Sleep Paralysis

RORY

I’m walking through the pack like a queen, like a true Luna, tall and proud. My feet are sure, my movements graceful. I don’t trip, I don’t even stumble. I’ve never felt this confident in my body.

I feel strange. Am I awake? Or am I dreaming? Everything feels distant, a little unreal. Did I fall asleep in the library? Maybe this is a vision from the spirit realm?

Nellie stops me to talk. “Rory! You look well this morning. Is there any news?” She looks worried, desperate, and hopeful.

“No, nothing yet. I’ll let you know as soon as there is.” My mouth says all the right things, but something feels wrong as I brush past her, moving through the main room of the pack house.

I feel a curl of disgust that startles me—why would I feel disgusted by Nellie? Amusement and disdain follow, sharp and cold, and I remember with a shuddering scream.

Nemesis. Nemesis is inside me. Nemesis is the one moving my body, speaking with my mouth. My scream echoes inside my skull, no one able to hear it but the two of us.

~“Finally awake, are you, Aurora? Good. I’d thought you might sleep through my triumph.”~ Each of Nemesis’s words sears me like frostbite.

I struggle against her, lashing out furiously. ~“Let me go. Get out of my head!”~

~“Don’t be so foolish, if you can help it. Why would I release you? I have such plans.”~ Nemesis practically purrs the last word.

If I had any control of my body I would be shaking with anger. ~“You won’t win. We’ll stop you.”~

Nemesis doesn’t reply, except for a wave of amusement. She’s making her way toward a table, a table where a lone figure is sitting—Mama. She looks up as Nemesis approaches and smiles.

“Hello, Mama. Mind if I join you?” Nemesis asks in my voice, giving her a false smile in return.

I try to shout, to warn her. Nothing makes it past my lips, not a squeak. ~“Mama! It’s me, it’s Rory, can’t you see that something’s wrong?”~

“Of course, I’m always happy to see you, sweetheart.” Mama puts out her hand as Nemesis sits across from her and Nemesis takes it. I can barely feel her touch.

“I know you are, Mama. I’m so lucky to have you,” Nemesis simpers, pouring herself a glass of juice. She doesn’t spill a drop.

Mama laughs and puts her hand on her cheek. “Well, aren’t you sweet today. Did something happen? Good news?” There’s a hopeful glimmer in her eye. Panic grips me.

Grandkids, she’s asking about grandkids. Hoping that Everett and I will be blessed with a child. And her question inevitably brings up the fact that there is a baby on the way.

Mama doesn’t know I’m pregnant. No one does, except Everett, the doctor, Ace, and Lucius. And now, Nemesis. I try to bury thoughts of the baby, but it’s too late.

Nemesis scoffs. ~“Worried I’ll spoil your surprise? How petty you think me. I have bigger plans than that. What would I care for your whelp?”~

There are a lot of reasons why Nemesis might care about my child. What greater revenge could there be? I can only pray she’s telling the truth, that she’ll leave my baby out of this.

~“Well, not exactly. I am going to kill you, Aurora. I imagine that won’t be good for the fetus.”~ Nemesis's words are like a blow to the stomach. I’m stunned.

Nemesis shrugs my shoulders. “Nothing special, really. Just with everything going on, I’m feeling grateful for what I have.”

Mama looks a little teary. Have I not been spending enough time with her? Does she not know how much I love her, appreciate her?

Are a few sweet words enough to keep her from noticing that she’s not talking to her daughter? I can’t help but be angry at her. ~“It’s not me!”~ I shout.

Before Nemesis can say anything else, we’re interrupted, but I’m not grateful for it. Everett has entered the main room and he’s making a beeline toward me—or what he thinks is me.

“There you are, little one. I’ve been looking for you all morning.” Everett sweeps Nemesis into a hug, pressing his nose into my hair and inhaling deeply. I hope something will smell wrong.

There’s no sign of it as he pulls away, smiling fondly. He can’t tell either. No one can. Despair drags at me. Nemesis wraps my arms around his waist.

I rage at her. “~No. No, don’t you touch him, he’s mine! Leave him alone!”~

Nemesis sneers at me. ~“I know he’s yours, girl. I wouldn’t have any interest in him if he wasn’t.”~

Nemesis crosses her legs artfully, leaning back in her chair. “Sorry, I fell asleep in the library and then got distracted talking to people.”

She takes a sip of juice and sets it down on the table delicately, without even a clink of sound. Showing off how much better she can use my body than I can.

“The life of a Luna, hm?” Everett says. He’s looking me over, eyes lingering on my legs appreciatively.

~“I’m trapped. She’s got me. Help me, please. Stop her.”~ I know he can’t hear me, but I can’t help but try to reach him anyway.

Maybe, somehow he’ll see it in my eyes, sense it. What good is our mating bond now? He’s supposed to know when I’m in danger, in pain, but I’m trapped and he has no idea.

“Busy, busy!” laughs Nemesis, standing up. “I’ll see you later, Mama,” she says, tucking my arm through Everett’s and leading him out of the packhouse.

Everett is still watching me, but there’s a furrow in his brow now. He’s thinking. I feel a flicker of hope. “Is something wrong, Aurora? You seem… distracted.”

She rolls her eyes at him. “I’m completely fine. A little tired. There’s still a lot of work to do.”

“You’re always working so hard. Please, take it easy, all right?” He brushes my hair back tenderly and I feel a surge of disgust and hate from Nemesis.

I focus on Everett, on how he’d looked at me last night. Love burns Nemesis, maybe I can drive her out by bombarding her with it.

~“That won’t work on me this time, silly mortal. He loves you, does he? Then why does he not see that you aren’t yourself? Why does he not reject me?”~

“You have nothing to worry about,” Nemesis kisses my mate, running a hand possessively along his cheek, settling it on his throat and letting it linger there long enough for the threat to sink in.

I’m bombarded by smug pride from Nemesis. ~“Love is an illusion, Aurora. The only truth is power.”~

~“You only think that because no one’s ever loved you!”~ I spit back at her.

Everett still looks worried. “If you’re sure nothing’s wrong?” Nemesis shakes my head, squeezing his hand reassuringly, just like I would. “Then I’ll see you later. There’s a lot to do today.”

Everett leaves and I feel some of my hope go with him. But I can’t give up. There has to be something that I can do, some way I can fight.

I can sense her, too. I can reach into her mind the same way she can look into mine. Maybe I can learn something useful, something that will help us defeat her.

As carefully as I can, I open myself up to Nemesis’s consciousness. ~I want to see her plans~, I think, half a prayer, hoping it will guide me. ~Show me what she’s going to do.~

Something comes to me, real as if I were standing there. I can smell the night wind, hear the trees creaking ominously, feel the chill of wet grass under my feet.

The possessed rogues are gathering at an altar, chanting her name. An image flickers on the stone dais, an impression of white skin and long black hair.

One by one, the rogue’s eyes slip closed and they drop to the ground. They aren’t breathing. With each one, Nemesis grows more solid, more clear.

The clearing is littered with the dead. I press my hands to my mouth in horror. Nemesis stands above them, returned, laughing, triumphant.

Not just rogues. Faces flash before my eyes, turning blank and empty one by one. Mama. Everett. Freya. All bowing in supplication to Nemesis, heedless of the danger they’re in.

She looks right at me. She knows what I’m doing. ~“Which of them shall I take first? Whose life force will revive me? Who will you weep hardest for?”~

Everett on his knees, mouth slack as Nemesis caresses his face again. His mouth shapes her name as she grips his hair, jerks his head back to reveal his throat—

~“No, I don’t want to see this!”~ I thrash, trying to pull away. I can’t stand another second of her sick fantasies, I have to get away.

Nemesis hisses in my ear, sickly sweet. ~“Come now, Aurora. Didn’t you want to see what I’m planning? Don’t stop now. Let me show you what I will make you do.”~

The images keep coming, a tide of blood sweeping me under. I’m helpless to stop it. I can’t cover my ears or close my eyes. The stench of death chokes me.

I shove Nellie to the ground, sobbing. I raise my hands high and bring them down hard, my blade sweeping her head from her shoulders.

I walk through the orphanage. It’s terribly still, the floor sticky with gore as Orion and Cassidy look sightlessly at the ceiling.

Freya’s voice echoes in my ears. She’s begging for mercy, pleading to know what happened to me. I plunge my hand into her chest and pull out her heart, hot and dripping.

Mia stands on a precipice. It’s the work of a breath to push her off, not so special now. She screams, then it stops. She’s slumped forward, impaled on spikes, her red hair matted with blood.

Andy runs for his life. I am chasing him, thrilled that he will not be fast enough. When he finally falls, I sink my teeth into his neck and rip his throat open.

Teresa fighting, snarling, refusing to go down. I grab her head between my hands and twist, hard and fast. There’s a horrible crack and she drops.

Mariah’s hut, the door open, blood dripping from her mouth as she gasps her last breaths on her porch. Too trusting, letting me in for a third time.

Blue eyes meet mine, full of hurt and betrayal. My Everett, tied to a pole, strength nothing in the face of the flames that consume him.

My hands are around Mama’s throat, squeezing and squeezing as she gasps out my name until she goes still.

Lucius and Ace, side by side even in death, shuddering and coughing as poison creeps through their veins and takes them, trusting a cup their Luna handed them.

Dragging Aunt Ophelia bodily, throwing her into a deep pit, piling dirt onto her battered and broken body, burying her alive.

Oliver, Bethany, Jax, confused and terrified. I go to their houses and slit their throats one by one, a monster in their midst all along.

The doors of my high school barred, trapping everyone inside as I ignite a gasoline-soaked rag. The flames sweep through the halls and I laugh.

A pile of smoking rubble, the sign of my University still barely visible. Explosives that no one noticed until it was far too late, students blown to pieces in their classrooms.

I walk through the parklands I’d grown up on. They’re reduced to a graveyard, bodies everywhere, no sign of life but for crows. Not one member of the Shadow Blood or Red Moon remains alive.

“Stop, please. I can’t take any more,” I’m begging, but I don’t care. Anything to make it end. I’ve never been in more pain. It’s worse than dying.

Nemesis’s voice is silken. “That’s a shame. Because I have so much more in store.”

Death after death flashes before my eyes, dizzying, confusing. I don’t know any of these people, I can’t make sense of the destruction. It seems like aimless cruelty.

She shows me piles of fur—wolf pelts, I realize with a lurch. I see empty pack houses, silent woods. I understand her terrible intent: to eradicate werewolves from the world. Completely.

Even for a being like Nemesis, bent on revenge down to her very essence, this seems unspeakably awful.

I know exactly what she’s going to do. But I’m trapped, a prisoner in my own body. There’s nothing I can do but watch as she destroys everything and everyone I’ve ever loved.