Soon, a car stopped behind Dr. Albrecht. The driver came out, and opened the door on  the backseat of the vehicle. A man in white suit sat there smoking his cigar. “Good morning, Dr. Albrecht,” the man smirked. “Is she the one? Where is the other girl?” With the sudden blow of a strong gale, the foul scent of the smoke found itself onto my nose; it was like the smell of the city.

“S-sir.” Dr. Albrecht stuttered, as drops of sweat fell from his face. Looking everywhere, he was avoiding eye contact with the man. “T-the other girl is on the house.”

Soon, two huge men in black suits came out from the other side of the car, and accompanied the man in white suit as he got out. Directing my gaze at them, I noticed something. They had pistols tucked on their pants. But, it was not the first time I saw something like that. Living in the streets for so long, seeing a gun was normal for people like me. And most of the time, a person having that meant bad news.

“Aria, I’m really sorry.” Dr. Albrecht looked down. “It’s the only way.”

The two huge men ran, and attempted to grab me. “W-who are you?” But I squirmed. “Dont… Don’t touch me.” With great force, I released a deafening shout; the two men were thrown away. Everyone was stunned. “Wha… I… I...”  Suddenly, electricity came flowing out of my hands. “Wha… N-nooo!!!” I shouted, and produced a powerful shockwave that blasted everything surrounding me. “Mama, Papa, help me!!!” However, the electricity just got stronger; I couldn’t control it. A current managed to find its way into the man’s car, frying it to crisps. As the wind got stronger, the smell of burned grass spread everywhere. The sounds of the electricity resonated around me, dancing with blinding light. “I… I don’t want this…” Tears fell from my eyes, with bits of sparks as it was made of water. “Mama... Papa... Please, help me...”

“Hahaha,” the man in a white laughed. “ This is amazing. Truly amazing.”

The man in white then pulled out a gun and pointed it at me.

“S-sir. Please, don't kill her,” Dr. Albrecht pleaded.

“Don’t worry. This is just a tranquilizer,” the man in white replied. “A strong tranquilizer.”

He pulled the trigger, and a loud bang echoed throughout the place. The electricity flowing from me slowly stopped. When I touched my stomach, blood flowed from my hands. “Ma...ma...” My vision turned blurry. Everything turned dim as I fell down.

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When I woke up, I found myself lying on the ground. “Aria, can you hear me?” It was a shout from a woman. “Aria, please answer me.”

“D-doctor Agatha? Doctor Agatha!” Immediately, I ran towards her, but I bumped into something; there seemed to be a transparent wall between us. “I’m scared. Please, help me. Please, I want to go home. I don’t want it here.” I cried as I repeatedly pound the glass.

“Aria, I’m glad you’re okay.” However, it seemed she was scared to look at me.

“Doctor?”

“Aria, I’m really sorry.” She looked down. “I… don’t have the power to help you right now.”

“Doctor? What are you talking?”

“I… I’m really sorry,” she replied.

Slowly, I stepped backwards. “No, you’re lying.”

“Aria,” she said. “Please, believe me.”

“Nooo!!!” I shouted. “You’re lying. You’re just like Dr. Albrecht. You just want to hurt me.”

“Please, Aria,” she pleaded. “I tried everything I can to stop Albrecht. I didn’t want this to happen to you.”

“Get away from me!!!” My body released a strong surge of electricity towards Dr. Agatha, however, it was blocked by the wall separating us.

“I… I’m sorry.” She looked down as she went out of the room.

Betrayed by the people I trusted, I sat at the corner of the cage, crying. “Robyn… where are you? You said you will protect me.”

Moments later, Dr. Albrecht came with a bunch of people wearing a white coat. “Hello Aria,” Dr. Albrecht spoke. “How’s your wound.” But, I was silent. He then faced the people who accompanied him. “Please, leave us for a while.” After the others went out he began to speak again. However, I never responded.

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“Aria… I’m really sorry,” he apologized. “It’s the only way. Ada… Ada is dying.”

Based from what he said, Ada’s illness was getting severe. They had to put her in a state of comatose. However, it would only delay her death, and with Dr. Albrecht’s limited resources, time would tell when would be her last breath. In order to save Ada’s life, Dr. Albrecht sold his research to an international terrorist specialized in creating superhumans; the Shadow Purgatory. The man in white suit before was their leader. He was called Schatten. The experiment they did on the lab before was to transplant a vampire’s heart into me, and since the operation was successful, they needed to transfer me to their secret base located in the Demon Kingdom for the next experiment. Using their advanced technology, the group further slowed Ada’s death. However, to completely save her life, Dr. Albrecht must complete a certain experiment which they would also use on Ada. They called this, Project: AD or Artificial Demons.

After Dr. Albrecht’s talk, the people in white coats returned. They seemed to be talking about something, however, I couldn’t hear them anymore. It seemed there was something blocking the sounds. Watching them, I was bewildered by Dr. Albrecht sudden change in behavior. He was begging them for something, but they didn’t agree.

At first, I thought the experiment was just the same as from the mansion, but I was wrong. Project: AD was more severe. It was inhumane. Every week they tested one of my ability as an artificial vampire, regeneration. They would cut off one of my limb and observed it grow just to cut it again a few hours later. Multiple times they would shoot me with guns. Other times they would pour acid on my body, or burn me with fire. They tested every form of torture they could think off. Everything was so painful that my body stopped feeling anything. The ratio of me dying in a single day was more than one. The experiment lasted for months.

“Aria, please answer me.” It was Dr. Agatha, looking at me from outside. She was not present in any experiment, but she would always see me after the guards brought me back to my cage. However, I never responded to her. All this time, I was at the corner of my cage, silently hugging my knees and would never talk. “Aria, please, talk to me.” But, she was persistent, and would always come.

The only good thing the experiment did to me was that I stopped crying. However, my smile also never came back; I stopped caring for anything. My family, Robyn or Ada, nothing mattered anymore. Dying only to be brought back to life, that was my new purpose. I wanted to die, but I couldn’t. Funny, for a child such as myself, my only wish was to end my life.

The next experiment was to study my psychic abilities. At that time, I had no idea I have telepathy. The doctors would usually ask me what was in their mind. Every time I tried to answer incorrectly, they would punish me. The torture continued for weeks until I could answer them right. Soon, they tested my other esper powers.

One day, the doctors brought me to a large hall. There was no one there except for me and another child. When I looked at him, I was petrified. His limbs were different; he had claws.

“Ro...byn? Robyn is that you?”

“Aria?” he asked. “Nooo. Please, don’t look at me.”

“What have they done to you?”

“Today, you two will kill each other,” a man announced. “You can use the weapons located beside you.”

“Noo,” I shouted. “I can’t kill him. Please, anything but that.”

“You two will kill each other, or would you like another punishment?” the man asked.

“Aria.” Robyn looked at me. “It seems... we don’t have a choice.” Robyn jumped and dashed towards me, but I dodged.

“Robyn, please stop this.”

“Good job, Aria.” He grabbed a sword.

“Robyn… Please, don’t do this.” He smiled. However, I did not expect his next move; he stabbed himself with the sword. “N-nooo!!! Robyn!!!” Soon, the guards approached us and separated Robyn from me. They brought me back to my cage. It was the first and the last time I saw him in that lab.

Midnight came, I couldn’t sleep. A mysterious person entered the room where my cage was located. The door of my enclosure suddenly opened. “Aria, are you ok?” It was was Dr. Agatha, panting. She ran towards me, and tightly hugged me.

“Dr... Agatha? What’s happening?”

“We’re going to escape,” she answered. “I… I can’t stand this anymore. This… This is just too cruel.”

“But… How about Robyn? And… And Ada? We can’t leave them.”

“Don’t worry,” she replied. “Robyn is safe right now. She didn’t hit any vital parts.” Dr. Agatha gave me a piece of paper. “This is a map of this lab. Follow this line and go here. Wait for me there. I’ll go and get Robyn and Ada.”

We parted afterwards. Carefully, I went to our meeting place. There were a lot of guards roaming the area, but with Dr. Agatha’s map, I managed to avoid them. Until I finally reached the goal. There, I waited for them, but they never came. Time passed, the sirens suddenly activated. I knew that if I waited any longer, the guard would eventually caught me; I had no choice but to escape. Wasting no time, I ran as fast as I could, not knowing where it would take me. The only thing that was on my mind was to go as far as possible. I didn’t want to come back there. I didn’t want to die again. I wanted to live.

Days passed, it was amazing surviving for so long without food nor water. However, it only sadden me, for it meant that I was no longer human. Due to exhaustion, my vision was slowly blurring; I found myself walking with my eyes closed, until I fell down.

When I woke up, I was lying on a bed in an unknown room. There, a man wearing a robe was standing. “Good morning. How’s your body?” he spoke. “My name is Oliver. Oliver Silvermoon.”

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Why did I suddenly remember the past?

“Dr. Agatha…”

Where are you?

Meanwhile, after the party...

“Hiiro… Aria… I hope you guys are okay.” When I opened the door, I saw Hiiro sitting on top of the bed. “Hiiro? What’s wrong?” But, he didn’t answer.

He then stood up and looked at me. “Emily... Why?” he asked. “Why did you hide it from me?”

“Hiiro?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he shouted.

“Hiiro? W-what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

Slowly, he walked towards me. “Why did you keep it a secret? That if… That if you reanimated me…” His hands grabbed my shoulders. “You will die.”