That was not the answer that he wanted but it was the one that he expected. Whether he willfully cooperated or not, he was never in control, and he was always told as much as if he would forget that fact. Still, he closed his mouth and bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from insisting that he should get the chance to take his mother's place, that he would take everything he wanted to do to her and more.
His eyes stayed on the masked man and although he remained quiet so he didn't ruin his chances to convince him to leave his mother alone, Erik's breathing noticeably sped up. He couldn't stand the uncertainty of the silence and it was all too obvious that he was working himself up as he waited for the masked man to say something, anything. When he finally did speak up, Erik held his breath, a feeling of hope slowly built up but was immediately crushed when he was told his mom was going to go through this same, strange torture.
"No! I can tell you now!" He had avoided pulling on the restrains before knowing from past experience it didn't help, but this time around he couldn't stop himself. Erik tugged, pulled, and violently fought against the bands tying him down to the table. "Come back! I'll answer your questions, come back!"
It was of no use, however, the masked man walked through the door and he barely caught a glimpse of his mother's worried face before he was left alone.
"Mama, lauf! Auf ihn hören nicht," he yelled, hoping that she would listen to him.
Ich kann nicht laufen, mein Schatz, sind die Soldaten hier. Es ist in Ordnung. Alles wird gut.
His stomach dropped. The last bit was almost exactly what she'd told him before the doctor shot her. Even if that hadn't been real, he didn't want anything like that happening again. A sense of dread spread through him when all he could hear was the sound of the persistent ticking in the room. What was the masked man doing? Why couldn't he- wait, was that them? There were sounds of something shuffling, was his mother being tied down? He threw all of his weight against the restraints to lean forward as much as possible so he could hear better but it didn't get him very far.
The shuffling stopped and in its place Erik heard whispers he couldn't quite make out but by their tones he knew it was his mother and the masked man. He stared at the door as if willing for it to swing open so he could see what was going on in the other room but it stayed stubbornly closed. What were they talking about? The whispers died down and Erik swallowed back the urge to yell out to his mother, not wanting to get her punished because he didn't know how to stay quiet.
The silence and the ticking were driving him mad but only seconds later he wished it was still quiet. He suddenly heard his mother screaming out in terror.
"Mama!"
The table rattled as he fought against the restraints, not a bit concerned with how they bit into his arms where they would surely leave bruises in his skin. They didn't budge and no matter how much he wished, nothing made of metal in the room moved, he was completely helpless and couldn't get out, let alone save his mother.
"Mama!"
She didn't answer him and the screaming didn't stop. Erik's shoulders shook with choked sobs as he continued to tug on the restraints.
"Stop! Leave her alone!"
He wasn't as loud as he wanted to be and his limbs were steadily growing heavy. He tried to fight the sudden drowsiness, he couldn't sleep now, his mother needed him, he already failed her once before.
"Mama."
Translation: Mom, run! Don't listen to him! I can't run, sweetheart, the soldiers are here. It's alright. Everything will be fine.