Divulgence ✹ Septicgab

Two

After hearing about the plans, Evelien and I immediately got our bags packed for the flight.

"Hey babe?" She called for me. "Did Rae say how long we'd be out?"

"No, but I'm guessing it'll be a while," I shrugged. "I'd probably pack a week's wor-" The sound of the doorbell interrupted my statement. "I'll get it. Do you have BB's cat sitter all scheduled?"

"Yeah, I'll call in a sec," she said, and I went to the door.

-

Upon opening the front door, there was a young girl standing there, looking startled. I offered a friendly smile, but she hesitated to say anything.

"Hello?" I said. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, um.. I'm-" she stuttered. "I'm sorry. It's just..." The girl took a deep breath, exhaling slowly to calm herself down. "Hi."

"Hi," I repeated. "Is there something I could help you with?" She nodded.

"This... this is gonna sound really strange," she said. "But.. my name is Amelia. I'm... I'm looking for my parents."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I sighed. "Do you know where to contact them?"

"That's the... um..." Amelia smiled awkwardly. "That's where it gets complicated." I invited her in to call her parents. "I.. I don't even know your name.."

"Seán," I said. "Could you tell me your last name? I could try and find your family in public records.."

"McLoughlin." I heard the name being said, and instantly froze. "Amelia McLoughlin..."

"Could you give me a second?" I asked, and she shrugged, nodding. I scurried to the back room where Evelien was packing. "What the fuck..."

-

"What's going on?" Evelien asked. "Who was that you were talking to?"

"A kid.." I said, and with every word spoken, my fiancée grew more and more confused. "Amelia.... McLoughlin." Evelien's eyes widened. "Yeah.."

"I mean.." She said. "Isn't McLoughlin a very common name?" I nodded. "Then why panic?"

"Babe..." I sighed, causing Evelien to look at me. "Babe, she looks just like you." She raised her brow. "Like a child.... you would've conceived... and had given birth to..."

"Okay, no."

"Babe..."

"Seán, what the hell?" She held her hands to her forehead. "What the fuck? The hospital... They said I never had a baby. How old is she?"

"She looks to be... about twelve.." The child was extremely tall.

"Then how could she be ours?" Evelien chuckled. "This is silly. We're not parents of a twelve year old."

"Could you... just go talk to her?" I asked.

"Fine," she took a deep breath, exhaling slowly to calm herself down. "Okay.."

~

I walked out to the lounge where I found a young girl, sitting quietly on the sofa. She smiled when she saw me.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Amelia." She even spoke like me.

"Hi Amelia.. I'm Evelien," I gulped. "Okay.... So..."

"Did Seán catch you up on me?" I nodded. "There... was a little more.." I sat down next to her. "I'm six years old... well... I'm told.."

"You don't know your birthday?" I asked.

"Not exactly," Amelia said. "I lived in a hospital for most of my infant life, but the woman I was told.. was my mother...." She hesitated. "I figured out.. she wasn't.. She kidnapped me.."

"Do you... Know where you were born?"

"I heard about this place.." Amelia explained further. "A weird land... I think they talked about it on the news... but I.. I've had this dream where..... I see a wolf thing... but the only sound is my own crying.." My jaw dropped. "Evelien?" I snapped out of my trance. "One of the doctors.... I heard them say your name. Evelien Smolders..."

"I was pregnant.."

"A woman named Sophie... told me your baby was missing," Amelia started to tear up. "I... I'm your daughter.." Seán walked around the corner. "And... he's my father.." I looked at my fiancé.

"It all adds up," I told him as tears rolled down my cheeks. "There's a reason why the doctors said I wasn't pregnant.." Seán came to sit with us.

"You.... You had already..." He said, shocked that his theory was true. "There?" I nodded.

"Sophie kept me from learning about my family," she said. "But I snuck out when she went to bed."

~

With the new information, we decided to call Rae and catch her up on everything we had just learned. Whilst I was on the phone, Evelien dug out an extra bed set and helped Amelia feel more at home.

"What?" Rae asked.

"Reynolds kept more from everyone than we thought.." I said. "Evelien... was really pregnant.... but the whole pregnancy was in Yharnam."

"How's that even possible?"

"I've been having these dreams," I explained. "And... oh... I get it now..." It suddenly made sense. My dreams weren't just dreams. They were the memories easing back. When I first got to Yharnam, I had a period where I sat in fear, refusing to move forward. I was terrified, and all I wanted was to get out of this strange location. When we met, it was like I had known her for years. "We slept together... one of those nights when we were alone...." I chuckled. "Wow... How could I forget that?"

"We've all forgotten experiences there," Rae said. "It's all one big..."

"Game.." I finished her sentence. "I feel like we're in Saw.." Rae giggled. "So.. listen, we're not gon-"

"I know," she interrupted me. "Sykkuno just got here, so Jeremy should be right behind.."

"Good luck.."

"No, we don't need luck," she groaned. "We need a fucking miracle.." The call ended, so I went back to my family.

~

I had no clue that any of this was going on. When I was there, I knew I wouldn't be around for much action, and nowhere near enough time for someone to come kill me. When Rae called me about the hospital, I knew there was something weird about all of it. I was kept in a wing of the hospital that didn't allow visitors or even wandering patients. For the first month, I stayed locked up, only receiving a meal when necessary. The fire was the best thing that could've happened, but I never knew my friends were there, too.

"Hey, are we sure about this?" Thomas asked me before we opened the door to Rae's house. "We... We don't know what to expect, and... I wasn't even there for very long."

"But I was," I said. "I didn't have people to talk to, and I need to see this through."

"Have you tried contacting other survivors?" He showed me his phone screen, displaying a list of phone numbers and names of fellow survivors of Yharnam. "Felix put this together.. He thought it could help everyone."

~

Two weeks later...

The structure of St. Luke's was horrifically damaged by my hand, but Reynolds was overseeing the reconstruction. When she saw me, I froze.

"Hello dear," she smiled.

"Hi," I shuddered. "Um.. I don't suppose you know wh-"

"Of course I know who you are," her smile faded into a scowl. "Rachell Hofstetter."

"Excuse me?" I gulped. I knew all I had to do was distract her enough for the guys to sneak in, but her knowledge of my true identity got to my head. "Who?"

"Rachell..." Reynolds approached me. "Hofstetter.."