Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele

[Cordelia]

It is dark when I open my eyes.

I am alone in a room that feels cold, even though I am covered in blankets. As my eyes adjust, I realize it is the same yellow room from before, only now everything is in various shades of gray as the pale moonlight changes everything into the many colors of shadows.

The last thing I remember, I was being forced onto a table to be "examined" by Jude. However, I can't remember anything after that because whatever he did next made the world fade to nothing.

I think he tried to hypnotize me.

Now that I think about it, maybe he succeeded.

I feel a small flutter in my abdomen. No, that can't be right. It's far too soon for the baby to move. I'm only about 10 weeks pregnant and...

Looking down, I am surprised that my once flat stomach is now slightly rounded. I look to be about 14, maybe 15 weeks pregnant, give or take.

How long was I asleep, lost in a trance?

What did they do to me?

I remember the needle, the prick as it entered my

why would they do that.

The baby gives another small flip.

body and removed some of the baby's fluids. Oh gods

He's okay. My baby is alive. And if he can endure, so can I.

Sitting up slowly, I stretch my legs and find that everything is stiff and sore. When I try to stand, it takes a moment, but I am eventually able to find stability, which means that whatever it was that they did to me, I am still able to use my legs. This is good. If I can move, that means I can leave.

I don't believe for a moment the lies they told me about Atlas. That life was real.

This life. This one is the dream.

No, the nightmare.Content © provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

Opening the door slowly, I slowly creep out of my room and into the dark corridor. Moving as quickly as I can while remaining silent and graceful, I glide as carefully as I can towards the exit.

I am only a few feet away from the main door when I am startled by the sound of something falling in the room near the exit.

I am not alone.

Following the muffled murmur of quiet conversation, I peer into the room, looking through a small window high on the door.

Jude and my sister, Angelica, are in the room looking over medical charts. Leaning in, I listen carefully.

"She isn't far enough along yet," Jude insists. "She's just entered her second trimester. She needs to enter at least her third trimester before we know that she will be a good candidate for the procedure. We wouldn't want to rush it along like last time." "But she is my sister," Angelica insists, "we should be a better genetic match. The others were all strangers, of course, it didn't work."

"No, Angelica, we need to be more careful this time." Jude insists. "We still have a couple of tests to wait for, what does a few more weeks matter? We can wait a few more weeks until she's ready to be harvested."

Harvested? What on earth are they thinking of harvesting? And what does that have to do with my baby? "But Jude, Darling," she leans into him, her arms wrapping around him as she kisses his neck. "Haven't we waited long enough? It's been five years since our child died. Five years of waiting. She owes me, goddamn it!"

"Shh," he turns to pull her into his arms. "I know, Sweetheart. But I want to make sure it's going to work this time. The last one we tried almost killed you and...

"I don't care," she sobs into his chest. "She doesn't deserve..."

I don't need to hear any more of what they have to say I have heard everything I need to know. I need to get far, far away from here.

Because whatever it is she has planned for me and my baby, whatever Jude is waiting to learn in those tests, cannot be good.

Quietly, I tiptoe away from the door.

Only to bump into a potted plant.

"Did you hear something?" Angelica's voice rings out through the hall and I know I only have moments before they find me here. Turning towards the door, I run as fast as I can to the exit. Turning the nob, it doesn't open. I try again. Maybe it is broken?

"Going somewhere, Sister?"

My heart stops. Slowly I turn to see my sister, holding a brass key from a long chain. "You might need this."