Chapter 11

**Acacia Point of View**

If there's an award for being unlucky, then I would be chosen unanimously by the whole world.

Tell me, I cannot even live properly or die altogether. Death seems to be playing hide and seek with my life. When death knocks my door, life pulls me back; just when I think there is no harm around me; life puts me in death's way.

Some fate I have!

I looked down at my feet wrapped in gauze and sighed. I don't feel the pain of the splinters but I can feel the pain in my head due to how everything was going on with me.

Unconsciously, my hand ran over my stomach and felt the slight bump. I remember fainting near the staircase towards down, seeing how I'm unharmed and so is the baby; this mysterious person must've saved me.

Why can't he just show himself?

For the nth time, I'm so done with this.

Being a prisoner was one thing but taken advantage of somehow that I don't even know and getting pregnant and a prisoner is unbearable.

There is so much that has been robbed of in my life in this past few months and the pregnancy only added to the list.

I don't even know how I should feel about this baby now. Having a baby should be something to be celebrated but given my situation, how should I react to this?

How should I take this baby into account?

Leaning my back to the bedpost, I recalled everything that happened before I fainted. God know how many days I was out cold.

Was I being too emotional the other day?

I shouldn't have harmed myself, should I?

Considering I'm carrying a child now, I should've been calm and thoughtful. But the moment I realized that somehow through some odd method, I was now pregnant and carrying some unknown's child, all caution and safety flew out of my mind.

It would be one thing if I had sex with someone familiar or stranger but at least in that case I would know what to expect. But it is completely absurd to be in a position like this.

I'm so confused right now. Neither I can feel the maternal emotions a mother-to-be should have nor can I be cold towards a new life growing inside me.

What a mess I'm in now!

For the next few days, I was in full bed rest given how feet were not in a condition to bear my body weight. Like always, I surprisingly take a nap before food was waiting for me on the table.

I don't think it was some kind of drug that puts me to sleep when food was to be brought to me so I cannot see who brings it to me.

If it's not drug, then what?

Every day, by the time I wake up in the morning, I find the gauze bandage on my feet was changed. What shocked me even more was I wasn't provided with any medicine; not for the bruises on my feet and not for my pregnancy.

Usually, pregnant women do take several medicines and decoctions for preventing miscarriage, strengthening the womb and to provide needed vitamins to mother and the baby.

Let's say this mysterious person is an guy who leads a life that one would in thirteenth of fourteenth century, but even at that time there were several herbal medicines that were given to pregnant women.

Either this mysterious person is too confident about the strength of the child I'm carrying or I'm taking medicines just like how I have a sperm growing inside me.

It took me fifteen days to heal completely and back on my legs and all through those days, I was bed, only thinking.

I have several questions and doubts that I needed answers for and I understood that this mysterious person would not show before me and answer me. So I decided to snoop around and see if I can find anything, just anything that might tell me what exactly is happening to me.

Starting with the rooms from first story of the castle, slowly I went through everything. By everything, I mean I even checked the walls and floor to find any hidden passages or hidden chambers.

By the end of the month, I found nothing. The result was zero. Except for the room that was always locked on the eighth floor, I was able to go through everything for not once but twice.

I tried several times to open the locked room but met no success. Next thing, I tried to see if there is a keyhole or small opening to look inside but the doors to that room are not just doors, they are metal shields that even air cannot pass.

My stomach grew a little more as I passed another month. The past month flew by with me snooping around and I didn't even feel like a whole month has passed.

Although I don't know what date and day it was but according to the stick marks I'm drawing every day, I must be nearly four months pregnant now.

A wry scoff left my mouth when the mere thought of this miracle baby comes to my mind.

"What should I expect?" I mumbled as I rubbed my stomach.

All those philosophers who speak about always having a way out of everything; pass me a gun. Stand in my position and speak all those words about positivity.

The only positive I got in all these months is a pregnancy test.

None of those books written by those world renowned philosophers I read in the past are helpful.

Stay positive? Improve yourself every day? Believe and fight for it? Every will has a way and a dog has a day?

Huh!

I leaned my head on the doors of the locked room and banged it lightly. Although all my attempts to open the doors were futile, I still tried to push it nonetheless.

By the end of the day, I have no much energy to use all my heart and strength in opening it so I only started to rub my hands on the door and push it halfheartedly.

Open, you damn thing.

"I know there's someone behind these doors. Open them, I need to talk to you. I need answers." I tried another time although I know the result.

"Fine, don't open. One day when I open these doors, have my hands on you, trust me you will wish for your death."

"How long will you hide? Oh, how I wish I beat you to pulp. When I find you, I'll poison you, beat you to pulp and – and – yes, and I will lock you up in a cage like an animal like how you are doing to me." I said out loud as I breathed out angrily.

"You must be very rich for staying in a castle like this so don't worry, I'll make a cage made of gold and jewels." I mocked and walked away from the closed room and stomped back into my room and yet again found dinner waiting for me on the table.

I had a bath before having my dinner and went out on a small walk before sleeping. Given the climate and forest surrounding the fort, there should've been many mosquitoes and other bugs but I never saw any from the time I came here.

I was thankful to God for that though. Mosquitoes are too attracted to me so I get bitten more than those around me.

"I'll decapitate your thing from even having kids." Before I completely drift into sleep, I gave one last warning to this mysterious person.

In the middle of the night, when I was deep asleep was when I felt it. Something touching me, my face!

The feeling of being touched woke me up a little. It felt like a finger was trailing down my cheeks.

By now, I was considerably awake, just that I couldn't open my eyes. It was as if they were closed stuck so I only continued to focus on find out what or who was touching me.

For the first time in these past months here, I felt the presence of something or someone here and it was definitely not a hallucination.

What exactly am I feeling on my skin?

It doesn't seems to be skin that was touching me but more like an invisible tube of air. It felt feathery and light. If was in sleep, then I would've thought it to be wind blowing from the window.

I'm fairly awake to know otherwise. I don't know what happened to my eyes that they are not opening.

Almost as if they were spelled to be shut. So, I tried to open my mouth and talk, only, no words came out.

I ran my tongue over my dry lips and attempted to talk again but could produce no sound making me choke with fear.

This is not how sleep paralysis feels like. Somehow, I know this is the doing of mysterious person.

How I wish I paralyze him like how he is doing to me!

One day, I will induce the same pain he is giving me!

**~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello Sweeties,

Next chapter is here. Enjoy!

What do you think about the chapter? Good?

Acacia is still considered strong for not having a heart attack after what she is going through. Don't you think so?

Why is this secret room not opening?

Is it really occupied by the mysterious person that is keeping Acacia imprisoned?

So, is this mysterious person's child that Acacia is carrying or there are more than one in the castle?

Can you all understand the dilemma that Acacia is facing about the baby?

Do you think Acacia is over reacting? Or her reaction is reasonable?