In the center of the slums, where the poorest civilians lived, stood a half-crumbled house that couldn't even protect its residents from the cold winds.
Inside were a man and a woman, both in their twenties.
The man, who sat beside the woman, had black eyes, and his swollen cheeks clearly indicated his poor health.
As for the woman, who was screaming in pain while clutching her large stomach, she looked far better than the man. Her blond hair was mixed with dirt and filth, and her brown eyes reflected the agony she felt.
"Bear it a bit longer, Alicia. The doctor will come soon," the man spoke.
"We shouldn't have done this, Mark! This is a mistake. A mistake!"
Mark remained silent, praying for the doctor to arrive quickly.
After a few minutes, his prayers were answered as he heard a knock at the door.
He quickly got up and ran to open it.
Opening the door, he saw a man in his fifties with a bald head and a grey beard; the man's face was clearly filled with disgust.
Mark didn't care about it and welcomed the doctor inside.
The two reached Alicia, who was weeping and crying in pain.
The doctor took a pair of gloves from his bag, put them on, and looked at Alicia.
"Madam, you must push the baby out with all the strength you have."
Alicia nodded her head and did exactly as she was instructed.
Time passed, and Alicia's cries stopped, replaced by another.
The doctor looked at the baby covered in blood in astonishment.
It was a normal, healthy child. In the slums, especially the central area, this was nothing but a miracle!
The doctor washed the baby, handed him to his father, and began treating the mother.
After finishing everything, he looked at Mark and spoke, "The total cost will be 3,092 credits. I hope you have the full amount."
Mark's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Doctor, we agreed on 1,300 credits! You can't just change the amount now!"
The doctor looked at him and sighed. He clapped his hands, and suddenly the door opened, and two huge men entered.
Mark stared at them in fear, quickly moving toward his wife and standing in front of her.
The doctor ignored Mark's reaction and took a paper from his bag.
"Since you don't have the money to pay right now, you can pay us in installments with only 25% interest."
Mark looked at the doctor in confusion, which didn't surprise the doctor since all those trashes of the slums didn't learn anything.
"What I mean is, you can pay your debt in small amounts every month until your debt is paid off—with just a small amount extra."
Mark's eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement.
The doctor smiled and handed the paper to Mark, letting him fingerprint it with his blood.
'How stupid those from the slums are; you can milk them dry, taking all their money and belongings, and they'll hand it over with smiles on their faces, until they realize they've nothing left but their own bodies.'
Seeing Mark finish, he smiled, took the paper from him, and spoke, "Then I'll see you next month. Make sure you prepare the payment."
"Yes, doctor!" Mark responded.
Seeing the doctor leave, Mark looked back at his wife and sleeping son.
Seeing him healthy without any disabilities made him shed a tear.
Alicia looked at him and asked, "Have you decided on his name?"
Mark looked at his son, his little black hair, and dark eyes beneath his skin.
"His name will be..."
***
Hell... it had been hell for the family of three for the past two years.
They had been manipulated—the "debt contract" was actually an enslavement contract in disguise.
When they had nothing left to pay with, everything in the house was taken away, and eventually, the house itself.
Without anywhere to live or anything to at least protect them from the cold, the family became sick one after another.
The first was the mother who had given birth not long ago; her body had already been in a bad state even before childbirth.
Starvation, thirst, and despair were the only things Mark and Alicia felt.
Especially Alicia... she looked at her child who was crying from hunger.
She raised her body and reached toward the baby's neck...
"It's because of you..."
Everything that was happening right now was because of the baby... at least that's what Alicia thought.
Slowly, she tightened her grip, and after some time, the baby's cries grew weaker and weaker.
Until finally...
"Alicia!"
Mark, who had just returned, quickly took the baby away from his wife.
Thankfully, the baby was still breathing and started crying again.
He patted the baby's back and sighed in relief.
He looked at his wife not with anger, but with sympathy.
"...Tell me, Mark. Why is this happening to us? What did we do to deserve this?"
Mark didn't reply to Alicia. No, he couldn't respond to her.
"Everything happening to us started from his birth... He's a curse sent by the gods upon us."
"Don't say such words, Alicia! The baby has nothing to do with this. It's my fault."
"Then fix it! Do something! We're hungry. We haven't eaten in three days!"
Mark looked at his crying wife, his heart tightening with every word.
He walked toward her and hugged her.
"I will fix it... so please stop cursing our child."
Alicia cried into Mark's chest, and after a few hours, he left, promising to return with food...
But he never came back.
Two days passed since Mark left, and it had been five days since they last ate anything.
Alicia knew something must have happened to Mark. Since she'd known him, he'd never left her for more than a day, and now he was gone for two.
"He must've died fighting others for food..."
Alicia laughed weakly, then took a shard of glass and looked at her child.
She put the shard against his neck but then drew it back.
She placed the shard against her own neck and spoke, "Before you die... you should suffer a little of how much I suffered."
And so, she sliced her own neck, killing herself.
The child crawled to his mother, crying from hunger and thirst.
Finally reaching her, he crawled on top of her. The child felt something on his mother.
A child his age couldn't differentiate one thing from another.
Everything that looked edible was edible, and everything that looked drinkable was drinkable.
And so, the child drank his own mother's blood... to survive and live another day.
***
The first chapter of this fanfic, hope u all like it. The fanfic update will be 1 chapter a day ofc this might change in the future. As for Eternal Madness I will finish it soon and put all my focus in this one.
Btw what do you think of the cover?
Well see you tomorrow.