Am I Going Crazy

[Arissa’s POV]

I sat on mine and Ivan’s bed, picking at my food. Despite the things in front of me being my favorites, none of them were appealing. Just the smell alone was making me nauseous. Despite that, I attempted a few bites and immediately regretted it when I felt the food I had just swallowed attempt to come back up.

"Excuse me!" I gasped, jumping up and running to the bathroom.

"Arissa?" Ivan called, seeming genuinely concerned. "Are you alright?"

"F-fine..." I managed between heaves.

As I spoke, I felt a warm hand press against my back as another lifted my hair before it could get ruined. Where the hand touched sent soothing tingles that immediately made me feel better.

"This child isn’t even born yet and is already causing trouble." I grumbled, collapsing against Ivan’s legs, and looked up into his eyes. "I’m blaming this on you."

"Me?" Ivan repeated, raising a brow. "How can you blame me when you..."

"La la la." I began, plugging my ears. "I can’t hear you!"

Jumping up, I began to move, but stopped as Ivan’s arms wrapped around me. Shit, this wasn’t fair.

"Are you really going to be mad at me your entire pregnancy?" He asked, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Today is a day of celebration. Maybe we could..."

"No," I snapped, attempting to wriggle free. "Absolutely not!"

"If you keep doing that, I’m going to bend you over right here and now." Ivan warned, sending pleasant tingles through me.

"Try it." I growled, intentionally pressing my ass against his dick. "I’m a pregnant woman now!"

"Do you think that matters?" Ivan husked, beginning to slide his hands down the shift I was now wearing until his fingers pressed against my thigh. "I know how to be gentle, you know?"

As he spoke, his hand found its way between my legs and slowly crept towards my already waiting clit.

"Can you?" I asked, biting my lip as a small moan attempted to escape.

"Oh...You’re not wearing underwear. "

Unable to resist what Ivan’s hands were already doing to me, I turned and snaked my arms around his neck. Leaning close to his ear, I took a nip, before pulling away and giving a small smile.

"I just threw up." I murmured.

All the desire that had been in Ivan’s eyes disappeared immediately at my words, causing me to burst into laughter.

"Go brush your teeth." He growled, untangling himself from me. "I’ll be here waiting."

"I don’t take orders from you, uncle." I giggled, jumping out of the way of his hand that attempted to spank me. "Too slow, old man."

Letting more laughter escape, I turned on my heel and skipped away towards the bathroom, leaving Ivan in a fluster. Only once I was alone in the bathroom, did my good mood fade as I began to consider what had happened at the Luna coronation.

Turning towards the mirror, I bit back the yelp of shock that attempted to escape as the same child from earlier on stared back at me with her hollow eyes.

"What the fuck are you?" I growled, leaning closer. "And why are you following me?"

‘It’s us.’ Rosario murmured, causing confusion to roll through me.

"How?" I asked, lifting a finger and touching the mirror while the child did the same. "And why is she here?"

‘I don’t know.’ Rosario admitted. ‘But can’t you recognize her?’

Narrowing my gaze, I took in the decomposing creature in front of me. Sure, her hair was the same color as mine and maybe I recognized the puffy dress she was wearing, but how the hell could that be me when I was alive?

As I considered, the child’s mouth began to move, forming incoherent words that had no sound. What in the world was she trying to say?

"Speak up, ghosty." I murmured, offering an ear. "I can’t hear you?"

I must have been going crazy. Here I was talking to a person that clearly didn’t exist. Did this mean that all the stress was getting to me?

"....Killed us…."

The guttural words sent a chill racing down my spine as I realized they came from the dead version of me.

"Repeat that." I hissed, clamping the edge of the sink. "I didn’t quite..."

"You killed us." The girl gurgled as blood began to leak from her eyes and stain her porcelain cheeks. "Revenge."

As she spoke, more faces began to appear around her, all with the same empty black eyes and hollow faces. However, that wasn’t what unnerved me. What got me was that I recognized every single face as it appeared. They were the faces of the children I had killed when I was trapped in the omega camp.

Was this some sort of PTSD episode after repressing those memories for so long? It seemed unlikely since I hadn’t come across anything to trigger me, but what else could it possibly be?

Trying to calm my heart, I felt my eyes grow wide as bony arms with clawed hands began to reach towards me, clawing at my clothes and hair, trying to pull me in with them.

Shit, what exactly was going on?

"Get the hell off of me!" I growled, jumping out of reach. "IVAN GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"

Keeping my gaze fixed on the children that were now crawling out of the mirror, I listened to the sounds of Ivan rushing to the rescue.

"What’s wrong?" He demanded, kicking the bathroom door open and rushing in.

"Do you see them?" I asked, not bothering to turn around.

"Who?" Ivan asked, coming up behind me. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"Them!" I hissed, pointing a finger towards the little bastards that were still making their way towards me. "Are you screwing with me?"

"Arissa, are you alright?" Ivan asked, grabbing my shoulders and turning me around to face him. "Maybe you should try relaxing."

"I DON’T NEED TO RELAX!" I growled, shaking his hands off of me. "Don’t you..."

The rest of my words got caught in my throat as I turned around and found myself staring at my reflection in the mirror.

"They're... gone." I managed, blinking a few times. "But…"

Fuck, it looked like I was going crazy. I mean, I was already crazy, but it looked like I was really going off the deep end this time.