Mutagen

Day 130 - 9:10 AM - Audubon Hight School, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

Sitting under the morning sun and feeling the cold morning breeze, it was a nice way to relax after everything that happened last night.

However, it seemed that their relaxation would be cut short.

"Sir Mark!"

Felicia came running and immediately called out after seeing him. But then, she realized...

"Ah... I'm not disturbing you two, aren't I?"

Of course, she would ask that after seeing how red Mei's face was.

"No, it's fine," Mark replied. "You're here about Elise, right?"

"How... No- I mean, yes!" Felicia was confused as to how Mark knew, but she had to say what she came here for. "Elise woke up, but something is wrong with her."

"Ok, let's go."

Mark said, assisting Mei to stand up.

***

Felicia led Mark and Mei towards the infirmary.

Along the way, there were soldiers everywhere, ready to take drastic actions.

Unexpectedly, all the people that should be resting inside the infirmary was now relocated to the hallway. They all watched Mark and Mei as they arrived.

Even Felicia's parents were not an exception.

"Dad, Roan, how is Elise?"

Felicia asked her father and older brother.

"Still inside."

Abraham, Felicia's father, replied while shaking his head in dismay.

"Why did lead to this?"

Candace, Felicia's mother, sobbed.

"Sir Mark, do you know what is happening?"

Abraham turned to Mark to ask while Roan only stared without saying anything.

"I heard the details from Felicia. Let me check Elise first."

"I'll go with you."

"Me too."

Both Roan and Felicia requested.

Mark nodded as there was no reason to decline them.

And the reason for all this?

RIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!

An ear-piercing ring inside Felicia's ear made her stagger.

Even Mark could not help but squint his eyes.

"Felicia, stay closer to Mei'er. Don't blame me if you suddenly get knocked out."

This was the reason. The moment everyone entered the infirmary, the uncomfortable feeling suddenly set in.

In front of the window, Elise stood while sobbing.

Sensing that people entered the room, Elise turned around as she wiped the tears on her face with her hands.

"Who are you two?"

That was what she asked.

According to Felicia, Elise lost her memories. It was not all of her memories, but a lot seemed to have gone missing.

When Elise woke up, she seemed to have been shocked by a lot of things.  Especially because... Her whole family became older.

It seemed that she could not believe what was happening. The next thing they knew was that everyone in the infirmary started hearing ringing noises in their ears that not only made them uncomfortable but also caused many to lose consciousness on the spot.

Everyone had no choice but to vacate the infirmary. The people tried to take Elise out of the room. However, all those that came close to her would end up collapsing. Elise's family members were not an exception to this.

"Mark, that's me. This is Mei." Mark introduced himself and Mei as it was the first thing to do. "Felicia asked us for help."

"Help?" Elise looked at Felicia. "Help for what?!"

RIIIINGGGG!

The people peeking from the door could not help but retreat as they felt dizzy. Roan was also affected, but he managed to resist. Only Mark, Mei, and Felicia seemed to be fine this time. Mostly because of Mei.

"Felicia... Didn't you run away after arguing with Mom and Dad? Why are you back already? What happened to that Jude you are keen on defending on? And why is everyone older? Even me? What happened? Why are there zombies roaming outside now? Why don't I know anything?!"

Hearing all that, Felicia and Roan had bitter expressions. Just how could they answer all those questions? They did not even know what was going on with Elise, aside from losing memories.

Then, Mark asked a question that made Felicia and Roan confused.

"Then Elise, can you tell me what year is it now?"

Elise immediately replied as if it was a matter of fact. The answer, however, made her siblings stare at her in shock.

Her reply was the year when Felicia ran away from home to elope with Jude.

"How long has it been after Felicia ran away?"

Mark asked again, causing Elise to count with her fingers while recalling the days that she remembered before.

"A-about two months? I'm not sure! Why are you asking that anyway?!"

Mark then turned to Roan.

"Is there anything notable two months after Felicia left?"

There, Roan thought hard. He was still unsure about relying on Mark and his strange questions, but as it involved his family, he decided to comply.

Then, he remembered.

"The foundation week in Elise's school?"

Mark then turned to Elise.

"When is that foundation week?"

"N-next week... Why are you even asking that?"

Hearing that, Roan realized something.

"I see now..." Roan sighed. "It's before that happened, huh?"

"Roan, what happened?"

Felicia asked.

"It's when Elise invited me, Mom, and Dad, to attend the school event."

"Then?"

"We forgot to attend it."

Not only Felicia, but Mark and Mei looked at Roan in disbelief.

If it was right, Elise was only around eleven when that happened. To forget a child's school invitation at that time, it was no wonder that her memories rolled back to this time. That might have left a deep mental scar on her.

It was no wonder Elise seemed to behave like a child this time, throwing questions in a tantrum.

"It's because of you, you bollocks." Roan dropped a hand chop on Felicia's head. "We are too busy looking for you, and many things passed our mind."

"What are you all talking about?"

Elise asked. She was about to cry.

"You two, look at what you did."

Mark said with a displeased glare. Roan and Felicia talked about that traumatic event without lowering their voices.

Of course, to Elise, who's memories rolled back, it was pretty much saying what happened to her future.

RIIIIING!!!

The ringing in their ears intensified. Roan fell on his knee, trying to cover his hears. He might have been someone physically strong, but this kind of mental attack was not his forte.

"She really lost all breaks on her psychic ability."

Mark complained.

"I'll try to calm her down." Mark decided and turned to Felicia and Roan. "Felicia, stay close to Mei, Roan, its' better if you run out. That's if you two don't want your brains to get fried."

"Fried...? WHAT?"

Felicia's eyes turned wide. She immediately got close to Mei. Mei did not seem to have any problems with it. Of course, she would not let Roan get close to her.

"Roan, you better run out now."

Felicia warned her brother.

Roan was reluctant to leave. After all, his two younger sisters were in this room. He turned to Mei and Felicia. He remembered what Mark said to Felicia about closing into Mei. He thought that he could do that too and tried to. Roan really did not want to leave his sisters in this kind of situation.

But the, a black scythe blocked Roan on his path with its blade in front of his neck.

"I told you to go out."

"What is wrong with you?"

Roan complained. It was not like he had any ulterior motives. He agreed that Mei was a beautiful woman, but he was not a bastard to aim at someone else's woman.

"I know that you don't have any ill motives," Mark spoke. "The problem is that she had trauma with men. So don't approach her."

RRIIIIIIINGGG!!!

Roan staggered as the ringing on his ears intensified.

"You should go now. Also, tell those people outside to get away from here."

Without any choice, Roan hurried out. The ringing in everyone's ears was getting more and more intense for every second that passed.

Roan finally left.

Mark turned to Elise, she was crying hard.

Losing her memories and waking up without it, it was like she was thrown in a world that she never knew. Furthermore, even her mental age rolled back with the loss of her memories.

"Will it be okay?"

Felicia asked Mark.

"I can make it work out." Mark shrugged. "But after this, you're family will be under me even if you liked it or not."

"Huh?" Felicia was surprised. "What do you mean?!"

Mark did not reply and approached Elise.

"Hey! What do you mean?!"

Felicia shouted and wanted to chase Mark. However, once she left a certain distance around Mei, intense ringing would assault her mind. She could only retreat back to Mei.

Firming his mind, Mark approached Elise that was on the other side of the room.

"No, go away! Don't approach me!"

Of course, it was the normal reaction. A timid girl like Elise would react this way if a stranger she did not know suddenly approached her this way.

RRRRRRIIIIIIINGGGGGG!!!

Mark squinted his eyes. This was quite a headache. Every step he took forward, the energy coming from Elise surged out like a tornado inside the room.

Soon, Mark reached Elise. Elise tried to retreat, but she was backed into the corner of the room.

"No... Get away from me..."

Elise sobbed.

Mark then raised his hand, causing Elise to cover her eyes in fear.

To this, Mark smiled. Elise was like a cornered cute animal if she was like this. Though, she was already old to be treated as a child.

Elise cried, not knowing that her unstable mind was causing a huge ruckus to everyone around her.

There, she felt a hand on her head. It felt strangely warm.

Slowly, she peeked through the gaps of her fingers. She felt the stranger in front of her patting her head gently and comfortably.

"Feel like calming down?"

Mark asked with a tilt of his head.

Feeling the comfortable feeling on her head, Elise was still reluctant, but she still nodded.

"Then, sit down and stop crying. How will your family explain what is happening if you're not calming down? Are you still a child? You are not, right?"

Hearing that, Elise closed her eyes and nodded.

There, she started to calm down. The surroundings also returned to normal as the energy that caused the ringing sounds in everyone's ears started to dissipate.

Mark guided Elise back to her bed and sat down with her. He then signaled for Mei and Felicia to come closer.

"Wow, you really pulled it off."

Felicia spoke.

And there, Elise suddenly fell on her back.

"Elise!"

Felicia panicked.

Mark caught Elise and carried her to lie down on her bed.

"Don't panic. Elise is  just asleep."

Felicia hurried to Elise's side, confirming what Mark said.

"Gege, what is happening with her?"

Mei asked Mark.

"I'm not a psychologist, I don't know." Mark shrugged. "Well, I have an idea, why her mental energy is leaking like this."

"Mental energy?" Felicia interjected. "Is my younger sister some sort of Psychic or Magician?"

"Well, sort of... and a powerful one. But's she's pretty much neglected, I think."

Since the commotion died down, people started to return. As they confirmed that it was safe now, although most were still reluctant to return, Felicia's family, along with the officers of the Military, entered to ask Mark what was going on.

Of course, Mark really had no reason to explain. However, if he did not, these people would continue to pester him or those people around him.

It was better if they did not.

Thus, Mark decided to take this opportunity and turn it into a meeting. It was not wrong to do this because the soldiers were also asking about what happened yesterday. And Elise was directly connected to that event.

This time, Mark would explain the circumstances not only to the soldiers but also to Felicia's family in one go.

It was better like this than wasting more time explaining to different parties one by one.

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