18. SEIZURE

18. SEIZURE

Living Dead.

A loyal being that Dad created.

There's no bound cure.

Just Death could make that stop.

However, the phrase “Death till do us apart”, didn't become a nonsense.

I ran toward the only locked door and the special door that Dad always showed to me before.

“ What did you do to them?”

My eyes widened as tears continued to flow like a river and my lips trembled in a mix of disappointment, sadness and hatred.

“no, this is just a dream right?”

I asked Dad. It might be just a prank.

Maybe, my friends just wanted to reconcile with me, that's why they are here. They weren't not missing. They are just hiding from me, to surprise me.

I kept shaking my head and I chuckled slightly.

“Hey guys, I am now laughing, just shout your powerful ‘boom surprise’ for me.” I said but I look dumb as no fine response came to me. They just only make the same sound and mom did.

I slowly approached their direction. However, my feet could not bring themselves to move any closer. My eyes filled with tears, blurring my vision. I didn’t even have the strength to wipe them away. My knees trembled as I stood there, paralyzed, watching them thrash wildly in their own beds while chained.

But the sounds they made were no longer the same now that I was near. It was nothing but thirst. Their cries and groans were merely the desperate screams of hunger.

"I shouldn’t have—" I couldn’t bring myself to speak, as if the words would devour me if I said them.

I just stood there, crying, while their eyes bore into me—hungry. Different from how they always saw me before they changed.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" …And just as the pain consumed me, I woke up in my present surroundings. I pinched myself, trying to mask the relentless ache in my heart as I watched the echoes of my past—the living dead I once witnessed, and my sin.

"W-what are you doing here? …This place is extremely dangerous." He dragged me away from that place. And it seemed like my grandma didn’t notice me at all. Their fight still raged on as I remained trapped—haunted by the past.

When we reached a silent room, away from that place, I felt like I was losing my breath. The person who had brought me here panicked as he saw me turn pale.

"Illeon, Illeon," he called my name a few times before deciding to pull off his polo and wave it like a fan. "Damn, this place feels like an empty shell—there’s not even a scrap of paper in sight."

But I couldn’t ask him anything. I was being consumed by my own conscience.

"W… W-why are they here?" My voice was too weak for him to hear, and it took all my strength just to force those words out as I struggled for air.

"Is this not enough? I can't even do CPR—that would be unhygienic for you." He picked me up again and ran. He really took care of me.

As we passed through the hallways, students glanced at us but didn’t care. They watched for a second before returning to whatever they were doing, as if the sight of me meant nothing.

"Tsk. Just how bad is your image here?" he muttered, watching as the nurses assisted me, placing an oxygen mask over my mouth.

But it still wasn’t enough. The pain in my chest only added to my torment.

"This is unusual. She’s resisting the oxygen," I heard one of the nurses say as she held the mask over my mouth.

My chest rose and fell erratically as the nurse in front of me performed CPR. But it wasn’t helping. I was still gasping—worse than before.

Darkness crept into my vision, consuming the light.

"She’s about to lose consciousness! We need to call Dr. Villa, now!"

I could feel sweat soaking through my shirt, clinging to my skin. I struggled to keep my eyes open, fighting against the pull of sleep.

But this wasn’t just my body failing from what I had seen earlier. My soul was slipping away from Illeon's body. A powerful force was pushing me out—yet something else held me back, keeping me tethered, even as an invisible current tried to sweep me away.

"Where’s Dr. Villa?" Their voices were thick with panic.

"He’s coming."

"Her pulse is getting weaker. We need to begin the session immediately. Open the room. When Dr. Villa arrives, lead him there."

*****

I don’t fully remember what happened after I lost the fight against the blackness consuming my vision. I just woke up screaming—only to find myself back in that room.

Kim and my friends were there again. They were looking at me, their eyes pleading for help, while I just stood there, watching them writhe in pain.

T, who had been sleeping while sitting on a monoblock chair beside my bed, stirred. His head drooped forward, nearly causing him to lose his balance. He jolted awake, startled, before he noticed me, watching him.

“It's 10:39pm, are you hungry?” I wanted to sit down but he stopped me.

“It is not good for you to move around. Just laid there and behaved.” He stood up and took the small thermal box of food. He opened it and the aroma of muffin lingered everywhere.

How did I know that while my nose was full with oxygen hose and also my mouth?

Just his expression told me everything.

"I wanted to surprise you with this on my first secret visit, but damn! You just had to drag yourself into something you shouldn’t even be involved in." He said, wearing his serious tone.

"W… wak kappeh?" (What happened?) I could barely speak properly, but that didn’t stop him.

"Tsk, if I didn’t know how stubborn you are when it comes to secrets, I would’ve thrown away our years of friendship." He put his hand on his way and said that to me.

“Skap, enak.” (Stop, Enough)

“Mrs Lourdes called me for something urgent and above all. That's not a proper start for us to talk about that issue with how you went through this morning… my muffins were going to be wasted right now, Doc said that you can only eat light and warm food tonight if you ‘miraculously’ woke up.” He even emphasized the term Miraculously to me.

“wakh? ”( what?)

"The doctor already called your family. Your grandma visited this afternoon, but she only stayed for five minutes. Looked like she was in a rush. She just glanced at you while talking to the doctor and then left…" He spoke in a calm tone, already understanding the strained relationship between me and my host’s grandma.

"And another thing—why the hell has no one else visited you?! I know your school has strict rules, but damn, not even a single representative to check on you? Your parents haven’t come yet either. It made my entire shift feel pointless." He frowned, his forehead creased in annoyance and confusion.

Instead of resting or calling a nurse for food, it seemed like his rant alone would be enough to fill my stomach.

I didn’t expect this to be his reaction to panic and worry.

"Hey, don’t fall back asleep yet. You need to eat tonight—you haven’t had anything since morning… Tsk. I’ll call the nurse. Keep your eyes open. It’s better to rest when your stomach’s full."

Where the hell did he get that phrase?

He was gone for only a couple of seconds before he came back like a flash, as if his words hadn’t even finished reaching my ears.

"Tsk. Your eyes are already resisting again. Does my voice sound like a lullaby to you?"

A cracked sound would be a better description of your voice.

"Tsk. Stay awake, will you? If they hadn't ordered me to monitor your oxygen, I would've taken it off and shoved those muffins in your mouth."

"Request? We didn't order you." The nurse entered, pushing a trolley laden with food. It contained rice soup with ginger.

“Your grandmother requested this food, you suddenly felt cold for one hour that we thought you were experiencing hypothermia. But the Principal said, "That was just your past illness.”

The nurse didn't specifically mention the name of it, but grandma clearly means the curse illness of Illeon.

I took the oxygen mask on me and gave him a dangerous stare. Though I couldn’t speak properly right now, just my stare at him silenced him before he assisted me to sit like my silent servant and gave me a spoon of soup.