Virgo's Child

Running, away toward, she wasn’t sure. Claire would help her, she was sure of it. Surely Claire who could not bear children of her own, she would take care of her and the child. She only needed to stay long enough for William to find her. He couldn’t be dead; the men were lying when they said that the ship was lost to the sea. He would return to her he would always return to her. The house was not that far she could see it in the distance. Running as fast as she could in her skirts, with her belly heavy with child, she felt the first pangs of labor. The baby was coming, and soon. Tripping on her skirts she fell directly into the arms of a servant fetching water from the well.

“Miss are you okay?”

“No, I must see Miss Claire, please let her know that her friend, Sara is here from New London. Please hurry, I fear that my baby is coming.”

The young servant forgetting herself dropped the bucket and lifted the young stranger’s arm around her shoulder.

“Lean on me, miss. I will help you to the house and the birthing room, such as it is.”

Limping they barely made it to the house. Her water broke as they crossed the threshold. Claire was standing in the kitchen discussing the upcoming party with the cook, when they entered.

“Sara! Oh my word! Fetch the doctor and get her to the birthing room. Hurry before the baby comes!” Claire screamed as she walked to the other side of her. Helping her to the birthing room to deliver her child, Claire stepped to the other side of her, supporting her as the labor pains ripped through her stomach.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh” She screamed nearly falling to her knees if not for the support of the two women on either side of her. They removed her clothes and helped her into a soft cotton dressing gown, before helping her into the bed. She screamed as pain after pain, tore through middle.

“Her water broke Miss!” the servant said as she checked between her legs. Claire took a cool damp cloth and wiped her brow with it, while murmur reassurances in her ear. The pain was almost unbearable.

“I see a head Miss! You have to push! Push Miss!”

“AHHHHHHHHH! It hurts!” Sara cried as she pushed through the searing pain.

Ty woke up in covered in sweat and panting heavy. She felt cramps in her stomach as though she had just given birth. Sitting up in bed, she threw back the sheets. Looking down she saw the same flat stomach she had gone to bed with. There wasn’t any blood on the sheets, although she felt slight twinges. The dream or nightmare had felt so real, she had been the woman. It had felt as she was the one giving birth. After walking into the bathroom, she turned on the cold water and splashed her face. Sighing she changed in to clean pjs and after changing her sheets, laid back down to try to get some sleep before she had to get up for her classes in the morning.

Ty dressed in a short cream skirt and soft purple short sleeved blouse, she checked her reflection in the mirror deciding to pull her long hair up and back into a bun and holding it in place with a pair of styling sticks. After taking one last glance in the mirror she grabbed her bag and keys and left the apartment. Ty arrived at the college the same time as Chris. After receiving a phone call from an unknown woman as well, Ty was badly shaken. She was so shaken that she didn’t notice Chris running behind trying to get her attention.

“Hey! Ty wait up!” Chris shouted as she gasped for breath.

“What the…!” Ty said as she stopped dead in her tracks as Chris finally caught up to her and tapped her shoulder. “Chris! When did you get here?”

“Same time as you. I’ve been running for the past few minutes to keep up with you.”

“I’m sorry; I guess I’ve been in my own little world. I got the strangest call today. This woman called and…”

“Told you to make the right choice this time?” Chris said finishing Ty’s sentence.

“Yeah, how did…”

“Because she called me at six, as I was getting into my car.”

“That’s the same time that she called me!”

“This is really weird. How could she call us at the same time and neither of us hear the other on the phone?” Chris said as she and Ty headed toward their office.

“I don’t know but there is a strange wind blowing in. Are we getting TA’s this semester?” Ty asked as they approached their office.

“Are you ever going to wear your hear down?”

“Maybe, but I get better reception this way.” Ty said as she, indicated the two styling sticks holding her bun up before unlocking the door to their office. The office that they shared was actually really big. They had two desks facing each other in the center. The walls were covered in bookshelves, and corkboards. The far back wall had a large window flanked on either side by filing cabinets. To those who knew them best it was obvious which side was Chris’s and which one was Ty’s. Ty’s side was neat and well organized, whereas Chris’s side was usually messy and cluttered and pictures were usually pinned up all over the corkboards. They had just begun to gather their notes and handouts for the class when there was a knock on the door. Ty opened it to find two students standing there.

“I’m Bryan and this is Braden and we’re going to be your TA’s this semester.” A tall brunette college student said.

“I’m Dr. St. James, and this is Dr. Carrington. Are you going to be with us all day?” Ty asked as she moved to let the boys in.

“All day.” Braden said as he and Bryan entered the partially immaculate office.

“Syllabi, term paper handout, and this week’s note outline.” Ty said as she handed large stacks of paper to each of the boys. Chris looked at Ty for a second before grabbing card stock and markers.

“Are we making name tags today?”

“Oh! Yeah might as well. That’ll be what we start with so that they can leave right after we go over the syllabus.” Ty said as she gathered her notes.

As they all headed down the hall toward the lecture hall, Ty and Chris chatted back and forth. Bryan and Braden had been warned by friends, who had either been TA’s or had class with the Ty and Chris that they usually finished each other sentences and spoke with out really saying anything, but to really see and hear them was something entirely different. Even as they entered the lecture hall they kept up what to an outside person sound like only a partial conversation without really saying a complete sentence. Ty set up her computer, while Chris turned on her IPod playlist of Halloween music. Bryan and Braden sorted the piles of papers as Ty and Chris briefly went over what they were going to say in Class.

“This is going to be a long semester.” Bryan said as they finished sorting.

“It was your idea to be their TA’s in the first place. Besides at least they look hot. We could have been stuck with Dr. Dumais, and her spider veins.”

“Good point.”

Ty turned to Chris, who turned off the music. Instantly all the conversations stopped. After clicking on her mic Ty began the class.

“Good morning! I would like to start by saying thank you for coming on what looks to be a beautiful summer day. I promise I won’t keep you long. This is Introduction to Paranormal Phenomena. I am Dr. St. James, and this is my friend and colleague Dr. Carrington, please refer to me as Dr. St James or Dr. Ty. Also this semester we will have two TA’s Braden and Bryan. Boys if you could please pass out the name cards and handouts.” Ty said as she handed the markers to the first person in the front row.

“This semester Ty and I will be going over different types of Paranormal Phenomena. I would prefer it if you guys would address me as Dr. Chris as Dr. Carrington also happens to be my father. We will start with a discussion on what is considered paranormal phenomena. Next week we will discuss Ancient rituals, this fall the college is offering a class called Rituals and the Occult which we will be teaching as well, so I hope you all have signed up for it since it only comes around once every two years or so. Followed by Near Death Experiences and then by Angels. Then there will be an exam. After our exam we will be reviewing UFO’s and Aliens, followed by a brief discussion on Crypto zoology. With Luck there will be a speaker who will come and talk about their work as a Crypto zoologist. We will spend probably two weeks on Voodoo and Zombies after which there will be another exam. The final weeks of class will be spent discussing hauntings, ghosts, possessions, séances, tarot cards, and investigations, followed by the final. And before I forget for the record the discussion regarding Zombies will include how to create them, how to recognize them, but will not be including whether or not there is even a possibility of a zombie apocalypse or proper technique to exterminate them. It will however go over the cultural influences of zombies on not only history but also literature and pop culture as we know it.” Chris said as she paced in front of the classroom.

“During the course of the semester each of you will be working on a term paper. The paper will be due on the day of the final however should it be turned by the week before said final, you will find that it would be graded and returned the day of the final. To make sure that you are on the right course, there will be three parts of the paper due at different times the first part will be the discussion of your topic, and is due next Thursday. The paper can be about anything that we will discuss in class. For example you can research a specific case like the Winchester house, or haunting in general. Use whatever sources necessary, but please cite them in the paper, and use APA format. Any questions?” Ty asked as she glanced around the room. When no one raised their hand, she turned toward Chris.

“Chris? Anything else?” She asked.

“No, I think we’ve covered everything.” Chris said as she gathered her notes.

“Okay guys, you’re free to go.”

The rest of the day went pretty much the same. By noon they took a long lunch since their last class, Parapsychology didn’t start until 4 that afternoon.

After their last class of the day, Ty headed back to their office. As she was packing up her papers, she noticed a strange movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly only to discover nothing was there.

“Oh my God!” Chris shouted as she entered their office. Ty jumped as Chris’s voice broke the silence that seemed to hang in the air.

“What the fuck Chris!” Ty shouted as she turned to face Chris.

“That creepy Dr. Dumais stopped me and chewed my ear off about how much photography has changed over the years, and what kind of camera do I use. I thought I’d never get away. Thanks by the way for calling. I’d still be there if not for you.”

“I didn’t call you.” Ty said as she reached for her cell phone to make sure Chris didn’t get called by accident.

“I talked to you on the phone. You told me that you needed me right away.”

“I’ve only been here a few minutes, and I haven’t called anyone.” Ty insisted as she opened her cell.

“Honey, I was talking to Dumais for almost an hour. Braden and Bryan told me that you were acting strange.”

Ty’s face drained of all color as she looked at her display.

“Oh my goodness I did call! How could I of been standing here an hour and not even realized that I had done that?”

“Hun, sit down a minute. Do you want me to drive you home?” Chris asked as she put a comforting arm around Ty’s tiny shoulders.

“No, but could you follow me? I’m taking tomorrow off, and if don’t mind teaching for the next two weeks, I would like to take at least the next weeks? I may or may not take off for a few days but I will let you know what I decide.” Ty said as she grabbed her bag and keys.

“Take whatever time you need.” Chris said reassuringly. In the time that she’d known Ty she had never seen her so shaken up. When they reached Ty’s apartment, Chris waited until she saw Ty wave from the window before driving off. It was very unusual for Ty to have blackout after returning home. Something strange was in the air and Chris didn’t like one bit.