Note-I changed names here. Sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter. I was seperated from my computer for a while. I'll be posting soon.
"Lianne?"A young woman, cradling a newborn child on her hip, brushed curly brown hair out of her eyes and peered down a dim hallway. Cautiously she stepped forward, then stopped and called again. "Lianne!"
A six-year old girl shuffled into view, her green eyes puzzled. "Verity? What?"
"You need to leave. Someone needs to protect him, and I can't." The older girl indicated the infant in her arms. "They'll kill him otherwise."
"I won't take him. He deserves it. He's a devil. I won't protect him."
"He's not a devil."
"Then why's he got red eyes? Why won't he look at a lamp? Those're the signs of a devil." Lianne stepped back.
"Watch." Verity shifted the child to her other hip, then fumbled in the neck of her dress. A moment later she produced a cross, hanging from her neck on a fine gold chain. She bent over slightly, pressing the cross to the infant's skin. He continued to sleep, oblivious to her attentions. "If he was a devil, it'd have hurt him. I don't know why his eyes are like that, or why he won't look at a light, but he isn't a devil. These people think they're doing right, but I know they aren't." She looked down at the little girl. "They'll kill him, Lianne. Do you understand?"
Lianne nodded solemnly, thought for a moment, then asked, "If you're so sure he's no devil, why don't you tell them?"
"I tried," was the grim response. "They didn't let me say five words, just said he was a devil and that's the end of that. Here, take him." She stuffed the sleeping child into Lianne's arms.
"He have a name?"
"By rights it's Erik, after his father. Call him Erik. He'll never have a Christian name." She paused, then knelt to be on a level with Lianne. "Hide him. Keep him warm. Make sure nobody sees you with him. I'll come when I can."
Lianne looked at her for a moment, eyes round. She nodded silently, then scurried away, the tiny bundle tucked under one arm. Verity stared after them for an instant, then sighed and slipped away to explain why the newborn had vanished without a trace.