Chapter 175
Emily was really regretting what she did . She wasn"t expecting that kind of effect on Oliver . The moment everyone else seem to be hallucinating about the ghost girl Alice, Emily noticed that something was wrong with Oliver .
Oliver was having a different reaction than everyone, he didn"t look like someone was talking to him . Also his eyes were open, but they were unfocused . He was also sweating a great amount .
Emily couldn"t understand what was happening to Oliver . So she took one of the gas mask she hidden in the bag she brought and put it on Oliver . The effects of the hallucinogen, from the candle she switched should be wearing off after a few seconds, since it wasn"t that strong to begin with .
Yet even after a few seconds pa.s.s, Oliver didn"t wake up from his hallucinations . Emily at this time started to panic for a bit . She knew the contents of the hallucinogen and was sure that there was nothing in there that could harm the body . This was the first time in a long time, Emily didn"t know what to do .
While she was confused as to what to do, the first person Emily thought of that could help her was her brother . Then she remembered that he was doing a mission, so the next person she thought of, was right beside her . Emily took another gas mask and put it on Alex . She then proceeded to put out the candle . After which Emily proceeded to put a gas mask on everyone else .
. . .
After a few seconds Alex was finally released from his hallucinations . When he woke up from the hallucination the first thing he noticed was the gas mask . He then surveyed the area and saw everyone else was wearing a gas mask . Alex also saw that Oliver was sweating profusely while Emily look like she was panicking .
The moment Alex saw this, he figured out what had happened . The reason why he was hearing voices of a little girl, the reason why he couldn"t pin point the location of the voice . Everything was a hallucination, Emily most probably used an hallucinogen alongside the power of suggestion she was able to make everyone present hear the voice of a little girl . She was the one answering the questions, using the hallucinogen she was able to trick even Alex"s senses .
"The moment it started speaking in the end without the echo, was most probably the moment the hallucinogen was taking full effect within our bodies . "
While Alex was a.n.a.lyzing what had happened Emily noticed that he was awake . She jumped into Alex"s side, looking like she was about to cry .
"Alex help me, something is wrong with Oliver . " When Alex heard what Emily said, he hurried to Oliver"s side and checked his condition . Aside from the sweating nothing seems physically wrong with him .
"Emily tell me what ingredients did you use in making that hallucinogen . " Emily quickly told Alex, every ingredient she used . Hearing the list of ingredients used to make the hallucinogen, Alex was confused . The ingredients Emily used to make the hallucinogen shouldn"t have this kind of effect on Oliver .
There must be something going on with Oliver that he didn"t know about .
"Oliver is a mercenary just like me . . . He might have some sort of mental trauma and the hallucinogen is doing something about it . . . Or he could be injected with something that is trying to counteract the effects of the hallucinogen . . . That can"t be it . . . . It could be-" Alex couldn"t make heads or tails with what was happening . He had a few guesses but with the information he has, they were all useless guesses .
While Alex was thinking about what to do, the other members started to wake up from there hallucinations as well . Emily who was feeling guilty about the whole thing, seeing what happened to Oliver, quickly apologized to everyone present .
Still confused as to what had happened the group asked Emily to explain why she was apologizing . Emily then started to explain everything from the start, about how she switched the candles with a candle that smokes out a drug that makes one hallucinate . She explained the whole trick she used, which was similar to what Alex thought she did .
Emily then further explained that something was happening to Oliver that she and Alex couldn"t understand . Though some of the members were a little p.i.s.sed in what Emily had done, they pushed that aside because they were worried about Oliver, who was sweating so much it was like he took a bath .
None of them had any knowledge in this field except for Alex, but his knowledge was more within the range of first aid . Rachel then suggested to bring Oliver to a hospital, yet the moment she suggested this something happened to Oliver, he started to speak .
"I am James Oliver H . Bourne, remember that name . For that is my gift to you, for surviving me . " They couldn"t understand what he was saying all they knew was that Oliver was waking up . Seeing this Emily started calling Oliver"s name, and the others did the same and called to Oliver .
After a few seconds of calling his name, Oliver finally woke up from his hallucinations . He looked around confused as to what was happening . Emily who saw him finally wake up, went in front of him and bowed her head .
She asked for forgiveness, and this time she really meant it . Unlike other times, what happened now wasn"t something she was expecting . Hearing what happened from Alex, Oliver got the gist of what was going on .
"So that was a hallucination? . . . Was it really? It felt like it was real . . . Alex did say I had a weird reaction to the hallucinogen . Maybe that hallucinogen was a catalyst for remembering . . . " While Oliver was thinking about the visions he just saw, Emily was still bowing waiting for a response .
Oliver who saw the usual confident girl bowing while trembling and actually apologizing, could only sigh .
"Do not worry comrade Emily, I wasn"t hurt . Also I think what you did, might"ve been something good for me . So there is no need to apologize, I forgive you, actually I should thank you . So thank you for that comrade Emily, thank you for making this sleepover a little bit more fun and exciting, as well as opening up a new path for me . "
When the others heard what Oliver said, they couldn"t understand it . The only thing they knew was that Oliver had forgiven Emily .
Hearing that Oliver had forgiven her, Emily then bowed to the other members and apologized to them again . When they saw Emily do this, some of them had mixed emotions . These some being Evangeline and Kei, they didn"t like the idea Emily used a hallucinogen on them, but seeing how sincere she was in apologizing and seeing how no one was hurt . It felt like getting too angry was a waste .
"You got to learn how to limit your pranks Emily . . . For now I will forgive you, but the next time I might not . . . Understand?" Evangeline looked at the bowing Emily with a sigh .
"Thank you Evangeline, I understand . . . This will not happen again . Thank you for forgiving me . "
After Evangeline forgave Emily, all the others did so as well . To Rachel this was something she was used too, she had even experienced something worse from Sayaka . Alex wasn"t really that bothered by what Emily did . What bothered him was he was affected by a low level hallucinogen . He was also bothered that he wasn"t able to detect the hallucinogen .
"It seem like not only the Harimas need to train more, I do too . "
Seeing as everyone forgave her, Emily sighed in relief . Still up to now she was wondering what had happened to Oliver . Also after he woke up, Emily noticed there was something different in Oliver"s demeanour, it was subtle difference, but because her main use as a merc was doing recon she was sensitive to these kinds of things, so she noticed the change no matter how subtle .
"So what do we do now?" Rachel asked the others .
"How about we just go to sleep?" Evangeline suggested, in which everyone nodded their heads in agreement .
. . .
As everyone lay in their futons, they couldn"t sleep because of various thoughts going through their head . Rachel was wondering if what the Alice in her mind was saying was actually her questioning herself . Seeing as it was a hallucinogen and not a real ghost, that question must be from her, which she hidden deep in her subconscious mind .
"Does Alex really love me? Or was that my misunderstanding?"
Evangeline and Kei were also having similar problems . The voice in their head was obviously not a ghost it was them thinking it .
. . . .
Emily was also having trouble sleeping . She knew and understood that this time she went too far, and almost got hated by everyone . If it were any other group, she would already been kicked out of it . Normally Emily wouldn"t care about being kicked out of a group, but these people were special and Emily really liked them, so she was glad that she wasn"t kicked out .
That was one thing that was on her mind, and the other thing was the changes happening to Oliver . She just couldn"t understand what happened, also she couldn"t quite pin point what changed with Oliver .
. . . .
Alex on the other hand was trying to figure out, how he could retrain himself while protecting Rachel . He could let three of the butlers and maids at home protect her, but she might get really uncomfortable with that .
"I guess I need to ask for help . "
. . .
Yet the person who was having the most difficulty sleeping was none other than Oliver . Even now he was in a state of confusion .
"That boy, those scenes, everyone of them felt so familiar at the same time not . "
He wasn"t sure what was real or what was fake anymore, but he knew that there was something going on with his memories . At the moment he has four different realities battling in his head . He wasn"t sure which one was the real one, but he was going to find out one way or another .