Euphoria

Chapter Eleven: Race Against Time

Anti stood outside his brother's apartment door, staring at the gold-plated room number. He had decided to visit Henrik after work, when he knew he'd have to go home, regardless of the shifts he would've undoubtedly covered. The clock on Anti's wrist-watch showed 2:36 AM as he raised a hand to knock.

The door was yanked open despite how soft the knock was, the doctor standing there, lab coat frazzled, hair a mess, and eyes blood-shot. "Anti. Vhat are you doing here at such a time?" His hand subconsciously rubbed at his throat, a faint, thin burn where Anti had once used a cord to choke him, pink and agitated.

He must scratch at it a lot, Anti thought.

"I'm here for Brody." He gritted his teeth. "And perhaps another favor."

"Did Sean send you?"

"No. I sent myself."

Henrik peeked his head out, looking around the hallway before stepping aside. "Come in."

"Just like that?"

"Just like zhat."

Anti walked inside after a moment's hesitation and sat down near the bay window, keeping his eyes on his brother the entire time. "I want you to release him."

"You know I can't do zhat. Do you have any idea vhat he asked me to do?" Henrik shut the door, sitting across from him and shaking his head. "We could've lost him again."

"That brings me to another point. I need to borrow some money."

"Vhat?"

"It's for a good cause, trust me. You're a doctor, right? You should have money to spare."

"Trust you?" Henrik scoffed, grabbing the bottle of Vodka from the side table and pouring himself a glass. "You have no idea how hard zhat vould be. Especially after vhat you've done to us."

"Are you fucking with me right now? After what I've done? Are you not hearing yourself?" Anti sat up; his body was rigid. "That happened a long time ago! I'm telling you, my motives aren't bad, you son of a bitch."

"Zhen tell me vhat you vant zhe money for. And I'll decide vhether it's vorth it or not."

"I can't—" Anti glanced out the window, his eyes gliding along the streets briefly. "I can't tell you that. You'll just have to trust me."

"How much vould you need?"

Anti's phone buzzed, and he took it out, reading over the message multiple times, his eyes wide.

30,000.

"Th-Thirty-thousand dollars." He said, looking back up at his brother.

Henrik laughed, taking a sip of his drink. "You must be joking."

"Dead serious."

"Then I can't help you. Whoever you owe to, vhatever you need zhe money for."

"Henrik," Anti said, his voice low and staticky. "You'll give it to me. Now."

"No. Now get out of my house, you insufferable glitch. I von't hear anozher vord."

"You don't understand—"

"I don't need to understand! You only contact us vhen you need somezhing!" Henrik stood up after finishing his glass, grabbing his brother by the shirt collar and starting to drag him to the front door.

"Hey! Let me go!" Anti shoved him away, slamming him against the wall, "You'll give it to me. Or I'll—"

Henrik chuckled bitterly. "You'll vhat? Kill me? You don't have it in you anymore. Not after your silly change."

Growling, Anti's hand pushed against the doctor's head, causing a yelp to escape him.

"Or have you changed at all? Vhy don't you prove me right, huh?" He said, his struggling having ceased.

"You don't know me!"

"Don't I? I spent enough time vatching you destroy zhings and use my body as a suit! I felt zhings no one should feel. And all of zhat because of you."

"I'm not like that anymore. Ask Sean!"

"You'll never change. You're nothing but a virus. You shouldn't exist."

Anti released Henrik, backing away from him and placing his hands into his pockets, trying not to let his brothers words get to him. "I exist because people want me here."

"Are you sure? Because I remember a time, everyone hated you for vhat you did to us."

"Stop with your mind games. You won't give me the money, fine. But don't put words in the watcher's mouth." Anti said, walking out the front door and slamming it shut behind him.

It hadn't gone as planned, but at least he'd gotten Henrik's ID card for the hospital. Nowadays, you only needed verification to draw money from the banks. And the fact that he had Sean's face as well as his brothers, it would be easy to draw out precisely what he needed.

Henrik would hate him, but this was for himself, just as much as it was for Chase. He wouldn't call himself a Saint, but he felt pretty angelic. Anti jogged down the hallway, walking down a few flights of stairs before heading out the door.

He took off his hood, taking a deep breath. Fresh rain poured down, dampening his clothes. He hadn't realized it was raining in Henrik's apartment because of all the shouting. The one thing that always calmed him down. There was something about a downpour that made him feel like not much had changed.

At least the weather stayed the same.

Anti pulled out his phone, opening Safari and typing in 'Banks in the area.'

Two locations popped up, and he sighed. They were at least two hours apart from each other, each in a different section of the city—one in the slums and one in the neon, where he was now.

If Henrik were smart, he'd go straight to the neon district and deposit. But if he wanted to keep a low profile, he'd go to the slums.

The only problem was that Anti wasn't UnModified. And if they knew he was a part of the Modified, they'd kill him. Or at least try to. And if the stranger were serious about getting his money back as soon as possible, he'd have to be fast for his sake and his brothers.