We touch down onto ground in the middle of a beautiful European city. He flew me halfway around the world, half of the journey he had to paralyze me for because he was travelling too fast. The sun is setting here, but it's still daylight. Standing in a quiet city is the strangest feeling, it's as if I'm the last human alive.

The buildings are so tall and mighty. They were once offices. Some were apartment homes. There are ghosts everywhere and I fold my arms to my chest as I follow Cain towards a gate at the end of the street. The creatures guarding it don't even talk to him, they make no effort to stop him at all, they just move aside.

Through the gate is a large turning circle with a fountain in the middle. The mansion, I imagine, was once someone's home. Someone very rich and powerful. There are creatures everywhere. Some sitting, some standing, some taking human girls on walks. At Cain's arrival, they are on edge.

Cain begins heading for the steps of the mansion, but he stops as the door opens. A female creature with a slim, tall body and light brown hair steps out with a big smile. She bows her head respectfully.

"My King," she says. "I was not expecting a visit today."

"I am just observing," Cain says. "Please, don't let my arrival disturb your routine."

"Observing what?" she says. She stares at me. "Have you brought a transfer?"

"No," he says. "She's an observer too. Are there any of your girls in labour?"

The creature smiles. "Indeed. One is in labour right now. We produce results here."

"Good," he says. "Show us."

I look across the turning circle and I meet the eyes of a girl around seventeen, she rubs her round bump as she stares at me, a large book resting on her lap that she reads on a picnic blanket.

"Aurora," Cain says. "Come."

I snap out of it and I follow him up the steps. The mansion is much like Cain's palace. It's clean and germ-free, with thick carpets and freshly painted walls. The room to my left is a music room, I hear the soft tune of a piano as a few of the girls crowd around it, some of them singing. Further down the hallway, I see many rooms inhabited by humans, with hardly any creatures at all. A mixture of girls and guys, ages ranging from maybe sixteen to nineteen. They're sitting around long couches, talking and playing cards. They all stare at us as we stop and look inside, they haven't been prepared for a visit by the King, they might not even know that he exists.

"They interact like this all day?" Cain asks her.

"Indeed," the creature says as she peers inside, keeping a distance behind us. "We found that the results were more promising when the breeders spent time together. And then we pair those that are most emotionally involved."

"Interesting," he mumbles.

"It's so the boys will be more attracted to them," I whisper, cringing at the disgusting thought. "So they can finish. It's psychological torture."

"What was that?" the creature says.

I swallow fearfully and duck my head down. Cain turns and steps between us. "Continue," he says.

The creature glares at me but she drops it, continuing down the hallway. Cain shoots me a cautious look and I apologize with my eyes. Humans would never speak out like that in front of creatures. Sometimes it's easy to forget that I am still vulnerable.

"We've had eighty confirmed pregnancies in the last twelve months," the creature says happily. "Out of the hundred-and-fifty girls that are here, that is somewhat amazing compared to other facilities around the world."

"How do you monitor their well-being?" Cain asks.

"We have an infirmary with experienced medical carers," she says. "There are also many of our own kind here that have consumed human doctors. The knowledge still imbedded into them."

"Our own species helps to deliver the babies?"

"I do." She grins. "I have been present for every birth in this facility. I have acquired the knowledge to perform emergency procedures if necessary to give the babies the best chance at survival. None have died on my watch."

"What of the mothers?" Cain says.

The creature stops and turns curiously. "What of them?"

"They are very young, are they given care afterwards?"

"I don't understand what you are asking. We produce results here; you will be pleased when you see the data collection from other breeding centres and compare."

Cain and I exchange a look as she turns back around. The fact she dismissed his question about the mother's care just proves that they don't give a damn if they live or die after, let alone that they're taking their baby from them.

"One girl even had twins," the creature says as she types in a code at the of a white hallway to a door and it buzzes open. "She died on the table. We had to transfer the male breeder after because he caused a lot of trouble trying to see them. Behaviour like that isn't tolerated here."

I clench on my teeth in anger, my hand balling into a fist at my side. Cain shakes his head at me and drops his hand down my wrist, slowly unclenching my hand. I don't know how he manages to calm me but he does. I'd love to hit her. I'd love to knock that evil smirk from her face.

"What is the suicide rate here?" Cain asks.

The creature's face falls blank as she stops and glances over her shoulder. "Less than other facilities."

"The numbers."

She sighs. "Ten in the last month. The most recent was three days ago. She wasn't pregnant but she was very allergic to garlic and she knew we didn't know that. Her partner is refusing to be paired with someone else but we will deal with him."

"Deal with him?" I say, unable to contain it any longer. "He just lost the girl he's been having sex with for god knows how long, he's probably in love with her, he's probably-" Cain drags me down the hallway. "You're the one that should be dealt with!" I shout over his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing?" he whispers. "I know this is upsetting you but you need to calm down."

"If you don't kill her then I will," I say, meeting her harsh glare with one of my own.

He smiles just slightly. "She's not used to humans speaking out against her like that without being able to retaliate. Trust me, that's equivalent to killing her."

I take deep breaths, gently nodding my head to show him that I'm calm. He turns back and I follow him across the hallway.

"I apologize," Cain says.

The creature straightens. "It's fine. This way."

She leads us through another door, a hallway with glass windows separated by doors every few feet. At first I don't notice it, I'm still too pissed off to look, but the image of naked flesh captures my attention and I turn to look at the glass, regretting it the moment I do. I see a flicker of two bodies moving against a bed in a small room. I gasp and cling a hand to my chest, my back pressing into the glass as I turn around from it.

Cain stops and stares into the glass. He has no problem with watching it, with watching the two teenagers have the most intimate moment of their life viewed by strangers.

"Can they see us?" Cain says.

"No, it's one-way glass," the creature says. "We like to check that progress is being made."

"What if they refuse?" he says.

"Then they don't eat," she says. "We starve them until they have no choice."

Cain glares at her.

"I know that is against your new law," she says softly. "But if you want babies to be born then that is the only effective method. It's actually the males that are more prone to refusing, starving the females quickly changes their mind."

"Psychological torture," I repeat quietly. "You use their bond against each other."

"Yes," the creature says. "But I can assure you that we never physically force them. If they decided to end their breeding now then we would escort them back to their rooms."

"How considerate of you," I mumble.

"Aurora," Cain hisses.

I drop my eyes to the floor. I don't know why I'm being like this. I've seen a lot of things over the last eight years, things that have broken me and devastated me, but I always stayed silent. I always just watched it happen. However, I have never seen anything like this. I don't know if I'm strong enough to see the girl give birth. To see the baby ripped from her grasp and taken into another room while the girl probably dies from blood loss or other complications. Why did I do this? I rub a hand into my chest, it's overwhelming me.

"Let's go," Cain says, looking down at me.

"The girl is through here," the creature says, taking us down the hallway. "She's been in labour for sixteen hours now so she'll be very exhausted."

I follow Cain into a darkened room with a glass window separating us from an adjacent hospital-looking room. I hear the girl's screams the moment I enter. It doesn't even phase Cain, he just stares through the glass blankly, as though this is an experience he's always wanted to try.

The girl is laying on a bed in a thin gown with her legs spread open. Her dark hair is pushed back with sweat, her cheeks are flushed pink and her nails are clawing into the sheets. She's pretty, petite, young like the rest of them. I place her at seventeen or eighteen but she could be younger.

There are two male creatures in the room, both of them watching from the corner. While two human girls kneel down at the girl's legs, one of them wears blue gloves.

"She's ready to push now," the creature says. I suddenly realize that she's drifting closer to me and I walk around the other side of Cain. I don't want her anywhere near me and not because of fear of her touching me. "Is this your first human birth experience?"

"Yes," Cain says.

"It becomes quite. . . messy," she says. "We are used to it now but it might shock you."

"There is nothing that can shock me," he mutters. "I have seen many births through the feeding process."

"Of course."

Cain's eyes widen and he presses a hand to the glass as the head becomes visible in between the girl's legs. There is a mighty scream from the girl's lips as she pushes until her face becomes a blood-thirsty red.

The creature presses a button on the desk and speaks into a microphone. "Good job, keep reassuring her to push."

The room is silent as the girl delivers her last push. The baby is out safely, delivering its first cry to the world. One of the girls cuts the chord and pats the baby down with a soft towel.

"Gender?" the creature asks, pressing the button again.

"Female," the girl says, turning around. She holds the baby to the glass and the creature nods, writing something down in a small book.

"Pass her over."

All at once, the tension changes. The girl's arms tremble as she holds the baby tighter against her, she looks down to the mother, who is still recovering from her exhaustion but can just muster enough strength to cry.

"Let me hold her please," the girl pleas with a British accent. "Just once, please."

The creature angrily presses the button. "Pass her over."

"No!" The mother follows the sight of her baby across the room as the human girl surrenders the little life over to a male creature. "No. Please. Don't take her, please. I am begging you, just let me hold her."

"Cain," I whisper, tears streaming down my face. He looks down at me, shaking his head with confliction.

The creature presses the button. "Take her to the nursery, she'll be transferred to the nannery tomorrow."

Cain just keeps looking at me, searching for something impossible in my eyes. As the creature inside the room starts to head towards the door, igniting a powerful cry from the mother, Cain reaches over and presses the button, making the female creature snap her head up in shock.

"Give the baby back to the mother," he says.

The male creature halts. His head twisting at the glass.

"What are you doing?" the female hisses, hitting the button. "Take the baby to the nursery, that is an order."

"This is your King," Cain says, his voice so deadly that the female straightens. "Hand the baby back to the mother, that is an order."

I smile through my many tears as the male creature walks back over to the girl, passing her daughter back to her. Her arms extend on instinct, cradling the new life into her chest with a cry of happiness.

Cain turns and holds the female creature by her throat, pinning her into the wall. "If you ever defy an order from me again, I'll make every single one of those mothers watch your death. I'll make sure the last thing you see is their grinning faces as you evaporate into dust. Is that clear?"

She nods dramatically.

"Make sure the mother receives medical care," he says, pressing the buzzer so the males hear it too. "And the baby will remain with her, they will both be transferred to the nannery."

"Both?" she mutters.

Cain thinks about that and then drops her back to the floor. "All three of them. The male breeder too. He should meet his daughter."

"I don't understand what is happening," the creature says breathlessly as she pats down her white shirt. "Is this a new law that the breeders have to be transferred as well?"

"Yes," Cain says. "It is. If they are not transferred with the child then I will be returning. You're not going to like it when I do."

"Understood," she says.

"Come, Aurora. We're leaving."

I look back through the glass one final time, smiling at the beautiful sight of hope that no one ever really believed in before. The creature stays near the door and I straighten my body as I walk towards her, smirking at her as I follow him. She snarls at me, her eyes narrowing with anger but I don't care. It feels good.

"Do not say I told you so," he mutters.

"Cain, wait," I whisper, halting his charge with my hand. "I'm not even sure if you know exactly what you've just done but. . . thank you."

"I didn't have a choice," he says. "Your soul, it. . ." He gulps down the words. "Short of stopping these breeding centres all together that was the only thing I could do." He sighs to himself. "And it still doesn't feel enough."

"It will never be enough," I say. "But it's better than what they had before. The watchers are going to be confused, you'll need to introduce these laws quickly."

"I am aware," he says, rubbing his head as he charges down the breeding hallway. I run across it quickly, not daring to glance at the glass again. "Just brace yourself for the consequences."