Divulgence ✹ Septicgab

Four

My name is Amelia. I'm six years old.
My name is Amelia. I'm six years old.
My name is Amelia. I'm six years old.
My name is Amelia. I'm six years old.

Every day I spent in the hospital was okay. My mother had gotten me used to people, I was happy, and there wasn't a lot of bad stuff that went on. I could always overhear conversations, but Mother never wanted me to listen. I could never tell her what I heard.... the thought of her knowing that I knew everything..... would've killed her.

Maybe I should have told her. She had groomed me for so long. Maybe I should have told her I heard a woman outside my door. Maybe I should have told her I heard the woman telling someone that Mother was a monster. Maybe I should have believed the woman sooner. The next thing I knew was I woke up to smoke in my lungs. The hospital was on fire, and explosions were coming from a place called "the boiler room." I was never allowed to go anywhere but my room, so everything I heard was supposed to be imaginary to a child like me. If you don't see it, it's not real.... Mother always told me that.

The woman's name was Rachell, but the man she was talking to only ever called her "Rae." I knew that was real when I saw people running out of a hospital room window. People.... patients... they were escaping. The last thing I remembered Rae saying was there was a pregnant woman in their group... but the woman lost her baby.

I saw that woman running. That wasn't Mother.... but instead... my real mother. Mother flung open my door and snatched me up before I had a chance to say a single syllable. I could have never known that Mother wasn't who she said she was, but I never knew what I looked like. I never knew her husband, or if she had a husband. I didn't know what I was supposed to look like. All I knew was I was given the name Amelia... and I was six years old.

-

I blacked out. Upon waking again, I didn't see Rae anywhere. She must've gotten away like we planned. Reynolds had me tied up again, and I was bleeding from the mouth. She kept crying hysterically as she drove.

"My child... Why?!" The more she spoke, the more I could feel the anger boiling over inside of me. "You worthless piece of shit!" She reached over and bashed my head into the dash of the car until my vision was lost once more.

~

"Help!" I screamed, sitting up. I was in the hospital. "Oh my god..." A nurse bolted into my room.

"Miss Hofstetter, is everything alright?"

"Where am I?"

"You're in the hospit-.." I cut off the nurse who spoke.

"What hospital?" I sat up, reaching for her. I couldn't extend my arms very far as one was hooked up to an IV, and the other was handcuffed to the bed.

"Miss Hofstetter, you were in a very hallucinative state when you arrived. Are you slipping back into that state?" I laid back.

"No.." I took a deep breath. "Could.. Could I make a phone call?"

"We aren't allowing phone privileges at this time for you.."

"Please," I begged. "I'll only be a few minutes.." The nurse sighed as she approached a small bag that appeared to hold my belongings.

"Don't make me regret giving this to you," she handed me my phone.

-

The nurse stepped out for a moment to give me some privacy to make a call. As soon as I powered on and unlocked my phone, several notifications were popping up. 23 missed phone calls, 81 text messages, 19 Snapchat messages, 37 discord messages.. Each and every one of them was from the group who went to Yharnam... but the majority of which were Seán and Evelien. I decided to call them back first.

"Rae, thank god.." Evelien answered, putting me on speaker phone. "What the fuck is happening?"

"I- I'm not exactly sure. I blacked out, so I'm in the hospital, and no one is telling me a thing. I had to beg a nurse to even allow me to have my phone.."

"This story is all over the news.." Seán spoke up. "There was a little girl there.."

"Yeah.." I said. "That's what I do remember.. and she gave me a paper with a home address on it.."

"To where?" Evelien asked, cautiously.

"It's in Brighton." The line was silent. "You guys?"

"Did the girl say anything about why she had this paper... or who she was... or anything at all?" Seán asked in a panicky fashion.

"She said it was her mom's address... but she was also calling Reynolds her mother..." I tried to remember as much as possible. "I think she said she was brainwashed..." I could hear them murmuring on the other side of the call. "What?"

"Her name is Amelia..." Evelien said. "Do you remember me telling you this? Can you recall anything about a phone call we made to you.... saying we have a daughter?" My jaw dropped.

"Amelia..." I said. "Oh my god..." Evelien and Seán repeatedly asked what I meant by my reaction, but I was having trouble processing it myself. "I've met Amelia... before everything..."