Ice coursed through her veins. It was true. She had been trying to deny it desperately. But it was all starting to make sense.
Everything started flashing like neon lights in her mind. Her special destiny. The dress that she was wearing. Abbey, sitting in the waiting room, her hand on her belly. The line of pregnant women at the assembly, sinking to the ground, clutching their stomachs. Brother Damon’s glowing black eyes when he had told her that she was to be a mother to the future rulers of this world.
She was seeing this doctor because they wanted to impregnate her. Just like the others.
The horror of it clawed at her throat.
She had to get out of here. Now.
***
She was on her back, lying on a narrow bed. The ultrasound machine was turned off, now. She could still feel the sticky residue of the cold gel that they had placed on her abdomen before switching it on. Doctor Helga had been silent as she had placed the probe on her skin, tracking it this way and that.
She was alone in the room. But she could hear voices in the corridor, just outside. She rose swiftly, padding to the door, which was slightly ajar. Yes, she could hear what they were saying now.
Doctor Helga and Sister Katya were conferring over her chart.
“Everything is in working order,” the doctor said, nodding. “She is prime. Enough eggs to make a whole army if needed.”
Sister Katya nodded, too. “Brother Damon will be pleased. He is very attached to this one, for some reason.”
“I think I know why,” said the doctor slowly. “She has come as the prophecy foretold. A beautiful woman in the desert, found days before the stars align.”
Sister Katya frowned. “She is the Majesty?”
“Yes.” Doctor Helga nodded excitedly. “Even more important than the others. Her children will be higher status, especially if she conceives one the night of the Glorious Happening.”
“Is that what he wants?” Sister Katya’s eyes were wide.
Doctor Helga nodded again. “It is perfect, is it not? The Majesty has been found, just as the story in the sacred text says. He will take her during the ceremony, so that the child conceived is imbued with the unlimited power of the stars.”
Sister Katya coughed slightly. “But even if she is prime, is she ready in her cycle?”
Doctor Helga frowned. “No. But we have ways to fix that, as you know. I am just about to prepare it now.” She placed a hand on the other woman’s arm. “It will be magnificent! We must protect her as if she is made of glass, Sister Katya. I don’t want her out of your sight for a moment. Brother Damon will be very angry if we do not handle her properly.”
“She is rebellious,” whispered the other woman. “I sense it in her. Too many questions.”
“Yes.” Doctor Helga’s frown deepened. “She hasn’t been indoctrinated properly. It has all happened so fast, and because of her very special destiny, it is all rushed. But no matter. As long as we keep an eye on her and have her ready for the night of the Glorious Happening, all will be well.”
Sister Katya nodded. “Do you want me to prepare it instead? Will you give it to her now?”
The doctor hesitated. “Brother Damon wants me to do it, although I know that you are more than capable, Sister Katya. Could you go in and sit with her while she waits?” She took a deep breath. “Take the opportunity to indoctrinate her a little more. She must be of a mindset that is more yielding than it is at present.”
Sister Katya nodded. “Of course. I will do anything required.”
The doctor walked off, and Sister Katya turned towards the room. Heart thumping wildly, Keeley ran to get on the bed and lay down before the woman opened the door.
“Sister Keeley.” The woman’s smile was wide. “You will be pleased to know that all is as it should be! This is wonderful.”
Keeley forced a smile onto her face. “Wonderful.” She sighed. “I am feeling a bit tired, now. Is it possible to return to my room and have a little rest?”
The woman shook her head. “I am afraid not, but you will get the opportunity after lunch.” She eyed Keeley carefully. “If you do not make a fuss, you will be able to take lunch with the other women, rather than in your room. You would like that, wouldn’t you?”
Keeley nodded slightly. “I suppose. Who are the other women?”
Sister Katya looked surprised. “Why, they are the mothers! The Blessed Mothers. You all live together, in the same suite of rooms. Brother Damon likes to keep the mothers in the same place.” She sighed. “It is a support to all of you.”
More like it was a harem, thought Keeley darkly. And just like a harem in the old days, this suite of women would be guarded well. How was she going to find a chance to escape, especially since Doctor Helga had said that she was extra special and needed to be treated accordingly?
Her heart was beating so wildly it felt like it was about to jump out of her chest entirely. When the awful realisation had come to her of what they were intending, her mind had run in all directions. She had thought that perhaps they would try to artificially inseminate her. That would be bad enough. But now she knew the true horror of it.
Brother Damon was planning to take her. On the night of this special ceremony. Was he the only one who did this to the women, or did other men in this place have their turn as well? It was disgusting. Appalling. Keeping young women here against their will, forcing them to have babies they didn’t want, with a man or men that they didn’t desire. And what happened to the babies after they were born? Did the women nurse them and raise them, or were they taken away to be raised elsewhere?
The door opened, and Doctor Helga walked in, carrying a dish. Two guards came in behind her.
“Subdue her.” The doctor’s voice was firm.
The two guards approached. One held her feet down, while the other pinned her shoulders to the bed. Sister Katya took her right arm, straightening it. Doctor Helga placed the dish on a table, taking something out of it. It was only as she turned that Keeley saw what it was.
A syringe. The doctor tapped it three times. Keeley could see an orange liquid within it.
She screamed, and kept on screaming, until everything faded to black.
Chapter Seventeen
Keeley picked up her fork and placed the fricasseed chicken in her mouth, chewing mechanically. It wasn’t good. Tough and dry. It was almost as bad as something else she had eaten recently, a place she had gone to. She frowned, trying to remember. Where had it been?
But the memory eluded her. It was like that since she had come to this place. Whispers of memory would rush through her mind, and she would try to grasp them, but then they would retreat.
She stared down the table at the other women, chewing with as much enthusiasm as she was. They were all silent. No happy chatter at this table. No breathless exchange of information about their babies, as she would have expected of a group of expectant mothers. No, the silence was deafening, and Keeley knew it wasn’t just because they frowned on the women talking to each other.
It was because these women weren’t excited about their impending arrivals. The sadness at the table was palpable.
She swallowed the chicken with difficulty and picked up some bread, tearing it to pieces in her hand. Her head still felt like it was stuffed with tissue since she had been injected with whatever had been in that syringe. She had missed lunch entirely, waking up on her narrow bed hours later. When she had tried to open the door, she realised that it had been locked.
She had called out for a while then given up. Sister Katya had only come to unlock it before dinner.
“What did you inject me with?” she hissed at the woman.
Sister Katya had smiled. “The first was a sedative, because we knew that you would struggle.” She paused. “It has been hard for you, Sister Keeley. Too rushed, but there are reasons for that.”
“Because you are planning to offer me to your leader?” Keeley’s voice was low and contemptuous.
“Well,
well.” Sister Katya had stared at her, unblinking. “You have been a naughty girl, eavesdropping. But no matter.” She took a deep breath. “Yes, you will be a special part of the Glorious Happening, and you must be prepared.”
“What else did you inject me with?” Keeley’s face was pale.
“You do not need to know the intricacies of your medical treatment,” replied the woman in a patronising voice. “Just be grateful that you are here, among the blessed. Come, you will have dinner with the others tonight.”
And now here she was, eating with a group of pregnant women. Guards lined the walls, not taking their eyes off the women for a second. She had counted five women in the assembly, but there were more here. Probably about three more. Keeley glanced at them. They didn’t look pregnant. Perhaps they were in the early stages, or were earmarked for it, just as she was. She gazed at them sympathetically, but they cast their eyes down, refusing to meet her eye.
Her eyes strayed down the table, finding the woman with the dark red hair. Abbey. She was eating as mournfully as the others. It looked like her mind was a long way away from this place. Where had she come from, and how had she been taken? What was the history of all these people? Had they been simply snatched, or had they been lured here?
Sister Katya sat at one end of the table, and Sister Valeria at the other end. Like matching bookends. Keeping an eye on the women, thought Keeley darkly. Making sure that no bonding could happen. Because if the women spoke to each other, and became friends or allies, they might figure a way out of this mess together, thought Keeley. There was power in numbers, and they knew it.
“I have news.” Sister Valeria’s voice rang out over the table, startling the women. “Blessed news.”
The women turned as one towards her, waiting expectantly. Sister Valeria took a deep breath, and her face was suddenly wreathed in smiles. “I am pleased to report that Sister Madeline has finally delivered after a long confinement.”
There was a murmur along the table. Keeley could see the women were trying to look happy at the news, as if it was expected of them. But one by one their eyes sunk to their own distended bellies, a troubled look on their faces.
“The baby is well.” Sister Valeria was nodding, staring at the women one by one. “Perfectly healthy. This is fortuitous news, right before the Glorious Happening!”
“Indeed.” Sister Katya was all smiles, too. “We are blessed. Brother Damon is delighted. He told me to tell you all that it is a good omen of what is to come, and to remind you all of how your own children will be part of the elite in our new world.”
The women nodded. There was silence.
“Where is Sister Madeline?” A woman with long dark hair spoke loudly. Keeley stared at her, guessing that she was about seven months pregnant. “Where has she been taken?”
Sister Valeria frowned. “You know better than to ask such questions, Sister Linda. She is being taken care of, but she will rejoin us when she is up to it.” Her laugh was light. “Obviously this is your first child, or else you would know that a woman needs to rest after delivery. Our sacred text specifies that it is a month, exactly, before a woman can resume normal duties after birth.”
The woman called Linda picked up her glass of water. “The same sacred text that says that a woman can sometimes be sacrificed after giving birth, if the powers-that-be require it? That sacred text?”
Sister Valeria’s mouth tightened. “You are being insubordinate, Sister. And you are frightening the other women.”
“I wouldn’t want to do that,” replied the woman tartly. “It’s not as if they aren’t frightened enough.”
“Sister Linda!” Sister Katya’s voice was sharp. “Enough. We must maintain calm among the mothers, and you must remain calm too. All of you must know that if you become upset it affects the unborn child. You have watched the videos. The child can feel all that you feel and become infected with it.”
The woman named Linda speared her chicken viciously with her fork but didn’t say anything more. Keeley could feel unease spreading along the table, from woman to woman. They didn’t like what Linda had said. Keeley tried to suppress sudden shudders of horror. Was there any truth to what the woman had claimed, that sometimes a newly delivered mother was sacrificed?
What the hell was this place?
She turned, feeling Abbey’s eyes on her. The woman blinked rapidly but didn’t smile. Keeley gazed at her. Abbey’s sorrow was like a palpable force around her. She had to find a way to speak to her and find out once and for all what the grand plan of all of this was. If she had all the facts, then she could figure out a way to get out of here.
She shuddered again. She didn’t have much time. If Brother Damon was intending to take her on the night of this ceremony, then she had to move fast. They had been speaking of it as if it were only days away and that was why she was being rushed through this process.
The plates were cleared. Sister Valeria bowed her head and started speaking in a strange language. All the women at the table followed suit, mouthing the words with her. The hair on the back of Keeley’s neck started prickling at the sound of the guttural words. They seemed to whoosh through the air like poisonous gas.
She gazed at Abbey again. The woman’s head was bowed, and she didn’t return the gaze, but Keeley knew that she was aware of it.
***
Thad stared around at the men and women, all cuffed and chained just as he was. No one spoke. It was as if they were each in their separate universe. As far away as they could get in their minds from the physical reality of their situation.
He peered up at the sky. The moon was low, shimmering with a pearly glow, and he could see a million stars starting to blink, as if they were being switched slowly on by a hand, one by one. The desert sky. Were they intending to keep them out here overnight? They hadn’t supplied blankets, and he knew that the desert nights could turn cold.
They had clothed him, at least. A rough garment, made of hessian he was sure, judging by the way it scratched his skin. The same garment that all the others wore. He had looked for the old man who had been caged alongside him when they had first thrown him into this outdoor compound, but it had been impossible, of course. He hadn’t even seen his face. The only way he would recognise him would be by his voice, and no one was speaking.
A guard unlocked the gate they had brought him through, carrying a basket. He threw the contents onto the ground, then turned and left. It appeared to be food scraps. All the people scrambled to grab what they could, stuffing it into their mouths frantically. Some missed out. And some fought over a scrap as if it were gold.
Thad leaned back. Even though hunger was clawing at him, he wouldn’t bother. These people looked like they needed it even more than he did.
“Why don’t you grab something?” The voice was croaky.
He turned his head. A man was staring at him, still chewing his scrap.
Thad shrugged. “There doesn’t seem to be enough to go around.”
The man blinked. “Yes, but it’s always like that. You have to fight for it. Survival of the fittest, and all that.”
Thad shrugged again. “Why are they keeping us chained together outdoors?”
The man smiled grimly, swallowing the last of his food. “We’re waiting,” he said slowly. “For the Glorious Happening. They want us penned together to see what we will do. If we will fight each other to survive.” He shrugged. “They like to do stuff like that. It…pleases them.”
Thad nodded. “I understand. I know how these creatures operate. They are old foes of mine. They enjoy chaos for the sake of it.” He took a deep breath. “You have to fill me in on the rest, though. What is the Glorious Happening, and why are we waiting for it?”
The man blinked again. “You are new here, obviously.” He took a long, ragged breath. “The Glorious Happening is the culmination of everything. It is why this building is here, and why we are all here. They have been working towards it for years. But they have had to wait for t
he right time, when the stars align.”
Thad nodded slowly. Desperation filled him. What he had read in that book was true, then. But he had no idea that this occurrence of the stars that they were waiting for was so close to hand.
“What will happen when the stars align?” He already had a fair idea, but he wanted to know if this man had any more details. “Have they told you?”
The man took a ragged breath. “I only know that it is happening soon, and that we must be ready for it.” He paused. “The ones who are deemed valid will fight alongside them, as their foot soldiers. To take over the world. And the ones who have been deemed invalid will have a different destiny.”
Thad shuddered. “And what are we, the ones who are in here?”
The man laughed slowly. “Invalid, of course. That is why we are in chains. Normally, they would do either two things—try to validate us further, or give up entirely and fry our brains or kill us.” A slow sob rose in his throat. “I have seen it happen many times before.”
Thad stirred uneasily. “And this time?”
The man looked down at the ground. “They are intending to sacrifice us. During the ceremony. The sacred text demands blood when the stars align, and they are intending to supply rivers of it.”
Thad reached out a hand towards the man, not knowing what to say for a moment. It was even worse than he thought. Not only was he imprisoned in here, with no way of escape, but all these people were about to die. For the Vilgath. And they were intending to take over the world with the power that they gained through this coming celestial event.
And all this was about to happen very, very soon. He had to figure out a way to stop it. And then there was Keeley. Had she been deemed invalid also and marked for sacrifice? He stared around desperately. He had already looked for her when he had first come in, of course, but hadn’t been expecting to see her. Wherever she was, it wasn’t in this compound.
Suddenly, he remembered what the other man had said. The old man who had been caged alongside him.
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