Samhain was numb as he walked through the streets. He sort of already knew that Achroi was dead, but the grave had proved it once and for all. He was all right with the fact that she was dead, but there was one thing that was niggling at his mind. How had she been murdered? And why hadn't she told him? Was it her employer who had killed her? Was that why she was so afraid of him?
Samhain continued to walk around. He had already checked most of the warehouses and the inns. He was deliberately avoiding the château for now because the old man had said that that was where Achroi had once lived. Apparently shortly after Achroi had been killed, her family was also murdered.
They say there were all these weird markings on their necks but no one knew what they were. Samhain had a feeling that they were bite marks. But who had killed her family? Had Achroi killed them in her first days of being a vampyre or had her employer killed them so Achroi could never see them again?
Samhain finally gave up his pondering and set off for the old château. He trudged slowly up the hill and stood before a formidable iron gate. He slowly pushed it open and walked up to the front door. It was old and ruined and was definitely falling apart. How long had it been since anybody had lived here?
He'd heard that no one had lived here since the Geallian family had been brutally murdered. They all considered the house to be cursed. Samhain carefully entered the old house and looked around. It was dirty and worn and dust completely covered everything. Old furniture was overturned; burnt old wood was still in the fireplace. The place was in absolute shambles.
He walked up the stairs, careful not to fall through any loose floorboards. He walked through the passageway and looked into all the old rooms. Furniture and pictures were scattered everywhere. Tattered old clothes lay all over the floors and there were rat droppings everywhere. Samhain walked into one of the small rooms. Inside there was a double bed, the duvet all tattered and ripped.
A small dresser stood opposite the bed covered in dust and smashed little trinkets. He walked over and picked up a small, cracked hand mirror. He examined it then set it back down again. He was about to leave the room again when he heard a small crack come from underneath his feet. Samhain looked down and saw a small photo frame lying cracked and dirty on the floor. He picked it up and blew the dust from it.
In the frame was a black and white picture of Achroi. She was wearing a dress and was smiling.
Samhain felt his stomach tie up into little knots and at the thought of Achroi. He seriously hoped that she was all right. Samhain walked back down the stairs and was about to leave when he heard this gut-wrenching scream.
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Achroi woke up again but this time her head wasn't throbbing. In place of her head, her stomach was hurting. She tried to roll over but hissed in pain as her stomach hurt. She closed her eyes and moaned as a wave of nausea crossed over. She wiped her clammy hands on the white smock she was wearing and licked her lips. Why was she in so much pain?
And why did it feel like something was kicking her in the stomach? But the kicking felt like it was coming from the inside not the outside.
She tried to raise her head and look at her stomach but she was so weak that she just let it flop back against the pillow. Achroi lay there panting and sweating as the pain become worse. It felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside and she couldn't stand it. All of a sudden there was this great pain and she screamed in agony.
The steel door burst open and the man from before rushed in. He appeared at her side in an instant, concern etching his features. He checked her pulse and placed his hand on her stomach. Another pain pierced her stomach and she hissed. The mans eyes widened and turned to meet hers.
"What's going on?" Achroi whimpered. The man just looked at her with the same concern in his eyes. He walked over to the control board and pushed a red button. An alarm sounded that hurt her ears. Then all these cronies rushed into the room and assembled around Achroi who just looked at them all warily.
"What's going on?" she asked again. The man just shook his head and motioned for her to be quiet. He pulled out another needle and jabbed it into her arm.
"You," the man barked to another crony, "get everything ready. We need to operate now or we'll lose them both." The crony nodded and hurried over to the cupboard.
"Both?" Achroi asked confused, "what do you mean 'lose them both'?" The man just looked at her then said, "My dear girl, you are pregnant." Achroi stared at him wide-eyed then struggled to look at her stomach. It was bulgy, round and huge. Achroi screamed bloody murder.
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Samhain turned to face the direction in which the scream had come from. More screams had followed the first but for now it was quiet again. He didn't know whether someone was in the house with him and had gotten hurt or if it was an angry ghost. Samhain hesitated before walking back down the corridor listening intently for any more screams or some sound that would give away the location of where the screams had come from.
There were two more blood curdling screams and Samhain all but run down the hall. Another scream came and Samhain halted in front of a door. This door wasn't old and ruined like all the others; it looked brand new as if it had recently been placed there. He pushed gently against the door until it opened revealing a long, brightly lit corridor.
Samhain cautiously proceeded stopping every now and then to peer into a room that led off of the corridor. Another scream came and Samhain quickened his pace. He rounded a corner and nearly smacked face first into a steel door. He stopped abruptly and stared at the door. Why would there be a steel door here? Was it concealing something very important?
While Samhain was pondering, another scream erupted. The screams were coming from behind the steel door. Samhain didn't know whether he should open the door and check inside or if he should leave and come back with help. He made his decision when he heard a voice say from behind the door "Achroi! You must keep still otherwise you will die!"
Achroi was in that room and by the sounds of it she was in a lot of pain. Was somebody torturing her? What was going on? Samhain wasn't going to wait any longer to find out. He pushed the steel door open and burst into the room.
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Achroi screamed again as more pain swept across her body. What the hell was going on? And how the fuck had she become pregnant? What kind of sick, twisted game was Midir playing? There was a loud crack and Achroi screamed again. Something had just broken inside of her. She was screaming and crying and kept struggling against the cronies tight grips.
"Achroi! You must keep still otherwise you will die!" the man screamed at her.
"I don't care!" Achroi screamed back, "I want this to end! I don't want to be pregnant! I don't want a child!"
"Well, I'm sorry but this was not my idea. It was Midirs. Now, please keep still. We need you to survive this," the man pleaded. Achroi just looked at him as more tears streamed down her face. How had she gotten herself into this? Why wouldn't they just let her die so the bloody pain would end?
"Now Achroi, I need you to keep absolutely still while I make this incision," the man said. Achroi just nodded and tried to do as she was told.
"Why do you need to make an incision?" Achroi asked.
"We need to get the baby out now otherwise it will kill you."
"That's nice. I've got something inside me that's going to kill me." The man just smiled grimly and pulled a sharp knife across her stomach. She closed her eyes as he did some more cuts. Something kicked her and she screamed.
"It's a feisty thing," the man commented, "it's nearly completely destroyed your insides."
"JUST SHUT UP AND GET THAT BLOODY THING OUT OF ME!" Achroi screamed as she writhed in pain. Somebody put a screen up in front of her so she couldn't see what was going on. Sure, she couldn't see what was going on but she could sure as hell feel it. And it hurt. She felt more pain then nothing. No pain, no nothing; just a blank numb feeling. Achroi looked wildly around, wondering what was going on. Then she heard the weirdest thing, a baby crying. Holy shit, she had just had a baby. She just stared at the screen and let her eyesight fade then jolted when the steel door flew open and all the cronies started yelling. They were yelling but what ever had just entered the room, they didn't bother to stop.
Achroi was just starting to let the blackness consume her when she saw Samhains horrified face staring down at her. Then it was black.
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Samhain looked wildly around. He had just entered some sort of laboratory. There was cupboards and do-hickeys across one wall, a large control board stood next to an operating table in the middle of the room. Lots of people were standing around the table holding bloody tools and bewildered expressions on their faces. One man held a wailing baby in his arms.
Then they all turned to look at him and started yelling. Samhain didn't care if they tried to hurt him he just needed to see what was laying on that operating table, or worse, who was lying on that table. He hurried forwards and to his surprise, nobody bothered to try and stop him.
He stopped at the edge of the table and looked down. Samhain nearly screamed. Achroi was lying there all sweaty and dishevelled. She was all pale and clammy and looked like she was about to die. Her eyes flickered to his then they closed. Samhain whirled around and pointed a finger at the man who was holding the baby.
"What the hell is going on here?" Samhain shouted.
"Your young friend here just gave birth," the man stated matter of factly.
"Gave birth?" Samhain repeated starting to feel faint and dizzy.
"Yes, she just gave birth."
"How was she even pregnant in the first place? And don't lie to me, I know all about the circle of life."
"Well in a nutshell, Midir sent for Achroi and she arrived. They talked then fought, and Midir knocked Achroi unconscious. We were then assigned to experiment on her; that experiment consisted of injecting her with a newly discovered drug that can make female vampyres become pregnant. And it has worked…sort of."
"Sort of?" Samhain said worriedly, "What do you mean 'sort of'?"
"Well, there were a few minor set backs. The baby, being a vampyre and all, started to try and kill Achroi from the inside. It had reached its full maturity in the womb and wanted out. We didn't realise that when a baby vampyre, created in the womb, started to kill its mother when it was ready to come out. Achroi was lucky that I had heard her screaming, otherwise she wouldn't be with us right now."
"Well, uh, I don't think she is with us right now. She kind of fainted, I think," Samhain said looking at Achroi. The man frowned at this piece of information. He handed the baby to Samhain then studied Achroi.
Samhain looked down at the little vampyre. It had the same grey eyes as Achroi. Samhain smiled at the little child. It smiled back.
"We'll need to keep a close eye on her in the next couple of days, " the man said taking the baby back from Samhain, "she's in a very unstable condition. I'm surprised her body actually managed to cope with the radical change it had to undertake." Samhain just nodded weakly and sank to his knees. It was just too much to take in all at once. Achroi was being experimented on. She had just had a baby. How had he let this happen to her? Samhain hung his head. It was just too much.
The other men in the room picked up Achroi and carried her out of the room. Samhain watched them then turned to the man.
"Where are they taking her?" he asked.
"They're taking her to a more comfortable room," he answered, "she needs rest if she is to recover."
"And the child? What are you going to do with it?"
"It's not an "it", it's a girl."
"A girl? What is her name, then?"
"I wouldn't know. Naming the child will be up to Achroi."
"You still haven't answered my first question," Samhain pointed out, "what is going to happen with the child?"
"Well," the man said thoughtfully, " I am meant to hand the child over to Midir, so he can raise it and use it as a weapon against Achroi but…."
"But what?"
"I think I'm going to give the child to Achroi. A mother's bond with her child is something that shouldn't be tampered with. And I don't want to see Midir destroy the child."
"Who's Midir?" Samhain asked. He'd heard that name somewhere before.
"Midir is Achroi's employer. He is the one who turned her into a vampyre," the man answered. Finally Samhain knew who Achrois employer was. He wanted more information but decided it would be best to ask Achroi herself because she would be able to add more.
"Did you want to rest as well?" the man asked, "you look a bit peaky."
"Yes, thank-you," Samhain said standing up. Samhain followed after the man, occasionally glancing at the baby in his arms.
Okay, so what did you think? I've planned on Achroi becoming pregnant ever since I began this story. And no, I have no idea who the father is. Basically the child is a test-tube baby. And I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes that I made because I was very excited with this chapter and was typing really, really fast. So, I hope you enjoyed it and please, please review!!!!!
I won't update until I reach my goal of 15 reviews. I've got 13 so far so just two more and I'll update faster for you.
Thank-a-you
Bye bye