Prelude To the Stars [Jackson Wang AMBW]

Chapter 2: First Encounter

The following night I had gone to bed with an unsettled heart. Something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I closed my eyes and drifted on the wings of sleep.

Dream:

I was running down an empty street with 4 men on my tail. The street lamp was my only source of comfort, as I maneuvered my way passed the flying bullets. The moment I glanced back my body collided with a wall, and I began to fall backwards. The wall, who I can now clearly see is a man, grabbed hold on me by my waist. Sparks started sounding off like it was Fourth of July.

Only his silhouette was visible under the night sky. As he stepped closer into the light I got lost in the beauty of his face. Our faces started to contort as heat and electricity intensified within us. He let go and darkness consumed me.

"Eden... Eden... Wake up Eden!!!"

I shot straight up in a panic. "I'm up! I'm up! What's wrong?" Aiden burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Your face is hilarious! I should take a picture." Before I could object he snapped a criminalizing photo of me. "Blackmail!"

"Aiden, you better not! Delete that right now or else!" I was livid.

"Or else what? I hold the power, or have you forgotten that quickly?" He snickered. Sometimes I just wanted to knock that smirk right off of his face. He leaned in to poke my cheek, a pet peeve of mine.

"Don't..." I smacked his hand away in annoyance. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Before I could count to 6 Aiden's finger poked my cheek. As he scurried out of the room I threw a pillow at his head. Gabe stuck his head in my room and a pillow landed right in his face.

Once I realized who I had just hit my eyes went wide. "Oh! Gabe, I... I'm so sorry. I thought you were... and the pillow went flying out of anger..." I just sighed in defeat.

His smile reached his eyes. Well, I'm glad he found this amusing, otherwise I'd be dead. "Hahahahaha! So I'm guessing Aiden was just in here."

*sigh* "Yeah, he took a blackmailing picture of me. My payback will be sweet, but what's up?"

"Dad sent me to wake you up, but Aiden beat me to it. That guy.... I wonder sometimes if he was dropped on the head as a baby." Gabe giggled.

"Ha! Ok, I'm not the only one who thinks that!" I snort, which makes Gabe and I laugh even harder.

"OK, knucklehead. Dad says we're leaving in an hour. So get ready! I'll be back to check on you."

"Yay!" I do my happy dance, and Gabe shakes his head in amusement.

"You're gonna make someone real happy one day." His smile falters for a quick second as I stop dancing to question his statement. Gabe acts like he didn't say anything weird and leaves. "Remember, one hour."

Why is everyone acting so weird around me? Ever since Aiden and Gabe came back from Hong Kong they've been acting super stranger. I mean, Aiden is always strange, but Gabe - being the older mature one- has not been himself lately. They're hiding something from me, and I'm gonna find out what it is.

I put the questions behind me for now, and jump in the shower. I'm dressed and ready to go with 10 minutes to spare. I double check everything just to make sure I'm not missing something important. Gabe knocks on my door, and I tell him to come in. He asks me if I'm ready, and I just nod my head. "Hey, what did you mean earlier when you said, "I'm gonna make someone happy one day?" Gabe stiffens at my question, but then shrugs it off.

"Just that. You're gonna make someone happy. You're a great woman. Any guy would be blessed to have you as a wife." He takes my luggage and makes haste for the car before I can ask him anything else. It's ok. There's always the plane ride. He can't escape me there.

We're a close family. Gabe is the oldest. He's 30 and has a personality to match. He is very responsible and honest, but if you cross him he can become your worst nightmare. Gabe is married to Fēi. She's 28 and a Chinese assassin. Aiden and Ayanna are twins. They're both 28, and yet they're complete opposites. Ayanna is more like Gabe, and Aiden is the wise (funny) guy.

Ayanna has been married to Mr. Ok Taecyeon for 8 years. His father is the biggest mob boss in all of South Korea. They have 2 beautiful sons, TJ and AJ, both 6 year old twins. Aiden and Soo Young have been married for 7 years as well. Soo Young's dad owns half of South Korea. Soo Young and Taecyeon are first cousins. She's my age, which is a bonus. Aiden and Soo Young are expecting their first child in 6 months. That should calm Aiden down a bit... I hope.

My parents Denzel and Angela Giles have been married for 37 years. Within those 3 decades they've expanded the mob empire and took it global, all while raising 4 kids. It's no secret that our parents are mobsters. We're used to it. That's been the family business for 3 generations. Gabe is set to inherit it next. Our parents have it set up to where we'll all be taken care of for the rest of our lives, and it's an added bonus that we're marrying into already wealthy families. My family is well respected.

Well and then there's me, the baby of the family. My name is Eden Giles, and I'll be 25 in 2 months. I'd say I'm not like either of my siblings. My personality is that of an introvert. What I lack in people skills I make up for in martial arts and archery. I'm masters in both professions. My father calls me his secret weapon. Fēi and I train together when she's not on a mission. I'm a demon slayer.

My family is super protective over me. I can take care of myself. I'll let you in on a secret though: 7 years ago I met a man much older than me while I was training in China. Andy was his name. All of my years training didn't prepare me for this. We fell in love, and the first 6 months were bliss. However, out of nowhere Andy hit me.

Time after time he promised never to do it again. He took away my power. Andy was also very skilled in martial arts, so every time we would fight I always lost the battle physically and emotionally. He was wearing me down mentally as well. I lost myself in the darkness of his soul. Andy locked me in his house and kept me away from my family. This abuse went on for 6 more months.

I hit rock bottom when Andy raped me. 3 months later I found out that I was pregnant. I secretly contacted my dad and asked him to come and rescue me because I was with child. I could breathe knowing that my Dad was coming for me. What I didn't know was that Andy had tapped the phone lines. When Andy discovered my betrayal he beat me to death and left me in an abandoned alleyway to rot. Thankfully God sent help, and I was rushed to the hospital and revived. I had a miscarriage though.

I had a mental breakdown when I came to and the doctor told me my baby was gone. The nurses had to sedate me every time the medicine wore off, because I would break things and try to kill myself. By the time my family went to kill Andy he was already gone. Andy had help lying low, and I know he's still out there waiting to finish what he started, and nothing scares me more.

I've since healed and forgiven myself for the blame and regret of not asking for help sooner. My family, however, will not let me out of their sights for more than 10 minutes. They're suffocating me. It feels a lot like living with Andy..