Chapter 2: Massacre

Rose's dad hadn't finished talking, when the phone suddenly rang. Father Elijah answered the call and his expression shifted, a worried look crossed his face. Rose's dad paused his conversation, his attention drew to the call Father Elijah had answered. Father Elijah hung up the call and his voice suddenly grew serious as he explained that the church was on fire, and he had to go address the situation. Rose's dad offered to help, but Father Elijah implored him to stay with the wife, and keep praying for their daughter to safely deliver. He assured them that he was going to come back immediately the issue was resolved, then he hurriedly left. On reaching the church, Father Elijah parked at the edge of the grounds, where a large crowd had already gathered. Father Elijah walked towards them, shouting orders and calling for assistance. Everyone scattered, and some people stayed close beside him, helping to keep the onlookers back and cure the chaos erupting from the flames engulfing the church. Shortly after, the fire fighters came, and not too long afterwards, the fire had been contained and put out, and Father Elijah thanked them for their help. Father Elijah inspected the damage, visibly shaken - the church had sustained significant damage, but thankfully no one had been hurt and the fire had not spread.

Back at the hospital, the situation wasn't getting any better, rather worse. Rose's parents could hear her constant screams from the theatre. But then, strange things began to happen. Right inside the theatre, shadows lingered in the corners, a low hum from an unknown source seemed to be present, and the air was unusually still. Furthermore, the lights began to blink on and off in rapid succession, a strange paranormal phenomena began occurring. The shadows in Rose's peripheral vision seemed to move and grow, and the humming had become a roar. The nurses and midwife feeling scared, they backed away from Rose and huddled closer together in a corner. All of a sudden, they heard furniture being moved, objects being thrown and some disembodied voices speaking.The group of nurses was filled with fear. They were about to make a run for it, and Suddenly, after a grueling labor that lasted several hours, and a terrifying episode of strange happennings, they heard a sudden, sharp cry from a baby. It had arrived. Another terror followed, as everyone in the hospital started experiencing nose bleeds and bleeding from their ears. The baby started screaming and the midwives noticed something strange in its eyes - a strange otherworldly glow. It only took a few moments, as if all the blood in the room had been sucked out by the baby as soon as it was born. Then the lights in the room and the entire hospital flickered and went out.

It was almost dawn, and a car drove into the hospital's parking lot and parked. It was Father Elijah, who had promised to return to the hospital after the fire incident had been taken care of. As he jumped out of his car, he was surprised to see that the hospital had no power, and the area around it was completely deserted. He walked straight to the entrance, pushed the heavy door, and it opened slowly, creaking in the stillness.The hospital felt eerily empty and the lobby was almost pitch black. Father Elijah could hear an unsettling buzz coming from somewhere in the darkness. His heart raced as he took a few tentative steps forward and reached out for a wall light switch. He flicked it again and again with no success. As he walked in the lobby, wondering where everyone had gone, he turned on his phone's torch and scanned the area, he could see what had become of the once bright Grimad hospital. Bodies were scattered about, all of them bleeding from the nose and ears. He quickly rushed to where he had left Rose's parents, but unfortunately found them in the same state as everybody else. He couldn't fathom out how everyone in the hospital ended up dead.

Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from within the hospital. It sounded like several voices coming together in a low chant, mixed with an infant crying. His curiosity piqued, Father Elijah carefully made his way toward the sound. As he rounded a corner, he saw the source of the noise. He was shocked to see a group of people, laying lifeless on the floor- nurses and the midwife. And there lay Rose on the bed, gasping for air and in serious pain. Between her thighs was a newborn baby boy crying. The weird noise had ceased when he entered the theatre. Father Elijah quickly rushed to Rose, not knowing how he could be of help. In that moment, Rose opened her eyes. She looked exhausted and helpless, yet stretched her hand towards Father Elijah. Father Elijah then kneeled beside her bed, gently taking her hand in his and looking tenderly into her eyes. Despite her fear and confusion, Rose found her voices and asked him for help. She asked him to help raise her baby, and she made him promise. As soon as he assured her, Rose took her last breath. Father Elijah knew he had to act fast and leave the premises before the cops would discover what had happened at Grimad hospital, caused a scene as he was going to be implicated for something he couldn't possibly explain, and then Rose's baby would definitely be taken from him. So he quickly took the baby, wrapped him in a cloth he pulled out from one of the beds in the ward, and hurried to the car lot. He kept the baby on his thighs, started his car and drove off. He could hear sirens wailing from a distance, but he was glad to have successfully made it out before the cops arrival. Whatever happened to everyone at the hospital, he was sure it was connected to this baby.