"There." Ray said as he stepped back after hooking the bag over Licht's IV stand.
"Thank you, Ray." Leila spoke gratefully.
"No problem. Someone has to do it. It's not like he can take care of himself." Ray replied. "Still, being in a coma for thirteen years..."
Ray turned to look at Licht, his eyes downcast with what looked like pity.
"Judging from the state he's in, he's probably been left like this for about a week."
"A whole week?!" Leila exclaimed.
The thought of it sent chills down her spine.
If they'd have been even one day later, he might not have made it.
"That means Silas was killed around that time. And that's also when we started having these nightmares." Mina said.
"Us getting pulled into these nightmares might be the result of Licht unconsciously calling out for help." Subaru said.
"If we hadn't come, Licht would've died for sure." Nalalie said.
'I'm so glad we could save Licht.' Leila thought.
"Nala and I found this while we were looking for the IV bag." Subaru said as he held out a leather journal. "It's Silas Ackerman's diary."
Ray, Mina and Leila gasped.
"What does it say?" Leila asked.
"The few notes were about his research plans." Nalalie said. "There were some names of other people involved, but I don't think that's of any concern to us now."
Mina held the diary and flipped through the pages as she and the others skimmed through the writings carefully.
'This spans thirteen years or so.'
"Wait, stop there." Ray said as he abruptly stopped her from turning the page.
Ray helped her hold the book in place, and she felt him peer in closer from over her shoulder.
" 'After the incident, I found myself at a loss. Do I grieve for my son, or do I grieve for myself?' " Ray read out before he leaned back and folded his arms. "Let's start here."
"Okay." Leila said and Mina nodded as the three of them began to read from just after the paragraph Ray had read.
" 'How has it come to this? Licht, your father is a wanted man'." Leila read. " 'I'm terribly sorry for putting your life and your friends' lives at risk. The governor has judged this experiment to be a failure, and I'..."
Leila trailed off her reading and Nalalie and Subaru joined the trio as Subaru finished reading for her.
" 'I am to pay for my sins'." He read.
"So the government came after him." Mina said.
"It feels like he was more of a scapegoat." Subaru said.
"A scapegoat?" Leila questioned.
Subaru nodded as Nalalie flipped a page.
"The government partly funded the experiment. But it looks like Silas Ackerman got all the blame." Nalalie said.
"So they washed their hands of the whole thing, huh?" Ray said. "How typical."
"But... if he died recently, then that means he's been avoiding the institution for this long?" Leila said.
"That's almost impressive." Mina said.
Leila looked down at the page again.
" 'His alpha waves have been greatly erratic, seemingly stemming from nightmares during REM sleep'." She continued to read. " 'Could it be that the subjects' stress and trauma contributed to this? What if the bad memories that I hoped to eliminate in these seven children made their way into Licht's healthy mind? I have polluted my own son's memories to the point that he can no longer be woken up. I'm sorry, my son. Please forgive me'."
YOU ARE READING
Nocturne of Nightmares (Fanfic)
Fanfiction**** IF YOU HAVE YET TO PLAY THE GAME AND ARE PLANNING TO OR YOU HAVE YET TO FINISH PLAYING, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK AS IT HAS MAJOR SPOILERS **** Leila is a young woman whose childhood was always a blur. No matter how hard she tried, she could never...
