Midnight Hype

Day Forty (Pt 2)

Ericka stayed still on the floor for a moment, her brain lagging severely behind with trying to process everything that was happening. She slowly started making her way over to the mattress and nestled herself into the furthest corner, not sure what to expect in the coming hours. Her vision constantly kept trailing back over to the 'mirror' on the wall to her left, knowing it wasn't just a mirror although she could see herself perfectly. I...look awful...

Her eyes lacked the same energetic spark they used to contain, her makeup dull and old, with faded running mascara lines. Her body thin, frail and fragile, not looking to contain any mass besides her plump stomach.

As she was loathing herself, she got the feeling that she was locking eyes with someone on the other side.

"...I know you're watching me, you sick freak." She hissed before turning away from the mirror.

Even though she got no response, she felt their gaze falter.

The silence was tense, only the buzzing of the lights keeping the air from becoming deafeningly quiet. It didn't last long until Abraham's gravelly voice grumbled over the speaker system.

"I know you're thirsty." Implying the bottle of water sitting next to the mattress, but she didn't even acknowledge him talking. She refused to even turn around to look in the direction of the bottle.

She didn't move a muscle and Abraham grew inpatient. She heard him connect something to the speakers and heard soft white noise dully playing before it stopped, and a real song started to play.

The iconic fanfare of trumpets before the words, "Young man, there's no need to feel down! I said- young man! Pick yourself off of the ground!-"

"Uuughnnnn..." Ericka groaned, knowing that her getting annoyed is what he wanted.

"It's fun to stay at the YYYYYMCAAAA! YYYYYYMCAAAA!"

About a quarter ways into the song, she was hit with another contraction. The blistering, constricting pain combined with the screeching music, she could've sworn she was in the deepest pit of hell, trapped in the torturous cycle for eternity. Her contraction ended long before the song was over, but she still felt it linger, almost like phantom pain.

When the song faded into silence she thought she was in the clear, but she was vastly wrong as 'Spin Me Right Round' immediately started to blare.

She finally looked over at the water that was sitting next to her, her partched throat begging for it, but she was still very skeptical.

"You spin me right 'round, baby, right 'round- Like a record, baby, right 'round, 'round, 'round-"

As the song progressed, she didn't take her eyes off of the water, still contemplating if she really should or not, knowing that she was extremely thirsty, but not knowing if the water was safe, as Abraham had provided it. As nothing he did was in her favor at the moment. But, her physical need for the water was only getting worse, and she needed to stay hydrated.

The song started to fade into its conclusion, and Ericka finally fought all of her core instincts. She took the bottle, popped off the cap and started to chug it, feeling it instantly curing her desert of a throat.

She took a break after she had guzzled half of the bottle, closing the bottle back up and resting against the wall, feeling strangely full although all she had was the water. She swallowed the remaining fluid, but froze and ran her tongue around her mouth, an odd aftertaste occurring. Her worst fear started to emerge with the realization that what she drank wasn't just water.

As she was trying to figure out why the water tasted funky, she could faintly hear Abraham cracking up a storm behind the mirror.

"...What did you put in this?" She questioned, glancing at the mirror as she spoke, swearing she could see a silhouette behind the glass.

At first there was no response, but a snicker sounded over the speakers before Abraham started to speak.

"Heh- uh-" He cleared his throat, "Um well- you know- just a mild dose of Misoprostol-"

"You WHAT!!" She screeched, throwing the half empty bottle at the mirror, it just falling to the floor and rolling into a wall.

"It's not a big deal, it was just to speed things up a tad."

"Things are going fast ENOUGH! THIS- YOU'RE GOING TO END UP KILLING ME!"

She could almost see him shrugging, "And? You know if you had been able to control yourself, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"Stop denying your actions."

"I-"

"Just think of this as...punishment for disobeying me."

Abraham took a piping sip of his coffee before shutting off the intercom, still hearing Ericka's yelling through the wall as he rolled out of the observation room.

He went down the hallway and back to her old containment area, where Drac was still being held. He swiped his card and went inside, pulling up to Drac's cell. He stifled a chuckle when he saw that Drac was still passed out, slumped against the wall. He almost looked dead as he wasn't even breathing.

Abraham glanced up at the television and saw he had about an hour and a half left, "Hm...I have time."

So he sipped his coffee and waited for Drac to wake.

As Drac started to pull himself back into the living world, he still heard Ericka's screams echoing as she begged to not be taken away, wailing his name as he was knocked out, leaving her defenseless.

His eyes sluggishly opened and he glanced around for a second before remembering what happened, making panic flood him.

"E...Ericka! No! ERICKA!!! I'M SO SORRY!! I LET YOU GO!!" He scuttled around in his cell, wallowing in sorrow at his failed attempt to keep her safe. But he suddenly noticed Abraham standing in front of the glass, doing nothing more than watching his tantrum in silence. "You...FUCKING BASTARD!!" Drac roared, smashing himself against the glass to be face to face with Abraham. "WHERE IS SHE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER? WH-" He continuously clawed at the glass as he screamed for Ericka, the ear splitting screeching sound as he dragged his nails down the glass not seeming to bother him in the slightest.

Although Abraham looked like he could care less about everything, just taking a small swig of his coffee before pulling out the remote again. He quickly scanned it before pressing a button in the mid section.

The glass seemed to become a projector screen, except the projector came from the base of the wall, projecting it upwards like a hologram. It glitched and flickered for a second, the sudden brightness making Drac quickly backup as the video stabilized, showing that it was live footage of Ericka in her room, her now pacing around the room in a more stiff fashion.

"...Oh Ericka..." He choked out, making his way back over to the glass, not being able to take his eyes away from her pixelated self, "...C-Can she hear me?"

Abraham stood quietly for a moment before roughly coughing, "...No." and rolling out of the room, leaving Drac staring at the feed.