A new Beginning (The Chosen, Act 2, Part 1)
Act 1:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part7
July 23rd, 2166
”Okay, now push!”
Joel could hear Mia’s screams through the closed door, despite trying to shield his ears with his hands. Birth was something he didn’t feel comfortable with. He couldn’t understand how a society this technologically advanced still hadn’t fixed this process. Was it really that hard to make it easier on the woman? @suesa
Or maybe there were already other ways, just reserved for the rich people. Who knew? They kept specific medicine to themselves, why not this too? Mia couldn’t afford to go to a hospital anyway.
The screaming continued, and Joel started feeling overwhelmed. He wanted to leave the house so badly but knew he couldn’t. He wasn’t allowed to. Just the fact that he wasn’t in the same room as Mia right now was already against his explicit orders, but that was a line he was unable to cross. Nobody would find out anyway. He hoped.
”Almost there, almost there!” He heard the midwife call out. Then he noticed that he had started to nervously chew on his fingernails. Joel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Calm. He needed to remain calm. He needed to be ready. They were waiting for him.
”There we go! A healthy … what the hell?!”
It was time. Joel stopped walking in circles through the living room and instead headed for the bedroom door. When he opened it, he was met by the pale face of the midwife, who was holding the baby in her arms. The baby.
The baby was …
Definitely Xeraias’ child.
It didn’t look as deformed as the hybrid used to while still alive, as it was 75% human instead of half-half, but the alien part was still noticeable. And the midwife had evidently not expected this, as she now looked like she was about to faint and drop the baby in the process.
Gently, Joel took the young child from her shaking arms and wrapped it into one of the blankets that he had previously placed in the room when Mia had started having contractions. He couldn’t stop himself from wondering how it was possible for something this ugly to still be this cute.
The baby started crying.
”Is my baby okay?” Mia asked weakly.
”I think so”, Joel replied. ”It’s a girl.”
”A girl …” Mia smiled. ”Do you hear that, Xeraias? We have a little daughter. We got out Lily.”
And now, the baby had a name. That was another thing Joel had wanted to avoid. It made him feel even worse.
”Can I hold her?” Mia asked and extended her arms towards Joel. He almost gave Lily to her. Almost.
Instead, he pressed the baby against his chest, turned to the open door and started running away.
”JOEL?!” Mia’s scream caused the little hairs on his arm to go up, but he didn’t stop. He wanted to. He wanted to turn back, to apologize and hand Lily over to her mother. But this was what he had been prepared for his whole life, he needed to deliver the chosen one to the society of the enlightened. There was no choice here.
Just once, he glanced behind himself, to see if the midwife was following him. But the woman was apparently too disturbed to act. Or she refused to, not wanting to be associated with this abomination in the form of a baby.
The baby. It had stopped crying, which started to worry Joel so much that he stopped at a corner after all.
”Are you okay?” He whispered, knowing that the child wouldn’t be able to reply. The newborn looked up at him out of big eyes, that seemed mostly human. It made a cooing sound. Then it yawned. ”I take that as a yes”, he said, and started walking again. Fast, but not running anymore. It was a bad time to draw unwanted attention.
After what seemed like an eternity, he arrived at the place where he had landed his transportation capsule half a year ago. He was greeted by the same woman who had been there on the day of his arrival.
”The missionary! I didn’t think I’d see you again after all this time. You really survived the city, huh?” Then she noticed the child in his arms, and her face went dark. ”What do you have there?” Joel pulled the fabric of the blanket further over the child’s face, so the woman wouldn’t notice that something was weird.
”It’s an orphan that was given to me to bring back to my church”, he lied. ”The mother died in childbirth and the father had been killed in a robbery just a month ago.” He found that lies that were close to the truth were the easiest to tell.
”An orphan you say.” The woman frowned. ”Do you have the necessary paperwork to take it out of the country?”
Of course, he did. His superiors had provided him with everything he needed during the last few weeks so he wouldn’t run into any unnecessary problems. Joel pulled the slightly crumpled papers out of his bag and handed them over.
”There’s no name”, the woman pointed out. ”The child has no name. It needs to have one, or it can’t leave.”
”Can I just write in the name?” Joel asked. He was angry at himself for not remembering to do this earlier. The woman sighed.
”Yes.” She handed the papers back to Joel, who sat down on the floor, placed the papers on the ground and pulled a pen out of his bag. His hand hovered over the paper, as he was trying to decide on a name.
He couldn’t give her one. He couldn’t steal the only thing her mother would ever give her.
”Lily?” The woman raised one eyebrow upon reading the name. ”I expected something more religious.”
”It was her dying mother’s wish”, Joel half-lied.
Together with Lily, he boarded the transportation capsule and made his way towards Antarctica.
Oh no, poor Mia :( I was hoping Joel would have some sort of internal conflict and change his mind... but I guess I should know better than to expect happy stuff by now :P
Hey, there's still time... He could... turn around in remorse!
:D
I happy stuff... Pff
I had a small assumption Joel would try to rebel against this but.. no.
Joel, you're a disappointment.
Mia, I'm not surprised if you'll kill him.