A bright, beautiful pink-haired woman was walking through the lush local park. It was spring, and the white flower petals were drifting down from the trees like snow; it was quite the sight to behold. Eventually, the woman continued her stroll until she reached the edge of the large lake in the center of the park.
She looked down into the still water and could see the reflection of her own face staring back, only it wasn’t the face she was used to seeing. It wasn’t the face she had been born with.
’I need to stop slipping up,’ Abby thought to herself, her reflection wavering with the ripples in the water. ’My name is Vera now. I am the leader of the Fallen Rose Group... a strange biker gang... and apparently one of the most infamous in the entire world.’
When she said these words to herself, Abby could feel her heart beating rapidly against her ribs. When she had died as Abby, she had been suddenly thrown into this new life, as if by some cruel twist of fate. She had been forced into the hierarchy of a gang, but not just as a foot soldier—she was the undisputed leader of the entire group.
Since her arrival in this body, she had been forced to quickly pick up a number of things. She had to learn how the group interacted with each other and how to make tough, split-second decisions that didn’t just affect her, but affected the lives of everyone under her command. Somehow, some way, her group had managed to find success in their various scuffles and turf wars despite her internal confusion.
She had witnessed it firsthand: they would all climb onto their motorcycles and ride off in a roaring pack. They would enter mahjong parlors with an air of authority, or head to homeless park hangout spots to meet with other rival groups. The fighting was nearly continuous, a constant cycle of violence and territory.
For Abby herself, inhabiting this new body, she rarely had to take an active part in the street brawls. This was because she had witnessed how incredibly skilled the Fallen Rose members truly were. They were all masters at using their signature wooden swords—weapons they handled with such precision that no one could get close to them, even if they were facing physically stronger, larger men.
However, at certain points, there were those enemies who managed to break through the front lines. When that happened, Abby was forced to show her hand. In doing so, she discovered she was using a level of physical strength she never realized she possessed. This body was a weapon in its own right.
With everything that had happened since her "rebirth," it was a surprise to her that she had never been caught or exposed as an impostor. She played it smart, hardly saying much during meetings and simply listening to everything that was said around her to gather information. When people called her out for acting strange or distant, she would simply blame it on her drinking.
Apparently, the original Vera was a heavy drinker who acted erratically when intoxicated. This was the way Vera—or rather, Abby—had managed to get away with not knowing much about her own organization. Apparently, Vera was a leader who led through her own overwhelming strength and intimidation more than any other leadership trait.
However, there was always the lingering fear that everything would eventually crumble. She worried that the moment they found out she wasn’t really their commander, all of those wooden swords would be pointed directly back toward her.
She had thought of running away many times, but then where would she go? She knew very little about Vera’s personal life or history. When checking the contact list on her phone, it appeared the only people she stayed in contact with were those from the Fallen Rose, primarily Sarah and Shoting. Those two seemed to be the second and third in command—or "joint second," as Shoting would frequently insist.
Going back to her old family wasn’t an option either. Looking online during her late-night bouts of insomnia, she had read cases where people claimed to have come back to life and returned to their families. The results were never good. The parents, relatives, and friends were rarely pleased; instead, the person would get accused of being a fraud or just trying to seek attention. The family would eventually grow to hate the individual.
She couldn’t bear to do that to the people she loved. Even if she spoke of details that only the real Abby would know, she knew no one would believe her unless something similar had happened to them.
Still, she had found herself drawn back to her old home. After sending a quick text to Sarah and Shoting to explain her absence, she had boarded a train and returned to Notting Hill. It was there that she had seen them—two people she hadn’t seen for the longest time: Sheri and the girl who now carried her old name, Abby.
The more she looked at them from a distance, the more the pleasant memories flooded her head, warm and bittersweet. Without even realizing it, she had followed them through the streets. It turned out to be a good thing she had done so; otherwise, the two of them would have been in a lot of danger from the thugs who cornered them.
But she couldn’t stay around and explain herself. She had to return to her new life, and now she wondered: what was she meant to do next?
’Why were they in trouble?’ Abby started to think, her brow furrowing. ’Are the two of them still involving themselves with people like that—the kind of people who took my life? Is it the same for Max? Is he still in danger?’
The realization hit her with a sudden, sharp clarity. ’If that’s the case, they will eventually need my help. And don’t I have something now that can truly help them? I have the Fallen Rose at my back.’
She looked at her hands, clenching them into tight fists. ’These guys don’t care about anything other than strength, and this body... it has all the strength I need. As long as I can learn to use this body to its fullest potential, then I can protect them again!’
With a new sense of determination, Abby turned away from the lake and began heading back toward the Fallen Rose base. She was no longer just a girl lost in a new life; she was a leader with a purpose.