Annnnna

Anastasia couldn’t remember a time where she felt more at ease than when she was in the presence of her twin sister. No matter the situation, it always felt better knowing that Saskia was right there beside her. She often wondered if this was what it was like when they were children. It was quite unfortunate that they could not call to mind a single memory of their childhood. Angela, their mother, had told them that it was completely normal for most people to forget their childhood. Occasional lapses in memories is what she would refer to it as.

Laying tucked underneath the blankets of her sister’s bed, Anastasia allowed her head to rest upon Saskia’s lap. She hadn’t been feeling necessarily well and this caused her sister to worry. Saskia decided to stay with her twin rather than going out as Anastasia trembled and broke out into a cold sweat. When Angela had taken her to the hospital, they assured her that it was only a high fever and no infection; but something truly concerned her about this. A sharp whimper slipped from Anastasia’s parted lips as she doubled over in pain. Her sister continued to hold her close, dabbing beads of sweat away from her face with an Egyptian hydro cotton towel. “Ana…are you alright? Do you want me to go get mom?” Saskia asked. Her voice cracked, filled with worry as she glanced down at her sister. Anastasia only nodded for the time being, wrapping herself tightly within the heated blankets. “I - I’m fine, Sas. I just wish that I could sleep.”

“Are you sure? God, if anything happens to you, I don’t know what I’ll do. Please…please get better soon. I’m really worried about you.” Saskia sighed.

The corner of Ana’s lips curled up into a sweet smile as her sister ran her fingers through her hair. Soon, the smile began to dissipate and Anastasia began to gasp for air. Every second it became harder and harder for her to breathe as her throat tightened, constricting her airways. A pool of blood formed within her throat, outpouring from her mouth and cascading down her cheeks like a waterfall. Her throat gurgled as it expelled excess air from her stomach. Saskia jumped up from her bed, turning her sister over onto her stomach so that she wouldn’t choke on the blood. She was panicking, In a frenzied state while she tried her hardest to figure out what was going on. “Mom!!!! Something is wrong!!!”

Within a matter of seconds, Angela and her seemingly newfound friend Monika rushed into the bedroom. Fear glazed over in their eyes as both of the women moved over to be at Anastasia’s side. Placing the back of her hand against the girl’s forehead, Monika could feel that her skin was on fire. It was heated like ten thousand suns in one. “o, ne, blagoslovi vsichki ni. (Oh no, bless all of us.)”  Monika spoke in her Bulgarian tongue. To see her child in this disastrous and desperate state, she knew exactly what was happening as she witnessed her husband go through the same change. The black shuck transformation. Though the girls didn’t know that she was their biological mother, that wasn’t going to stop her from being there for them. No. She had made it this far and had gotten this close to them, she wasn’t about to throw it all away now. “We have to get her outside. Tonight is a rare ghost moon. She’s going to need all the space and comfort she can get.” Monika explained as she lifted Anastasia up into her arms. Saskia stared at her in confusion, but also a very protective manner as the stranger woman had her claws clutched around her sister’s form. “You don’t have to touch my sister like you care for her. I can carry her myself.” Saskia snapped. To her, there was something off about Monika. No matter where they were, she was there. She wasn’t sure what kind of stalker brigade she was on, but her sister was off limits. “Now is not the time for attitude, child. We must worry about your sister’s well-being. Any quarrels you desire to have with me can come after that.” Monika said.

Once they had gotten Anastasia out to the backyard, Monika laid her in the center of the rose garden. Angela paced back and forth, afraid to tell Saskia what was going on with her sister. They’d never had talks about the supernatural world before, and now…it was all beginning to swing at them like a wrecking ball. “Saskia, I need you to go over to Ophelia’s for the night.” Angela spoke. Her eyes met with Her daughter’s before she caressed her cheeks softly. “But I don’t even like her. Why do I need to leave anyway? What’s happening? I deserve to know. She’s my twin!!”

“I’ll explain it to you later. As for right now, you need to leave. If you don’t want to go over to Ophelia’s place, you can go over to Lorenzo and Dante’s for the night - or even Presley’s.”

“I don’t want to go there either. I want to stay here with Ana and there’s nothing that anyone can do to stop me.”  Saskia sassed her mother, instantly regretting it shortly after. The two of them stared each other down before Angela raised her hands in defeat, backing away from her daughter slowly.


The air was humid around them and the area was covered in a thick smog. Anastasia’s eyes began to glow a fluorescent shade of red, her fingernails digging into the dirt and ripping from her fingers as she tried to evade whatever was happening to her. “M-m-mom…what’s happening to me? Help me! Please, just make it stop!” Anastasia cried out as drool spilled from her lips and into the soil beneath her. Angela was willing to do anything in her power to help her daughter , but nothing she would ever do could end this suffering besides death. “I wish that I could, honey. This will all be over soon, I promise.” Angela stated.

The final phase of the ghost moon let its arrival be known as it illuminated the yard. Temptation lured Ana to glance into its unearthly radiance.

SNAAAAAAAAAAAP!


Anastasia’s bones began to break, limbs snapping in ways that didn’t seem real. The pain was excruciating as she screamed at the top of her lungs. To hear the girl fall apart in such a manner broke both Angela and Monika’s hearts. As Ana began to transform, bones ripped through the silken of her back, shredding the epidermis like raw meat. The clothes that she wore were torn from her form as she leapt towards Angela aggressively. Sharp teeth sank into the flesh of the woman’s arm as Anastasia tried to rip it from its hinge joint. Monika had no choice but scare Ana away with a jolting surge of electric shock in order to save Angela’s life. A series of low whimpers emanated from her being and she raced off into the forest, becoming inconspicuous to the nights eye.