Reincarnation

The first few years of Alta's life were average. Her parents Mikhail and Andrea Johnson weren't rich but they weren't poor either. Mikhail was a lawyer and Andrea was a chef so they had a stable income.

She had an older brother named Sol, he was quite handsome, his golden hair was like the sun that always shines so bright in the sky, his big blue eyes sparkled like diamonds, and his sun-kissed skin accentuated the beauty of his other features.

His looks were a stark contrast to Alta's hair that was as dark as the night sky, unnatural silver eyes, and fair skin.

Everyone always called her the moon to his sun.

Five unforgettable years were all Alta got before Sol was murdered, he was only 15.

The family was devastated.

Sol was kidnapped while walking home from a friend's house. He reappeared 2 days later but as a corpse. His mangled body was found hanging in the schoolyard of the elementary school Alta attended. She and many other students saw it and were traumatized.

The state of her brother's body made it clear that he experienced agonizing torture. His cold lifeless body laid on the ground like he was a piece of trash that was discarded by some uncaring bastard.

Even the police were stumped on why someone would torture a 15-year-old boy, to the point where he was barely recognizable to his own family. This person was a monster.

Alta only learned when she was older that a family friend was the cause of Sol's death. His name was Joshua, he and Mikhail used to work at the same legal firm.

Apparently, he had some sort of vendetta against his former colleague, and his gruesome hobby allowed him to enact his revenge.

And it was over a promotion of all things.

Joshua hid his involvement quite well but he was greedy. He wanted to make Mikhail suffer and what's a better way to destroy him mentally than killing both of his children.

Fortunately, before he could get his disgusting hands on Alta, his wife Dorothy noticed his strange behavior. He was constantly going out at random hours of the night to who knows where and he started having issues controlling his temper.

His abusive tendencies were getting out of hand to the point where he would punch Dorothy when she did something that displeased him.

Dorothy had enough and called the police.

They arrived just in time to catch him during one of his episodes and apprehended him. One of the officers noticed a door with many locks on it and thought that it was peculiar. His wife said that if her husband wasn't out of the house then he spent the majority of his time in his basement.

She was banned from entering and when she tried to take a peek earlier today she was punished.

The officer had confiscated a bunch of keys from Joshua earlier so he used them to unlock the door.

The basement seemed normal from the top of the stairs but as the officers descended they quickly discovered that this basement was far from ordinary.

What they saw could only be described as disturbing.

There were pictures of children taped to the wall that looked to be taken from a distance.

In a pile on a desk in the corner was a folder labeled 'Special Friends' that was filled with pictures of the corpses of what they could only assume to be the same children. The bodies were practically unidentifiable.

It also contained a picture of Sol's corpse.

On the opposite end of the same desk, there was a folder simply titled 'Next' and in it, they found pictures of Alta.

The thought of losing her life if Dorothy hadn't called in time sent chills down her spine.

Alta lived the rest of her life constantly thinking about all the horrors that could have happened to her.

It made her sick every time she thought of Joshua and the seemingly innocent smile that he always wore in public.

Joshua haunted her dreams for years. Every moment was spent in fear and even with all of the friends she made and the love she was given, she knew that unless Joshua was dead she would never be able to cope.

On April 17th, 2021, Joshua escaped prison.

Both of Alta's parents had gotten into a fatal car accident 3 days prior so she wasn't in the best mental state.

Alta was terrified for her life. Although she was 22 years old, fit, had a secure home, and a decent gun, she still felt fear towards him even though he was a 64-year-old man at that point. Coupled with the loss of her parents, her mind was in turmoil.

For the next 2 and a half weeks, Alta spent her days constantly looking over her shoulder until she finally had enough.

Being someone's prey didn't suit her, she wanted to be the predator. She wanted to hunt him down and make him bleed just like how he made her brother bleed.

It seemed like someone heard her prayers. On the night before she would search for her 'prey', Joshua arrived.

He was lurking outside her house around midnight.

It appeared as if he didn't notice all of the cameras that littered Alta's property as he brazenly walked up to her front door carrying a duffel bag.

Like an old-fashioned burglar, he started to pick the lock.

His first attempt proved that the lock in front of him was formidable, even for a 'first-rate' kidnapper like himself and after failing for the 5th time he grew extremely agitated.

"Fuck this!"

Joshua's enraged voice was the only thing Alta heard from her hiding spot before her front door was busted open. This was the moment she waited her entire life for.

She was going to kill the man that took her brother away from her.

Although she spent years preparing for this moment, there was still doubt in her mind. She would be a fool to think that she could come out of this unscathed. Her nerves wouldn't allow her to think such bold thoughts.

She could hear his footsteps getting closer. Alta's body was on the verge of collapse. Her heart was running a marathon and the tiny bit of confidence that she had managed to gain suddenly vanished.

She was terrified.

Joshua stopped outside her bedroom door. They both knew that this would be the place of their final stand.

"Alta I know you're in there! It's me your old friend. Can you open the door for me?"

His hoarse voice broke the silence that their standstill brought. Alta refused to make a sound. She wanted him to make the first move.

Seconds went by as Joshua's patience ran thin. Out of annoyance, he kicked the door open only to find an empty room.

After scanning the room he was left confused. That moment of confusion allowed Alta to enter her room and shoot Joshua.

Unfortunately because of her nerves, she missed his vitals, only grazing his side.

The shot startled Joshua but before Alta could manage to fire again, he threw the combat knife he had in his hand at her leg.

The pain from her new wound made her completely miss her second shot. She took the knife out of her leg before Joshua could tackle her and managed to dodge and stab him in his left arm.

Joshua recovered quickly and kicked Alta in her stomach resulting in her dropping her gun and losing her balance.

Using the gun Alta dropped, he pistol-whipped her using all the strength he could muster, and just for good measure, he punched her.

"I'm gonna have fun toying with you bitch!"

Joshua hadn't expected this much resistance. He knew that she anticipated his arrival but from what he had observed in the past 2 weeks, Alta was still the defenseless little puppy he knew.

Even with her high-tech fancy-schmancy cameras and locks, she was still weak. But to his surprise, that puppy could bite and it hurt.

Alta was in a predicament. Her leg was bleeding profusely and both her nose and jaw were broken.

She barely had the strength to continue their battle. Knowing that if she waited too long he would get what he wanted, Alta pushed him with all her might.

This caught Joshua off guard because he didn't expect retaliation while she was in such a sorry state.

Alta grabbed the knife still embedded in his chest and stabbed him in his stomach multiple times.

It looked as if Joshua was a goner but just like Alta, he didn't want to let her win. Using the last of his strength he tightly gripped the M9 in his hand, aimed, and fired.

Alta felt cold.

She was shot in her jugular. She couldn't scream. All she could do was stare as everything around her turned dark.

'Is this it?' She wondered. Nothing could be done now, she was dead and she knew he would die not too long after her. Killing Joshua with her own 2 hands was all she wanted in life.

Alta's body had been replaced with a tiny light and her movement was restricted. She couldn't do anything even if she wanted to.

'What now?' That was the only thing on her mind at the moment.

Just as she began to let her mind drift, she began to fall. The darkness around her started to disappear only to be replaced by a bright light and the smell of nature.

Alta felt displeased with the sudden change of environment and closed her eyes. Although she couldn't see due to the eternal flash bang that was the sun, it didn't take a brainiac to know from the feeling of dirt on her body and the strong smell of nature, that she was in a forest.

Her eyes begun to adjust to the light and she was able to see her surroundings. There was only one thought in her mind...

'What in the wuxia novel is this?!'