59\u2013The Shadow\u2019s Choice\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeline:\u00a0<\/p>\n
At least I was able to have a heart\u2013to\u2013heart conversation with Baxter after that, and the good part was that we cuddled to sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It felt so fulfilling, but there was still a missing piece of me that was nowhere to be found, my daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I woke up again, I found myself alone in the bed. It seemed as if the other kids had already woken up and Baxter had taken care of them. I rubbed my eyes, feeling a sense of yearning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I only got out of bed when I noticed the darkness outside the window, and something struck me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was it the same night, or had I been asleep for the whole day and it was already another night?\u00a0<\/p>\n
That anxiety gripped me, and I began to panic. I hastily reached for the door and opened it to see where the others were. However, the entire living room, almost as if the whole cabin, was empty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBaxter!\u201d I called for Baxter, reaching for him as I stepped into the kitchen, but it was empty too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The worst part was that it was not just empty, but everything seemed as if it had never been touched before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were cobwebs everywhere, dust covered the torn couches, there was no food, and nothing in the kitchen looked as if it had been used in years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panic took over because none of it made sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBodhi, Elara?\u201d I yelled, screaming as I searched for my children.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ran upstairs to Yuvonne\u2019s room, or what used to be Yuvonne\u2019s room, and it seemed to be locked, as if it had never been opened before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then I rushed downstairs to Baxter\u2019s parents\u2018 room, and it was locked too. The same thing. There was no light. There was nothing. It was just a house that had been abandoned for years\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then I heard a faint whisper coming from the bedroom I had stepped out of.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBaxter, is that you?\u201d I called out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hurried toward the door but stopped midway when I heard voices coming from inside, and they did not sound like Baxter\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d a woman whispered, her voice gentle as she cried softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not worry. I will find a way. I will not let anything happen to our child,\u201d a man replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hand began to shake as I reached for the door, trying to open it and see who was inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, for reasons I could not explain, I was unable to open the door. I stayed there, listening to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has a high fever. If we do not get help for her, she will die,\u201d the woman said, sounding distressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The way she spoke to the man reminded me of myself. That was how miserable and vulnerable I felt when Gina was snatched from my arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHoney, I am telling you, I will go out and get her medicine. Just make sure you do not open the door for anyone,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
the man told her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
174\u00a0<\/p>\n
+26 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then I heard footsteps moving toward the door. I stepped away, feeling frightened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was afraid they would catch me listening to their conversation. For a moment, I truly felt like I was the one invading their privacy. That fear made me step back even more, with greater hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the moment the door opened, a bright light filled my vision, and I saw a black shadow standing within it. There was no couple. There was no bedroom. It was only a bright light with a shadow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMate or child?\u201d a voice came from the dark shadow, but I could not see any features, as if there was no face, nothing there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked the shadow, confused and unable to understand the hint it was giving me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPick one,\u201d she uttered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not understand,\u201d I replied, shaking my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to pick one,\u201d she repeated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The voice was terrifying. It almost sounded like it was not coming from the shadow itself, but from some unfamiliar source.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot pick one,\u201d I uttered, refusing to give in to the orders of this entity, or whatever it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you must pick one, or you will lose both,\u201d she warned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as she said that, my heart began to thump louder in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you? What do you mean by that? Is that supposed to be a threat?\u201d I screamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was when I noticed the shadow growing smaller, as if it were stepping back and away. I rushed into the bright light, trying to follow it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot hurt my mate or my child. Who are you?\u201d I screamed, calling out again and again as I tried to find it, trying to reach it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the more I stepped toward it, the more it faded away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, wait. Come back. Tell me what you mean by that. Do you know where my daughter is?\u201d I screamed over and\u00a0<\/p>\n
over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the shadow continued to fade, I heard one last thing from it. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSince you did not pick, I will pick for you.\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c}\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then a loud static noise hit me. I covered my ears with both hands and dropped to my knees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, stop this. Stop it. Stop,\u201d I screamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I suddenly felt hands gripping my arms, shaking me awake. I gasped, opening my eyes and staring straight into Baxter\u2019s eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, it was just a nightmare,\u201d he murmured softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Behind him, both of my children stood in the doorway, watching me with shock and fear in their eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
960-1 Will Grote\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
59\u2013The Shadow\u2019s Choice\u00a0 Madeline:\u00a0 At least I was able to have a heart\u2013to\u2013heart conversation with Baxter after that, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-no-daddy-novel-by-novelnozi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19728,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19560\/revisions\/19728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}