Chapter 1

PROLOGUE – THE LITTLE BOY

It was springtime in Woodville. Everyone living in the small town were ecstatic about the season because it signaled the start of the month-long Spring Festival. This was an occasion, aside from Christmas, which people anticipates a lot. Offices, city park, local parish, and other town landmarks are decorated with flowers as a part of celebration of the local festivity. Household gardens and backyards were filled with different flower-bearing plants. This season was very much celebrated and observed by the town people because their place was the largest producer of flowers in United Kingdom. Flowers were Woodville and its people's sign of glory, source of pride, and symbol of appreciation.

"Wow! Alice, look at those flowers," Bella excitedly told Alice, her best friend.

"Really, Bella. I can't help but wonder. You never cease to get amazed by those flowers as if you don't see them every spring season." Alice commented.

Bella and Alice were spending their time in their school playground. They were both 1st graders in St. Ignatius Academy. They were the best of friends even if they have some opposite characteristics.

"Alice, are you blind? Those flowers are beautiful. Majestic." Bella's voice was filled with enthusiasm.

"Don't you realize you're a bit exaggerated?" Alice laughed.

Bella snorted, "Hmmp…You just don't have an eye for beauty."

"Really, huh. Well, I think I have a pair of that. I have always proven that every time I look at myself in the mirror." Alice proudly said.

Bella burst out laughing, "'you sure?"

"Why, do you have any objection?"

"Hmmm…I'd rather not speak my mind." Bella grinned at Alice.

Alice jokingly pulled Bella's hair. "Ouch!"

The two kids continued playing.

"Hey, Bella, I think I have to go now. My mom's waiting for me at the chapel."

"Is that so?" Bella somehow felt sad. She would have to play alone once Alice would leave.

How about you, aren't you going home yet?" Alice asked.

"I can't leave yet. My mom told me she will fetch me here."

"Oh, I see. Bye for now Bella, take care!" Alice picked up her bag and waved goodbye.

"Bye. You take care, too." Bella responded.

Bella stayed in the school grounds and roamed her eyes with the beautiful scenery around her. She was always excited when spring begins because she simply loved flowers. At a very young age, she never got tired of those.

After some minutes, Bella saw a bunch of tulips, her favorite flower. She decided to come near the flowers which were behind the huge oak tree. Upon reaching the tree, she realized she could not easily pick up some tulips because they were at the edge of a cliff. She hesitated for she might fall. But excitement got the best of her. She wanted to give some tulips to Renee, her mom. She tried to come closer to the edge of the cliff and reached for a stem.

"Okay, I'm getting closer. Whew, this is pretty hard." She wiped the sweat forming on her forehead.

She grabbed some stems of other plants to anchor her stance and took another step closer.

"Bella, you can do it!" she said to herself.

She was already exhausted and full of sweat. She badly wanted to reach the flowers.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

She was about to pull a stem when the plants she was holding were suddenly uprooted.

"Aaahh!" she shouted.

Her body slide off the edge of the cliff. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the fall she had expected to happen next. She thought she might die. She screamed and loudly asked for help. She was so nervous and her heart was pounding so hard. But she felt herself hanging rather than rolling down the slope. Upon realizing that, she opened her eyes and looked down. True enough, she was indeed hanging.

"Hey! Aren't you going to try helping yourself? You're such a pain in the ass!" she heard a boy said.

When Bella looked up, she saw a little boy holding her wrist tightly.

"Don't waste you time looking around! You're a bit heavy, you know. This is exhausting. I cannot hold you all day long. If you do not wish to help yourself or if you are the suicidal type, just say so, so that I can release your hand right away!" The little boy said in an angry and exhausted voice.

Bella was a bit disoriented.

"Hey, can you hear me?" the boy worriedly said.

He tried pulling Bella but his efforts are not enough because he was still a little boy. He was already tired.

"Help me!" Bella had gotten back to her senses. She would be close to seeing St. Death if she would fall. She was so scared for she might die any moment.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do. Hold on to me tightly."

"O-okay…" Bella tries to calm herself despite the loud thumping inside her chest.

"Try to raise yourself up while I pull you." The little boy ordered.

Bella did what the little boy told her to do. She fought the urge to cry and just focused on saving her precious life. She was too young to die. She still had so many dreams to fulfill. She wanted to be a famous fashion designer and she still had to help her family especially when she grew up.

She placed her feet and her other hand on the cliff. She used her remaining energy to force herself up. She managed to gently climb in the slope while the little boy held her arm in a firm grip.

The little boy encouraged her, "You can do it! Here we go." He continued pulling her up.

At long last, she managed to get off the slope. She felt so dirty and sticky. She was gasping for air when she laid her back on the trunk of the oak tree.

She looked t her filthy hands.

"Oh God, thank you." She mumbled a little prayer of gratitude.

"Are you an idiot? Why did you try to reach that stupid flower when you know you can't! There are plenty of flowers here which you could pick with so much ease." he angrily said while pointing our school garden.

Bella raised her head to look at the little boy. She found out he was also a student in St. Ignatius Academy because he was wearing the boy's uniform in their school. She thought he might be a 5th or 6th grader.

She suddenly felt shy when she remembered how much trouble she caused him.

"I-I'm s-sorry…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you but anyways, I really want to thank you. You saved my life. Thank you very much."

He looked like he was appeased by her statement. But nevertheless, he continued nagging her.

"What you did was plain stupid. You were lucky I was just nearby when I saw you reaching a flower at the edge of the cliff, if not you will surely see yourself lying on a coffin while your loved ones are weeping after your death," he sighed.

"Yeah, thanks to you that didn't happen. I was foolish." Bella hesitantly replied.

"It's a good thing you clearly know that and I don't have to remind you about your foolishness because you're already aware of it," he snorted.

He's really cocky and has a bad temper, whew. Bella told herself. She was starting to get irritated by the boy's remarks but she thought she deserved all the insults he was showering her besides the fact that he had just saved her.

"Oh, well. Are you alright now?" he suddenly became concerned about Bella.

"Yes, don't worry. How about you?"

"I'm okay and I'm not worried about you." he said while wearing a smug face and looked away.

"O-okay" I really thought he was a bit concerned about me. Now, he's back to being ill-tempered. She told herself.

"I hope you don't meet accidents any sooner. One accident a day is enough. There are still a lot of mishaps out there that you can choose to meet and welcome with open arms. You wouldn't run out of it."

Is he joking? She smiled with the thought, "Is that a joke or were you simply trying to insult me?" Bella asked him.

"I was trying to insult you, satisfied?" he haughtily replied.

Bella just smiled at him. She was even wondering why she couldn't bring herself to be mad at him. She thought it could be because he still looked good despite the smug look on his face and of course, he had saved her life. The thought made her smile again.

"You're crazy. How can you still smile even after you almost die?" he asked while raising his eyebrow.

"I'm just happy I'm still alive," she answered.

"Yeah, right. You should be." He said in a grumpy manner.

"Thanks again. Thank you for saving me."

He simply nodded. "Just stop putting yourself in obvious danger. Have some sense."

He's really getting too much. It's a good thing Renee taught me how to keep my cool. She thought.

"I'll remember that." Bella uttered and forced herself to smile even if she was raging inside of her.

Hadn't you saved my life, I would have punched you straight into your face. You are simply arrogant. Bella said in her mind.

He just shrugged, "Well, I think I have to go. It seems you're really okay now since you can smile again. Be careful next time. It seems like you're an accident-prone person. Bye." He turned his back and started walking away.

Bella remembered something while looking at the boy, "Hey, wait, I haven't gotten your…"she shouted. But the boy had already walked afar from her. "…name."

She was about to leave when she noticed a shiny object on the ground. She picked it up and found out it was a bracelet. She noticed that the bracelet had a pendant. It was weird yet beautiful. The pendant looked like a symbol which highlighted the letter 'E' at the middle of the design. There were accents around the letter which were made in obvious sophistication. There were also diamonds which were embedded to trace the letter and to complement the whole design. She thought it might belong to the boy who saved her.

"I'll give it back to you when I see you again." She placed the bracelet in her pocket and left the place with a smile.