Prologue

The sound of frantic fast footsteps in a dark abandoned area of the city. The bright full moon is slowly being covered by dark clouds. Heavy panting fills the air. It slowly changes into sharp gasps, but they don't stop. Just like the footsteps don't stop. A gunshot. It misses its intended target as it hits the ground. The steps can still be heard. "Don't think you can get away!" A male's voice yells. It was muffled, from behind a helmet. He wore heavy-duty gear and was holding one of the many weapons he had strapped: a military-grade handgun.

Who on Earth were they chasing? A wanted murderer? The top guy of some type of crime syndicate? Or maybe a war criminal?

The dark clouds moved and cleared revealing the fugitive. An unusually tall, slender figure wearing a white long-sleeve shirt paired with black skintight jeans. Her black high heel ankle boots clicked with every step she took, revealing her position with every move. The hoodie of her steel-blue sleeveless top she wore on top bounced up and down together with the silver pendant she wore around her neck.

She had pale skin that seemed to glow white under the light of the full moon. Her eyes had the color of the clear sky on a winter morning. Her hair was even whiter than her skin and whiter than the moon in the night sky. She donned a neat short haircut. Small silver earrings shaped in crescent moons glistened whenever the moonlight hit them. She looked like she was in her twenties or probably even younger...

She stood out and that didn't help her to get away from whoever was chasing her. Another gunshot. She rolled to the side quickly, hiding behind a large trash container at the side of an abandoned building. And another gunshot. She was trapped, if she tried to move out of that cover she would get hit in no time, while the one chasing her was able to close in onto her position as long as she stayed in that cover. It seemed that her chaser came to the same conclusion, even without seeing her. So he took his sweet time to get to her.

She frantically looked around to find a way to get away from that man. She finally noticed that there was an opening between the two buildings. It probably was a small alley. She would have to go out of cover and be in range for a while to get there, but if she rolled the last bit she might not get hit.

She decided to take the bet. It was better than waiting until he caught up on her. The gunshots wouldn't stop, but she stayed close to the wall crouching, while moving away from the container, getting closer to the alley. She tried to make as little noise as possible, but luckily for her, her chaser was making plenty of noise by shooting at her. At some point she stopped, knowing that if she took another step she'd be in plain sight. She was stuck for now. He fired another shot... How many shots did he fire? It took a while for the white-haired girl to realize it, but when she heard the sound of metal hitting the floor, she knew the man was reloading his gun. That was her chance! She took it and disappeared into the alley.

"Hey!" she heard the voice yell. He started running after her after having inserted the new ammo.

The white-haired girl didn't look back, but when she turned around the corner, her eyes widened. She stopped and stared at a wall in disbelief. A dead-end! She frantically looked around her. Was there no way out? Anything was fine!

That's when she noticed a ladder. It was folded up and connected to a metal staircase which led to an emergency exit of a seemingly abandoned building. It was too high to reach but a smile appeared on her face nonetheless. She ran up to the ladder that was at least 3 meters above the ground. She ran towards the wall in full speed and used the wall to gain more height, by jumping up the wall a little. She stretched out her hand and reached out at the lowest bar and it seemed like she was going to miss, but she didn't. She caught it.

The unknown armed chaser finally caught up and saw her scramble up the ladder. He started shooting but the distance was too big and too many objects stood in between him and his target to hit. Not slowing down, she continued climbing until she reached the stairs. When the chaser saw that he didn't lose any time by shooting at her and made sure to get onto the same stairs as well. Fortunately for the girl the man was not as tall as her and he was slightly heavier than her, because of his armor. He didn't get on it the first time. Nor did he the second time.

By the time he got on it, she already reached the emergency exit. Of course it was locked. She had to find a way to break it open. She tried doing that by running into it with her shoulder a few times but it didn't work. After the third time it still didn't budge. Now the despair was kicking in. The guard had gotten onto the ladder and was quickly catching up. She clenched her teeth in frustration and desperation. She ran into the door again, trying to break it open but it still didn't budge. Her heartbeat shot up as she heard his footsteps on the metal staircase.

"OPEN UP DAMN IT!" she yelled as she did a round-house kick on the door. It finally flew open. She didn't waste any time and ran inside, looking for the way down the stairs. She was making her way to the lowest level to try and leave from the front door, since that man had already wasted his time to get up the emergency ladder. She figured she could gain enough time to disappear and shake him off. She was betting everything on the front door being open or at least fragile, because it was a building scheduled for abolition.

For a long time, it was only her pair of footsteps that echoed throughout the staircase, but then she heard heavy footsteps. She now started skipping stairs and jumping down when close to the end of the stairs. She finally reached the lowest level and made a run for the door that was between her and the main door. She bumped it open with her shoulder. She ran through it and then halted. It was dark but her eyes were accustomed to the dark by now.

Feelings of despair overcame her. She looked around her in pure despair. Front, right, left, behind. There was no door or window. This looked like a warehouse. The thing standing in her way to freedom was one large metal shutter...

She stared at the shutter for a while before she turned around clenching her teeth again. She was going a level up to see if there were windows so she could jump out of it. Jumping from the first floor wouldn't be as bad as being shot by an unknown chaser.

She stopped in her tracks yet again. Then, she walked back a few steps. He had caught up... She was staring at her chaser holding a gun, pointing it at her. She heard a muffled chuckle. "I guess this is as far as you go." the man said. The girl clenched her teeth yet again and took another step back. "Why are you doing this..? What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice shaking. The unknown chaser laughed eerily "There's no need for you to know..." he paused for a while. "… since you're going to die soon…" The girl took another step back. He shoots. The girl lets out a groan. The bullet grazed her thigh. She kneels down and presses her hand against the wound.

The man laughs again and is now standing only one meter away from her. He aims right at the girl's forehead. It's only a matter of time before he pulls the trigger and takes her life. "If you want to blame something, blame your destiny." he just eerily comments. At the click of the removal of the security on the gun the girl's eyes widen so much it looks like her eyeballs are about to pop out of their sockets. "Farewell... Subject MS-01." She shuts her eyes tightly, not able to face the moment he pulls the trigger.

A gunshot... and then silence. No footsteps, no breathing, no thud of the corpse hitting the cold floor. Nothing. Just silence. What had happened?

Then a light shone through the high windows of this warehouse. The white-haired girl was still sitting in the same spot. The military man was still aiming his gun at the girl in front of him. Yet, out of nowhere... A third figure had appeared in between them. A man wearing a black long trench coat and black leather pants which were tucked in boots decorated with straps. He had long silky black hair. His skin was white, but not as white as the girl's. His eyes shone silver as he stared the girl down.

She looked up to his gray eyes in shock. Who was this man..? And why was he not hurt? Why wasn't anyone hurt? The military man definitely pulled the trigger, so why..? And what was that strange mark on his forehead? A silver crescent moon decorated his forehead.

The girl mustered all her courage to voice at least one of her questions: "Wh-" but she got cut off immediately. "Do you want to be saved..?" the man suddenly asked. The girl frowned in confusion, but said nothing for a while, thinking of how to react. She stared into his gray eyes trying to look for some information. They just stared back at her coldly, no emotion, no friendliness.

The man chasing the girl wouldn't stay silent of course, so when he got over his initial shock he yelled: "Get out of the way or you're going down with her." The tall man ignored him. "HEY!" the military man yelled, obviously losing his patience. He poked the man's back with his gun. It didn't faze the black-haired man at all, however. In shock, the girl looked from the man in front of her to her chaser and back. What was going on here? If he didn't move he would die!

"Don't make me repeat myself..." the strange black-haired man said coldly. "Do you want to be saved..?" he asked again with a tone demanding an answer. The girl's shock dissolved into a nervous serious expression. A single drop of cold sweat ran down her cheek. "What will happen if you save me..?" she asked, somehow having the feeling that being saved by this man wouldn't come without cost. He just continued to stare at her and the knot that the girl was feeling in her stomach continued to tighten. She had a bad feeling about this.

When the man finally opened his mouth to answer, the content of his words made the girl swallow her own spit in an attempt to moisten her dried out throat. Like an echo these following words repeated in the girl's mind: "If I save you, you will have to do as I say..."