“Ollie, breathe!” Noble snapped, both of the man’s hands now clasping his face.
Ollie let out a wheezing gasp, and the darkness drew back when he did, even as his own ragged breathing sent his head spinning.
The man pressed his forehead against his. “Just take one deep, slow breath at a time, Ollie. You’re okay. It’s okay. I promise.”
“It’s—wheeze—not!”
“It is, I promise.”
He whimpered as tears flooded his eyes rapidly and trailed down his cheeks. “No.”
“Shh, Baby, it’s okay. I got you. Just breathe, it’s okay.”
“It’s n-not.”
“I promise you, it is.”
“N-no—wheeze—you don’t under-understand.”
“What don’t I understand?”
“Th-they’re…” His breath stuttered. “They’re still here!”
Noble’s eyeswidened at Ollie’s words, his whole body tensing as he pulled back to stare down at the witch. The man’s teary gray-blue eyes were wide and frightened behind his large, rounded glasses, and Ollie was pretty much bordering on hyperventilating still, as he wheezed along.
“Why do think that?”
“T-the emotions—wheeze—are st-still there!” Ollie sobbed. “I can feel them when I—wheeze—think about what happened!”
It wasn't exactly a good thing, yet…first things first… “Baby, you need to slow your breathing before you pass out.”
“I-I—” Ollie cut off as his head lolled forward and jerked, as if he’d been about to faint then and there.
The witch gave his head a little shake before he finally started to slow his breathing, taking one deep breath after another.
“That’s it, Baby. In and out. You’re doing good. Just focus on breathing, I got you. No matter what, I got you.”
Seconds ticked by, and when Ollie had finally calmed down enough, as he brushed some tears away, Noble carefully said, “Okay, now, let’s try to figure this out, hmm?”
Ollie nodded with a sniffle.
“You said they are still there, but are they calling to you?”
“T-they—” Ollie’s words cut off and he blinked. “They…” The little librarian frowned as he trailed off.
“Are they calling to you?” Noble asked again.
“They…” Ollie worried his bottom lip, before finally saying, “They aren’t.”
A wave of relief hit him. It was one thing for the emotions to remain, and another for them to still be tempting Ollie to give in. “That’s good. It means they aren’t there.”
“B-but then…why do I…” His baby trailed off with a whimper.
“I doubt any entity can be present in someone and not leave something behind. I’m guessing, in this case, it was those emotions.”
“I-I don’t want t-them.”
Caressing the side of Ollie’s face, he brushed away a few tears at the same time. “I know. But I’m not sure if there is a way to get rid of them. It was part of that moment, and now, it's part of you. But because we are almost certain The Living Flame was present, I’m afraid I now have to warn you that it happening once increases the likelihood of it happening again.”
