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32.92% When a Hitman Gets Haunted by a Ghost / Chapter 27: Cloud Nine... Or Higher?

章節 27: Cloud Nine... Or Higher?

The direction passed by Ein like a cloud, and he kept single-mindedly murmuring prayers.

Adriel tapped the chair he was sitting on, growing concerned. "Dean's talking to you. Are you ignoring him on purpose or...?"

Dean's voice lowered, tense. "Are you high?"

"What are you talking about?" Ein whispered back.

"You've been acting weird since dinner. Getting friendly with that kid, drinking my juice, and now laughing for no reason." Dean paused, his eyes narrowing. "And you're sweating like crazy."

Ein heard the words, but they felt nonsensical, as if coming from the other side of a thick wall. He raised an eyebrow, or at least he thought he did. His mind was stuck in a thick, muddy swamp where every thought sank before it could take shape.

The world around him shimmered and blurred at the edges. And a dumb grin tugged at his lips. "Yeah?"

Dean groaned, looking more exasperated.

Adriel gasped, anxiously tapping Ein's chair. His voice sounded faint, like it was echoing through a tunnel. "The barman!" he blurted out, pointing somewhere. "The jerk who drugged me at the Red Tail bar! He's here!"

The ghost rubbed his chin, speaking faster now, "Dean's the only one sober—he didn't drink the juice. It must have..."

Ein didn't catch all of it, but the urgency in Adriel's tone made something click. His eyes went wide, and he gasped. "It must have been the ju—"

Dean slapped his hand over Ein's mouth. "Shut up! Don't shout," he hissed. "We need to get out of here. Follow me, quietly."

Compliant, Ein stood to follow, but the world tilted sideways. He stumbled, barely managing to catch himself on the back of the chair.

As the room warped around him, his gaze was drawn back to the stage, which was bathed in a strange, holy light.

It was so pure, so beautiful. If he could just stay here, everything would be fine. He could almost feel his body swimming towards the stage.

"Ein! This is bad—really bad! Stop looking there!" Adriel was panicking. "You drank three cups! You could die from overdose!"

The warning barely registered. Ein's heart hammered unevenly in his chest, and his legs wobbled under him. The room tilted once more, and he crumpled to the floor, the cold tiles meeting him in a blur.

✧ ✧ ✧

The next time Ein opened his eyes, he was in the shared bedroom with Dean.

Everything was bright and fuzzy, almost dreamlike. The lights twinkled like stars, doubling in count.

"Hey, hey. Are you awake?" Adriel's voice pulled him back, an edge of concern in his tone.

Ein blinked slowly, his mind barely making contact with gravity, and then... there was the beautiful angel, standing right in front of him, with a warm light cascading over him.

A breathy laugh slipped from his lips.

Pure white wings had spread out behind Adriel's back, unscathed and pristine, like he had just descended from heaven.

"Oh my God," Adriel breathed, leaning closer. "Your pupils are huge."

Ein's fingers twitched before lifting into the air, reaching out slowly, not daring to blink. The ghost glanced over his shoulder, trying to understand what he was staring at.

"What are you doing?" 

"Your wings..." Ein whispered, grasping something invisible above Adriel's shoulders. His fingertips brushed through nothing, and he tried again. 

Adriel's smirk faltered, caught between amusement and concern. His voice was softer, unsure, "Wings?" He spun around twice, like a dog chasing his tail, just to make sure no feathers had sprouted on his back.

But when he turned back, Ein was still gazing at him with an awe-struck expression, higher than the moon.

"This is driving me insane," the ghost mumbled. "How long will it take for you to come back to your senses?"

Senses... That's right—Ein had one of those. A sense of something like bliss and ease. Everything felt possible, even flying.

"Did it... hurt?" Ein slurred, his tone turning serious.

Adriel's eyebrows shot up. "Did what hurt?" he asked tentatively.

"Falling from heaven..."

Adriel was speechless for a moment, but the earnest look on Ein's face made him crack up. Seeing the cold man spout nonsense with sincerity wasn't something he ever expected to witness. 

"Are you kidding me?" 

"...Why would I be kidding?" Ein watched him blankly.

Adriel chuckled, shaking his head. "Never mind, forget it."

With the slow look on his face, Ein looked like he would have answered anything Adriel asked.

This was his chance to ask Ein the questions he refused to answer while sane, but...

The ghost fiddled with his fingers, observing the man who looked at him with an absolutely foolish look of adoration in his eyes. 

Adriel sighed, abandoning this opportunity. He wasn't that much of an opportunist. Either way, there was no guarantee Ein would remember anything serious in this state. 

He sat on the corner of the bed, resting his chin in his hand. "You're completely gone, aren't you?" 

Ein shrugged sluggishly, his grin widening. "I dunno." 

"You dunno?" Adriel leaned closer, a teasing grin crossing his face. "Since when has there been something you didn't know?"

Ein let out a huff, his eyes drifting over Adriel's face, memorizing every detail. "Since you showed up..."

The door creaked, and Dean returned to the room. When he saw Ein was conscious, a flicker of relief crossed his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"You got your stomach pumped and hooked up to an IV," Dean told him flatly. "Said to watch out for any side effects. Do you feel any?"

Adriel snapped out of his flustered state to remark, "You know, with how casually the nurses did all that, this was probably not the first time it happened."

Ein's gaze fell to his arm, noticing the IV for the first time. He stared at it with such intense concentration, as if it were a magic wand that could turn into a flower any moment.

"Side effects..." he echoed slowly, his mind foggier than ever. 

Dean sighed. "Yeah, side effects," he said firmly, enunciating each syllable. "Nausea, hallucinations, dizziness, weakness, heart palpitations, shortness of breath..." 


章節 28: Fall From the Clouds

After a beat of contemplative silence, Ein murmured with an oblivious smile, "How dangerous."

Dean grimaced, but decided not to voice his kind thoughts about Ein's delirious state for now, instead filling him in on his conclusions.

"They've been drugging the members by mixing something into juices and serving them at dinner before the weekly Main Prayer. I'm guessing it's something like scopolamine. Not too expensive, which allows them to pull this shit consistently."

"Scopo-what?" Adriel didn't catch the name of the drug—not that he would have known what it was anyway.

All information went over Ein's head, who was too busy marveling at the ghost in his rose-tinted glasses to think about anything else. 

Dean stared at him for a while, then snapped his fingers in front of Ein's face. "Hey, I'm talking to you."

Ein lazily directed his gaze to Dean's face, blinking owlishly. "Now?" 

Dumbfounded, Dean stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. "You don't even realize that you almost died tonight, do you?" 

"When?" 

Dean closed his eyes and took a deep breath, rubbing his temples. "Don't yell at the patients... don't yell..." he muttered to himself, but when he opened them, Ein was still grinning stupidly.

He groaned and walked back to his own bed. "Whatever, I'm not talking to you until you sober up."

Ein turned to Adriel, who was watching the exchange with raised eyebrows.

"He's still mad?" Ein murmured.

"Furious," Adriel corrected. "Not only did you scare me, but you also managed to scare the hell of out Dean. But at least he seems to... tolerate you better than before."

Ein pushed himself to sit up. The world around him spun, and for a moment, he thought he might have been lying down on the ceiling this whole time. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

"I feel weird," he drawled, stretching out the collar of his shirt to loosen it around his throat. 

"No shit. No one made you drink that juice," Dean grumbled from the other side of the room. 

Adriel scratched his head and crossed his legs, then he held up a peace sign. "Hey, Ein, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Ein squinted at his hand like it was an optical illusion, then responded, "Two."

Adriel raised a third finger, and Ein's eyes widened, surprised that the number had somehow increased. The ghost burst out laughing, but quickly quieted down to keep messing with him. 

"How many are there now?" Adriel asked, putting up another finger. 

Ein's brow furrowed in intense concentration, his hand reaching for Adriel's to count his fingers manually. But trying to touch the ghost was like poking around smoke. He tried grabbing Adriel, but his hand went right through.

Seeing his attempts, the ghost almost rolled over. Adriel felt like a sinner while laughing at Ein now, but the way he took the finger counting so seriously... it was just too funny. 

"Haha! Oh, man, I can't—" the ghost chortled, slapping the mattress. 

Adriel was going to keep going, but his joy was abruptly interrupted by Dean's harsh voice. "Will you stop flailing around and just rest?"

Ein paused, then slumped back onto the bed, pulling the covers over himself with a huff. 

"Pff..." The ghost watched, amused as Dean cursed under his breath before switching off the lights.

Adriel inched closer to Ein to see his face better. "Tired? I bet you are," he whispered, then used the corner of the blanket to poke Ein's arm that was draped over his eyes. "Move your arm, I can't see you."

Ein removed his arm, listening to everything he was told. His eyes appeared glossy even in the dark.

Satisfied, the ghost giggled, his eyes scanning the scene for more ways to entertain himself. What else could he tell Ein to do? Something stupid? Something embarrassing? 

"Your smile," Ein murmured out of the blue, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's annoying. But..." he let out a short sigh. "It'd be a shame if it disappeared."

Adriel's mouth opened in awe and his heart flipped over in his chest. 

However, the moment was ruined by Dean, who thought Ein was talking to him. "I couldn't agree more. These days I smile just for you," his voice echoed in the darkness, soaked in sarcasm. 

Dean's remark was apparently very funny to Ein, and for a few minutes, there was only the sound of him chuckling breathlessly. "You—you don't smile," he choked out.

"My point exactly," Dean deadpanned.

Ein's laughter gradually faded. "It's almost like... the old days..."

Dean groaned, burying his face in the pillows. "Bloody hell, I'm trying to sleep and this drugged-up idiot keeps yapping." Yet the annoyance in his tone was undercut by the fact that he was probably trying not to laugh too.

Ein huffed another chuckle to get on his nerves, but he must've laughed too hard earlier, because he was all out of breath.

"Okay, that's it, you asked for this," Dean sat up, sounding like he was about to strangle Ein. But before he could do anything to make him shut up, the room fell silent. 

"What, scared I'm gonna beat you up?" Dean stared into the dark with a sarcastic expression.

The ghost frowned, tugging at the blanket. "Hey, something wrong?"

Ein instinctively clutched his chest, his fingers pressing against his shirt as if trying to ease an uncomfortable tightness. That wasn't a good feeling.

Each inhale felt shorter than the last, the air not reaching his lungs fully.

"Does your heart hurt?" Adriel tried to guess. He scrambled up from the bed, searching for clues. "Can't breathe?"

The ghost swiftly flicked the light switch, then pulled the blanket off Ein to draw Dean's attention. "Emergency! Look here! Do something!" 

"What the—" Dean squinted at the sudden brightness, trying to understand who turned on the light. But once his gaze landed on Ein clutching his chest with shallow breaths, he forgot all about it.

Dean rushed over with such force that Adriel would've been knocked over if not for his ghostly state. He quickly scanned the scene for a possible cause, then his eyes landed on the IV drip. 

"Shit. What did they put in this IV, a sedative?" He pulled out the catheter of Ein's arm. 

Adriel paced in circles, looking outside the door for any nearby help. "Why isn't he calling a nurse? This is freaking me out!"

Dean loosened Ein's collar, trying to give him more room to breathe while giving instructions. "Hey, take a slow breath, just one at a time. You hear me?"

But as Dean tried to steady him, Ein's eyes rolled back slightly, and his body went limp.

Dean froze for a stunned second, panic flashing across his face. Then he sprang into action. "Damn it—NURSE!" he yelled, bolting out the door.


創作者的想法
Buyong Buyong

The amount of research I did on scopolamine is ridiculous (the nerd in me enjoyed every second of it).

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