Divulgence ✹ Septicgab

Six

"No. No..." I started to panic. "I refuse to believe the child I carried... is Amelia.."

"There's an unexplainable lapse in time, Evelien.." Rae sighed. "Un-unless." We both looked at Rae after exchanging a look of confusion. "Do you remember when you two met up with Ethan and Mark?" Seán nodded, but strangely enough, I had no memory of it. "How long did they say they were there?"

"Uh... about two years.." Seán tried to recall. "Ethan lost his leg during the very beginning of his time there.." Rae nodded. "What?"

"I was there very shortly after Ethan lost his leg," she said. "And there was a woman there.. she held a baby."

"How.. Okay... we were there a month apart from each other?" I asked my fiancé. "Right?" He nodded.

"That's what you told me. You said you had been there for a month.. maybe longer.." He elaborated.

"How long were you there?" I asked Rae. "If Ethan had been there for a few years before we ran into him and Mark, and you saw him after he lost his leg.."

"All I know is his leg was bleeding. He had no prosthetic like you guys told me he fashioned for himself. It was fresh.. it had to have been."

"And the baby?" Seán asked.

"She couldn't have been older than a week. The woman was sickly," Rae shrugged. "You don't think.."

"Think what?" I asked, worried I already had an idea of what was going through our friend's mind.

"I never saw the woman after that.. I didn't see anything about a baby..." She continued. "No signs of fatality.. that was maybe... 2016?"

"Are.... are we all thinking the same thing?" Seán spoke up.

"If we are..." I cringed. "We've got a lot more than just a missing child on our hands..."

"A missing beast," Rae choked on her words, sick to hear them come from her own lips. "I.. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, I-"

"You didn't know," Seán said.

"Yeah, you didn't even know I was pregnant.. I mean.." As I started to speak, I noticed a change in our friend's expression. Her glow faded into what was almost a sickly ghost colour, and her lips were quivering with words she wanted so desperately, but couldn't muster the strength and courage, to say. "What's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry," she started to tear up. "She took your real baby.." Seán and I looked at each other, stunned to hear the words that filled the silence. Neither one of us wanted to ask who, nor did we have to do so. The following words that came from Rae's mouth held the answers to every question we already knew.

"Reynolds.." I repeated. "She took my baby... she stole our child... for what?" I asked, but a millisecond later, it hit me. "Umbilical cords." Rae slowly nodded. "This would only be one.. doesn't she need- oh dear god..." The realisation continued to hit harder and harder. All Reynolds would need for umbilical cords is access to a hospital, to get ahold of records of pregnant women, approximately thirty-seven to forty weeks in term. "Fuck.."

"What was it... that happens if she gets them?" Seán asked.

"We need to call everyone," I said, unintentionally leaving the man I love hanging for an answer. "Now."

~

I woke up in a dark room. There was an earsplitting shriek ringing in my ears as I tried to sit up. She gave me a concussion. The last time I had this sound in my head, I started to forget who I was.

"My name is Amelia. Amelia McLoughlin... I'm six years old. I have brown hair and blue eyes. My dad's name is Seán. My mom's name is Evelien." I kept replaying my life story to myself to remember. "My name is Amelia Gabrielle McLoughlin. I'm six years old. I was born in Yharnam. My mom gave birth to me after she died the first time. She died twice there." My headache started to subside a bit as I sat up. "My name... is Amelia Gabrielle McLoughlin. I am six years old. My birthday is the twentieth of November. My parents were both killed in the final battle in Yharnam. My mom died first. She gave birth to me when she was with Iosefka." I heard someone coming. "Amelia Gabrielle McLoughlin.. I'm six years old. My birthday is November 20th, of the year 2015.. my name is Am- no!"

-

I was grabbed. I can only assume it was Reynolds.. she had to have heard my rambling and decided to shut me up. I refused to call her mother when we were in private. I only did in front of Rae to win Reynolds's trust.... enough of her trust to let me be alone with the poor woman. I did it to save Rae. She never did anything to hurt me.

"Rae was posing as a doctor at St. Luke's.... She was in Yharnam. She saw me when I was a baby. I had just been born when Rae saw me for the first time there. My parents had just had their first intimate night... and there I was. My mom didn't know she was pregnant with me... until after she wasn't. Turns out blood vials can alter your mind more than your body. They may be able to heal you, but the damage they cause... does so much more harm than good." I continued to talk to myself. "Rae figured it out before anyone else... so when she got out... when she got to St. Luke's... she got a job in order to get closer to the truth. Once more patients started coming, it all made sense.."

~

We called everyone to join a video chat as soon as possible, panicking about the realisations we had all come to.

"Hey. Any news?" Imane was the first one to join, followed by Felix and Marzia. Ludwig and Blaire, Jeremy, Sykkuno, Amy, Mark and Ethan all appeared on the screen seconds later. Christine wasn't able to join the call due to a regularly scheduled appointment with her therapist.

"Okay.. is this everyone?" Ludwig asked.

"Everyone we know of," I said. "We have some new information... and.. um.." Seán gave me a hug. "I can't.."

"Ev, I got this.." Rae offered a smile conveying her sympathy. "Okay... Everyone is caught up on Amelia, right?" Everyone nodded. "This will more than likely come as a shock... but Amelia is Evelien and Seán's daughter.... and Reynolds kidnapped her."

"I'm honestly not surprised," Ethan spoke up.

"About what? The fact they conceived a -"

"No, that made sense. You didn't have to hear them," Mark added.

"The fact that Reynolds kidnapped her... now that.... I don't get why," Ethan continued. "I mean.. I get that she's royally fucked up.. but a child?"

"What we don't quite get... is how Amelia is as old as she appears," Seán put in his two cents. "Rae told us she saw a woman with a baby... and this was after she had seen you, Ethan.."

"Did I have both legs?" He asked and Rae nodded. "Huh... So... if we were all there around the same time... it was the year of 2015.. right?" A few of the others started to nod. "When I made to St. Luke's, it was three years since the start of the investigation.."

"If Christine was really there for three years... then this has been going on for much longer than just 2015.." I spoke up. "That's how long you said, right?" Seán nodded. "Then..."

"It's entirely possible..." He looked me in the eyes. "It's been long enough."