Parental Consent

Tabitha and Jack were newlyweds who'd just moved to Minneapolis. After being married for a year they decided to start a family. Tabitha was having trouble conceiving a child so they went to a specialist who guaranteed results.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jack asked as the doctor prepared her for conception.

"We've tried everything else." Tabitha replied. "What have we got to loose?"

In the next room an attendant was preparing the embryo that would be inserted into Tabitha's uterus. Across from the attendant another one had just finished examining a sperm sample taken from what was believed to be a demon. Called to another office, he put the beaker on a shelf next to the door so it wouldn't get mixed with one of the other samples.

"The patient's ready." Tabitha's doctor said as he came into the room. As he came in he tipped the shelf, causing it to shake a little bit. "Whoops." He said as he held the embryo in one hand and steadied the shelf with the other.

"I'm getting someone to move it form here." The attendant said as she helped him steady it. What neither of them noticed was the Demon Sample pouring into Tabitha's beaker. It changed it from blue to crimson red before reverting to normal.

Unaware of the horrific contamination, the doctor returned to the treatment room and did the insemination. Two weeks later she was pregnant…

8 months later…

Tabitha threw up in the toilet for the fourth time that week. She was supposed to be over the morning sickness ages ago but for some reason she still felt like crap. To top it all off she'd had nothing but bad luck ever since she found out she was pregnant. They lost the house, Jack lost his job, their parents all died at the same time and finally they went bankrupt. The only light was finding out they would be having twins—a boy and a girl.

Now the not so happy couple lived out of their car and was traveling to California to start over. They'd pulled into the rest stop just in time. As she returned to the car Jack had just finished filling up on gas. "Feeling better?" He asked.

"For now anyways," She said as she rubbed her aching head. "Let's get out of here—oh!"

"Are you okay?" Jack asked as Tabitha leaned against the car, holding her belly. Quickly, he helped her to a nearby bench to sit down.

"I think these babies are going to be the death of me." She said as she grimaced in agony. "I think we should rest for the night."

"We wouldn't be going anywhere in this fog, anyway." Jack replied. "Come on, I'll get you in the car." As Jack helped her into the back seat of their minivan he noticed two children watching them from inside the rest stop. The thing about them that caught his glance was their crimson red eyes…

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"I'm going to go get some things from the store." Jack said soon after nightfall. "Will you be ok?"

"I'll be fine." Tabitha replied. "The pain went away again so I think I'll be fine." Right then, Jack noticed blood soaked through her shirt.

"You're bleeding!" He exclaimed as he lifted he shirt so they could examine it. What they saw made both of them freeze in horror. Written in blood on her swollen belly was a message that read 'REBIRTH IS AT HAND'.

"What's happening to me?" Tabitha asked, scared out of her mind. "And what is growing inside me?"

"Come on, let's get you inside." Jack said as he helped her up. "We'll call an ambulance to get you to a hospital." When they entered the Rest Stop, they noticed all the lights were on but there were no people in sight. "Where did everyone go?" Tabitha asked. "This place was packed a few hours ago…"

"Wait here." Jack said as he picked up a broom in the corner. "I'll have a look around." He started in the food court and noticed that again, everything was in order but no people were in sight. "Hello?" he called into the grocery store. Hearing no reply, he headed for the restrooms.

That's when Tabitha called him, her voice filled with dread. "JACK!" When he returned she was holding her belly. "I'm having contractions!" She exclaimed. "They're coming, Jack!"

"I couldn't find anyone." He replied. "This whole rest stop is empty. We're the only ones here."

"Good, then I won't feel weird about giving birth in the place-oh!" Tabitha gasped. Several doors opened and a stream of blood—dark, red and fresh--covered the floor. It made the room reek of blood. Jack thought it wise to move to another location so he took her into the staff lodging area. After getting her settled on a bed he ran about the grocery store to grab more things.

"I hope the people who own this place won't mind." Jack mused as he returned to Tabitha with more things. "There's no one here but you can't help but wonder."

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Tabitha replied. "I'm glad the bleeding stopped from before, though." When she lifted her shirt only the wounds remained. She'd given up trying to figure out how it happened hours ago.

"You know, at nights I can hear the babies." She said as she fingered the imprint. "Sometimes it's their heartbeats and other times, something else. Take a listen and see for yourself." Jack put an ear to her belly and what he heard was not what he'd read about. It came low but then it grew loud and fierce, loud enough for both of them to hear clearly.

When he moved his face away from her he saw a tiny hand reaching up to him. "What is that?" He asked with concern. "It doesn't look human…"

"Jack, I don't feel so good…" Tabitha said suddenly, her face turning white. Jack touched her face and realized she was burning with fever.

"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" He asked. "That's probably why you're in so much pain."

"I didn't want to worry you…" She replied before passing out.

"I'll see if I can find something to bring it down." Jack said as he rose to his feet. "Don't you die on me!" He ran through to grocery store and grabbed some medicine, ice and water. Grabbing as much as he could carry, he ran back to the staff break room and opened the bags of ice.

"Please, hurry…" Tabitha said as she struggled to remain conscious. :You have to cool me down or the babies will die before I get a chance to." Jack spread a blanket over Tabitha and emptied all the bags of ice on top of her. He then watched in horror as it melted almost instantly.

"The fever is getting worse." Jack said as he opened a bottle of water and put it to her mouth. After she emptied it he gave her another and another. Within minutes she'd drunk 16 gallons of water.

---

"Finally, the fever broke." Jack said when he felt her body cooling down. "We did it!"

"Jack, go find some towels to put them in." Tabitha said sleepily. "And more blankets and water, too."

"Right away," He said before running off again.

"I'm so sorry, Jack…" Tabitha said before breathing her last.

When Jack returned a few minutes later he was flustered and out of breath. "I hope this is enough." He said after putting everything down next to the bed. "I was only able to carry so much back here." When he saw no response he presumed she was taking a nap. After touching her neck he knew otherwise.

"Tabitha, wake up!" He exclaimed as he threw off her blankets to check her pulse. "You can't die on me. I can't loose all of you…" He touched her belly and felt the babies still kicking. Taking a knife, her cut her shirt open and started CPR. If he could keep it going until someone came, she'd have a chance.

Even if she were brain dead he could keep the babies alive by keeping her heart and lungs working. After 4 hours had passed with no change and nobody coming by Jack couldn't keep it going anymore. His family would be gone very soon.

"I'm sorry kids, but there's nothing I can do." He said as he listened to the unborn children moving inside Tabitha. "Mom's dead and you'll be joining her soon." He sat and listened until the moving slowed down and finally stopped. Helpless to what had happened to him, he wept over Tabitha's belly.

When he felt a sudden kick he was startled. Could they still be alive? Taking a steak knife, he cut into her flesh and pulled out the first baby, a girl. After clearing the airway she started to cry. "Oh, god she's alive!" He exclaimed as he dried her in a blanket. After setting her down on another bed he went for the other baby.

Just as he prepared to cut into Tabitha again he saw a claw try to slash at him. Whatever it was not only wasn't human but was the reason his wife had died. Enraged, he took the knife and plunged into the unseen creature. The being screamed an inhuman howl as it recognized the blade that ran through its body.

Jack rotated the knife full circle, listening as bones snapped like toothpicks and blood squelched like grapes. Crimson red blood gurgled out of the place where the knife penetrated as the creature died. After this everything was quiet save the crying of the human girl.

Satisfied, he picked up his daughter, walked to his car and drove away. The first thing he planned to do was pay a visit to a certain Fertility Clinic…

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You must admit that was very disturbing. For the most part, all my Horror flicks will be one-shots. There'll be exceptions, of course but for the most part one-shots are it. Review this story, if you dare…