"Cough!, Cough!" She covered her mouth she could taste metal in her mouth, Alex pulled back and saw the blood on her hands, she thought to herself, i'm sick, But she doesn't care.

She glanced at her reflection on the mirror, her black hair wild and unkept, her eyes which were a deep onyx color seem to drain the light from the room, her fair skin now a deathly pale made her look bloodless. She knew she was sick but it doesn't matter to her.

"Yeah it doesn't matter anymore" She forced a smile, tears streaming down her face, the next moment she wiped them away with the back of her hand.

Alex wasn't that old, she was actually really young only sixteen years old, but life had already weighed her down like she had lived a thousand lifetimes. She stared at her reflection a moment longer, her lips trembling as she whispered to herself, "Sixteen is enough, right? Enough to see the truth of this world."

Her body ached in places she couldn't pinpoint, her chest felt heavy as if it were caving in, but it wasn't just the sickness. It was the pressure of everything of pretending, of holding on, of waking up every day to face a world she no longer felt a part of.

As she walked towards her bed, the girl collapsed onto the floor and her life slowly fading.

....

...….W…..

...….ak…..e

on the bed of a small undeveloped clinic, a girl awoke, she had black hair and Onyx tinted eyes, her head throbbed with an undeniable sense of pain, her vision was blurry and her hearing was disorted.

After a few seconds of the borrowing experience, Alex opened her eyes and saw various bodies laying on a bed covered by a sheet of white cloth. The air was thick with the sterile, metallic scent of disinfectant, mixed faintly with something more sinister—a metallic tang she couldn't ignore. She groaned softly and tried to sit up, her limbs heavy and unresponsive.

"You're awake," a voice said softly from the shadows of the dimly lit room. A figure stepped closer, revealing a man in a stained lab coat. His face was thin, his sunken eyes framed by dark circles, but his expression was one of quiet relief.

"Where… am I?" Alex rasped, her voice barely above a whisper. Her throat felt raw, as if she'd been screaming or crying for hours.

"A temporary clinic," the man replied, his voice measured. "You're lucky to be alive. Most people in your condition don't make it."

"My condition?" she asked, a flicker of confusion crossing her face. Her memory was hazy, and the last thing she could clearly recall was the taste of blood and the crushing weight in her chest.

The man hesitated, his lips pressing into a thin line. "Well it doesn't matter if i tell you anyways, you're actually lucky enough to survive…but at the same time you lost something because of surviving"

"What" Alex felt foreign memories entering her mind, she knew now.

She wasn't in her world anymore, in this world she was once a nameless person who walked around the streets struggling to survive, she remembered falling on the cold and empty streets with all her orifices bleeding.

The man sighed. "Girl, you're young…but people with your condition after surviving…don't retain their humanity, at the moment you are designated as a Dormant Demon of the lesser rank"

Alex scrunched her brows, she didn't understand, She knew she died yes, she knew she was brought into this world and now she realizes she might be in a worse position than her past life.

But…but atleast the pain is gone. "What does that mean for me"

She asked in a silent voice.

The man pondered for a moment. "Sigh…you aren't a threat at the moment, so all we can do is to keep you in house arrest, don't worry we know your situation, you are homeless but your name is unknown, Ah you must be scared of me, My name is Seven like the number"

Alex slowly blinked. "huh…uhm My name is Alex"

"Well Alex it seems from now on you will live a normal life…that is until you awaken and then we would kill you…there really isn't a cure for this disease" The man said with regret, Alex looked down on the floor, she sighed.

"I see, but there must be a way, right?" Her voice was calm, but underneath it, a flicker of desperation cracked through. She clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. "There has to be a way."

Seven's gaze softened, a mixture of pity and sadness flickering in his eyes. "If there was a cure, we wouldn't have Dormant Demons. We wouldn't have people like you… waiting to lose themselves."

Alex swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing down on her. "Waiting to lose myself," she echoed. Her heart sank, but something inside her, something deep and stubborn, refused to give in. Not yet.

"You'll have some time," Seven continued. "Weeks, maybe months if you're lucky. The transformation is slow for Dormants, but inevitable. Once it starts, there's no stopping it."

Alex looked up at him, her eyes sharp despite the exhaustion. "I see, well i don't want to die and i also want to keep myself sane…but it is what it is, i don't mind if it happens," she said softly, her voice carrying a resigned calm. "But until then… I'll live. Even if it's just a little longer."

Seven watched her carefully, his lips tightening into a thin line. "That's all anyone can do, Alex. Live while you can. But don't make any trouble. If you draw attention—"

"I know," she interrupted, her gaze fixed on the floor. "I won't. I'll keep my head down." Her eyes flicked up to meet his. "But… if I'm going to die eventually, can I at least choose how I live until then?"

Seven sighed again. "Most Dormants ask the same question." He gestured to a small window at the far end of the room, where pale light filtered in through metal bars. "You'll have a room in the observation wing. Food, water, and the basics. Nothing more. But if you want to walk outside… that's a risk."

"A risk I'll have to take," Alex whispered, standing slowly, her body still shaky. She felt the cold floor beneath her feet, grounding her. Her mind raced. A Dormant Demon… losing my humanity… dying at their hands. The words swirled in her head, but instead of fear, a strange sense of determination settled in her chest.

"Don't underestimate the pain," Seven warned. "The transformation isn't just physical. It will tear at your mind, break your sense of self. Most Dormants… they don't last long once it starts."

Alex tilted her head, a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips. "I've been broken before. This won't be the first time."

The man regarded her with a mixture of admiration and sorrow. "Sigh…Well atleast your mindset is a good one"

"Is it really?" She asked a bit skeptical.

"Well yes, i guess i'll see you around kid…well until we have to get rid of you, for now stay safe" Sevn walked out, Alex sighed this is now her new life and she doesn't have that much time here it seems.

She stayed on the bed for a few minutes, she turned to see another person staring at her, it was a girl with brown hair and dull eyes.

The girl with brown hair and dull eyes sat quietly across the room, her face expressionless, but her gaze locked onto Alex with an intensity that made her feel exposed. Her skin was almost as pale as Alex's, a stark contrast to the soft light filtering in from the window.

Alex hesitated, unsure if she should say something. The silence stretched between them, thick and oppressive. Finally, the girl spoke, her voice quiet but clear, cutting through the stillness like a blade.

"You're new," she said flatly, her eyes never leaving Alex. "How long?"

Alex blinked, unsure of how to respond. "I… just woke up," she replied cautiously. "They told me I'm… a Dormant."

"Oh…lucky, it won't be long till i awaken" She muttered.

Alex's breath hitched at the girl's words. It won't be long till I awaken. There was no fear in her tone, only a resigned acceptance, as if she'd already made peace with her fate.

"How long have you been… like this?" Alex asked, her voice tentative, almost afraid to hear the answer.

The girl's dull eyes flickered with something Alex couldn't place—was it pain? Or perhaps something deeper, something more hollow. "Two months," she answered after a pause. "Two months since they dragged me in off the streets. Said the same thing they told you: 'You'll live for a while. Until you don't.'" She gave a bitter smile. "Guess my time's almost up."

Alex swallowed hard, a lump forming in her throat. Two months. Is that all I have? She couldn't help but wonder how much of herself would be left after that time. How long until the creeping change started eroding her mind, her identity, everything that made her… her?

"I'm Alex," she offered quietly, unsure why she even bothered. Maybe it was the need to feel something—anything—human in this cold, sterile place.

"Celia," the girl responded, her voice softer now. "Not that it matters. They won't call me by it when I'm gone."

Alex's hands clenched at her sides. She wanted to say something, to offer some kind of reassurance, but what could she possibly say? It'll be okay? That was a lie, and they both knew it. There was no "okay" in this place.

Instead, she asked, "Do you… remember what it felt like? When it started?"

Celia's gaze grew distant, as if she were looking through Alex, into something far away. "At first, it's just the body," she said. "The pain in your chest, your limbs… like fire crawling under your skin. Then the headaches. The dreams." Her eyes darkened. "But the worst part? It's when you start forgetting."

Alex frowned. "Forgetting?"

Celia nodded slowly. "Little things, at first. Faces, names. Then bigger things. Your favorite color. The sound of your own voice. It just… slips away. Until one day, you look in the mirror and you don't know who's staring back."

A chill ran down Alex's spine. She couldn't imagine losing herself like that, piece by piece, until she was nothing but a hollow shell. "How do you hold on?" she whispered.

Celia's smile was sad and tired. "You don't. You just try to make the time you have left mean something. Even if it's only for you."

Alex sat in silence, her mind racing. Make it mean something. The words echoed in her head, a faint spark of resolve igniting within her. If she was going to lose herself, then she'd do it on her terms. She'd fight. She'd find a way to hold on, even if the odds were against her.

"Do you ever wonder…" Alex began hesitantly, "if there's a way out of this? A cure? Something they haven't told us?"

"Hah, no but if we survive Awakening long enough, we will regain all our memories back" She said without a sigh.

Alex hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"Well when we get infected, we go through stages, Dormant,Awakened,Corrupted,Full Demonization and Advancement, but that's the beginning because we are demons of the lowest tier" Alex's heart skipped a beat. Demons of the lowest tier. The words sounded ominous, but there was something in Celia's tone something that hinted at a deeper truth.

"So… if we survive long enough, we move through those stages," Alex said slowly, trying to piece it together. "And eventually… what happens after Advancement?"

Celia's dull eyes flickered with something—a spark of knowledge or perhaps dread. "After Advancement, you become something else. Not human. Not entirely demon either. You… transcend. Or so they say. No one really knows, because almost no one gets that far."

Alex's mind raced. "But if no one knows… then maybe—"

"Maybe it's worse," Celia interrupted, her voice cold. "Or maybe it's better. But the chances of surviving to that point?" She shook her head. "Slim to none. Most don't make it past Awakening. Their minds break. Their bodies follow."

Alex swallowed hard, her throat dry. "But it's still a chance."

Celia studied her for a moment, then leaned back against the wall, her eyes distant again. "You're different," she said quietly. "Most Dormants don't talk like you. They give up before they even start."