Chapter 5 – Memories

Elizabeth's POV

"I can't believe we were rescued by our own mate! It's almost like a fairy tale where the prince solves it all. Even if this isn't solved at all. But, still! Have you seen him? So beautiful and so powerful! Maybe he is a great warrior. It could be useful since we're trapped, don't you think?"

I was sure I was hearing someone's voice I didn't recognize. But the thing was it was coming from my head and not from outside. What was happening to me? And why I couldn't open my eyes or feel my body?

"Jeez, Liz, you really are clueless. I am sorry! I have waited so many years trying to talk to you, trying to connect with you, but I couldn't! I am sorry, I tried, but I was always so sleepy."

"I'm Diana, by the way, your wolf!"

I was definitely going insane. Or maybe I was dead. Shit, I just wanted to live a little bit more. I wanted to have the time to tell my parents how much I loved them and to see Maggie and Nick get married. To have my first love story, my first kiss.

I could feel sadness overcoming me. Tears filled my closed eyes.

My eyes! Finally, I could feel something in my body. And the sadness I was experiencing was so strong it was clutching my breath, I felt like a giant stone pushing on my chest.

"Honey, I know it would be absolute chaos. I know it would be hard for you to believe it, but I am here for you. I am a part of your very soul. And now that we have been marked the pills that your parents gave you - I could feel the voice straining to keep calm - would not be effective. Right now, your body is trying to expel the effects of the pills."

The voice paused for an instant, and I felt a rush of emotions filling my veins. Regret, anger, hope, sorrow, and joy were all tied together and weirdly, I could've sworn they were not... entirely mine? How was it possible? How could this have been possible?

"I will be with you the entire time. You have been unconscious for some time now. I am quite sure in a little time you'll be able to feel again your body and you'll be able to open your eyes."

"Judging by the scents, we're still not so far from our house, but I am not sure. Last two years I slept all the time, so it wasn't easy to catch any smells or be aware of my surroundings. Still, I have some memories that maybe could be of your interest."

The voice was so talkative, it was so strange to hear it directly in my head that I couldn't focus on anything else.

"Please stop..."

I heard a yelp so loud I was sure my face grimaced.

"So you can hear me! I am relieved! Please, don't make me go away, I've missed you so much...Actually, I've missed myself."

So, I was able to talk to the voice. My mind surely knew how to work magic. Maybe I was not crazy, but I had two personalities. Was it my alter ego? Was it the good one or the bad one? What was I supposed to do?

"Please, can you cooperate for a moment? You're not insane, nor crazy and you definitely don't have more than one personality. I am just a part of you, and even if apparently you could not believe it, I can give you some proof. Would you like to try?"

I was ready to refuse, but the voice anticipated me.

"Either that or I will talk nonstop. I am plenty of questions and anecdotes to fill your little head!"

"Seems like I have no choice."

I must be going insane, I was talking with a voice in my head. At least I could have solved the loneliness problem.

"So you can also be funny! Interesting!"

"How was I going to live my life with that voice? That could clearly listen to all my thoughts."

"I will...explain how you can shut me out. But first, you have to listen carefully and without judgment. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Oh, hallelujah! Now, we have to try something new. You should intensely try to focus on my being inside of you. Try to feel your heartbeat and sense mine. It is almost in synch with yours, but it's faster, could you do that?"

Of course, my heart! Even my second personality knew it was a nuisance.

"It isn't! Please, please. Try."

I focused on my heart, at least I could have discovered if it was still beating and then hope not to be dead.

While I concentrated on its regular beat, I perceived something else. I was about to scream in my head when a flow of images appeared.

I saw an old house with a nice garden, a woman running out of it with some pastries and a giant smile plastered on her face. Then a man came increasingly near to my face, at the point that I almost felt the tickle of his beard. Then I saw Doctor Frazier with a huge needle in his right hand and behind him the body of the woman lying on the ground, tears sliding down her cheeks. And then the man that hugged me before running inside, starting to evolve into some sort of animal, but before succeeding a blade pierced his stomach, a hand and then a face appeared after the transmuted body fell on the ground. It was my father.

The emotions that filled me were so strong I stopped breathing. I felt like my brain was being smashed like everything inside me wanted to explode. I screamed without my voice, a pained wailing following right after. I didn't stop until I felt empty again.

"How could it...How could I remember something that happened when I was four?"

"They were my memories. Some of them, actually. I also have some beautiful ones, like the first two...but I needed you to believe me, to watch and know what happened..."

"I still don't know if I can believe you. They could be a result of my imagination, something my mind came up with after reading many werewolves books after all."

"You're so cleverer than that, and I know you recognized the woman and the man."

"What are you?"

It was almost a whisper, but I was sure the thing inside my head had heard that.

"You know what I am, the real question you should ask yourself now is: who you are."

I realized that suddenly I had no answer to that.

But now, I remembered. And I knew that my real parents were murdered. I only had to discover why.