Page 40 of Wraithwound

She tried to get its attention, to distract it, to confuse it somehow, but her body would not respond. She thought of the Bud of Brielle, tucked away in her pack, but she couldn’t reach it, couldn’t get her arms, her hands, any part of her body to obey. It was then that Lena started to scream.

She had no idea if she’d be able to regain control of her body or if this would be her existence from now on. She didn’t know if she’d be relegated to the back of her own conscious mind, aware of the atrocities a monster committed while wearing her skin. Or, if eventually, she would cease to exist at all. Lena thought of Henry, his steadfastness, loyalty, compassion, and assuredness in who he was. Lena had none of those attributes, yet he had entrusted his soul to her, and she couldn’t be sure that she hadn’t already failed at her promise to him, just like she’d failed her mother, Jessa, Aric.

Lena’s screams became sobs as she watched helplessly when the wraith located the meadow ahead in which Ada and Eduard’s house sat, unaware of the monster it now welcomed with its unobstructed terrain and sleeping flowers.

The wraith crossed the meadow in a matter of moments, driven by some insatiable desire to get to Eduard. As Lena’s body stood under the arched trellises that marked the boundary between the meadow and their garden, Lena launched another assault at the mental walls. She threw herself against them, her mind absorbing the impact as it met the barrier that kept her in. Her body stood there in the dark for a moment, unmoving, and Lena thought perhaps a part of her had gotten through. She could feel the wraith calculating, assessing, and then to her horror, her body took a step and then another.

Lena sank to her knees inside herself and began pleading, begging the monster to stop, but it did not. It continued up the path towards the home, and it was then that Lena noticed a tall, broad figure approaching from the porch.

Lena hadn’t realized there was someone sitting there. The lights were off; she figured they’d be asleep. Hope bloomed in Lena’s chest that perhaps Eduard could stop her, that he could end her life, since the wraith had failed to capture them unaware. The wraith continued to approach him, and he her.

“Lena, is that you?” he asked hesitantly, but when she didn’t reply, he sighed. “I see. If you can hear me in there Lena, I’ll tell you this. Learn to forgive. It’s going to be all right.”

When he reached her, he opened his arms, as if to embrace her, and Lena’s jaw fell open.

“NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she screamed. But her mouth did not move. Tears spilled from her eyes as she pounded at the barrier in front of her. “RUN! GET ADA AND RUN!” she continued to scream. But Eduard could not hear her.

She felt more than saw the wraith extend her hand towards Eduard. He fell into her arms, the weight of his body heavy on hers. She wailed as she saw his body collapse to the ground. And then, there was Ada, descending the porch steps toward her. Toward certain death. Ada didn’t speak. She didn’t look at Lena. She merely covered his body with hers, as if that’d be enough to stop the wraith. As if that would somehow protect them both.

It did not.

And Lena didn’t know whether it was the wraith taking full control or her inability to witness anymore; Lena collapsed inside herself and her world once again went black. She was ever so grateful that it did.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Curled up in a corner of her mind, Lena floated in and out of consciousness. She was vaguely aware the wraith stalked through the forest in her body, as if searching for something. She felt heavy, like a dead weight laying at the bottom of the ocean.

She didn’t know how long it had been. The days and nights blurred together. A few times she caught glimpses of objects in the sky casting an eerie glow onto the land or odd weather, but she could no longer determine whether what she saw was real or part of her diminishing consciousness. She felt herself withering away in the hollow darkness of her mind; guilt, shame, and regret her only companions.

Or was it her body that was withering away? It didn’t matter. Not only had she failed; she had done the unspeakable.

Lena lost more of herself as time went on. Would the wraith continue to kill in her body, continue to terrorize the people of Reimar until it was put down? Until she was put down? She wished desperately that she would be, that she might encounter a soulbound soldier, guards from the Commander’s militia, anyone who might put an end to the nightmare she was trapped in.

The wraith didn’t stop, didn’t eat, or sleep. It just kept going. At one point she felt like she might be drowning…

Or was that happening now?

Then, one day when there was only the smallest part of her left, a single memory of Henry, a spark ignited in the darkness. Lena felt her soul stirring and her consciousness awakening. She focused on that spark, unsure of whether at long last Sundis, the EverGod of Death, had come to usher her into the Abyss of the Damned. She didn’t dare hope, but then, a warm wind caressed her face. She reached up to touch her cheek confused by the tender touch. It settled around her slowly, as if a blanket of sunlight had been tucked in around her; she closed her eyes, ready to welcome death. And then, she woke up.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

The warmth of the sun struggled to reach the forest floor even through the bare canopy above. It took her a long time to realize it wasn’t death that had come to call but life. She was, again, in control of her body. Lena didn’t immediately recognize the trees in this part of the forest, but she knew instinctively she was no longer anywhere near the meadow. A small mercy. She couldn’t bear to think of what she—the wraith—had done.

Lena attempted to stand on wobbling legs when she realized she was at the edge of a swamp. Thin, long streaks gouged the soft mud before her. From the looks of it, the wraith had clawed its way out of the swamp. She was completely soaked through with stinking water, covered in rotted earth and the EverGods knew what else. Her muscles ached fiercely, and her body was marked with cuts and bruises she had no memory of.

Taking in her surroundings, she noted the trees were twisted and disfigured. Their wretched limbs clawed in every direction, even into the mud at her feet. She stumbled through the forest in a daze.

Lena took one step and then another, each one carrying her towards memories she couldn’t bear to face⁠—

…a flash of razor-sharp claws, the warmth of blood pooling in her hand, Ada’s face as she approached Eduard’s limp body…

—until she realized that she was running, her muscles straining with the effort, her breath ragged in her lungs. She didn’t bother dodging the jagged branches that cut at her face and arms. Her muscles screamed from exhaustion, but she couldn’t stop. Lena ran through the forest; her labored breathing turned to sobs. The tears came next, welling up in her eyes and blurring her vision. Just when she thought her body might finally give out, she tripped and went crashing into the forest floor. Ignoring the pain, she pressed her fingers into the earth, determined to get back up when she saw it. The blood. It was caked into the lines of her hands along with dirt and other filth, a stark contrast to her wan skin.

It took her then. The grief. It’s endless depths consuming what remained of her already broken heart. Lena screamed, a shrill, broken sound. Her body was racked with wailing sobs as she saw her hand plunging into Eduard’s chest, again and again. She reached towards her own chest, half expecting a hollow cavity in its place. The ache she felt there was confirmation that her own heart still beat although she couldn’t be sure how much longer she would be able to call it human.