Chapter 34: The Weight of Identity (2)

Elara's POV

I turned to see... myself. Not Maya's face, but the face I wore after I took Selena's disguise potion—black hair, dark eyes, pale skin—standing behind me with a cold smile.

"They're dead," my doppelganger continued, her voice eerily calm. "I am the real you now. You don't owe them anything. You don't need to feel guilty."

As she spoke, the other three figures began to fade, growing transparent but still visible, like ghosts trapped between worlds.

"No," I whispered, reaching for them. "No, wait—"

"Let them go," my other self insisted, moving closer. "They're not your responsibility anymore. You're me now. They have nothing to do with us."

To my horror, she reached behind her back and pulled out a bloodstained axe—the same one Victor had used to execute Ethan. My blood turned to ice.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, backing away.

My doppelganger's smile widened, showing too many teeth. "Freeing you from your past."

She moved with frightening speed, swinging the axe at Maya first. I lunged forward, desperate to stop her, but my hands passed through her body as if I were the ghost.

"You can't stop me," she said, turning to look at me with cold eyes. "Because I am you."

I screamed as the blade connected, blood spraying across the misty clearing. Maya didn't even cry out as she crumpled.

"Stop!" I begged, throwing myself between my other self and Layla. Again, I passed right through her body, stumbling to the ground.

"Everyone must face the mistakes they've made," my doppelganger said calmly as she brought the axe down on Layla. "Denial is useless."

I fell to my knees, sobbing uncontrollably as she approached Ethan. He stared at me, eyes full of betrayal. I crawled forward, still trying to interfere despite knowing it was futile.

"When you fully accept all of this," my other self said, raising the axe one final time, "only then can you truly become me."

The axe fell, and Ethan was silenced forever.

My doppelganger turned to me then, axe dripping, her arms and face covered in blood. "There," she said with satisfaction. "Now we can be whole."

She dropped the axe and moved toward me, arms outstretched for an embrace, blood-soaked hands reaching for my face.

"You are me now," she whispered as she enfolded me in her arms, the warm blood seeping into my clothes, sticking to my skin. "And I am you."

I woke screaming, thrashing against Selena's restraining arms.

"Elara! Elara, wake up!" she hissed, covering my mouth. "It's just a dream."

I stared at her in terror, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst. The dream had felt so real—I could almost smell the blood.

"You must control these nightmares," Selena said, her voice urgent. "Our lives depend on it."

---

The nightmares continued, night after night. Sometimes I was the victim, sometimes the killer. Each morning I woke more exhausted than the last, dark circles forming beneath my eyes. Selena brewed sleeping potions, but they only trapped me deeper in my dreams.

Then came the night I didn't just dream.

I became aware of cold stone beneath my bare feet. The wind bit at my skin, carrying the scent of pine and night air. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find myself standing in the town square—the exact spot where Ethan had been executed.

Moonlight cast long shadows across the empty space, the wooden platform where he'd died looming before me like a specter. I didn't remember walking here. The last thing I recalled was falling asleep in my bed, dreading the nightmares that would come.

I reached out, my fingers trembling as they touched the rough wood. In my mind, I could still see the axe falling, still hear the sickening thud as it connected. Still feel the helplessness as I watched my mate die.

"Elara."

I turned at the whisper, half-expecting to see my doppelganger standing there with her bloodied axe. Instead, Selena stood at the edge of the square, her face pale in the moonlight.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, approaching slowly as if afraid I might bolt.

"I don't know," I admitted, my voice small. "I was dreaming, and then... I was here."

Selena wrapped her shawl around my shoulders. "You've been sleepwalking. I woke and found your bed empty."

I looked down at my bare feet, dirty from the walk through town. "I didn't mean to. I was in the forest again, with them."

"Come," she said gently. "Before someone sees us."

The walk back was silent, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Once inside, Selena bolted the door and checked each window. When she was satisfied we were secure, she turned to me.

"This can't continue," she said.

I sank onto my bed, suddenly exhausted beyond words. "I don't know how to stop the dreams."

Selena sat beside me, pulling me into her arms like I was a child. I leaned against her, drawing comfort from her warmth, her solidity in a world that felt increasingly unreal.

"The dreams are only part of it," she said softly. "Lisa recognized something in you today. Victor is asking questions about a missing girl with your description. The whole pack watches us with suspicion."

"I'm trying," I whispered. "I'm trying so hard to be someone else."

"I know you are." Her arms tightened around me. "But tonight... what if someone had seen you? What if you'd called out in your sleep? What if—"

"I'm sorry," I interrupted, tears welling in my eyes.

"No." Selena pulled back, cupping my face in her hands. "Don't apologize. None of this is your fault. I'm the one who brought you here, who thought we could hide in plain sight."

In the dim light, I could see the worry etched in her face, the fear she tried so hard to conceal during daylight hours.

"We can't go on like this," she said finally. "For your sake, and for mine."