Ein opened his mouth to find an explanation, but his mind was in chaos—excuses bumped into each other like bumper cars, while his rational thoughts were delayed, stuck somewhere down the track.
The nurse quietly excused herself to report the situation, slipping away while Dean was distracted.
Ein braced himself to be called insane again. Or better yet—for another round of trivia:
'?! Who stole Adriel Byers' body ?!'
Option A: "Not me."
Option B: "How am I supposed to know?"
Option C: "Fine, it was me. So what?"
Option D: "Actually, Adriel Byers walked out of the morgue himself. Then I helped him stalk his uncle, visit a shaman, and now I'm planning to kidnap Victor Hale in order to perform a ritual to bring Adriel back. Oh, and fun fact—he's currently standing right behind you."
That last option—which just so happened to be the truth—would definitely land Ein in a mental institution. Although, they were already in a cult. How much worse could it get at that point?
Instead of any jabs at Ein's sanity, Dean muttered, "What Adderall? Do you even hear yourself? No one would administer Adderall through an IV drip."
Ein huffed a sigh of relief. Dean had misheard. He looked at Adriel, then down at his hands that had been ghostly and see-through just a moment ago.
It didn't feel too great to be thrown out of his own body. The sensation was foreign, empty, and disconnected. Like a hunger that couldn't be fully satiated or going for a swim without getting wet. Yet, Adriel had been living like that for days.
"Congrats on the second chance at life." Dean interrupted Ein's thoughts with a rough pat on the back. "You just became Lazarus Blessing's first bloody resurrection miracle."
Adriel waved his hand weakly, looking green at the edges. "No blood, please..."
"Prepare for your private meeting with Hale. Lucky bastard." Dean withdrew, masking his secretly-glad-Ein-didn't-croak expression with the usual scowl. He returned to his bed, rolling into it with a creak.
As Ein's gaze moved across the plain room for the second time, the word tripped in his mind. Lucky? He had almost let his life slip away, barely caring at all.
Looking at the startled Adriel, guilt twisted inside him. If Ein had really let go, the ghost would've been left to roam the rest of what was left of his thirteen days alone, without any hope of reclaiming his life. That thought felt heavier than death itself.
Yet, the irony of it all struck him like a slap—the ghost of the man he'd killed was the one who had saved his life. What kind of twisted fate was that?
Adriel let out a long, exaggerated sigh, leaning his back against the bed. "I hate this place. I hate the way they do things here. I can't wait to leave." He paused, eyes flicking to the ceiling as if searching for words.
"But I guess, right now..." he rested his head on the bed frame, glancing at Ein with a weary smile, "I'm glad you didn't die."
Ein raised an eyebrow, a soft scoff escaping him. That wasn't something he heard often. In fact, the last time he had heard anything like it was ages ago.
✧ ✧ ✧
Adriel snooped around while the living people were sleeping. He trailed down the empty hallways mindlessly until he turned a corner to a room that still had its lights on.
"Well, well, well," he hummed to himself jokingly. "Don't you know you should turn off the lights before midnight, or the evil spirits will come to play?"
Hushed voices came from behind the door, but one of them sounded unnerved, as if telling something to people who wouldn't listen.
"...back to life!"
Intrigued, Adriel decided to take a closer look. He peeked through the crack in the door and saw three people in the room. The trio was a sight to behold—Joshua, the nurse, and the barman from the Red Tail bar.
The ghost's eyes narrowed at the sight of the man who had slipped something into Adriel's drink, making him an easy target for Ein. And now he had almost killed Ein himself. Wasn't it ironic?
Yet, a bitter anger curled in Adriel's chest, and seeing the barman casually discussing drugs fueled that rage.
"I make sure every time that the doses are equal," the barman remarked. "It shouldn't cause anything more than a few hallucinations. Definitely not death."
"But it—I..." the nurse stammered.
Joshua waved, calming the woman. "Take a deep breath and explain your steps."
"I did everything according to the protocol," the nurse spoke, glancing at the door nervously, as if sensing an unusual presence. "To stabilize the patient after scopolamine poisoning, I used lorazepam."
Adriel's mouth opened in surprise, but his fury simmered. So, Dean's guess was right. They used that scopo-something drug on the cult members.
Was it the same thing the barman had slipped into Adriel's drink the day he died? The ghost clenched his fists, growing resentful at the thought of other innocent people experiencing the same dizzying, disorientating feeling he had felt.
"But the two drugs reacted over time, and the patient went into respiratory depression," the nurse continued. "When I got to the room, the patient was dead."
The barman wasn't having it, his patience waning. "Then why is he alive?"
"I'm telling you, he actually came back to life!" the nurse exclaimed, exasperated.
Joshua hushed both of them, then led the nurse to sit down. He leaned over the armrest with an expression of understanding that seemed forced.
"There are no miracles, Sarah. This is real life," he kindly reminded. "Think about it again—is there any chance you might've mistaken the patient for dead? Go through the details one more time."
The nurse pondered for a while, then nodded, finding a possible explanation. "The scopolamine... it slows everything down, and then I added lorazepam... I thought it would help stabilize him, but together—they just... stopped his breathing. I couldn't find a pulse. It was like he was dead."
"So it was your mistake," the barman concluded, crossing his arms. "You 'thought' he was dead, then freaked out when he turned out to be alive."
"I..." the nurse couldn't find the words.
Adriel, on the other hand, had a lot to say. He pushed the door open, entering the room with a whoosh.
"Do you even know that you almost sabotaged not one life, but two! All because you want to control these people using drugs?" His eyes landed on the light switch, and without much thought, he went to flick it on and off to give these people a scare.
"How many people have to suffer before you get enough money from 'donations' and bring this thing to an end?" Adriel's voice rose. "Huh? Is it fun? Preying on people's grief?"
The shadows in the room ran around like the legs of an insect. The nurse, who was already on edge, let out a startled cry, retreating to a corner, away from any large objects that could potentially fall.
The barman and Joshua both retreated from the clicking switch, distraught.
"It must be some technical trouble," the barman tried to rationalize it.
Adriel let out a scoff, ceasing his lamp abuse. "Really? Have you ever seen a light switch move on its own?"
The ghost sauntered over to the window, which had been open, letting in the cold night air. He chuckled, a mean grin crossing his lips.
Although Adriel didn't consider himself to be a vengeful soul, neither in life nor in death, there was no harm in taking revenge for the scare this medical emergency had caused him.
After all, these people made others see things that weren't there, so it was only fair they got to experience the same.
"Let's see how you'll explain this!" He slammed the window shut with a bang.
The sound echoed through the room, causing everyone to flinch.
"We're being watched! We've angered the heavens!" the nurse exclaimed, pressing herself even further against the wall.
Joshua frowned, looking around the room as if he were trying to spot the spirit or guess what the next disturbance would be.
"It's more like a poltergeist than anything else," the barman muttered, backing away from the window. "My aunt had this happen at her house. Evil pests."
"Pest? Pest?! How dare you call me a pest?" Outraged, Adriel looked around for his next move. "I'll show you a pest, alright! You want me to haunt you for real? I can do that too!"