PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE;

 —

Saturday morning.

The sun was already high but the heat was not even enough to warm someone. The streets and roofs of the houses were covered in thick white snow. It was plain white outside and it was cold. Most of the townsfolk are inside their houses drinking hot tea and staying lazy in front of the fireplace the whole day.

Everyone was idle except for a small house that is almost inside the thick forest. There was an out-of-place car that was parked outside. The expensive car was left unguarded but thankfully, no one was crazy enough to steal something on board the daylight.

 The house was only a two-storied building and the interior is almost bare. There was a rocking chair on the patio in case someone wants to sit down and read newspapers but no one is out at the moment. They were busy preparing inside.

In the small living room, someone in a three-piece suit sat on a worn-out sofa. Despite the odd appearance of the thing that the man was sitting on, he didn’t show disgust or comment on anything offensive. He just sat there quietly with a small smile on his face.

 Later on, an older man came out from the small and disorganized kitchen. He brought a teapot with him and a couple of teacups. It was faint but two of the teacups have small cracks on them.

“I am sorry for the delay.” The man said with all smiles. He put the cups on the small coffee table in front of the man and exaggeratedly poured him the tea. “Here, here. Drink this to warm your tummy. It’s cold, yes indeed it’s cold.”

The man looked at the cheap tea that the man brewed for him. It was obviously brought from a small market and was stored for many months as if it was scarce and just found its use today. He wasn’t sure about the taste but brought it to his mouth nonetheless.

After the awful liquid entered his mouth, he calmly concluded that he will not drink a sip of it again.

“How was it?” The old man eagerly asked, his yellowish teeth showing after smiling from ear to ear. “How was the taste?”

The handsome man smiled. “It’s okay.”

“I know right!” The old man boasted. “I spent at least a hundred dollars for this one. Because it was expensive I stopped myself from using it until a special occasion comes.”

He was spouting lies and boasting about nonsense and when he realized that the man was not even answering, he closed his mouth and poured himself a cup of tea eagerly. He was dying to taste the tea since he took it out from who-knows-where. After drinking it, he realized how bad the taste is and he almost spat the liquid out.

 He regretted drinking the tea, regretted that he made the man drink this death-inducing tea, and regretted the fact that he stored it for almost a year. He wanted to cry but he can’t.

“Oh dear,” he said, trying to cover his blunder. “It seems like they are taking too long, what could have happened, I wonder?”

He said that to distract their guest away from his mistake and he was really wondering why is that they are not coming down. He was angry at his wife and daughter for being tardy. He stood up and glanced apologetically at the man in a suit.

“I have to fetch—“

“Dear,” Before he finishes his sentence, he was interrupted by his panicking wife. “Agnes is gone!”

--

In the middle of the filled snow forest, a redhead was very visible. That read head was walking around the forest at a fast pace and barely avoiding the low branches of the tress. The owner of the read head was pouting and her face was flushed due to cold. It was Agnes in her worn-out brown winter coat. 

She was fast on her feet and she was already a kilometer away from her house. When she noticed the distance, she finally stopped and her eyes caught on a red stain on the ground. Her eyes widen as she tried to make her eyes focus on the blood stains without shuddering or screaming.

After a careful look, she noticed that the stain was trailing towards the back of a tree. Agnes followed the trail curiously and found a dead squirrel. Agnes’ heart sank and she squatted down in front of the dead small animal.

“I am sorry,” she muttered softly. She scoped a handful of snow with her bare hands and covered half of its body with it. “This is the only thing I can give you right now.”

Agnes was not answered, but it was okay. She just stared in a daze as the blood slowly stained the snow she used to cover the lower part of its body. Then her mind recalled what happened earlier, she can’t help but pout her small, pink lips.

Her mother just suddenly stormed her room early this morning. She forced her to wake up and took a bath. She was strongly against it because it was winter, baths are unbearably cold—they don’t have a heater! Her mother didn’t listen to her and sent her directly to the bathroom and she reluctantly took a bath.

After that, she received the biggest news of her life. She was getting married and her soon-to-be husband was already coming. Agnes was dumbstruck by the news. She can’t believe it. Her? Getting married? She was just 19! She didn’t even attend college yet!

Her questions were left unanswered until he arrived. She doesn’t want to face whoever he is so she used the single moment where her mother was distracted and she slip out. And here she was, facing a dead squirrel and burying half of its body by snow.

To tell you the truth, she was low-key curious about her husband-to-be. She can’t help but question what he looks like. Is he handsome? Or just the average?

“What an unfortunate little animal. The lower part of his body was eaten even when he was still alive.”  A low and baritone voice rang from behind. Agnes jolted in shock and she whipped her head to see who it was only to be more shocked.

He was a rare beauty. He has these perfectly shaped jaws and a very alluring Adam’s apple. His whole body was lean and it was very obvious that he is muscular even with the coat. Agnes stared at him and concluded that he was years older than him. 3? Or perhaps 5?

Suddenly, their eyes met. Agnes’ heart pounded crazily inside her chest as she stared at his jet black eyes that look like a black hole that absorbed anything near it. Agnes opened her mouth.

“How did you know?” She asked about his statement earlier.

The man suddenly smiled. “Instinct.” 

Instinct?

Of what and why he used the words, she didn’t ask or bothered about it. She was immersed in the man in front of her and can’t help but ask inside her mind.

Is this what they call love at first sight?

The man reached out a hand and his smile turned sweater. “You are Agnes, I reckon?”

She unconsciously grabbed it and muttered a small ‘yes.’ The man gave off an alluring low laugh that tickled her ears. “I see.”

He yanked her up and stared at her chocolate eyes, then he smiled, his eyes smiling with him. “Hello, Agnes. My name’s Leon.”

 —