Deal With the Devil

"Is he up yet?" Andrei asked, standing outside the hospital doors.

"Nah." Silvia replied with a sigh, biting into a chocolate bar. "I'm just more concerned about how we're gonna break it to him."

"I mean, he probably won't be strong enough to hurt us if he just woke up, right?"

"Well yeah, but I still don't wanna be the one to tell him his girlfriend died."

"What about Wendy?"

"It's been five hours and she's still crying." Silvia groaned, looking at the bright light above them. "I thought she'd dehydrate by this point, or something."

Just as she finished her sentence, two smilers walked out of Eric's hospital room.

"He's awaaake." The first one said, lurching forward as he did, before scurrying into the long hallway.

"Well, shit." Silvia sighed. "Look, I'm not delaying this any longer. I'm telling him."

Silvia crept into his room and Andrei followed, seeing Eric lay in his bed. He wasn't moving and was just clutching his forehead.

"You doing good, man?" Silvia asked, tossing the half-eaten chocolate bar at his chest.

"Probably." He grunted back. "What'd I miss?"

"Well, we're sleeping here for the rest of the game." Silvia replied. "Old rooms got destroyed by Kalea."

"Right." Eric nodded, feeling his thin hospital sheets. "Think we could buy better sheets?"

"Pretty sure the stores still open." Silvia shrugged. "So probably."

"So…who died? Or is it a vote?" Eric asked casually.

"Well…it's not a vote, anyway." Silvia replied, glancing at Andrei.

"It was Yun-Yeong." Andrei replied quickly while looking Eric in the eyes. "She got impaled in the falling building."

"Andrei!" Silvia yelled.

"You said we were just gonna tell him!" Andrei yelled quickly.

"I know, but…" She looked over at Eric, who was just staring at the bedsheets, his body looking like his spirit was thrown into another dimension, with his falling tears being the only showing of life.

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Her body got taken away after the game, same as everyone else." She sighed. "Look, if you wanna get your clothes on and see the girls room, you can. Just don't kill anyone, okay?"

Silvia and Andrei left the room, and Eric was left to put his clothes on and check the guys room. Odebode and Cyrus weren't there. Just Micah sitting in the top left corner of five columns and five rows of beds, with Andrei at the top right.

"Hey Eric." Micah sighed. "You hear what happened?"

"Yeah." Eric replied sadly.

"Sucks to hear, man." Micha nodded. "You have my condolences."

Eric didn't respond. Secretly, he was screaming inside at this asshole, considering everything he did to their group. Huang's struggle to smile as he died still ached inside his mind. But no point in making enemies so close to the end.

"Okay, don't accept my condolences, damn." Micah sighed with an eyeroll.

"Ignore him, Eric." Andrei sighed. "All the corner beds are taken, so pick something else."

Eric scanned the room for any beds, mentally picking the one underneath Andrei.

"Alright, it's picked." Eric replied. "I'm checking on the girls."

Right across the hallway from the boys room, was the girls room. Eric gave a quick knock to see where everyone was. Silvia opened the door, and when Eric glanced in, all the other girls were too.

"Hey." Silvia said calmly. "Yo, Wendy. Eric's here."

A few seconds later, Wendy appeared in front of the door, and Silvia closed the door with a quick wave goodbye to Amber and Vanessa.

Wendy looked at Eric with her big, tearstained eyes. The staring contest lasted a few seconds, and she went in for a hug, and the sobbing started back again.

"It's…it's fine, Wendy. I'm…I'm still here." Eric replied, trying to stay calm for her. But even he started choking up near the end.

"Wanna get drinks?" Silvia asked calmly. "My treat."

The three of them sat on the bar stools with the purple cushions, in front of the old wooden counter with a smiler manning it.

"What you guys want?" Silvia asked.

"I dunno, a Birdhouse Soul?" Eric replied, adjusting the spikes on his mohawk. "Something light, anyway. I don't drink much."

"Can I just have some apple juice?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah." Silvia nodded. "Yo, masky! One apple juice, one Birdhouse Soul, and one…bottle of Moteller."

"Aren't those ones really expensive?" Eric asked, glancing at the big bottle on the top shelf behind the smiler. The one which was ruby red, and an elegant silver swirl design pattern across the bottle.

"I saved up." Silvia replied, looking at the bottle with a cheeky grin. "Besides, we're in the halfway point. No point in hording coins now."

"Guess so." Eric replied quietly, gulping down the Birdhouse soul. The alcohol went past his tongue easy enough, with the strawberry aftertaste lingering in his throat for a few seconds.

"That stuff good?" Silvia asked, gulping down her drink without even pouring it into a bottle. "They don't really sell it where I'm from."

"It's alright." Eric shrugged. "What about your stuff?"

"It's everything I want and more." Silvia sighed with happiness.

"That's good." Eric replied, taking another sip. "Actually, mind if I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Silvia responded, taking another swig from her oversized bottle.

"The guy who died first was your boyfriend, right?"

"Yep." Silvia sighed.

"You over it?" Eric asked slowly.

"Well, it's been a while since I've shed any tears over it. Wouldn't say I'm over it, still miss the bastard." Silvia replied calmly. "So if this is about how to get over Yun-Yeong, I don't think I can help you."

"Right, right." Eric replied, finishing his drink.

"Only thing I can tell say is that you recover quicker than you think. So you know, don't give up or something. Sorry if I'm not being helpful by the way, I'm pretty bad at this whole advice thing."

"Nah, you did enough." Eric replied. "One more Birdhouse for the road, please."

The smiler did as he asked, handing him a tall green can. Eric took the can in his hand and left the room, with Wendy following after a chug of her apple juice.

"Good luck tomorrow, guys." Silvia said as they left.

Almost a few seconds after the door closed, her watch started buzzing. When she checked, it was nothing but a blank NeoBunny logo.

"Well, shit." Silvia whispered.

She scurried into the bathroom, slightly disoriented. She locked herself into one of the stalls and opened up the message.

"Good day." The voice started smoothly. The same one from when she first came back. "I have to say, I enjoyed your little performance there."

"Bite me." Silvia replied quickly. "Also… I can change the mission, right? Can I take someone else out? Odebode, maybe?"

"Now now, we've discussed this. Eric is much more emotional than Cyrus, and he just lost his other ally. So if he hears the news that Wendy dies, it's much more likely he'll awaken."

"Wendy's a kid!" Silvia yelled, throwing her head back in rage and hitting her head against the wall, letting out a "Fuck!" as she did.

"I'm aware. But believe me, the power that comes from awakening could be used in ways that could change more than you will ever realize."

"I'm not doing it!" Silvia screamed. "I'll kill anyone else, just not her!"

"Wendy or your dear brother, miss Silvia? The choice is yours."

The logo disappeared from her watch, and she was left staring at the watch, and then the door.

The goal was to kill Wendy tomorrow, which would help Eric achieve whatever the boss wanted him to achieve. And if she failed, her brother was dead. She sat in silence, weighing in her mind what the future would hold should Wendy survive compared to her brother. Compared to her brother, it was...nothing.

Sorry, Eric. But you'll lose two friends in a row.