My hands clutched the hem of my clothes. I tore at the fabric until my palms were raw and bleeding.

Syphyllis rested his head on my shoulder while I stared into nothing, empty.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway.

“Little V, we bought you pie,” 3 called.

The door swung open. I was seated on the cold floor beside it, unmoving.

“What’s wrong, Little V?” 2 asked, pulling me into a cold embrace.

I didn’t answer.

1 frowned. “Are you feeling sick?”

3 pressed his hand against my cheeks. Cold. I didn’t react.

“He doesn’t have a fever,” he said.

2 lifted me and placed me on the bed. Syphyllis sat far away, silent.

“You didn’t tell me this city was alive.”

“What?” they asked at the same time.

“You never told me this city was built…” My voice trailed off.

Nox stayed silent, watching me.

“You feed people to that thing!” I screamed. Tears ran down my face as my nails dug into my palms.

1 sighed. 2 leaned his head against my shoulder.

“Baby, it’s necessary,” he said softly.

“Even humans need food,” 1 added.

My body went rigid.

3 opened the pastry box. The smell of sweet meat and citrus filled the air. He lifted a slice toward my lips.

The scent hit me.

And I remembered the tunnel. The flesh. The heat.

I gagged.

I vomited violently, collapsing back onto the bed, gasping for air.

My stomach began to swell.

It bulged unnaturally, stretching tight beneath my clothes.

Something moved inside.

Like a child kicking.

A soft, birdlike sound came from within me.

I screamed and struck my stomach, but Syphyllis jumped onto the bed and pressed his nose against my belly.

The movement stopped.

I sobbed, broken and breathless.

I turned to Nox.

“What did you do to me?” I whispered through blurred vision.

Nox watched my stomach and Syphyllis. He smiled when he looked at me.

He frowned when he looked at my dog.

3 leaned in and kissed my cheek. I didn’t have the strength to turn away. My hair was soaked with sweat.

“We have a little one,” he said, smiling.

The mattress shifted, adjusting beneath my swollen stomach.

I looked at him, voice scraped raw.

“Let me go home… please.”

My vision darkened.

“That’s not a do—” one of them began.

Everything went black.

Syphyllis’s head remained resting on my stomach.