Drip. Drip. That's all I hear. Drip. Then the echo of the drip. I can't see anything, only hear the drip, and smell the dank musty air that surrounds me in this dark black space. I don't know how long I have been here. I can't even remember how I got here. I just know I woke to the dripping sound, and the pain in my leg. I'm pretty sure it's broken. I can smell my own blood, though I'm not quite sure where it's coming from. I feel pain. When I try to break free from the bonds that seem to be holding me prisoner, they get tighter, and more painful. There is something digging into my wrists. If I didn't know any better, I would say they feel like talons, keeping me in their vice-like hold. I'm not hungry, not anymore. I'm sick. Where the hell am I? Why has no one come to release me? The pain in my leg shoots to my groin, instantly causing my body to convulse. This seems to happen at regular intervals. My mind is fading. Then, suddenly, I'm lucid. I'm aware that I'm lucid. I must take advantage of these moments. Think!! Who did this? How did I get here? Drip. Drip. It's so dark. I've never before experienced such darkness, as if light ceases to exist. Am I underground? The smell, so heavy, sometimes I feel as though the air is too thick to breathe. I lick my lips, parched and scabbed from no water. 'HELP ME!!!!'� No words will leave my mouth, as though my voice has gone.

Suddenly I feel my body tightening again, this strange feeling of being squeezed. All I can do is try to breathe. Oooww'�whooo'�whooo'�it hurts...I can't I can't'� ahhh and it's gone. I want to wet my lips but there is only my dry, rough tongue. No moisture. Only the drip. The pain.

What was that? I felt something, soft yet urgent, in my'� oh my God, my baby! It's alive! I am pregnant. But how far along? I don't know, but I remember, I'm pregnant. Instantly I try to reach out to stroke my belly but my wrists, they are burning with small cuts. It feels like spikes are digging into my skin, I pull against them and pain shots through my arm. My body aches, my head is dizzy, but there is only the darkness. I know my eyes are open because I can feel each time I blink. I open my mouth again and croak, 'h'�he'�hello?'� Something hisses in my ear and a chill goes up my spine. The hold on my wrist tightens and I feel blood trickle down my arms. I'm not alone.

Fear spikes through me and more hisses issue from the darkness. My heart is thudding in my chest as another wave of pain hits and I pull my legs up to try to relive it. The pain radiates from my belly up my back, my stomach rolls. It hurts so bad, I'm going to be sick. My baby. Where am I? Something wet touches my arm. I jump. My body is sensitized from the pain. I can feel everything around me. There is cold breeze in the darkness; it blows over the wound in my leg causing my skin to throb. The baby moves as if in response. I can feel it now inside me as the pressure begins to build against my cervix. The hiss returns as the baby moves. My belly is burning as if the pain is clawing it's way through me. I'm in labor. Is it time for the baby? How long have I been here? Where is here again?

Flashes happen in the darkness. Pictures of another life. Another time. I see me smiling and as if the page was turned it's gone. The wet thing touches my skin again and I pull away, the spikes dig in further and I moan in pain. Something touches my face and burns as it trails down my cheek, to my neck. I hold my breath, I can feel my heartbeat jump as the claw trails across my chest to my belly. The pain begins again and my stomach squeezes. The claw turns into two hands with four fingers I know this because above the pain I can feel it on my bare skin. Where are my clothes? The pain intensifies and I howl out as it radiates down my legs.

The pain stops. The hands stay. They poke and prod painfully into my swollen skin.
'No!'� I try to protest but it comes out a mere murmur as the hands clutched and pull. They move lower and I feel the sharp claws on my sensitive skin. It hurts, I scream. They want my baby. I begin to thrash , not caring that my skin it tearing at my wrists.
'NO!'� I scream. 'Let Go!'� I shout. Still pulling at my bonds. I hear a voice, it speaks quickly and then I'm pulled backward tight against an unyielding form.
'Hold still,'� something hisses in my ear.

They pain hits again as the hands probe my flesh. I groaned this time as the burning washes over me and something solid goes around my chest binding me down. My arms are now held out as if I'm being crucified. A warm whoosh flows, between my legs. And a garble of words I don't recognize, issue from mouths I can't see.
'Please,'� I begin to beg, 'Please, not the baby.'� How do I know they've come for it? How long have they been here with me? More pressure now as the last of the surge stops.
My body screams for me to do something, but I can't move.
'Please,'� I begin to sob, I can feel the tears warm on my face.
'Shut up!'� a voice ear my ear snaps, 'It belongs to us!'�
No they're wrong it's mine. It's my baby. I remember. It's been inside me all this time. I've been nurturing it in my body. It's mine.
'It's mine!'� I whisper and receive a quick shake from my captor.
'Shut UP!'� it hisses in my ear as the pain comes again.

I need to push. The feeling is overwhelming and I begin to bare down. The pain flares inside me and soars up my back. 'Owww!'� Hands on my belly begin to push against my body. I feel so full. It feels like my skin is going to tear apart. The wave stops and the hands pull away. The voice again, like they are having a discussion, back and forth now. They sweat is dripping down my forehead. The damp air is now filled with a sterile stench amniotic fluid. I lcose my eyes and pretend I'm some where else for a few minutes.

In those seconds I'm in a hospital bed, awaiting the birth of my child. I see what I remember to be the sun as it shines through the blue curtains and fell warmth against my face. I drift into the dream. Then the pain strikes again.

Hands on my belly push again and I bare hard this time, 'Ahhh,'� I feel the head, it feels as though my body is being forced apart. I panic, it's to big. It's not going to fit.
'No, no, no. It's stuck!'� I scream and begin to hyperventilate. I'm struck hard across the face.
'I will take the baby, if you do not focus!'� a voice, threatens. I'm completely freaked out. I have no idea how they will take the baby, but I know I don't want that. I get my breathing under control, but the baby feels stuck. How am I supposed to deliver something that big through there? Is it even possible? The hands push and I push. The pressures is unreal and I howl again for some relief. They begin talking again, in rapid comments. I bare down and the hands push again. I feel my skin begin to tear as the head emerges from my body. I can smell the scent in the air change. It's laced with a rich coppery smell as the baby begins to flow from my body. The voices hiss and begin to roar their approval. I feel the baby slip free. I thrash and try to reach for it. I want my baby. I want to hold it to me and breath in it's new scent. A new sound breaks the silence.

'Aaaah,'� a high pitched shrill sound echoes in the darkness and my arms are released. I throw out my arms and search as far as I can reach. I feel the soft flesh of a warm bundle. The sound lessens into a hiss.

'My baby'�'� I say as I carefully touch the bundle. I feel it's soft arms and trail my hands up the body to the head. The soft cheeks of the baby turn toward me. Soft tiny lips suckle at my finger. I feel a sharp pain as something latches onto me and I pull my hand back. I can feel the blood flow from the wound in my finger tip. The smell of blood is everywhere. My blood.

'Our baby, not yours. You were only a vessel,'� comes a voice from in front of me. Arms drop me to the ground and I feel the after birth slip from my body. I can feel the blood gushing from between my legs. I listen in the darkness as the feet move away from me and leave me alone. I begin to drift. I'm bleeding. I'm going to bleed to death, I think as the warm flow continues and my head begins to spin. My last thought is of the baby as I drift back into the darkness

Want to comment on this Short Stories? Sign up to Edit Red and you will be able to comment on Short Stories and get access to: Upload your own stories and poems, get readers and their feedback, promote your work...