Chapter 70: Aurora

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Aurora

Penelope didn’t answer.

She was already moving.

Slowly, she approached the bathroom door.

The crying grew louder.

Her hand closed around the doorknob.

She opened it.

And froze.

A baby carrier sat in the corner of the bathroom.

Blankets.

Formula.

Diapers.

And inside the carrier—

A newborn baby girl.

Alive.

The baby cried again.

Not because she understood what had happened.

Not because she was afraid.

Simply because she was hungry.

For the first time that day, none of them knew what to say.

Penelope carefully knelt beside the carrier.

The moment she lifted the baby into her arms, the crying stopped.

The apartment became silent once more.

Behind her, Kai slowly exhaled.

"Oh."

It was the only word he could think of.

Penelope looked down at the child.

The baby couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old.

Tiny.

Warm.

Alive.

A family photograph on the bathroom counter caught her attention.

A man.

A woman.

The same woman lying outside the bathroom door.

And in her arms—

The baby.

The picture had been taken recently.

Before the red sun.

Before the apocalypse.

Before the world ended.

Penelope stared at it for several seconds.

Then she looked back at the child.

The mother hadn’t left.

She had stayed.

Even after turning.

Some instinct.

Some fragment of humanity.

Had kept her outside that bathroom door.

Protecting her child.

Nobody spoke.

Because there was nothing to say.

Eventually, Kai broke the silence.

"...We’re taking her, right?"

"Yes," Erik answered immediately.

"Obviously," Killian added.

Penelope didn’t answer.

She simply adjusted the blanket around the baby.

The decision had already been made.

The journey back upstairs was quiet.

No one complained.

No one joked.

Even Kai remained silent.

The baby slept peacefully in Penelope’s arms.

As though the world hadn’t ended.

When they finally reached the twenty-fifth floor, Aunt Mary opened the door.

She smiled.

Then she saw the baby.

The smile disappeared.

Not from horror.

From shock.

"Lucy," she called.

Aunt Lucy appeared from the kitchen.

She froze.

For perhaps the first time since the apocalypse began, neither woman knew what to say.

Penelope carefully placed the baby into Aunt Mary’s arms.

"She was alone."

That was all the explanation she gave.

It was enough.

Aunt Mary’s expression softened immediately.

Aunt Lucy was already moving.

"Blankets."

"Formula."

"Boiled water."

The two women transformed instantly.

The apocalypse stopped existing.

Because there was a baby.

And babies didn’t care about the end of the world.

They cared about warmth.

And food.

And being held.

"What was her name?" Aunt Mary asked quietly.

Silence.

Nobody knew.

Nobody had looked.

Nobody had thought to.

The room remained still.

Then Penelope walked toward the window.

Outside, the crimson sun illuminated a world that no longer existed.

A new world.

A cruel world.

A world that had somehow allowed this child to survive.

She turned back.

"Aurora."

Everyone looked at her.

Penelope smiled.

"Aurora."

No one disagreed.

In Aunt Mary’s arms, Aurora yawned.

Then she fell asleep.

"Well then, seems like baby Aurora needs to get back to napping." Aunt Mary said as she walked towards her room.

Ben happened to walk out of the ’bathroom’ when he noticed a baby.

"Woah, who had a baby?" Ben asked.

"Penelope." Kai answered.

"What!" Ben asked incredulously. "They move fast."

Ben blinked then slowly looked at Penelope.

Then at Killian.

Then back at Penelope.

"That’s not what I meant."

"So, who moves fast?" Penelope asked with a smile.

Ben shivered and walked towards his mom. "Mom, let’s go home."

"Why are you running away?" Penny asked again.

Killian just smiled at their antics.

"Ben, Kai. I think you two have a lot of time on your hands." Erik said with a frown.

The apartment slowly returned to life.

Aunt Mary disappeared into her room with Aurora nestled securely in her arms. Aunt Lucy followed shortly after, muttering something about formula, baby blankets, and how no child of hers was going to grow up hungry.

Ben watched them disappear before turning toward Kai.

"Okay," he said. "What did I miss?"

Kai immediately brightened.

"Oh, we had a very productive morning."

Erik’s expression became suspicious.

"We did?"

"Absolutely." Kai nodded solemnly. "We discovered that vampires are real."

Silence.

Ben blinked.

"What?"

Kai pointed toward Erik.

"Tell him."

Erik pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We met the residents on the twentieth floor."

Ben frowned.

"The twentieth floor?"

Kai nodded.

"The woman in Apartment 2002 told us the vampire in Apartment 2001 was perfectly fine."

Ben stared.

Then slowly turned toward Erik.

Erik looked away.

"That’s... not exactly what she said."

Kai ignored him.

"She specifically said the vampire was fighting a fever."

For the briefest moment, the corner of Erik’s mouth twitched.

He still couldn’t believe he had nearly laughed in the middle of the apocalypse.

Ben looked between the two of them.

"So... there might actually be a vampire?"

At this point, Kai simply shrugged.

"I’ve decided to stop questioning reality."

Killian, who had been standing nearby, spoke up.

"That’s probably for the best."

Erik frowned and said "...You’re not helping."

Meanwhile, Penelope headed towards her bedroom. She needed silence. A moment to think. Everything was happening so fast for her. She sat at the edge of her bed, next to her night stand.

She felt that she was forgetting something, someone. ’Think’ She kept telling herself.

’What is missing?

Who is missing?’ She asked herself.

"Oh right. Cousins. An uncle." She mumbled.

They had been in the space for so long that she had lost touch of reality for a moment. She had to check in on Persephone, Dahlia and Uncle Silver.

"Well, this isn’t awkward." she mumbled as she reached for the satellite phone inside the drawer.

"speaking of, the book never mentioned them." she continued as she nervously pressed the numbers her mind new by heart.

beep beep beep

No one answered. She tried again. Again, no one answered. She reached for a little white book inside the drawer and flipped to the second page. She found the contact she was looking for.

Her heart was beating abnormally fast. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous.

Perhaps it was because her maternal uncle was a scary man. Perhaps because only her Aunt Mary and herself knew her true origins.

She dialed the number and held her breath.

Beep Beep Beep. No answer. She tried once more. Same outcome.

She put the phone down and started biting her nail. She had to think. They must have fallen to the slumber.

Just as her thoughts were spiraling, she heard a soft knock.

"Come in." She said.

Aunt Mary walked in with baby Aurora. She glanced at the night stand and saw the black satellite phone.

"Did they answer?" She asked quietly.

Penelope shook her head. Mary sighed and said "Don’t fret. Your uncle Silver...He’s a resilient man. He will make sure they stay alive."

"But what if something happened?" Penelope asked. She was feeling extremely anxious. This feeling made her feel conflicted, she had accepted the body’s identity. But she wasn’t sure if this was her real emotion or the previous soul’s emotion.

She had long accepted Aunt Mary, Kai, Erik, Aunt Lucy and Ben. She also felt a different connection with Killian. He was someone who was never mentioned in the book, nor did he have an actual relationship with the previous soul. Her friendship with Killian belonged solely to her. It was genuine.

But, what about her maternal uncle and cousins? Would they accept her? She knew she was spiraling.

"Penny, you have to trust in your uncle. He will find his way to us. With his girls." Aunt Mary said as she smiled.

At least, she tried to. She had a sad smile plastered on her gentle face.

But a sad smile was still a smile.

"They will be safe." She whispered.