Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 127933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
CHAPTER NINE
The scene inside hit me like a punch to the gut. Cassandra lay sprawled on the bed, drenched in sweat, her face twisted in agony, gripping the sheets as though they were the only things tethering her to reality.
She wasn’t alone.
On a bed identical to hers, across the room, lay another woman—also heavily pregnant, her body wracked with labor pains. The crisp white linens beneath her were stained with the unmistakable signs of childbirth, blood, and fluid seeping into the fabric.
Keres stepped in behind me, her voice low but sharp. "What the fuck is this?"
Before I could respond, Esther and the servitors rushed past us, moving with purpose. They knew exactly where to go and what to do, their faces set with a grim determination I hadn’t seen before.
"Stay there," Esther called back as she moved toward Cassandra. "We’ll oversee this."
Confusion clouded my mind, and instinctively, I reached for Pandora. She stood beside me, her blindfolded gaze staring ahead blankly, her hands trembling at her sides. "What’s happening?" she asked, her voice wavering.
I exchanged a quick glance with Keres, both of us unsure how to explain what we were witnessing. "It looks like..." I faltered, "two women in labor. One of them is Cassandra, but the other..." I trailed off, trying to make sense of the scene.
We carefully moved Pandora out of the way, guiding her to a chair in the corner of the room where she could sit.
"It’s chaos in here," Keres muttered, her eyes darting between the two women.
The room was a flurry of activity. Several servitors and what I assumed were trained medical personnel surrounded the second woman, their faces tense with focus. Meanwhile, others clustered around Cassandra, their hands moving swiftly as they wiped her brow and monitored her vitals. The air was thick with tension, and every time the woman on the other bed let out a scream of pain, Cassandra followed suit, her own scream echoing in unison. It was disturbing—unnatural. Every scream that tore from one woman's throat seemed to rip through Cassandra’s body as well, as though they were linked in some perverse, shared suffering.
"It’s like they’re connected," I whispered, a chill running down my spine.
Keres nodded, her eyes narrowing as she took in the scene. "This is some fucked-up shit," she murmured, clearly unnerved by the eerie synchronicity between the two women.
I watched, helpless, as each contraction wracked the other woman's body, her back arching off the bed as she cried out. Almost immediately, Cassandra responded, her own body tensing in agony.
"What the hell is going on?" I whispered to Keres, my voice barely audible. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the bizarre and horrifying display in front of me. Every time the woman’s pain escalated, Cassandra mirrored it perfectly, as if they were tethered by an invisible thread.
Keres shook her head, her mouth drawn into a tight line. "I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s not right."
We stood there, frozen, trying to make sense of the madness. One of the personnel caught sight of us, her gaze snapping at me. “Electi—come!” she commanded; her voice sharp.
Keres and I exchanged a look, both of us clearly out of our depth. This was not my area of expertise. In fact, it was so far beyond anything I’d ever done that every instinct in me screamed to flee the room. My pulse quickened, panic creeping up my spine. Esther was too preoccupied with Cassandra to offer any guidance.
Keres, always quicker to act, grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the woman in labor, Pandora following close behind, holding my hand. "What do we do?" Keres asked as we approached, her voice low but steady.
The woman in charge glanced between us, already exasperated by our lack of action.
"Sponsa Diaboli," she addressed me directly. "Hold her hand."
My stomach twisted at the sight of the woman writhing on the bed, drenched in sweat, and sobbing in pain, but I stepped forward, reaching for her.
"And you—her leg," the woman instructed Keres, who blinked but nodded quickly, moving into position.
The woman’s gaze turned to Pandora. "Assist as you can."
Pandora, still blindfolded, stood hesitantly beside the bed, her hands reaching out to touch the woman’s arm gently, though she looked just as lost as I felt. I took the woman’s trembling hand in mine, grounding my teeth when she immediately squeezed it with a strength that nearly made me yelp. She screamed again, and the sound echoed around the room, so raw and guttural it sent shivers down my spine.
Keres, now holding the woman’s leg, looked across the room at the servitors attending to Cassandra. "What the fuck..." she muttered; her eyes wide with disbelief as she watched Cassandra mimic the same movements—the same screams—without being anywhere near labor.
I focused back on the woman in front of me. She was shaking, her breaths coming in quick, shallow gasps. I needed to distract her somehow—keep her from spiraling further into the pain.