tacenda || f.hargreeves (0): A PREQUEL (COMPLETE)

Part 8: A Sign

~

Nine grimaced as she held her abdomen with her right hand. She lets out a small grunt which earned her a look from Five.

"What's wrong?" Five asked, his voice groggy due to him waking up from his nap a few moments ago. He quickly made his way beside her, placing his hand over hers. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need to pee?" He stumbles over his words, clearly concerned over his wife.

It's been exactly seven months of her being pregnant, and it was not easy for both of them. Five have been losing his sleep since Nine would always wake up just to take a leak in random times. Despite her assurances of her being alright to go alone to do her business, he's worried she might hurt herself on the way. So, he had to make sure she's alright and by her side at all times.

Nine raised her other hand to face him for reassurance. "It's just..." she groans once more, "They have been kicking for the past ten minutes now. It hurts."

Five adjusted his hand, and carefully moved them on her abdomen. A small smile crept up to his lips, "They're strong too. Do you think they're hungry?"

"But, I just ate." Nine whispers, "I can't keep going back to the can of peaches now. We'll run out of food for next month."

"Sweetheart, it's fine. Don't worry," Five tells her, "I'll search again for more tomorrow or next week."

"I guess you could..." Nine trails off, frowning.

Five sighs and leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead. "We'll be fine, okay? They'll be fine."

Nine hums in response as she leans towards his chest. "Okay."

~

Five slowly opens his eyes, a yawn escaping past his lips. He looks down at Nine's sleeping figure in his arms and smiled. Suddenly, his smile falters when his eyes adjusted to the dark around them. "What the hell..." He whispers, squinting his eyes.

In the far distance from where they are, a figure could be seen standing still and staring at them. The figure looked like a silhouette of a man with something floating around him. Five couldn't see what it looked like since it was too dark out. "Who--what is that?" Five mumbles to himself as he continues to stare at the figure.

He leaned back in surprise as the figure raised its hand and pointed it towards him. Five shivers in response as he hears harsh echoes going around him.

"E...KAT."

'What?' Five thought to himself, 'Ekat? What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

"EHS SI... ENIM. EHS..."

"What the fuck...?" Five glares over as the harsh echoes continue whispering in his ears. "Wait... I've heard that one before. Why does it sound so... familiar?"

"EHS SI ENIM. EHS SI ENIM. ENIM."

Anxiety built up in Five's chest as the whispers grew louder and harsher in his ears. Without waking Nine up, he placed one hand over his ear. "Stop!"

"EHS SI ENIM. EHS SI ENIM!"

"STOP IT!"

"ENIM! ENIM!"

"STOP! JUST STOP! PLEASE!"

"EHS SI ENIM! ENIM!"

"WHOEVER THE FUCK YOU ARE, STOP!"

"EHS SI--"

Five's chest heaves as he and the figure stared at each other. "Ehs si enim... What the--what do you want?" Five whispers but he knew that the figure could hear him.

"YEHT ERA ENIM."

"What--" Five got cut off when the figure suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream. But it was no ordinary scream he had ever heard in his life. It was deep, and it sounded like an animal--No. It's not an animal. It's something that came from the depths of hell itself.

"STOP! STOP IT!" Five screams, shutting his eyes and covering his ears with his hands. "STOP! STOP--"

"Five?"

Five looks down to see Nine staring up at him with a concerned look on her face. She carefully sat up, holding her large stomach with her hand as the other supported her balance. "Why are you screaming? Did you have a nightmare?" She asked him as she placed a hand on his cheek which was stained with tears. "Five?"

"I... I don't..." Five tries to come up with some words as his eyes trail off towards the direction where the figure was before. It's gone. The screaming--it stopped. It's as if it was never there at all.

"It was there. I saw it. I heard it."

"What is it? What did you hear?" Nine asked, scanning around them. "I don't see anything around us."

"But, I thought I..." Five starts again, "I saw it, Nine. I heard it. It was speaking to me. B-but it didn't open its mouth! It had no mouth. It had no face! It was speaking to me, Nine. It was angry. It wanted something. It--"

"Five, calm down. Breathe." Nine caressed his cheek with her thumb as she placed her other hand to gently rub his back. "Breathe. I think you just had a nightmare."

Five stared at her with terrified eyes, "It wasn't a nightmare, Nine. I just know it wasn't."

Nine sighs at this, nodding her head, "Alright. I believe you. You just need to rest more, okay? We'll talk about this in the morning. Is that alright with you?"

She didn't get any response from him and followed his gaze. 'What is he looking at? There's nothing there.' She thought to herself. "Five?" She placed a hand on his chest, and tries again to get his attention, "Sweetheart-"

"I saw it... What did it want? What..." Five mumbled as he begins to lean back on the wall behind them. Nine watches as he closes his eyes, and she realizes he is sound asleep.

"Oh Five..." Nine whispers, giving him a small kiss on his forehead and cheek. She leaned over his chest once more and felt his arm quickly wrapped themselves around her.

'Whatever Five saw must have shaken him up real good,' she thought, 'I should probably ask about it in the morning.'

'I wonder what he saw... Or heard.'

Nine shakes her head, "Well whatever it is, I hope it wasn't the same thing as mine from a few months back..." she mumbles to herself before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

~

A/N: I'm not dead yet. But, hello there. I'm surprised some are still reading my works. I have been on hiatus for like... months now or uh maybe it's almost a year? I'm sorry. I know I made like a note a few months back stating I'll be updating tacenda and The Billy Batson one, but something just came up in my life. So, I haven't been really writing a lot (duh). And yeah, I've been busy with a lot of school work since I am now part of an organization from my school. Works just keep on piling up. But, heeeeeeyyyyy! I'm back! (Fuck, I hope I don't fuck this up). Again, I am truly sorry for the hiatus. And this short chapter. More to come soon.