Misery County

Chapter 19 - Part 2

The rest of the day passed with little progress and much frustration. Not long after The Three Musketeers left, another deputy ran into the room with the drunk tank that Eric was in, turned on the radio on the desk, grabbed something from the shelf, and ran out as soon as the next transmission reported an attack elsewhere in the county. Eric had tried to talk to the man, but he only ignored him. Perhaps he'd gotten the memo from Deputy Bill.

As the hours rolled by, Eric listened impotently to more and more attacks being reported on the radio as the few deputies of Missouri County stretched themselves as thin as could be to respond to them all. It wasn't long before wounded and besieged deputies were calling in for backup and not getting any.

How fucking perfect. The monsters of Missouri County had finally begun their all-out assault on the good people of the surrounding towns, and where was Eric? Handcuffed in the drunk tank of the Sheriff's Department was where he was.

Defeated and devoid of options, he lay back on the bench in his cell, closing his eyes and stretching out his back as much as he could with his hands bound behind him. He didn't know how long he lay there – for all he knew, he may have even dozed off once or twice – but his attention was caught by something tickling his nose. Opening his eyes was a mistake – something fine and bright fell right into one of them as he did. Reflexes dictated immediate attention, which he gave, but as soon as his brain caught up, he realized that his eye didn't hurt at all in spite of the invasion of... what was that?

"There's no need to be afraid, Eric. I would never hurt you, intentionally or otherwise," came a singsongy voice.

"I don't fucking believe it," said a wide-smiling Eric as he opened his eyes and looked up at the glowing being that had just fluttered in through the window. "Two fairy visits in less than twenty-four hours – am I really that special, Fflur?"

"You're very special, but more than that, you're very good at getting yourself into trouble," the fairy said, a pearlescent dust coming off of her wings and creating paths on the floor as she fluttered around the cell.

"I'm not going to argue with that. Say, I don't suppose you can find a handcuff key out there and pass it to me, could you?"

"Our contact with natural objects is one thing, but man-made trinkets repel us."

"Ah, so I'm fucked?"

"Turn around, Eric."

"Whoa, hold on. When I said 'fucked,' I didn't mean it that way."

"Just turn around, please."

"Be gentle." Eric turned to face the wall, his handcuffed hands facing the fairy.

"I can't manipulate the mechanism inside your handcuffs with my hands," Fflur said as she fluttered to right behind Eric, "but I can transfer some energy from our plane into yours."

"Great, can you transfer some of that energy to my urethra so that I can hold my piss in a little longer? I'm ashamed to say a few drops might have already gotten through, but I'd rather not let the floodgates open all the way until one of the deputies can undo my fly and hold my dick."

"There will be no need for that."

There was a moment of silence.

"Uh, OK, why?" Eric asked, looking over his shoulder at nothing happening.

"Go on. Pull your hands apart."