⊱ 2 ⊰

"Man, just die already..." Mr Andrew curled his tongue in distaste as usual. Every time another patient was put on nasogastric tubing or had their limbs amputated, he'd go around speaking things like that.

Yet another string of depressing words that patients would say to each other. Their lives were uncertain, but as nurses, the very least we could do was to give them the best for their final stop in life.

"Don't tell him that, Mr Douglas," my fellow colleague shook his head disapprovingly as he wheeled his trolley past Mr Andrew.

Work made me dwell on the concept of life a lot: whether living in today was worth it, or fearing tomorrow and what the future held in store for me was nothing more than uncertainty.

Losing my sanity in old age, becoming totally reliant on another human being until my time had come was just a dreadful insight into the future that I wished I could delay the onset of.

Because who knows? Perhaps by the time I'm that incapable of looking after myself, I may not have someone as forgiving and empathetic as the present day me who's always serving patients cheerfully.

"Yuna!" Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice the senior staff nurse, Judith, frantically calling my name. "Yuna! Which galaxy has your mind drifted off to?"

"Uh...yes?" I recollected myself and turned to face her.

"Stop daydreaming and go have your lunch! You're zoning out at work again! Don't get hypoglycaemic (low blood sugar) on the job alright?" Judith shook her head and let out a disconcerted sigh.

Ah, don't remind me how I have low blood pressure and low blood glucose despite my average appetite...

Working day and night as two different people was taking a toll on this human body prone to wear and tear as well as...inevitable fatigue.

I made my way to the pantry to grab my wallet so I could head across the street to grab some food. As usual, I decided on having lunch alone, undisturbed with peace and quiet to myself.

I was probably the only oddball at work who enjoyed listening to music while eating, and having the OST (Original Soundtrack) from Violet Evergarden on a Sennheiser speaker was music to my ears.

I packed some pasta and salad from the saladbar, and went to the park opposite the hospital where I'd sit by the lake to enjoy my meal.

The breeze brushed against my fringe and I pushed it back with a bobby pin hastily. "Ack..."

Everything was tranquil: the ducks were waddling by the lake, tortises were bobbing their heads up and down as they swam in circles, and the leaves of raintrees made crisp, crumpling sounds as the wind wafted through them.

As I was about to lift the lid and dig into my food, I couldn't help but notice a charmingly handsome, yet adorable guy walking towards my bench. At this hour, the park was unusually empty, and he was the only one walking about.

Nothing abnormal about a single girl checking a cute guy out as a passing thought in the given place and moment.

He shifted his daunting gaze towards me and our eyes met for a brief second. I had no clue who this stranger was, but there was no harm in stealing a few glances at him.

"Hey," he inhaled deeply as he dropped his bag onto the bench opposite mine. "I've seen you before."

What an astute brat! Is that how you would talk to any stranger on the road? I rolled my eyes at the thought and tucked into my food, expecting him to get the signal that he should just buzz off and leave me alone.

But he was persistent. "Who are you? How did you know?!" He raised his voice to a crescendo and slammed his fists against the table. I flinched in shock and my eyes widened as I glared at him.

"Look, sir," I let out a displeased sigh and my hands released their grip of the utensils, "can you just let me eat my lunch in peace? Do I look like I even know you? Do you speak like this to every other person you meet, huh?"

He hung his head in some sort of remorse as he let out a barely audible apology. "Sorry about that..."

As he calmed down and sat opposite me, he held his head in his hands and yanked at several tufts of his almond brown hair. He seemed distressed, and perhaps I had something to do with it.

"That night...why did you...how?" He couldn't even form coherent sentences, as if his tongue had be paralysed by a traumatic incident that restricted his speech. He seemed so vulnerable all of a sudden, and those vibes he gave off earlier were erased back to a blank canvas.

"What do you mean?" I tried to push the coversation further, hoping it would break the tension between us.

"The alleyway that night...you were the one who killed her, didn't you?"

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

The very notion of killing struck me like the clock at midnight, and instinctively sent a chill down my spine. I was once again hit by the reality that my existence was both to save lives during the day, and eradicate turners by nightfall.

The very contradictory nature of who I was and the bloodline that I carried perpetuated mixed emotions in me on a daily basis—I was caught in an identity crisis and I questioned myself if I was actually being a decent human being every day.

I tried to shrug the thought aside and snap out of my trance by answering his question. "I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"Wait!" He hastily grabbed my wrist and took me by shock as he glanced at my neck. "That chain around your neck...it's the same chain you wore that night..."

"Let go! You're mistaken!" Annoyed by his persistence, I yelled angrily and took my lunchbox away. I wouldn't even want to hear the end of Lillian's nagging if I were to admit to this guy that I killed one of the turners who happened to be his accquaintance or family member of some sort.

I stormed back to the hospital with endless thoughts running through my mind. Where did I even meet this guy? And why does he even want to find me? Which turner did I kill and carelessly leave behind a trace to be identified—

I paused in my footsteps as I was about to scan my Staff ID to enter the Staff Resting Room.

Just last night, the woman whom I slashed dead, and her son that caught a glance of me in my hideous killer form. The me that I wished would remain in the shadows without being seen by the outside world.

Eyes that were illuminated by the moonlight, reflecting fear into those who even tried to make eye contact with me — my feral senses, the protruding fangs, the knives I wielded, and the cloak that concealed my identity.

I wanted, more than anything in the world, for that to remain a secret for the rest of my life.

And this guy was not going to stand in my way and ruin the very secret I worked so hard to protect from being disclosed to the world—that I was a monster.