CHAPTER 4: WITHIN THE HOLE

Anastacia punched the dummy once, twice, thrice, and a few dozen more until the sand filled dummy broke and fell to the floor. Her hand felt like it was about to get ripped off, but she just growled and went to the next few sets of dummies and demolished one after the other.

She was in the training room in her house, and as she heard one dummy fall to the ground after another, she felt herself relax a bit. Her anxiousness was slowly disappearing as she was able to take control of her emotions.

“Tacia,” Anastagio called and gave her water. She forgot that her brother was a few feet away from her. She was too preoccupied with destroying the dummies. He only called her Tacia when he wanted to talk to her privately as a big brother, and Anastacia dreaded the incoming conversation.

“Thanks, bro,” she said and gladly drank the water her brother gave.

“You need to stop training and start mingling with others again, Tacia,” he said in a worried tone, “All you have ever done for months now is train and work. You’re making life hell for our men, and that’s more than usual.” He sighed when she just ignored him and went straight to her bag on the bench.

“Tacia, I know that you’re still not over what happened to him, but you can’t just stop living your life and become a living zombie just because of it. You are still capable of doing so much more despite what happened-“ He dodged her claws and jumped a few feet away from his sister.

Anastacia’s eyes kept changing colors and he knew that she was trying to keep her beast at bay. He guessed the only reason she didn’t fight him yet was because he was her twin and her beast responds to the warning growls of his own beast inside of him.

“I’m sorry, sis,” he said and raised his hands in surrender, “You know I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I am just too worried about your health. Tacia, please, calm down,” he whispered and slowly lowered his hands.

“Gio, I can’t live life as if I’m like you,” she said with tears in the corner of her eyes, “You have more control over me, and let’s face it, I’m a bigger monster than you.” She said and sat on the floor.

Anastagio sighed and walked towards his sister and sat beside her. They were one of the most powerful beings that they know of, and yet they were destroying themselves. He knew that what his sister was saying was true, but he hated the defeat in her eyes. They were trying their best to use science as a way for them to find a cure and help themselves control their wolves, but every experiment has been a failure.

“Tacia, we can’t give up hope. This is no longer just for you and me,” he said, “A lot of people, humans and wolves are putting their faith in us no matter how unstable we are, because they know that we can do this. We can avenge all of them and avenge ourselves. We can find a cure, and we can find out more about who and what we really are. We may be monsters in terms of power, but we are still as human as any of them. Never forget that” He said and stood up. He left her to her thoughts.

Three months later…

“You can do it, Ms. Ana, push a little bit more. It’s almost out,” the doctor said as Anastacia screamed in pain and gave one last big push before closing her eyes in exhaustion.

It was dark as Anastacia’s eyes refused to open, but she could hear a lot of noise. There were cheers, and there were worried voices and machines beeping. She managed to open her eyes, and a smiling Anasatagio was looking down at her. Anas gave a weak smile to her twin and completely passed out.

“You are pathetic!” A beast shouted from behind Ana.

“Wh-who and where are you?!” She shouted back. She knew the voice, but she felt anger more than fear. She knew the voice was the beast she desperately held back.

“Talking back, huh?” The deep female-like voice echoed in her head as she was surrounded by darkness.

“Anastacia,” the voice whispered closer to her ear, and in the pitch black place, Anas swore she could see an even darker form pass right in front of her in the shape of a gigantic wolf.

“Scared?” the voice asked menacingly and a deep, beastly chuckle resonated around her that made her want to shoot her ear off. She covered her ears, but she realized that the voice was not around her, but it was in her head.

“Pathetic. You can’t even survive a few of those pathetic silver bullets in your abdomen? You call yourself a powerful Luna?! Are you that weak of a person?!” The beast asked, “Those few bullets shouldn’t have made you that weak, and it shouldn’t have put both of our lives in danger! You are a pathetic little wench!” The voice shouted in anger and frustration.

Anastacia’s nose bled while she covered her ears and shouted back in anger and pain to counter the voice in her head. It was driving her crazy, and she felt herself grow colder as her ears began to bleed as well. She felt like throwing up, and she fell to her knees in the dark void that was now beginning to consume her. The coldness made it impossible to even open her mouth as her entire body was suddenly consumed by both the dark and the cold. She didn’t know what was happening to her.

“Clear!” The doctor shouted as Anastacia began to get worse.

“Anastacia!” Anastagio shouted as the nurses tried their best to push him out of the room. He didn’t budge, “No! I’ll stay here! You do your job!” He shouted in anger and the nurses and doctor nodded their heads while they guided him to the side where he could stay and watch them as they revived his sister.

“Don’t do this, Anastacia, WAKE UP!” he shouted from the side. He repeated the words in his mind and tried to reach her through their link. He knew that she was out cold, but he did his best to help her.

“Sir, she’s losing blood,” the nurse said, and Anatagio nodded as he proceeded to follow the nurse. He’ll give her all of his blood and even his life if he has to. He had nothing but his sister in his life. He grabbed one of the doctors that entered and gripped his collar.

“Make sure she wakes up,” he said as he let go and walked out of the operating room to get ready to give his blood to his sister.

“Damn you, you wench!” The beast inside of her shouted as she felt the cold eat her more and more, “Wake up!” a voice shouted.

“WAKE UP! ANASTACIA!” her eyes snapped open and she looked around her. Her eyes opened wide in fear.

“Finally,” the beast’s voice echoed both inside her head and around her.

Anastacia was floating and she was in front of a terrifyingly beautiful east that looked like her brother’s wolf, but this beast was more feminine. The wolf in front of her was floating as well, and it looked like the wolf would reach about seven and a half feet if it stood on its hind legs. She knew that herwolf was abnormally big like her brother’s compared to the wolves of normal werewolf people, but her brother and their friends always said that her wolf was bigger than her brother’s. It was terrifying yet amazing.

The beast in front of her growled in anger, and she saw the terrifying fangs, the raised golden hair behind its backs, and the silver streaks made it seem like the gold furs were moving with white electric currents as it tried to move and bite her. Anastacia was amazed and somehow terrified at the same time. This was the first time her beast showed herself to her.

“Beast,” Ana whispered as the beast stopped growling and just looked at her with its gold eyes with anger.

“My name is Asteria, not beast, you wench!” The beast in front of her said, it grew brighter as it growled louder.

Anastacia and Asteria screamed in chorus as a painful surge of energy went through Anastacia and she curled to a ball and screamed louder and louder until she convulsed and Asteria did the same. They mirrored each other as their growls and creams echoed in Anastacia’s ears while she kept her eyes closed in pain.

“Nurse! Hurry!” The doctor said as Anastacia finally opened her eyes.

Anastagio, limping from donating too much blood, stood beside his sister and held her hand tight. Anastacia’s eyes were gold, and her fangs were out, but she was alive. Her pupils dilated and then moved her gaze to her brother’s direction.

“Gio…” She whispered before falling into a deep sleep.

“Thank God…” Anastagio whispered as he held her hand and kissed it while ignoring the doctors and nurses who were busy around him. He made a mental note to destroy the man who rained silver bullets to his baby sister. His rage was burning, and now that she’s okay, he’ll bring hell with him.

“They will pay for this, Tacia, I promise,” he said as the doctors took her away to prepare her for her room.