Sleep ca heavy that night.
Not the gentle kind that wraps around you like safety, but the kind that pulls you under before you realize you’re sinking.
I knew I was dreaming the mont the world shifted.
The room dissolved.
The walls stretched and thinned, lting into mist, and suddenly I was standing sowhere else entirely.
The forest.
But not the one from before.
This one was dimr.
The air was thick, like it resisted being breathed. The trees leaned inward, their branches tangled and heavy, as though listening.
My heart began to race.
"Mum?" I whispered.
The word barely left my mouth before I felt it , the strange presence.
She appeared near the lake.
But this ti, she wasn’t glowing.
Her red curls were duller, weighed down like wet leaves. Her skin looked pale, almost translucent, as if moonlight passed through her instead of resting on her.
She looked... tired.
Weaker.
I wanted to rush towards her and then I rembered what my father had told at the dining table.
About wraiths and how they took forms of people that we loved to manipulate our thoughts and take over our minds.
I swallowed.
She fell down and I found myself rushing to her and then I paused a few inches away from where she stood.
"Mum," I said again, louder now, fear threading my voice.
She turned toward sharply.
Her eyes widened. Not with joy this ti, but with alarm.
"Jasmine," she breathed.
She moved toward , but the mont she did, the air rippled violently, like sothing invisible snapped between us.
She staggered.
"Mum!" I ran forward again, but the ground shifted beneath my feet, stretching the distance no matter how fast I moved.
Her face tightened in pain.
"They’re trying to stop ," she said urgently.
My chest seized. "Who?"
She shook her head, glancing around wildly.
"You shouldn’t be here," she said. "You shouldn’t be listening to....
Her voice trailed off and she looked into the distance.
My heart slamd painfully.
"To who?" I demanded.
She reached for , her hand trembling.
"Jasmine," she said, voice breaking. "You have to..."
The forest scread.
Not a sound, a pressure. A violent ripple that bent the trees and distorted the sky.
She cried out, clutching her chest.
"Mum!" I scread.
She fell to her knees.
"No," she gasped. "No, not now baby. Not now I promise you."
She seed like a mad person.
And I began to fear her.
I pressed my hands to my ears as the air thickened, buzzing like it was alive.
She lifted her head again, eyes blazing now, fierce despite her fading strength.
"Listen to ," she said. "I am not...."
Her body flickered.
Like a candle in the wind.
The word echoed and yet I heard nothing.
I froze.
She looked directly at my stomach then, eyes softening despite everything.
Her hand pressed over her heart.
"They lied to you," she whispered. "About . About you. About.... Everything and..
The ground cracked between us.
Her form splintered.
I scread her na.
She reached out desperately, her fingers brushing the air where my stomach was, never quite touching.
"Run," she whispered.
The word hit like lightning.
"Run."
Then she was gone.
The forest collapsed inward for a split second I saw her shadow again and enter beautiful face appeared.
"Mum." I said happily to she was alright.
But then she scread and her face slowly started to distort from its natural features.
Her face reversed and she beca a hollow monster so scary and grotesque I was trembling.
Her skin was pale and her teeth were sharp.
Just as she was about to slash at , darkness swallowed everything.
I woke with a violent gasp, my body jerking upright.
My hands flew to my stomach.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my ribs.
The room was dark.
Still.
Too still.
My skin was cold, slick with sweat.
"Mum," I whispered hoarsely.
Nothing answered.
No warmth.
No lingering presence.
Just silence.
I pressed my palm against my belly, panic rising sharply.
The baby stirred..... slow, delayed.
Not the strong kicks I had grown used to.
Fear clenched around my throat.
The door opened quietly.
Aiden stepped inside, already dressed, his expression calm.
"You’re awake," he said softly.
I looked up at him, my breath unsteady.
"I saw her again," I said imdiately.
His eyes flickered.
Just for a second.
"What did she say?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
I searched his face.
"She was... weaker," I whispered. "She said they were trying to stop her."
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
"And?"
"She told to run."
Silence stretched between us.
Then he smiled gently.... practiced, soothing.
"That’s exactly how wraiths behave," he said. "They grow desperate when their influence weakens."
My chest tightened.
"She told she wasn’t—"
"A wraith?" he finished smoothly. "Of course she would."
"She touched my stomach," I said. "She looked afraid. Not dangerous."
Aiden stepped closer.
Placed a hand over mine.
"She’s exploiting your vulnerability," he said gently. "Your pregnancy makes your soul bright. Open. Spirits are drawn to that."
My fingers curled slightly against the blanket.
"She told I’m being lied to," I said quietly.
He didn’t react.
Not at all.
Instead, his voice softened further.
"Jasmine," he said. "If she were truly your mother... would she frighten you like this?"
My lips parted.
He squeezed my hand reassuringly.
And then I began to weep.
I burst into tears.
"You were right father." I said as I threw my arms around you. "She turned into a monster and she wanted to attack . That’s not my mother."
He held close to him as he soothed my hair like I was a child.
"It’s okay my love." He whispered into my hair. "No one is going to hurt you ever again."
There was a thin silence and then I heard his voice into the dark.
"We’ll start the dicine today," he said. "It will stop the dreams. Protect you. Protect the baby."
I nodded slowly in agreent.
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