Not-so-common Dilemma

The house echoed with Sarah's cries, both from the unbearable pain in her stomach and the tormenting nightmare that had breaching her reality when she saw that creature in the night for the first time.

Everything, until this point, had been either in a realm of dreams or subconscious torment. Now, in the stark reality, she confronted the embodiment of her enduring anguish. She was looking at a the reasons of her sufferings, standing in front of her eyes.

That shadowey figure, its eyes were glowing purple in the darkness of room, having a hand inside her womb. Unearthly, the objects in the room began levitating.

Fear gripped Sarah as she sensed the painful movements in her baby's limbs and then the whole body inside.

She thought it was ending the very existence of her child.

When Matthew switched on the light, evil presence suddenly disappeared with the darkness.

All the objects in her bedroom and all over the house fell back on their place. Everything was scrambled in the bedroom.

Matthew picked up a baseball bat that he used to keep under the bed and ran out of the room.

He was shocked when he found that whole house turned into a mess as if an earthquake hit their house.

Sarah's cry opened his dizzy eyes. He rushed back to the bedroom when he saw Sarah grabbing her Belly tightly, mumbling,

"its mine... shes mine!... mine..." again and again.

Sarah was not able to comprehend the situation she just got out of. She searched, but couldn't find any sign of blood or wound from where the hand was going in.

After few seconds, she saw her husband standing there, scared while looking at her, before she hugs him tightly.

Sarah was describing the view she saw in the darkness about a horrific figure with glowing eyes who was had his hand inside her womb.

She noticed the unusual response of Matthew. He was shocked, but Sarah comprehended that this is not the first time he Matthew has experienced the description.

Sarah, for the last time asked, "What is going on Matt? Why am I seeing all this, Why does it seem like you know every single detail, What happened that NIGHT?"

"You said it was an fatal accident, car burnt down, then how come it didn't affect me at all? I want to know....Im scared Matt" The room, still in disarray, amplified the tension between them.

Matthew, torn by the weight of the truth, finally confessed,

"Yes, that same thing was the reason of that accident, I saw it the first time when we lost the way and accidently enter in forbidden mountain."

"When I ran towards the burning car to looking for you, you weren't in there, i spotted you..."

"levitating..."

"over that ancient tomb."

"A white light was entering inside of you through your mouth while your eyes were glowing white."

"But the moment I held your hand, you fell on that tomb completely unconscious."

"In the morning when I reached to your ward, you were perfectly safe, it was a huge relief, I thought I'll tell you everything once you will feel better."

"But since the news that Dr. Nakamura gave, I couldn't bring myself to share the truth."

"I love you, Sarah. But this... it terrifies me. I wanted to protect you... both of you, but I didn't know how.", he walked over and sat beside Sarah, shoulders slouched.

"Yet you will lose both"

Sarah replied with a pale face and went back to bed.

Days passed in silence between Sarah and Matthew. Paranormal sightings increased, unsettling Sarah.

After the night, Matthew tried to make things up every was possible with her but her silent rejection screamed louder than words, a painful barrier between two hearts were desperately longing for understanding.

Date of delivery was getting closer, he knew she will be needed help regularly. Sometimes she let him help her but mostly, she refused him. Matthew knew that he made it even worse now.

Talk got shorter and shorter between the two as both believed it was for their well being.

One evening, Sarah came downstairs from the terrace after a walk. She saw a mug of coffee, in the bedroom with a sticky note on it.

"5pm coffee...at usual?"

When she went downstairs with the mug, she saw Matthew was sitting sitting at their usual spot in a living room, gazing at sunset through the glass door, wind chimes singing beautiful melody unlike the past few weeks.

Sarah hadn't seen any nightmare ever since the encounter in reality. Maybe the nightmares were supposed to drag her into the reality from her fancy delusions.

Matthew turned, smiling at his wife.

"Beautiful as ever..."

Matthew hid his pain behind his smile, offering comfort, as always. Little did he know, she sought solace for different reasons.

"How much do you know about this incident?", Sarah asked it with cold attitude.

"Good evening to you too, sweetie" Matthew replied.

"I won't ask this again, Matt", she was serious about the concern. Only she knew what she has been through in past weeks.

Reading her mind, he sighed and faced the glass door.

"Not much, but I did some digging."

"Some from the locals, but mostly from old-man Satoshi."

"So the priest was telling the truth, is that so?",

Her cold words pierced the the atmosphere. Matthew kept quiet, continued to gaze at sunset.

Silence kept her place in the home.

Sarah broke the silence. "So there IS a demon child inside me."

"IT IS NOT A DEMON, SARAH", Matthew shouted unintentionally.

He raised his voice like that for the very first time ever since they have met. Maybe there were a lot of things the she has yet to know about him.

Sarah was shocked but not scared. She has seen worse till now and all she knew was that she was DONE being scared.

"She isn't a human either." She said calmly while leaving the room and started crying in bedroom.

After a few minutes, he came upstairs to apologize for talking in such tone.

"Call it whatever you want, it will still be my... Our child nevertheless, sar-", Matthew got interrupted.

"WE... are aborting her" sarah made her mind and wiped her tears.

She sometimes watched the video diaries of her journey that she taped herself. She didn't want to back down after coming all the way to the end.

In the whirlwind, Sarah hurled unintended, hurtful words. The recent horrors tore at her soul, leaving emotional wounds that bled within.

Sarah's stress escalated, unraveling into mental breakdowns.

She didn't not want to abort her child.

On one side, the dream of a cherished child; on the other, confronting a warned demon's potential arrival haunted her.

Often, she gazed at the sky, yearning for a normal life. Yet, when answers eluded her, she resorted to scratching and pulling at her own hair, consumed by frustration.

Alone in her struggle, she couldn't confide in a counselor. Even her husband, and she herself stood against her, deepening her isolation.

Silenced in her conversations with Matthew, she became captive to thoughts scarier than any malevolent force, deteriorating her mental and physical health rapidly.

Alone at home, Sarah headed toward the living room and noticed a someone's shadow emerging out of the room.

This wasn't like the times of usual haunted activity.

Someone broke in their house...

The shadow revealed a woman wielding a pair of Sai, cast by the setting sun through the glass door in the same room.

Sarah, shocked, cautiously peeked into the living room, struggling to believe what she was seeing.

A woman in a black-red suit, with a long ponytail, stood in the room and a creeper was crawling on the walls. Startled, Sarah hastily hid behind the wall she was peeking from.

"We dont have all day, find her and lets get this over with, freako" the woman in black, Kibito said.