Married To The Mad Vampire Lord - Chapter 481

Chapter 481: Taking them out of the establishment_Part 2
“What’s going on, Mitchell?” asked one of the wanderers who had just walked in from another corridor, his tone filled with concern as he questioned the one pulling Belle’s and Andrea’s chains.

The vampire named Mitchell stopped briefly to answer. “War. We were just informed that Nightbrook has been invaded from the west border, when until now, everyone believed the humans would attack from the south. We’re ordered to start transporting the slaves to the underground safe house before the invasion reaches us. Get the wagons ready and start moving the first batch of slaves. There are too many to transport all at once.”

He spoke quickly, not even waiting for the other vampire to recover from his shock before continuing to drag the chained women forward.

So, the war has finally reached Nightbrook, Belle thought to herself, her heart pounding as she saw the long line of frightened slaves being pulled toward the outside. No matter what happens, I can’t let them take me to that safe house. This might be her one and only chance to escape.

Only, Belle gasped and let out a soft moan as another contraction hit her hard, making her knees nearly buckle.

‘You’re not as patient as Angel, are you?’ she thought weakly to the child in her womb. ‘But I wish you’d just hold on for a while longer before you come.’

The next contraction, however, made her realize with growing dread that this baby had no intention of waiting. With it came the sudden gush of warm liquid flowing down her dress, making it painfully obvious that her water had broken, and there was no stopping the labor anymore. It wasn’t like going to the chamber pot, where one could hold it in!

Though Belle had gone through the pain of labor once before, it wasn’t something one could ever get used to. The contractions were now coming few minutes apart, and what made it worse was the lack of free movement, as they were all forced to stand in a line with a large crowd forming at the entrance.

As they were finally pulled to the crowded doorway, Belle noticed how the wardens were separating the slaves into different groups and pushing them into large wagons waiting outside. On one side were pregnant slaves and on the other were the ones who had already given birth with their infants in hand.

Each wagon had heavy gray curtains at the back and four mighty horses tied to it. There were six of them in total, Belle counted with her eyes, her breathing already becoming strained from the pain.

Standing around and waiting for the lines to move forward so they could get into the wagons wasn’t making the pain any less bearable. She needed to move, she had to move, to help fasten the process, Belle thought, remembering how when Angel’s labor had started, Rohan had held her hand and walked with her for hours before the moment finally came.

Each contraction hit like a powerful wave. The pain radiated from her back to her thighs, tightening and squeezing until it felt as though her very bones were being crushed. With every pulse, she gasped for air, struggling to breathe through it.

“What’s wrong with you?” came Andrea’s whisper from behind her. “Hurry up and move forward before they whip us!” she added urgently, noticing that the people in front of Belle had already moved forward while Belle stood frozen, gripping her lower stomach and bending forward as another surge of pain tore through her.

“My baby is coming. I can’t get on that wagon,” Belle breathed, sweat breaking out across her skin. Even if she hadn’t been in labor, she knew deep down that the wagons weren’t where she should be going. There was death surrounding them, too many reapers walking alongside the vehicles, their presence trailing the wagons already moving out to leave the establishment.

With the reapers following the wagons, it could only mean one thing, they might never reach their destination alive. It was always best to walk in the opposite direction of where death went, and being a carrier of souls herself, she knew for certain everyone of those people in those wagons would soon meet their death.

“Right now? Oh no!” Andrea muttered, her face turning distressed. And as if finally noticing that the line had stopped moving, one of the wardens came stomping toward them, a whip in his hand as he barked,

“What do you think you’re doing standing there blocking the line? Move it before I break your legs!”

Belle, who heard the vampire’s order lifted her head to look at him, and the vampire hesitated mid-action of rising his whip, his expression faltering as his eyes fell on the hazel eyes of the woman blocking the lines. The witch! He thought with widened red eyes.

Almost everyone in the establishment knew what she had done to Master Kent on her first day here. Nobody knew exactly how she had done it, but rumors had spread like wildfire that she was a witch who had cursed him, leaving their master bedridden. The whispers had been enough to make them wary of her, as if she could hurt a vampire like Kent and even kill another guard, she could do the same to them as well.

It was the same reason most of the wardens had left her alone in her cell. Master Kent had given strict orders not to kill her, so they had all left her there. Now, seeing her eyes fixed on him, the vampire, one of the lower ranks in the establishment, hesitated to raise his whip to flog her, fearful she might cast a spell on him or strike him down like she had to Kent and the guard.

“Move it,” he repeated, though this time his voice held less intensity and more cautiousness.

“I can’t,” Belle gritted out, her tone strained with discomfort. “I’m in labor. I need a place to give birth.” She hoped her words would make him let her step out of the line, if only for a few hours, to give her time to deliver the baby, and perhaps find a way to escape the fate waiting in those wagons.

From what Andrea had told her, women here were left to give birth alone, with no midwives to help, and many lost their lives in the process. But Belle was not giving birth for the first time. She had survived before. She would survive again.

“What’s keeping the line, Kevin?” came a shout from another warden standing near the next wagon outside, his voice filed with impatience. That wagon was almost full, but because one of the women was crouched over and holding up the line, the delay was causing them time, and in times like this, delay was a dangerous thing.

The sky already looked grayer and gloomier than usual, thick clouds rolling as flocks of birds flew overhead in a panicked frenzy, an omen that something catastrophic was already unfolding somewhere across the land. If they didn’t leave soon, danger would reach them next.

“It’s the witch,” Kevin replied, stepping back slightly from Belle. “She’s in labor. What do I do with her?” he asked nervously, glancing toward Belle and Andrea, who was now holding Belle’s arm tightly to keep her steady.