The Unborn

The sonogram was given to a young, blond woman. She looked at her husband, who smiled back at her.

"Congratulations," said a female nurse with shining red hair. "You're having triplets. They're all girls. Do you have their names picked out?"

"Yes," answered the pregnant woman. "Melanie, Valerie, and Samantha."

"Three wonderful additions to the Puckett family," exclaimed the father, warmly.

Three months later, the woman felt something wrong inside herself: not something physical, but a deeper feeling of emptiness in her womb. The woman returned to the hospital with her husband, and had some tests run: nothing was found wrong, but another sonogram was done.

"I'm sorry," said a balding, gray-haired man holding a clipboard. "You lost one of the babies."

The woman looked up at her husband, then began crying, pressing her face into his chest. Unfortunately, her husband was in too much pain be her rock, or his own.

The tears fell all night, but were drowned out by the rain of that night. While the couple looked out their apartment window, they felt a grave fear.

"What if we lose the others?" asked the woman.

"We won't," replied the man. "It'll be okay...We still have Melanie and Samantha...We're still a family."

Lightning struck in the sky above.

Years passed, bringing with them hardships: Melanie and Samantha's father passed away from pneumonia when his daughters turned 5, their mother slowly lost her sanity due to her painful losses, Samantha's disposition grew nasty (preferring to be called Sam), which caused her and Melanie to grow apart, despite Melanie's efforts, and finally, Melanie's going away to a private school.

Sam remained in Seattle, attended public school, made friends with a girl her age, named Carly Shay, and Carly's friend (who has a helpless crush on her), Freddie Benson, who Sam grew close to due to her growing closer to Carly. The three began producing their own web show, iCarly in seventh grade.

Now high school sophomores, the three remain close friends, though iCarly dwindled into a once-in-a-while thing for the teens' amusement. One day, however, things began to change: Sam walked into school one day, her eyes baggy and bloodshot, and her hair uncombed.

"Sam," Carly greeted her friend, somewhat startled. "What happened to you?"

"Couldn't sleep last night," answered Sam, her voice hoarse and a little angry. "Kept having nightmares."

"About what?" asked Carly, trying to grasp the situation.

"I can't remember," replied Sam, twisting in the combination on her locker. "It was pretty nasty, though."

"Sorry, Sam," said Carly. "Hope tonight's better."

"Me too," replied Sam, carrying her books to class, her body dragging. The two girls then entered their first hour math class.

While Mrs. Summers lectured the class on mathematical proofs, Sam dozed off, not being able to catch herself until she had entered a dream: In a black null, in which everything was hued gray, Sam's mother sat on a doctor's table, her stomach large from pregnancy. "They're triplets," an unseen female nurse with a sickly sweet voice informed Sam's mother. "Do you have their names?"

"Melanie, Samantha,..." answered Pam.

"And Valerie," completed a deep, almost demonic voice.

Lightning struck. Sam's mother screamed as she delivered two infant daughters.

"I'm sorry," said a doctor. "You lost one of the babies."

Lightning struck again, and three fetuses floated in the air. One was absorbed into the one next to it: Valerie had disappeared, and Sam had been the one who "took her". The two surviving infants screamed and cried.

"Let me out!" screamed a girl, whose face was almost completely shrouded in shadows, and bore a resemblance to Sam and Melody.

Sam sprang back to consciousness, her breath heavy, and her body clammy. A look of fear, for the first time in so long, was worn on the girl's face.

Carly stared at Sam, shocked and unable to fathom what was happening to her friend. The rest of the class, including Mrs. Summers, looked at the girl, jaws dropped.

Sam covered her eyes with her right hand, and continued trying to catch her breath.

After class dismissed, and Sam explained herself to her worried teacher, the blond met up with Carly in the hallway.

"There's something wrong," said the brunette.

"I know," replied Sam, still uneasy. "In that dream, I saw...I don't know. It was my mom...giving birth to Melanie and I, but...I saw someone else. I don't know who, but she said 'let me out'. And..."

"What?" asked Carly, her scared curiosity gnawing at her.

"...I saw fetuses," Sam answered. "One of them...like, sucked in the other. And... I remember my mom saying her...triplets names were Melanie, Sam, and...Valerie."

"Triplets?" asked Carly.

"I don't know," replied Sam. "...I really wanna go home."

"I'll walk you to the nurse," Carly offered, taking her friend's hand. The two walked down to the nurse's office.

That night, Sam lay in her bed, too tired to think straight, too exhausted to fear the nightmares she knew were coming. Lightning illuminated the sky outside, thunder crackled, and rain hit and slid down the window near Sam's bed.

Sam found herself walking in her school's hallway, not knowing where she was going, or why she was doing what she was doing. The lockers, walls, doors, and the rooms they lead to were either blurred or contorted and hued an ominous shade of blue. Sam felt a chill on her bones, but her body didn't shake. "Hello?" she called. No one answered.

Unlike in her past life, Sam felt scared and along, like a little girl lost in a park, searching for Mommy or Daddy. I don't want to be here, the teen thought to herself.

As she passed a door to an unfamiliar room, the reflection in its window stared at her. Catching this out of the corner of her eye, Sam turned sideways, and saw another girl, who strongly resembled her. The girl's face was more mature, her hair was longer and darker, and her facial features had an evil glow to them.

Sam felt afraid.

"You shouldn't be here," said the girl, her voice laced with anger. "You stole my life. And I want it back."

Sam ran away, still staring at the girl. No matter how hard she tried, her legs wouldn't move any faster, and they were so weak and tired, even standing up became a struggle. Finally, Sam collapsed on the cold, dirty floor.

Feeling a cold hand grab the back of her shirt, Sam's fear grew.

"Let me into the world," ordered the girl.

"No!" Sam screamed. Her voice echoed throughout the ghostly school.

Sam shot up in her bed, finding herself screaming in terror. Her breath heavy, and a cold sweat was seeping down her face. Once her breathing was under control, Sam began to feel sick to her stomach. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before: it was how her mother had described morning sickness.