Shh. Listen. The world is waking up.
The pitch darkness is slowly vanishing as the precious souls of humanity stretch from dreamland back to reality. Bright rays of sunlight now paint the entire metropolis. Yet, for some, the morning brings no relief; the sorrow of lonely souls runs too deep for medicine, leaving faith as their only anchor. As the day begins, an awaited fate deepens the peace of the crowd. The earth, a perfect sphere sustaining everything within it, balances effortlessly in the void. Step by step, humanity awakens, and the saga sets off.
It seemed like any other day, but for Jez, chaos was simply the order of business.
Blood oozed from mutilated bodies sprawling on the pavement, their excruciating pain met only by their own high-pitched screams—the only weapons they had left. This was the first robbery with violence for the "Triple J" squad. Armed with sophisticated weapons, Jez, Jed, and Jek murdered the parents of bright, young children. The kids never saw the horrors their parents endured before being ripped from this askew world. But the world is round, and as the saying goes, what goes around comes around.
The Triple J squad was ruthless, taking the final few dollars left behind. It was money born of blood and brutality. Kindness was a virtue they had long abandoned as they forged a path toward their ultimate destiny. The universe has a way of ensuring that what we do eventually comes back to haunt us; the path was sweet to the killers, but entirely bitter for their victims.
Hail to a humanity that only pursues its own bliss, completely blind to the suffering of others. What would a new day be without murder, jealousy, sickness, and pain? Unfortunately, the fiasco won't end anytime soon—not when the saviors are playing the game right alongside the spectators.
Ten years passed after that first violent robbery. The squad was never caught, largely because their stolen wealth cleaned up the mess from above. Jez was now older, hardened by the count of the many bodies he and his crew had put underground. But history was about to repeat itself. Time had moved so fast that the crew barely remembered their first crime, but the souls they had robbed of love had grown up. In this cyclic world, a ticking clock is the only thing required to show whether our deeds will pay us back harshly or humbly.
Esther, the eldest child of that ruined family, had grown into a mature woman. Despite a lifetime defined by sorrow and agony, she was strong; havoc had been her shadow for as long as she could remember.
Schooled through the grace of well-wishers who stood by her and her siblings, Esther never knew who actually robbed and murdered her parents. Still, her instincts reminded her of an old truth: everything done in the dark will eventually come to light. She didn't know when or how, but the clock never stopped ticking. Ready to marry but unsure of who would claim her heart, she held onto her faith. The hour of payback was approaching for those hiding in the shadows. The power of darkness is immense, but a single flash of light can eliminate it in a split second. Walking through this dark tunnel, humanity can only hope for light at the end, rather than another warped earthly saga.
One bright day, Jez walked the busy metropolis, disguising the beast he became after dark. Around him, residents worked tooth and nail before dusk crept in. For years, the Triple J squad had made the city quiver every time they took a life. Walking alone, Jez reminisced about his absurd, horrific crimes. If his diary were ever written, its pages would be filled with pure terror. Yet, despite his traumatizing past, Jez suddenly desired to marry.
Little did he know, his time was up.
He was feeling love for the first time, despite his fatal flaws. He was the same man who made the city paranoid at night, but during the day, he looked like a simple guy whose candle was still burning. Deceit is a heavy mask; who we are inside is often entirely different from the crimes we commit. We are full of secrets capable of altering humanity's perspective—secrets hidden behind signs, strange logos, and dark organizations.
Hail to humanity, blinded by the eras we live in. The earth is over four billion years old, far older than any creature walking it. It is ripe for judgment—a truth you could prove through a scientific experiment or find written in a holy book. What are we waiting for? For the earth to become more traumatizingly comfortable? It is a forgotten story as the youth chase lustful adventures. Time never rewinds. Every movement on earth causes an equal reaction; the wrong choices always taste sweet at first, but their fruits are as bitter as vinegar. When everything we do is calculated, we must choose right from wrong, no matter the circumstances.
Jez scanned the street. He was wearing an impeccably dazzling white shirt, black trousers, and polished black shoes. Turning left off the main road, he raised his head slowly, and his heartbeat instantly raced.
His eyes met hers—the true power of a woman reflecting in a man's gaze. A cold shudder ran down his spine as he stared at her, a beautiful soul shaped by resilience and intelligence. Lost for words, he suddenly felt a longing to be loved, despite his dark adventures. He moved toward her slowly, determined to find out who she was. Jez was ready to use every charming word he knew to gain access to her heart.
Faking a confidence that didn't belong to a killer, he spoke.
"Hey, beauty," Jez said, his voice cool and steady.
"Hey there," she replied first.
"There's something about you that I love."
"What's that?" she asked, smiling.
"Your uniqueness. It drew me right to you," Jez said confidently.
"How am I unique, if you don't mind me asking?" she said, her curiosity piqued.
"You're a rare find among anyone I've ever seen," Jez replied, recalling a few dating techniques he had read about.
"Really? Well, thank you."
"I'm Jez, by the way. And you?"
"Esther."
"A beautiful name. Can we have dinner tonight?"
She hesitated for a brief moment before nodding. "Okay."
Jez had trapped a soul during the daytime, completely unaware that she was the very girl whose parents he had slaughtered. Esther had fallen in love with a beast disguised in the daylight. She had no idea that the man she was beginning to love was the exact source of the endless havoc in her life.
Jez finally tried to do the right thing, but the cosmic clock had reached the hour of payback. The romance was the start of his undoing, forcing him to balance the weight of being a ruthless beast at night and a romantic partner by day. He had to balance his scales perfectly, but love weakened him. It actively shrank the monster inside him that used to feed on human souls.
As Jez changed, the Triple J squad grew frail and fractured. This weakness brought his long run of impunity to an ultimate end. Love became the weapon that succeeded when all else failed. It was through this vulnerability that he was finally caught, imprisoned, and later moved to a hospital bed as his health menacingly degraded.
It all started as a simple, violent robbery, only to spiral into a complex fiasco—a grand saga that set off on the very night everything began going astray.