He is Here
1114 Words
RAGNA
“You are evil.”
The words came from Alpha Raven, quite gently and quietly, like those words weren’t ruining me and all I stood for.
“Can’t you see? Everything you touch dies, Saija.”
“Stop.” I pressed my palms against my ears, stumbling backward as his words burrowed into my skull like parasites. “Stop.” I whispered again, yet my voice was lost in the wind that whopped across the cliff’s edge. “Please, just stop.”
But the voice in my head... that cruel, familiar whisper that had haunted me since I was a child, seized his words and amplified them.
Cursed. Doomed. Death follows you like a shadow.
“Look what you’ve done!” He roared, his black eyes blazing with hatred so pure it literally took my breath away. Behind him, the crowd of pack members who had once stared at me with adoration, now stared at me with disgust and fear. Their whispered condemnations joined the chorus in my head until I could not distinguish between external voices and internal torment,
“Curse.”
“Death harbinger.”
“Monster.”
“Stop please....” I pleaded as I took a step backward with each word they muttered. Each of their words felt like cuts on my already shattered heart. The rocky ground beneath my feet began to crumble, loose stones tumbling down below.
“You murderer. How could you?”
“I... I tried....” My voice trembled with fear and desperation. “I tried to save her. i.... I tried.....” I gasped, tears streaming down my face.
“You killed her.” Raven’s final words shattered whatever remained of my soul.
“No!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. This wasn’t true. This couldn’t be true!
The ground suddenly gave way beneath me and I fell into darkness, carrying the weight of their hatred and my damning gift into the void.
“No!”
I bolted upright in bed, looking around to be sure it was just a dream as cold sweat drenched my nightgown. My heart thumped against my ribs so hard that it felt like it wanted to escape and for a moment, I couldn’t distinguish between the nightmare cliff and my silk sheets.
“Miss Ragna?”
Mariette’s concerned voice cut through the cloud of terror. My loyal maid sat in the chair beside my bed, her face creased with worry as she leaned forward. The flickering candlelight caused dancing shadows to form across her features, making her look older than fifty.
“Are you alright? Was it a nightmare?”
I nodded wordlessly, not trusting my voice to remain steady. The taste of fear still coated my tongue, as bitter as wolfs bane.
“Could you..... could you bring me some chamomile tea?” I managed to speak, pushing damp strands of hair from my face.
“Of course, my lady.” She rose with grace and proceeded to the door quickly like this was routine for her. Well, it was. “I’ll be right back.”
The moment her footsteps faded down the corridor, I slipped from the bed on trembling legs. The mirror across the room beckoned onto me like a cruel confessor, demanding I face what I’d become. Each step towards it felt like walking through quicksand.
With shaky fingers, I peeled off my silk bed jacket, letting it fall at my feet. The woman staring back at me in the mirror was a stranger. She felt nothing like me cause while I felt like I had hollow eyes, too thin and marked by suffering in ways that went far deeper than skin, she looked plump and healthy and smooth.... except for those scars.
The scars left from the dangerous fall from that cliff, the day I died. The day Saija died. I’d tried every possible way to get rid of it. Healing salves, magic potions, and everything possible to reach but somehow, they always returned, as if doomed to remind me that some wounds never truly heal. Everything about me changed after I died that night. I woke up in a new body, had a new identity, a new name and even new abilities but the scars stuck with me.
It was like a reminder of the life I was desperately trying to forget. The nightmares weren’t helping either. They’d been coming more frequently, more vivid and bleeding into my reality that I could barely tell what was memory and what was fear.
I heard footsteps approaching and I immediately knew it was Mariette returning. I snatched up the jacket and threw it back on, my fingers fumbling with the buttons as panic flared in my chest. How could I explain to them? How could I tell anyone what had really happened to me? How could I explain that the Alpha’s daughter was nothing more than a broken shell of the woman she used to be? The woman who had died because of her gift? Or should I say… her curse?
Some secrets were too dark to share, even with those who loved you most.
The door creaked open just as I finished fastening the last button and Mariette entered with a steaming cup balanced on a delicate porcelain saver, the scent of chamomile filling the room like oxygen.
“Here you go, my lady.” She murmured, setting the tea on my nightstand with care and concern.
“Do you need me to stay with you?” She probed; her hands tucked neatly behind her apron. I shook my head gently as I took a sip. No one could help me out of this mess. It was my reality.
“Why aren’t the maids asleep?” I questioned, taking a sip of the tea which sent a relieving feeling down my body the minute the first sip reached my belly. I had heard murmurs and voices from downstairs. Feminine voices.
“Just a few hours ago, a letter came in for the Alpha, your father. Two important Alphas will be coming to our pack tomorrow and the Alpha and Luna are keen on making their stay comfortable so the maids are cleaning.”
What bullshit?
“If they wanted to come tomorrow, they could have given a prior notice rather than this.” I muttered to myself as I took another sip.
“I think their visit is urgent so they couldn’t reach out in time and they are also very important people. I heard one of the Alphas coming is Alpha Raven.” She spoke and I choked on the tea immediately, my eyes widening with shock.
Raven?
- Writer
