Belladonna didn't want to panic, she didn't know what abilities the ghosts brides that lived in her head had.
Could they read minds? Her thoughts? What about all the conversations she had been having? Had they heard them all? Could they hear them right now?
Most of the time, to get a response from them, she usually had to ask them in her head, then, they would respond.
So, maybe they could not.
"Kami used to hate her room so much," Tamina's voice interrupted Belladonna's train of thought, her attention was divided. She tried to see if Kami would respond to anything her mother was saying but from her side, there was only silence.
"She said it felt too much like her brothers'. It is so hard to train a girl child when you only have one, even harder when you already have seven sons before her. You just forget you know, and have to relearn."
Still silence.
Maybe they really couldn't hear them.
Maybe the door situation was just a pure coincidence and not a trap.
Convinced that she was overthinking everything, Belladonna gave herself a chance to look around the room. There was something about the colors on the wall that lacked the kind of harmony. She understood Kami's perspective.
"I miss her."
Belladonna's heart softened as Tamina's eyes welled with tears. She embraced her, saying nothing and patting her on her back instead.
"I dream about her a lot and in my dreams, she was always happy. Always." She sniffled, against Belladonna's chest, it reminded her of Raquel and the time she had cried to her too. Her heart felt heavy with sadness. Raquel had lost her daughter too, lost her mind. Kestra had definitely done something to her.
She was the only one that had tried to warm her.
And Collin?
The memory was still so fresh in her mind, the way he had appeared in her bathroom with a sword in his hands to kill her was something she would never forget.
The frustration, the pain, and the grief in his aura as he had spoken about how he had just buried his family.
Did Kestra take Raquel's life? Belladonna was certain that she did, deducing from Colin's words and the things that had happened. Kestra had preserved Raquel's body in a coffin like a bride, and probably trapped her soul too. If everything they had said were true, then Collin wouldn't have lied about having Raquel's ashes when they didn't even cremate her.
Kestra had done so much damage and even though Belladonna "loved" Eli, she couldn't help but think about the fact that Eli had played his part in this disaster too.
Anytime she thought of the brides, their deaths, and the pain their families had been made to go through, she thought of Eli and the manipulative role he had played in it all.
He was manipulated too, she knew --- bit still, what was done, was done.
"Then recently I started having nightmares. Kami doesn't smile, she is always wailing trapped with these chains and begging me to help her."
Tamina pulled away, her eyes wet with tears. Her fingers trailed the base of her neck, when she spoke next.
"Whenever I asked why she was no longer happy, she would tell me that the necklaces were gone and the truth was out. I still had that dream the night before you arrived. Thank you for coming here."
"Thank you for accepting us," Belladonna replied with a smile but her thoughts were elsewhere.
She remembered the times when Ria, Clio, and Kita, had visited her before the celebration of her sixth month alive in the castle, they had three pendents on their necks while she only had one. They had said one of the pendants kept them happy.
That was it.
Kestra had ensured that no matter what, they would always appear happy.
This wasn't the first time she had come to this conclusion, this had only reaffirmed it.
If only Belladonna could kill Kestra again for her cruelty, she would. Her death felt too much of an escape from the pain she had caused many people.
"Now, I know she will be truly happy and not in shackles. What is my gift, sweet Bell? Please, ask Kami for me."
It was a simple request.
She wanted Belladonna to dance with her mother to the rhythm of the playing piano.
It was something she used to do with her.
They had both been filled with smiles and happiness, until something strange happened.
Belladonna's grip tightened around Tamina's hands when it felt like something hard was about to explode from her chest, her head ached and cold prickled her skin like needles.
Alarmed, she ran to the door, trying to open it, banging for someone to here and unlock it from the other side, but the music was loud and the merry in the other room would not allow for any interruption.
It was at that moment that Belladonna realized that she was right.
This was a trap.
One that Tamina was involved in.
Just one of her many ghost friends, friend, Kami.
Crafty.
She had separated her from Eli and made her come in here alone. Of course, she knew her room so well, and her family even better, to know that the door would still be in the same state she had left it.
"Are you alright? Is something wrong?!" Tamina was worried and she tried to open the door for her when she didn't get any response, even though she knew it was in vain.
"Are you alright, Bell? Is she ---"
Belladonna grunted in pain, clutching her chest, her breathing heavy and that was when Tamina started panicking.
It all happened so fast.
Belladonna's hand was around the doorknob, her forehead pressed against the wooden door and her back turned to Tamina.
The lantern in the room made her shadow cast to the floor, one that disappeared in the next moment.
When Belladonna turned back, it wasn't her blue eyes that Tamina saw but she could have sworn she recognized the pair that gazed at her.
Those eyes looked at her with familiarity; all she could see was her daughter.
"Kami?"
"Mother."
It had happened; Belladonna's fear.