DYING MOURNINGS, original

twenty: a mother's secret

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𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 : 𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓

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I watched Beatrice fade to a complete nothingness as the color seeped back in through my eyes and Ace was moving again, no longer frozen in time. He dropped his hand when he noticed the knife wasn't in my hand, rather, he dropped his hand because he noticed things were not as they seemed one second prior.

"Ghost?"

I nodded with a grim smile. "Beatrice, yeah. She came to explain things to me, mostly just to tell me what things were."

"Like what? You mean the special knife hidden in the oldest leather jacket I've ever seen?" he laughed when I nodded. "It looks like one of those sacrificial knives cults would use-" he reached for the blade and I grabbed it, shaking my head as I murmured, "Better I be the only one to handle it for now."

He held up two hands with a nod. He dropped both hands onto his knees, going through the different candles that ranged from red to black to green. But, this time when he reached for one of my mother's journals, I couldn't stop him from taking hold of one and he let out a strangled yelp.

He clutched his hand, seething through clenched teeth as I winced. "Yeah, about those...only a blood relative can open them, some sort of blood lock."

"Think you could've told me that one before I grabbed it?" he hissed, rubbing his blistering palm. He got to his feet, shaking his head, "I'm going to grab a first aid kit-?"

"Under the sink," I muttered.

He nodded, backing out of the room before turning on his heel and moving swiftly into the kitchen. I turned back to the box, grabbing the first journal and opening it carefully. The pages were older, discolored slightly from age and wear. The first page was blank, save for a small coffee stain in the corner. I flipped to the next one, seeing a small date written in the corner and a strange warmth filled up my stomach.

It was my birth year, written in my mothers handwriting.

I casually flipped through the pages, seeing how much had been written and was shocked to see the entire journal filled to the very last line on the last page. I don't think in my whole life I'd actually filled out an entire diary like this. I could hear Ace rummaging around in the kitchen as I started to read to myself, feeling a sense of comfort and dread seep through me at the idea of what secrets were incorporated in these small pages.

I'm pregnant. Cage told me we had to wait, he had too much work going on and I just started at the hospital, but I'm pregnant. I just got back from my doctor's appointment and she told me I'm six weeks so far.

I hope it's a girl.

I flipped the page, seeing the same year but a few months later.

I told Cage we should move today, before the baby is born. His work is getting increasingly more dangerous and I'm not sure how much I can take. The men are growing restless and devil sympathizers have been circulating our town more and more as if we're some hotspot. It's almost as if we're living on top of a hellmouth.

Cage told me not to worry, that him and Archer have it under control, but I don't believe them, not when I'm carrying this life inside me that is dependent on our survival. We need her as much as she needs us.