much tied." He picked up a paper. "Here is your termination letter."

Whitney balled up her fists and dashed out without getting her letter. She went into her office and packed all her things into a box. Everyone in the office looked on shocked that she was fired.

On her way out, Whitney locked eyes with Rose. Rose appeared to be genuinely surprised. She opened her mouth to say something, but Whitney brushed past her. Whitney made her way out into the hot sun. Steve watched her head for the parking lot up through the window. He adjusted his glasses and backed away.

When Whitney got to the parking lot, her car wasn't there. All she saw on the parking space with her name where two police officers. She dropped her box in disbelief.

"Excuse me officer? Where is my car?" Whitney impatiently asked, her eyes scanning the parking lot for her car.

"Your car was just stolen by a gang." a police officer answered and wrote something on his note pad while the other one spoke into his walkie-talkie.

Whitney grew weak in her knees, and slumped. "What?" she huffed in disbelief.

"Our troops are already chasing after the gang." the officer politely continued.

Louis fucking White. Whitney covered her forehead stressed.

"If you could please come with us to the police station?" the police officer kindly insisted.

Whitney faced away from the police officer frustrated. With the alleged sex tape and the firm doing everything they can to keep it under wraps, reporting Louis was a bad idea.

Without a word, Whitney walked away feeling like a zombie. She picked up her box in a daze and headed to the bus stop. The police man tried calling after her, but she ignored him. Whitney spotted a cab turning her way and opted to go into it instead.

"Take me to the nearest bar. I could use a drink." she instructed the driver.

****

Whitney set an empty bottle of beer beside four others. Sliding money to the bartender, she picked up her box and walked out of the bar. Whitney quickly got into a cab and off she went down the streets to her home.

Upon reaching her neighborhood, she saw a crowd of people wondering on the road. Whitney gazed upon the thick clouds of smoke polluting the air. A fire truck zoomed past her cab in a haste. Whitney wondered what was on fire only to discover that it was her house. She rushed out of the cab, almost tripping over, and watched her house burn down with firefighters desperately working to put it out.

Whitney stared deep into the fire in sheer disbelief. The heat emitting from the flames wasn't enough to wake her up from the fiery trance she got herself locked in. All her belongings gone just like that.

Whitney remembered Britney, and her eyes widened. "Britney!" she yelled. "Where is Britney? Is she stuck in the house?" she asked the people around her but none of them answered her. "She is in the house, isn't she?"

Whitney's blood turned cold at their silence, and sympathetic facial expressions. She saw a firefighter from the corner of her eye and turned. The people pulled her back and restrained her, fearing that she would go into the house in a hopeless attempt to save her sister.

"Let go of me!" she screamed at them, but they refused to listen to her. "Damn it, I said let go!" and with so much force, she freed herself and ran to the firefighter.

"Stay back, lady." he politely said before Whitney could utter a word.

"Where... where is my sister?" Whitney asked, barely catching her breath. "I am the owner of this house." she added.

"Is she the only one you live with?" the man asked Whitney.

She desperately nodded in confirmation, her tears wailing up and lips trembling. Whitney ran her fingers through her hair. A tear ran down one eye. She sniffed and pointed at her burning house.

"Her name is Britney. She is usually back home from school this time of the day."

"Please remain calm, we will do everything we can." the firefighter comforted, and joined his colleagues. "There might be a female in the house!" he exclaimed.

Whitney took out her phone and called Britney in panic. Britney did not pick up any of her calls and on the fifth attempt, the phone went off. Whitney was forced to wait until all the flames were put out in order to get any answers.

Darkness began to take its place. By that time, Whitney and her neighbors had already gotten accustomed to the looming scent of smoke in the air. The sight of firefighters carrying a corpse covered in a blanket paused her world.

With tears pricking her eyes, Whitney desperately ran to them. They set the body on the ground and respectfully backed away. Whitney dropped to her knees, her tears wetting her chest. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she swallowed hard at the tightness in her throat. With her shaky hand, she uncovered the body.

Whitney gasped and covered her mouth at the sight of the totally burnt off face and roasted tendons of a feminine body. The moment her eyes set on the golden bracelet with a navy blue oval ruby, she knew that her worst fear had come to pass.

Whitney couldn't take it anymore. She realized that she was running when she fell hard to the tarmac. Lying there all alone, she cried deeply. Whitney sat up and faced the sky. With a heart full of grief, she screamed loud in anguish.

"Mommy and daddy are gone." little six-year-old Britney squeezed Whitney's small arm.

Whitney took her eyes off the tombstones and got down on her knee. Her black dress set on the green lawn. Behind the girls was a social welfare officer. She stood away and patiently waited for the girls with her arms crossed.

Whitney fought back her own tears, and wiped Britney's. "It's just you and I now. I will take care of you. Everything is going to be alright." Whitney promised, and Britney hugged her.

"Britney," Whitney sobbed with her hand covering her mouth.

Whitney continued to cry deeply all by herself. During her cries, a dark figure approached her from behind. A baseball bat was raised and down it went on Whitney's head. She blacked out immediately and rolled her head to the boot of her attacker.

"You idiot, I only hope you haven't killed her." Louis stepped out of the shadows.

The man bent down, and pinned his fingers on Whitney's neck. "She is still alive, boss." he confirmed with a nod.

"Good, let's go. We don't want to keep them waiting." Louis grinned.

****

Whitney woke up to the metallic taste of her blood. Her head bowed and her bloody hair covered her face. She moved her chin up only to weakly throw her heavy head back. Snickers forced her to bring her head back, and hold it in place. Her hazy gaze scanned the room the best that she could. She took notice that it was a tiny wooden room.

Where I'm I? She wondered to herself.

Whitney tried to move her hands and it was at that moment when she realized when she was bound to a chair. Whitney blinked once, twice and finally saw three cowboys staring down at her. They all grinned at her with their coffee brown teeth.

Whitney had seen a lot of dirty men but never in her life had she seen any revolting and as repulsive as those three covered in sweat. Their visible scars and scruffy dirty blonde hair darkened Whitney's heart.

The oldest looking one whispered something to the others and one of them left. The remaining two kept their beady eyes on Whitney, and she cringed slightly from behind her hair. Moments later, the one who left came back with a person.

It was Steve.