It was late, probably close to 2 AM when Helexa arrived home. Catatonically she slid her key in to the lock, every little click was an assault on her senses. Even the familiar squeak of the door opening to her loft sounded like a jack hammer going off in her head. This was the first time in nearly two days that she wasn't drinking. And she was paying for it. She was, however, still pretty sloshed.

She stumbled in to her loft, clumsily stepping out of her black high heels. The young woman pushed her front door shut and slid the bolt back home. Leaning heavily against the door, she took a few breaths. Preparing herself.

"You need water. You're dehydrated." She heard his voice chide her. Helexa let out a loud laugh. "I'm going crazy. I'm hearing voices." However, the drunken woman obliged to the inner voice, all the while thinking that it wasn't just anyone's voice. It was his voice. It made it so much more worse.

After a few sloppy slurps of the water bottle she took from the fridge, Helexa stumbled off down the hall. Unknowingly, leaving a trail of water behind her as she still clutched on to the opened bottle. The big bay windows that lined her hallway gave a nice view of the hustle and bustle of the city down below. The once prized view now left a sour taste in her mouth. Twinkling lights that she once thought beautiful now made her sneer.

With a shaky hand she pushed open one of the windows and stepped out on to her small concrete terrace. It was cold beneath her bare feet but it was a welcomed feeling. She didn't feel much any these days. Reaching the stone ledge that served as her balcony she grabbed it with her one free hand. Leaning slowly over it she looked down at the distance to the ground below. Six stories was a long way down. "Don't do it." That familiar voice hissed in her head. "Go back inside. You need sleep."

"FUCK YOU!" She yelled at the voice and chunked her water bottle off in to the night. A sob tried bubbling it's way up but she bit it back down. Instead, a sad laugh found its way out of her throat. Helexa obeyed that voice though and slowly made her way back in to her empty loft.

What she once called a home now seemed like a ring of hell to her. It held memories that ripped at her heart each time they flashed across her mind. Slowly making her way down the hallway that lead to her bedroom, she trailed her fingers along the wall, using it mostly to keep her balance. Her sad eyes took in the pictures that lined her wall. Each one was like a new wound to her heart. Finally, she stopped on the picture that she cared about most.

Captured in that perfect moment stood her and her fiancé. He was a tall man, dressed nicely in a handsome dark blue suit. His black and gray peppered hair stuck up every which way as it normally did. His smile lit up his whole face, crinkled his dark eyes, and even wrinkled his nose slightly. It was a rare sight to get a wide smile out of him like that. It was even more so rare that it was caught on film. In his arms he held Helexa tightly to his chest, her head was thrown back in one of her famous boisterous laughs. Her mass of wild, black curly hair was spilling over his arms and reached to her lower back. In her hand she clutched a white onesie. In the picture you couldn't see what it said but she knew. It read, "Hi, daddy."

Her hands reached to the picture, wanting to hold on to that perfect moment forever. Her body, however, didn't work with her properly and she accidentally knocked it off of the wall. The glass shattered from the impact. "Shit." She hissed and bent down to save the picture from any damage. Breathing a sigh of relief, she slid the picture out from beneath the shards of glass and clutched it to her chest.

Finding a new sense of sobriety, she picked her way amongst the shards of glass and continued her way on to her bedroom. Standing at the threshold of the bedroom she took a few moments to gather herself. Once mustering up the strength Maeve stepped in to her bedroom. Their shared bedroom. It felt so empty even though it was still full of her and her fiancés things. With a sad, tired sigh, the young woman finally felt the weight of exhaustion on her shoulders.

Carefully placing the picture on her dresser, she took the moment to slide out of her black bodycon dress. Normally she would have draped it across the chaise to be taken to the dry cleaners later on but she was too tired to care. Kicking it off across the floor, she found her way to the walk in closet. Instead of traveling to her side of the closet, she chose his. Her fingers drifted across the fabrics of his suits and shirts and button ups. She finally stopped at a random button up shirt and carefully took it down. Bringing it to her face, she breathed in the scent of her lover. The sense of familiarity that it brought her was nearly crippling. Like a tidal wave, the pain and sadness came crashing down on her.

Through her sobs and her tears, she just barely managed to slip his shirt on, clumsily buttoning it up. With quick, fevered steps, she made her way back to the picture and snatched it from the dresser. Clutching it to her chest, she held it tightly as she fell on to his side of the bed. Curling up around his pillow, she sobbed uncontrollably for a long time. Helexa's body finally gave out and she fell in to a deep, black nothing that wasn't quite sleep.

Tink. Hissssss. Scritch.

"Wake up!"

Creeeeak.

"WAKE UP! RUN!"

Helexa's eyes slowly fluttered open as her ears registered that there was movement in her bedroom. Slowly, her eyes roved around the room and landed on the two figures creeping along the end of her bed. A blood, curdling scream escaped her throat as she threw herself from her bed. "GRAB HER!" A deep, gravely voice ground out. Helexa overshot how far she was laying on the bed and hit the floor hard. Ignoring the pain that shot through her limbs she scrambled across the floor and jumped for her door way. In a second though, one of the two figures now blocked her exit. Shocked by how quickly this intruder had appeared in front of her the frightened young woman fell in to him. Large hands painfully grabbed her shoulders. "Gotcha, bitch."

A small, stinging pain in her neck caused Helexa to slowly lose control of her body. She turned her head slightly to see the second intruder holding up an empty syringe with a nasty grin across his face. "We gotcha now, Kushina."

"Ku-" Helexa tried to form the words but her mouth failed her. Sliding her picture in to her bra so as not to lose it, her legs went out from underneath her. The larger of the scooped her up roughly and tossed Helexa's limp body over his shoulder. Once again, the black nothing swallowed her up.