First Born

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Just the sight of the old cabin filled Stacy with a sense of dread that left her cold whenever she awoke the next day. It was impossible to ignore as it stood off to the side, dark, decrepit, empty, and always lurking. Stacy tried not to look, but the flame kept calling her. She tried so hard to focus on the missing piece of her heart but its pull was too strong.

----

"Hello earth to Stacy, you in there girl?" There was a hand in Stacy's face and she suddenly jerked. Her friend Lexi sat on the other side of the booth looking rather exasperated at her lack of attention.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“Jeez, you really spaced out on me there. I asked how the moving was going?”

“Everything is going alright,” she replied before taking a sip of her drink. “Haydn’s got some expensive moving company handling everything, should be done by this evening.” Lexi hummed, taking a large piece of her muffin and stuffing it into her mouth. She looked away for a second. A hard contemplative look passed over Lexi’s face and set Stacy on edge.

“Didn’t you two just start packing like a few days ago? You have a life too, you know.” Stacy couldn't help but agree. Once she had finally agreed to the move her husband wasted no time organizing everything. In a blink of an eye, their cozy home had been stripped bare.

“He’s just excited. The baby will be here in a few months and once we’re with his family, life will be easier.” Stacy expected her friend to be happy for her. But Lexi's expression was anything but.

“Yeah right, more like easier for him,” she spat bitterly. Stacy’s chest began to tighten.

“Lexi, don't be like that. You know he cares.”

“Are you kidding me right now Stace? That bastard found out you had a miscarriage and threatened to break up with you if you didn’t go to a clinic. As if your worth depends on how well you can have children. Why you married him I’ll never know. And now you’re going to live with his family with no support of your own. Can’t you see the trap you’re falling into?”

Stacy flinched. She really did not want to be having this conversation right now. This was supposed to be a nice goodbye before went away. No matter what Lexi thought Stacy couldn’t change things now. She’s made her decisions and was willing to see them through.

“Face it, Stacy, rich guys like Haydn only care about the image a family brings them. If he really cared about you, you wouldn’t even be having this baby.” Stacy looked at Lexi, hurt. This baby meant everything to her and her best friend said she shouldn’t have them. The shock and hurt must have shown on her face because Lexi was now looking regretful.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I know how hurt you were, still are, after the first baby. Forcing yourself to have another kid isn’t the answer.”

“He didn’t force me. I felt like it was about time that I moved on. I’m sorry Lexi, I can't do this, I need to go.” Before Stacy could stand up completely Lexi grabbed her hand. Only the long years of friendship kept Stacy from ripping her hand from Lexi's grip. She looked at her friend whose face had shifted from righteous fury to something sad and resigned. She didn’t know why it made her so angry.

“At least keep in touch, ok? You know I’ll always be there for you.” Stacy could only manage a small nod before leaving the shop and the last piece of her old life with it.

----

“I think…that’s the last of it.”

Haydn finished packing up the car with the rest of their luggage. He wiped the sweat off his brow and came to stand beside Stacy. “Ok honey, let's get in the car. Don’t want it to be late when we get to Ma’s house.” When Stacy didn’t immediately move he sighed.

“You still upset from yesterday?”

“I’m just nervous about the big change. I can’t help but feel like we didn’t think things through enough.” Judging by the frown forming on her husband’s face, what she said was not something he wanted to hear right as they were about to leave.

“What more is there to think about? The area is great, You and the baby will be around family and there will be plenty enough money to go around. How many times do I have to explain this to you?”

Stacy slowly nodded and followed Haydn to the car. Haydn was right. Moving is the best choice she could make for herself and the baby. Lexi would see that soon. Though she still felt bad for ending their last day together the way she did. She’ll have to give her a call and apologize later.

As time passed the busy city quickly turned into open fields. They made it to her husband's family home just as the sun was starting to set. The area was certainly more empty than what she had been expecting. With the last house being about a ten-minute drive back down the road, Stacy worried about how isolated her new way of living would be.

The car pulled into the driveway and Stacy saw three people waiting for them. They must be her inlaws, she thought nervously. Haydn assured her that his family would love her, but Stacy couldn’t help but worry. Her husband’s family was wealthy just like him and probably had high expectations of her. When none of them attended the wedding or even gave a word of congratulations, Stacy had assumed they were disappointed in Haydn's choice of a spouse.

Colene, Haydn's mother, ran forward to greet her son first. The woman was short and slight in her frame. She had blonde, shoulder-length hair that neatly surrounded her sweet unassuming face. Probably in her fifties.

While the mother and son were busy Stacy looked at the other two. A woman and a man, Haydn's brother, and sister. Her husband mentioned that his sister would also be staying with them in the house.

“Hey, I'm Stacy. It’s nice to finally meet you guys.” She extended her hand toward the woman with a friendly smile. Her sister-in-law looked down at her hand but did not grab it. She offered a short-clipped hello before walking away. Luckily the man saved the moment by quickly giving Stacy’s hand a firm shake.

“Nice to meet you as well. The name’s Benson or Benny for short though that one is reserved only for family.” He gave Stacy a wink.“And that grump over there is Clara. Don’t mind her; she's always like that.”

Stacy smiled and headed toward the mother and son duo. When Colene turned to her, her blue eyes were focused and assessing. When the woman was satisfied with whatever she saw her face lit up with a smile and pulled Stacy into a hug. “It's so wonderful that you're here. Let's get you inside and settle, no need to stand here while the men bring in the luggage.” With that, she took Stacy's arm and began leading her into the house.

“This is a lovely home Colene and quite big too. Do you have others staying here often?” she asked.

“Oh please, Stacy, call me mother. As for the house, it’s been the main residence for generations. The children of our great grandparents and their children’s children have all stayed here. Though I'm sad to say that no one besides Clara, my mother, and myself live here full time.”

A sudden cold draft made Stacy shiver. In the corner of her eye up on the second floor, a figure rushed by frightening Stacy enough to make her stop. It was so quick that she’d almost missed it, but it was unmistakably in the shape of a small person. Stacy quickly looked between her mother-in-law and the stairs. Colene continued to prattle on about the house none the wiser about what she had seen.

“Are there children here?” she asked “I saw someone running up there.” Colene froze at Stacy's question. The woman’s face was shocked before it became oddly blank.

“There are no little ones here dear.” Her words were clipped, and the happy smile she put back on was obviously forced. Once again she grabbed Stacy’s arm letting her nails dig in just a bit. Stacy was about to complain when Clara walked in. “Clara!” Colene snapped while Clara jumped. “Your poor sister is tired and seeing things. Take her to her room, so she can rest before dinner.” After giving her order Colene stormed off around the corner without looking back. The whole encounter was unsettling and left Stacy confused. What had she done to leave Colene so angry?

“This is it.” Clara’s irritated voice gained Stacy's attention. In her shock, she had followed the other all the way to the room without realising it.

“Uh, thank you.” Clara just hummed in response. Instead of immediately leaving like Stacy expected her to, Clara hesitated. Stacy thought she might say something. Maybe the woman was going to tell her off for upsetting her mother, but Clara didn't.

A quiet “dinner's at seven” was all she said before shaking her head and walking away.

The Muellers were all preparing either outside or in the kitchen. Colene had conveniently forgotten to mention said party, stating she wanted it to be a surprise. Many of their relatives were attending too, all apparently very excited about the new baby. Stacy’s never been around so many family members before. When she was younger, it had always just been Stacy and her mother living in their tiny two-bedroom apartment. Such excitement on her behalf felt almost too good to be true.

Evening rolled around and all the guests had arrived. Everyone that she spoke to had some sort of elite job or status. They congratulated her on her marriage and the baby but more often than not the tone of the comments made it seem like they were looking down on her. Like it was Stacy's privilege to meet them, not the other way around.

She could see Benson exiting the house trailing another young man behind him toward her direction.

“Stacy, I'd like to introduce you to my son, Armin.” Benson came over with a young boy with brown hair.

“It’s nice to meet you, Armin. You’re a very handsome young man.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate the compliment, but I must warn you, I’m already taken.” Benson tapped the back of his son’s head and gave him a stern look.

“Knock it off. You’re lucky Janette even decided to come with how you’ve been acting.”

“Yeah right, uncle Haydn’s the lucky one. He got his wife pregnant already. Meanwhile, my girl won’t even sleep with me.” Stacy found herself rather appalled at the boy's words. A boy his age shouldn’t be thinking about wanting to get his girlfriend pregnant. They were too young and if he was speaking about his girlfriend like that then he was clearly too immature as well. Benson must have seen the look on her face because he quickly ushered his son away.

It was about time she snuck away for a moment of peace anyway. Sitting on a bench by themselves was a young girl. Stacy asked after her name which was Janette, she was Armin's girlfriend. The young girl seemed reluctant to speak but made room for Stacy to sit down.

“Hello, I’m Stacy. ”

“I know. Armin won’t shut up about your baby.”

“Is he always like that?”

“They all are. I’ve known the Muellers for a while now, whenever someone gets their first baby, everybody goes nuts like it’s the best news in the world.”

“Just the first?”

“Yeah. I don't know if it’s some weird tradition but they can get really obsessive and creepy. My parents want me to break up with Armin; not only because he’s a total douche but his family might have some sort of weird disease that runs in their family. ”

“What?”

“All those babies don’t live very long. You’re already married so it might be too late for you, but I’ve made up my mind. I’m not staying a minute longer. No amount of money can make me.” with that, the girl walked away leaving Stacy absolutely blind-sighted. In the distance a glass was tapped; signalling a toast. Colene was in the centre of the backyard gathering everyone for a toast.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate this joyous occasion. Our great, great grandparents worked hard to build this family from the ground up and through any hardship we prevailed. Each and every one of us must carry out our part to ensure the prosperity of the Muellers never dies. Some may have forsaken their ties in selfishness but not my son. He has done his duty and brought forth a shower of rain onto our dying field to replenish our wealth."

Each person turned to face Stacy, but she saw no love in their eyes. Their stares were greedy like a wolf about to descend upon a helpless lamb. “We raise our glasses to you, Stacy and the promising future your child’s life will bring us all.” The crowd cheered and downed their champagne. Stacy just stood there as everyone went back to talking amongst themselves like nothing happened. What has she gotten herself into?

After the party, Stacy didn’t know how to feel. Her mind was a mess of doubt and confusion from Janette's words and the strangeness of her inlaws. Haydn has essentially disappeared. He heads to work in the mornings and then locks himself in his office until dinner time. Leaving Stacy at the mercy of his overbearing and controlling mother. At first, Colene seemed really nice but now the woman was always making some sort of insulting comment at Stacy's expense. She thought about what Lexi had said when they parted and couldn’t help but feel she was right. Now that they were here Haydn has become completely uninterested.

Right now she was hiding, sick of tea time and gossip and luckily for her the house had a whole east wing, not in use. She was admiring some of the art on the wall when she heard a thud from further down the hall. Thinking that someone had found her she called out, but no one answered. Then it happened again, quick and rhythmic. One, two, three. In the time it took for Stacy to turn the corner the hall had already gone silent and left on the floor was a small blue ball.

Suddenly Stacy was forced aside. like lightning, Pain shot up her arm. When Stacy looked up her eyes widened and froze with terror. A little girl, who looked no older than 5 stood in front of her clutching the ball to her chest. Looking closer, Stacy noticed how pale she was and how her dress was covered in red stains.

As quickly as she appeared the girl disappeared down the hallway. Against every cell in her body, Stacy got up to follow. She was fast, and Stacy had a hard time keeping up. After a few twists and turns, once they got to the first floor, she saw the girl open a door that was tucked away out of sight. The door slammed with a loud bang and when Stacy jiggled the knob trying to open it, it wouldn't budge.

Suddenly there was a hand on Stacy’s shoulder, followed by a “What are you doing here?" causing Stacy to spin around and let out a startled yelp. Clara was close, voice low and face steeped in irritation.

“I-I…” Stacy struggled to get words out.

“Be quiet.” she hissed. “You can’t go down there.” Clara grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the door.

“Hey! Ow stop that you’re hurting me!”

With all the commotion Stacy was not surprised that the others were alerted. She saw her husband rush in first then Colene. “What is going on here!?” the woman yelled.

Clara remained silent while Stacy spoke. “I saw someone go down there.” she tried to explain. but It didn't matter as Colene only screamed over her. Clara looked at her like she was an idiot.

The woman's face contorted into something nasty as she raged. “There is nothing down there. You stay out of there!” Before things got even more out of hand Haydn finally stepped in.

“Mom, mom calm down. Just go sit down, I'll handle it from here.”

“You better. I don’t want that trollop sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong."

"Excuse me!?" Stacy exclaimed. She looked at her husband thinking the man would defend her but all he did was sigh.

“Stace, honey you must have been imagining things. It’s getting late, how about we go to bed early.”

"No Haydn listen. Stop! I’m not tired and I am NOT seeing things. I’m telling the truth that I saw a little girl. She’s down there!"

"That’s enough. There’s nothing but old junk in the basement.” feeling hopelessly like a scolded child Stacy didn’t know what else to do. She could feel as the tears began running down her face and before anyone could say anything else she ran to her room.

Stacy looked at the number before pressing the call button. She feared Lexi wouldn’t pick up but the line only rang twice before she heard her friend's voice.

“Stacy omg it’s been weeks. How are you?”

“Hey, Lex.”

“Are you alright?”

The two women stayed silent; unsure of what to say. Stacy decided to break the awkward silence first. “I’m sorry.”

“Stacy, don't apologise. Look, I've been thinking. I shouldn’t have said those things to you. It was wrong and insensitive. I should’ve been more supportive.”

“You were right.”

“What? Hey no, I was wrong, ok? I’m sure Haydn is taking care of you and the-”

“YOU WERE RIGHT! He isn’t. His family isn’t. Lexi… I think they’re hiding something.”

“Like what?”

“I met someone and they said that most of the Mueller children don’t make it past infancy. Lexi, I’m scared I don’t know what to do.”

“Hold on, let me look into this.”

Lexi was silent for a while then Stacy heard a ding on her cell phone signalling Lexi had sent her an email. Inside were a whole bunch of links to articles on her new family. Most were from a few years ago, but some were very old. There were titles like: ‘MISFORTUNE AMONG THE MUELLERS’ and ‘INFLUENTIAL FAMILY CURSED?’ as the articles discussed the shadowy backstory of the Mueller family. There were other documents too. Police reports for missing persons, fraud investigations, and medical records. Many of which referenced infant mortality.

“Lexi, how did you get all this so fast?” Stacy asked.

“I took that summer course on journalism, remember? This family has a lot of dirt on them. It was surprisingly easy.” Lexi replied smoothly

Stacy skimmed through some of the photos until one, in particular, caught her eye. It was a family photo taken in front of a cabin. There were two familiar elements to the photo. First was the smallest child In the group it was the little ghost girl she saw with the blue ball. And second, the cabin behind them was the exact same one from her dreams. A candle in the window and everything. Stacy forward the photo back to her friend so she could look.

“I’ve seen this place in my dreams. And I know this might sound crazy but I’ve also seen that little girl too. Not in a dream but in the house." she confessed.

“This photo is almost a hundred years old.” Lexi‘s tone was skeptical.

“I know but I know what I saw. She was right in front of me wearing the same clothes as in the picture.”

“So the house is haunted? Not even surprised at this point. What do you think about the missing person cases? A man about ten years ago went to the police saying his wife killed their child. Hired a private investigator to look into it after the police fell flat. Says he’s been missing ever since.”

“Who’s the wife?” she asked.

“Says he married some chick named Clara Mueller.” Stacy wished she hadn’t asked.

That night Stacy had a fitful sleep. She tossed and turned unable to get the idea that her husband’s family were murderers out of her head. Was he even aware? She heard the creaking of the door as it was pushed open and instead of being scared Stacy felt determination wash over her as she got out of bed. She was going to find out what was hidden in that basement. As the door came into view Stacy wondered if it would even open but to her surprise it already was. It was wide open and beckoning her forwards into the darkness.

The girl appeared beside her with a candle. She looked scared, so Stacy offered her her hand so they could walk together. Down the stairs was a long, narrow tunnel that seemed to go on forever. The end led to a hatch that opened to a field. Stacy followed the girl as she led the way. The cabin was waiting for them with its door open. The little girl began to sob as Stacy moved closer. She looked at Stacy and for the first time uttered the words.

“They’re going to kill the baby!”

There were hands all over Stacy's body pinning her down to a wooden table. Her belly was swollen and her body was in pain. The cries of her baby and other murmuring voices were too loud and she couldn't take it. She screamed for somebody, anybody to help.

That’s when she was shaken awake. Haydn was leaning over her calling her name trying to wake her up. When she saw him, she jumped into his arms clinging like a lifeline.

“Stacy, what’s the matter with you!?”

“Hayden please I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want our baby to die, please!” even in her hysterics Stacy could feel Haydn stiffen. He placed his arms around her slowly and began talking in a slow measured voice.

“What are you talking about? Our baby is fine.”

“I want to go back home”

“This is home now. Just calm down, let me get you some tea.”

When he returned, he had a cup of steaming tea and gave it to Stacy with orders to drink it all. Without thinking she took a large sip. The tea had a strong medicine taste. Her husband just stood there watching and before she could ask what he was doing, her vision began to blur and the room went black.

In the darkness, Stacy's body felt light and floaty like she was in the air. No matter how hard she fought to lift her limbs they wouldn’t budge. Sometimes Stacy could hear voices as they spoke of what they planned to do with her. Stacy knew too much and after the baby was born they were going to kill her. It was unclear exactly how long Stacy had been there hooked up to the IV but after a while, she noticed she finally had enough energy to open her eyes.

At some point, Colene switched places with Clara in administering the drug. Clara must not have been as competent because the doses were getting less and less effective. Whatever the reason may have been Stacy planned to use that to her advantage. While Clara was busy, she planned to make a run for it. Stacy waited for the right moment when the other woman’s back was turned and struck. She pushes Clara with all her might into the wall. It worked, and she fell over taking the machine with her. Unfortunately, the needle was also ripped from her arm causing a stinging pain. Stacy ran as fast as she could have with a pregnant belly and tried to find an exit. She was being kept somewhere separate from her original rooms. Her progress was hindered when she ran right into Colene. Colene was gripping a knife and looking absolutely feral.

“Don’t make me have to use this.”

“You won’t. You can’t risk anything happening to the baby.”

For some reason, Clara appeared around the corner beside her mother. Colene’s rage fixed on her too. “Clara you useless trash, how could you let her escape!?”

Clara was silent, only staring at her mother with intense hatred in her eyes. Without a word she took the vase from the table beside her and smashed it over Colene’s head. Colene went down easy, not expecting her daughter’s betrayal. Stacy was too surprised to notice Clara was coming closer. She grabbed Stacy's arm and began dragging her forward. She was so tired but attempted to fight back regardless.

“Let me go!”

“You want to get out of here don’t you?.”

“How can I trust you? You helped them drug me!”

“I'm the reason you’re even awake right now.”

“Why?”

“Argh! We don’t have time for this. Let’s go!”

Clara pulled her along until they got to the basement. She pulled out a key and opened the door. Instead of seeing what she saw in her dreams, the door opened to a regular basement.

“Where's the tunnel?”

“How do you know about that?” Clara revealed a carefully hidden hatch. Inside was the dark tunnel. The two walked in silence and Stacy couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to know the truth as to what was going on.

“Clara, please tell me. What happened to the other babies? In my dreams, I saw something horrible.” Clara stopped and sighed before speaking.

“We offer them to what mother calls the protector. But it’s not. It’s the devil. It feeds on every first born and in exchange the family becomes wealthy.”

“You sacrificed your baby.”

“I did. And I lost everything. But you don’t have to.” they exited into the field. Stacy knew the cabin was nearby. She didn’t want to go in but Clara explained that no one would think to look for her there.

Bullets flew past their heads. Both women quickly turned to find Haydn running towards them; gun in hand. Clara pulls Stacy past the treeline and they run. The woods were thick and difficult to manoeuvre through. Stacy tripped on a tree root and landed on her side. She laid there in pain struggling to stand up with her large belly. “Here.” Clara helped to pull her to her feet.

“Are you alright?” she said. “We need to keep going. There was a BANG and the world moved in slow motion. Clara, wide-eyed and mouth agape fell to the ground. Stacy didn’t want to leave her but Haydn was quickly approaching with the gun. Stacy hobbled her way to the cabin being and locked herself inside.

“Open the door, Stacy!” She didn’t answer. Only screamed as tears kept falling down her face.

“It’s for our future, love. All of this is so we can live a blessed life together. We can always make another one.”

“You’re wrong!” She whined and moaned as she tried to crawl under the table. A wet liquid soaked her pants. She’s going into labour. With one last final bang, Haydn managed to break enough of a hole to unlock the door from the outside. Stacy screamed as another contraction hit her. Haydn bent down to her eye level and lifted her chin between his fingers. “If you hadn’t decided to try and escape you would’ve been giving birth safely right now. But now I'm going to cut that kid out of you and you’re both gonna die.” It was too late there was nothing Stacy could do now. She was going to die and her child along with her all for the sake of her husband’s greed. She was on the verge of passing out when she heard the sound of the gun going off and Haydn's body slumping to the floor. Clara was in the doorway, bloody and breathing hard. She limped over and began rifling through the other’s pocket before pulling out his phone.

“Call the police so this nightmare can finally end.” She handed her the phone before falling dead, herself. Stacy dialled 911 and pressed the call button. After the call, Stacy just slipped into the darkness once more, praying that someone would find her soon.