Man of Fiction

The blood in his system boiled as he rampantly ran up the staircase. That man was here. He had to be. Otherwise the building would not be on lockdown. Either way, Gareth was desperate to find out.

He reached the 57th floor where the last attack was reported. He roughly pushed the heavy door and his mind continued to race as he ran through the dark hall. It was the highest and most empty floor in the entire building. All Gareth could see were boxes and crates. But not too long, he found a dead body. It was his subordinate who last reported about the intruders. The fallen man was lumped against the wall, and it looked like he was just asleep. Anyone could have easily made that deduction, if it weren't for the butter knife that was rammed into his nape. Gareth left a quick and silent prayer for his comrade and moved on. Soon, he heard footsteps and murmurs.

This is it, he thought. There was no turning back for him. The man, who was responsible for Adal's death, was a mere step away. He took a gamble by leaving his pro-fighting job and getting the most sacred and rigorous training at the Meiyan Monastery. He rebelled against his own sensei, a man he greatly respected, so he could use the sacred art for his vengeance. He had to do it. He had to do all of this so he could be the strongest. Or rather, he needed to be the strong enough to face his brother's murderer. He refused to let the monster get away with it. He needed to feel the pain that Gareth had for several years, and the young Junior Wolf will do anything to make him regret everything that he has done.

He is Gareth. He was once a pro-fighter, who was at the peak of his career. He was a brother to Adal. But now, he is the lone survivor of Opposition's Day; the rogue Meiyan Monk, who turned his back on the Meiyan teachings, to fulfill his revenge; the pup-turned-wolf with only one mission; to kill the Lost Boys, the sixth wildcard don group that caused the mass murder that took his dear brother. He took on all the unnecessary evils just so he could walk towards the cruel don head. And he was getting closer to this goal.

Gareth clenched his jaw and fist, and he could feel the Qishi energy channeling through his arms, like a coursing river. He suddenly felt hot. The Qishi energy is responding to his hatred, which is a good sign for Gareth. The stronger the feeling, the more powerful the techniques were going to be. His fist glowed into a beautiful golden color. He was tempted to smile to himself, but he controlled it. He stood before an unlocked door and he could sense an eerie presence inside the vacant room. Behind the door was the leader of the Lost Boys, he thought to himself. He took one deep breath and held the doorknob with his free hand. Turning the doorknob meant no turning back for him. It was time to face him. It was time to take on his revenge.

He turned the doorknob and then—

"EMILY!"

A young girl's head rose from a laptop screen. Her vision went from the Mafia animated show that she has been glued on to a group of girls her age, giving her confused and somewhat judgmental looks.

"What?" was all Emily Rose could say.

"Haven't you been listening? Norman has been blowing off Shaya, despite of all the lovey text messages they have been exchanging for the past week!" Magda said, exasperated. "Doesn't that make you upset?" Their judgmental looks quickly transitioned to looks of expectancy, hoping that Emily would chide into their new high school drama. But the Mafia fangirl had a much different perspective to the situation. "What if he's busy? We're closing in on our final exams." Emily said.

"If he was, then he should have at least texted about it!" Shaya spat, clearly not happy with what her friend said. Emily looked down at her paused laptop screen, suddenly feeling bad for what she has said. Perhaps Shaya had a point, and she once again failed to sync with her newfound freshman friends. Her high school peers were very touchy.

Magda tilted her head to also look at Emily's laptop. "What are you watching, anyway?" she finally asked. For the very first time, Emily's warm brown eyes beamed. This was finally the time to share her most important thing to her new high school friends.

"Oh, I'm watching the latest episode of Mob Boy Order!'' she exclaimed. She grinned, expecting the two to at least be familiar with it. But the two kept on frowning. "Mob what?" Shaya said, almost sneering. Emily decided to brush off the expression she had, since she was having boy trouble. "Oh you know, that popular animated show at the East!" she explained. "It's about a girl named Rowan and she has healing abilities, then she becomes a doctor for mafia families! But that's not the only thing! She meets her old childhood friend Cyrus, who's now a big mafia boss and the main antagonist. Almost everyone who watches the show has the hots for him, since he's the edgy bad boy with killer charisma. But my eyes are only for Gareth, a mob bodyguard who has sworn revenge against Cyrus for killing his one and only brother. He's this very princely, charming gentleman with a dark past. He goes through this devastating yet epic journey on becoming the strong fighter. He's so kind and gentle, especially to the main character and I can't help but SHIP! Whenever he gets emotional and lonely, he looks so precious! It just makes me want to hug him and tell him everything is okay!"

As Emily went on about her favorite animated show, she noticed that her friends weren't really paying much attention to her. Their eyes were on her but they glazed, and their hands were active on picking their cafeteria food and cellphones. Once again, she brushed this behavior off. "So it's a cartoon?" Shaya asked, sheepishly. Emily Rose controlled the urge to cringe, as it was not how she saw her beloved show. "Not really, since it deals with some mature matters." She said, kindly. She moved the laptop into a view that her friends could see and she taps the space button for the episode to play. The two reluctantly focused on the screen

They saw Gareth dramatically opening the door to a very empty room. Emily's amazement has not wavered, especially when he kicked a random crate in utter frustration. The next scene cut to the main girl Rowan exiting from a public bathroom and she caught a glimpse of Cyrus, the antagonist Emily mentioned earlier. The female doctor followed the figure only to run into Gareth, who was a few feet away from Cyrus. The antagonist heard them talk, which made him turn his head back at them, and the camera gave off a dramatic slow motion effect for that particular moment. Then the next frame showed a three-grid of their paused shocked faces, indicating the end of the episode.

"Shit," Emily murmured to herself. Magda nodded at the screen, while Shaya looked back at her cellphone. "What do you guys think?" she asked. The two looked at each other, and Shaya's eyes pleaded with Magda to do the talking. Magda, on the other hand, got the memo and faced Emily. Shaya returned to her cellphone, yearning for a new message from Norman.

"So Gareth is your type?" Magda asked. Emily immediately nodded. "He's better than any guy in real life." She said, proudly. This earned a scoff from Shaya. Emily Rose looked at her, with confusion. Was there something funny with what she said? Wait. Did she say something wrong again to upset her again? Slight panic rose into her system. For some reason, she did not like disappointing Shaya.

"He's not even real." Shaya said, trying to grin as genuinely as possible. But Emily could tell that there was something seething underneath her passive teeth. "Don't you think liking animated guys is uhh… weird?"

Emily became thoughtful for a moment, for no one has ever told her that before. It never occurred to her that her fondness over this character would be weird, so it was very hard for Emily to absorb at first. Before she could say anything, Shaya continued. "Sorry, it's just that I don't watch cartoons anymore," she bluntly said, her hazel eyes going back and forth to Emily and her blank cellphone screen. "I like watching shows like The Sorority Girl."

Magda shook Shaya on her two shoulders, smiling widely. "NO FAIR!!!" she cried. While they were gushing about The Sorority Girl and the Connard guy, Emily could only give them a faint smile. But deep down, she felt like she shrunk. The show was never really her cup of tea, but she didn't despise it. She gave a few episodes a go, but she couldn't form a connection with it, like she did with Mob Boy Order. Instead of joining in the remaining conversation, Emily Rose finished her school lunch and reflected on Shaya's words.

Liking Gareth is not weird, she thought to herself. I wish he is real, though.