1 PROLOGUE

The screams invaded the room completely, creating a harsh atmosphere in which it was difficult to breathe.

A woman was giving birth. Drops of sweat ran down the features of her face due to the effort she was being subjected to. Her hands, one on each side of the huge bed, tightly pressed the edges, slowly tearing the thin sheets and her hair, a reddish one, was entangled in a pigtail that tried to fall every time she moved her head.

She was not alone at that important stage of her life, another younger woman encouraged her and helped the baby to come out of the mother's womb.

"Almost there. Just one last push." the girl said in a soothing and sweet voice.

The woman screamed again because of the pain of childbirth and then the little creature came out with a final push, just as the midwife had told her. At that moment, the mother was filled with happiness. Finally the pain was over and all she could think was about picking up her little girl for the first time.

The younger woman who had accompanied her in the birth, took the baby with great delicacy, but there was something on her face that did not make sense. She seemed terrified... as if she had just seen how someone's death occurred and not the birth of a little girl. Should not she be happy or at least smile? She was not able to mumble anything, she had become speechless.

The mother, completely exhausted, made her a gesture to ask her if she could pass her the baby, which was still attached to her by the umbilical cord and was full of blood. The mum wanted to hold her in her arms and give her all the love that a daughter deserves.

"She is very warm, right?" she asked with a radiant smile at the corner of her lips, while the younger woman approached her to give her the baby, with fear reflected in his youthful face. The girl did not respond, she opted to get rid of that petrifying, icy feeling as quickly as she could and finally passed the baby to her mother.

Instantly, the mother's radiant smile vanished as she picked up her little daughter, because her touch was so cold that froze her bones.