1 P r o l o g u e

September 8th,1994

Hugh Villa, 3 AM

The beautiful woman writhed and wailed on the bed in pain, a sheen of sweat covering her body.

Her husband stood beside her, holding her hand tightly in his, worry and anxiety gnawing at his mind.

"Push, darling. It's okay, you can do it." He whispered supportively.

"I-I am p-pushing." The woman gasped out. "I am!" She screamed.

"Alright, Mrs Deor, you're doing very good." The exhausted doctor between her legs approved. "Just a little more and you can meet your newest member."

The desire to meet her newborn encouraged her even further. She pushed her abdominal muscles harder with newfound energy.

Finally, after about 4 hours of torturous pain, the couple were rewarded with the fruitful cries of their newborn.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Deor." The doctor smiled, the thunder outside illuminating her tired features. "It's a girl." She announced.

"Let me see her." The woman whispered, her voice hoarse from all the screaming.

The doctor brought the child closer to the couple allowing them to see their little bundle of joy.

"She's beautiful." The mother whispered, her eyes drooping shut. "We'll call her... Xanthippe."

The father smiled, kissing his beautiful wife's forehead. "It suits her." He said. "Xanthippe Yvette Deor."

Arantxa finally fell asleep with a sigh, her heart heavy with happiness.

Edgar reached his hands out to hold his newborn daughter, but froze when a relatively loud thunder roared, simultaneously taking away the electricity.

"Oh no!" The doctor gasped in horror. "The-the mother! She needs the machines! Or she, she might die."

"What?" He yelled, panic lighting his veins.

He frantically looked around the dark room to search for a solution. "Help me take them to the car, doctor. I'll drive them to the Hospital."

"That may not be a good idea, son." The doctor voiced out her concerns. "It's raining heavily outside. The roads will be slippery. Also, the nearest town is at least 20 kilometres away."

"So what are you suggesting?" Edgar almost roared louder than the thunder. "That I leave my sick wife laying here with the possibility that she might die?"

The doctor pressed her lips together tightly, not able to reply.

She swallowed thickly. "Alright, let's go."

Within a few minutes, Edgar and Dr. Hugh had managed to somehow shelter the unconscious mother and hungry daughter from the rain and into the run down, old Beetle.

The doctor bid them goodbye and a safe ride reminding the worried father that in no way should the IV tube slip off the mother's hand, and that the ride should not be very bumpy.

Edgar drove through the rain, the darkness enveloping the slippery roads, and the absence of the street lights not helping.

He had to divide his attention to watching the roads and checking on his wife and child.

About an hour later, he had noticed his wife's complexion had gone pale. With a frown, he peered closer and almost screamed when he realised that blood was pouring out at an alarming rate from between her legs, colouring her white frock red.

He sped up, his hands and legs shivering from the cold and fear, and deeply exhaled in relief when he saw the faint city lights.

Right when he was about to enter the town, however, the loud honk of a huge, red truck greeted his ears.

He quickly reversed his car at the last minute, feeling his bones being crunched as the truck hit his side of the car.

Edgar had no time to scream or cover his dear family, before his head snapped to the right, dangling in an awkward angle, eyes wide and lifeless.

The chubby truck driver scurried out of his seat, cursing his life and drinking habits. The almost crushed car made him inhale sharply in guilt and fear.

He swayed drunkenly on his feet, pulling out his old phone and dialing the ambulance, to grab their immediate attention.

The cry of a babe drew him towards the slightly unharmed side of the car, where he found a bloody woman with her eyes half open, clutching the child tightly in her arms.

"Help. Please help us." The woman pleaded.

"Help my family." She mustered out before she passed out again, the child's cries increasing with each passing second.

Soon, the ambulance had arrived, the rain had stopped and a funeral was planned.

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M.M