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How strange, the pill bottle in her hands has been there a hundred times, but it feels heavier now.
Maybe it was just her intention
that was weighing it down.
Anya can see the pain and fear in Curly’s eye. He knows it’s not time for his pills. He stares at the black-haired woman sympathetically and her bottom lip trembles.
Poor Daisuke thought she was locked in and he’s getting help.
“I’m sorry Curly, I’m going to take responsibility.” Anya nods along to her words as a single tear falls past Curly’s blue eye and makes his flesh glisten in the artificial light.
He’s making noises again.
Breathing out, Anya take a huge mouthful of the pills. They feel like rocks cutting through her throat but she swallows.
Is this what Curly felt like, she thinks to herself. She was never able to give him those pills because of the look in his eye, begging her to stop.
Just as she’s about to sit down, someone bangs on the door. “Anya! I brought Jimmy, we’re here to rescue you! Don’t worry! Don’t panic!” Daisuke calls out, fear in his tone. Her stomach drops as he mentions Jimmy. No, no, no, not him. Anyone but him, please!
“Hey, heard the lock’s broken!” A gruff voice slips its way under my door. For months Anya’s had to hear his voice. Her head turns to Curly, who looks up at Anya helplessly. The exact same way he did when she told him.
He knows what will happen, what has to happen.
“Hey! Anya! Can you hear me?” He asks. She starts to pace around the room, unsure of what to do. The pills must be making her head foggy already, she decides.
“Yeah, I can hear you Jimmy.” She responds. Her heart’s pounding in my ears as a cold feeling of dread washes over her body.
Oh I’ve heard you Jimmy, loud and clear.
Jimmy mutters something to Daisuke about our medical stash. Typical, ignoring the people in danger.
“Any wrenches around? How heavy is the medkit?” Daisuke asks Anya in desperation but she just stay silent. Poor kid. He shouldn’t even be here, he has his whole life ahead of him. Even she did at some point.
“…Anya, is the door stuck?” Jim asks.
Both of them know what’s happening.
“No.” She responds. He doesn’t deserve any better than a one word answer.
Her attention switches to Curly as he makes a strangled noise and looks up at Anya. For a moment, visions of that night flash through her head.
Before the crash, Anya told him that she was pregnant and held the same gaze. She begged him for anything.
“Huh, what do you mean?!” Daisuke questions, confused. She shakes her head and sits on the medical gurney with Curly. He reaches out to her and in a moment of loneliness, she holds his stub-like arm.
“Look, we’re all stressed, but you can’t go breaking down at every little hardship!” Jimmy yells at her and she scoffs, is that really what he thinks this is?
“Open the damn door!”
“…You were right. You were right all along.” The words that leave her mouth feel foreign.
She should’ve listened to him when he advised her on what to do about her ‘issue’. Get rid of it before anyone notices. Well, she’ll get rid of it, but if he wants her to be quiet, too fucking bad.
“I should’ve done this from the beginning.” She concedes. For a final time, she makes sure Curly’s bandages aren’t hurting him.
“I always believed that our worst moments don’t define us, didn’t make us beyond repair.”
She stands up from the gurney in anger, marches over to the door and scoffs at him.
“You think I wanted this either?” She questions him, her hands clutching at the collar of her denim jumpsuit. Is he really that stupid?
“Make no mistake. This isn’t my worst moment.” Anya spits out.
“Far from it, it’s the best one I’ll ever make.”
“Open the door!” Jimmy slams himself into the metal door and she shakes her head.
“I’ll take care of it…” She responds. Someone has to.
“Anya?” Daisuke weakly calls out. She’s reminded of all those kids from the wards that she used to volunteer in.
None of this is his fault but Anya’s sure that Jimmy will twist it in a way that makes it so.
Anya coughs out something hot, crimson and sticky. Instead of stopping, she falls onto all fours and coughs until it’s all gone.
“What does that mean?” Daisuke desperately questions. He doesn’t understand. He hasn’t seen that side of Jimmy and Anya hope that he never will.
“Curly is still in there with her, right?” Jimmy asks Daisuke. Of course, he’ll only ever focus on Curly.
“Yeah, you don’t think…” Daisuke trails off, unsure of what to say next.
There’s more mumbling from Jimmy but she zones it out.
Sometimes, she can still feel his hands on my body, dragging her down to that awful night. The night that makes her wake up in a cold sweat and sleep next to Polle.
She shudders and starts to bite her nails.
Two sets of footsteps hurry away. They become fainter and fainter until there’s no more sound. No more heavy boots against the cold, metal floor.
She looks at Curly again and finds him looking deep into her eyes. If he could speak, he’d be begging her to stop. It’s too late now…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As time passes, she moves less and less until she’s laying down just outside of Curly’s view. Lying down seems to help.
Then, there’s rustling in the vents. She remembers those! She nearly severed her leg on it.
That was before everything happened. Before the crash, at least.
The pills must be hitting her hard, she thinks because in the corner of her eye she can see Jimmy. He’s smiling down at her with a baby bundle in his arms.
Breathe Anya, she locked the door, there’s no way for Jimmy to get in. She’s safe now.
“Aargh!” A young scream comes from those metal grates and her weary eyes widen.
There’s a struggle and eventually someone pulls the lid off.
She recognises his bleached hair first, then his floral shirt. Daisuke looks up at her with wide eyes.
“U-urgh.” Daisuke grunts in pain, “Anya…?” He questions. There’s blood on him. “What d-did you do?” He questions.
She looks down at her striped turtleneck to see that it’s coated in blood, just like Daisuke is.
She opens her mouth but no words make it out.
With a gargantuan effort, she sits up from the gurney’s metal legs and help Daisuke out of the vents.
He looks up at Anya with his watery eyes and screams in pain.
She’s so, so sorry Daisuke.
Looping her arms under his armpits, she tries to drag him to the door but falls midway onto the curtains beside Curly.
This wasn’t supposed to happen! Curly wasn’t supposed to see her die but she can’t get up.
Daisuke looks at the in horror. “Don’t worry Anya! I’ll get us help, I promise!” He reassures Anya but she knows it’s too late for her.
She leans her head back against the curtain and watches as Daisuke has to army crawl to the door and leaves a trail of blood behind him.
Daisuke reaches a shaky hand to the red lever and pulls it down, opening the door. He takes one last look at her and she sees determination burn in his eyes.
Then, Daisuke’s made his way out. She hears rustling beside her and then tears. It’s Curly, she thinks to herself.
Blackness envelops her vision but the scent of blood and the sound of Curly’ sobs stay with Anya. In the back of her mind, she see Jimmy and his manic eyes. Curly stands behind him and looks down at her in fear.
She told him, Anya thinks to herself. She told him that Jimmy was dangerous, she asked Curly for help!
Curly was never able to see that dead pixel though.
She could. And as her vision fades to black, she knows that, finally, Curly can as well. He’s just far too late.