When she opened her eyes, she saw a room that was completely alien. A light interior, soft colors on the walls and a soft glow that filtered through the curtains. Outside the windows, there was nothing to see except a boundless ocean, which seemed as distant and unattainable as freedom itself. On the wall hung a landscape depicting this same sea, calmer than ever. It was an idealized world, completely alien to the reality in which she was accustomed to existing.
Her gaze moved to the table next to the bed. There was a tall vase filled with fresh flowers, and although she couldn't tell exactly what kind of flowers were in it, it looked as if the flowers had been plucked straight from some dream, where everything was perfect and harmonious. The room was silent, and only a light breeze touching the curtains broke the silence.
She stood up, listening to her senses. Her brain was still foggy, and her body was clumsy, as if she didn't quite know how to control it. The feeling of being followed didn't go away, but there was no obvious enemy in the room. She got out of bed and went to the window. The tiny glimmer of light on the water created an illusion of calm, but Delia Asia Vieira knew that it couldn't be real. This place couldn't be real. There was no place for peace and comfort in her life. Everything she knew was connected with struggle, betrayal, and attempts to break free from control.
She felt her fingers tighten on the glass. Fragments of memories flashed through her mind. Willa Baylock. The whole situation with the manipulation, the lies, the promises that she could have control. And now this strange place that was the complete opposite of everything she had been through. This was her escape trap, with even darker forces lurking behind it.
Delia Asia Vieira sighed, trying to gather her thoughts. Everything seemed so quiet, as if the whole world around her had frozen, waiting for something more. But there was nothing real in this world, and she felt her own body resisting this feeling.
"What is this place?" she whispered to herself, looking out to sea.
The answer was unclear, but the feeling of being trapped never left her. Everything in this place felt real, but at the same time completely alien and unreal. Delia Asia Vieira couldn't believe that she was here, that she had been transported here. She didn't remember how it happened, but her intuition told her that she had to find a way out before she became part of this strange, distorted reality.
Willa's words kept coming back to her. Her entire existence had been manipulated, and now she stood in the center of a new nightmare that she couldn't understand. She felt like Willa Baylock was playing with her again, but this wasn't just the physical world. This was the world of her mind, where she couldn't tell what was true and what was false.
Delia Asia Vieira carefully lowered her feet onto the soft carpet, feeling its soft texture under her feet. Her slippers were on the small rug next to the bed, and she reached for them. Suddenly, her gaze fell on something unusual. In the corner, by the table, some movements were peeking out from under its edge. Something was there. Robotess froze, staring intently in that direction. Her heart skipped a beat when her gaze fell on a face hiding in the shadows. It was Nurse Kate.
Delia Asia Vieira felt her muscles tense. Her intuition told her that something was wrong. She didn't remember how she had ended up in this room, and why Kate seemed to be in it too. The next moment, without thinking, she kicked the table, causing it to rock. At that moment, a figure emerged from under the table. It was Kate.
The woman straightened up, her eyes reflecting a mixed look, something between surprise and fear. She put her hands on her hips, as if trying to appear more confident, but her tense body betrayed her inner uneasiness. Delia Asia Vieira did not take her eyes off her. The nurse was silent, but her presence raised many questions in robotess.
"What are you doing here?" robotess's voice was cold and direct, her eyes never leaving Kate.
Kate paused for a moment, as if choosing her words. There was a timidity in her eyes, but she spoke anyway.
"I... don't know," she said, as if she were trying to figure out what was happening herself. "I ended up here completely by accident. I don't understand how it happened. My colleagues and I from the editorial office were recently discussing an important issue..." Her words sounded vague, as if she herself wasn't yet sure what was happening. "We were talking about how to get people to share their thoughts through the media. It was a strange idea, but it... interested a lot of people. I suggested using psychological tricks to get people to open up. That's when I started getting letters. Strange letters.
Delia Asia Vieira walked slowly towards her, her eyes narrowed.
"Strange letters? What kind of letters are these?" She couldn't believe her ears.
Strange letters? This couldn't be a coincidence. It all smelled of manipulation. Everything that was happening to her, and now to Kate, was connected to something dark and incomprehensible.
Kate clenched her fists and lowered her head.
"Yes," she continued, barely looking up, "letters with titles like 'Can you tell me about this apartment?' or 'You were there, weren't you?' These letters came more and more often, and then I... I couldn't ignore them any more. Everything in them seemed to be leading me to this place.
Delia Asia Vieira felt her chest tighten. This place. This strange place. Where they both found themselves.
"You mean you got here because of those letters?" robotess asked again, her voice even sharper. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Kate nodded, her face showing confusion and nervousness. Her eyes darted around the room, but she couldn't find any answers.
"I don't understand how it happened," she replied, "I can't explain it. Those letters... they were so strange. When I followed their directions, I... I ended up here. In this place.
Robotess took a step forward, feeling a chill run down her skin. She didn't know what was happening, but her intuition told her that this wasn't just a coincidence.
"So what next?" Delia Asia Vieira didn't take her eyes off Kate. "What do you want from me? Did you think I would help you?"
Kate looked confused again, but her face changed. She sighed and looked into the robotess's eyes.
"I don't know what to do," she said quietly. "I don't know what this place is. But I believe you can figure out what's going on. I can't be here alone. I... I feel like something is pushing us both toward something bigger, and we need to figure it out before it's too late."
Delia Asia Vieira looked at her, her thoughts boiling. She couldn't believe it. Everything she had experienced, all the strange things she had encountered, seemed to converge in one place. Questions multiplied, and there were no answers. This place, these letters... it was all starting to take shape...
Unable to bear the weight of these thoughts, robotess ran out of the bedroom in what she was wearing, feeling the cold air of the hallway wrap around her skin. In her head, the indistinct thought of what she had just experienced was still ringing - the strange awakening, the absurd questions and the lack of answers. But something made her go further. Her steps echoed in the empty space when she suddenly stopped, hearing a voice.
It wasn't just a whisper. It was a conversation, but not a live one, not of this world. The voices seemed distant, as if they were coming from some dark corner of her mind, from a rift in time. Everything around her suddenly disappeared, and she found herself not in an empty hallway, but in a brightly lit room. She felt as if she had entered another world, a moment from the past, as if the space around her body had become shaky and time flowed strangely and wrongly.
There were four people standing in front of her. One was tall, dark, and extremely grim. Robotess recognized his face immediately: it was Damien Thorn. His presence in this scene was not just unexpected, it was significant. He looked much younger, with a cold gaze that pierced everything around him. Next to him stood Willa Baylock, her face always impenetrable, but now her eyes were filled with tension and excitement. The third and fourth were doctors, old men with tired faces, dressed in white coats. They stood next to each other, but their conversation was the most important element of what was happening.
"It's going to be difficult," one of the doctors said, rubbing his forehead. "We can't let her give birth here, not under these circumstances. We have to keep her under constant observation, Willa. Time is running out."
Willa Baylock, standing a little to the side, crossed her arms over her chest. Her gaze was empty but determined. She was silent, not reacting to the doctor's words, but there was some kind of horror in her eyes, deeply hidden, but clearly perceptible.
"We can't miss this chance," she said quietly, but with tension in her voice. "The baby... It has to be born, and we have to be ready for it. This isn't just a birth, this is destiny."
Damien Thorn, who was standing next to her, suddenly took a step forward, interrupting her words.
"Are you sure she's not too weak yet?" His voice was low and commanding. "She might not survive this. We're talking about the future, not some ordinary woman. This is more than just a woman in labor. I don't want her death on my conscience.
Willa Baylock turned to face him, her face cold, but there was something in her eyes that made Damien take a step back.
"Have you forgotten who this woman is? Have you forgotten that it is her birth that changes everything? Do you want to be part of this process or do you want to remain in the shadows, Damien?"
For a moment, everything froze. There was a tension in the air, almost tangible. The doctors, too, were overcome by silence. But finally, one of them spoke again, clearly trying to dispel the dark clouds in their conversation.
"We will prepare it," he said, his voice softening. "We cannot stop what has already begun. But, Willa... Do you understand where this will lead?"
Willa Baylock looked at him with a slight expression of displeasure.
"We understand everything," she replied, her gaze growing more determined. "But the choice has already been made. She will give birth. And the child born from her womb will change everything. So do your job, and let no one interfere."
Damien Thorn looked at her, his face dark and grim. He didn't say another word, but it was clear that he didn't agree with this decision. There was something in his eyes that Delia Asia Vieira couldn't quite place, but she felt a chill run down her spine from that look.
And then, when they all fell silent, the voice of one of the doctors broke the silence again:
"We are starting. If anyone needs to see this, let them see it. But let's not forget what we are talking about. We are talking about the birth of the Antichrist."
Delia Asia Vieira froze in place, her heart clenching with sudden realization. The doctor who had spoken those words seemed unprepared for them to have such a profound effect on her. There was something cold in his voice, something hostile and inevitable, like a sentence.
She realized that the conversation she had just overheard was not only about the distant past, but about her own life as well. The Yorks, for whom she had worked as a governess, for whom she had cared for so long, now seemed part of something much larger. She had always felt the elusive shadow that hung over Delia York, her protégé, the girl to whom she had given so much attention and care. But now all the pieces fit together into a terrifying whole.
The child in question was Delia York. The little girl she thought was just an ordinary girl whose fate was not so unusual was in fact part of something much more terrible. Something that Delia Asia Vieira could not fully understand, but which she now felt in her heart.
The child the doctors spoke of was no ordinary child. He was the key to a dark power she had never imagined. The Antichrist-the word echoed in her thoughts like a terrifying prophecy. She didn't believe in magic, didn't believe in demons, or in destinies foretold for centuries, but the moment she heard that word, her entire being froze.
"The Antichrist," the word, spoken in the doctor's cold, emotionless voice, aroused fear in the robotess, as if she had just realized that her entire life - both her work with the Yorks and her relationship with little Delia York - had been scripted in advance as part of some evil game.
Delia Asia Vieira closed her eyes, trying to collect her thoughts, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do now. But everything around her began to disappear. The walls of the hallway, the light that had once seemed so normal, everything was dissolving into nothingness. It was as if the space around her was losing shape, turning into vague images and shadowy outlines.
The next moment she was already walking down a dark and deserted corridor that seemed endless, when suddenly she stopped, realizing that she had come to a place that she had been searching for for days without any trace. Vague paintings hung along the wall, their images lost in the semi-darkness, and the air was filled with something ominous, as if the very atmosphere in this place was filled with mystical tension.
In the distance, she noticed a faint light coming through the cracks of the doors that led to another room. Delia Asia Vieira came closer, her heart beating faster - she felt that here would be the solution to all those nightmares that had been haunting her lately.
When she entered the room, her eyes immediately fell on the figure in the wheelchair. That was the first thing that caught her attention. At first glance, it looked like a simple figure of a man sitting in a wheelchair, but then her gaze fell on something that made her heart stop. This man was dressed in a formal suit and tie, and his face... his face was devoid of human features, as if covered in dried skin, wrinkled like the skin of an old mummy.
Slowly she moved closer, and her dreadful guess was confirmed. It was Damien Thorn, but not alive. It was his mummified corpse, now transformed into something far more terrifying, something that was no longer merely human. He had become a cult figure, radiating magic and powers beyond the reach of mere mortals.
"You... What did you do to him?" robotess's voice trembled with fear, but she already knew that the answer would be nightmarish.
And then Mark appeared in the room, his face tired but full of confidence. He was alive, and his eyes burned with a thirst for power like never before.
"This is he," he said, approaching the robotess, "the Father of the Antichrist."
Delia Asia Vieira couldn't believe it, her thoughts were in chaos. Willa Baylock, who was standing next to her, watched what was happening with an icy expression, as if this was part of her grand plan.
"How?" she asked, her voice hoarse with horror. "How could you do this?"
Willa Baylock took a step forward, her eyes glowing with a strange light as she replied,
"This is not just a body, or even a mummy. This is a holy object. We worship him because he is our God. He is the source of all power. Damien Thorn was a man, but his death was not the end. We made him into something much more important. He became the one who gave us the strength for everything we do. He became the Father of the Antichrist."
Delia Asia Vieira stepped back, her legs buckling under her as she realized she was part of this nightmare game. Her entire life, all her actions, from working for the Yorks until now, seemed empty and meaningless now that she knew the truth. She felt her world crumbling.
"You... You don't understand," Willa continued, her eyes now glowing with an ominous fire, "This is not just a religion or a cult. This is the beginning of a new world. A world in which we are the ones who stand at the forefront. This is not just tyranny or dictatorship. This is the future.
"Why?" Delia Asia Vieira whispered.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, but there was more to the question than just curiosity. It was a question of life and death, a question of what awaited her.
"So you want to know the truth?" Willa said, her voice even but with a hint of worry, as if she hadn't expected this to be so important to the robotess. "Okay, listen carefully."
Delia Asia Vieira felt her heart beat faster. She knew that everything that was happening around her was strange and frightening, but now she was ready to hear what she could only accept as her worst nightmare.
"Damien Thorn," Willa Baylock continued, her eyes shining, "wasn't just a man. He was the one who became a Father. Not a human father, but a demon father. And his child, that child... that child is no ordinary person. Delia York is no ordinary girl. She is a hybrid of a jackal and Satan.
Delia Asia Vieira felt a strange sensation rise in her body. A terrifying knowledge was taking hold of her, as if she suddenly realized how helpless she was. She took a step back, her mind spinning, unable to collect her thoughts.
"How is this possible?" Her voice was barely audible, and there was confusion mixed with horror in it.
Willa Baylock paused, as if giving the robotess time to absorb what she had heard. But her face was firm and determined, and she continued:
"From the very beginning, she was a creation. Delia York was artificially created to be an embodiment of something more than just human. She, like you, is not human, and is not meant to be. You don't know it, of course, but at some point you fulfilled your role in her life as a governess, and you didn't realize who you were really dealing with."
Delia Asia Vieira looked at Willa Baylock with confusion, her mind trying to make sense of those words. But her thoughts were in a tangle, trying to understand what kind of damn interference could have led to her life, which seemed so ordinary to her, being part of such a terrible and complicated story.
"So it's true," she finally said, "Delia York... she's not human?"
"Yes, not a human," Willa nodded. "She was created not just to be a human, but to become a powerful being, capable of changing the course of history. You were near her, you saw her, but perhaps you did not understand how different she was from everyone else.
Delia Asia Vieira closed her eyes, her body suddenly felt heavy, as if the whole world had fallen on her shoulders. She remembered that little girl she spent time with, with whom she played carefully, protected and watched over her behavior. But this girl was not just a child, but a part of something terrible, unimaginable.
The moment she realized she had been acting as if everything was normal seemed so absurd now. All those years of raising Delia York, she hadn't realized that every step she took was tied to something she couldn't understand. What if she had done something wrong? What if she really was raising not just a child, but a creature that was destined to be the beginning of something terrible?
But what scared Delia Asia Vieira most was the idea that she knew this creature too well. In her memories, she saw how it watched the girl, how her presence in Delia York's life was part of some game she didn't even know about.
"You don't understand her," said Mark, who had been standing nearby and watching everything that was happening. "She's not like everyone else. And you know it. You felt her dark essence, but perhaps you couldn't understand what exactly you were seeing.
Delia Asia Vieira looked at Mark, trying to understand why her heart sank in fear when she realized that he, too, might have known more than she did. Then she looked at the mummified body of Damien Thorn, his petrified face twisted into a hideous expression, as if the corpse itself had become the embodiment of the horror that stood before her.
His mummy stood in a menacing pose, as if still watching what was happening around, and Delia Asia Vieira could no longer hold back. There was no longer any room for doubt in her mind - she could no longer be part of this terrible game, she could not remain indifferent to the fact that her life was connected to this nightmare.
Without warning, her hands balled into fists and she lunged at the mummy. Her fists slammed into the solid body, and with each blow her anger grew. This wasn't just an act of evil, this was desperation, complete and utter.
"How dare you?!" she screamed, knocking the dust off the mummy with each blow, as if trying to destroy everything that connected her to this damned past.
Thoughts were boiling in her head, each one becoming more and more destructive. She could not understand how it happened that her whole life had led to this terrible picture.
But just as she was about to strike again, a sound made her freeze. It was a quick, shrill whisper that broke her frantic thoughts. She turned around, and Nurse Kate stepped out of the shadows. Her face was twisted in fear, her eyes wide, and her breathing ragged, as if she had just escaped from hell.
"Please... stop!" Kate stammered, running up to her with such an expression that the robotess didn't immediately understand where the horror that filled her eyes came from.
"What are you doing here?" Delia Asia Vieira barked, pushing the nurse away. "Do... do you even understand what's going on here?! What kind of place is this?!"
Kate jerked, took a step back, and, grabbing the hem of her robe, began to speak with a tremor in her voice:
"I... I didn't know you weren't aware. You... you didn't know, did you?"
Delia Asia Vieira froze, her eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
Kate continued, her words sounding as if she herself couldn't believe what she was about to say.
"Delia York, she... she's been in power for a long time, you don't understand! She became the President of the United States! More precisely, the first underage president in the history of America!!! This is not some kind of symbolic title, not a joke. She really rules! And no one challenges her! She is the only one who does not obey the laws, because she herself became the law. You don't understand how it works. How she did it, how she was put there, who supports her - it doesn't matter. What matters is that she is at the very center of power, and that now everyone serves her."
Robotess didn't immediately realize what she was hearing. Her mind couldn't process what Kate had said.
"What?! This is impossible! Delia York... the girl I babysat? She... the president?!"
Kate nodded, her face painted with fear.
"Yes. You are the last one who has not yet understood this!" She said with despair in her voice. "You still do not understand that this girl, who was once your ward, she has long since become the one who rules us all. The one who rules this world! Do you think that it is possible to fight this, to stop her? No! It is already over. She is not just a "girl". She is a hybrid of a jackal and Satan. She is the Antichrist. She does not just become president, she rewrites reality! Everything is changed, and you can do nothing about it!"
The world around her seemed to dissolve. There was a sudden void in the robotess's mind, as if the entire world had suddenly turned against her. She remembered the little girl she had led through life, believing that she was an ordinary child who needed to be protected and cared for. But now she realized that everything was far from true. Delia York was not just a girl, she was an entity created to become a leader, and her entire life was part of something much bigger and more terrible.
"But... how could she? How did she... do it?" Delia Asia Vieira tried to understand, trying to figure out how everything she knew about the world suddenly collapsed in one second.
"She became a leader, she sits in the White House, and now the world belongs to her. And you are the last one who did not understand it," Kate said, as if trying to shake her.
Delia Asia Vieira stood there, feeling her body fill with cold. She couldn't believe what she had heard, and suddenly she woke up from her nightmare. Looking around, she realized that she was sitting on an old sofa in a room, holding a letter in her hands. It was thin, with neat handwriting on the envelope, which had a strange, out-of-place tone, as if the letter had been written yesterday, but had long been delayed by the post office. She already guessed who had sent it, and when she read the opening lines, her heart sank.
"My dear DAV!
Goodbye, if you get this letter. I have only three days left to live. I hope it gets to you as soon as possible, but if you do, the post office has failed again. I can't wait any longer, and if you read these lines, you know that I am no longer alive. I would like to see you in our "special place", but who knows if you will manage to get there before I die.
Robert.
P.S. I sincerely wanted you to become my wife. Apparently, it was not meant to be."
Delia Asia Vieira put the letter down and looked at the screen of her smartphone. She checked the date on the letter against today's date. Her eyes quickly scanned the lines, and with each word her face grew paler.
"Seven days..." she whispered under her breath. "Seven days."
The letter took longer to get through the post than expected. Robert wrote of his death as an inevitable end. She knew he was gravely ill, but she couldn't believe he was gone. His death had been predicted long ago, and if it weren't for that damned postal service, she might have made it in time. But now she knew: he was dead.
She picked up the letter, smoothing the edges and feeling its weight. Robert, her creator, who at some point had become almost like family to her, wanted her to come back to him. He knew that despite her strength, despite her ability to withstand thousands of operations, she had one weak spot - she could not help but feel when she lost those close to her. And now that he was gone, Delia Asia Vieira knew that there was no way back for her. She had not made it in time.
"Damn post office," she whispered, standing up and pacing the room. "You moved so slowly, so slowly... Like a turtle, and all this time he was alone.
She felt her heart clench in pain, but then something else began to flutter in her chest: rage. Rage against the world, rage against herself. Robert had believed in her so much, and she hadn't had time to save him.
But she couldn't stop. Was her life just a series of failures and losses? No. There was still a fire burning inside her, and even if everything was lost, even if she hadn't arrived in time, she couldn't just give up.
"I didn't have enough time, but I'll continue anyway." Her voice was firm and determined. "I'll find a way. I can't let this world win."
She looked out the window. Beyond it stretched an empty street, where her life might have been just a part of a ruined civilization, but there was still room for struggle. Yes, Robert was gone. She hadn't had time to see him for the last time, hadn't had time to spend those last moments with him that he had dreamed of. And now that everything was lost, she had only one goal left: to see his grave, at least to say goodbye in this way.
She looked around, trying not to attract too much attention. There were several cars in the parking lot, but one stood out. A small blue sedan, recently parked, caught her attention. Everything was too quiet and calm, and it was this strange calm that made her approach the car. Delia Asia Vieira carefully looked around to make sure no one was watching her actions, and quietly opened the front door.
There was no one inside the car, and her gaze immediately fell on the forgotten ignition key sticking out of the lock. Something about this moment seemed both strange and natural to her. She had driven many times, and she still had old memories of her creator teaching her to drive, but this moment was different. Sad. Strange. And yet she couldn't stop. Robert was dead, but she couldn't leave him in the past. It would be too cruel.
Without thinking, she got behind the wheel, started the car, and, as if out of habit, changed gears. It was as if reality itself was rejecting her, taking her into another reality - one as empty and lifeless as she felt at that moment. The noise of the engine echoed in the empty silence as she pulled out onto the highway leading to the town where he lived.
Every meter of the road seemed like an eternity. The wind through the open window touched her face silently, and there was only a long way ahead. There was only one question in her head:
"Why? Why couldn't I be with him at the last moment? Why did my creator, my teacher, leave so early, at twenty-two? - robotess whispered to herself."
Delia Asia Vieira sat behind the wheel of her car, her fingers white. The highway stretched into the distance, and only the headlights penetrated the darkness, leaving long shadows behind them. The words of the letter she had just read still echoed in her head. Robert had asked her to come. He had written that he would wait for her in their "special place." In these words, despite all the clarity, there was something strange, something that made her lose herself in conjecture.
"A special place," she thought, trying to understand the meaning of these words.
The whole city was their "special place." It was the city where she and Robert had once walked together, where they had begun their existence, their little world where everything seemed possible. But what did "special place" mean to him now, if it wasn't just another nostalgic moment that Robert had inserted into a letter? Maybe it was some kind of symbol, some kind of code that he wanted to convey something to her, but she couldn't understand. Or maybe it was just a prank - someone who knew how she felt and decided to play a joke on her. But no... she was sure it wasn't like that. It was Robert's letter. She might not recognize his handwriting, but it was so familiar that there was no doubt.
Her thoughts were interrupted for a moment by the sound of the engine, running smoothly and silently. She looked again at the letter in her hands. He asked her to come as soon as possible, because "time was running out." But what if time was already running out? What if Robert was dead? No, she couldn't think that. Robert was too alive, his words were too real. Even if she couldn't go back to him when she had promised, she had to be there now. And if Robert was really waiting for her in their "special place," she had to understand it.
Delia Asia Vieira jammed the clutch into the car as she sped through the intersection, ignoring the streets that felt so familiar and so foreign. There was no room in her head for doubt, no room for fear. All her attention was focused on one thing: she couldn't afford to make a mistake. She couldn't be late. But what if she was already late? What if everything she had done had been in vain?
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel again, and she glanced sharply at the dashboard. The road was becoming increasingly empty, and her thoughts, like fog, were gradually dissipating. Delia Asia Vieira knew she should have arrived sooner. The moment Robert had first sent her this letter. But she hadn't arrived. And now she was here, in the car, on the empty road, with hope that was growing weaker with every kilometer.
Images came to mind: she and Robert sitting in an old café, talking about the future, about how they would always be there for each other, no matter what. But the promise she had made had remained unfulfilled. Robert had always said that she would come back, that she would come and that she would be with him. But she had not. And now, as he wrote to her about waiting for her, she realized that she could not afford to break that promise, no matter how empty and broken she was.
She looked at the letter again. Every word was so familiar that it seemed as if Robert was still with her. His last request was so clear that she could not help but believe it to be true. He was waiting for her. And she had to be near him. Wherever this "special place" was, she had to find it.