It was late at night. The sun gave its last breath a long time ago, sacrificing itself for the moon, giving it a chance to live.
The satellite hanged high in the sky. It looked the brightest among all of the stars that surrounded it.

The temperature wasn't too chilly nor too warm. The soft summer breeze was cozy which explained why the city was so animate. People wanted to make the most of their summer, and enjoy what little time they had left. Especially the teenagers.
July was on the verge of ending, and August would soon roll in, bringing the start of another school year closer and closer to them. It wasn't something they were necessarily looking forward to.

Just a normal summer day, you might think...You couldn't be more wrong.

The ambulance driver never recalled ever driving this fast in his life. Then again, he was still new to this job...
The screams of his partners coming from the back were the reason why he was stepping on the gas so hard. His job was stressful, and he'd be lying if he said otherwise.

A few moments later, the ambulance parked in front of the tall white building.
The two men at the front of the vehicle rushed to the back, opening the doors for their partners.
Before they even knew it, the four of them were pushing the stretcher inside of Alchemia's Hospital.

At the reception, a doctor and two nurses were already waiting for their oncoming. The stretcher was then given to them, and they rushed to the operating blocks.

"She's running out of blood and fast" States one of the paramedic who made sure to follow them

The man in the white coat feels all the air leave his lungs. For a few seconds, it seemed like time had frozen around him, but he quickly snaps out of it, takes a deep breath blinking rapidly in the process as if to regain control of himself.

"We'll need bags of blood type O negative" Quickly informs the mid-aged man, his eyes never leaving the almost lifeless body.

He was trying his best to stay calm, but even the nurse next to him saw how nervous he looked, and unlike the paramedics, she knew what put him in that state.

She recognized the girl the second her eyes laid on her. She certainly looked different, with less colors, bruised cheeks and blood tainted lips, but she's seen her around the hospital so much she couldn't forget her even if she tried.
She recognized the once pretty chestnut hair that was now covered in blood, and the image of the girl’s pretty sparkling chocolate eyes ran through her head.

She recognized her boss's only niece.

The hospital had received a phone call a few minutes ago about a road accident. The car had left the open road and hit a tree. The couple along with a teenage boy died at the collision, but there was still one survivor left.

"All the negative type blood bags were stolen from us earlier this afternoon sir" Reminds the nurse.

These past few days, many cases of theft were reported in the hospital. However, it seemed like the thief was only coming after the bags stored in the blood bank. And they seemed to have a taste for a special type of blood. The negatives.
The cameras footage did not help at all. It showed absolutely nothing but the same empty room, with a fridge, and the occasional nurses that came in and left.

"She lost way too much blood! We're going to lose her" The paramedic raises his voice.

He's never lost a victim before and he didn't know if he could deal with it. Maybe he shouldn't have chosen this job after all...

The world seemed like it was spinning, but still, Dr. Yoo didn't let the panic take over him. He was too busy trying to find a solution.
With no O negative blood bags, they couldn't proceed to the next steps, one of them (and most important one) being the blood transfusion.
He was slowly loosing hope and started, however hard that was, to accept the fact that he had no other choice than to watch his niece die, when suddenly, the air around them shifted.

The paramedic was the first to notice the new presence.

"Excuse me, you are not allowed in this part of building"
He steps in front of the stretcher, hiding it from the intruder's eyes, but it seemed like the newcomer was the least bit intrigued by it.

His gaze never left Dr. Yoo since he stepped in this side of the building.

"I thought I heard you were in need of blood. Type O negative to be more exact"

The doctor felt his already aching heart skip a beat.

The thought of having lost his only brother, the mother of his nephew and the boy all in one go was screaming at him to give up on everything. His hand would tremble from time to time if he didn’t think about controlling it. He didn’t get to have lunch but he still felt his stomach get upset just as much as he was.

Then just as he’s about to let the darkness swallow him entirely, he realizes someone still needs him, and he wasn’t one to believe in life after death, but even if his older brother wasn’t watching, he needed to do step up, he needed to be strong, stronger than ever and stronger than anyone. Not for himself, not for anyone but her, the girl laying on the stretcher, waiting for his rescue.

So he looks straight ahead. He looks straight ahead at the person waiting in the middle of the hall, and he knows that the timer is set and he knows he’s not going to waste any time.

"How did you..." Had started the nurse, but he had abruptly interrupted her.

"Do you have the bags?" He asks in a rush, believing that the person standing a few meters away from them was non other than the thief who's been stealing blood from their bank.

"I have better than that" Replies the intruder, lifting their sleeves.

Dr. Yoo's eyes widen. He practically runs over to the stranger, wanting to examine the skin, brain yelling at him for even considering such a reckless offer.

"Are you sick?"

"Perfectly healthy"

"Do you have any tattoos, piercings?" He interrogates while inspecting the arm.

"No" Honestly answers the newcomer.

"Then what is this?" He points to the small symbol at the person's wrist.

"It's not a ta-..." Rolling their eyes, the person bites their tongue to stop themselves from revealing unnecessary information.

"It’s not a real tattoo "

The doctor lets go of their wrist and pushes his glasses up his nose.
He couldn’t accept this, not after going through official procedures and following safety measures. This wasn’t right, this could go wrong in so many ways.

He had to be strong. He had to be stronger, not for himself and not for anyone else but her. That’s what he had told himself, and maybe he had to be stronger for a different reason. Maybe he was not meant to save her, maybe he couldn’t…maybe he couldn’t…Suddenly, it clicked. He had to be strong enough to let go of her.

The mere realization pricks at his heart, he can feel his knees get weak but his legs get heavy as he reluctantly turns around to join the body of his niece.

Maybe he could try to stop the bleeding, maybe she could hold on until tomorrow, when they’d get new blood samples. But he was being selfish and cruel, asking her to be stronger when she was in the weakest state, when she should’ve been able to rely on an adult.

His eyes get watery, readying him to say goodbye. He welcomes his darkness back, allows it to hit him with the ruthless truth and it unexpectedly comes with something else.

Mumblings. All sorts of them.

“coward”

“let me help”

“your niece should live”

“accept me”

“I’m here for her”

and the most repeated and distinctive one :

“you can still save her”

Turning around, he meets the eyes of the stranger right as they lift their head, revealing a unique smirk and a darkness he recognizes in their orbs.
His despair stops blowing at his heart and settles with wrapping a string around it, pulling it as it pleases, in any direction it wants.

The mumblings get louder with each step he takes. Dr Yoo decides not to fight them, not that he could, so he lets them in and accepts them.