Witchery

Chapter 5

I am screaming and trying to run, but I can’t get up. Something is binding my legs; I start crawling and dragging myself towards the next street. My arms are screaming from the effort. I can see his hunchbacked silhouette clearly on the wall from a dim light, I can’t quite locate. He is holding a knife in one hand, gripping around her wrist with the other. My mum’s wrist. My consciousness clearly recognizing her. She transforms into a pure, beautiful, caramel colored wolf, still with hazel brown eyes shining in terror. Her last defense. I try to shapeshift as well, but my body can’t. It is like there is something binding me, holding me back completely. But I want to help, to fight!

I hear her voice in my head “Esme, get away, run!” 

No! I can’t leave her with this monster! 

He raises the knife, still managing to hold on to her paw, as if she wasn’t a strong, terrifying wolf. He is furious, shouting that she is his property, she belongs to him and she will never escape him, not even in death will she ever find piece from him. 

In one smooth go, he pierces the knife through her heart. As if though she was nothing. I see the shock in her wide eyes. Hear her last scream, urging me to run away, in my mind. I see the light leaving her eyes, her beautiful wolf crumbling together, nothing holding it up anymore. 

I want to scream too, but I can’t. My tongue is bound just as my legs and my shapeshifting ability. I can only try to crawl into hiding, knowing it is too late to save her. And to get away from him. He looks up from my mum’s corpse, his dark, cruel eyes locking mine, holding my gaze. Slowly, he starts walking towards me as if though he had all the time in the world. I am paralyzed with fear, fighting to get my body to listen to me. To run. But I can’t. I can only focus on his terrifying dark eyes coming closer, nearer and nearer every second. 

I wake up, screaming in terror, sitting up straight, despite the pain going through my body from my sudden movement, making me cry out again. The nightmare is so vivid, I know it isn’t just a dream. It was my subconsciousness showing me a real memory. 

Adriel reacts as soon as I scream, running from the couch, where he has been sleeping, to my bedside. 

“What is it, love?” He asks me in a hushed tone. “Did you have another nightmare?” 

I nod, fighting back my tears. He sits down on the bedside, taking me into his arms in a warm embrace. I know he can feel that this nightmare was different from the others. Usually when I dream, I just see blood and hunched shadows on the wall, flashes of a knife or chanting voices echoing through my brain. 

I start tearing up against his shoulder and he silently lets me cry while stroking my hair, letting me take as much time to cry as I need. When I calm down, he gently holds me away from his body, looking into my eyes, asking:

“What did you dream?” 

Feeling safe and firmly back in the hospital room, inside Adriel’s arms, I tell him the truth. I don’t have anything but him to lose anyways. Even though we are fated mates, I am well aware that everyday could be the day where he turns me down, deciding I am not worth his time, too much trouble to worry about. Why not give him a reason to leave me sooner rather than later? It is a nasty thought, but I still remember way to well how alone I was in that apartment. How easily I could end up in a similar position. Better make sure it happens now, before I start feeling too comfortable around him. 

“It… it wasn’t just a bad dream. It was a memory coming back to me, I think.” 

He looks startled. “What kind of memory was it?” The words are hesitant. 

“It was… It was how my mother was killed.” Until now I have been looking down, but now I raise my head, looking him directly in the eyes. A few tears well back up in my eyes, but I resolutely blink them away. I start telling him about the dream, although the mere thought of my mum’s coldblooded murder has me shivering. My feelings towards the warlock is such a mix between fear, a budding hatred, and… confusion. It did really sound like him and my mother had a relationship somehow. Adriel notices my bewildered look, asking me what I am not telling him. 

“I… He… The warlock… the one who held me captured. The one who killed my mother. I think he had some sort of connection to my mum. He kept yelling she couldn’t escape him, that she belonged to him, even in death.” The last words barely make it over my lips, only as a whisper. I start tearing up again, shaking under the weight of these new pieces of lost memories in my mind. Adriel stares at me in disbelief. 

“This is so f*****g messed up!” Frustration painted all over his face, his eyes are glowing with anger.

“We have searched everywhere for him, but he has left no trace of where he went after leaving you in that cruel apartment.” His words are filled with utter hatred. I can feel his werewolf’s aura – the Alpha aura as I’ve learned it is called – expanding, and I shiver under its phantom touch. He notices this and immediately restrain the aura again, looking a bit embarrassed. 

I let go of my breath, realizing I’ve been nervous for his reaction. Feeling relief drowning me, he hasn’t turned me away, I decide to steer the conversation in a nicer direction.

 “I… I also learned my real name.” 

“You did?” Calmly waiting for me to decide whether I want to tell him or not, his eyes are piercing mine, intrigued. 

“My mother screamed it in my head.” I explain, “It is Esme.” No last name though, but I guess it’s a start. Adriel nods, satisfied with the information as well. 

“At least we have some kind of information to go on with now, it has been so f*****g frustrating not knowing where to look.” He admits. “And… It is a beautiful name; it suits you really well. I think it actually means “emerald” or something, it is at least a French name.” 

I smile at this thought. My name matches his eyes. And the pack’s name, which I have learned to be called the Emerald Moon Clan. 

“Listen baby, just lay back and relax, I won’t leave your side, okay? I can see you are exhausted. We will deal with this later.” A firm, but gentle, hand on my shoulder pushes me back down against the cushions. He takes my hand and starts stroking my fingers with his thumb, silently humming a tune I don’t know. I start feeling a bit dizzy, realizing he was very much right about my exhaustion, and close my eyes, the night catching up with me again. This time, however, I fall into a deep, peaceful sleep, that last until early next morning. I am woken by Adriel, who tries to leave my bed as silently as possible. 

I realize we have fallen asleep together, me curled up in Adriel’s arms.