LENA'S POV
The night was a deep, suffocating blackness, pressing in on all sides like a shroud. Cold stone walls trapped the darkness within, turning the ancient manor into a tomb of silence. I lay on my bed, my breath coming in shallow gasps, my body weary and heavy with the life growing inside me. My swollen belly, once a source of joy, now felt like a burden, dragging me deeper into fear with each passing moment.
It was then that I heard it—a dreadful mourning, a sound that seemed to seep from the very walls themselves. It was a low, keening wail that chilled my blood, filled with a sorrow so deep it threatened to pull me under. I clutched the bedcovers closer, trying to shut out the sound, but it only grew louder, more insistent, echoing through the halls like a haunting.
I couldn’t
