《A Twist that Lead to the Fall》 Chapter 1: The first fall ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± Emma says, giving her friend a glare. ¡°Sorry. I missed the bus by like five seconds. I ran when I saw it, but the driver closed the bus door right before I got on.¡± Decker says with a apologetic smile. ¡°You missed one bus. But I¡¯ve been waiting for you for almost half an hour,¡± says Emma. Her lips slant down in a deep frown. ¡°I waited for the next bus, but the bus arrived about twenty minutes after the first one. I¡¯m sorry Emma. How about I buy you something sweet as an apology. I remember that you wanted to go to that new ice cream crepe place,¡± says Decker. He gives Emma a small smile while looking at her with his big puppy dog eyes. ¡°Fine. Apology accepted. But you know how I hate waiting. If you¡¯re going to be late, at least give me a message or a call next time. I waited for a long time, wondering where you were,¡± says Emma. Decker gives her a big smile and says, ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to message you next time. Let¡¯s go. Do you want to get the ice cream crepe first or get it after the fair.¡± Emma thinks for a second before saying, ¡°Crepe place. The fair can wait. Desserts are always the priority.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Okay!¡± Decker laughs, finding what she said amusing. ¡°So how do we get there?¡± asks Emma. Decker looks at Emma and pinches her cheek. ¡°You know how to eat, but you don¡¯t know how to get to the place where the food is.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re for. With you here, why would I need to look at the directions.¡± Emma says showing a bright smile. ¡°Am I your GPS?¡± asks Decker. ¡°Pretty much,¡± says Emma. ¡°Lead the way! Let¡¯s go!¡± She walks forward and links her arm with Decker¡¯s. They walk down the stairs, towards the subway station. ¡°It smells down here.¡± Emma says with a frown. ¡°Well yeah. I¡¯ve never seen anyone clean a subway station,¡± says Decker. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry. My phone says that the next train is arriving soon.¡± ; Decker leads Emma towards another set of stairs which leads towards the subway train platform. ¡°I see the train coming. Hurry!¡± Decker says, tugging on her arm. Emma tries to keep up with his pace down the stairs. She¡¯s doing well until one of her foot twists. Decker is still tugging her arm, causing her upper body to move down the stairs. Her foot is still on the previous step. Emma¡¯s mind becomes blank. Her body falls forward. Gravity brings her body down the stairs. Her arm is still linked with Deckers, causing him to lose his balance too. Emma has no control of her body as she watches herself fall head first. The ground becomes closer and closer. She feels terror in her heart, but she can only hope that she gets a light injury. Her head hits the floor. All Emma feels is a shocking pain before she loses consciousness. Chapter 2: Stale black bread She bites down onto the stale black bread, ripping a large piece off with her plaque stained teeth. The bread is hard to swallow, but she forces it down. She continues to bring the bread to her mouth using her right hand while her left arm hangs down limply. As she devours the bread, her eyes are fixed on the entrance of the alley. Fear could be seen in her anxious grey pupils. If the lady finds her, she wouldn¡¯t know what to do. Everytime she hears footsteps walking past the entrance of the alleyway, she would feel her heart stop. Only when the footsteps fade from her ears would her heartbeat return. Never would Emma have imagined that she would be in such a situation, hiding in an alleyway while eating a stolen piece of stale bread. She feels despair for her current situation. Before this, Emma was a happy girl. She grew up living a normal life. She was an only child, living with annoying but loving parents. Her friends were a bit weird, but within the range of what people expect as a normal weird. Her grades in school were slightly above average. She worried about her weight like many other girls her age, but she still loved to eat nonetheless So, why is she in a dirty corner of an alleyway while hiding and eating stolen food? *** Earlier today, she woke up as the sun peeked out from the horizon. She felt the chilling morning wind blow across her skin. When she tried to hug her body, she felt pain course through her left arm. Emma endured the pain by clenching her teeth, waiting for the pain to subside. She looked down at the arm and sees a big dark purple bruise. This is where the pain originated from. Emma¡¯s eyes stared at the arm. At first it was because she wondered where the bruise came from, but then she noticed something. She was looking down at a thin arm of a child. The skin was tan from the constant exposure from the sun. The arm was so thin that she could see the outline of the bone underneath her dry rough skin. This caused her to be confused. This was her arm? Was she dreaming? She looked around. Her body was laying outside, in an alley. A rat froze as Emma¡¯s eyes landed on it. The rat¡¯s beady black pupils made eye contact with her before it quickly scurried into a dark corner of the alley. Emma jolted as she saw the rat move. This disturbed her left arm which made her feel a dull pain. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Her eyes swept around again, making sure there isn¡¯t anything else before her tense body finally relaxes. This felt too real to be a dream. But Emma doesn¡¯t believe that this is reality. It couldn¡¯t be. She remembers that she fell down the stairs at the subway station. She was with her friend, Decker, and they were heading towards the new ice cream crepe place. But the situation that she was in at the moment confused her. She didn¡¯t know what to think until it dawned on her that there¡¯s a possibility that she¡¯s in a coma. Maybe this dream was so deep and real because she¡¯s currently in a coma. She has never heard of it happening before, but it could be possible. So how does she wake up? She kept telling herself to wake up. She pinched herself and even moved her arm to feel pain, but it¡¯s to no avail. She noticed that nothing she was doing worked, so she eventually stopped. Would she dream forever? She could picture her body laying in a hospital bed, aging as time past. Surprisingly, Emma didn¡¯t panic. She only felt sadness when thinking about her parents. They loved her so much, always spoiling her. They were annoying at times, but Emma knew that they only cared for her. She couldn¡¯t help as tears welled up in her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. When her emotions calmed down, she finally noticed she was shaking from hunger. Her stomach was giving off an unbearable feeling. Even if this is a dream, she couldn¡¯t endure the torture of being starving. She slowly walked towards the entrance of the alley, both cautious and curious about what¡¯s beyond it. What she saw was stalls lining a wide path. Only a few people were walking around. As they pass the alley entrance, they would give her a glance before moving on. She stepped out of the alley and looked around for food. Emma walked pass a few stalls until her eyes landed on one that sold bread. The basket only had two loaves left. They were black and looked unappetizing to eat. Emma looked at it and questioned how edible the bread was. But she knew that she needed to eat something. The trembling of her hands was becoming increasingly worst. She was going to call out to the lady behind the stall for the bread, but she realized that her body only has thin rags for clothes and had no money. But her hunger was intolerable. She was hesitant to steal. When the lady behind the food stall wasn¡¯t looking, Emma acted without thinking further. Her body reacted and ran forward, snatching a loaf of black bread from the basket. Emma turned to run away, but she heard the lady behind the stall yell, ¡°Thief! Stop!¡± Emma was about to stop, but when she saw the lady coming at her with a knife, she ran as fast as she could back to the alley. When she returned to the alley, she hid herself in a dark corner. ¡°Wake up. Wake up!¡± Emma mutters to herself, hoping to be released from this predicament. She gripped onto the bread regretting her actions. But what has been done can¡¯t be undone. The past can¡¯t be changed. Now is the present. She bites down onto the stale black bread, ripping a large piece off... Chapter 3: Call for help Emma rubs her belly. She¡¯s hungry. The stale bread barely filled her stomach. She never ate such a disgusting piece of bread before. It was bitter and hard. The ingredients that were used were questionable since it came out as black bread. Emma was spoiled by her parents, and her family had no difficulty with money. Everyday, she would eat what she desired to eat. Her mother was a wonderful cook and was able to create a variety of delicious dishes. On the occasions that she didn¡¯t feel like eating at home, she would just go out to eat. This was the first time she ate something such as a stale black piece of questionably made bread. But it sated her hunger. Time passes and her stomach calls out for food again. This causes Emma to be in a dilemma. She thinks hard on how to get food, but only frustration follows. The lady with the knife didn¡¯t show up, but Emma doesn¡¯t want to be in such a situation again. She didn¡¯t even want to steal in the first place, but her mind went blank while her body moved. If the lady didn¡¯t come at her with a knife, Emma might have even returned the bread when the lady told her to stop. If she isn¡¯t willing to steal, how will she get food to feed herself? Even if she steals now, would she have to continue stealing forever? This isn¡¯t the solution. There has to be another way. But right now, in this dreamland, she¡¯s in the body of a small child. What can she do to make money? Should she beg? Emma¡¯s pride is too much to allow her to do that. Emma thinks for a bit, and decides to ask people if they need help in exchange for food. She would have prefered money, but she wants food to eat first. Her stomach pains are becoming worst. Truthfully, it¡¯s not a horrible stomach pain. Many people would feel this pain when they¡¯re hungry and haven¡¯t eaten something for a while. Some people feel even worst pain from not eating for a longer period of time. But remember that Emma has been well taken care of for all her life. She doesn¡¯t handle pain well. Emma takes steps towards the entrance of the alley. This time, she goes in the opposite direction of the stall that sells the stale black bread. She walks for awhile before seeing a stall that sells dried meat. She approaches the stall owner. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°What do you want? If you have no money, then scram!¡± The stall owner says while looking up and down her body. He only sees a penniless girl, coming to beg for food. Emma stops her approach. ¡°I want to exchange my help for food.¡± say Emma. ¡°Help? Why would I need your help? I don¡¯t need it. Now stop blocking the front of my stall. You are blocking my business.¡± The stall owner says while flicking his hand towards her like he¡¯s shooing away a stray dog. She clenches her small fists. Emma feels humiliated and anger from the way she¡¯s treated, but she doesn¡¯t do anything, She¡¯s never been in such a situation before. People would usually be glad to help her, but she¡¯s now being treated worst than dirt. Emma can only walk away. She sees people glancing at her, but they all look away, returning to their own business. Emma continues to ask stall owners if they could give her food in exchange for help, but they all reject her. Some would be nicer and just reject the offer, but some others weren¡¯t that nice. At one of the stalls, a stall owner actually kicked her on her leg before pushing her on the floor. He then proceeded to laugh. He laughed at her. She wanted to do something, but she didn¡¯t. She didn¡¯t know what she could do. Hit him? She¡¯s in the body of a small child, while he¡¯s a grown adult. It wouldn¡¯t have turned out good. So Emma could only endure. Emma limped while she trudged on the path. She gave up on asking to exchange help for food. Tears could be seen welling in her eyes as she slowly walked. Why? Why is she in this situation? Why is she dreaming such a horrible dream? All she wants right now is to wake up. She walks past an alley, when she hears thudding and grunting noises. Emma turns her head to look towards the noise in the alleyway. She sees a scary man slamming down his fists onto the forehead of an old man. The old man has blood running down his forehead, where the violent man punched him. The old man¡¯s lips are ripped and nose is blood from the previous punches. ¡°Stop!¡± Emma yells as she sees a young man, with a scar on his cheek, punch out towards the old man¡¯s stomach. The young man doesn¡¯t stop. He punches the old man, causing the old man¡¯s back to bend farther. ¡°Uh.¡± The old man grunts. While his body is shaking, the old man turns to Emma and says, ¡°R..run.¡± Run? Emma doesn¡¯t move. The actions of the young man with the scar and the violent looking man shocks her. They¡¯re beating up an defenceless old man. What in the world is wrong with them. Emma finally jolts back when she sees the young man coming towards her. ¡°Hey there. Want to join in for the fun?¡± The young man says with a devilish grin on his lips. Fear. Emma feels fear as the young man decreases the distance between them. Emma turns and yells, ¡°Help! Someone help!¡± She watches as passersby stop in their steps for a brief moment before quickly walking away. They only gave her a glance. They didn¡¯t want to be involved in this mess. Emma feels helpless. How could people be so heartless. She hears the young man laugh. ¡°No one¡¯s going to help. Now come here.¡± The young man says while reaching out his hand to grab her. In the corner of her eyes, she sees two people dressed in a uniform. She runs in their direction. Emma reaches them and pleads, ¡°They¡¯re beating up an old man! Help!¡± The two man in uniform look at her as she breathes heavily. ¡°Get out of our way.¡± One of the man says. Emma is in shock as the man in uniform pushes her on the shoulder. The force was so much that her feet lifts off the ground before her body slams back down onto earth. Chapter 4: The Second Fall Passersby turn to look at the commotion caused by a young girl. They immediately judge her to be a street child. Her short red hair is coated with oil, while her tan skin is cover with clothes considered by them as worst than rags. Her grey eyes filled with shock could be noted when the man in uniform pushed her. Many of them quicken their steps, not wanting to be involved with such a scene. Others remain, finding the situation interesting to watch. But they stand at a distance, not wanting to intervene. The onlookers stare at Emma and take quick glances at the two men in uniform. The one that pushed her has dark green eyes like the waters of a swamp. His dirty blond hair flows down, reaching just a bit past his ears. The other man has light brown eyes. He looks intimidating with his his tall and muscular body and bald head. Emma couldn¡¯t believe that the man in uniform pushed her as she went to ask for help. She thought that the person would be a law enforcer from his uniform, but she must have been mistaken. The man in uniform, who pushed Emma, glares at her with his green pupils. His face contorts in annoyance as he takes out a handkerchief to wipe his hands. ¡°Dirty street trash.¡± He says while he tosses the used handkerchief on the ground. The other bald man in uniform moves towards Emma. An unpleasant noise comes from his throat before he spits a gooey substance onto her face. His facial expression is one of disdain and amusement. He says, ¡°Here. To wash yourself. No need to thank me,¡± and he bursts out laughing. Emma gives a low shrek, quickly trying to wipe the disgusting spit from her face. Her shock quickly becomes one of anger and disgust. She shoots a glare at the two men standing before her. How could such people exists. ¡°Angry? What are you going to do about it?¡± provokes the man with the bald head. His lips curls up in a sinister grin. He takes a step forward towards Emma. Emma sees this and her eyes flickered. Her body wants to move backwards, but she doesn¡¯t move. Emma is scared, but her mind is also filled with hate. She wants to fight, but she knows she has no strength. ¡°Hin, stop messing around. Boss told us to report immediately.¡± The blond hair man says with a frown etched onto his face. The bald man gives Emma a long stare like how a cat would give to a insect. He wants to ¡®play with her¡¯. He wants to turn her anger into despair, while he slowly tortures her to death. ¡°Fine.¡± The bald man says, finally looking away. ¡°Count yourself lucky.¡± Both the men in uniform walk away, no longer paying attention to Emma whos laying on the ground. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Emma releases a breath. The tension in her body eases up as she watches the two men walk farther and farther away until they¡¯re finally go out of view. If she had the power, she would beat both of them up and stomp on them. But Emma knows that she¡¯s powerless. That¡¯s why even though she very much wanted to hit them, she didn¡¯t dare to. Even in her dream, she¡¯s weak. All she could do was glare at them. Emma suddenly hears a voice that says, ¡°Hey. We¡¯re still here to play with you.¡± She turns around to see the man from before. His scar looks even more sinister as he smiles. He walks towards her. Many of the people give him space when they saw another conflict arising. The man with the scar was one of the onlookers from before. He didn¡¯t want to get involved if something happened between the girl and the uniformed men. Now that the uniformed men left, his courage to act resurfaced. Emma glares at him, projecting all her hate. It all started with this man when she saw him in the alley. She glances at the old man that was beaten up. He¡¯s being dragged out of the alley by the arm. The violent looking man pulls him out into the open and drops the old man¡¯s arm onto the ground. The old man winces in pain. He¡¯s heavily injured, and his breathing is hoarse and uneven. Emma feels even more hate boiling up inside of her. When she first saw the old man, his appearance reminded her of her own grandpa when he was alive. Her grandpa used to live in her house when she was growing up. He would cook yummy food for her every day and always made sure to make desserts for her to eat. This is also one of the reason why Emma loves desserts so much. Now she sees an old man, that looks similar to her grandpa, being beaten up by some hooligans. How would she not burst out, trying to stop them. Emma feels more hate towards these two hooligans than towards the uniformed men. She was humiliated, but it hurts more to see this old man being treated in such a way. Emma pushes herself off the ground with difficulty and stands straight. She glares at the two hooligans in front of her. ¡°Let him go.¡± Emma says in an unwavering voice. ¡°And if we don¡¯t?¡± replies the man with a scar on his face. Emma bites her lips and charges at the man. The man with the scar finds this amusing and doesn¡¯t move. What can a little girl do to him? Emma reaches her arm out and pinches him in the soft part of his stomach. The man gives a small grunt before looking down with a smile. This is all she can do? How laughable. His facial expression changes as he see Emma using all her strength to kick him between his legs. He wants to push her away, but it¡¯s already too late. ¡°AHHG.¡± A horrible sound comes from the man¡¯s throat and he bends over. His hands reflexively goes to his crotch. Tears could be seen welling up in his eyes while his face turns a deep red. The violent man that was watching from behind rushes towards Emma. He grabs onto Emma¡¯s shirt and lifts her up with one hand. Emma¡¯s mind is blank while being lifted up. The violent looking man throws her, making her fly through the air. It only registered to her that she¡¯s in deep trouble after she¡¯s already in midair. Emma feels despair as she feels gravity causing her body to fall. She¡¯s reminded of her fall down the stairs. Would she die or would she finally wake up from this dream. As she anticipates the impact of her fall, she unexpectedly feels someone catch her. Chapter 5: She faints ¡°I got you.¡± A low hoarse voice drifts to her ears. Emma lifts her head, making eye contact with the soft hazel pupils of a middle aged man. Streaks of grey could be seen mixed in with his black hair. His stature can be described as average. Muscles could be seen outlining his uniform, especially when his arms flex while carrying Emma in a princess style fashion. Emma¡¯s automatic reaction is to push her body off, but she finds that her strength is miserly compared to his. In Emma¡¯s whole life, the only man to have held her in a princess style carrying position was her dad. That was when she was still a young girl. When Emma was younger, she always felt happy, safe and loved when she was with her dad. The current situation doesn¡¯t give her that feeling her dad used to give her. Emma is thankful for the man¡¯s help, but she feels uncomfortable in this stranger¡¯s arms. It doesn¡¯t help that the man¡¯s facial expression scares her. He has a slight smile on his face as he faces her, but it seems unnatural. From Emma¡¯s perspective, the middle aged man has a naturally stern facial structure that a smile can¡¯t soften. Multiple small scars are etched onto his face, and his bushy eyebrows doesn¡¯t make him look very nice. But Emma knows that this man caught her when she was falling, and feels good will from his honest expression. It¡¯s just that this occurred so fast and out of nowhere that she feels a bit panicked. Before this incident, Emma was a Senior in college. She has interacted with a diverse group of people in her three and a half years while studying, and this eventually allowed her to see the different personalities that people have. She can¡¯t tell if this man is a completely good guy at the moment, but she does have a good impression of him for now. Calming down a bit, Emma stops struggling. She looks at the face of the man that¡¯s carrying her and meets his eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡± Emma says weakly. She wishes that she could speak with more strength, but everything that has occurred has drained the energy from her. ¡°A strong heart.¡± The man only says these words. He lifts his head and looks at the two hooligans, the soft gaze of his eyes becomes sharp. ¡°Bullying an old man and a little girl. I guess that¡¯s all you two are good for.¡± The man bends down, allowing Emma to stand on the ground. Emma watches the back of the man as he walks towards the two men and unsheathes the sword that¡¯s hanging on his waist. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The two hooligans back up. Fear could be seen on their faces. ¡°W..we were just playing,¡± stutters the young man with the scar. Playing? Emma¡¯s anger rises when she heard his words. Beating up defenceless people counts as playing? Emma really wants to kick him harder in the same spot. These guys should get arrested. Emma¡¯s eyes drifts to the sharp sword that the middle aged man is holding. Why is he holding a weapon? She¡¯s pretty sure that people aren¡¯t allowed to have sharp real swords in public. Does this guy want to get arrested too? Even if it¡¯s to scare the two hooligans, isn¡¯t this a bit too much? Emma opens her mouth, wanting to warn the middle aged man that he shouldn¡¯t take out a sword in public. Before she could say anything, the middle aged man has already arrived in front of the two hooligans and slashes at them. Shock. Emma feels pure shock as she sees blood gushing out from the two hooligan¡¯s throat. This guy is a murderer? A small sound escapes from Emma¡¯s mouth as it hangs open. This is the first time Emma has seen someone die in front of her. She¡¯s never seen so much blood coming out of a person in her life. Emma doesn¡¯t even like donating blood, because she¡¯s scared that she¡¯ll faint from seeing too much blood come out. Emma¡¯s legs shake violently and collapses on her. No strength could hold her up. But Emma doesn¡¯t faint. She stares at the dead bodies of the two hooligans, but jolts as she sees the middle aged man turn towards her. He starts to walk in a slow manner towards her direction. ¡°First time seeing someone get killed?¡± He says while looking at her. Emma tries to back away, but she has no strength to. ¡°You¡¯re scared. Was my judgement wrong?¡± says the man. The first part is for Emma, but the second part seemed to be said for himself. ¡°You killed them.¡± Emma says in a barely audible voice. ¡°If I didn¡¯t kill them, they would¡¯ve come back for revenge on you and him.¡± He says while pointing at the old man. ¡°But the officers would have arrested them. You killed them, so they¡¯ll come for you too,¡± says Emma. Emma doesn¡¯t want to interact with this man, but he¡¯s now standing right in front of her. She¡¯s scared. She says this hoping that he¡¯ll leave quickly. Emma avoids looking the man in the eyes, so she doesn¡¯t see the puzzled expression on the man¡¯s face. ¡°I am an officer,¡± says the man. Huh? Emma looks at the man, and notices his uniform. It¡¯s the same type of uniform the the two men from before wore. The two men from before really were officers? This killer is also an officer? Is this uniform really the ones that officers wear? Neither the men from before or this man in front of her act like real officers. The two from before are most likely corrupt and this one is a killer. Aren¡¯t officers supposed to uphold justice. They aren¡¯t supposed to act violently if the evildoers aren¡¯t retaliating. The hooligans from before didn¡¯t put up any resistance, but this man killed them. Nothing makes sense. Blood rushes to Emma¡¯s head as her brain is overloading from thinking. Her weak body can¡¯t handle the extra stress that has been building up. Black spots start appearing in Emma¡¯s vision before everything goes black. The rest of her body slumps onto the floor as she faints. Chapter 6: Potential ¡°When do you think she¡¯ll wake up?¡± asks a squeaky voice of a young boy. A young girl replies by shrugging her shoulders. Emma¡¯s eyelashes tremble. She opens her eyes to see a wooden ceiling above her. The last thing she remembers is the middle aged man in the uniform. He killed the hooligans and called himself an officer. Then she must have blacked out. ¡°Oh you¡¯re finally awake.¡± The soft voice of a young girl sounds from beside Emma. Emma turns her head, only to be an inch away from the face of a young girl. Emma could see the girl¡¯s black eyelashes move as the young girl blinks. Emma¡¯s mind is blank as she stares into the eyes of the young girl. The girl¡¯s eyes are the same soft hazel as the ¡®officer¡¯ that saved her. Could this be that man¡¯s daughter? He has such a pretty looking daughter. Her skin is slightly tan, but it¡¯s soft and gives a healthy glow. The young girl gives Emma a smile, showing the dimples on her round cheeks. Emma¡¯s hand reaches out and softly pinches one of the cheeks of the young girl. ¡°So cute.¡± Emma mutters while looking wide eyed at the girl. The young girl freezes as Emma¡¯s hand continues to pinch her cheek. She opens her mouth and asks, ¡°Are you okay?¡± Emma returns to her senses and retracts her hand. ¡°Yeah,¡± replies Emma, and she continues to say, ¡°You¡¯re so cute. Be my little sister okay.¡± ¡°HAHA.¡± Loud laughter sounds from a young boy. ¡°She wants you to be her little sister. She even pinched your cheek. Allis, that¡¯s so funny.¡± ¡°Shut up, Eric.¡± Allis says while giving Emma a soft smile. ¡°My name is Allis. My father brought you to our home. I think he wants to talk to you in a bit, but you should rest for now.¡± ¡°Hey. What¡¯s your name. Why did the corporal bring you here?¡± asks the young boy. Emma looks towards him and sees him walking towards the bed that she¡¯s laying in. His eyes are a dark red. Looking at them makes Emma curious. Do people have red eyes? Emma has never heard or seen this before. She only remembers that vampires¡¯ eyes are red, but they are a urban legend. ¡°Corporal? Like those in the army?¡± Asks Emma. ¡°Yea. I¡¯m kind of surprised that you know what a corporal is. You don¡¯t look like you¡¯ve had an education. You forgot to tell me your name,¡± says the young boy named Eric. He gives a once over at her tattered and old clothes. Emma looks down at her clothes. They are tattered and old. She would have never worn this on her own body. But she woke up in a child¡¯s body wearing this and she had nothing else to change into. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Allis frowns and gives the boy a hand chop on his head. ¡°Ow!¡± Eric gives a glare at Allis. ¡°What¡¯s that for?¡± ¡°It was rude to say that,¡± says Allis. She looks towards Emma and says, ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. He just says what¡¯s on his mind.¡± Emma looks up and see¡¯s Allis giving her an apologetic smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t mind,¡± says Emma. She really doesn¡¯t mind. Emma doesn¡¯t take the word of the young boy to heart, mostly because she sees him as a little boy. The boy named Eric looks to be about 7 years old. That¡¯s about the same age as her older cousin¡¯s children. ¡°My name is Emma. It¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± Just as Emma introduces herself, she hears a knock on the wooden door. ¡°Come in,¡± says Allis. The door squeaks open and the middle aged man walks in. He glances at Emma before turning to Allis and Eric. ¡°Taking good care of her?¡± He asks the both of them. Allis and Eric quickly straighten their backs and lift their chin. ¡°Yes.¡± They answer in unison. ¡°Good.¡± The middle aged man gives them a small smile. ¡°I have some things I want to talk to this young lady about. You guys go cook some food for her while I¡¯m talking to her.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± says Allis. Allis and Eric leave the room. Emma wishes that they could¡¯ve stayed. The presence of this man is intimidating and it¡¯s only worst when they¡¯re alone. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The man asks. Emma looks at the man and replies, ¡°Emma.¡± ¡°Are you scared of me?¡± he asks. Emma pauses for a moment before saying, ¡°No.¡± It would be normal to be scared of a man that killed people right in front of you. When she saw the scene, Emma was completely terrified. Having rested and talked to Allis and Eric, Emma feels calmer and her mind is clearer. She doesn¡¯t feel terrified of the man in front of her. She knows that he¡¯s not a bad person. He only killed because the two people were bad people. She still thinks that he should¡¯ve arrested them instead of killing them. Emma is able to think properly now that she got some rest. It seems like this place is different from her own place. Even if this really is a dream, the place in this dream has a different culture than her own. She has read in history about how people would be killed instead of jailed when crimes are committed. Maybe this place is the same. ¡°You seem to have calmed down. That¡¯s good. I can still see the strong heart you have.¡± The man says. ¡°Strong heart?¡± questions Emma. That¡¯s weird to say. ¡°Yes. Like the incident with the two men from before. You might have been scared, but you were still brave to act. Even now, you saw me kill them, but you aren¡¯t scared of me. Wouldn¡¯t you say that you have a strong heart,¡± says the man. He pauses for a moment before continuing to say, ¡°I did have a moment when I thought I made the wrong judgement of you. It was when your emotions seemed to be jumbled after I killed them. But seeing you know, I think that I made the right judgement.¡± Emma nods her head. She looks at the man and asks, ¡°Why did you help me?¡± Ever since she woke up in this place, the man in front of her was the first to help her while no one else did. ¡°Like I said. I made the judgement that you have a strong heart. That¡¯s why I helped you. You now know Eric. He used to be like you. A street child. I saw potential in him, so I too helped him. Now he lives with me.¡± Emma nods her head. So the only reason he helped her was because he thinks that she has potential. Emma¡¯s mind freezes on a thought. Does that mean he¡¯ll let her live here too? Emma looks at the man in front of her. ¡°Can I live here too?¡± Chapter 7: Class title Emma wants to grab onto this hope. She remembers the alleyway where she first woke up in this body, and how she felt the hunger and the helplessness. Emma doesn¡¯t want to go back. In front of her is someone that can change that. The man looks straight into Emma¡¯s eyes. Emma stares back at him with a strong and steady gaze. ¡°I want you to know that there are no lazy or weak minded people in my house. There are a lot of rules and if you can¡¯t handle living here, you¡¯ll have to leave,¡± says the man. Emma releases the breath that she didn¡¯t know she was holding and smiles. ¡°Thank you!¡± says Emma. She doesn¡¯t know what the rules are or what the man meant by weak minded people. Emma doesn¡¯t think too much on it and is just happy that the man is letting her stay. ¡°While you¡¯re staying here, you may call me Mr. K. Just don¡¯t call me corporal in the house.¡± says Mr. K. ¡°But are you a corporal? That boy Eric called you corporal,¡± asks Emma. She remembers Mr. K saying that he¡¯s an officer, and that boy called him corporal. So Mr. K should be a corporal. ¡°I am. But I would rather the children in this house not call me that. I prefer not to bring my work life home, even though it does sometimes,¡± explains Mr. K. ¡°Oh.¡± Emma nods her head in understanding. Her parents were like that too. They rarely mentioned their work at home. ¡°Here.¡± Mr K hands Emma a sheet of paper with a list. ¡°Here are the rules of the house.¡± Rules 1 - All children under the age of 12 have to be home by sunset. 2 - Chores will be assigned to everyone on the first morning of the week. All chores must be completed everyday. 3 - When a class title is assigned, must visit instructor everyday. 4 - Must do missions assigned. *Completion of mission has reward.* 5 - No fighting between those living in the house. 6 - ¡­¡­ 7 - ¡­.... Emma understand most of the rules. There are a few that she¡¯s curious about. ¡°Are there more children in this house? And we have class? What does it mean by missions? Is that homework?¡± Emma asks multiple questions all at once. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Yes there are two more street children that I allow to live here. There¡¯s also my son, Regi.¡± says Mr K. He continues to explain, saying, ¡°You might have a class title option, but that depends on you. For missions, you could say that they are homework. The missions are posted in the adventurer¡¯s guild. I will pick those that are appropriate and assign them to you.¡± Guild? Isn¡¯t that a game term? Emma only played one computer game in her 22 years since birth. She played a MMORPG called MapleStory when she was in middle school. She¡¯s pretty sure that they had a thing called guilds, but she never heard of an adventurer¡¯s guild. ¡°What¡¯s an adventurer¡¯s guild?¡± asks Emma. Mr K is surprised by this question. Everyone knows about the adventurers guild, even street children and those without a class. ¡°You don¡¯t know about adventurer¡¯s guild?¡± asks Mr K. Emma shakes her head. Is she suppose to know what that is? ¡°The adventurer¡¯s guild is one of the biggest guilds in this country and many other countries. The adventurer¡¯s guild is a place where members can post missions and accept missions. It¡¯s pretty much a transaction place for members. Also, members can sell to and buy materials at a standard price from the adventurer¡¯s guild. The biggest job the adventurer guild does is ranking it¡¯s members, but you don¡¯t have to worry about that at the moment. There are many other things that the adventurer guild does, but those are the main ones.¡± Mr K explains vaguely what the adventurer guild does. He doesn¡¯t think that Emma would need to worry about anything other then the missions and item transactions that go on in the adventurer¡¯s guild. ¡°So it¡¯s like a business.¡± says Emma in understanding. She doesn¡¯t really understand what he means by rank, but Emma¡¯s more interested in the classes that Mr K mentioned before. She asks, ¡°How do I get into a class?¡± Mr K furrows his eyebrows. Her way of saying getting into a class sounds like she¡¯s going to school. It seems like she doesn¡¯t know about the class system, missions and the adventurer¡¯s guild. Maybe she hasn¡¯t gotten to interact with many people in the city and has only lived by hiding in the shadows. Most of the street children interact with the people in the city, mostly doing small jobs for food to survive. There are a few that live in the shadows of society and only survive on the scraps. This could explain why she¡¯s so thin, even compared to other street children. He decides to explain in more carefully so she¡¯ll understand. ¡°When I¡¯m talking about a class, I¡¯m not talking about those in a school. The one I¡¯m mentioning is a type of trade that a person will train in. Some examples are swordsmen, priests, and even thieves. Everyone can train in a trade but to obtain a class title, one has to be blessed by god and be destined to have one. For example, two people can train to be a swordsman, but only one is blessed by the gods. The one that is blessed by the gods will get a class title while the other one doesn¡¯t.¡± Swordsmen? Priests? Thieves? People still train in these? Has she gone back to the olden days? What does he mean by bless by gods and class title? Keeping the part about going back in time to herself, she asks, ¡°What¡¯s the difference between those that have a class title and those that don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Those that are blessed by a god and receive a class title will be official class holders and can reach beyond the limits of normal skills. Here¡¯s an example. A thief that doesn¡¯t have a class title, they can still steal from people. If they are good with their hands, they can take the items of others without the victim knowing. Now for the thief with the class title, they can steal something just by activating a skill that will allow them to steal in a way that doesn¡¯t even need them to move their hands. This is why I say those with class titles are blessed by god. They can do things that normal people can¡¯t.¡± Mr K explains this very slowly, trying his best to allow Emma to understand. Steal without moving their hands? How is that even possible? Emma understands the difference between the two thieves from what Mr K said, but doesn¡¯t understand how someone could steal without moving their hands.