The Luna That I Replaced (Book 2 of Witfall Pack)

Chapter 15

I grabbed the blanket tighter when the vision released me, and my whole body shook with sobs of pain, sorrow and fear. I didn't say a word while I held onto my "nephew's" blanket, ignoring the eyes that were on me that had appeared after the vision had released me.

The sound of the rocker moving back and forth filled my ears, but I paid it no heed while I tried to process that... vision, that memory, a memory that had been changed for both my cousin's and my sake because I hadn't remembered it that way but in a much different way where I had pulled the trigger and not her.

I took a deep breath of the room but only smelt the mustiness of an unused room that hadn't been touched with time. I knew that I wasn't alone; I could feel the presence of another, but in the same instance, I was alone with someone long gone.

"You should have killed me," I said, my voice cracking from both guilt and pain while I grabbed the blanket tighter. "You had your chance to be free of me. Why did you blow it and die in the process?"

The rocker paused before it started up, its contents not saying a word while they processed what I had said to them.

I pressed my lips into a thin line and held the blanket tighter, but I made sure that I didn't hold it so tightly that it'd tear. "I'm serious," I said coldly, "you should've killed me."

The figure sighed and cleared their throat. "I couldn't have killed you, Anastasia," they said, her voice soft and airy. "You were too important back then for me to kill you."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Bull shit," I said bitterly. I looked up and stared at her, my eyes filled with tears, and I knew that my face was stained with tears like so many times before. "Bull fucking shit."

The figure, Alexia, smiled sadly and dipped her head. "I'm serious, Anastasia," she said, her voice never wavering. "You are more important than me. You just don't realize it yet."

I scoffed again and gripped the blanket tighter, and I was stunned that it didn't rip. "How?" I asked and rubbed my eyes so that I could see her, her ghostly figure better. "How am I more important than you? You're the Anabi, and I am just... me." I whisper hissed the "Anabi" part, not knowing what ears were listening in on us.

Alexia shook her head, and somehow the smile grew sadder. "You are far greater than whatever image you have painted yourself as and what our parents have taught you." She cleared her throat and leaned back in her seat. "It's how you were able to deflect the insanity and power hunger and not kill me when you were supposed to."

I scoffed and rubbed my eyes, trying to get rid of the tears that collected on the bottom of my eyelids. "Why were my memories changed so that it made it seem like I was the one that pulled the trigger and not you?"

She chuckled and cocked her head while she stared at me. "Always straight to the point," she said, amused. "I am glad that hasn't changed."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and didn't say a word while I looked down. I had no idea what was going on, why she was even here in the room with me, or anything.

All I knew was that I was numb and filled with more pain, especially since I had to watch myself "kill" her again, even though I didn't.

Alexia sighed and grew serious. She leaned back in the rocker and closed her eyes while she tried to come up with an explanation that wouldn't hurt.

It wouldn't matter because everything would hurt.

Alexia sighed and rubbed her face before she shook her head. "It was to keep you safe, Anastasia," she said finally while she looked at me, her voice soft, barely above a whisper. "Do you remember what happened after you gave him my head?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line, and my stomach rolled because I had a vague image of what had happened. "How do you know about that?" I asked, instead, pushing that memory away.

Alexia gave me a pointed look and gestured to herself, amused. "I am a ghost, Ana," she replied. "I am dead and haven't crossed over to be with the Moon Goddess. I can go wherever I please, do what I want in a way, and so much more than you can imagine. You're my baby sister. So of course, I will want to know what happened."

I took a deep breath and placed my chin on my chest. I wanted to say that I didn't remember what happened, but I did.

All of my memories being controlled and not being controlled filled my brain, and both sides sickened me, some more than others.

I wasn't afraid of Peter using them against me any longer, even though there was still a small part of me that was still afraid and wondered if he was actually dead and not hiding.

'Even if he wasn't, we serve a new master,' Tora said, groggily, 'this one kinder.'

"Well?" Alexia asked when I didn't answer. She leaned forward in her seat and stared at me with a critical gaze while she studied me. "Do you remember?"

I sighed and nodded, letting my shoulders sag in defeat while the image stirred again. "I do," I confirmed, my voice barely above a whisper. "I remember the pain he caused me because he was so happy that I had succeeded in killing you."

Alexia slowly nodded and pressed her lips into a thin line. "He wanted to see if there was anything different about you or if you weren't under his control any longer."

I wiped my eyes and my nose, feeling mentally exhausted from crying before I looked at my sister. "Why?" I asked finally after I cleared my throat. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he knows how powerful you are, how much you were needed," she replied. "He knew how dangerous you could be if left uncontrolled and unaccounted for." She paused and dipped her head while she studied me. "He was scared of you."

I scoffed a laugh and rolled my eyes, amused and bitter. "Of course he was," I said sarcastically. "He was so terrified of me."

"Has he ever laid a hand on Jo in your presence or not?" she asked and studied me.

"Yes," I replied and nodded. "Plenty of times."

"Until when?"

I stared at her blankly and blinked, not knowing what she meant.

"Until she screamed for you to help her, something in you snapped and you protected her. After that, he didn't lay a hand on her in your presence or not." She raised her hand, and I closed my mouth when I opened it to protest. "It wasn't just because you had let him use you to keep her safe while she shifted into both forms. You attacked him and hurt him to keep her safe."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and looked down. I wanted to know how she knew all of this and why she stayed to watch after me when she could've left.

Did she bind herself to me for some reason? I silently wondered while I studied the blanket clutched in my hands. Does she still want to have that sister relationship with me even after everything I had done to her?

If so, why?

I ducked my head closer to my chest and licked my lips before I looked at her, deciding to ask my questions, even though I was afraid of her answers. "Wh-"

Bang, the door was slammed open, and both of us leapt to our feet and faced it.

Carter stood in the doorway and looked between us, his eyes glancing over Alexia because he couldn't see her.

Finally, he looked at me and noticed that I was still holding Gage's blanket in my hands and that I had been here for a while. Anger and fury filled his eyes, and my face grew pale while my heart skipped a beat.

"You," he said, his voice filled with such venom and hate that both Alexia and I flinched away from him. "What are you doing here?"

Shit.