Chapter Seventeen

JESSICA'S POV ~

"What do you mean they're twins?" I heard Emma ask. My eyes, which I'd squeezed shut in hopes of blocking out the blinding pain, instantly snapped open and widened.

I blinked and blinked again, yet it was so real that my heart cinched tight in terror. I had been pregnant with two babies! Two babies!

My lips quivered as I tried to speak, to beg Emma to let my babies live, but no words but a broken whimper left my throat. My eyes burned hotly as the realization of my situation dawned on me. I couldn't lift a single fucking finger.

The world began spinning around me in a dizzying blur, and darkness threatened to consume me. I was so numb from the pain that my limbs weren't listening to the pleading from my brain. I needed to get up and fight. But my lips kept mouthing silent words, unheard and lost in the chaos around me. My spirit crumbled, and salty rivulets carved a path down my face as if my soul itself was weeping. 'Help me.' Anyone. Please. Help Me.

Through my blurred vision, I saw the doctor and the nurse ruthlessly cutting into my abdomen. A yell tore out of my lungs and died at my lips. I was screaming but my voice was trapped inside me. As they carved, every muscle in my body clenched in a futile attempt to contain the agony that lanced through me like wildfire. But despite my efforts, the pain broke free.

This was death, and I was experiencing it with wide eyes.

"Baby one is out, and breathing!" The nurse gasped. I helplessly watched, my heart wrenching with agony and despair as the nurse lifted my first baby from my womb. A tiny, fragile being emerged, covered in blood and amniotic fluid. My heart squeezed, and my hands itched to hold my baby, but right before my eyes, I saw the nurse begin to walk toward Emma. It was like I didn't exist; like I wasn't the mother of my children.

No! No!!! I screamed as tears burned my cheeks. That's my baby. Still, no words left my mouth. I was dying; I could feel it. My soul was giving up, but I wanted just one wish: to hold my babies before my death.

"Take out the second one next," Emma snapped and dumped my wailing newborn unceremoniously onto the dirty mattress in the corner. Shock swept over me and I was gripped by the need to fight. But I could feel my heartbeat slowing. Every cell in my body seemed to shrink as a strange coldness began to spread from my feet, reaching my body.

"She's not breathing properly anymore! She's dying!" The doctor said as I tried to fight the darkness that was creeping up the edges of my vision.

"How many times have I told you that I don't fucking care!" Emma snarled. "If she dies, we'll bury her somewhere, but for now, clean up this mess, and don't try to give me those babies to carry.”

Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the cold sweat that drenched my skin. Every inch of my being was ablaze with agony as if a million white-hot needles were piercing my flesh. I wished I could tear off my skin to put a stop to this unbearable pain.

Emma's gaze shifted to me as my eyelashes fluttered open and closed. She stepped onto the cold tiles where I was sprawled and gave me a cruel smirk, making my heart squeeze painfully.

"You must hate me now, my dear best friend," she whispered, her hand moving to my hair, slowly and softly stroking it. "Perhaps in your next life, I'll make things right, but for now, you need to go. I need Keagan as much as I need air, and I hope you can understand that."

A tear escaped from the corner of my eye, and Emma was quick to catch it, wiping it from my cheek. I stared at her with the last bit of energy I could muster, my thoughts swirling uncontrollably. I wished I had never met her. I wished I hadn't trusted that someone would ever love me in this cruel world aside from my dear dead mother.

Keagan hadn't searched for me. No one had. Everyone had left me to die in Emma's hands, and Emma was taking full advantage of the opportunity. There was no hope anymore. Despite how much I had believed, prayed, and wished for some sort of miracle to happen, it was now too late.

I had lost. My stomach knotted in pain, and a bitter taste filled my mouth. So, this was what death was like: cold, painful, and numb. and lonely. so damn lonely.

As the realization of my impending death sank in, a devastating emptiness consumed me. My lips quivered, and a guttural cry finally escaped my throat. Every fiber of my being ached to hold my children, to feel their soft, warm skin against mine, if only for a moment.

“Please…” I mustered the last strength I could. " Emma please… let me touch them." My voice was barely audible but from the smirk that twisted her lips, she heard Then she scoffed and then threw a look at the doctor.

My body turned slack and stiff from shock, my trembling hand outstretched towards my babies but they were moving right away from my sight. My vision blurred, tears streaming down my face as I desperately strained to reach them. The intense yearning to touch them, to comfort them, was overwhelming, and it felt as though my heart was shattering into a million pieces.

The cruel irony of being so close yet so far from my precious children was unbearable. I could see their tiny, fragile forms, but my fingertips could not reach them. Each ragged breath I took was a testament to the excruciating pain that enveloped me, both physical and emotional.

Memories of the dreams I had nurtured for my children flashed before my eyes, taunting me with visions of a future that would never be. The anguish of knowing that I would never see them grow, never hear their laughter, or witness the milestones in their lives was more than I could bear.

My eyes pleaded with Emma, begging her to show mercy and allow me one final embrace with my babies. My voice, however, failed me, reduced to nothing more than a tortured whisper. I knew my time was running out, and the despair that washed over me was all-consuming.

As the coldness of death crept closer, my body began to shudder, the last of my energy fading away.

"Her eyes are losing color," Emma announced as she stood before casting me one more look. "Get the gasoline and light this place on fire. She's going to die here."

More tears flowed, my mouth opened for air, but there was no more oxygen. My trembling fingers moved to my slit tummy, which the doctor had roughly stitched and was still bleeding. I tried to hold it to stop the blood, but I knew it was futile. Death was certain for me.

I watched the men scatter as they all went in search of the materials Emma had ordered them to find. I saw Emma pace about as she made a call, but my mind could barely register any of her words.

A sob escaped my lips twice as I stared at the ceiling. I had no idea what to wish for next or what to pray for, but there was just one wish: to live again. To live again and take brutal revenge.

I wanted my babies back, and I wanted to be stronger and better than I was. I wanted the world to fear me next, and even if I didn't get all these wishes, I just wanted to have a glimpse of my babies again.

Emma was done with her call, and then she strode back to me. "I'm sorry I have to steal your babies away. Well, don't be scared that they won't be taken care of. I've already got some fake results for the pregnancy, and your babies will soon be mine. And guess what? Remember what I said about Keagan mourning you for a day and then moaning the same night? That's about to happen. Next time, baby girl, always know that you can't outsmart an Alpha gene. If you hadn't cast a love potion on Keagan, perhaps you would be groveling on the street, but you wouldn't die. Rest in peace, Jessica. Sleep well."

I felt her cold hands move to shut my eyes. The pain radiating through my heart began to slowly fade, my body turning numb, and my bones could no longer move.

I heard footsteps and slowly opened my heavy eyes, taking in Emma as she walked through the same door my babies had gone through. My body gave a last jolt. 

I felt pathetic. Another woman, my best friend, had stolen yet another precious thing from me, and I couldn't protect it. My kids would be very ashamed of me, and I prayed they would take after their father's genes. I wasn't worth it after all.

Through my weakened and hazy gaze, I could see the men speaking outside as they banged the door shut and locked it. Their voices were low and urgent, but I couldn't make out their words. They seemed to be discussing something important, perhaps my fate, as they stood just beyond the door.

As my vision blurred in and out of focus, I watched them begin to pour a liquid onto the floor around the room, the sharp scent of gasoline invading my nostrils. They continued moving around the large room, dousing everything in sight with the flammable liquid. Panic welled up within me, but my body was too weak to respond.

The masked ringleader paused for a moment, his gaze fixated on me. I returned the stare, my eyes pleading for mercy, but I couldn't tell if he understood. His expression offered no hint of guilt or remorse for the act he was going to commit.

In the next instant, he produced a lighter, moving farther away from the gasoline-soaked floor. With a flick of his thumb, a small flame ignited. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him toss the lighter into the gasoline. Flames erupted, spreading voraciously, devouring everything in their path. the fire spreading rapidly and hungrily consuming everything in its path.

As the flames drew nearer, fear pulsed through me, their orange glow dancing menacingly across the room. The heat was intense, sweat forming on my brows. I knew there was no escape. I lay there, paralyzed, too weak to move, as I watched the fire approach me, its blistering heat scorching my skin.

In that moment,  I accepted my death. A sense of defeat washed over me as I realized there was nothing more I could do. I closed my eyes, ready to embrace the end, as the guttural pain within me intensified. The fire's roar filled my ears, and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before it would consume me entirely.

Just as I thought it was all over, an explosion shattered the silence, violently shaking the room. The force of the blast flung me from my spot and everything went black.

I accepted my death. A sense of defeat washed over me as I realized there was nothing more I could do. I closed my eyes, ready to embrace the end, as the guttural pain within me intensified. The sound of the roaring fire echoed in my ears, and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before it would consume me entirely. The only thought that echoed in my brain was. Let my children know the truth about what happened to me, someday."

Just as I thought it was all over, an explosion erupted, shaking the room violently. The force of the blast knocked me off my feet, and everything went black.