Agnes was always taught by her father not to get scared easily. She was taught how to defend herself from bullies in school, how to defend herself when she was approached by a man.

But Agnes wasn't a normal girl. She had a special ability, one that allowed her to read the hearts and wishes of people. The ability appeared when she was fifteen. She was at school when, along the way, she started hearing voices. At first, Agnes thought she was crazy. Hearing her classmates' voices when they weren't speaking… Agnes thought that she had broke under the pressure.

After all, no one heard any voices.

She didn't know what was going on. Why was she different from her friends? Why could she hear their deep thoughts? That night, she told her mother. The woman's eyes widened substantially, and her breath hitched. Agnes thought immediately that she shouldn't have told her mother. It was after long hours of silence that her mother confessed.

She had the same ability.

Agnes, frustrated, yelled at her mother. She was only fifteen! Just a child. She couldn't handle the pressure of what it was hearing everyone's hearts! She blamed her mother for what was happening and refused to talk with her. Eventually, Agnes got a job and left her house, leaving her mother. Her father had left as well, a long time ago, when Agnes was eight.

Agnes moved out of England when she finished her medical school. She started living in Italy, far away from the people that meant anything to her. She couldn't handle the thought of hearing those person's hearts.

Today, at twenty four years old, Agnes lives alone and has no friends. She rented a cheap apartment, near the suburbs of Sicily. She owns a clinic, which is placed right under her apartment.

Even now, Agnes' ability is working. As she tends to an old woman, her thoughts are passed to Agnes, but the girl ignores them. She learnt how to control her ability as she worked with a lot of people. But sometimes, when Agnes was so focused on her job, she would let go of the restraint she had over the ability and start hearing those voices.

"Are you okay?" The woman asked as Agnes placed a hand on her head. Agnes' green eyes lift up from the floor to the old woman and she smiled.

"Just a minor headache. Nothing to worry about."

"She's lying. I bet that she went drinking last night and now she's got a hangover. Why did I come here?"

Agnes sighed.

"So?" She starts "What seems to be your problem?"

That seemed to have taken the old lady's mind off of the 'hangover Agnes' and she started retelling her whole life. That was the problem of old ladies, Agnes thought. They thought that doctors were there to listen to their life, from the moment that they were born to the moment to the moment where they fear their own demise. But Agnes couldn't be upset about it. Basically old ladies and men came to her clinic. And, overall, she was happy.

Of course, this wasn't Agnes' dream. The girl wished for more than this. Tending old people wasn't her life dream. Agnes wished that she could be what her father was. Not that she remembered her father that well. She didn't even remember his name! After he left, her mother stopped telling stories about his adventures. Stopped talking about him, as if he had died. Agnes knew that he was alive, or so she wished. She hadn't contacted him in years, and didn't know his whereabouts.

And how was her mother?

That was also an incognita. After that fight, Agnes had moved out of her place, and never spoke to her mother. Was she okay? Was she even alive? Those were thoughts that bothered the girl. But she had chosen her path, she couldn't turn back now. She had a life, a job. She couldn't just leave them.

"Are you listening to me?" the old woman asks, annoyed. Agnes was brought back from her reverie and nodded.

"You were telling me how your son got married to that, and I quote, 'skank'." Boy, this ability was useful sometimes. The old woman nodded, happy that Agnes had 'heard', and continued to speak.

Agnes sighed once again and throttled back to her thoughts.

II

The moon was shining brightly on its place. The street was empty; no one was walking down the paved ground. Agnes was wearing her headphones, blasting music on her ears, Ipod on one hand, while the other twisted the keys to close the clinic's door. She failed to notice the shadow that appeared at the end of the street. It was only when the figure got closer, that she heard their thoughts.

"How am I supposed to present myself? Hello, Agnes, I'm your father?... No, that's too sudden. What if she doesn't believe in me? Oh boy, she turned. Okay. Act cool, Shamal. Act cool."

Agnes' eyes widened. Her father? That man was her father? The man that walked away from her, when she was only a child? The man had brown hair, much like Agnes, and brown eyes.

This was too sudden!

How could Agnes think when someone claiming to be her father appeared? So, startled as she was, she spoke nervously.

"Hello father." The man stopped on his tracks.

"What?" he stuttered. "How do you know I'm your father?!"

Agnes said nothing. If he didn't know about her ability, it was best to keep quiet. The man asked the question again. How could she respond? 'Hey I know that you are my father because I heard you saying that?' Too straight to the point. It could scare him. And Agnes didn't want to scare her father that remembered to show up. At this ungodly hour.

"I recognized you." She lied. "I remembered your face."

"Oh… Did you?" he said. She nodded. "Well… I guess that I don't need any introductions."

"What are you doing here?" she locked the door and placed the keys in her bag. She turned to face Shamal, once again, and crossed her arms. "I hope you're not here to ask me how I've been. You're too late for that."

Shamal cringed. He knew that it was too late to make emends with his daughter, but he didn't think that Agnes would be so hostile. Well, he deserved that.

"I'm here on behalf of the Vongola." He started, as he played with his hands. "They need a doctor, and I suggested you."

"Vongola?" Agnes was lost.

"She doesn't know anything… But I promised Tsuna I would bring her."

Tsuna? Who was Tsuna? And what did Agnes didn't know? What was the Vongola, anyway?

"The Vongola are a… Can we talk inside? It's too overt in here." Shamal spoke. "You live above the clinic, don't you?"

"I would like to know how you got that information. Have you been stalking me?"

"Okay Shamal… Play it cool."

"What? No!" Agnes rolled her eyes at her father's obvious lie..

"Come on."

Agnes walked to the building's door and opened it. Shamal entered and Agnes followed him. They climbed the stairs and Shamal stood by the door as Agnes opened it. They entered the warm apartment. Shamal sat on the couch as Agnes made coffee.

Once she finished, she delivered one cup to Shamal and sat on the couch in front of him.

"So?"

Shamal coughed to his hand. "The Vongola are a Mafia Family. But don't get them wrong… They are trying to save the world from the Mafia Wars that have been happening."

"I haven't heard of that." She mutters, as she took a sip from the coffee. Shamal mimicked her.

"Because the Vongola have been acting. They are doing the best they can to erase any trace of the wars. But the wars have been occurring, now frequently. There's this family, the Assassini, that has been growing substantially. They are as strong as the Vongola and plan to dethrone the Vongola."

"Dethrone? I don't get it."

"Vongola holds the first position of the most prolific family. If the Assassini plan to dethrone the Vongola, they want to kill every person that associates with them. Including you."

"Me?" Agnes said, shocked. What did she had to do with anything?

"You are my daughter. They know about that. And by definition, they think that you are involved with the Vongola.
My purpose here is to convince you to join the Vongola."

Join?

"That's madness! I can't join a mafia family!"

"It's your only option, Agnes. If you don't join then you would get killed." Her green orbs turned into slits.

"Are you threatening me?" Shamal shook his head.

"Believe me. The reason as to why I left you and your mother was that it would be dangerous to be associated with me. But they know. They know that you are my daughter and they will do everything they can to kill you. So please, come with me!"

"I can't tell her… I just can't."

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked. Shamal stared at Agnes.

"What?"

"What are you hiding?" Shamal's head bobbed down, in shame.

"Your mother, Agnes… She was killed."