Devour: The Chrysalis and The Snake

My vision blacked in and out as I could see Matthew struggling to get my door open. I reached out causing the door to break open with ease. He quickly picked me up tearing off the seatbelt. I held my stomach and could feel a thick warmth between my legs. “The baby..” my feeble voice barely could speak. “It’s gonna be okay. SOMEBODY HELP US!” He was panicked as people gathered around calling the police. I couldn’t see the vehicle that hit us as I was barely conscious enough to respond. He held my tightly as I held also my stomach cautiously. My throat became numb as I began coughing up blood. “Oh god.” I cried out causing him to become more frantic. I eventually gave in as I completely blacked out. — MATTHEW POV. “We have to induce labor or else their both not gonna make it.” The nurse explained as we rushed down the hall. “Will she be okay?” I pressed the nurse further, “Right now our concern is about the baby. They’re both losing a lot of blood.” She exclaimed and my heart stopped. As we made it to the OR I pulled the nurse the side, “Sir we don’t have time for this!” She shouted and I pulled her closer, “I don’t care if the baby’s life is more important. You save her first. I’m her husband I have the authority to make that decision since she’s unconscious.” I ordered her not wanting to let Lily die for the baby. She nodded then rushed into the room to help Lily. I felt like I was going to pass out as they began working on her. I slid down the wall falling into my knees as I looked at their blood on my hands. “Whoever did this. Is going to die..” I clenched my fists getting back up. As I began searching my mind for a sign, a hand grabbed my arm. “You should have just let her die...” A voice spat and I was surrounded by a black mass that engulfed us. — LILY POV. My dry mouth felt like sand paper as I opened it to speak. “Where’s Matthew?” I tried pulling the IV out of my arm as my chapped lips cracked. “You need to rest more miss.” The nurse tried to sit me down but I wasn’t having it. I finally pulled it out rolling to the floor. “Doctor!” She hit a button and I knew she’d try to put me to sleep. I quickly got up taking her by the head and rendering her unconscious as I took her recent memories. My shaky hands reached to pull up my gown. I wanted to scream a thousand suns as I saw a flat surface with a halfway healed incision. My lip painfully quivered as I grabbed a nearby coat putting it on leaving the room. I hid myself as to avoid any suspicious nurses or doctors. I looked around for any sign of Matthew but couldn’t find him. Eventually, I made it to the parking garage finding his car. He wasn’t in it and it was still locked. I circled around to the the front hopelessly searching any sign of him. As soon as I was about to give up, I felt a sharp pinch in my neck. Within second my vision blurred as my body thumper to the ground. — 1 DAY LATER “Tell me about this Matthew you were mentioning yesterday.” A somber bearded man softly spoke. My mind felt like mush and my lips were slightly swollen and bruised. “I told you. He brought me to the hospital after the car accident.” I felt robotic answering the same repackaged question. “..and what happened when you got to the hospital?” He continued causing me to become more irritated. I looked down to see bandages on my hand and legs and assumed I had a nasty fall. “Lilianna, please answer the question.” He grew stern. I whipped out of my daydream clearing my throat. “I was unconscious, so I don’t remember anything until I woke up.” I moved my ratted hair out of my face even though I had brief memories of the c-section because of the nurse. “Ah yes, it says here, when you woke up you asked about Matthew and then proceeded to assault a nurse and then later you tan around the ground searching for this ‘Matthew’” he meticulously looked at his files. “Why do you keep talking like he doesn’t exist? He’s my husband we’re marr-” I stopped myself looking down at my hand. I began panicking almost immediately, “Please remain calm ma’am. Stressing yourself out will only prolong things.” He tells ok his glasses off as he raised both hands. “I must have lost it in the crash I didn’t even realize.” I felt myself tearing up as I held my empty stomach again. “You still haven’t mentioned anything about my baby. I thought if I cooperated you’d let me see him or her. I wanted the gender to be a surprise so I don’t know yet.” I tried to muster a pitiful smile but he wasn’t moved. He looked even more concerned yet sorrowful. “Lily..” his voice was some how even softer. I immediately shook my head thinking off the worse. “Don’t..no..” I stood up and began hyperventilating. “Lily..listen to me.” He stood up as well taking my shoulders. “Don’t tell me I lost my baby.” My legs felt like I was standing on a balloon. He let at heavy sigh as he looked me into the eyes. “At 12:34 pm yesterday. You were found in the passenger side of an abandoned vehicle. There was no driver or anyone else in the car. It looked like an hit and run but you were barely harmed..outside of a cut to your abdomen.” he was slightly shaky as he explained everything. “Barely harmed? I lost my baby I was covered in both our blood!” I grew agitated raising my fists. “You weren’t pregnant..” he said bluntly cashing me to pause. “You never were. You passed out when police came and was unconscious the entire time. There was no one with you. We can give you pregnancy test if you don’t believe me.” His words caused me to fall back into my chair. “That’s..impossible. How could I make something like that up?” I began to question myself and even wondered there was more that was going on. “I, uh, I need to go.” I got back up reaching for my stuff only to be stopped. “We haven’t officially discharged you. We still need to make sure you’re fit to go home.” He grabbed my arm. “Fit? What are you saying I’m crazy or something.” I spat as I continued towards the exit. “I can’t let you do that Lily.” He followed. “I CAN’T let you do that.” The influx in his once soft voice actually frightened me. I whipped around and touched his face with the intentions of reading and wiping his memories, so I knew the real truth. A moment went by and nothing. I moved my hand looking at my palms. “No..it shouldn’t be this quick.” I looked confused by how fast my powers faded. In that moment, I knew something worse was happening. I backed away from him as he reached for his cell phone. Without a second thought, I took a nearby vase slamming it across his head. “s**t!” I instantly cursed myself as he stumbled back. He was almost immediately knocked out as he fell to the floor. I quick bent down examining him while also searching his pockets. I took his keycard but also noticed a lump in his shirt pocket. I reached in and felt shivers as I pulled out a ring, Matthew’s ring. I turned back to him in anger,“Why would lie to me?” I felt both disgusted and gutted as I held it close to me. I hated that I couldn’t read him but knew I needed to get far away from this place. — “Come the f**k on.” I groaned as I tried picking the front door lock. I soon gave up breaking the lock with a nearby rock. I quickly shut off our fairly new security alarm, “Babe?!” I called out as casual and cautiously as I could. No answer. The house looked exactly how we left it combined with the calendar being untouched. It was the 1st, Matthew changed the calendars religiously and he didn’t this time. I b-lined for our bedroom rushing through the cracked door. “Matthew?!” I called out thinking if I said his name he’d appear. Nothing. It was at this moment that everything truly hit me. I turned to the crib next to our bed. I didn’t realized I was crawling and sobbing by the time I made it to the rail. I barely got myself up leaning over the railing. I grabbed the angel stuffy I placed perfectly on the pillow so it was the first thing they’d cling to. Tears burned into the cotton and I collapsed on the floor clutching it like it was my baby. — Trigger Warning Below — I climbed over the vehicle partition as people were to focused on their own lives to notice. The breeze of the cars and trucks rushing by chilled my skin. I walked along the partition for a while as people honked. “GET OUT OF THE ROAD BITCH.” a beefy truck driver shouted. He sounded both angry and concerned as his eyes followed mine for a moment. There was an large opening and I leaped out not breaking my momentum. With my powers gone I couldn’t even envision Matthew with me one last time. It felt like ages waiting to get hit even though cars were just meters away as they blared their horns. “I’m ready.” I mouthed to myself but a voice responded back, “No. It’s not your time.” The voice spoke as I stood with my eyes closed. As I waited to finally be free, not wanting to listen to the protective voice, I was knocked to the ground rolling onto the grass. I hoped it was a truck, but it actually was someone trying to save me. “What the f**k is wrong with you?!” The frantic person asked as they breathed heavily. I kept my eyes close trying to fight them off. “Uh uhn. Not today ma’am.” They we’re determined pinning my hands down. I was flung over their shoulder as I continued to fight. “LET ME GO. THIS IS KIDNAPPING. KIDNAPPER.” I banged on their solid back as my legs kicked. They eventually sat me down on a bench still having my wrists pinned. I refused to open my eyes unless Matthew was on the other side. “Hey. Can you hear me?” He snapped his fingers in front of my face. “s**t. Your head.” He reached pressing his thumb over my wet temple. As he touched me more carefully, my eyes fluttered open. “There you are.” I was greeted with a bright yet worried smile. The sun cascaded behind him causing me to sheild my eyes. “Fuck.” I scoffed knowing I’d end up back in the hospital. He pulled his phone out and I stopped him, “Please. Don’t.” I begged and he hesitated. “So now you wanna cooperate.” He sat next to me still holding my head. He pulled a slightly dirtied towel out his back pocket replacing his hand with it. “Look, I’m gonna go out on a whim and not report you for trying to kill yourself. Your head on the other hand. Needs fixing.” He explained tapping his foot nervously. “This is nothing. I’ll be fine.” I pushed his hand away as the bleeding stopped. “Where’s your car?” He looked around. “I walked.” I got up and he pursued after me. “If you don’t come with me, I’ll report you!” He shouted. “The hospital and maybe even the police are already looking for me, so you shouldn’t have a problem.” I exclaimed. He followed me taking my arm. “Seriously? You expect me to leave you just so you can jump into traffic again. You’re coming with me.” He dragged me to his nearby car. I tried pulling away but my powers were obsolete at this point. “You can’t just take me. That’s kidnapping.” I protested at him, but he put me in his car. “Actually it’s citizen’s arrest. I could call the hospital to pick you up and you can sort things out with them but like I said, I’m not going to do that.” He gave me a wink. — “So which is it? Boyfriend dumped you, you’re evading taxes, you have cancer, which is it?” He tried being personable but also blunt. “Actually, I got into a car accident. I was pregnant.” My eyes instantly teared up as I spoke the reality. He immediately stopped the car pulling over, “Are you serious?” He grew more sympathetic. “The baby?” He asked and I lifted my shirt up showing the already healed day old scar. “I honestly don’t know what happened after the surgery. I just left and went home. Now I’m here wanting to be with my child.” I leaned my head against the window feeling nothing but emptiness. “That’s, uh, pretty heavy. While I’m not saying what you did earlier was right, but I can understand.” He drove back off and the car grew silent. “Now, I’m no doctor, but I don’t think you should be out. That’s probably why you didn’t want me calling authorities huh?” He looked over now understanding things more. I nodded and he didn’t complain, “Then, I guess your stuck with me for now.” He patted my shoulder and I looked confused. “I’m Jack by the way. Jack Leo.” He held his free hand out. “Lily..” I responded as I formally shook his hand. — “Welcome to case de Léo.” He kicked his front door open as he held things from his car. “You don’t have to do this.” I followed. “You’re right I don’t.” He threw his stuff on a sofa, “I want to.” He reassured. “So what you’re gonna keep me here until I no longer what to kill myself?” I crossed my arms trying not to look impressed by his home. “I’m keeping you hear until you decide to make the right decision. Like I said I can either call the cops and have them take you to the hospital or we can stay here and figure things out together.” He was welcoming but I still had a subtle sense about him. I stopped protesting sitting on his couch. He handed me a bottle of water sitting next to me. “Do you mind if I ask about the father?” He politely asked but it cause me more pain. “He..he isn’t around anymore.” I didn’t know what else to think. “He sounds like a prick.” He sipped his water. “He really wasn’t.” I wiped my eyes, “I just think the pain of it is what made him disappear. I don’t know. I can’t look at him and he can’t look at me. At least, that’s what I think.” I careful sipped the water and could feel my wounds slowly healing. It was well into the evening and I knew he wasn’t going to let me go out. “I guess this is the part when you show me where I’m sleeping.” I got up nonchalantly. He got up with a pitied look, “I could order take out.” He offered and I shook my head. “I wanna lay down.” I crossed my arms again giving a half-assed sniffle. The more I did what I knew he’d want the quicker he’d let me go. — “You can sleep here. Don’t worry I’m not gonna lock you up. I trust you.” He helped me into a guess room which was pretty spacious. “You probably should.” I lightly joked which he didn’t like. He then went into a closet pulling out an extra blanket. “I was kidding.” I groaned but he shook his head. “Guess I’m sleeping on the floor.” He kneeled down grabbing a pillow from the bed. “You gotta be f*****g kidding me.” I sat down moving my hair behind me ears in a heavy sigh. I kicked my stained shoes off no longer phased by the bloody sight. The bed was warm almost like he pressed a button to make it so. I was immediately calmed as the sheets hugged me. I looked over to Jack who covered his chest femininely, “Do you mind?” He had a southern accent and I cringed. “Funny.” I blew off his advances as to show I didn’t think of him in that way. As he took his shirt off I noticed an interesting snake tattoo display on his back spiraling up his neck. I didn’t want to show interest in him so I held my too huge as he crawled under his make shift bed. I rolled over still wearing my cardigan, I refused to get comfortable with him. “Was he the only guy in your life? That dad?” I could tell he wanted to make conversation so I didn’t have my thoughts to myself. I wanted to ignore him, but knew it was best to just let it happen. “There was someone else but that kind of fell apart fairly quickly.” I hadn’t thought about Tyler since leaving him. I genuinely wondered where his life has gone since, but could never reconcile with him. “What was he like?” He sat up as we talked directly. “He was.” I felt myself not wanting to smile as I thought back to our happy moments, “He was a really great guy.” I was shocked at how much emotion that took out of me. I could tell he was relived my mind was in something else even if it was bittersweet. “Let’s hope the next guy doesn’t have you sleeping my house again. Not that I don’t like the company.” He tried joking and I cracked a smirk. He smiled back then laid down. “That’s all I need to finally leave you alone.” He rolled over tucking himself into his makeshift bed. I was still sat up as I looked at him. — THE NEXT MORNING. I sat up in a huff. I managed to remove my top and cardigan while sleeping as I was probably burning up. I held my chest as I slowed my heavy breathing. I could here loud sizzling and clanking from the wide open door. Jack’s make shift bed was neatly folded at the foot of the bed and I pulled the sheets off of me grabbing my clothes off the floor. I made it downstairs to him cooking energetically. The table was decorated like you’d see in 70s family shows. I watched a lot of that with Matthew. “I’m not hungry.” I brushed it off knowing my crave for food was gone. “Don’t give me that.” He was surprisingly stern, but still chivalrous. He fixed my plate placing it on the table. He motioned for me to sit and I obliged. “Where I’m from, it’s rude to not feed a guest.” He began scarfing his steamy eggs. I nervously took the fork sticking it in a roasted cherry tomato. He noticed and placed his hand on top of my other. “Things are gonna get better. I want you to know that.” He softly spoke and I could feel ‘something’ from him touching me. Then, I began smelling the aroma of the tomato which caused my stomach to growl. I put in my mouth almost melting at the flavor. He let out a sigh, “Thank god. I almost got offended.” He joked continuing to eat his food. After finishing, I handed him my plate as he cleaned the dishes. He was shirtless for the whole morning which didn’t bother me much. I was drawn back to his tattoo, but also felt compelled to touch him again. I could feel my powers slowly coming back, and couldn’t help my impulses as his energy began tingling my mind. I tried making conversation as my impulse grew even more. “How long have you had this?” I made up a reason to touch him running my hand over his shoulder blade. I felt a shock rush over me and I scrunched my shoulders. A sharp burning sensation creeped behind my neck, and I moved away wincing at the pain. “I got about 5 years..are you okay?” He turned around and I tried to compose myself. “It’s just aftershock aches. Nothing bad.” I played it off rubbing my left shoulder. “Do you need to me to do anything?” He grabbed me out of concern. “No it’s fine, can I use your bathroom?” I backed away still rubbing my shoulder. He pointed to the right and I quickly entered turning on the light. I pulled my shirt down as I examined my back. “No f*****g way..” a snake shaped abrasion could be seen. “That’s never happened before.” I was completely befuddled at such a phenomenon, but then I also couldn’t remember ever touching someone with a tattoo. I turned the sink on running my hand under the water which healed it immediately. To be continued..