Page 50 of Immersed
“Whoa, easy there,”Jasper said from somewhere nearby.“Bad dream?”
Levi blinked, the interior of the van coming into focus around him. Daylight streamed through the windows, illuminating the concerned faces of his companions. His head rested against something warm and solid—a shoulder. Hewasleaning against someone.
He turned his head and found himself staring into Asher’s mismatched eyes, mere inches from his face.
“You were muttering in your sleep,” Asher said. “Something about vents.”
Levi jerked upright, putting distance between them. His hand went to his throat, searching for lingering damage from gas exposure. Nothing—no pain, no rawness, no chemical burn.
“J-just a nightmare,”he managed, forcing a weak smile.“Felt real, that’s all.”
His body performed an instinctive inventory, searching for injuries that should have carried over. His lungs expanded without resistance. His stomach no longer cramped with nausea. The memory of dying remained vivid, but his physical formhadreset.
“Looked intense,”Maddie observed, leaning forward from the seat behind him.“Youweretwitching and everything.”
She held up her phone, screen turned toward Levi. A photo showed him asleep against Asher’s shoulder, his face relaxed in unconsciousness, Asher’s arm draped casually around him. They looked comfortable together. Intimate.
“You guyswereso adorable Ihadto document it,”she teased, zooming in on where Levi’s head nestled into the crook of Asher’s neck.“Seriously, it’s like youweremadeto fit together.”
Heat flooded Levi’s cheeks as memories cascaded through his mind—Asher’s hand on his cheek as they died together, the tenderness in that final touch contrasting sharply with the violence of previous encounters.
“D-delete that,”he stammered, reaching for her phone.
Maddie pulled it away, laughing.“No way! This is going in the behind-the-scenes compilation.”
Asher remained expressionless beside him, neither acknowledging the intimacy nor denying it.
“You know,”Jasper drawled from the front seat,“Asher’s single. Just saying.”
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Levi through the rearview mirror.
Levi felt his face burn hotter.“Can we please focus on the investigation?”he said, his voice cracking slightly.“We’re supposed to be professionals.”
“Professional ghost hunters,”Tyler corrected from the driver’s seat.“Not exactly Harvard professors.”
“Still,”Levi insisted, desperate to change the subject.“We should review the plan before we arrive.”
Owen perked up, always eager to share his research.“Drosselmeyer County Sanitarium operated from 1927 to 1972,”he began, flipping through his notebook.“Primarily treated psychiatric patients, but rumors suggest experimental procedures in the east wing during the 1960s.”
Levi half-listened to Owen’s detailed rundown, using the distraction to check his pockets discreetly. His fingers encountered the familiar shape of his flashlight, his notepad, a phone this time, and—his breath caught as he felt leather-bound pages.
Dr. Faine’s journal had carried over.
“Forgot something?”Asher asked, noticing Levi’s movements.
Their eyes met briefly—Levi searching for any hint that Asher remembered their shared death, finding nothing but polite curiosity in his gaze.
“Just checking my equipment,”Levi replied.“I don’t want any technical issues when we’re inside.”
He doesn’t remember,Levi reminded himself.He’s just an NPC in this version. The game reset him along with everything else.
As Owen continued his historical overview of the sanitarium, Levi made a strategic decision. Despite his wariness, staying close to Asher might be his wisest move. The sound technicianhadprovensurprisingly capable in the previous loop—knowledgeable about emergencyprocedures, quick to identify dangers, genuinely helpful in crisis situations.
Better the devil you know.At least this version seems to want to keep me alive.
He watched Asher check sound equipment, those long fingers working with practiced precision over dials and switches. The same hands that tried to save him from gas poisoning. The same hands that touched his cheek with surprising tenderness as they died side by side. The same hands that undressed him in Riverbend.
Focus on the mission,Levi reminded himself, pushing away the confusing memory.Find answers. Break the loop.
