Flash Fiction No. 33

#Flashfiction

Big Bad Wolf Dad

She turned her face away as he squeezed her hand. Her fingers slipped from his, withdrawing to the other side of the bed. How could he have done this to her?

He hovered, parted lips unsure.

This was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of her life. How could it have ended up so wrong? She felt heat prick at her eyes, blinking back the tears. What was that mess of skin and fur? Where was her baby?

She swallowed hard, closing her eyes as the raw whisper left her mouth. “Why did you lie to me…?”

“I didn’t lie…”

“You told me everything would be alright.” She turned, fear and fire in her trembling gaze. “That is not alright!” Her arm waved at the door. “That’s not even… What is that?!”

“He’s our son…”

“Our son?!”

He sighed. “I think you need to rest. You’re tired.” A moment later the door swung shut, leaving her alone in the empty room.

He thought she was tired. It was almost laughable if it wasn’t so tragic. How could he think that was why she was upset? Why didn’t he understand? She’d given birth to a monster. That was no child. That was half beast.

He’d told her that it would all be okay. He’d told her that he would take care of everything and that this private hospital was the best place to have a child. Now she could see through his lies. This was no child. This was a monster.

He’d waited until she was in labour, until she was too far into it to stop anything, and then he’d told her. He’d told her his horrible secret.

She curled on her side, tugging the bed covers up and squeezing herself tight. She needed to escape from this place, but she had to rest first.

Revulsion curdled her stomach. She’d made love to a monster. How could she have let him trick her? He’d told her he cared for her. He’d told her that he would always be true to her. But it was all a lie.

He was a werewolf and that thing…

Her son…

What was she supposed to do? What would they do? Were these doctors and nurses really here to help?

Not one of them had seemed fazed by the thing that they had pulled from her. Not one of them had spoken to her. They had all spoken to him. They had acted as if he was some kind of god. She was beginning to think that this wasn’t a private hospital at all. It was his hospital. It was his laboratory for his creatures.

Exhaustion ate away at her. After a few minutes of fearful thoughts, her brain finally shut down and let her body rest.

She started, waking in the sterile hospital room drenched in a pool of her own cold sweat. The room was still empty. He hadn’t returned. In her heart she knew that he’d gotten what he wanted and now he’d left. He’d tricked her into having his child, his spawn, and then discarded her like she was nothing. Where were all his words of love now?

She pushed herself off the bed and carefully crossed the icy floor in bare feet. Her clothes had been folded onto a chair. Glancing at the door, she scurried into them. If they came back and saw her dressing they would know she was trying to escape.

The corridor was empty when she slipped out of her room. One of the lights buzzed and crackled overhead, its existence flickering as if it too wanted to escape.

She crept along the wall, peering into the rooms she passed. Just in case.

The sound of crying met her ears and her eyes fixed through the glass onto the tiny infant yowling in his crib. Something thick lodged in her throat and she had to swallow it away.

There he was. There was her son.

Emotion tugged on a cord inside her ribcage. She tried to move away but found her feet were rooted to the spot. The baby stopped crying and gurgled unhappily like it could sense her watching. It had blue eyes that stared out at her from its small chubby face. His fur seemed to melt away a little as if it appeared when he was distressed.

She looked down, shielding her face with a curtain of shameful hair. The baby started crying again until she glanced at him and then he stilled. Her lip stung beneath the grip of her teeth.

He was her son…

Nobody was in there with him. There should have been someone there. Someone needed to check on him. He was too young to be alone. What did they want him for?

Her face burned as she thought of her lover. He’d convinced her that she wanted a child. He’d slipped little ideas into her head over months and months. And then it had happened. Pregnancy. She’d been so elated and he’d treated her like a princess.

Until now.

He’d gotten her pregnant for this. He wanted this baby in this hospital and the people looking after their son were his staff…

What was he going to do with him?

She felt heat well up in her eyes again. The string hanging from her heart pulled tight against her bones. Her baby watched her through the glass, still and silent.

Seconds later she was hurrying down the corridor again, clutching the bairn tight at her breast, swaddled in a blanket. He breathed hotly against her fear prickled skin, her heart pounding. Ducking out of the sight of staff, she made it to through the hospital doors.

Something clicked behind her. She’d heard the same sound thousands of times on films.

“You can’t take him. He’s not yours,” the voice said. “They need to keep him for testing. You need to go back inside.”

She turned to face the speaker. Her lip trembled and she felt the bundle in her arms squirm, whining against her flesh. “No,” she whispered. “I’m his mother…”

Her one time lover smiled with twisted lips and hateful eyes. “You were just the incubation chamber we needed. Nothing more.”

The safety on the gun clicked off.

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