VIOLET (ALPHA'S RETRIBUTION)

Shattered Hearts

Chapter 3

Soon, the recruitment was completed. Twelve young men from different corners of the country formed the first unit of ALPHA’s private army. While participation wasn’t mandatory, the generous salary offered was hard to ignore. Despite the stringent selection process, the recruits were finalized quicker than expected.

However, ALPHA had yet to publicly reveal what specific role this twelve-man army would play within its ranks. Even Mr. Max, who had been involved in the recruitment process, knew little of the organization’s larger intentions. In the past, ALPHA had primarily focused on hiring personal security from a wide pool of applicants. After all, ALPHA wasn’t just any group—it was a highly secretive organization composed of society’s elite. Wealthy business magnates and high-ranking politicians counted themselves among its members.

One of ALPHA’s three founders was Don Arthur Chavez. He had established the organization with a deeply personal mission: to deliver justice to victims abandoned by the legal system. Years ago, Don Arthur himself had suffered grave injustice, an experience that fueled his resolve. Together with other influential individuals, he formed ALPHA to serve those who had lost hope in finding fairness through official channels.

In just a few years, ALPHA had gained a reputation for swift, decisive action—especially in cases involving drug addicts and rapists, which were rampant at the time. Don Arthur had loyal operatives assigned to review incoming cases. Depending on the severity of the offense and the identity of those involved, ALPHA charged clients accordingly. Indeed, they took justice into their own hands. They investigated, identified the culprits, and left the final decision to the victims. A single snap of the victim’s fingers could trigger justice, bypassing a court system that had long failed them. For this kind of service, clients were willing to pay handsomely.

Eventually, ALPHA decided to build its own armed force. They constructed a small military training facility on an island located on the southern edge of Mindanao. The recruitment was a success, and with twelve committed individuals ready to be shaped into ALPHA’s new force, a new chapter was about to begin.

ALPHA INTERNATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE was boldly written across the front of the towering building that housed ALPHA’s corporate offices. To the public, it appeared to be a standard security company—recruiting and deploying licensed security guards to businesses nationwide. But beneath its clean-cut façade lay something far more complex. This operation served merely as a front for a secret organization hidden in plain sight. The true ALPHA was governed by a separate leadership and had no real ties to the public-facing company it pretended to be.

Among the twelve recruits chosen for this hidden order was Eric. Alongside the others, he was sent to Isla de Alpha, a secluded island where they would undergo rigorous and highly confidential training. From the moment they arrived, life was governed by precision, discipline, and secrecy. Every action they took was monitored, every movement timed to the second. It was in this structured and intense environment that Eric began to feel drawn to one of his fellow recruits—Violet. Intelligent, resilient, and effortlessly beautiful, she had an aura that felt unreachable.

Initially, Eric thought Violet barely noticed him, but during their third year of training, she was assigned to assist him in mastering long-range weaponry. That was the moment his feelings took root—and slowly, they blossomed.

Whenever storms swept over the island, their camp would lose power. Under the cover of darkness, Eric and Violet would sneak away to the forest that bordered their facility. These stolen moments gave them a taste of freedom—and of love.

Despite the constraints of their surroundings, their bond deepened, and intimate encounters followed. Both of them harbored dreams of building a life together once their time with ALPHA came to an end. Like Eric, Violet was no stranger to loss. Orphaned at a young age, she’d grown up in a children’s shelter. Eric became her anchor, and she his.

“I promise you, Violet,” Eric whispered during one of their secret rendezvous, “you’re the only one I’ll ever love—even beyond this life.”

“Shh... we’re forever,” she murmured in response, brushing her lips against his and gently tracing his jawline.

Their connection was passionate, yet not without its challenges. Violet often hid her disappointment when Eric’s emotions got the better of him during their intimate moments, but her understanding never wavered. She dressed quietly afterward, always reminding him that they needed to be careful not to get caught.

Four years passed in the blink of an eye, and with ALPHA’s growing demands, their training only became more specialized. They were taught advanced skills—cybersecurity breaches, high-level intelligence tracking, and target acquisition. They were being molded into elite operatives.

But just days before their graduation, fate dealt a cruel blow. A message arrived—Erica, Eric’s beloved younger sister, had passed away. Her fragile body, weakened by years of treatment, had finally surrendered. The news shattered Eric.

“No! Erica’s alive! She’s still alive!” Eric screamed, breaking down as grief consumed him. Violet was by his side in an instant, holding him, soothing his anguish. Their commander and fellow trainees noticed their deep connection, but no one interfered. Even Vera, another close friend, tried to comfort him, rubbing his back as his shoulders trembled with sobs.

They all accompanied him to Erica’s funeral. Over time, she had become family to the group, especially to Violet and Vera, who had formed friendships with her during visits to Manila.

Weeks later, it was time to prepare for their long-waiting graduation. Though still mourning, Eric forced himself to participate.

Violet excelled as expected, ranking first among their class. Vera came in second. On the day of their oath-taking ceremony, each member officially became part of ALPHA’s secret army.

Their celebration was abruptly interrupted by the blaring of an alarm. Red lights flashed violently, and the camp was rocked by the sound of sirens.

Unknown boats were approaching.

This was no drill. Their commander hesitated, unsure of who the armed passengers were. Everyone went into hiding. Moments later, a deafening explosion ripped through the air. Chaos descended.

Violet reacted swiftly, rushing to the armory. She grabbed a .45-caliber pistol with loaded magazines, slung an SSG 69 sniper rifle across her back, and darted through the camp’s hidden passages. She knew every inch of the island—even where landmines were planted for defense.

She climbed to the top of a hill overlooking the camp and scanned the area through her rifle’s scope. What she saw shook her to the core—bodies of her fellow recruits scattered like fallen leaves. Her heart pounded. This was war. Not simulation. Not training. Real death.

As gunfire crackled from below, Violet positioned herself low to the ground and began picking off the attackers—ten, maybe more—falling in rapid succession along the exposed coastline. With another shot, their boat exploded.

But just as she thought the area was secure, a powerful grip yanked her upward by the hair. The man was massive, bearded, and clearly the culprit behind the earlier blast. Somehow, he’d scaled the cliff from the sea and caught her off guard.

Violet winced in pain, her scalp burning. She struggled, knowing brute force would never be enough to overpower him. So, she went tactical—biting his hand with all her might and delivering a swift kick between his legs.

As he stumbled, she dove into the brush, desperately searching for her pistol. Once in her hands, she fired at his knee. He staggered but kept moving, drawing his own weapon—until Violet, unflinching, pulled the trigger and shot him square in the forehead. He collapsed, lifeless. Still shaken, Violet continued firing, emptying the magazine as if to rid herself of the terror he’d unleashed.

She rushed back to the camp. Security officers were dead. The bearded man had infiltrated them before the boat assault—triggering explosions that took out those in hiding.

“Eric! Vera!” she cried out, searching for the people she loved.

Only Vera appeared, seemingly in shock. Together, they moved toward the fallen. Violet shut her eyes momentarily, bracing herself—then opened them to a nightmare. Her comrades were mangled. And Eric...

Eric lay silently among the fallen, a haunting figure amid the chaos. His body, ravaged by the explosion, was barely recognizable—one leg completely gone, the other twisted unnaturally. Shrapnel had torn through him with merciless precision. The way his arms were curled protectively over the others suggested his final act had been one of sacrifice. It was as if, in the face of death, he’d tried to shield his friends from the fury of the blast, using his own flesh and blood as a barrier between horror and hope.

But his desperate attempt at protection had come at a harrowing price. It had cost him everything—his future, his dreams, his very life. And tragically, it hadn’t been enough. Despite his courage, none of them made it out alive. Six young souls—three boys and three girls, full of promise and laughter only hours earlier—were now silent and still, their lives extinguished in an instant. The air hung heavy with sorrow, as if mourning their loss too.

In the aftermath, those left behind found themselves crumbling. Their hearts shattered like fragile glass slammed to the floor, each fragment a painful memory that cut deeper than any wound. The grief was immeasurable, and the pain lingered like scars etched into the soul—wounds that no time could ever truly heal. It was the kind of devastation that changed people, robbed them of innocence, and left behind only hollow echoes of what once was.