Chapter Two: Birthing Blood

Sisi had the sudden compulsion to speak with a child, and she didn't hesitate when she sighted a boy that strutted in front of her home. She introduced herself, and the child was frozen in place as he witnessed her speak in tongues, which was normal for her insane self.

With the power of the Simcronomicon fused in her being, Sisi tasted the essence of soul. The boy's name was Marcus Matson, age 6.

It was said that music was the essence of soul. Marcus possessed the lilt of a singer and the confidence of a music hall artist. The child spoke of his CD collections, a bequethal from his father, passed down from legacy to legacy. As the minutes went by, Marcus said his goodbye to Sisi, and when Sisi returned home, she wrote down the name of the boy inside her book of life thus sealing the child to her ritual.

Three days later, Sisi felt something move inside her stomach. She wasn't hallucinating. Something was poking against her stomach. Sisi ran to the bathroom and tossed her grilled cheese from last night. It shouldn't surprise her at all, but the sensation of carrying something—a someone—irked her.

She opened her medicine cabinet and took out a stick for a pregnancy test. Minutes go by, and the test proved positive. She was eating for two.

Thrilled was not exactly the emotion she was experiencing. Rather, it was sadness. There was a tinge of joy since she was becoming mother, but in the end, the ritual was first. Always.

As a reasonable and respectable sim, Sisi called the father to tell him the news. He hung up as soon as she said the word. Believing that Cayden had left town and flew to the Simsahara Desert, Sisi sat down and thought the world as a cruel and lonely place. She was not exempt from this picture.

A knock on the door jolted her from that melancholy place, a place she was familiar with. She opened the door and was greeted by the shine of Cayden's pearly whites. He asked to feel the baby, asked when she was due. He asked what they would name the baby, asked if they would live together.

That melancholy place opened its doors to Sisi, beckoning her to come inside with promises of free milk chocolate flavored with morose. But she held her ground, and struggled to keep her smile. As the celebration of a soon-to-be father came to an end, Cayden begged Sisi to call him as soon as she was due.

Sisi closed the door as Cayden left. She touched her belly, rubbed it and patted it. A tear fell down from her chin to her navel.

When the time came to deliver the baby, Sisi didn't call Cayden. It was best to have the child and move it out in one quick motion.

Some describe childbirth as a magical process. In another reality, it is the stuff of horrors and nightmares that has screams, blood, knives and hooded beings. But this was another reality, a good and magical reality. There were screams, but there were no blood. Sisi held her tummy and, with one push, she gave birth to her child, a healthy baby girl.

She held the child in her arms, cooed at her and kissed her. What should she name her? And would Cayden like it? Sisi sifted through a list of names: Bo-Beep, Flim-Flarn, Habanube, Steve, Batman. She hit her head with her palm and snapped out of her insanity.

Isabel. A girls name. Wasn't it? After searching through the internet, Isabel is confirmed a girl's name.

She wanted to keep her, but the voice in her head, a third voice, a voice that was not her insane self, told her not to. The strong compulsion to leave the child outside her home was overwhelming, yet promise of immortality overpowered her. Sisi prayed to her deity. The child was taken away.