A horror fan since childhood, a geek by nature, and a jokester by heart, Ian believes Entertainment, no matter what form it takes, combined with laughter, is the best medicine to combat life's challenges. His favourite movies amongst many others are Aliens, The Thing, LOTR, and Star Wars.
He has 5 short stories published to date, 4 of them with Wicked Shadow Press.
He is a father and is currently living in Melbourne, Australia with his partner, son, two stepdaughters and 4 cats, which is enough of a horror story on its own.
You can follow his exploits on Facebook at Ian Gielen - Author
UNLEASHED BONDS
by
Ian Gielen
Janet grimaced in pain, clutching her stomach.
“Michael!” she gasped, her voice filled with panic. “I need you!” Her urgent plea sent Michael rushing to her side.
“What is it, honey?” he asked, his voice laced with concern when he saw her hunched over, breathing heavily.
“Is this normal? Tell me it’s normal,” she pleaded, sweat cascading down her face as she winced, gently indicating her stomach.
Michael didn’t need to lift the dress to understand what she meant. Her skin was pulsating, stretching, and contracting with an unsettling intensity, as if something trapped inside was desperately seeking release. He was familiar with the occasional kicks from babies exploring their surroundings in the womb, but this was on a whole different scale.
#
Frowning, the doctor tore his focus from the ultrasound display.
“Please excuse me miss, I need to consult with my colleagues. I’ll be right back,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, his face betraying his worry as he turned towards the door, motioning for the nurse to come with him.
Janet’s eyes tracked their departure, her face filled with anxiety as she observed the urgent gesturing and elevated expressions on their faces outside the window. Her gaze caught the doctors, and he responded with a reassuring smile, though his body language hinted at an underlying panic.
#
The baby lay still, floating in amniotic fluid, exhausted by its frustrated thrashing as new sensations began to flood in. The sensation of their unfamiliarity overwhelmed it as it struggled to grasp the unfolding events. It felt the seeds of anger form, deprived of what it desired, what its body needed to grow. The space it was in felt suffocatingly dark and claustrophobic, causing fear to well up inside. It was enveloped by the sensation of loneliness, yet the comforting sound of its mother’s voice outside its confinement filled it with a profound sense of tranquility and love. The enormity of it all was overwhelming, as its physical form too underwent rapid transformations. Changes that couldn’t and shouldn’t be possible.
#
“Honey, something’s wrong, I can feel it,” Janet cried out, her sobs echoing through the room as she stared at her stomach in terror. She tenderly pressed her hands against her it, but instead of the familiar warmth, she felt an unsettling presence, as if her body had become a stranger to the life it carried.
#
With a sudden jolt, the baby’s body convulsed, its limbs spasming uncontrollably as waves of rapid change rippled through its fragile frame. Sharp, clawlike nails replaced the fingernails and toenails on its hands and feet, accompanied by emerging small, needle-like teeth in its mouth. The need for food consumed it, as if its own stomach was devouring it from the inside. Its need became uncontrollable. The baby’s tiny hands seized the umbilical cord, exerting enough force to sever the placenta from the uterus. Its voracious appetite drove it to promptly stuff the bloody mass into its mouth, as the scarlet hue of blood began to inundate the surroundings.
#
Janet screamed in horror as blood gushed out from under her. Her stomach was gripped by an unbearable pain, as if hundreds of knives were simultaneously piercing through her, the agony reaching its peak before she lost consciousness.
#
The baby finished with the umbilical cord and the attached placenta but craved, no, needed more. The shrill vibrations of its mother’s screams outside grew louder. It was so close now. It needed to be closer; it wanted to gaze into her eyes and tell her how much it loved her. It started gnawing at her stomach, desperate to satisfy both needs.
#
Horror filled the room as everyone stared in silence at the gruesome scene.
A torrent of blood sprayed from Janet’s stomach, exposing a jagged wound where her flesh had been savagely ripped and gnawed away. Nestled within that wound, a tiny form blinked, disoriented by the harsh, clinical lighting of the hospital room. Janet lay there, her body shaking with sobs, as she clutched the bloodstained sheets, her gaze fixed on her ruined form, while the faint cries of her newborn baby filled the room.
With a look of sheer terror on his face, the doctor slowly and delicately pulled the baby free.
#
It was free! Finally, it could be with its mom, and it looked toward her lovingly, its eyes filled with longing as the strange man held it. Its sole desire was to feel her arms around it, to revel in the tenderness and devotion that it now hungered for more than anything in existence.
#
“No, please no. My baby!” Janet’s feeble cry echoed through the room as the doctor’s hand trembled, clutching the needle and its deadly mixture, poised to administer it into the baby.
“I’m so sorry Janet, but we can’t permit him to live. It wouldn’t be fair to him, this is no life, a life of constant suffering” his eyes filled with tears as he fixed his eyes on the crying baby boy, watching it reach toward Janet with plaintive cries full of need.
#
The baby cried hopelessly, reaching out for its mom but not able to get to her. He just wanted to be loved. Why couldn’t anyone understand that? Driven solely by its yearning for her, it paid no attention to the needle’s piercing entry, the concoction of drugs swiftly permeating its entire being. Its heart steadily slowed, and its eyes, fixed on Janet, held a silent plea as its life came to an end.
#
“Time of death: 12:03 am,” the doctor called sadly, his voice barely audible amidst the cacophony of new year fireworks outside, as he weakly passed the baby to the nurse and departed the room. Michael stood frozen next to Janet, her empty gaze locked on the spot where the doctor had held their baby. Her heart as still as its now was.