by Martha Woods
“When I found about that part of his plan... It wasn’t the only thing that he was involved in.”
“What do you mean?” Leah furrowed her brow, jaw set in worry. “What else was he up to?”
Liam walked over to the cabinet next to the wall, pulling open the drawer and grabbing the journal, the book that had destroyed whatever faith he had left in his father and changed the way he looked at everything since then. He placed the book lightly down next to her, taking her hand in his and looking into her eyes. “Dad was working with those witches for much more than just bringing me back to take over. It wasn’t just about killing you to make me step up as a leader... He was working on fulfilling a prophecy that they had about... About my future wife.”
“About Skylar?” She looked down at the book in horror, her grip creaking the bones in his hand. “What was that bastard planning to do?”
“There was a prophecy that my wife would possess incredible power... That she’d be unlike anything that they’ve ever seen before. The witches wanted to take possession of that power and mold it for themselves.” He snarled, his teeth elongating slightly as his eyes flashed. “Dad was working with a bunch of covens to try and find a way to take her powers for himself, to what end I don’t know. But he’s dead now, and Skylar is still here.”
She closed her eyes as she tried to process everything, her husband... Her ex-husband was an even bigger monster than she could have ever thought. “Liam... Why didn’t you tell me this before? Why did you keep this to yourself?”
“I’m sorry.” He bowed his head in apology. “At first I wasn’t sure that it was the right time, you were already going through so much. Then... Well, with everything else that’s been happening lately, worrying about Skylar, those mobsters last week... I’m sorry, it just slipped my mind.”
“You were worried about me?” She tilted her head at him, frowning as she ran a hand over his cheek. “Liam... This isn’t about me, this is about you and Skylar, and the danger that an evil old man has placed the two of you in. I may be your mother, but I’m tougher than you give me credit for, I had to raise three of you after all.”
Liam chuckled, pulling his mother in for a hug. “That much is true, we were monsters when we little too.”
“Exactly.” She smiled into his shoulder, rubbing her hand up and down his back. “But no more secrets from now on. This is bigger than my feelings, or yours for that matter, now it’s about Skylar’s safety.”
The two of them pulled back from each other, and Liam was struck by the strength in her gaze. “I’m not going to let that wonderful woman be anyone’s tool, she deserves so much more than that. Anyone who thinks that they can harm her will have me to deal with, I may be getting older but it’s a mistake to underestimate me.”
Liam and Michael chuckled at her threat, though they knew that she would happily follow through on it. As the lights flickered once more, they were soberly reminded of just why such threats needed to be made.
“Thanks mom, really.” Liam drew her in again, Michael coming in to her other side. “Thank you.”
* * *
Inside the room things were progressing in a manner of speaking, Skylar’s contractions becoming more frequent and her breathing coming heavily. Cassandra looked fascinated by the speed at which the birth was progressing, funneling the events of the night into the back of her mind to write about later. “How are you feeling Skylar? Describe exactly how it is right now.”
“I’m...” Skylar exhaled harshly, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead already. “I feel like my body is crawling with something, I don’t know how to describe it. It just feels... off.”
Hayley dabbed at her face, determined to do her best for her friend’s comfort in this undoubtedly stressful time. “Take deep, calm breaths. Just focus on that movement, ok?”
Skylar focused on breathing in and out, slowly taking air into her mouth and exhaling out from her nose, the feeling of something crawling and snaking along the underside of her skin constantly on her mine no matter how far she tried to push it. Her eyes were closed in her concentration, her head thrown back on the pillow as she winced with each kick her child gave her. Hayley squeezed her bicep, that little touch keeping her grounded as she rapidly felt herself spiraling towards something else, something... more.
“Everything feels like it’s swimming, my skin it... It just doesn’t feel right.” She opened her eyes, looking up at Cassandra and Hayley. “When the baby kicks it’s like I can feel it in every part of my body, like they’re kicking on the inside of my head.”
Cassandra nodded, this time actually pulling out a pen and notepad. “The birth is progressing much faster than is normal, of course the same was true with your pregnancy so it makes sense to apply here as well. Fascinating.” She flipped her notepad shut, stepping around to the front of Skylar. “You don’t seem to be in any bodily danger, you’re adapting rather well. We can start the rest of the process very soon in fact.”
“Oh, thank god!” Skylar threw her head back down on the pillow. “I’m going to love this child with everything I have, but please, get it the fuck out of me!”
“All in good time.” Cassandra chuckled, though her voice took on a serious edge, “Now Skylar, this is very important. I need you to try and use your powers. Can you do that for me?”
“What?” Skylar and Hayley said at almost the same time, their eyes wide with their shared disbelief. “What will that accomplish?”
“If she doesn’t get used to her powers sooner then there is more chance of a random manifestation. These are very common in high stress events.” She gestured over Skylar’s swollen stomach. “Now, normally we can try and control or at least limit these events, but that is usually when we don’t also have an impending birth on the way. This complicates things, so we have to adapt to that.”
Hayley swore under her breath, taking Skylar’s hand and tracing a line down her forearm. “You can do this, ok Sky? You’re an incredibly strong woman, this will be nothing for you, just focus.”
Skylar took a deep breath, almost feeling those tendrils crawling through her lungs and up her throat. She focused on the hand that wasn’t being held, her heart beat slowing to a crawl as she felt her stress and worry ebb away until all she could sense was that feeling of crawling. She followed it from the depths of her chest outwards, traveling through every vein and along the surface of her bones, the feeling sliding along the inside of her arm until it seemed to explode out from each finger.
Hayley yelped and jumped back, Skylar’s left arm suddenly losing any semblance of humanity as it shifted effortlessly into a shifting black mass of... Something. Skylar didn’t react to her surprise, lost in her own little word as the mass shifted further into the form of a hand, flexing the new shadow fingers that had emerged in place of her flesh and blood arm. She turned to Cassandra, asking, “Is... Is that normal to happen?”
The older witch shrugged, thumbing idly at her nose. “With Enenra’s it’s... Hard to tell. This seems consistent with the other Enenra that I ran into once though, so I doubt this is anything to worry about.” She chuckled bitterly, “Now if she starts going the same way as that one, then we should start to worry...”
“What happened with the other one?”
“They went insane and butchered an entire town.” Her tone was matter of fact, as was her ensuing shrug. “They just slipped away after that, I’m not sure what happened to them.”
Hayley shivered as she looked back at her friend, serene expression at odds with the shimmering chaos that was her forearm. “Well... Let’s hope that things don’t go that way then.”
Slowly, Skylar let her eyes open again, her arm remaining in its smoke form as she cautiously turned her gaze to it. “This isn’t a bad thing right? I’m not dying right now am I?”
Cassandra laughed, “On the contrary, I’d say that you’re a natural at this! With that I think that we can actually focus on getting this kid out of you!” She put her ear to he
r stomach, tracing a finger outside in circles as she felt the energy pouring out of Skylar’s body. “What I need you to do is take that feeling that you have right now and extend it to your whole body. The child needs to be birthed into an environment that is safe for it, and your powers being active is the best fit for that in my opinion.”
“Alright I... I’ll try.” Skylar pursed her lips in concentration, the smoke traveling further up her body much easier than last time. It swept over her chest and down her stomach, flicking downwards until it covered her from her head to her toes. Unlike last time however, she was still recognizably her, skin still visible as the smoke wisped and crackled over the surface.
Hayley looked over at Cassandra, the two of them nodding as they set to work. “Alright Skylar, I need you to lift your legs for me, can you do that?” She smiled as Skylar acquiesced, rubbing her hands together as she channeled energy into her hands. “It’s a very good thing that you opted not to go to a traditional hospital for this, modern medicine may have improved immeasurably but they know precisely jack about supernatural births.” The witch chuckled, laying her hands on Skylar’s stomach. “Can’t say I even blame them really, most Supernatural’s don’t know much about it either.”
Hayley leaned as close to Skylar’s head as she could, whispering gentle encouragements into her ear and holding her hand as tightly as she could. Skylar was breathing heavily, the process not as hard as she had thought it was going to be but undoubtedly... Strange. Whatever it was she had been expecting, she knew for certain that this was far from a normal pregnancy.
She gasped as she felt the first pulse, starting from her stomach and spreading until it tingled behind her eyes, a feeling of tugging starting within her in response. Cassandra growled lowly in her throat, hands flashing as she once more channeled into her hands. “Wiley little bastard aren’t you...” She held her hands out, willing the infant to come out to her, sweat running down her face as she felt the intense connection building between them. She called out to them, feeling them getting closer and closer to her as Skylar started whimpering in discomfort. “Hayley! Let her know that everything is alright, this is how it’s supposed to feel, nothing is wrong!”
“You hear that Skylar? Everything is just fine, you’re doing so well...” Skylar squeezed down on her hand, smoke spreading up her own arm but she wasn’t going to let that make her uncomfortable now. “Just trust us, this will all be over soon.”
Skylar yelped as that pulsing feeling started over again, one coming every five seconds as she suddenly found it hard to breath. The lights flickered, almost shaking in the walls as her chest started to heave. One final pulse pushed her over the edge, a feeling like a cord being pulled erupting in her chest as she screamed into the air, walls shaking as the lights finally shattered, the room being plunged into darkness.
Cassandra yelled in triumph, feeling the infant’s connection with her finally click, her hands filling with the newborn. The room stopped shaking immediately, leaving only the heavy breathing of the three women and the crying of the child to echo off the walls.
Hayley held up her hand, creating light as effortless for her as extinguishing it. When she turned to look at Skylar however, she stopped in her tracks. While it stopped as soon as she noticed it, she couldn’t help but think that Skylar’s skin had been almost... Swimming. The smoke was gone, leaving only pure, untouched skin behind, but for that split second, so brief that she wasn’t certain she hadn’t imagined it... It was like the smoke hadn’t even gone away, just changed color.
Any concern that she might have had about her friend however disappeared in an instant, Skylar’s face lighting up when she saw the newborn baby cradled in Cassandra’s arms. “Oh my god... Is that them?”
“I should hope so.” Cassandra chuckled, “Otherwise your powers are the least of our concerns. Skylar Moore Conway, meet your daughter.”
Skylar accepted the child into her arms, cradling it close with tears streaming freely down her face. “My daughter...” She smiled, giggling as the child batted at her nose. “It’s so nice to meet you, Abigail.”
Chapter 5
Liam could hardly keep himself from rushing to his wife’s side as the lights flickered wildly and the house shook, Leah next to him looking around wide eyed at the sudden chaos. “My god!” She said, “This is her giving birth?”
His knuckles were white around the arms of the chair, teeth clenched as he forced himself to stay seated. Michael was stood behind him, not liking the situation any more than they were but prepared to step in if needed.
“I should be there for her. I should be in that room right now, but I can’t be.” He hung his head, running his hands through his hair as he tried to ignore the urge to stand. “It’s for our own good, I can’t do anything to jeopardize her safety.”
Cayden stumbled through the door, his footing unsure as he made his way over to the other three. “Jesus, what the fuck is happening? Why’s the house shaking?”
Farah wasn’t far behind, shaking her wet hair out as she went to join her boyfriend. “I’ve never seen a birth like this before, I’ve seen some strange ones, but this definitely tops all of them.”
“How are you doing?” Cayden hesitated briefly before putting his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “I know this probably isn’t easy for you.”
“I feel like shit Cayden. My wife is giving birth and I can’t even be in the same room as her, because otherwise something could go wrong and kill her.” He stood, pacing around the room as best he could while it shook. “I’m failing as a husband right now, I should be able to protect her from this.”
“You can’t protect people from everything Liam.” Leah shook her head sadly, knowing just as well as everyone else in the room how true it was. “You can try your hardest, and you absolutely should try and protect those that are important to you. But sometimes... Sometimes it doesn’t matter how strong you are. Sometimes all you can do is be there to pick up the pieces, to let them know that things are going to be alright and that they don’t have to be afraid anymore.” She held her hand out to Liam, her smile equal parts sad and proud. “Skylar will understand, so long as you are here for her from now on.”
At that moment, the room stopped shaking, the lights ceasing their flickering and staying constant. Everyone took a deep breath that was equal parts relieved and concerned, knowing that there were two very possible outcomes to the birth that would result in this. It was a long time, a long, breathless time as no one said anything before the door to the hallway opened, a sheet white Hayley stepping through with a smile stretched across her face.
“Congratulations Liam.” She said, grinning widely with her eyes full of joy. “You now have a daughter.”
Liam couldn’t say anything, his mouth flapping soundlessly before he collapsed to his knees, tears flowing freely down his face as the reality finally hit him. Hayley knelt down next to him, his arms wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her in. He cried happily into her shoulder, Hayley by this point on the verge of tears as well, simply holding him as he shook with relief.
“I can’t believe it... I’m a father.”
* * *
“Now Skylar is a very strong woman, but she did just give birth.” Hayley’s smile was kind as she talked to Liam outside Skylar’s room. “I checked with Cassandra, and she says that it should be fine for you to visit and see Sky and your daughter, it’ll be healthy for all of you.”
Liam tried to smile, but all that he could manage was an awkward grimace. He must have noticed Hayley’s confusion, because he elaborated, “Sorry, it’s just... It’s still hard to believe that I’ve got a child now. What if I’m not good enough for them? I’ll try my best but... What if it’s not enough?”
She grinned, patting him on the back as she turned the handle. “The fact that you’re asking yourself that is proof that you will be good enough. Trust me, with you two as parents little Abigail is gonna be more than alright.”
“Abigail...” H
e smiled as he tested the name on his tongue. “I like that. It feels right.” Liam took a deep breath, nodding to Hayley. “Alright, guess it’s time to meet her.”
He stepped through the door, immediately marveling at the sight of his wife in front of him. Her hair was tousled and sweaty, her skin flushed and oddly enough... Shifting? She looked exhausted, like it was taking all her effort just to stay conscious. Liam thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, even more so when he saw what she was cradling in her arms.
Her face lit up when she saw him, smiling so wide he was worried that her head was going to fall in half. “Hey you. Come over here and meet your daughter.”
Liam walked over slowly, almost afraid that if he was too fast he would shatter the peace that had fallen in the room, even Cassandra sitting silently in the corner enjoying the moment. It seemed that even witches found the miracle of birth to be miraculous. As soon as he gazed upon his daughters face he felt like weeping, the feeling of having taken part in creating something so incredible as she so overwhelming in its intensity that he fell back into a chair next to her bed, legs not able to support his weight any longer.
She was perfect, a tiny button nose in between two rosy cheeks, thin strands of dark hair falling across the top of her head as she nestled in close to her mother, small chest rising and falling as she twitched in her sleep. Liam reached out cautiously, running his hand gently over skin so soft it may as well not even be there, Abigail whimpering in her sleep then calming.
“My god...” He said, utterly in awe, “She’s so beautiful. We...” He leaned in, pressing his lips deeply against his wife’s, a tired groan coming forth from the both of them. “We really did it, we actually created something so beautiful.”
“She is beautiful.” Skylar’s head fell back against the pillow, chuckling tiredly to herself, “The birth itself I could have done without.”