Chapter 1: A Family of Three

It was night. The poor, dilapidated neighbourhood was steeped in silence, occasionally broken by the calls of crows, while stray dogs wandered in the dark, growling incessantly. The sound of feral cats fighting tore through the heavy night. Inside the room, a fierce battle was also underway.
"This time it’s definitely going to happen! Hahaha, I’m finally going to have a child!"
Owen exclaimed excitedly, putting even more enthusiastic effort into his work.
Owen, 35, and his wife, Opal, 32—they were considered a bit 'old' to be still childless. However, until now, they have been unable to conceive a child.
Lately, Owen's mother had been pushing them harder and harder, even bringing large amounts of herbal medicine.
"Drink this and quickly give me a grandchild!"
She was extremely furious, her face full of winding wrinkles like a demon, and though she was thin and gaunt, her strength was immense. Her eyes held absolutely no affection for Opal; in her view, the fact that they had been married for years without a child was undoubtedly due to Opal's infertility. She had repeatedly made scenes, demanding that Opal be thrown out, but her son was utterly infatuated with Opal and naturally would not allow it.
After a harsh scolding, Owen and Opal finally drank a large pot of the herbal remedy, leading to the 'battle' that continued until dawn.
The door to the couple's bedroom was opened early the next morning, before the sun had fully risen. The hunched older woman shuffled into the room, looked at the state of Owen and Opal, and then left satisfied and cheerful, uncharacteristically failing to wake Opal up for chores.
Finally, Opal actually became pregnant. The mother-in-law was so delighted that her eyes seemed to disappear when she smiled, and she would occasionally rub Opal’s belly affectionately, refusing to let Opal touch even a single household chore. She was like a ghost. Her aged, dry, and somewhat dark hands, with their strangely long fingers, sent chills down Opal’s spine every time they stroked her belly. However, she could sense her mother-in-law's love for the child inside her, so she dared not say anything.
Opal was five months pregnant, yet her stomach was strangely large, looking as if she were seven or eight months along. Occasionally, the skin of her abdomen would move slightly, as if to testify to the life within.
The mother-in-law happily sang: "It must be twins, twins! I’m going to have two grandchildren at once!"
She glanced sideways at Opal: "Finally, you are useful."
Opal frowned silently but still did not dare to speak.
Things started to turn strange that evening.
Opal felt restless and couldn't sleep, yet she couldn't fully wake up. She felt as though something was pressing down heavily on her, especially on her stomach.
She tried to open her eyes, but she felt as if she had sleep paralysis, unable to move even a single finger. She was trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake up.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!!"
Opal and Owen were awakened the next morning by their mother’s scream. Opal felt her body being violently shaken. The mother-in-law's piercing scream, which threatened to tear her eardrums, echoed through the room: "You wretch, why is it like this? My grandchild, my grandchild!"
Owen irritably burst his eyes open: "Mom, it's not even..."
However, as soon as he saw the scene before him, he widened his eyes in astonishment and horror.
"Opal, Opal!"
Opal frowned. She couldn't help but try to push her mother-in-law away, but despite her efforts, she couldn't escape the woman's grip.
Suddenly, she felt a dampness beneath her. As if realizing something, she instinctively touched her stomach. Just yesterday, her belly had been so large it looked ready to burst, but it was only slightly swollen today, and the skin felt somewhat loose and inelastic.
Opal’s eyes flew open. She used all her strength to push her mother-in-law away and scrambled up, frantically flipping over the blood-soaked blanket.
The sight beneath the blanket was revealed to them all.
The shapeless, reddish body of an unborn child lay in a pool of blood.
As if not entirely dead, it still twitched slightly. In Opal's sight, the child seemed to be trying to open its eyes, its tiny limbs moving as if trying to crawl toward her.
Its mouth was agape, seemingly uttering something.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!"
Opal screamed wildly: "Owen, it’s crawling toward me, Owen!"
Owen did not understand his wife. His eyes, shadowed with dark circles, were filled with fatigue.
Clearly, the premature infant lying on the bed had been dead for a long time.
Perhaps Opal was hallucinating due to the loss of her child, he thought, then quickly embraced his wife, comforting her ceaselessly.
Meanwhile, his mother was off to the side, constantly leaping and screaming, lunging forward as if she wanted to beat Opal to death. She believed Opal's carelessness was the reason her grandchild had been prematurely born and died. She was utterly oblivious.
Only Opal was genuinely terrified. She remembered the thing pressing down on her in the night, the nightmare she couldn't clearly recall.
Opal shivered uncontrollably, her beautiful face now streaked with tears and exhaustion.
.
Opal was pregnant again, after many struggles.
This time, the mother-in-law doted on Opal even more—no, it would be more accurate to say she was even more strict. She forbade Owen from sleeping with Opal and didn't allow Opal to do anything at all. Of course, all her attention stemmed from her intense love for the child in Opal's belly.
It was night. The small house was plunged into deep darkness. Mouldy walls and peeling paint flaked off in chunks, constantly showering down onto the floor. The air was filled with a damp, musty smell, subtly mixed with a strange, metallic stench...
A sticky, squelching sound continuously echoed in the night.
Opal squeezed her eyes shut, barely daring to breathe. These strange sounds occurred a few times every month. Opal was timid, and since she slept alone, she never dared to open her eyes to look. Every time she mentioned it to Owen, he dismissed it as the stress of pregnancy, claiming it was just her hallucination. Being denied every time almost drove Opal insane.
But it clearly wasn't... Opal knew the sound was distinct, coming from the foot of the bed, like countless maggots squirming nonstop.
In the darkness, something was staring at her. Or maybe it was just her imagination.
Yes, it must be just a hallucination.
Opal squeezed her eyes tight, her hands gripping the blanket tightly on both sides, trying to stop herself from trembling. Just ignore it, like every time, and everything will be fine.
But it seemed that this time, whatever it was had no intention of letting Opal keep her eyes closed.
"Mother..."
A muffled, whining sound came from the dark. At the same time, Opal felt something crawling across her blanket. A liquid soaked through the blanket transmits a coldness to Opal’s skin, starting from her thighs and crawling up to her belly.
"Mother..." the voice continued to whimper.
Opal felt the fishy stench growing stronger and stronger. The thing was getting closer, closer still... immediately afterwards, Opal’s tightly shut eyes were suddenly forced open with immense strength, a great force that Opal could not resist!