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As I entered the room, I was welcomed by a darkness.

Come closer, my dear.

I took a step, then another. I was disoriented and did not know where I was or where I was headed.

Closer, child. You must be closer.

Who was this voice leading me in the void? Was it of a righteous being, or was it... evil?

In the distance, there was a single light shining from an invisible opening up high and onto, what appeared as, a women. A frail women, holding...

Yes, yes. Towards the lady you must go. Forward, darling, forward. Hastily. Hastily.

I do not know why, but I felt the need to obey the voice as if it was speaking my own thoughts, as if it were my thoughts being being spoken. Who was this voice? Could it be me? Or is there someone else, lurking in the shadows, following my every move and puppeteering me on the next.

I was nearing the women and I realized how very young she was. Perhaps in her mid-twenties, I thought.

"Madam, do you need help?" I asked. It was not intended to be said as a question. It was, or I meant for it to be, an offer.

She looked up and revealed an infant she was cradling in her arms. I eyed the baby. It was rotting. From the looks of it, the child had died long before I arrived.

"Who.. are you?" the odd women whispered. Her voice was raspy but quiet. So quiet, in fact, that I felt the urge to approach her to hear her.

I took a step.

"STOP!" she cried. "Stop. Please don't... Please don't come near this offspring of mine. It is my precious baby. Precious, so precious... So.. precious."

No, disregard her pleas. You must come... closer.

This time, I couldn't help but do as I was told. I felt something push along my back. Being engulfed in the darkness, I did not mind being ushered to the light, but something was off.

"Stop!" the woman yelled, louder than before, more frantic than before. "Please! Stop.. STOP!"

The whole room was filled with the echoes of her begs.

Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Please.
Please.
Please.
Please.
Please.

I could not hold back the thrusting force against my backside. It was pushing, no. It was shoving me, closer and closer to the lady.

"Stop! Please! I will do anything! Just don't come any closer. Please." The woman was losing hope. Her eyes watered. the first tear that escaped had landed on the cheek of her nestling. The baby crumbled, leaving its mother's pathetic arms behind. "Oh, no. My child.. "

I was still coming closer.

She looked up, her eyes blank. A single, filled, black circle lied in the center of her eyes. It was as if her irises and pupils merged together to form an endless pit of despair in her gaze.

"You... killed it." She seemed to age all too suddenly. Her hair turned a silvery white, her skin stretched across her imposing skull. Her eyes were the worst. They did not change. They only sunken farther into her head, but they were still full of anguish.

And yet, despite my fears and confusion, my feet led me closer. I had reached her, standing ground only a foot away.

She extended her arms toward me in an almost welcoming fashion. The moment she made contact with my arm, she shrank. Nestled in the pile of her clothes laid an infant. The baby had alike features of the women, but was no longer a woman.

I stepped into the light and raised the child. It began to cry. I held it near my stomach and cradled it as the woman had cradled hers.

"Oh, don't cry," I said as if I meant it.

Then, something clicked inside me. It was like a gate opening the pleasant feelings I had lost the moment I arrived in this room. Comfort, I thought, this is comfort.

I help the baby. The more I held it, the better I felt. I could feel my troubles slipping away. Then, from within the empty abyss that was made visible before me, I heard a whisper.

Thank you, stranger. You had freed me from that hapless curse.

I looked at the baby. How wonderfully innocent. Just seeing it made me feel pure and cleansed. It made me feel new and free of imperfections.

What curse, I thought. This is a blessing.