It was the night of October 31st,  the air heavy, the moon full. Four doulas, Amirah, Naomi, Riley, and Marisol  got the call. Four clients, all in labor. Normally, that would’ve been exciting.But this wasn’t a normal night.

For days, whispers had spread about a creature roaming the outskirts, feeding on fear and livestock. Legend had it that the creature would return to town under a full moon, when four births began at once. No one believed it… until Halloween night.

One by one, the doulas packed their bags and headed into the dark. The roads were empty. The town, eerily still. Then…bam! The power grid crashed. Every house. Every streetlight. Gone. Only the full moon lit their path.

A roar echoed from the woods; not human, not animal, but something huge. The doulas froze, flashlights trembling, hearts pounding.

“People still free-birth these days, ya know — unassisted. As in, we should stay home or, I don’t know, hide!” Amirah’s voice shook.

They all looked at each other, then back toward the hospital. No one spoke, but they knew. Babies don’t wait for monsters.

They pressed forward, birth bags clutched tight, pedaling through the howling wind.

When they reached the hospital, they stopped cold.

It was there.

Towering over the hospital, claws curled around the roof, eyes burning like fire. The ground trembled beneath its breath. The doulas stared, full of fear, but more determined than ever. They were getting inside that hospital, one way or another.

“Babies don’t wait for monsters,” Marisol whispered again. Riley groaned, “Yeah, and after this,
I might just become an engineer or something that doesn’t involve fighting monsters.”

Under the blood-red sky, they rode straight toward the hospital doors.