Euphoria

Chapter Forty: Sweet Embrace

Henrik's throat burned as he drowned his sorrows in yet another shot, comforted by the warmth supporting it. He had to get his mind off Anti somehow, and this was his way of doing it, but despite how much he tried, he couldn't get the demon's horrific Harvey Dent-like face out of his mind. He couldn't help but feel responsible for doing this to him despite Dark pouring the water. Henrik was his brother's Batman.

"If only I could've pulled my head out of my arsch sooner..." He said, grabbing the now room temperature bottle and pouring himself another drink, staring at the clear liquid in bitterness.

"Why would you need to do that?"

Henrik was drawn to another voice beside him, and he watched as Sean sat down gingerly, still as pale as freshly fallen snow, but better than before. "It's nothing... You should rest. You just got shot, remember?"

A sigh escaped Sean's lips, and for the first time, he felt as if he couldn't do anything. He was trapped. "Yeah, I know. But you're avoiding the question. It's not like you to be so..." Sean waved at the drink. "Well, like this."

"If I told you, you vould never forgive me." Henrik said, reaching for what he promised himself to be his last shot.

Sean covered the glass with one hand, taking it with the other. "Try me instead of killing yourself with cheap Vodka."

Henrik turned to face him, staring him dead in the eyes, his nerves numb. "I left him for dead."

"Who?"

"Anti. I left him for dead." Henrik repeated. He could feel a stir within him, but nothing more. For the time being, he was safe from feeling sorry, from sensing the betrayal and hurt. If it weren't for his previous drinking sprees, he'd be laid out on the floor, but with karma in the mix, he was awake. And able to tell his brother everything that happened.

Sean sat there with his mouth open, his eyes submerged in a sickening concoction of dismay, fury, and disappointment. After a long while, he finally spoke. "Why? He's your brother... He's the only Anti you- we have! You said the mansion, right? We're going. And you're coming too! Do you understand?"

The blood rushed to Henrik's ears when he stood, and his head pulsated. "No! Don't you get it? That's what he wants! That's what Dark wants! He'll kill us all and absorb Anti anyway!"

"Thought you could run from us after freeing that UnModified?" Someone they'd never seen before had snuck in during all the screaming, pointing a gun at the both of them. "Wrong place to hide. In the doctor's office where this sleaze works?" The man said, motioning to Henrik with the flick of his firearm barrel.

"Scheisse..." Henrik held his hands in the air, showing that he was unarmed. "Vhat do you vant from us? I can tell you ve have no drugs." He said, noticing the man's dilated brown eyes.

"Now's not the time to be a smart ass, Doc." Sean said, copying his brother. "He's got a gun; we don't."

"Right..."

The man rolled his eyes. "All we want to know is where the boy is. The one you stole from us."

"Stole from you?" Sean said, appalled by the way he treated his friend as an object.

"Yes! Stole! Don't get cute, pretty boy. I know you still have him."

"Have who?" Jackie said, poking his head through the doorway, unaware of the situation.

"Fuck!" The man fired his weapon just as the hero leaped forward, both of them dropping to the floor and wrestling for control.

Jameson must have heard the commotion because he rushed inside, fumbling for his revolver and shooting the man once he got an opening, missing his brother by an inch.

The bullet pierced through the man's neck, blood spurting from the gaping hole. He choked, opening and closing his mouth before he finally stilled a few agonizingly slow moments later.

Jackie stayed still for a moment, his breathing shallow and fast.

"Jackie?" Sean questioned.

"I'm okay." He half-yelled, slowly standing up from the corpse he laid on, his ears ringing. Jackie nearly slipped on the blood, catching himself on the wall as his feet quivered on the dark liquid. As soon as he got his footing back, he moved away, blood patched onto his gray hero suit.

Jameson's eyebrows raised as he pointed at it. This was one of those moments where he couldn't speak, his heart skipping a beat.

Jackie looked down, pale as a sheet, but he shook his head, covering himself more with his dark cloak. "I'm okay. It's okay. It's not my blood. It's going to be okay, Jamie. I promise."

Jameson relaxed, but only a little. The way his brother worded it worried him, but there wasn't any time to push him further on the matter.

After the group gathered their wits, Sean filled them in on where they were headed, deciding that Henrik should be the one to drive them to Dark's mansion. Sean never once placed the entirety of the blame onto his brother, mostly accusing Dark of this mess despite how angry he was at Henrik.

-

The drive to Dark's mansion was quiet, and Jackie could feel himself slipping again. But differently. He knew how it felt to be on the other side, or in-between as Anti liked to call it. He started thinking about how he'd want to go out, and only one thought came to mind.

This thought comforted him the entire way, and a half-hearted smile tugged at his lips as he stared out the window, watching the passing neon lights, but mostly focused on the stars above. They all seemed to haze together after a while, and a pang of fear hit him.

He just had to keep reminding himself that it was going to be okay and that they would make it through this and that maybe they'd all find what they were looking for in the end.