Chapter 24 - Secrets revealed
1686 Words
#musicvibe - Crystalline, Amaranthe
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Valeria POV
Tyson paled beside me.
“What?” He gasped.
I took his hand and he tightened his grip immediately.
“No no no.” He said, his voice laced with panic. “Please, we can fix it. Whatever it is, I promise. I can fix it!”
My heart shattered at his words and more tears spilled on my cheeks.
“It can’t be fixed, Tyson.” I whispered and caressed his cheek. “I can’t be fixed.”
I saw a tear escape Tyson’s eye too and he cupped my cheeks.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
I gulped and looked down.
“I can’t be queen.” I said.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to be queen. We can figure it out. Just please stay with me.” Tyson rambled.
“I can’t have children.”
There it was.
Out loud.
Tyson stared at me silently.
“You can’t have children?” He repeated.
I nodded.
“Oh.” He said.
I shrugged.
“How could I be queen when I can’t give you any heirs?” I said. “Your kingdom needs you to have kids. And I can’t give you any kids. So I can’t be queen.”
Tyson caressed my hair and kissed my temple.
“I’m gonna tell you something.” I whispered.
Tyson nodded and I took a deep breath.
“Sorry.” I said as fresh tears spilled on my cheeks. “I have never told anyone about this before.”
I decided to just rip the bandaid off and spit it out.
“It happened about a year before I was rescued.” I started. “I started feeling worn out during training and just felt really weird. I couldn’t figure out why, until it started to become obvious to the Masters. They had the doctor examine me.
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***Flashback***
“She’s pregnant?” Master Rastin asked in disbelief.
Doctor Rollins nodded.
“I guess the consequences of Myers’ 'training' with her finally caught up with us.” Master Rastin muttered while air quoting ‘training’ with his fingers.
He turned to me.
“How are you feeling, Twelve?” He asked.
Out of all the Masters, Master Rastin was the nicest.
I shrugged.
“I feel weird and very tired, Master.” I replied. “And I’m a little confused. How can I be pregnant?”
Master Rastin and Doctor Rollins exchanged glances.
“Do you want to do The Talk with her or shall I?” Doctor Rollins asked.
“Oh hell no.” Master Rastin muttered and turned back to me.
“I’m putting you on rest until we know what to do with this situation.” He said and left the room.
Doctor Rollins started to explain the situation to me: Hank Myers’ baby was growing inside my belly. I had only been having periods for about a year and had probably been ovulating too, so Doctor Rollins was still surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner considering that he pulled me aside several nights a week for our training.
Honestly, I didn’t like the training with Master Myers. He liked hurting me and it was hard to keep up with him sometimes. I also noticed that Master Rastin wasn’t all that fond of my training with Myers either, and I couldn’t understand why.
After the appointment with Doctor Rollins, I was returned to my cage and was given a sandwich.
The rest of the room was empty, the others being out on a training drill. I sat on my mattress in silence and nimbled on the sandwich, deep in thought.
My mother never had ‘The Talk’ with me. I was eight years old when she died and she didn’t think it was necessary for another few years.
I had no idea that the training with Myers would lead to this.
And yet, what choice did I have?
I couldn’t refuse him even if I tried, and I really wanted to say no most of the time.
My thoughts were interrupted when two guards showed up and brought me to Myers’ office.
When I entered, I got down on my knees and looked down.
“You wanted to see me, Master.” I said.
“Yes.” He replied. “I have received the news of the… situation.”
I looked up, waiting for him to continue.
“You see, Twelve.“ He continued and got up. “You have given us quite an opportunity.”
“What opportunity is that, Master?” I asked.
He walked up to me and caressed my curls.
***End Flashback***
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“Experiments.” I said flatly. “The baby was a perfect opportunity to try out new genetic treatments.
From that day for the rest of my pregnancy, I was locked up in the lab, strapped down and injected with different serums. They did countless ultrasounds to see how the baby was doing. Funny thing was, every time I saw the picture on the ultrasound, seeing the baby moving and watching the tiny heartbeat, I fell more and more in love.
I know it was just some instinct taking over, but even though I was only thirteen years old, I still felt that maternal love for my child.
Every day for months, I got to see my baby moving around on the ultrasound. I found out the gender in week 18. It was a girl.
And then I felt her.
She was moving inside me.
I felt so happy, and I started to imagine her. I wondered what kind of abilities she would have. She would probably be stronger than me, since her genes were altered when she was still a fetus.”
I smiled at the memory.
“For a moment, I thought that everything would be alright.”
“What happened?” Tyson asked.
My face grew dark.
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Trigger warning, this chapter contains a stillbirth!
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***Flashback***
‘I have a bad feeling about this.'
The thought swirled around in my head like a mantra as I made my way to the lab.
I was 33 weeks pregnant and my baby was growing strong.
She was a little larger than average, so she wasn’t going to be in there for much longer.
And I was happy about that.
My body felt like it was breaking. My back was killing me and the baby pressed up against my ribs so hard that it was difficult to breathe.
The only good thing is that Master Myers had stopped his training with me, and it was really nice to catch a break from him.
I laid down on the gurney, and Doctor Rollins squirted the cold gel on my stomach.
She examined me and stiffened.
“What is it?” I asked.
Doctor Rollins didn’t reply, she kept working silently.
Her frown deepened and she sighed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with a small voice.
“Twelve, when was the last time you felt the baby?” Doctor Rollins asked.
“Umm-” I said. “Yesterday, I think.”
I started to feel panic creep into me.
“Is she…?”
I didn’t dare to utter the rest of the question.
Doctor Rollins still understood it, because she squeezed my hand.
“I’m sorry, Twelve.” She mumbled.
I desperately tried to stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks as my heart shattered.
Doctor Rollins picked up her phone and dialed a number.
“Hey, it’s me.” She said. “We’ve got a situation.”
Within a few minutes, Master Rastin walked in.
“What happened?” He asked.
My tear-stricken face and Doctor Rollins’ frown probably explained, because he paled.
“I’m sorry, Twelve.” He whispered.
I nodded and a sob escaped me.
Master Rastin walked up to me, but stiffened when Master Myers walked in.
“Is it dead?” He asked.
Doctor Rollins nodded.
“Then get it out of her and perform a thorough autopsy.” He snapped and walked away.
We all stared in disbelief as he walked away.
Doctor Rollins helped me sit up and bent down in front of me.
“We need to get the baby out.” She mumbled.
I looked up at her with my eyes filled with fear and nodded.
Doctor Rollins looked around and whispered.
“Would you like a hug?”
I nodded and she embraced me.
It was the first time in years that someone hugged me.
It felt really good.
***End flashback***
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“The birth of my daughter was the most excruciating thing I have ever experienced.” I said. “They gave me different kinds of drugs to get the contractions started, but it still took 48 hours before she was out.
Seeing her lifeless body made everything inside me shatter.
They took her away almost instantly. I never saw her again and I have no idea what they did to her.
And I don’t want to know.”
“They gave me two days.” I continued. “After that, Master Myers wanted to resume my training. Everyone protested and he got angry.”
I wiped the tears from my eyes.
“They came to the cage and drugged me.” I whispered. “For a moment, I thought that I had died. It was amazing, knowing that I might be reunited with my child that I never even got to hold.
When I woke up, I was so disappointed as I realized what happened.
I had a scar on my stomach that wasn’t there earlier. I had no idea what they had done to me.
Doctor Rollins explained it to me. They performed a hysterectomy on me without my consent, preventing this from ever happening again.
I was happy with that. After I was rescued, I realized that there should never be powers like mine in this world.
Now, I’m not so sure anymore.”
I finished my story, unable to look at Tyson. I just silently waited for his reaction.
- Writer
