Prologue - The Things I See

I lay there in my soft bed, hungover from last night.

"Ugh... what time is it?"

My name is Timothy Winston. I am currently 20 years old.

I live in the Aurora Region in a mansion passed down to me by Emilia.

I am the CEO and Founder of Winston Industries.

"Man, what happened last time?"

I rise from bed, scratching my messy hair. I looked around. My room is surprisingly still clean after what happened yesterday.

I got off my bed and went for the bathroom to take a shower. I take off my clothes and place them in the laundry basket.

I set the temperature and turned the shower on. I watch as the water hits me in the head. I looked down the ground, watching the water droplets fall from my head.

"Whatever happened to my life..."

---

I was downstairs cooking my breakfast, a few strips of bacon and one egg. As I was preparing the egg, the doorbell rang.

"I'm coming!"

I put aside the pan and ran towards the door. I put my hand on the doorknob, holding it with a firm grip. I took a breath and opened the door.

The light coming from the sun blinded me. I couldn't see anything for a few seconds. Who was the person in front of me? Fortunately, after a few seconds, I regained my sight.

Before me, I saw a familiar face smiling at me.

"Hello there, Mr. Winston."

"Oh, hey James. What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to check up on you about that deal 1 year ago."

"Oh, I see... Come in then. I'll be brewing some tea for you."

He walked into my house, looking around. He then sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote. He began watching some shows. I shrugged and went back to cooking.

As I was approaching the stove, I had a weird feeling something was behind me. I began sweating. I slowly looked back.

...

There was nothing there. It must be my imagination I guess.

---

"So, what was about the "deal"?

"Ah, I came to check up on you. You have to make sure that you stay healthy or else the resurrection won't work."

Resurrection? What was he talking about? I gave him a confused look.

"It looks like you've forgotten... but you do know who Emily Cara Nilmenta Mingreto is, right?"

"Yeah, it's a shame she died in that car accident."

James looked at me as if I looked dumb. I'm genuinely confused...

"I see... Well in that case, I really do have to show you the folder... and her autopsy."

He reached out for something in his bag while I was sipping on my coffee. He pulled out two folders. One of them had a sticker with "901" written in it. He slid both folders to me.

"Read that. It should make you remember well."

He sipped on the green tea, with his brows knitted.

I looked back to him, then back to the folder, then back to him. I placed the folder with "901" in my hand and began to read it.

...

.....

What the hell? Did I sign this deal?

"Read the other one."

James crossed his arms, with his brows still knitted.

I placed the folder back into the table and grabbed the other one. I began reading it as well.

"Emily Cara Nilmenta Mingreto... death caused by..."

The moment I read that word, I remembered it all. I held back my tears, it was hard, but I had no choice...

"Suicide."

I muttered that word under my breath.

"So... do you remember now?"

James said with a serious tone, his eyes glowing with a yellow tint.

My hands began twitching, my grip on the folder became harder, I wanted to shred the folder into pieces. I couldn't believe it.

I looked back at James, still holding back my tears... when I saw that. A dark entity flying behind him. I became even more nervous, I started to shake. James soon took notice.

"So... you can see it now as well."

He let out a sigh. He began mouthing out words, I couldn't make out what he was saying. He looked kind of disappointed with himself.

"Say... James, what is that thing behind you?" I placed the folders back on the table.

"Oh this? Well, I better explain it to you."

---

"What you're saying is, that I saw your Other because I have one now?"

"Indeed, the cause of you having an Other is probably because of you reading those documents."

He looked back and mouthed the same words he said a few minutes ago. He turned back to me.

"Now, just remember this. If you see one of them, just... run. Emilia died because she was reckless with them. She just shot them because she felt like it." I could tell he was disappointed with Emilia, coming from his tone alone.

"I see, is there any way to fight back?"

"I'm currently finding a way to do so. Just stay calm when you see one of them. I should be going now."

He picks up his briefcase, and stands up from his chair.

"I'll be seeing you in a few days. Take care."

"You too."

He opened up a vortex and was about to leave. He suddenly then turned back to me.

"I forgot to tell you this."

He closes his vortex and turns his head around to face me.

"They will try to kill you by making your Other grow. Your own Other will also try to kill you. Just remember, do not feel any sort of negative emotions, that is what makes them grow bigger. Be careful."

He opens up his vortex again, and leaves.

---

I was driving in my car, passing by the large skyscrapers. I was on my way to work at my company. I couldn't take off what James told me off my head.

"They will try to kill you by making your Other grow."

That sentence echoed in my head. What did he mean by "grow"? I'll just think more about that later.

A few minutes later, I arrived at my workplace. Before I went down, I set my car to auto-drive mode. I looked through the window and stared at the tall skyscraper I worked in.

"Well, here we go again." I gave out a sigh and picked up my briefcase. I went down the car, and walked down the path. My car immediately drove off.

I took a couple of breaths, and went in.

---

I was at my desk on the top floor. I was quite bored, since I had my underlings do all the work. I let out a long sigh. I was planning to sleep, when all of a sudden...

"Mr. Winston? Are you there?"

I quickly rushed to look serious, and formal. I fixed up my desk and fixed my tie.

"I am, please do come in."

I shouted back calmly. The door slowly creaked, and a head popped out. It was my secretary, Alexa. She was holding something in her hand.

She slowly approached me, her heels step's echoed in my empty office. She carefully placed the clipboard at my desk, and gave a smile.

"I need you to sign here, it's for the merger between Winston Industries and Jameston Laboratories." She pointed at a box with my name under it.

I looked at her, but something was unusual. I could feel something from behind her.

I tilted my head and looked behind her. I was surprised to see an Other behind her. She was a kind person, but I heard she was recently involved in a bar fight where she ended up beating up 2 people.

I gulped, and signed the board. She noticed that I was sweating.

"Are you alright, Mr. Winston? You seem a bit hot today." She tilted her head.

"Yeah, yeah I am. You may go now." I frantically replied, luckily she didn't notice I sweated even harder.

She bowed down, and left my office. I let out a huge sigh of relief. Why did she even have an Other? I know the bar fight incident happened, but that couldn't be the only reason why she has one, right?

The moment I stopped thinking about that, something appeared a few feet from me. I opened up my eyes... and I noticed my face was becoming pale. It was my Other.

It stood there, staring at me with those red eyes. It looked like it wanted to kill me, but I looked all over his body. He had no weapon. I stood up from my chair and also looked back at it.

He began approaching me. His footsteps were extremely loud. I slowly reached out for the emergency gun under my desk, he was really getting close. I pulled it out, and pointed it at him.

He stopped right where he was. His eyes were fixated on the gun. Without any hesitation, I shot at him. The bullet flew right to him, but then...

"How the hell did you catch it?!"

I dropped the gun in the ground. I was shocked. How the hell was he able to catch something that fast? I charged at him with my fists, but he caught my fists too. He kicked me in my stomach.

I fell to the ground, trying to catch my breath. Out of nowhere, the guards busted down my door. They must've heard the gunshot. I looked up to my Other, who peered his eyes at them. I was surprised to see that the guards also could see it. They began firing at it, with little to no effect.

My Other looked back at me, and then disappeared.

---

I was back at my home, drinking like there was there no tomorrow.

"Ahahahaha! This tastes funny! Right, Mr. Scribbles?"

I laughed beside a random stuffed teddy bear that was the same height as me.

"It doesn't, are you okay Tim?"

I said in a childish voice while moving the bear, as if it was talking. I began to laugh even harder. I really was drunk this time.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Go away! I want to be alone right now!"

I shouted while pouting in a childish manner.

The doorbell rang again. I ignored it for a while, the person outside was persistent. He or she kept on ringing the doorbell. I got super annoyed.

I walked towards the door, still drunk. I kept tripping and falling, but I somehow managed to get to the door. I kicked the door open, and shouted.

"Who the hell is there?!"

I couldn't see clearly, but after a few seconds, I could see who the person was. A long, pink skirt, short brown hair, and a red scarf.

It was Emilia.