CHAPTER 1 _ STRANGE BABY

Somewhere in the middle of the woods, inside a small cottage, the voice of a female screaming as one in labor could be heard. She sounded tired and almost on the verge of giving up.

" Aaaaaaaah!! ... I can't.. I can't do it anymore, please take it out". She pleaded with dull eyes that looked like they'd be shutting down anytime soon.

" Anna it's almost out, just a little more, you can do it.. don't you want to see him? " A middle-aged woman encouraged while trying to adjust the baby's head that had already popped out.

Hearing the woman's voice, Anna gathered the least bit of energy in her and pushed while screaming again. The baby finally came out.

"Anna it's a boy"

Liz exclaimed. Anna's tired face finally had a genuine smile on it. After cutting its umbilical cord, there was still no sound from the baby. Not even a whimper could be heard even after

hitting its soft butt, the middle-aged woman frowned.

" Aunt Liz, is my baby fine, why. wh.. why isn't he crying? "

Anna asked already panicking.

" I don't know why he's not crying, but he's breathing perfectly fine.." Aunt Liz answered looking skeptically at the baby. Just then the baby started wailing.

Liz smiled,

" Must be a strong one". Anna finally released a breath of relief and collapsed on the bed.

Liz held the baby to a basin filled with clean water to wash the blood off him. While rinsing the blood off him, the baby finally opened its eyes and Liz almost dropped him out of shock.

This was not the first time she played midwife, she had helped most women deliver their babies safely. And this was her first time seeing such strange eyes of a child.

The baby's eyes had a rim of gold around its black pupils. It took a larger part of the iris causing the black pupil to appear a tad bit smaller. It was enchanting. Its

eyes stared deeply at Liz and it almost sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't look away, there seemed to be some spark of fire in them that could never be extinguished.

After staring a bit more, it then closed its eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep.

Liz wiped the baby clean and placed him in the cradle she had just made. She kept wondering what the baby was because it was clear he wasn't a normal child. But Liz didn't feel repulsed at all, but rather she felt drawn to him and a sense of protectiveness overshadowed her.

Maybe because she had already lost her own out of her stupidity, but she wasn't going to repeat her previous mistake. She vowed to look after the child with Anna, no matter who or what he is.