GENESIS
I blinked my eyes open and imdiately squeezed them shut again as harsh light stabbed through my lids. My head throbbed like soone had taken a hamr to it. My mouth tasted like blood and dust.
Slowly, I cracked my eyes again.
The ceiling above was high, coffered, familiar in the sickest way possible.
I knew it, I used to stare at it for hours when I was locked in here as a child.
I was in my old bedroom at the Caldwell Estate.
My heart slamd so hard I felt it in my throat.
"Sleeping beauty finally awakens."
The voice was venomous, mocking, dripping with sothing unhinged.
Ice poured down my spine.
I pushed myself up on shaking arms, one hand flying instinctively to my stomach. The babies kicked, frantic, and hard as if they could sense the danger.
Jimmy stood at the foot of the bed.
Hair wild and matted. Clothes torn, filthy. Eyes glittering with madness. A smile stretched too wide across his face, deranged, bat-shit crazy.
It all rushed back in a sickening flood.
An hour ago
I pushed open the heavy wooden double doors of the Caldwell mansion.
They creaked like old bones.
Dust swirled into my face, carried on stale air that slled of neglect.
I didn’t step inside right away.
My heart was pounding so violently I could feel it in my fingertips, in the babies.
Why was I even here?
I rubbed slow circles over my enormous stomach, I was massive now, whale-like, waddling more than walking. I barely recognized my own body anymore. I didn’t think the house would recognize either. I wasn’t the skinny, terrified girl who’d been dragged out of here a year ago.
I looked down at my belly.
"Relax, mommy just wants to say goodbye to Grandpa’s house one last ti, okay? Then we’ll go ho to Daddy. Promise.’"
The house was dark, unnaturally so, like it had been holding its breath since the last ti soone lived here. I reached to the side, fingers fumbling along the wall until I found the old brass switch. The lights snapped on with a soft click.
Sudden brightness flooded the foyer, the chandelier above glittering like it used to on Christmas nights. My heart thudded painfully against my ribs. This place was burnt into , every corner, every shadow. There had been good mories once... back when Dad was still alive.
I stepped further inside, shoes whispering against the marble. My eyes drifted to the sitting area. For a mont, the room wasn’t empty.
I saw him, Dad, chasing a much smaller version of around the wingback chairs, both of us laughing like the world couldn’t touch us. He’d finally catch , scoop up high, then drop gently onto the soft cushion.
"Here cos the tickle bomb!" he’d roar, fingers dancing over my sides until I was shrieking with helpless giggles.
The mory hit like a fist. Tears blurred the empty chair in front of now. That laughter had died with him. After the funeral, the house turned cold. Monica moved in like a conquering army, her sons trailing behind her like jackals. The tickle bombs beca slaps, the laughter beca silence, and I beca the intruder in my own ho.
I hadn’t stepped foot here since the day I ca to drive Monica and her spawn out for good—back when I still believed winning the house back would feel like justice.
I walked further in. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be here. I’d lied to my family, said I was running to the store for sothings. Kieran was still asleep, lashes dark against his cheeks, completely unaware I’d slipped out. He would never have let co. He’d have carried back to bed and locked the doors himself if he knew I was anywhere near this place.
But I had to.
I just... had to.
My feet carried toward the study almost against my will. The door was already ajar. I pushed it open.
Behind the massive oak desk, the portrait still hung, larger than life.
Anthony Caldwell stared down at with kind, steady eyes and small upturned nose. The sa nose I saw in the mirror every morning.
"Dad," I whispered.
Tears spilled over before I could stop them.
I shuffled closer, one hand braced on the desk, the other cradling the heavy curve of my belly.
"I wish you were here," I said brokenly. "I wish you could see them, your grandbabies. They’re so big now... kicking like they’re already running. I think the boy’s going to be just like you—stubborn, always moving. I wanted you to hold them. I wanted you to tell them the stupid pirate stories you used to tell . I wanted..."
My voice cracked.
"I just wanted you to be here."
I pressed my forehead against the cool fra for a mont, breathing in the faint scent of old wood and varnish like Dad’s aftershave still lingered sohow.
I was about to turn away, about to force myself to leave this haunted place, when a shadow filled the doorway.
My heart plumted.
Jimmy stood there, ragged clothes hanging off his thinner fra, hair wild and greasy, eyes glittering with sothing manic. A wide, unhinged smile stretched across his face.
"Hello, sister," he drawled, voice thick with mockery. "Ca to pay your homage too?"
I stumbled back a step. "Stay away from . Don’t....don’t co any closer."
He laughed, a low, ugly sound and took a deliberate step forward.
"I’m closer," he said, tilting his head. "What you gonna do, huh? Call your big bad husband? Go on, scream for him. He’s not here." His smile twisted darker. "No one’s coming to save you this ti, Genesis. Not Kieran. Not your daddy. Nobody."
I edged around the side of the desk. He mirrored instantly, cutting off the path to the door.
"Nowhere to run, whale," he sneered, eyes dropping pointedly to my stomach. "You look ridiculous, you know that? Waddling in here like you still belong."
Panic clawed up my throat. My hand closed around the first thing I could reach—a heavy crystal paperweight shaped like a horse. I hurled it at his head.
He ducked with a curse. The paperweight smashed against the wall behind him.
I bolted or tried to. My body felt slow, heavy, betraying at every step. I made it two strides before a hand fisted in my hair.
Pain seared through my scalp as strands ripped free. I scread.
Jimmy yanked back viciously. My back slamd against his chest.
"Thought you could just stroll in and out?" he hissed in my ear, breath hot and sour. "Thought you could take everything and leave with nothing?"
Sothing sharp pricked the side of my neck, cold, then burning.
My vision swam.
My knees buckled.
The last thing I saw was Dad’s portrait watching fall, his painted eyes full of sorrow.
Then darkness swallowed everything.
Back in the present:
I blinked up at the ceiling of my old bedroom, hand still protectively curled over my stomach. The mocking voice, Jimmy’s voice still echoed in my ears.
"Sleeping beauty finally awakens."
He stood at the foot of the bed, that sa deranged smile splitting his face.
My blood turned to ice.
He stepped closer.
And I realized with sickening clarity the danger I was in.
Jimmy moved closer, slowly, like a predator savoring the hunt. I pushed myself up slowly, using the wall for support, one hand still cradling my stomach. The babies kicked again as if begging to run.
He stopped just out of reach, head corked, that wild smile never leaving his face.
"Rember this place?" he said softly, almost tenderly. "We had so many amazing mories. I used to enjoy hearing you scream."
Tears poured down my face in hot streams.
I shook my head.
No, this could not be happening.
It had to be a dream. It has to
"Please... please let go. My babies..."
He looked down at my stomach, at the round swell under my gown and his expression twisted into pure disgust.
"Those things?" he spat. "They’re abominations. You let that bastard put them in you. I’m going to rip them out. Fuck you while you bleed. Then I’ll send it to that bastard. Let him see what happens when you steal from ."
I sobbed, terrified, my chest heaving.
I tried to run.
My legs were heavy, swollen, uncooperative but adrenaline surged.
I lunged toward the door.
He was faster.
His hand fisted in my hair, hard.
Pain ripped through my scalp as strands tore free like the last ti.
He yanked back violently.
I scread.
He spun around and smacked with full force across the face.
My head snapped to the side. Stars burst behind my eyes. Blood filled my mouth.
He shoved forward, my front slamd against the wall, cheek pressed to cold plaster.
He raised my gown above my ass, rough, tearing the fabric.
His palm cracked down hard, harder, stinging.
I cried out.
"Stop! Please!"
"Quiet," he snarled, breath hot against my ear, "or I’ll rip your stomach open right now and pull them out while you’re still breathing."
Tears stread endlessly.
He yanked my underwear down, rough, tearing the lace completely. It slipped to my ankles.
"Look at you," he whispered, voice thick with sick arousal. "Still so fucking pretty. All swollen and ripe. I’m going to fuck you until you break. Until you beg to kill you. Then I’ll cut those things out and watch you bleed to death on the floor you used to crawl on as a kid."
I sobbed louder, raw, wrenching, body shaking uncontrollably.
My eyes darted wildly around the room.
There, on the windowsill beside lay a thin, sharp tal letter opener, half-hidden behind a dusty vase.
He was fumbling with his zipper, stroking himself, breath ragged.
I reached for it fast.
My fingers closed around the tal.
I swung back with everything I had.
The blade sank deep into the back of his hand, the one gripping my hair.
"Ahhhhhhh fuckkkk," He scread.
He stumbled back, clutching his bleeding hand.
My underwear slipped off completely.
I ran.
Out the bedroom door, down the hallway, bare feet slapping the wood.
He roared behind .
"I’m gonna kill you!"
I reached the grand staircase overlooking the double doors.
I rushed down, one hand on the banister, the other cradling my stomach, trying to protect the babies with every step.
He was right behind , footsteps thundering.
I was on the last four steps when he shoved hard between the shoulder blades.
I lost my balance.
I fell.
I rolled, hard, painful tumbles, my body curling instinctively to shield my stomach.
I hit the foyer floor with a sickening thud.
Pain exploded everywhere, back, hips, ribs, stomach.
I scread.
NOOOOO....MY BABIES
For a mont, there was just silence.
Then Jimmy was above .
He rolled onto my back roughly.
"You cunt," he snarled, face twisted with rage.
He pulled a knife from his pocket, long, serrated, glinting in the chandelier light.
"I’m going to kill you. Send your body to that bastard husband. Then kill myself."
He raised the blade high.
I grabbed his wrist with both hands, strength I didn’t know I had surging through .
I was not dying like this.
My babies were not dying like this.
He laughed like so maniac.
"You think you can stop ?"
He pressed down harder.
The tip of the knife broke skin just above my collarbone.
Blood welled, hot, and sticky.
I scread again, pure terror filling , tears trailing down my eyes but I was not going down easily.
The blade sank deeper.
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