Vanessa's Point Of View:
A few moments later, Matt emerged from the crowd of dancing students, carrying an unconscious Zein in his arms. His movements were calm, but his eyes told me he was absolutely seething with rage.
"Get them to the clinic, now!" Mia screamed from behind me. Jerome was carrying Dave, who was also passed out. It was hard to miss how parched and shriveled Dave's skin looked.
"Everyone not involved in the incident, stay put," Madame Violet shouted, a wide, eerie grin plastered on her face.
I clenched my fist. I thought tonight was supposed to be a free Bloody Night? I guess words didn't mean anything at all here, especially when they were coming from the administration.
What a bunch of bullshit.
"I must say... the blood has started to spill," Whispered the girl next to me, holding a glass of wine. She was the one who had identified the substances as drugs---the only female member of the Black Blood Gang.
"Shut up, bitch," I hissed.
I left her at our table and ran after my friends toward the clinic. As I ran, a million questions raced through my mind.
Who did this?
Shit!
I found Mia sobbing outside the clinic while Jerome was trying to calm her down. Matt was just starting into space, lost in deep thought.
"Who do you think did this?" I asked.
Matt looked at me. He smirked, shaking his head.
"Who do you think, Vanessa?" He shot back.
"I don't know. I don't have an idea," I muttered. I mean, it could be that mad headmistress.
Silence fell over us again. Mia had mostly stopped crying. But the longer Zein stayed inside, the more the anxiety tightened in our chests.
We all bolted upright when the door opened. I felt like I couldn't even breathe from the nerves.
"You may come in now," Said Nurse Cha.
"Are they okay?" Mia asked.
Nurse Cha didn't say a word.
We walked inside and saw our unconscious friends. Dave's skin didn't look dry anymore. I turned to Zein and my brow furrowed---her skin looked even worse, even more shriveled than before.
"A type of illegal drug got mixed into their wine," Nurse Cha began.
I nearly rolled my eyes. Got mixed in, or intentionally mixed in?
"The disage was no joke, which is why the reaction was so severe. Dave should wake up any moment. Zein, however, needs more observation," She added.
"But they're going to be okay, right?" I asked, still feeling nervous.
"They need to be observed" was Nurse Cha's only reply.
I felt crushed seeing what happened to our friends. At the same time, I was furious at whoever animal did this to them. No-not animals. Demons.
"What I find strange is why the effect on Ms. Shion is so severe. It's way worse," Nurse Cha added, frowning.
"How did that happen? Didn't they drink the same thing?" Mia asked.
She was right. Why was Zein's case worse? Why did something feel off again?
"I don't know. Maybe it depends on how much they drank, " Nurse Cha replied, sounding unsure herself.
"Zein only had two glasses! Dave drank way more! Why is it the other way around?" Jerome demanded.
"I can't answer that yet, but we will conduct an investigation. Don't worry, once we have answers, we'll inform you. Excuse me." She walked out of the clinic.
Matt sat on the sofa, buried his face in his hands, and leaned forward. Jerome stayed by his side to comfort him. Mia and I just stood there by Zein and Dave.
"Whoever did this.... I swear, I will never forgive them," Mia said, her voice shaking with rage. Up close, I could see Zein's lips had turned dark. Her skin looked bloodless, like that of a corpse. I just hoped to God nothing worse would happen to her.
"Damn that nurse," Matt whispered, clutching his hair.
My brow furrowed. Why was it the nurse's fault?
"Matt, the nurse didn't do anything wrong," Jerome corrected him.
Matt suddenly let out a laugh. He looked at our unconscious friends and just shook his head. He looked so frustrated, but as usual, he remained composed.
"Do you really think they're going to help us?" Matt asked. "No. Even if we die, they won't do a thing."
He stood up and walked over to Zein, stroking her hair. His face contorted, and his fists slowly clenched.
"W-what do you mean" Mia asked, clearly confused. I was lost too.
"She did nothing. She didn't treat or even touch Zein and Dave," He answered.
That was when I realized that there should've been equipment hooked up to them. There should've been oxygen supplies because they were clearly struggling to breathe, especially Zein. But there was nothing.
"Fuck that bitch!" I growled, about to strom out to confron her, but Jerome held me back.
"She can't know we suspect her. She might do something worse to us, especially to Zein and Dave," He warned. "Calm down, Van. Acting reckless won't help.
I took a deep breath, tears welling up in my eyes. " So what do we do? Just let them die?" I asked.
Mia could do nothing but sink into the sofa and squeeze a pillow.
They really were demons, testing how far they could push us. They'd better be ready if anything happened to Zein and Dave.
"Guys! We need to do something! Their lives are on the line!" I screamed out of frustration.
We all ducked when a window suddenly shattered beside us. Jerome immediately ran outside to see who did it, while Mia and I scrambled to the corner.
"I can't take this anymore! I want to get out of here!" Mia screamed, shaking with fear. I pulled her into a hug.
This felt like a dream. A nightmare, to be more correct. It felt like we were in a game fu of riddles, a game where we didn't even know who the enemy was. This was just so unfair.
"Nothing out there," Jerome said as he returned.
Then I noticed Matt holding a small bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid.
"What's that?" I asked, leaving Mia to get closer to him, who was staring intently at the bottle.
"Is that what they threw? What's it for?" Jerome asked, unable to look away from it.
"They want us to give this to Zein and Dave," Matt said. He looked away from the bottle and met our eyes.
"Who? Wait! We don't even know who sent that! What if something happens to Zein?" I protested. Things could get worse, and we had no idea where this came from.
"We need to trust them. We have to. Zein and Dave are in danger. If they aren't treated now, things could... thing could get much worse," Matt explained pleadingly.
"Matt's right. This might be the cure," Jerome greeted.
I didn't know what would happen if they drank that blue liquid, but if we did nothing, they really might not make it.
Shit. Was this really the only way? To trust someone we hadn't even seen?
I sighed and finally nodded. Matt smiled at me and touched my shoulder. "Let's just trust them," He said before turning back to Zein and Dave.
Matt gave the liquid to Dave first, then Zein. Minutes passed, and we stayed glued to our spots, watching them sleep. Panic started to rise when nothing happened.
"W-why isn't anything happening?" Mia asked.
No one answered. I hated this. I didn't want to think the worst, but the fear and doubt were overwhelming.
We had to stay strong. This was just she beginning.
We felt relieved when Dave finally opened his eyes. He was gasping for air, so we rushed to give him water. He downed three glasses as if he hadn't had a drink in days.
"Dave, you're awake," Mia said through tears, throwing her arms around him.
I couldn't help but smile. We all knew how Mia felt about Dave, so I knew how terrified she must have been.
"W-where's Zein?" Dave asked. He looked beside him to where Zein was still lying unconscious.
Why? Why wasn't she waking up?
"Z-Zein?" I called her name, my lips trembling. We heard a case shatter next to Matt, who was now hanging his head.
"No. Zein is going to wake up! Why are you guys acting like this?! She's going to open her eyes! She's going to be her usual grumpy self!"
I didn't know what to do anymore. I was so scared that I started shaking her shoulders, hoping she'd wake up and look at us. But nothing. My tears started to fall. This couldn't be happening!
"Why?! It worked on Dave, why not Zein?!" Jerome was pacing back and forth losing his cool. "Maybe we missed a step?"
Silence took over again until we heard the door open. A girl, who looked a bit younger than us, walking in.
"What are you doing here? Who are you?" Mia asked.
"I'm not an enemy. I'm here to help you," She said. She walked straight to Zein's side. We all watched her, waiting to see what she'd do.
Our eyes widened when she pulled out a small knief. We were froze as we watched her lift Zein's shirt and make a small cut in the middle of her chest.
"What are you doing?!" Jerome grabbed the girl's clothes, but she didn't even react. Matt stood up abruptly when we heard Zein let out a faint moan.
Everyone felt a surge of relief.
"Now give her the medicine they provided," The girl said as Jerome let her go.
Matt quickly rushed over and gave Zein the rest of the liquid from the bottle.
"This is the Blue Serum. It's a type of medicine that cleanes the blood flow to the the heart. It didn't work earlier because she was asleep, so I had to slice her chest," She explained.
I jumped for joy when Zein finally opened her eyes. Just like Dave, she was incredibly thirsty.
Tears of joy streamed dowm my face. I could finally breathe again. I turned around to thank the girl, but she was gone.
"Where did she go?" I asked.
The others just shrugged and smiled. Finally, Zein and Dave were safe. I was so grateful to whoever helped us, but one thing was bugging me.
According to the girl's explanation, the Blue Serum only worked if the person was awake. It didn't work on Zei because she was asleep, but why did it work on Dave?
So did that mean Dave was awake the whole time and hadn't actually fainted?
How?