Chapter 56

Chapter 56
Elena's POV

The look of Marcus's ghosts in solid forms burst through the Story World space. Yet, as I saw those hurt souls take shape at last, I felt a strange thing - a deep, awful knowing.

They did not wake up alone.

More ghosts showed up in back. See-through forms that I knew so much, since I caused their sad ends.

"No way," I breathed, my new mind pulled back as known faces filled space all around.

Alpha Davidson from Brook Moon, his neck still hurt where I made him drink poison. Sarah Whiteclaw from the North Lands, her soft face stuck at the time she died. Beta Thomas from our pack, his kind eyes now burned with pure mad.

One by one, they came into view. Every wolf I hurt for over fifteen years of planned hunts. Every pure life I stole for my dark wants.

"Elena Silverback," Alpha Davidson spoke, his ghost voice flew over space. "We have waited such a long time to talk to you."

All around us, the big fight with Masters and new folks became faint sound. This was just payback, a type that beat even big story rules.

"I know what you'll say," I said low, my voice almost gone. "I know what I did to each of you."

"Do you?" Sarah Whiteclaw moved up, her ghost form showing the sting of a life lost quick. "Do you know what you stole from us?"

I sensed our live friends staring through mind links, a strange blend of fear mixed with wonder. They saw a strange thing happen - a chat between a person and dead folks from beyond life's edge.

"I ended your time," I mumbled low. "I killed you all for strength, for my weird dreams, for stuff that felt big back then but was just me being scared and greedy."

"You grabbed more than breath," Beta Thomas stated, sounding like the strong head I knew when alive. "You stole our tomorrows. The fun to grow, to care, to be big than we were meant to be."

"You stole kids' moms and dads," another ghost chimed in. "Friends' buddies. Groups' heads and helpers and guides."

The blames zoomed faster now, each one a sting that cut worse than any hit to the body.

"You stole the tales we might have made with what we picked."

"You stole the folks we might have backed up."

"You stole the growth we might have won."

"You stole the love we might have felt."

Every word was real, and each truth was pain. I had used up so much power trying to make my deeds sound okay, calling them needed for some grand plan. But seeing what my calls really cost, seeing the real souls I'd rubbed out, crushed every lie I'd told.

"I feel bad," I said, the words felt weak as I spat them out. "I know that fixes zero, doesn't wake you up, doesn't heal the hurt. But I am so, super sorry."

"Feel bad," Alpha Davidson echoed, his ghost shape waving with mad. "Too late by fifteen years, and you drop 'feel bad' on us."

"What else can I drop?" I cried out. "What could ever fix what I've messed up?"

Sarah Whiteclaw stated, just like that: "Justice. You were alive when we died off. You changed as we stayed stuck right when we got killed. You woke up as real when we turned into memories."

I wondered, "What's justice?" though the answer scared me half to death.

Beta Thomas said back, happy in a dark way: "The same justice you did to us. Death. Lost forever, gone from every story."

The ghosts started moving around me, all together making a swirl of blame and real anger. I felt our wolf ties, and the real wolves felt unsure. Some felt what the ghosts wanted was okay. Others felt losing me would hurt what we were doing.

"Elena," Nora's words cut through the ghost storm. "You can say no."

"Can't I?" I looked at my sister, seeing she was worried in her purple eyes. "They are right, Nora. I wrecked their chance to grow and wake up. Maybe it's just right I lose mine."

"Okay is not right," she answered strong. "And death is not justice ever."

"Then what's it all about?" Alpha Davidson asked loud, now looking at Nora. "What is just when people get killed on purpose?"

"Justice is making sure it never happens no more," Nora told calm. "Justice is using what Elena knows and can do to keep others safe from the same end."

"Nice words," Sarah Whiteclaw said with a sad laugh. "But they don't give us back our lives that got took."

"No," Nora said yes. "Nothing can do that ever. But killing Elena won't give them back either. It will just make someone else get hurt."

"She did not get hurt," Beta Thomas yelled. "She is a killer."

"She's both things," Nora said, true and clear. "She got hurt by a plan that made her see others as things, not people. That does not mean her picks were okay, but it tells why she picked them."

The ghost vibes grew strong, their rage joined by some feeling like nosiness, maybe.

"You want us to pardon what can't be pardoned," Alpha Davidson stated then.

"I'm urging growth over payback," Nora fixed. "Like Elena's figuring it out now."

"What if we say no?" Sarah Whiteclaw inquired. "If we want her gone for good?"

"Then you're stuck in the loop that birthed her," Nora said low. "Hurt makes hurt, killing justifies killing, the endless revenge that the Overeditors use to run stories."

Her true words smacked the ghosts like a wall. They were stuck on being mad that they missed how that anger was used against them.

"The Overeditors like us split," I yelled fast. "They want folks fighting instead of bucking their rule."

"You think we're being played?" Beta Thomas then asked.

"Our pain is real, but our next move is our own," I shared. "We break stuff with it, or we make it better."

The ghosts wobbled now, their one big mad mood now breaking into their own unsure feelings.

"So what's your big plan?" Alpha Davidson then questioned.

"A team up," I shared, the words felt like instinct. "Don't kill me, help stop others from dying. Don't dump me, help me make stuff, not smash it."

"What do we get from this?" Sarah Whiteclaw then asked.

"A say in the new story being made," Nora shared. "A chance to help new folks get the safety you all missed."

This was wild. No hit for tat, but fixing things by working as one group.

Before ghosts answered, the Edit Lords pulled a fast one.

"How sweet," their boss droned with space hate. "Yet, beside the point. Feelings like guilt or, you know, being nice, are just code bugs we gotta fix."

The Edit Lords grabbed their world tools, set to zap our brains.

But Elena's lost souls did a strange, new dance.

Instead of wanting my head, they tried to save my hide.

"Nah," Alpha Davidson snapped, being real tough. "We decide what happens to Elena, not space bullies who think killing is okay for stories."

The other ghosts jumped in, making a wall between the Edit gang and us.

"We give or take justice," Sarah Whiteclaw yelled. "And we're giving it as a do-over, not payback."

But the Edit Lords didn't care.

"Folks acting after dying," their leader said, eyes wide. "Gotta fix this, ASAP."

And just like that, our nice moment turned into a big mess.

The Edit Lords weren't just gonna zap the living.

They planned to change what dying meant, so dead folks could never get justice or forgive.