The Lycan Within

c. fourty two

Recap: Celeste, Sebastian, Catori and Benjamin are all at Tobias' pack (was killed after exposing some information to Celeste about people trying to kill her), and has just survived an attack, only for the pack house to be attacked again by ghost-like assasins, conjured by dark magic. Celeste runs off with the women & children, and Benjamin, and they are attacked by the purple-eyed witch Celeste encountered much earlier on in the book. The witch uses magic to knock Celeste unconscious, and this is what happens in her unconsciousness!

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It was like a breath of air into newly born lungs. I was staring at the moon, big and bright hanging in the sky above me. But as odd as it may seem, I felt as though I was being watched. Moments passed. Long moments. And then gale force winds suddenly surrounded me, and I was flung upwards into the air, headed straight for the moon. I screamed until my throat was aching and threw my limbs aimlessly around me in a desperate attempt to hold onto something. As I got closer, I could've sworn I saw limbs opening to embrace me, while its torso remained obscured by the light of the moon. As they embraced me, all my anxiety left as quickly as it came, and I was left with a feeling of true contentment as light surrounded me. If this was death, it was peaceful.

In the distance I heard the laughter of a child, and it grew louder and louder and in the back of my mind I heard whispers, whispers urging me to follow this child. And so I did, I wandered aimlessly in this space that lacked dimension, until the light darkened as I found myself wandering through the trees. I heard the laughter again, and this time I could discern it. It was a girl, a very happy girl at that. I found myself in a clearing and it was then when I saw her. She was no taller than my knees, and rain aimlessly through the trees, chasing a small dark wolf with a stick. Atop her head was a mass of wild dark curls, scarily similar to my own. I stared at her, my mind blank as I watched her. Moments later, through the treeline came a man and woman, and as I truly looked at them, my heart sank and my knees buckled as tears filled my eyes.

My parents.

My mother, there was no doubt about it. Everything down to her eyes, it was all me. Or really, I was all her. She looked down at the child fondly, and looked up to my father, who's stern gaze softened as he looked down at her. 

"Go on, Celeste," my father called, "Give your brother hell!"

I have a brother? The tears were now falling relentlessly as my heart pained me with the pain of a thousand knives. The little girl dropped her stick, and smiled mischievously at her brother, my brother, and jumped forwards, and as she landed in her place was a small, silver cub. The wolf chased after her brother, occasionally falling over her own feet, but that didn't deter her in the slightest. The two wolves played and played, as their parents watched over them with soft smiles on their faces. A bright light engulfed me once more, but I screamed, desperately trying to hold on to the memory, the faces of my parents and the wolf of my brother. But the light was strong. Again it darkened, and this time I found myself walking through a corridor, following the sound of hushed voices.

I turned into a room, and around a small dining table, sat my parents beside one another, whilst Esmerelda, sat beside my mother, laughing and smiling at her and I quirked my head sideways, as my heart continued to ache. Through a corridor, I found myself staring at a dark head of hair. A familiar dark head of hair, and the hairs on my neck rose. It was Nero. Instead of the cold exterior I'd only ever seen him donning, I saw a smile, as warm and genuine as ever. The laughed and talked and laughed and talked some more, and laughed even more when a silver cub, slightly bigger now crashed into the room. A boy, seemingly at the dawn of adolescence ran into the room after the cub, eyes the same brown as my own, wide as saucers.