Chapter 2

Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, Kedah.

The emergency room was in havoc. Nurses and doctors were panicking and walking hastily everywhere. An accident happened on the Northern-Southern highway and a lot of people were involved.

On one side of the room, an unconscious Lilian was being examined by a female doctor. Beside her were nurses and paramedics.

"Injuries?" She asked.

"Too many. The major ones are the wound on her left temple, her left broken leg and a piece of metal on her waist. The other ones a mild injuries." A paramedic answered.

"Was she with anyone in the car?"

"A young male teenager."

"Where is he?"

"Deceased."

***************

Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The same woman who escaped from the men last night, woke up from her sleep, with heavy breathing and sweating.

She didn't have a nightmare, but rather witnessed and experienced someone's death in her sleep. She could feel the pain just before the other person died.

"A car crash...." She mumbled.

Truth is, she experienced this a lot of times before, but this time, she felt this person's death was closer to her. Meaning, the person who died is in the same country as her. When the person died, she saw their face, what they were wearing, who they were with, how they died, and where they were.

Maria saw that it was a young male, probably around his 20s, looks Chinese but have slightly dark skin. Probably mixed blood, either Chinese-Malaysian or Chinese-Indian. He was with a woman, around her 40s, but she was a pure Chinese. Possible relative. He died because of a fractured skull and his spine broke. She saw that they were on a highway, and in the dream she could see a road sign saying "Sungai Petani, 1 KM"

She immediately stood up from her bed and grabbed her holo-device that works as a computer. She searched for Sungai Petani and found out that it's a city located in Kedah. Kuala Lumpur is located far east, and Kedah is located North. She would need to travel for five to eight hours from Kuala Lumpur to Kedah, or she could just go on a plane, which would take at most 30-minutes.

She booked a ticket for today, and got a flight scheduled for the evening. Maria quickly tidied up the room she was staying in, took a shower, dressed up casually, and packed her belongings. An hour later she was seen coming out of the hotel, going into a taxi.

All of that without noticing that she was being observed not far away from where she was by a group of people in casual clothes. They were agents from ASIS, deployed to observe Maria's every move. There were one woman and two men. The woman looked like the one in charge, wearing sunglasses, acting like she was drinking coffee out of a paper cup, her covered eyes staring at the taxi that just passed by.

"Target just left. Any idea where she went?" She asked the men doing undercover tasks. One was acting as a street vendor, while the other was placed across the street sitting outside a café, with a laptop.

"Our guy did the job. She said she was headed to KLIA. Records showed she booked a ticket for Kedah, scheduled this evening."

"Perfect. Get me on a plane ASAP."

*********

A few hours later, inside the morgue of Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital.

A body of a young man was placed on a stretcher at the corner of the room. His head was cracked open and some contents of his head can be seen. Dried blood were everywhere on the stretcher and all over his cold dead body. Bruises were seen on his chest and legs. A piece of his left ribcage were protruding from inside his chest.

Suddenly, his body started twitching rapidly. His head that was cracked open, the skin and tissue, along with the skull were regenerating at a high speed until they were reattached fully as if his head weren't cracked before. The cuts and bruises on his body started disappearing. The bones in his body were making cracking noises as they were being aligned to their original positions. His misaligned spine started being reconstructed. In just one minute, his body was fixed as if nothing had ever happened.

Then the young man, Fareeq, gasped for breath with wide eyes. He quickly lifted his body up from the stretcher and started panicking.

'Where the hell am I? What happened to me?' He thought to himself as his eyes darted around the room. He found himself being in a small, dimly lit room. On the other stretchers were dead bodies, but he didn't mind them. His only thought right now was to get the hell out of this place and look for his aunt.

He saw a black trash bag at the corner and opened it, and found used clothes of someone else, probably dead. He took them out and wore a long sleeve black shirt and a track pants. He then walked to the door, opened it and walked out-

"Hold it there boy." A female voice came from his right as he was walking out. He turned to look to a white woman, probably in her thirties, standing against the wall. She walked to him and looked him in the eyes.

"So it is you." She said.

Fareeq didnt know what she meant by that, and she could see it on his face.

"Where were you going?" She asked

"To find my aunt."

"Nope. Forget your aunt. You're coming with me."

"What do you mea-"

Fareeq couldn't finish his sentence after getting struck in the neck by her hands. He immediately fell down to the floor. As she was about to lift his body, Fareeq suddenly stood up to her surprise.

"What the fuc-" This time it was her, when Fareeq thought this woman was about to kidnap him! He immediately kicked her body hard she staggered a few steps back.

"What did you do to me bitch?" He said as he walked to give her another kick.

"Wait wait!" She yelled, but Fareeq already threw a kick for her head. She swayed backwards and caught his leg, pulled out a knife, and slashed Fareeq's heel.

"AHHHHHHH FFFUUUUCK!" He screamed in agony as he watched his bleeding leg!

"Such a crybaby."

As he held his leg, he witnessed his heel starting to close itself up and stopping the bleeding. He was stunned, and he looked up towards the woman.

"You have answers don't you?" He asked.

She nodded, and gave her hand to pull him up. He received it and stood up. She gestured to follow her, and together they walked out of the morgue quietly.

*****

One hour later, the ASIS agents arrived at the same place Fareeq was at. They managed to get past the doctors and security quietly and headed to the morgue, and discovered that a body was missing.

"Who was it?" The woman with the sunglasses asked.

"Record shows Fareeq Aufa, 20 Year old student who used to lived with his aunt. Died in the car crash a few hours ago, but his aunt survived." The guy who was with the laptop before answered, and now he's carrying a holo-device to store his documents and for other purposes.

"Shit. There's a new one, and she's going to use him. We have to have to take him off her hands. Any idea where they went?" She asked.

"CCTVs saw them getting on a car headed for the city."

"Then we will do the same."

*****

Lilian woke up, but as soon as she did she winced. She could feel pain everywhere on her body. She wasn't able to move at all. She looked around with her eyes and recognized that this was a hospital. Then she remembered the crash.

'Fareeq!' She exclaimed in her head.

Then suddenly a nurse appeared, saw that Lilian was awake, and called for the doctor. Moments later a doctor came to her.

"How are you doing Ms Lilian?" He asked. The nametag on his coat says 'Lim'.

"I feel pain everywhere on my body. I can't move. Where's my nephew?"

"Relax Ms Lilian everything's going to be just fine. We'll give you something to get rid of the pain."

"My nephew, where is he?" She asked, with a demanding tone.

The doctor hesitated before answered.

"Your nephew is uh.... I'm sorry to say this but he's dead. I'm very sorry."

Lilian couldn't say a word after hearing the thing she didn't want to hear the most. Her nephew's dead. Her everything. Her only family she has. He was like a son to her, and now he's dead! Finally, tears streamed down her cheeks and she started sobbing. The doctor left her to give her some personal space. He understood what she was going through.

But this is all without her knowledge that her nephew's actually alive, as if nothing ever happened, and now is eating with a woman in a secluded café in the city.

Fareeq discovered that her name is Maria, and that she works as a contract mercenary worldwide. He learned that she was an immortal, and now he himself had become one. He asked some questions, and Maria answered them with ease.

"Do you know why we're like this?" He asked as he is munching a piece of red velvet cake.

She shook her head. "Nah, I've been to like this since the 1500s and have not discovered why I am like this."

Fareeq almost dropped his spoon when he heard it. The 1500s?! She's a GRANDMA?!

"You're kidding, right? More than half a millennium? Are you joking?"

"No, I'm really that old. If you read history, my exploits can be traced everywhere in the world. China, Japan, France, Brazil, America, or anywhere that had something big happen to them. I was everything. A pirate, a soldier, a nurse, a witch even, a princess, the leader of an army in China. I was everywhere with different identities. I was even here in 1511 when Malacca Sultanate was attacked, but I migrated to Britain. Oh did you know I know who Jack the Ripper is?"

"..."

"....then why are you here...?"

"Because of you." She said.

"Huh?"

"Obviously you can't go back to being who you used to live as before. Nuh-uh."

"Why the fuck not? I have an aunt, and I need to finish my studies!"

"You'll have plenty of time in your life to study idiot. 500 years was more than enough for me to learn more ways to kill than entire army will ever learn."

"Did you miss the part where I said I HAVE AN AUNT."

BANG!

She slammed the table, and Fareeq went quiet. The other patrons in the café stared at them.

"Sorry." She said to them.

She looked back at him with a sincere look.

"Fareeq. If you go back to who you were, you will find out later that you will witness your aunt becoming older and older, and she's dying, and then she's dead, and when you got to the point where you are at her age, you will still haven't aged. You witness the world around you progress, and you will see the people you used to know dying and you outlived them. Trust me Fareeq. You will get to the point where you can't even remember what your REAL NAME was."

Fareeq didn't have an argument for that explanation. Everything she said was right. Being an immortal has its pros, and has its cons. Maybe even more cons than pros. It's the reality he had to choose.

"Say I leave my old life and go with you. What's going to happen to me?"

"New name, new identity. I'm going to train you, and we will work together."

"My aunt? What will happen to her?"

"She will be safe. That's why I'm asking you to leave her. Our enemies can't use your aunt against you if you leave her."

Fareeq thought for a while, fiddling with his cake using his spoon, then nodded.

"Sure, but with one condition."

"What is it?"

"I want to see my aunt twice every year. That's all I'm asking for."

"Accepted. If there's nothing else, let's get outta here. Our enemies are probably on our tail."

"You say enemies, but who are they?"

Maria shook her head, while glancing around. Fareeq understood what she meant and nodded. She got up and he followed after. They paid for the food and walked out moments later. Not far from where they are, three sets of eyes were watching their every move. They were the ASIS agents.

"They're on the move again. Quick, let's get them before they get in the car. NOW!!" The female agent yelled. The three agents quickly sprinted towards where Fareeq and Maria were.

Fareeq and Maria, who were just about to enter the car, heard rapid footsteps closing in. The other passersby were startled by them. Maria immediately turned around and saw three individuals closing in on them!

"Fareeq, run!!!" Maria yelled.

She didn't need to tell him to run. When he saw the faces of the three of them he was scared shitless. He immediately bolted away and left Maria. He ran and ran until he couldn't. Fareeq gasped for breath and stopped.

When he thought about it, Maria sacrificed herself to let Fareeq run away. He immediately felt sorry. He just met Maria a few hours ago but he already felt attached to her. She was the only one who knew what's going on with him and also the only one who could help him.

Not wasting time, he immediately ran back to where they were. As he closes in, he saw Maria was being subdued by the female agent! He added speed into his strides and when he got closer.....

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF HER!!!!" He cried loudly before coming in and kicking the female agent hard in the face! She immediately got kicked a few metres away and involuntarily released Maria from being subdued. Maria immediately stood up, and faced the other two agents herself.

Her way of fighting was scary! No remorse, and no hesitation! It's the experience of half a millennium doing it's job. In just a few seconds, she already brought down the agents to the ground!! Maria grabbed Fareeq's arm and pushed him inside the car. She went to the driver's seat and started the car, then sped away from the three sudden attackers. The passersby who saw what happened immediately crowded the scene.

Fareeq and Maria fled from the scene quickly, and by the time the three agents recovered they were already a few blocks away.

"That was close huh?" Maria said.

"Who are they?"

"Agency of Special Intelligence Service, or ASIS. They've been on my tail for years and that's the closest they got to catching me."

"Shit. I didn't expect it to be this quick to meet enemies already."

Maria didn't reply but focused on the road. She took a turn to enter the highway.

"You didn't have to come back you know." She said.

Fareeq was surprised. Is this woman serious?

"You being serious? Miss, you're the only one who knows what's going on with me and the only one who can help me get through this. I need you."

When Maria heard that, she smiled a little, but Fareeq didn't see it.

'Im starting to like this kid already.' She thought.