those hands pulled me from the earth || ethan winters x donna beneviento

iv: night terrors.

february 10th, 2021.
3:00am.
umbrella facility, usa.

———

"donna..? donna..?" the voice of a small girl filled donna's ears, seeming as if it were coming from her own head. "can you hear me..?"

donna jolted, like she was having one of those dreams where you're falling. when she was able to see, she realized that she was strapped to an old wooden chair in the middle if the forest while it snowed. it didn't take long for her to recognize that she was on claudia's grave and a wave of dread hit her.

"where are you?" donna asked, craning her neck to try and look over her shoulder. her heartbeat was rapidly accelerating and she thrashed under the leather straps.

"why didn't you help me, donna?" the girl asked, her small voice echoing in the woman's ears. "if you volunteered, maybe mother miranda wouldn't have come for me..."

donna fought the urge to sob. it didn't take long for her to realize that the girl was her little sister, claudia. she had been experimented on before donna and the only remaining beneviento child couldn't help but blame herself for her sisters death. "i-i tried, i'm sorry." donna said with a cry.

"look at what you did to me!" the girl screamed, suddenly appearing in front of her from a cloud of thick white smoke that felt like glass shards entering her lungs. the girl looked exactly as she did the night donna had found her; her blonde, curly hair was a matted and bloody mess, her white gown was torn and stained with blood, but worst of all, her eyes were two empty, black, bloody sockets and her jaw had been ripped, the left side completely unattached and flashing the girls throat. maggots crawled and feasted on her skin, black veins showing in random blotches on her pale skin.

donna squeezed her eyes shut and fought the urge to vomit, thrashing more and more. "stop it, i'm sorry! i'm so sorry!" she cried, throwing her head back.

"it's time to make things even, donna." claudia said darkly.

"donna..? donna..? donna..!"

donna jolted awake, drenched in sweat. she must have just had a bad dream. the woman went to move, but soon realized that she was restrained to some sort of bed in a dark room with machines that wouldn't stop beeping. no wonder she had dreamed about being strapped down— normally, when she dreamed about claudia, donna would be running through the forest after her in an attempt to save her life.

she squinted, trying to get her eyes to adjust in the dark. on the far side of the room on the left wall was a door with thick glass that a little bit of bright light was seeping through. she couldn't spot much from it other than what looked to be a few chairs.

was this the outside world? had ethan brought her here for some kind of reward?

"angie..?" she called for the doll quietly, her throat dry.

there was no response. she just hoped that the doll was safe.

after a few moments of panic, the door opened and donna flinched back in fear. she squeezed her eyes shut as a bright white light was flicked on from a switch, refusing to open them.

"miss beneviento, are you alright?" a male had asked, his voice slightly muffled.

donna finally opened her eyes and saw that the man was in a beekeeper-like suit, a clipboard in his hands. "your heart rate has increased rapidly. did something happen?"

donna subconsciously ignored him, her eyes darting around the room once more. she could spot that the chairs she saw earlier were comfortable looking and maroon, and there was a big, flat piece of slightly reflective metal on the wall. there was a closet to the right of the bed and a bunch of metal things with flashing lights toward the left. she was dressed in a thin, short, dress-like cloth and a thin blanket rested on top of her. she felt like a deer in headlights, unsure whether she should speak or not.

was she dead? had she passed away in the helicopter and this was hell?

"miss beneviento..? can you hear me?" the person asked, looking to her with confusion.

she met his eyes for a moment from under the thick plastic around his face in the helmet, her lip quivering as she didn't dare to utter a word.

"send him in, redfield." the man said to the doorway.

donna watched with fear and curiosity, her chest heaving when ethan stepped through the door, wearing what only she should assume was the same thing she was. he looked tired and weak, and his hand seemed to be in some sort of cast. he approached the bed, sitting down by her right side, just far enough away as to where he didn't accidentally sit on her arm.

"mr. winters..?" donna asked quietly, confused. "where am i..? what is this place..?" she asked, then pursed her lips. "am i doing to die..?"

"no, no, you're not going to die," ethan said quickly and began to rub her uninjured shoulder gently. "you're safe here, don't worry about it. i'm right here,"

donna calmed down a bit, closing her eyes and trying to keep herself from crying.

"whatever you're doing, it's working. the heart rate has went down." the other man said.

ethan went to touch donna's forehead with the back of his hand. "you're burning up, are you feeling okay?"

donna tried her best to shrug, but was quickly stopped whenever she felt the searing pain in her left shoulder. "it hurts," she whined.

ethan barely moved the blanket down, stopping whenever he noticed that she had been strapped down. he turned to the doctor. "remove the restraints."

"what?"

"unstrap her," he said. "she's in pain, can't you see?"

donna watched as the doctor unstrapped her and then quickly took a few steps back. she immediately went to rub her wrist, trying not to cry. "where's angie?"

"your doll?" ethan asked and then looked over toward the doorway where chris was now standing. donna didn't even hear him come in.

chris then made his way toward the closet and opened it, tossing the doll on the bed with her. "it's creepy as fuck."

"angie," donna said and caught the doll, holding her close to her chest lovingly. she had no words, and she definitely didn't want to talk to angie with so many people in the room.

"i think i'll sleep in here tonight," ethan stated. "i don't want her getting scared again, and i said i'd help her with settling in."

chris redfield gave ethan a look, but didn't say anything.

the doctor reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a bottle of pills, pouring two into his hand and setting them on the nightstand. "let me get you a glass of water to take those for the pain. i'll be right back." he said and then left.

ethan stayed where he was sitting, just waiting for the doctor to arrive back. "everything is going to be just fine," he said quietly.

donna nodded, though she wasn't sure if she believed him or not. soon enough, the doctor was back and gave her her another pill to take before leaving the room, leaving the door lightly propped.

donna took the medicine and chugged the bottle of water, laying down and cowering like a child as she held angie tightly in her arms. she wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but the last time she looked at the clock, it was 3:33am. ethan had been gently combing his finger through her hair to coax her to sleep.