“He’s coming!” The person shouted in a desperate but cheerful tone.

The person’s voice was then muffled by the newborn’s cry echoing in the dim room.

The newly delivered baby’s cries were fierce and strong. His thin, pitch-black hair matched his mother’s, and his peachy skin with slimy details was a charm only his mother could think of.

Slumped on the bed, the mother looked frail and fragile in every breath.

She gathered her leftover strength and raised her trembling arms towards the crying baby. The nurse then gave him to her, and she held him tight against her bare, sweaty chest. 

She clutched the blood - and fluid- covered baby to her chest, as if afraid he might vanish any second.

Flesh and blood.

The room smelled of flesh, blood, and sweat.

But the woman paid no mind, nor did the people around her. The nurses wiped her legs and patted her forehead with clean wipes. The baby slowly calmed, curling up in the warmth of his mother’s chest.

“You’re… perfect…” the mother muttered to her son, gingerly stroking his bare and slimy back.

One of the nurses approached and whispered something in the woman’s ear.

The woman, a bit dizzy, nodded silently and gave the baby to her.

Noticing he wasn’t in his mother’s embrace, the baby wailed with everything he had. His voice only disappeared when the nurse took him out of the room.

The woman, tired and weak, let her head fall to the side.

It was cold.

Where was her husband?

She was alone in the room.

Alone…

…

Would she be alone forever?

A single, hot teardrop fell from her cheeks, but the tear didn’t reach the pillow. A hand wiped it and slowly lifted her chin. When her hazy eyes focused on the person, they glimmered, and she gasped.

“Daniel…” the woman muttered, her chin trembling. "I thought you… I thought they caught you…” She grabbed the man’s hand, ignoring how weak her grasp was.

The man—Daniel—looked at her with serene and glossy eyes. His short, white-as-snow hair had burnt ends in some places. His face, still serene and calm, had new bruises and a huge scar on his right cheek. His clothes, always pristine and tidy like the noble he was, were stained with blood and white feathers.

“I’m here, Aria…” Daniel smiled, dimples creasing his bruised face

He caressed the woman’s hair and slowly embraced her, warming up her cold and sore body. The woman wept, grabbing the man’s bloodstained clothes.

“Don’t cry this much, my love…” Daniel caressed his wife’s long, dark hair. He touched her body with so much care that it could reach her troubled soul.

Aria wiped her eyes and looked at him, her chest still faltering mid-sobs. “Addai… Addai was born…” she sniffled, trying to not cry further. “He’s perfect, Daniel… He’s so… precious,” she smiled.

“I told you he’d be a sweetie,” Daniel wiped the stubborn tears from Aria’s delicate face. “Oh, I guess I saw him fussing with the nurses outside,” he faintly chuckled.

Aria chuckled as well, wet and wobbly. “He barely came and already has a strong personality,” she smiled.

Daniel approached his wife’s face and pressed a gentle kiss on her cheeks and forehead. “Just like his mother,” he cupped her face, fondly looking at her.

Aria faintly chuckled and buried her face in Daniel’s chest, feeling the faint scent of his among the blood and miasma. She took a deep breath and exhaled, blowing out her distress and pain.

The road ahead was uncertain, but at least she had Daniel.

It was late at dawn, and the mansion’s corridors were already dark.

Aria was sleeping soundly after the exhausting labour. She could sleep for a century if she wanted to.

And how about Daniel?

He moved through the dark corridor, clutching a small bundle wrapped in blankets.

He was desperate.

Outside, the birds were in havoc. They were swarming on the tall, glass windows, as if haunting the man who ran.

He stumbled, but grabbed the little package in his hands, avoiding its fall.

And he continued to run.

He only stopped when he reached a room that he opened with an enchantment on a wooden door. It looked like a ritualistic room, with burnt candles and dry blood splattered in the middle of the room.

Daniel swallowed dry and closed the room’s door.

He placed the small package on the floor and unwrapped it.

The flowered wallpaper shimmered, then twisted—shifting into a pulsing mass of glitching eyes. Then, all of them stared at the package.

A buzzing sound pierced his ears, and he fell weak beside the opened package. His ear bled like his nose, but he managed to steady his body and take the package’s contents.

It was a newborn baby.

Daniel’s throat tightened as he stepped forward.

He placed the baby, his baby, in the middle of the room.

He lit candle by candle, illuminating the fragile body of his only son.

Addai was sleeping so peacefully and calmly that he wasn't bothered by the sudden lights around him. After all, he felt safe around the person who used to talk to him while he was in his mother’s womb.

Now, that person was holding a sharp dagger in his hands, aiming it at his soft, fragile chest.

One.

Two.

Three.

But Daniel’s hand couldn’t move.

The wallpaper then buzzed even louder, the glitching eyes turning wild.

Daniel clenched his jaw and looked at the walls. He raised the dagger and sank it on the floor, right in the middle of the room.

The eyes around him were in ecstasy, and when a blood puddle formed in the middle of the room. When the vivid blood reached the candles, the uncanny eyes vanished from the walls.

Then, the dirty, ornamented dagger fell beside him.

Gasping for air and panting, Daniel held his hand in pain. He tore his shirt sleeves and wrapped them around his hurt hand.

Addai, still in the middle of the room, was untouched. He still slept peacefully, even if his father’s blood was staining his body.

“There… It’s now over…” Daniel muttered, cradling Addai to his arms. “I told you I wouldn’t let them lay a finger on you. And I’m glad you trusted me,” he smooched his son’s soft cheeks.

Addai cooed and whined, trying to find a more comfortable setting. Daniel, a bit clumsy, placed him in his arms in a better way, and that may have been enough for the baby. Addai yawned and relaxed his body once again.

Daniel faintly chuckled and looked at the blankets on the floor with his blood. He snapped his fingers, and it burned with the candles, reducing everything to dust. His eyes, once purple, were crimson, and a dark mist surrounded him. He looked at the room’s door and headed outside.

He met Aria in the corridor.

Her eyes, bulging and watery, were stuck on the baby in his arms.

Daniel faintly nodded and handed Addai to Aria, who took him with trembling hands and, after seeing that he was fine, fell on the floor. She hugged him tightly and exhaled, relieved.

Daniel crouched and hugged both Aria and Addai.

“I won’t let them have none of you,” Daniel muttered, his voice dense while his eyes were crimson.

Addai woke up, drenched in sweat and panting.

His eyes, crimson as he scanned the room, were as panicked as his shivering body.

“Hm…?” a meek voice caught his attention, and he quickly looked at the sound’s source.

Mine, with puffy eyes, was looking at him that dawn. He ended up sleeping beside him on the rug and didn’t know how on earth he ended up on his bed with Addai by his side, but it seemed this question could wait to be answered.

“What’s up…?” Mine asked, rubbing his eyes.

Addai swallowed hard and exhaled. It wasn’t the first time he had that dream, but it always felt terrible, and he couldn’t help but feel miserable.

“Hm,” Mine suddenly hugged him, burying his face in his chest. “Sleep…” he muttered.

Addai, still in shock, lay on the bed. His eyes, still panicked and turning glossy, were looking at Mine, who was looking back at him with puffy eyes. Mine tilted his head and caressed his face, then his fuzzy hair without the shaved sides.

It didn’t take long, and Addai’s pupils turned rounder, and eventually fell asleep again.

He hoped to not have that nightmare once again.

Also hoping it was only a nightmare.