Luna’s Recrimination

Chapter four

Andre's POV

"What's going on?" I heard a voice say to me. I think it was El but I wasn't so sure as everything was beginning to get mixed up in my head.

I held my head with both hands as I struggled to hold the pain in. It had been a week since I last felt this hurt in my head and it was all coming back. My head throbbed. I felt like I was being struck with a hammer relentlessly. The pain was unbearable and unexpected. I could feel my veins begin to pop out in my head.

"My head!!"

She shouldn't have called that name. She shouldn't have mentioned Ella's name. All I could think of at the mention of that name was hurt and pain. A pain that overwhelmed me and made me wish I could join her wherever she was.

Ella was my sister; so beautiful was she. She was red-haired and quite slender with an amazing set of emerald eyes. She had the heart of gold too. No one cared about me as much as I did; not even my mother. We had always been close since we were little. She was two years younger than I was. We played together, laughed, cried and fought. Those memories lived rent-free in my head.

I had never really come to terms with the fact that she was gone. It was something I hated to admit. Each time it crossed my mind, I couldn't hold back the pain and anguish that I felt. I became aggressive to everyone around me. I wasn't in control at the time. I was overwhelmed by my emotions.

We had just had a very heated argument, Ella and I, and she decided to go out and buy a few things so we could eat and relax. "You do know that anything short of a very chilled drink would make me send you back to the stores, right?" I had asked her, just as she was about to leave.

"You wish!" She answered before heading out to get the stuff with her car. I knew deep down that she was going to stop at nothing to get me that chilled drink that I wanted. What I didn't know was that she wasn't going to come home.

In the evening, my mom came home and her face was full of gloom. "What's the problem, mom?" I had asked but she simply came over to me and wrapped her hands around me in a hug that lasted over five minutes. Then, I heard her sob softly and I knew there was a problem.

Ella should have returned a long time before that. When she didn't, I assumed she wasn't with my mom. It was after my mom withdrew from the hug, held both shoulders of mine and looked me in the eye, shaking her head, that I knew what had happened. Ella; my Ella was gone, never to be seen again.

As I went to see her corpse, my mom instructed everyone to stay back at home and avoid me as much as they could whenever I returned. She did, too. I didn't know what I was doing so I was capable of harming just about anyone.

That pain was tangible. I felt my heart almost burst out of my chest. That intense anger was here again and I slowly felt something trying to break out. My bones began to c***k and I felt my neck turning in uncomfortable directions. My hands began to grow bigger and claws shot out from my fingers and my toes.

"Get away from him!" My mom screamed at El who quickly sprang from the sofa where she sat and ran quickly to my mom, hiding behind her.

"Grrr!" I roared as my wolf emerged. My shirt was torn apart and so were my pants. I launched at El but much to my surprise, I was blocked by two other wolves; the first hit me right in the face as the other one growled.

The second wolf was none other than Ryan, my 7 feet tall Beta, who had been in his room all this while. I guess he sensed that something was wrong with me and quickly came out. For sure, they were both strong, but I knew I was far stronger.

"We don't want to hurt you, son. Calm down," my mom called out through mind-linking to me. She was supposed to be more scared of what I was about to do to her and anyone else who stood in my way. Deep down, I didn't want to hurt anyone. I tried to fight my wolf from within but it was superior. My emotional state had given it more power.

"Do I look like someone you know?" El asked, just as I was about to charge at Ryan for daring to oppose me. Somehow, it seemed to calm me down a little as I paused to hear what she had to say.

She got no reply because she was not mind-linked with anyone in the room, so she walked gingerly to me, ignoring the growls for her to stop. She stood a safe distance and said.

“It’s okay. You’re okay. Leo can you hear me?” She was able to connect to me with just he voice. Sensing that I was calmer, she took a bold move to take one more step that would bring her so close to me, and patted my fur. My wolf found her touch comforting and relaxed.

Suddenly, I was calm. I could resonate with her words. I sped out of the room, just before I turned back. I was n***d. I got into my room, put on a some clothes and stepped back into the sitting room. My mom and Ryan returned a few seconds after. They must have gone to do the same thing I did.

Everyone had gotten back.

“What just happened?” A perplexed El asked. “Do I look like someone you all know?” She repeated her question.

“Yes, Yes, you do,” my mother sighed.

“You look just like my daughter; Andre’s sister, who we lost not so long ago. She had run into a mountain lion and it did not end well.”

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”

“Then, my presence should bring some solace and comfort and not pain. When we lose the ones we love, their memories should bring us great comfort because that’s what they’ll want for us, not pain and agony. Wherever they are, they’ll love to look down and see that we’re very happy, even as much as we miss them.”

"Please, El, I'd love you to stay with us," I said to her. It was a desperate plea, but I did not care. I hadn't realised that she was so much like Ella; not until mom called that name. I wanted nothing else but to have my sister back and if I couldn't, I was happy to settle for Elena who looked just like her.

"She's not El, Andre," said my mother, "She just looks like her. I'm not going to have anyone pose as a substitute for my daughter. You need to learn how to control yourself better and find it in yourself to feel better without trying to fool yourself by assuming that someone else is your sister. Ella is dead and she has no substitute. This lady can go back to wherever it is that she came from."

"Mom, you don't understand," I explained.

"If she leaves here, she'll be flirting with death. It was probably her husband and her best friend that plotted her death and it's unsafe for her to go back there."

I looked right into her eyes and it was clear she wasn't buying what I was selling to her so I went on.

"I've lost Ella for good like you said, mom. I'm not about to let it happen again. Please, mom, let her stay. I'm begging you."

"They're still there," El said, drawing my mother's attention to the interview on the TV screen.

"Who?" My mum asked.

"Is that your husband?" My mom as though replying her own question. El nodded.

She went closer to the TV and stared intently at what was going on.