Springwater Asylum ✓

18. WELCOME, MARLENE

Eva tucked away Celeste's partially eaten body in the bedroom closet, making sure to lock it by twisting the wire coat hangers to enclose themselves together. While she held onto the hanger, she pondered whether it was too late, only to be brought out of the mindset when her cramps began again – causing her to wince in pain.

She'd had no one at the moment. Terrell was busy maneuvering the boat, Celeste was completely useless if still alive, and Eva didn't want to go through this birth all by herself, but she figured it would be the only option. Her water broke, causing her to gasp at the liquid trickling down her legs, soaking into the carpet beneath her only to expand by the second. The woman hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Terrell had decided to take another break, switching the auto-pilot mode on and walking back inside the bedroom. He didn't find a single trace of Celeste – almost forgetting the woman's fate until the flashbacks of yesterday's incident reminded him. It felt empty without her, he'd grown accustomed to her over the duration of their eight month relationship.

However, the fact that he couldn't find a single trace of Eva also worried him, making his suspicions out to be more morbid than he initially thought. He looked around, giving her the benefit of the doubt, but once every inch had been searched, and the two were nowhere in sight – he grew worried, hoping her lifeless body hadn't met the same fate Kitty's did.

His eyes wandered over to the bathroom, marching up to it and attempting to open it – the panic and anger beginning to set in when Terrell realized it was locked. The man's nostrils flared, his jaw clenching itself for the amount of energy he was about to put into this. Terrell's hands collided aggressively with the door, repeatedly telling Eva to open up, otherwise he'd throw her off the boat.

Although the loud noises registered to Eva, she was too busy pushing out their child in the white, acrylic bath tub, wincing in pain as she didn't want to scream – thinking it would give Terrell the wrong idea. Her fingers clenched onto the edge of the bathtub while her face contorted, hissing out profanities.

On the other side, Terrell stepped back, running a hand through his buzz cut head, sighing at the thought of his girlfriend being devoured by a hungry Eva, she did it once, what would stop her from doing it again? He thought to himself. He wandered over to the kitchen, missing the not-so-obvious black coat hanger lock which blended in perfectly with the dark, wood closet. The man grabbed a knife, storming back into the room and fiddling around with the lock, until finally being able to open the door.

Eva screamed in pain, not being able to keep herself quiet any longer. This alerted Terrell to the bath tub portion of the bathroom, swinging it open to reveal a bloodied bathroom. The white tiled floors were covered in foot prints dipped in blood, including some hand prints on the wall and the edge of the bath tub.

His eyes widened at the sight, partially because he felt as if he was too late to preserve Celeste's body. However, his jaw dropped in shock when he saw Eva in there instead, lying in a pool of blood which soaked her grey dress halfway. Her feet seemed to have disappeared in the deep red liquid too.

"I-It's a girl." Eva stammered, holding a wrapped baby in her now stained coat. She wept at the sight of him, a faint and tiresome smile appearing on her face.

***

Both Terrell and Eva sat in the living area quarters of the boat, where Eva rocked her baby who was wrapped up in Celeste's t-shirt, and Terrell sat staring at the two.

He found it very odd. In the midst of finding Celeste's naked body which had been eaten around the neck – Eva didn't seem phased or defensive, she was too busy acting as if she really cared about the child.

Although she'd insisted on taking care of the baby when the two would hit shore, Terrell knew that she wouldn't be capable of doing so, but nevertheless, he'd given up the fate of the child in her hands, not caring what she decided to do with the infant girl. He knew he should have protected the baby, but Terrell would rather drink poison before he looked after the child of his sister's killer.

Terrell watched the two, knitting his brows in disgust at Eva rocking herself back and forth while holding their daughter between her hands. She reassured her with occasional giggles, cooing loving words with the usual high pitched voice people get when they're around babies.

"God forbid she turns out like you." Terrell lowly spoke, eyeing the two intently.

Eva stopped for a second, glaring back at him in response to his pathetic jab.

"The least you could do is help me keep our daughter relaxed while this boat sails to shore." She bitterly stated, shaking her head.

"Relaxed?" He narrowed his eyes, attempting to keep his cool around a child. "You ate my fucking girlfriend, Eva! I don't think anyone on this boat should be calm right now, there's a dead person in that closet who's been eaten-"

"Shut up!" Eva yelled, holding onto her child tightly in hopes that they wouldn't have to endure such loud noises in the first hours of their life. "You think I wanted to eat canned beans for four days?"

"You don't go around eating people, Eva. I shouldn't even have to say that, its common sense."

"I got hungry. And I'm sorry I won't restrict my diet to canned foods and water for these remaining days."

She subconsciously went back to rocking herself, looking down at her daughter for a moment before her gaze met Terrell's.

"I would rather die a cannibal, before I die hungry." Eva faintly stated, before getting up and walking away into the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her.

Terrell sighed, clenching his jaw once again. If it weren't for that stupid baby, I would have been at peace from day one. He pondered to himself. He got up, walking out to the deck, and into the control room to manually maneuver the home boat.