Chapter Six: The Monster at the Door

"Get away from me! I swear to God, I will kill you if you touch me!" Jasper screamed, his voice cracking with a mixture of blinding pain and absolute terror.

The cramping in his abdomen was agonizing, twisting his insides like a wet rag. He could feel the poison from the tampered pill coursing through his veins, making his vision swim and his limbs feel like lead. But the pain in his body was nothing compared to the terror in his heart.

Victoria stood at the foot of the bed, a cruel, victorious smile playing on her red lips. She held a small, sharp surgical scalpel in her right hand. The silver blade caught the dim light of the room, and Jasper felt his blood run cold.

"I told you, didn't I?" Victoria whispered, taking a slow step toward the bed. "I warned you that this wasn't over. Did you really think Sebastian could protect you forever? He's not even here, Jasper. He left you."

"Don't come any closer!" Jasper gasped. He tried to scramble backward, but his body refused to cooperate. A sharp, searing pain ripped through his lower belly, and he cried out, curling into a tight ball. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, desperate to shield his baby.

Victoria laughed softly. "Look at you. So pathetic. So weak. Did you really think you could trap a man like Sebastian Thorne with a bastard child? You are nothing but a freak. And I am doing this family a favor."

She climbed onto the bed, her knees sinking into the soft mattress. Jasper kicked out weakly, his foot connecting with her thigh, but she barely flinched. She grabbed his ankle and yanked him down the bed.

"Let go of me!" Jasper screamed. He swung his fist, catching her across the cheek. Victoria's head snapped to the side. For a split second, shock flashed in her eyes. Then, it was replaced by pure, unadulterated rage.

"You little rat!" Victoria hissed. She backhanded him hard across the face. Jasper's head snapped back, his vision exploding into white stars. The metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth.

"Please," Jasper sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "Please, don't hurt my baby. I will leave. I will disappear. I will do anything you want. Just please, don't kill my baby."

Victoria sneered down at him. "Oh, it's too late for that. You should have taken the five million dollars when you had the chance." She raised the scalpel, her eyes dropping to his stomach. "Let's just get rid of the problem permanently."

Jasper screamed. He thrashed wildly, grabbing a heavy glass lamp from the bedside table and swinging it with all the strength he had left. The lamp smashed into the side of Victoria's head. She shrieked, dropping the scalpel as she fell sideways off the bed.

Jasper didn't hesitate. He rolled off the other side of the bed, landing hard on the marble floor. The impact sent a shockwave of pain through his body. He gasped, a warm, wet feeling spreading between his legs. He looked down. Blood.

He was bleeding again.

"Guards!" Jasper screamed at the top of his lungs. "Help! Somebody help me!"

He dragged himself across the cold floor, leaving a smeared trail of blood behind him. He reached the door, his hands shaking as he fumbled with the lock. But before he could open it, a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him backward.

"No!" Jasper shrieked.

Victoria was standing over him, blood trickling down her temple. Her beautiful face was twisted into something demonic. She raised the scalpel high above her head.

"Say goodbye, you little freak," she spat.

Jasper closed his eyes, shielding his stomach with his hands. He thought of the little life inside him. The tiny heartbeat he had heard on the doctor's monitor. He thought of Sebastian. He was so sorry. He was so sorry he couldn't protect their baby.

"I love you," Jasper whispered to his unborn child.

The door to the bedroom didn't just open. It was ripped off its hinges.

Sebastian Thorne stood in the doorway. He was covered in rain, his dark hair plastered to his forehead, his chest heaving. But it was his eyes that made the room go cold. They were not blue anymore. They were black. Pure, unadulterated darkness.

"Get away from him!" Sebastian roared, his voice shaking the walls.

He moved like a bolt of lightning. Victoria didn't even have time to scream. Sebastian grabbed her by the throat and threw her across the room. She crashed into a large mirror, shattering the glass and falling into a limp, bleeding heap on the floor.

Sebastian didn't even look at her. He dropped to his knees beside Jasper, his hands hovering, terrified to touch him.

"Jasper," Sebastian choked out, his voice breaking. The darkness in his eyes faded, replaced by sheer, unadulterated panic. "Jasper, look at me. Please, look at me."

Jasper opened his eyes. They were glassy and unfocused. He looked up at Sebastian, a weak, trembling smile on his lips.

"You came back," Jasper whispered.

"I never left you," Sebastian sobbed, gently gathering Jasper into his arms. He could feel the warm blood soaking through his shirt. "I felt something was wrong. I turned the car around. I am so sorry. I am so sorry I wasn't here."

Jasper's hand weakly gripped Sebastian's shirt. "The baby," Jasper gasped, his face contorting in pain. "The doctor... the pills... she poisoned the pills."

Sebastian's face went white with rage. He looked at Victoria's crumpled body, then back at Jasper. "I will kill her. I will kill her for this."

"Sebastian," Jasper whispered, his voice fading. "If I don't make it... please... save my baby. Please."

"Don't you dare talk like that!" Sebastian screamed, tears falling freely down his face. "You are going to be fine. You hear me? You are going to be fine!"

He scooped Jasper into his arms, running out of the room. "Get an ambulance!" he roared at the guards who were just now waking up in the hallway. "NOW!"

He carried Jasper down the stairs, his mind a blur of terror and rage. He couldn't lose him. He couldn't lose them.

He laid Jasper on the backseat of his car, climbing in beside him. He held Jasper's hand tightly as the driver sped through the streets, running red lights and swerving through traffic.

"Stay with me, baby," Sebastian begged, pressing kisses to Jasper's cold, clammy forehead. "Please, don't leave me."

Jasper's eyes fluttered closed. His grip on Sebastian's hand went limp.

"Jasper!" Sebastian screamed. "Jasper, wake up!"

The car screeched to a halt in front of the hospital. Doctors and nurses rushed out with a gurney. They pulled Jasper from Sebastian's arms and rushed him through the emergency doors.

Sebastian tried to follow, but a nurse stopped him. "Sir, you can't go in there. You have to wait in the waiting room."

"I am not waiting!" Sebastian roared. "That is my husband and my child in there!"

The nurse's eyes widened, but she stood her ground. "I am sorry, sir. You have to wait."

Sebastian stood in the middle of the hospital lobby, covered in blood. His hands were shaking. His whole world was crashing down around him.

He pulled out his phone, dialing a number.

"Boss?" a voice answered.

"Victoria Sterling," Sebastian said, his voice deadly calm. "I want her dead. I want her whole family dead. Burn it all to the ground. Do you understand me?"

"Consider it done, boss."

Sebastian hung up the phone and collapsed into a chair. He buried his face in his bloody hands.

And for the first time in his adult life, Sebastian Thorne cried.

Hours passed. The waiting room was silent, save for the ticking of the clock on the wall. Sebastian hadn't moved. He couldn't.

Finally, the doctor stepped out of the double doors. He looked exhausted. His scrubs were stained with blood.

Sebastian shot to his feet. "Is he alive? Is my baby alive?"

The doctor took a deep breath. He looked at Sebastian with a grim, apologetic expression.

"Mr. Thorne," the doctor said slowly. "We managed to stabilize Jasper. He is alive."

Sebastian let out a huge breath, his knees buckling with relief. "Thank God. And the baby?"

The doctor paused. He looked down at his clipboard, then back up at Sebastian. His silence was deafening.

"Mr. Thorne... there is something you need to know," the doctor said quietly.

Sebastian's heart dropped into his stomach. "What is it? Tell me!"

The doctor stepped closer, lowering his voice. "The poison Victoria used... it was designed to terminate the pregnancy. It didn't work."

Sebastian frowned. "What do you mean it didn't work? Is the baby okay?"

"The baby is perfectly healthy," the doctor said. "But... Mr. Thorne, the ultrasound revealed something unexpected. Jasper isn't just carrying one baby. He is carrying twins. And they aren't just any twins."

Sebastian grabbed the doctor by the shoulders. "What are you talking about?"

The doctor swallowed hard. "The fetuses... they have a 98% DNA match to you. But they also have a 98% DNA match to someone else. Someone who isn't Jasper."

Sebastian froze. "What? That's impossible."

"I know it sounds impossible," the doctor whispered. "But the scans don't lie. Your children aren't just yours, Mr. Thorne. They are also a perfect genetic match to your mother, Eleanor Thorne."

Sebastian's blood ran cold. "My mother?"

The doctor nodded, his face pale. "The babies are a perfect clone of your mother. Which means... someone manipulated the conception. Someone wanted to create a heir that was a carbon copy of Eleanor Thorne. And they succeeded."

Sebastian stared at the doctor, his mind reeling. His mother. His evil, manipulative mother. She hadn't just tried to kill Jasper. She had been planning this from the very beginning.

And now, those babies were in Jasper's womb. Perfect clones of a monster.

Sebastian took a step back, his whole body trembling.

"What have you done, Mother?" Sebastian whispered to the empty hallway. "What have you done?"

Inside the hospital room, Jasper lay unconscious, his hands still resting protectively on his stomach. But he wasn't alone. In the shadows of the corner, Eleanor Thorne stood watching him. She smiled, a cold, terrifying smile.

"You did well, my boy," Eleanor whispered to Jasper's sleeping form. "You did exactly what I needed you to do. Now, my legacy will live forever."

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"Prepare the extraction team," Eleanor said quietly. "We are taking the babies tonight. And Jasper... Jasper is no longer useful to us. Kill him.”