Midnight Hype

Day Forty One (Pt 3)

"You...SELFISH HEARTLESS MANIPULATIVE SON OF A BITCH BASTARD-"

Ericka continued to scream at him, her own voice starting to make her ears hurt,

"BRING VENUS BACK TO ME NOW!" She demanded while trying to stand, blood dribbling out of her mouth and puddling on the ground. She stumbled to her feet and fell back onto a wall, using it as support as her midsection felt like it was going to collapse inwards on itself.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sadly," He coughed as she continued to suck in wheezy breaths, "she'll be taken care of, and I'll take care of you later."

He backed up and began to roll out of her room, setting her off,

"YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT ME! I-I WON'T LET YOU ABUSE HER LIKE YOU DID TO M-ME!!"

Without thinking she charged for the door despite her body blaring in pain. He just sighed and slammed it shut, making her run face first into it. She pulled back and held her head for a moment before banging her fists on the door.

"VENUS!!! V-VENUS!! V...Venus..." Her screeches slowly disappeared as she realized it was hopeless, "N-No..."

Her tears started up again as she fell to the ground, painfully sobbing her heart out. Blood continued to drip out of her mouth, mixing with her salty tears on the floor. She cried and cried for several minutes, not sure if she'd ever stop.

But she started to become quiet, before falling silent. She jerkily sat up and wiped her frigid, damp face.

Her stomach was still throbbing where she was kicked, she couldn't do much to ease her pain but she rubbed her stomach anyway, reminding herself of when she was pregnant with Venus, making tears well back up in her eyes.

She continued to sniffle while crawling back over to the mattress, grabbing the socks and boots that Fury had left for her.

She slipped them on, trying to distract herself from the surrounding situation. She dragged herself to the middle of the room and flopped down on her side feeling like an empty husk, staring at the wall. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Huh?

Fury was heading out of the engine room and heard Ericka's pitiful screams.

What's going on??

He raced over to the hallway and peeked around the corner, making sure the others couldn't see him, or identify him at the least. He saw Abraham in the doorway to Ericka's room while one of his brothers carried Venus down to the other end of the hallway, her still wailing as she was taken away.

Oh no...

He wanted to run over, but knew he absolutely should not. So, he waited.

Abraham slammed the door shut and rolled after the Stanley who had left minutes prior, leaving Ericka pounding on the door and screaming.

When the hallway was clear, Fury made his move. He started to hustle over to her room, but froze abruptly next to Drac's room.

It's now or never.

He started to unlock the door as he heard Drac yelling and pounding on the walls.

"STANLEY!! WHAT'S GOING ON!!!"

Fury rushed into his room and saw him sitting on the floor in his cell, facing the glass, his face edged with fear.

"You can call me Fury now- and we need to GO."

He opened the cell, Drac jumped out and they zipped back into the hallway. Fury glanced in both directions before jogging down to Ericka's room.

Fury began to unlock the door, mentally taking note of how oddly quiet she was being.

"...Ericka?"

Drac called her name softly as Fury opened the door. He saw her lying on the floor, not even acknowledging that he was there.

Venus isn't with her-...that's why...oh...oh no...

He trudged over to her and knelt next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She didn't even flinch.

"...E-Ericka...are you okay?"

He stroked her arm with a thumb while he asked, she almost immediately replied, whipping her head around to look him in the eyes.

"DO I LOOK OKAY?" She choked out as tears pooled in her eyes, her breath tainted with the metallic twinge of blood.

"I-...I..."

He didn't get to say anything in response as the tears slipped out of her eyes and streamed down her face, her sniffles turning into sobs. She sat up and pressed her face into Drac's chest, gripping him tightly while she mourned.

"I...I l-let her go, D-Drac...I let her g-go...I L-LET HER G-GO!!!" Her cries morphed into wails, you could hear she was desperately trying to keep quiet, but she couldn't contain her grief.

"...Oh honey...y-...y-you did your best..." He trembled as he embraced her back, resting his head in the crook of her neck, on the verge of crying himself.

"I-I...I-" She couldn't get a full sentence out through her breakdown, words getting caught in her throat.

"Shhhh...y-you'll be ok-ay..." His voice broke while he pulled her closer, his control fading as his tears slithered down his cheeks.