PROLOGUE;

—

Saturday morning.

The sun was already high but the heat was not even enough to warm someone. The streets and roofs of the houses were covered in thick white snow. It was plain white outside and it was cold. Most of the townsfolk are inside their houses drinking hot tea and staying lazy in front of the fireplace the whole day.

Everyone was idle except for a small house that is almost inside the thick forest. There was an out-of-place car that was parked outside. The expensive car was left unguarded but thankfully, no one was crazy enough to steal something on board the daylight.

The house was only a two-storied building and the interior is almost bare. There was a rocking chair on the patio in case someone wants to sit down and read newspapers but no one is out at the moment. They were busy preparing inside.

In the small living room, someone in a three-piece suit sat on a worn-out sofa. Despite the odd appearance of the thing that the man was sitting on, he didn’t show disgust or comment on anything offensive. He just sat there quietly with a small smile on his face.

Later on, an older man came out from the small and disorganized kitchen. He brought a teapot with him and a couple of teacups. It was faint but two of the teacups have small cracks on them.

“I am sorry for the delay.” The man said with all smiles. He put the cups on the small coffee table in front of the man and exaggeratedly poured him the tea. “Here, here. Drink this to warm your tummy. It’s cold, yes indeed it’s cold.”

The man looked at the cheap tea that the man brewed for him. It was obviously brought from a small market and was stored for many months as if it was scarce and just found its use today. He wasn’t sure about the taste but brought it to his mouth nonetheless.

After the awful liquid entered his mouth, he calmly concluded that he will not drink a sip of it again.

“How was it?” The old man eagerly asked, his yellowish teeth showing after smiling from ear to ear. “How was the taste?”

The handsome man smiled. “It’s okay.”

“I know right!” The old man boasted. “I spent at least a hundred dollars for this one. Because it was expensive I stopped myself from using it until a special occasion comes.”

He was spouting lies and boasting about nonsense and when he realized that the man was not even answering, he closed his mouth and poured himself a cup of tea eagerly. He was dying to taste the tea since he took it out from who-knows-where. After drinking it, he realized how bad the taste is and he almost spat the liquid out.

He regretted drinking the tea, regretted that he made the man drink this death-inducing tea, and regretted the fact that he stored it for almost a year. He wanted to cry but he can’t.

“Oh dear,” he said, trying to cover his blunder. “It seems like they are taking too long, what could have happened, I wonder?”

He said that to distract their guest away from his mistake and he was really wondering why is that they are not coming down. He was angry at his wife and daughter for being tardy. He stood up and glanced apologetically at the man in a suit.

“I have to fetch—“

“Dear,” Before he finishes his sentence, he was interrupted by his panicking wife. “Agnes is gone!”