Zacari laid on the soft bed, shrouded in darkness, damp in sweat. Her heavy breathing was the only sound in the dimly lit room. Her muscles still screaming in pain, the back of her throat was dry and sore, her fingers still clutched the edge of the bed. The nurse had just left the room to investigate a a loud, noise in the nursery where the nurse had put them right after their birth. Zacari ripped off the sheets and tried to move off the bed, but her legs were so exhausted and felt so heavy that it was impossible for her to even try. Tears of fear and agony fell from her dark green eyes and mixed with cold sweat around her cheek bones. She could feel her heart slowly breaking the more she sat on the bed, helpless. She took a deep breath, trying to find the strength to climb out of the bed. Growling in defeat and anguish, she flopped back against the pillow and stared at the darkened ceiling. The moon rays beamed through the window, Zacari shivered. She had forgotten she was wearing a thin hospital gown the doctor had provided for her, unfortunately, the gown barely went past her waist. Sighing, she laid back down and covered her legs with a blanket.
Suddenly, she heard the distress voice of the nurse and more banging and clanks.
"My babies." Quickly, she threw the blanket off again and managed to get one leg over the side. Straining and fighting against her own exhaustion and overly sore body, she pushed the other leg over the side and fell onto the ground. She shouted in pain, her voice managed to find enough strength to scream again. "Jaythan! Jaythan, where are you!?"
Oh please, she prayed, let my babies be alive.
But in her heart, she could feel something was missing. Something had gone terribly wrong in the nursery, something was wrong with her children. Shivering and withering in pain, she tried to crawl to the closed door. Her thin arm stretched to the rug in the center of the room, and pulled it closer to her.
"Damn it, not what I wanted to do." She grunted, dropping the rug.
The door opened, and a nurse entered the room, carrying a small bundle in her arms. Gasping and wheezing, Zacari looked up. The nurse looked down at her, then spun back into the room.
"No! Bring me my baby! Give me my babies!" As she went to crawl again, the nurse returned. And with bulky arms, she turned Zacari onto her back and scooped her up. Carrying her bridal style to the bed, the nurse laid her back down and covered her up. Her uniform was wrinkled, a strap was torn, panic filled her dark brown eyes. Zacari didn't care about the nurse, she needed to see the baby she carried. "What have you done with my children!?"
"Zacari." The nurse bowed respectfully. She turned around and headed back into the nursery. Zacari looked around the room, searching for anything that would help her get to the nursery and to her newborn children. The nurse cleared her throat, gaining Zacari's attention. She gasped, covering her mouth as tears began their descent again."A thief has broken into the children's nursery and attempted to steal both infants."
Zacari sobbed, her heart screaming inside her chest just to hold the still sleeping baby.
"Attempted? As in 'tried'?" She asked, words continued to pour out of her mouth. "What the hell is happening? Why are you holding my child from me? I demand that you hand my child to me this second!"
"Please Zacari." The nurse begged, holding her chubby hand out."You must clam down, we mustn't wake Jerran."
She fell silent and covered her mouth, remembering her eight year old son was sleeping in the room across from her, the other room with a closed door. Zacari debated if she should demand that the nurse, also, retrieve Jerran whether he was asleep or not. She wanted him in there with her, she wanted to protect him. The door opened and a shadowy figure called out for the nurse to leave the room. The baby started crying, startling the nurse.
"Give me the baby." Zacari demanded again, nearly falling out of the bed, holding out her shaking arms.
The frantic, wide-eyed nurse quickly obliged. While the infant wailed, she carried the baby over to bed and placed the baby in Zacari's arms.
"Please adjust yourself, ma'm." The nurse pleaded, helping Zacari sit up against a pillow and covered her bare, chalk pale legs with the blanket. "You're still in much pain from labor."
"Whatever, I can handle it." Zacari shot, looking over her newborn's face. The baby's cries continued, the baby felt heavy as lead, but it brought joy to Zacari's heart and a smile to her face. Gently, she caressed his face, wondering if he came out first.
"Leave the room, Trin." Both the nurse and Zacari raised their head's, both had forgotten about the shadowy figure. The Doctor stood along the edge of the shadows, away from the dim light, his scrubs were gone and his black clothes provided a perfect camouflage. The nurse stammered, bowing her head again and ran out of the room, leaving Zacari alone with the doctor and her child. Zacari was mesmerized by his eyes; one was a violet-gray and the other was chocolate brown. Casually, he adjusted his glasses and took a step forward. "The thief has taken one of your children."
Zacari's mouth fell open, but she remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"Let me see that one." He approached the bed, Zacari held her baby close, glaring daggers at the doctor. She remembered right after she had given birth, he was quick to remove them from her. And after hearing the strange commotion, she was not going to allow him to simply take her baby again. Despite her threatening glare, the doctor continued to approach until he was at the edge of her bed. He raised his hand to Zacari's arm, adjusting her so she was cradling the crying child and he could see the child clearly. Carefully, he removed the blankets and began his examination with Zacari watching his every move.
"A girl." He finished his examination. Zacari shook her head, looking between her baby and the doctor, pondering where the doctor went to school if he figured this baby was a girl. "The thief snatched the girl, you're holding the boy."
"I am not blind, Doctor." Zacari spoke. "I can see, clearly, this child is a boy."
The doctor wrapped the baby boy back into his blanket, Zacari quickly shoved the doctor's hand away and held her son close. The newborn's cries went silent as Zacari went back to cradling him. And once Zacari was certain the doctor wasn't going to take him from her, she looked down at him with tears of joy and agony soaring down her face, and dropping onto the baby boy's face. The newborn's bright eyes looked up at her, his arms scrambling in the blanket. She caressed the baby's round face, waiting to see if he was going to disappear into dust in her arms.
"You're so heavy my young one." She murmured lightly, laying back against the pillow, humming a soft tune and rocking him softly.
"We tried to capture the thief but-"
"Shut up!" She snapped, her body shaking."It's bad enough my only daughter is gone."
"Miss-"
"Security should have been better!" She shouted, closing her eyes to prevent more tears." This is our home! And only one of my newborn children are alive!"
She went silent as a door opened and three men in SOLIDER 2nd Class uniforms rushed in. The middle one approached Zacari with excited strides. He removed his dark gray helmet and set it on the ground. The doctor backed away and bowed his head. Zacari kept her head down, quickly trying to hide her tears and pain. The man ran over to her and grasped her shoulders firmly.
"Zacari, what's wrong?" The man asked, holding Zarcari's shaky shoulders. Zacari opened her eyes and looked at the newborn boy who had fallen asleep in her arms.
"Your wife has given birth, 2nd Class SOLIDER Jaythan." The doctor replied. Jaythan looked at his wife.
"Why are you so sad?" He asked, straining his neck to look at the baby." We have another child. Jerran has a younger sibling just as he has always wanted, just as you always wished. Is this not enough?"
"That's not why I'm crying." She sobbed and buried her face into the stomach of the sleeping bundle, startling him awake. Jaythan was taken aback at his newborn child's eyes. Never had he seen a child with such bright eyes that seemed almost white.
"I-is there something wrong with our newborn? What is it?" He asked in a highly demanding tone. She shook her head.
"I gave birth to twins."
Jaythan was shocked. He, like everyone else including Zacari, believed that she was carrying one child. He smiled proudly since twins were very rare in any family, and those who did have twins constantly bragged. Now Jaythan knew this was his moment to gloat. He looked at the doctor, then around the room.
"Where is this other child?" He asked. The doctor kept his head down, his two comrade's looked at each other, and then back at Jaythan.
"She's gone."Zacari whispered.
"What did you say?" He grabbed her shoulder's again, shaking her. "What did you just say?!"
"She's gone!" Zacari shouted, shaking out of his grasp.
Jaythan's heart dropped. He looked down at the newborn boy resting in Zacari's arms. He didn't want to believe it, he couldn't believe it. He took a deep breath and swallowed his distress.
"Gone?" He looked at her in disbelief. "What do you mean gone? She's can't be..."
"Someone stole her right out of the nursery." She growled as she tightened her grip protectively around the baby boy. Just then, Jaythan's turned to his two comrades, who straightened their posture with their arms at their sides.
"Sent out search parties at once!" Jaythan commanded to his comrades. He pointed his finger to the smallest one with spiky red hair and dark brown eyes."Navon, go to the nearby villages and scour every building, leave no stone unturned, I don't care what you have to do, just find the girl."
"Yes sir, right away, sir, on it, sir!"Navon saluted, turned and dashed to the door.
"Rain," Jaythan pointed to the last SOLIDER. His silvery white hair was tied in a loose pony tale, his dark gold eyes were terrified." Go to all the cities and choose leaders to search the forest regions and any other deserted places."
"O-on it, sir."Rain said, shaking.
"Find that missing child! That is your only priority!"Jaythan's booming voice startled everyone in the room, except for Zacari.
"It was a girl."Zacari whispered. Jaythan turned to her." I wanted to name her Rena. What am I to do?"
"We still have this one."Jaythan said, walking up to her."Is this one a boy or a girl?"
"A boy." Zacari replied, looking up at Jaythan. He reached down and pulled the baby out of her arms. Jaythan looked down as he paced the room. The infant felt so light and so small in his arms that Jaythan feared he would disintegrate like sand in a the wind. The baby's pale face seemed to glow in the dim light of the candle.
"Jerran, come in here."Jaythan stopped, facing the closed door. Zacari's mouth dropped open, and looked over at the closed door. Not even a minute passed and the door opened.
When did he get up? She asked herself.
A moment later, a small boy came around the corner. His pale blond hair somehow stood out in the darkness, his pajamas fitted loosely around his lanky figure.
"Yes, father?" Jerran asked, crossing his arms behind his back.
"How long have you been awake?" Zacari asked, realizing he didn't sound at all tired. In fact, it seemed like he had been up since she started going into labor.
"Come meet your brother." Jaythan held out his hand, which Jerran quickly took with an excited smile on his little face. Zacari pitied her young boy begging for his father's attention. She found it pathetic that Jaythan paid partial attention to their eldest child, the poor boy usually spent more time by himself outside. How Jaythan could treat their first born child like he was nothing was beyond Zacari's comprehension.
"I thought I was to have a sister. I heard the nurse say something about a girl." Jerran tilted his head, looking down at his brother uncertainly. His small fingers touched his baby brother's button-like nose. Jerran met Zacari's eyes, wanting to make sure he was allowed to touch the baby. With an encouraging smile, Zacari nodded. Jerran slowly, and cautiously, lowered his hand down and rested it onto of the baby's partially bald head. The softness of the baby's pale hair felt strange.
"A boy will do just fine."Jaythan stated, dropping Jerran's hand. Jerran grunted softly, looking at his hand, then back at his father with heart broken eyes."Jerran, you will have to be responsible as this boy's brother. For he will look up to you and do as you, and you are to make sure you set the right example. If it is the last thing I do, I will ensure the bond is strong between my sons."
"Yes father." Jerran nodded, lowering his head, Jaythan's words swimming around in his head." Momma, what's his name?"
"Uh..." Zacari scrambled her mind for a name. It was easy for her to find a name for a baby girl, but since she never even gave thought to having another boy, all boys names were placed in the back shadows of her mind. She knew Jaythan would be of no help, he didn't care what the children were called.
I wanted to name my baby Rena, it's all I could think about! Zacari screamed in her thoughts, that's when an idea came to her.
"Reno."Zacari replied quickly, receiving a confusing glare from her husband. "That's his name."
"Reno?"Jaythan asked, handing the baby back to her. He glanced out the window into the darkness, his thoughts elsewhere. "Is that not the name of a member of your family?"
Zacari nodded, smiling joyfully.
"Y-yes, it is the male version name of my mother."She held Reno close to her heart as another tear fell from her eyes. "I was going to name our daughter Rena, but since she's...you know..."
Jaythan stuck out his chest and stood tall, his expression darkened."Unless she is found, Reno is to never know about Rena, neither of the three of us are to mention her until she is found." His voice deepened. He turned slightly to face Jerran. "No one is to ever know about our missing baby until she has returned. If she is to remain missing, we will not deal with this hassle. This whole matter will be treated as though it never happened."
Zacari looked up at Jaythan, stunned that he would demand such a harsh thing. How could anyone keep their missing child a secret? Anger build up inside her, she grinded her teeth together, her grip tightened around Reno. "And just how are we going to explain her all of a sudden appearance? Navon, Rain, the nurse, the doctor..."
"They will be taken care of, I will ensure it." Jaythan stated, his gaze met hers. An icey chill soared down her spine as she held her baby closer, she gestured for Jerran to come closer to her. However, he kept still and ignored her. "It will be better for us all that we pretend you gave birth to a son, and we never speak of the missing twin. Things will be explained if we, eventually, find her. And if we do not, then she never existed. And that is my final word." Zacari felt the cold shudder grow stronger as she listened to his words. His words were so cold and cruel that he seemed to be a completely different person. Although, Jaythan was thinking that his way was the best way for their family, she wondered if they were for them or for his reputation? To her, he wanted to lock up his own daughter and then pretend she's not his daughter. It sounded sick and wrong to her. Deep in her heart, she prayed that her daughter is with a good family and she will never be found. She couldn't bear cooping up her daughter in this dark house.
"What about the doctor and the nurse? Rain and Navon, your friends?" Zacari asked, hoping that one of them would do something, or have enough sense to hide her daughter.
Jaythan turned to look at her and Zacari fought off a gasp. She recognized that look in his sky blue eyes, he was planning something evil."I'll take care of the doctor and the nurse myself."
"What of Navon and Rain?" Surely he wouldn't dare kill his own friends, she prayed to herself.
"My dear,"He smiled maliciously, walking past Jerran and out the bedroom door. His hand rested on his the edge of his sword. "Haven't you heard? The two of them have perished in a sudden ambush by AVALANCHE during the night."
