The Letter 'B'

W......

June 7th, 1727

      "The baby's coming!!" Claire shouted. "Breathe, Anna, breathe."

"Where's Marcus?!" Annabelle yelled back. "He said he'd be here. He promised!!" She just couldn't understand what could be keeping him; there really weren't that many places to be at 3am on a Friday night. "I know, Anna, but you can't worry about that right now. Ready? Push!"

      Annabelle let out another shrill scream as she pushed harder. She'd been in labor for almost 24 hours and she was utterly exhausted. The baby just didn't seem to want to come out, almost as if it knew what type of world Annabelle was trying to bring it into. Indeed, what child would want a demon and a sorceress as parents in this day and age where one could be burnt at stake under the mere suspicion of witchcraft? If the townspeople ever found out what she and her husband really were...

      "Anna! Anna, stay with me!" Claire patted Annabelle's face. "The baby's crowning. It's almost over Anna, just one more push." Annabelle fought against her fading vision and let out one last forceful push. The next sound to pierce the still night air was Claire's sigh of relief. It was finally over. It had been almost unbearable for her to watch her friend endure so much pain. All for that unholy creature. Would Anna even be able to love this child? Claire's heart was heavy with worry for her friend. But for the moment, she could at least be relieved that her friend could finally rest.

"How are you feeling, Anna?" Claire asked her friend as she washed the baby.

"Well, I'm still alive," Annabelle responded bitterly. "I suppose that has to count for something, right?"

"Aye," Claire smiled as she wiped Annabelle's forehead with a washcloth. "I suppose it does."

     "Can I see it?" Annabelle asked seriously. "The...child."

Claire shrugged and carefully placed the newborn baby in her friend's arms. "It's a girl, Anna. She's--"

     "Don't say it." Annabelle said sharply. "Nothing that comes from that monster could ever be beautiful. Only tainted." Her mind drifted to her first son, Abbadon. Fair haired and three years old. Marcus had insisted she named the child Abbadon, as a sign of respect to one of the highest ranking demons in Beelzebub's new reign. She sighed bitterly.

"I have to escape, Claire." she said, gently rocking the baby girl in her arms. Her daughter. She wondered what Marcus would make her name this one. "I can't do this anymore."

     "But, there's nowhere for us to go, Anna. We were cast out of Alden by Reynelda. Even if you are a planewalker, it'll take a few weeks before you recover enough to jump us back there. Plenty of time for him to find us. And then who knows what could happen." Claire clenched her jaw. "I still remember what he did to you the first time you tried to escape. How he left you in that marsh with the skin flayed right off your feet and--"

      "Claire, please stop." Annabelle shuddered at the memory. It had been a truly horrifying experience. "I'd rather not remember that." Marcus had been outraged when he found out she'd escaped with their son, and even more so when he found her three towns over taking refuge in a church. She'd foolishly thought merely being in a church would be enough to protect her from him. Indeed it might have, were she not also tainted like him. A demon and a sorceress in an abandoned church. He had not been merciful.

    "Forgive me, Anna." Claire muttered apologetically. "I just wish there were some way to repay that monster for all he's done to you."

     "Aye." Annabelle's face softened. "But, were it not for him, i never would have met you." she smiled gratefully at her only real friend in the world. It had been Claire that happened upon her after Marcus left her half dead in a marsh near the church. She'd recognized the blood of a sorceress in Annabelle and nursed her back to health, only for Marcus to return and drag her back kicking and screaming with him. Despite Claire's best efforts back then, there had been nothing she could do for her fellow sorceress. So she moved closer to Annabelle. Visited her in secret when Marcus wasn't around. Treated the wounds she got from Marcus. She'd been Annabelle's rock.