Hi! This is Alley B, author of Rewind. If you've reached this note, my heartfelt thanks to you for joining me on this journey. I hope you've enjoyed my work and look forward to having you with me in the next parts.

  At the end of Book 1, I'd like to share some thoughts about this story. The first draft of Rewind was written in 2015, nearly 10 years before the version uploaded here. Back then, it was called "The Executioner" and consisted of only six chapters, which were more like a summary of the series. The idea of people with psionic powers who are unable to kill was inspired by the TV series "The Tomorrow People." I remember being captivated by the US version, but I wondered what if the tables were turned and the minority were no longer the evolved individuals, but normal people like us instead? That's how Rewind was created.

  The characters' names also have their meanings. Here they are:

  Daniel (Gabriel's father): "God is my judge" (Hebrew origin). He is judgmental and rational.

  Mary (Gabriel's mother): "Beloved" or "love" (Hebrew origin). She is a loving mother.

  Jason (Gabriel's eldest brother): "Healer" (Greek origin). He is an excellent doctor.

  Kyle (Gabriel's second brother): "A narrow passage" (Scottish and Irish origin), a metaphor for his ability "teleportation".

  Gabriel: "God is my strength" (Hebrew origin). His mother had a vision of his dark future when giving birth to him, so his father named him this so he would be strong enough to fight his harsh destiny.

  Anna (Gabriel's younger sister): "Favor" or "grace" (Hebrew origin), which she has received in abundance.

  May (The Lanes' housekeeper): Maia, a Roman goddess associated with growth and nurture. Sounds caring and reliable, just like her.

  Nathan (Gabriel's best friend): "A gift from God" (Hebrew origin). Yes, that's him.

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  Crystal (Evo's Tech Leader): "Ice" (Greek origin). She has a cold and noble beauty and will play a bigger role in Book 2.

  Marcus (the late Senior Detective): Mars, a Roman god of war. I thought of my junior colleague who is big and strong but very kind when finding a suitable name for this character, so I borrowed his name, but its meaning is so cool.

  Now, let's have a preview of the next episode - Book 2. The title is "The Recessive Gene," the term for people without evolved traits in the series. The story continues following Gabriel and his super family. Unable to escape the thing he hates but also the only thing he's seemingly good at—execution—Gabriel tries to adapt to the discriminatory high society of the new upper class: going to college, finding a decent career, attending luxury gatherings, meeting young elites of the capital, etc. We will also get to see more of the National Execution Team in action! And last but not least, the mysterious R and his next moves! After William Kensington, the Black Hood, goes down, who or what will be the next threat to Coldor's civilians?

  Preview of Book 2:

  After a series of shootings, Nathan urgently calls out to his team through his earpiece. “Damn it! I missed them! The target has company, a super-fast one. Tranq guns can’t catch up! Get ready, team 1!”

  “They… got past us!” the other team replies in bewilderment. “We didn’t even see them, the stun net just ripped!”

  “It’s a man carrying the target on his back!” Nathan is frustrated. “Where did he find this Flash bodyguard, seriously?”

  “What do we do, Capt’n?” the support team flusters. “They are fleeing!”

  “You are the final post now, man!” Nathan shouts at the top of his lungs. “Do something, Gaaaab!”

  At the end of the deserted road stands a lone man before the high wall temporarily built as a last barricade to stop the fugitives. The criminals halt and the lightning afterimage turns into two middle-aged men. One of them, carrying the other on his back, is Louis, the user of super speed. He lets down the man on his back, his condemned elder brother, Alan, and looks cautiously at the silhouette in front of them.

  “Move!” Louis demands while standing protectively before Alan. “Let us pass!”

  The silhouette doesn’t reply, just quietly removes his earpiece with Nathan’s ear-piercing voice inside, and sighs tiredly. Under the dim night light of a starless sky, his tall and thin build looks somehow sad and lonely.

  When that person turns back and steps out from the wall’s shadow, the fugitives feel a strange sense of fear that makes them unable to move. But then they are surprised to see just a youngster in his early twenties standing there.

  “Excuse me, what did you just say?” Gabriel asks, having not caught it due to Nathan’s loud shout.

  ___

  That's it for the preview. Stay tuned for the upcoming part. Happy reading!

  From Alley B with passion. ??