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A blood-curdling scream echoed through the house. Erik jolted awake instantly, adrenaline rushing through her body first thing. Before she could even fully understand what was going on, she started to sprint to Pyrite’s room. Erik cursed under her breath, dreading the worst as her footsteps shook the house.
She slammed Pyrite’s door open, startling the teenager. Pyrite backed themself into the corner of their bed within an instant, terror brimming their eye.
“Pyrite?” Erik asked, her voice hoarse from sleep and panicked. “Pyrite, are you okay?”
Pyrite let out a scared cry, trying to back themself further into a corner.
Erik’s terrified heart rate didn’t let up as she took another step into Pyrite’s room. “Pyrite, it’s me, Erik, I’m not going to hurt you,” she tried to speak gently.
They didn’t respond, taking to glancing nervously around their room for a way out.
“I swear, I’m not going to hurt you,” She raised her hands. “I heard you scream and I thought you were hurt.”
Pyrite shook their head no violently, trying to sign something to Erik with no success. They didn’t have their prosthetic hand on, which effectively made many of their signs gibberish.
“Pyro, I’m sorry, I don’t understand you right now.”
Erik took a few steps closer to Pyrite, who remained firmly planted in the corner of their bed. Pyrite blinked rapidly, Erik now able to see the lines of tears covering their cheeks. Pyrite’s whole body shook with terror, and they were trying desperately to not show how they were feeling.
“Pyrite, please, it’s me. I can’t leave you alone like this,” Erik’s voice started to grow increasingly worried. Pyrite never took this long to recognize her after a nightmare. This wasn’t normal.
Erik stood quietly in Pyrite’s room, the wide open door providing the only light from the hallway. She didn’t know what to do. Pyrite’s ragged breathing filled her ears as her thoughts ran through her head, questioning everything and trying to come up with some solution.
She walked over to Pyrite’s desk, sat down in the short chair, and turned on the lamp. She watched Pyrite, and Pyrite watched her.
Erik snapped awake to Pyrite letting out a shrill scream, trying to kick her way out of her bed. The small 8-year-old was surprisingly strong, managing to kick Erik in the stomach as she stumbled out of the sheets.
Erik pushed herself up quickly, adrenaline driving her to full consciousness.
“Pyrite? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Erik asked, heading towards her.
Pyrite was signing the same phrase over again in response. Her signs were shaky and quick, but after a moment Erik managed to figure it out.
PLEASE, NO HURT ME, Pyrite signed repeatedly, backing herself into the corner of Erik’s room as she cried.
“Pyrite, I’m not going to hurt you,” Erik tried to reason, taking another step towards Pyrite before she let out a terrified sob. “Pyrite, it’s me, it’s Erik.”
Erik clicked on the lamp beside her bed, standing with her hands raised. Pyrite looked Erik over when the realization finally clicked in her head. Within an instant, she had barrelled into Erik with a sob and clung to her for dear life.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Erik kneeled down to hug Pyrite back, the young girl sobbing into her shoulder. “You’re safe, nothing bad is gonna happen to you.”
Over a few minutes, Pyrite calmed down enough for her to pull away.
SORRY. Pyrite signed, still sniffling. I THOUGHT YOU, BAD MAN.
Erik swallowed, trying to not take it personally. “It’s okay, Pie, you were just scared.”
Erik blinked awake, disorientated. Why was she asleep on Pyrite’s de…
Everything flooded back to her in an instant, and she jolted upright only to see Pyrite’s bed empty.
“ Shit.”
Erik bolted out of the chair, ready to scour the entire house for Pyrite. Her first worry, however, was that Pyrite was already out of the house. She skidded out of the hall, quickly scanning the room for any signs of Pyrite.
Dread gnawed at her when she didn’t see anything, quickly sprinting out of the living room towards the entryway. With every step, she was terrified she was going to see the door left wide open, with no Pyrite in sight.
Relief flooded her system as she saw Pyrite knelt before the door, clinging to the still-locked doorknob with their hand. Her relief quickly turned into worry, hearing the quiet sobs coming from Pyrite that shook their whole body.
“Pyrite?” She gently spoke, startling them.
The familiar look of terror filled their eye for a moment, making Erik fear that whatever Pyrite was going through wasn’t just temporary. They furrowed their brow, studying her face for a moment until they finally recognized her. The fear in their expression quickly turned to desperation as they scrambled to Erik, clinging onto her in an instant.
Pyrite wasn’t even strong enough to support themself at the time. They were practically dragging her to the floor until she willingly sat down with them. Erik quietly consoled Pyrite, gently rubbing their back as they sobbed into her arms.
If they didn’t live in the lower hive, Erik would’ve watched the sun rise before Pyrite had calmed down. When Pyrite stopped crying, it was only because they were so exhausted that their body had forced them asleep.
Erik sat there for a long while after, holding Pyrite on the floor of the entryway. Their body still shook with each breath, even if they were much less rapid. She wished she knew what Pyrite was experiencing, what caused such a severe meltdown that made them so terrified.
She gently lifted Pyrite up with her as she stood, quietly thankful that Pyrite had never grown past 4’10. They were still quite easy to move around, even deadweight. The floorboards creaked beneath her as she carried Pyrite to their bed.
A picture caught Erik’s eye as she walked through the hallway, a framed photo of Pyrite and her on their 10th birthday. She stared at for a moment, studying Pyrite’s toothy grin. A feeling of grief hit her, seeing a physical representation of how things have changed, even in just how Pyrite could smile.
She shook her head lightly, ignoring any further thoughts.
Erik set down Pyrite in their bed, careful to not wake them, and pulled their blanket over them. She sat down next to the bed, exhausted herself, but not wanting to leave Pyrite alone.