Burning Desires

Chapter 1

The slow drizzle seemed to complete the scene as Anastasia stared down at the new headstone. The light droplets stained the stone where they landed, leaving trails of darker shades.  Anastasia wiped the last stray tear from her cheek and turned away from the heart shattering sight. She knew that she had to be strong for her father.

Her mother had left some years ago, neither she nor her twin brother knew exactly what happened to their mother. Only the faded quilt Anastasia received for her first birthday remained to remind her that she had a mother at some point in her life.

A firm but comforting arm wrapped around Anastasia and she glanced up at the stoic face of her brother. Alexander simply gave her a grim smile before wiping his face  of emotions and leading her to the car. Anastasia knew that he would never cry in front of her or anyone, but the pain he felt matched her own.

The car rumbled to life in the otherwise bleak and dead environment and Anastasia gave one final parting wave to the grave.

“Bye Dad,” she whispered, although her brother’s sensitive ears were sure to hear anyways.

 Thankfully, he did not let on that he heard and for that, Anastasia was grateful. The grey scenery blurred past and Anastasia resisted a groan as her brother sped past the turn that led to their house. They were moving apparently, that much was clear.

“Where to, bro?” Anastasia finally asked, breaking the morbid silence. A slight raise and drop of his shoulders confirmed her suspicious that he just wanted to get away from their last home. Moving did not particularly bother Anastasia, it was necessary due to the occupation her family had. This move, however, hit a nerve as she left her father behind.

“We knew it was a risk going into that gig. He knew it too, so don’t beat yourself up about it, Ana,” Alexander finally said, his dark eyes glanced over at Anastasia but she refused to meet his gaze. She knew that he was only trying to comfort her, but no amount of soothing words could quench the guilt burning in her. Yes, they had all knew that the particular job they were going to perform that night would be risky, but the thought of her brother or father actually dying never registered with Anastasia. They always seemed to invincible to her in their guarded gazes, tall and muscular builds, and ‘I’m not afraid of anything’ attitudes.

Anastasia blinked back tears as the fatal snarl and crack echoed over and over in her mind. It’s part of the job, she told herself stubbornly. This is what happens when you hunt down monsters. Anastasia sighed as the word monster brought the terrible image of that large, feral wolf to her mind. That killer would pay, she vowed the moment she pressed her hand against her father’s chest to find it silent and lifeless.

Just like her father and brother, Anastasia was a werewolf hunter. Despite what many thought, werewolves existed and roamed amongst humans. For any normal human, the task of hunting down and eliminating these beasts that dared kill innocent people would be suicidal. Luckily for Anastasia’s family, they were not normal humans. Ninety-nine percent of all werewolf hunters were descendants of werewolves. Whether by having only a slim amount of werewolf blood or by strange birth defects, they were unable to shift into werewolves on their eighteenth birthday and therefor were seen as outcasts in a pack.

Those who had werewolf blood but did not shift were called semi-lups. This degrading name came from the Latin words semis lupus meaning ‘half wolf’. As years went on, these ‘half wolves’ watched rogue werewolves and even entire packs of werewolves prey upon and murder humans. From there on out, those with werewolf blood but could not shift joined together and vowed to protect the humans from the disease of werewolves.

Although werewolf hunters could not shift, the werewolf blood in them did give them the extra senses that werewolves had. Heighted eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell with enhanced strength gave werewolf hunters a boost to get rid of werewolves that other humans did not have.

Anastasia watched in disdain as her brother pulled off the interstate at a small town surrounded by trees, trees, and more trees. Alexander parked the car in front of a large building with some overly happy, balding man stood, grinning like a Cheshire cat at their car.

Anastasia waited while her twin brother walked up the steps and began speaking to the Cheshire cat. I guess he made arrangements right after Dad…. Anastasia thought to herself, unable to bring herself to even think of the word at the end of the thought. After half an hour or so, Anastasia found herself bored with just staring at the small, fur balls scampering up trees and twitching their noses curiously at her from their branch.

Flicking her fingers, Anastasia brought a small burst of flames into her palm as she stared indifferently at them. While werewolf hunters were not ‘graced’ with the ability to shift into man killing beasts, a few every hundred years or so would be given special gifts like the ones Anastasia and her brother possessed. Anastasia contorted the flames using just her mind, shaping them this way and that into small images. A rose, a heart, a wolf.

The last image seemed to literally burn into her mind as Anastasia quickly quenched the flame with another flick of her fingers. Occasionally, on days of a full moon, Anastasia’s flames would contort on their own and display images foretelling events to come.  Looking at the sky, Anastasia almost laughed at herself. The noon sun filtered through the leaves and even the thought of seeing the moon was insane. The sound of the car door opening woke Anastasia from her thoughts and she focused on her brother.

“So now what, Alex?” Anastasia questioned, cocking an eyebrow up at her twin. A smirk graced his face as Alexander splayed his hands.

“Welcome to Creekview Ana, we start school Monday,” came his wonderful reply bringing a groan from Anastasia.

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So do you think I should continue with this idea?

I'm trying to make sure it is unique and doesn't simply retell the same story of werewolves and mates. 

Hope you liked it and if you did please vote and comment so I know that you want me to continue! Thank you for all your support! 

<3