"How is he?" Morus asked when Emma stepped into the car. She buckled her seatbelt and rested her head on the back of the seat.
"…He's…I don't know. It's hard to tell…" Emma said and looked at the older man. "Sir…do you remember when he lost it? When he overdosed?" Morus nodded slowly, concentrating more on the traffic.
"I'm just worried he might try 'it' again."
"Whatever gave you idea?"
"The way he was acting…he had tears in his eyes when I left…like when he was arrested."
Seifer rolled onto his back for the third time since the meeting. He had a sick feeling as he lied in the darkness on his bed. Squalls words still lingering in his clouded mind.
"You want me to snitch on them." Seifer said coldly.
Quistis and Zell sighed. "No, Seifer. We need you to find out where they are hiding and inform us so we can make the arrest."
"And the difference between this and snitching is…?" Seifer knew what they were trying to get him to do. He knew that they were using him to get through to the Mortali's.
Seifer closed his eyes tightly and then opened them again. "What mission? I can't be a part of this." He thought to himself, looking behind him and out the window. The rain poured heavily on the window and soothed Seifer's pained heart. He sighed and sat up, picking up his dorm phone, dialing Emma's number.
"The number you are trying to reach is busy if you would like auto-redial to call you back--" Seifer threw the phone across the room and sighed.
"I need Numb."
"…Press three…if you subscribed to auto redial we will call you back when the line is no longer busy…" Emma hung up the phone and looked out of the window of her father's private condo. The rain fell lightly on her marble balcony, dampening the hand that rested there.
With Marilyn Manson's song 'Sweet Dreams' playing in the background, Seifer reached into his sock drawer and pulled out a black leather zip up bag. He unzipped it, pulling out a razorblade, a hypodermic syringe; spoon, lighter, and three baggies labeled 'Numb', 'Hara-kiri' and 'Happy Day' in black marker.
Emma began to pull on a green jacket and grabbed her car keys. She walked down the hall and the stairs. Lux was sitting in the Living room and stood up when his older sister passed by him.
"Emma something's wrong—"
"Not now Luxius," She said and walked out the door.
Seifer pulled out the baggie labeled 'Numb' and poured some into the burnt spoon. He lit the lighter and held it underneath the spoon, turning the powder into liquidated heroin.
"Seifer…you don't want to do this…" Emma gasped quietly reaching for the 18-year-old holding the gun to his head. "Put the gun down…"
"Why should I fucking listen to you? You're the one who brought the entire Esthar army here to save me!" He cocked the gun.
"Seifer…please…they followed me…it's over…let's go and get out of here." Emma slowly walked up the stairs and to the platform where Seifer stood. He aimed it at Emma with a shaky bruised hand.
"Stay the fuck back or I'll shoot!"
Seifer quietly winced as he pushed the needle and watched it as it went into his vein. And watched as the blood gushed back into the syringe, mixing with the heroin. And then felt the drug enter his body and swim through his veins as he pushed his thumb down on the plunger.
Emma slid into her black Eclipse and started the engine, after putting it into gear; she drove to the nearest train station. She picked up her phone and redialed Seifer's number. No answer.
The song had changed to Kaboom-Kaboom, triggering the remaining flashback of horror. Seifer reached over for the blade that he had used to cut his lines.
"She never loved me anyway."
He pressed it to his forearm; cutting away at the pale flesh and watching as the blood fell onto the floor and his pants. He moaned in self-satisfactory. It had been forever since he was able to take any form of drugs. The ones he was able to take in prison weren't the same.
The gun fired and the bullet grazed Emma's neck, inches away from her jugular. She fell back, hitting her head on the metal edge of the table, her black hair fluttering as she fell, unconscious from the shock and pain.
"E…Emma?"
Seifer tossed the bag labeled 'Hara-kiri' back in the black bag. Taking his trusty hundred-dollar bill like a human Dust-Buster, he quickly snorted up the fat line. Suddenly his head jerked back. His hands flew to his nose, which felt like it was on fire. And then realized something was terribly wrong. Then...the rush hit...
"Operator…" A feminine voice said practiced through the phone.
"Yes, ah, could you please give me the dorm number to ID number 41250 please?" Emma shoved her keys in her pocket and sat down in one of the red plush seats in the train and pulling out a piece of paper and a pen from her jacket pocket.
"One moment…I'm sorry but the ID information your requesting is classified." Emma thought for a moment and then had an idea.
"Well, then I'll allow you to speak to Quistis Trepe and you can tell her this…one moment please." She held the phone away and quietly cleared her throat. Returning with a thick refined accent.
"This is Instructor number fourteen, Quistis Trepe speaking." Emma said almost perfectly.
"Oh, Miss Trepe! I apologize. You know how important it is to have the safety of our students." The operator began to ramble when Emma finally interrupted her.
"Yes…well…the dorm number please?"
"Oh! I apologize ma'am. Its number 272…is there anything else ma'am?"
"Yes, just allow my associate Miss Tera Rhich from Dollet through." Emma said with a smirk.
"Yes ma'am…I will most certainly tell the guard."
"Thank you." Emma hung up the phone and shoved it into her pocket.
Seifer, on all fours tried to crawl to the bathroom, but it was as if he was trying to crawl with the bones removed from his knees. He felt the blood begin to drip from his nose. Then his stomach began to join into the act and the red and white vomit spewed from out of his mouth and down his shirt and floor. When he tried to crawl to the shower, he slipped in his own vomit and he collapsed. He stared at his watch for the longest while. Time had stopped at 11:23:34.
Emma rushed through the door to Seifer's dorm as she found him lying on the floor like a rag doll. Twisted on his back, blood and puke spilt down his white long-sleeved front, his face contorted. But not out of the tightness of pain, but just the opposite, the muscles in his face were so relaxed; still with his mouth wide open and slack-jawed.
Emma moved to Seifer's fallen body. Bending down where he lay, she placed her fingers on his neck to check his pulse. He slightly stirred, aware of Emma over him, speaking to him.
"Seifer! Seifer! What the hell happened?" Emma lifted his head, blood and vomit spilling onto her hands.
Unable to communicate, Seifer made a few lost mumbles, blood still draining from his nose. Unfortunately, the mumbles were not distinctive enough to be called words.
Emma propped his eyelids open and saw the story clearly, even with his eyes dead to the world and being a pale gray. She could see that he took a wrong drug.
"Seifer! Seifer! What did you take? Answer me honey, what did you take?" She gently shook his head. But Seifer was incapable of answering.
Emma sprung up and ran towards his trenchcoat hanging on the rack by his closet. She went through the pockets frantically, finding nothing but a pack of cigarettes and his keys. Then, she discovered the black bag and rushed to his bed to find that it was empty. She made a beeline to Seifer to see the syringe at the end of the bed and the rolled up bloody dollar bill by his feet.
"Okay honey, we're getting you on your feet." Emma reached for him and hoisted the dead weight up in her arms and dragged him to his bed., noticing something else. He had slit his arms up upwards and downwards. She checked his pulse again to find it nearly gone. She reached for the phone and began dialing the infirmary.
"…Dr. Kadowaki--"
"Doctor! I need you to get down to dorm 420! Seifer Almasy has overdosed and is barely--" Emma said, her voice droning out from Seifer's ears as she looked at him and his slack-jawed expression, his mouth gaping, and his posture resembling a bag of water.
Seifer weakly lifted his eyes to see Zell, Doctor Kadowaki, and a few other faces he couldn't piece together. The bright lights of the Infirmary's Emergency Care Room blinding him, and the feeling of his stomach being pumped reminded him of how he got into this mess.
"Yeah this here's called Numb…it numbs you out completely…" The dealer handed Seifer a small baggie. "Now, this is called Happy Blow. It's coke. Good stuff from the mountains up north." He handed Seifer another baggie. Seifer looked at it and then looked up at the frail junkie.
"What about the suicide shit you sell to everyone?" He asked adventitiously, making sure Emma didn't hear him all the way from down the corridor.
"Hara-kiri? Right here…." The man gave Seifer a third baggie, but this time, he didn't let go. "You do realize that you have a higher risk of overdosing…."
Seifer rolled his eyes and handed the dealer a small bag of gil. And shoved the three substances into his pocket.
Their voices distorted, sounding as if he was underwater, Seifer turned his head to see Emma, disguised in glasses and black hair, talking to Squall, who was looking at Seifer.
"Seifer…on't….ie….on…sss!" Zell yelled. His voice, broken up and electronic, his face and arms that were shoving another tube down Seifer's throat. "Don't…move!" Was the only thing Seifer could understand. Then he felt the gag reflex and threw up again. Then he felt the sting of peroxide on his arms, the arms he had cut with the blade that cut up the mistaken drug.
"What…th….uck…are…those…f..om!" He heard Zell ask Quistis. One of the faces Seifer now recognized.
"He needs stitches on this one. Selphie! Get stitches and more antibacterial!" Quistis yelled to Selphie, who was busy helping Dr. Kadowaki with the machines and supplies.
"This is going to suspend the mission… isn't it?" Rinoa asked, reaching for Squall's arm. Squall sighed and closed his eyes.
"Go and get Zell for me, please." He said quietly.
As Rinoa exited the Infirmary, Emma passed her way in the hallway. She stopped and turned, not able to identify whom it was who walked by.
"Mr. Leonhart?" Emma took a big chance approaching him. She disguised herself once again, looking meek and afraid. Squall stood up and shook her hand.
"Tera, I want to thank you for being there before it was too late." Squall smiled and offered her his seat.
"Mr. Leonhart, could you do something for me?" She asked, her heart pounding.
"What is it?"
"Could I stay here for the night, to see if Seifer recovers fine?"
"Hmm…" Squall tapped his chin with his index finger and nodded quietly. "I can arrange that. You'll have to stay in the Infirmary with Dr. Kadowaki."