Non-human

There was a long silence as she listened to the desperate voice on the other end of the line. And I looked around the uselessly soundproof private room as I listened to the desperate cries of the voice inside my head.

'Please let this be not what I think it is! Please tell me that she's just a nurse who had a month-long graveyard shift! Please tell me that she's not here to finish me off!'

I still found it hard to move my legs. So, if worse did come to worst, there's no way that I could run away from here without getting caught. And if the man on the line came here to get the 'job' done, that would definitely be the end of me.

With my eyes on the room's beige ceiling, I prayed. 'Dear Heavens! I just woke up from being comatosed! I just survived a very bad car crash! I rose up from the raging seas! I can't die like this!'

That was when Zeanne's face, which was filled with excitement while she was trying out her wedding gown, suddenly flashed in my head. And that memory gnawed at my chest, along with the thought that she's still a Haile for some reason.

'Did the wedding get postponed because of what happened to me?'

My eyes wandered sideways to briefly look at the nurse, who was starting to look pretty scary.

Still, more on pretty.

"What?! The name has already been erased?! Then what's the deal with this human in front of me?!" Her expression changed from very angry to mad furious, which made me nervous.

'Erased? Name? Is there some kind of a hitlist? Are they serial killers?

Why do they want me killed, though? What did I ever do wrong?!'

"Don't tell me that you don't know or else I'll find you and incinerate that scroll of yours." She paced around the room with her hand massaging her temple. And something in her tone warned me not to interrupt if I wanted to stay alive.

'Incinerate? Scroll?'

"My subject's been brain dead for more than a year and was timed to die three days ago, Azrael. Unless one of your guys messed up, then there should be no reason for a healthy-looking human over here to be staring at me with wide-eyes right now."

'B-brain dead for over a year?!' I repeated her words in my head over and over, not wanting to believe them.

"Just let him burn out here? Are you kidding me? Even if we make him lose his memories like the others, the humans will find it strange!" She suddenly came close to me and groped… yes, she groped my arm, which made me flinch.

The survival tip that I learned during my military service was flashing in my head in red bold letters: NEVER AGGRAVATE THE ENEMY.

So, I did not eep a single word.

Not even when her hands explored lower and ran towards my abdomen.

'Heavens! What the hell is going on?! She better not go lower than that!'

After having her way with my biceps and abs, she drove her fist against the bed. "This human has well-toned muscles, Azrael! Anyone who sees him would think that he spent an entire year in the gym instead of being vegetative in the hospital! This is just so wrong!"

'Exactly my thoughts! This is so wrong! Why does she keep insisting that I should be either dead or vegetative?!

And there's something strange with the way she's talking… she keeps on using the word 'human' as if she's not a human herself.

Lastly, what's wrong with having muscles? I worked really hard for these rascals!'

I flinched again when she suddenly groaned with anger, "Stop telling me to calm down! I was already scheduled to leave three days ago! My subject died three days ago! Now enlighten me, why the hell am I still stuck here keeping my eyes on this human that I'm not even responsible for?!"

'Were they planning to fly out of the country after killing me?'

I saw her hand crumple the sheet beside me, and her voice sounded really cold as she struggled to control her anger. "Who is his Shadow? What's taking her so long to migrate here? I don't want any part in this! I'm going back."

'She wants to talk to my shadow?! Or is 'shadow' another assassin's code?' I let out a sigh as I studied her long eyelashes that fluttered as she spoke. 'She's either a madwoman or a murderer. What a waste of beauty…'

"What do you mean by she has already left? Her subject is here. She can't just leave like that." The horror on her face made me take a large gulp. "Are you telling me that she left with MY subject? That means… I became Rogue?"

'She became who?' My eyebrow shot up, and I nearly chuckled at her words. 'Does she have 8th-grade syndrome?'

She studied me while biting the side of her thumb. Then she suddenly stopped and the colour drained from her face. "No… Caius… Caius will find him..."

'Who's Caius now?'

"Azrael, it's been three days since that wench departed with my subject. That means it's been three days since this human became a Pure Soul." Her voice became shaky as she continued to speak with this 'Azrael' guy. "We can't let him stay here in this state. We have to do something, or else everyone here will suffer... just like what happened before."

'Subject? Departed? Pure Soul? This happened before? Everyone will suffer? What the hell is she talking about now? I can't handle this infodump!'

Then she suddenly froze with her rounded almond eyes focused on me.

'What is it this time? Stop scaring me!'

"Hell no. There's no way I'm going to do that." She muttered while vehemently shaking her head from side to side. "I can't believe that you would even suggest that! That's a taboo!"

'What's a taboo? What could be worse than killing an innocent person?'