Chapter 178: The Thing in her room

"I’m sleeping here tonight!"

Jaime stopped what he was doing and stared at his annoying sister as she stormed into his chambers with nothing but her stubborn face.

"You have your own chambers! Why are you here?!"

"Because I feel like it," She shrugged, and then sat down on the bed and slapped the pillow once, "You can take the other side. I won’t throw you off your own bed,"

"Beatrice!!" He groaned, and left whatever he was doing to stand next to her, "Go back to your chambers and sleep there,"

"No," One word.

"Have you considered that your wedding is in two days and someone could get the wrong idea if they saw you come in here?"

"Why the hell would they think that I want to fuck my own brother?" She asked, and Jaime gave her a certain look, "Oh, you mean after the exposure of Selene and Cassian?" Then she shook her head, "I doubt they fucked. Moreover, we are never gonna fuck. I don’t like you like that,"

"First of all, eww, and second of all, I have enough problems already and I cannot tolerate you right now, sister,"

"Yeah?" She lay down and got comfortable, then closed her eyes, "You can tell me all about them while I fall asleep,"

"Beatrice!"

"Yes, Jaime?"

"Go back to your chambers!"

"Goodnight, brother,"

He wanted to grab her arm and throw her out of his room, but he couldn’t do that to her. He had an even better idea.

"I’ll tell you all about them, then," He said, and he heard her groan this time.

Jaime sat down at the edge of the bed next to her and started, "You know...I thought it would end at the deal with Stormvale going wrong. I thought I was losing my mind. I thought it was going to be just one pack, and just one problem, and then what? No other pack has been willing to trade salt to us ever since. I’ve tried so many approaches but something always seems to go terribly wrong. That’s not even all. You know the borders, right? I’m in charge of it, and the weakest section of our borders is supposed to have the largest number of guards. I checked everything. All the patrols. All the lineups. I checked more times than I could count, and yet...somehow...there was not a single guard on patrol for about two days now...NOT A SINGLE ONE! Turns out the lineups were confused due to something I had written. You know the worst part? Father found out about it first. He...Fuck! He found out first and now...he doesn’t trust me anymore! He looks at me like—"

There was just so much anger and frustration in his voice that Beatrice wanted nothing more than to press the pillow over her ears and tune out his goddamn voice, but at the same time she felt terrible for him. Jaime doesn’t usually make mistakes. Never as big as this.

If rogues had attacked in those two days, the borders would have fallen, and so many wolves would have been killed.

"Every job he hands to me...I always mess it up." He raised his hand in frustration, his voice sounded more strained by the second, "Even when I’m there personally to inspect it all, somehow...one way or the other...I fucking mess it up. And I don’t even understand how I end up doing it,"

"There’s a doll in my room," Beatrice whispered the moment he stopped talking.

Jaime’s brows creased a little, and he stared at her quizzically, "What?"

"It’s the doll I use to play with together with Della. Recently, it started to show up. I asked my maid to throw it out... but the doll showed up again, and it’s moving on its own. I take my eyes off it for a moment, and when I look back, it’s sitting, standing, on its back, and...it’s always staring at me."

Jaime silently listened to her.

It’s either she was also going out of her mind, because what the hell did she mean by a doll was moving on its own? Was it possible? OR she was actually being serious which would explain why she suddenly wanted to sleep here.

"I—" she swallowed, a shiver running up her spine, "I even threw it out my window a bunch of times. It always somehow ends up back in my room, on my bed... changing positions whenever I’m not looking. It’s fucking terrifying. I feel like I’m being watched by something... someone. I—" She swallowed again, "It reminds me so much of...of Della...,"

Jaime was still stunned.

He brought a hand slowly to her face, very slowly like he was afraid he would trigger an alarm, then he gently pressed the back of his hand against his sister’s forehead, "Maybe...maybe you should go and see a Healer."

Anger flashed in his eyes and then she shoved his hand away, "This is what I get for telling you what’s been happening to me!"

"Because you sound like a lunatic!" Jaime retorted, "Dolls don’t move, and Della is dead and gone. You’re probably just feeling jitters because of the marriage and Alpha Conan,"

"I know what I’m talking about!" She snapped.

"I doubt you do!"

"Yes, I do!"

"Dolls don’t move!!"

"But they do leave you creepy ass messages on their bellies!"

"Can you even hear yourself?!" He scoffed.

"Loud and clear!"

"Come on, Beatrice," His tone softened, hoping that would calm her down a bit, "Are you trying to say that Della’s ghost has inhabited the doll and it’s haunting you?"

"Yes!"

He wanted to laugh. He really wanted to laugh so bad because it seemed that everybody in this castle was now losing their minds one way or another. Maybe someone has released another scentless powder into the torches or something.

"Alright, alright," He raised his hands in surrender again, "You can sleep here tonight,"

"You don’t believe me, do you?" She questioned, her lips pouted like a child, "You look like you’re about to laugh,"

"Of course I believe you," He looked at her, and she could see his lips twitching. The darn brother of hers!

"I hate you!" She almost screamed, and then she kicked him off the bed with her legs.

Jaime stumbled off, and then he finally burst into laughter. He really needed the laugh after everything that’s been happening to him.

There’s no way ghosts exist.

Della was dead and long gone.

They didn’t have a rotblood problem anymore.

Whatever was happening to them right now... couldn’t be Della.

No way!

If only they knew how wrong they were.