Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1)

Anastasia

Heaven Lyanne Flores

Dedicated to my mom.

Thank you for always playing both roles.

Copyright © 2014 by Heaven Lyanne Flores

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

Cover art: Erin Hayes

First Printing: 2014

ISBN 978-1-312-55752-9

Lulu
Raleigh, NC USA

Acknowledgments

I would first off like to thank my family for putting up with me for the last year and a half while I was writing this book. Sorry for all the late nights Jazmine. I would like to thank Kelsey D Garmendia for helping me out so much with making Anastasia what it is. Without you I honestly don’t know what I would have done. Erin Hayes, thank you for making my amazing cover. To all my beta readers, thank you. You all helped shape this book, I hope you love the final product. And finally thank you to the readers. You all are the reason I got the courage to publish this book in the first place.

My eyes drifted over the murky sea water. I had heard stories of this once being a beautiful place. Blue crystal clear water, white sandy beaches, and happy people enjoying the sunshine. Now as I stared at the dark water full of the rotten bodies of the fish it had killed I couldn’t picture it.

My feet kicked the dirty, clumpy sand as I waited for my mom and dad to finish packing up the car.

Once again we were moving. After the third world war, earth was in chaos. All the governments, including the most powerful ones, collapsed. The humans started turning on each other, doing everything and anything to survive. After a few years things had calmed down but there was still no government to take care of the people. This caused my family, along with many others, always to be on the move.

It was a horrible way to live. We never stayed in one place more than two months. We never were able to truly unpack or make friends or get to know our neighbors because we knew we would be moving again in a short time.

I looked up to the small beach house my family had rented. We were better off than a lot of people when the depression hit after the war. We never had to worry about where our next meal was going to come from or how to pay for something. Of course I didn’t know how. My family tends to keep things from me.

My mom and dad stood by the Ford F-150 that was packed full of boxes we never got to opening. Mom’s long dark hair was whipping around her from the wind which obscured my view of them talking. It didn’t matter because I knew what they were discussing. Our move to Bolton.

Bolton was a planet in a galaxy called Andromeda. Nightmares originated from this planet.

The inhabitants of Bolton have known of earth for thousands of years. Some have even tried to conquer it, which is how humans knew of us. Others had sought refuge on earth like my family. But as the years went on we all grew to be more folklore than reality.  We are the people of the supernatural world in the human’s eyes.

My family is a type of witch called Strega. We are connected to everything nature and can heal just about anything without any pain. I had always been fascinated with that world.

We moved to earth when I was just a baby. I had no memories of the magical planet only the stories told to me by my family. I jumped with joy when my brother told me we’re moving back to Bolton. Never did I think we would ever have the chance to go back.

Simon came out of the house with the last box that contained his books. He smiled when he saw me looking. His light eyes sparkled. He couldn’t wait to be back on Bolton. He always told me how he wished to go back. His face would light up when he would discuss places he wanted me to see.

We would finally be able to.

We were moving away from this godforsaken planet to a new, happy, planet full of new life. We would be able to start over, live a life I have always dreamed about. We’d never have to worry about moving away because of what could happen to us if we got comfortable. Finally, after nineteen years, we were going to be able to live as a real family, in a home to call our own.

I ran to the truck and quickly got in. I didn’t know what to expect from this new planet but I just knew it had to be better than what we had on earth.

My eyes studied the paper Simon had placed in front of me. The phrase ‘Hello, how are you this evening’ was written on it in Gaelic. It looked like Spanish to me but what did I know.

“Come on, Simon. Who speaks this stuff anyways?” I sighed as I pushed the paper away from me. I could feel the incoming headache just inch its way to me.

“Many species here do. Elves, cailleach and goblins are just a few.” Another piece of paper landed on top. It looked to be Greek but all I could decipher from it was the word ‘I’. Simon seemed to see me struggling with it because another paper took its place. This time it was Latin.

“They’re behind you, to the left,” I read aloud with certainty. Latin always stuck in my head. It may be a forgotten language back on earth but here, on the planet Bolton, it was just as common as English. I picked it up very quickly when my family first moved here three months ago. I am not sure how we got here in just days from earth. My family tends to keep things secret with me. The only thing I remembered is sleeping. Sleeping for a long time. When I woke up were already in the cabin we would call home.

“Perfect.” He smiled and picked up the papers before they blew away in the wind.

“Can we stop with the language lesson for today? All these letters are giving me a headache.” I rubbed my temples for emphasis. Everyday Simon would have us sit outside for hours studying all he thought I would need to know about Bolton. We would start the day with language, then move to species, then end with history. Not once had he changed the routine.

“Okay, next lesson is species.” Simon grabbed the stack of photos that lay behind his small body. Even though my brother was twenty-five years old and worked out almost every day, he still had the build of an average, teenage boy. His baby face and red hair were not helping him to seem older in any way.

“Ugh,” I groaned. There had to be at least a hundred photos in that stack. His lavender eyes fell on me. My family is a type of witch called Strega, one of the five different covens on Bolton. Each coven has its own element in which they connect with the most. Ours is nature. This changes our eye color to the color of the sky of Bolton, a light purple.  However, I am the only one in my family with clear blue eyes. My mother said it sometimes does not change and to not worry about it, but what if there was something wrong with me?

“Annie you know you have to. You do not know nearly as much of this world as you would like to think.”

“Oh, really? Because after three months of this I feel like the only thing I don’t know is Greek and Gaelic.” I knew that my words would offend Simon as soon as I said them. We had been having these lessons since our move here and it seemed to be repeating itself.

“Is that so?” Simon looked through his large stack of photos and brought out a picture of a sword. Its blade had symbols going up it to the handle that seemed to be made of leather. Each symbol stood out in its own light. It looked almost like fire was going to burst out of it and eat up the whole thing at any second.

I stared in awe at it. Never had I seen something as dangerous and beautiful as that sword. My hands itched to touch it, to feel the power in which it held.

“What is that?” I asked still staring at the photo, my eyes transfixed. I felt like I never wanted to look away. If I did it would disappear. I didn’t want that. I could look at it forever.

“The sword of Ustrina,” he replied putting the photo back into the stack. I couldn’t help but let out a sad sigh when it disappeared from my sight. 

“What does it do?” 

“It is said to burst any living thing into flames with only a small cut.” I could only imagine what it would feel like to hold it. I pictured the beautiful sword in front of me. My hands trailing along the handle as the fire threatened to burn me.

“Where is it?” I could not stop myself from asking questions about this magical piece of metal. I had to know everything about it.

“No one knows. Or so the story goes,” He said shrugging his shoulders as if it were no big deal.

“What’s the story about it?” I asked a little too eagerly.

Simon smiled at me. “It seems like you do not know everything, now does it.”

I glared at my brother. I knew I did not know everything about this planet. Heck, I did not even know everything about Earth and I lived there for nineteen years.

“Simon, Anastasia I think that is enough for today.” My mom called from our cabin porch. Her curly brown hair moved wildly around her face as she quickly went back inside.

“Will you tell me after dinner?” I picked up the extra papers, which had scattered in the incoming wind and handed them to Simon. “Please?”

“Only if you promise to not complain about my lessons,” he helped me up from the ground. “And you will pay attention.”

“I always pay attention,” I mumbled to myself.

“If you did you would know four languages right now.” He replied smugly. He had me there.

“Okay, deal.” I walked back to the cabin leaving Simon to clean up the rest of our lesson supplies.

The smell of chicken floated from the open doorway to me. I quickly made it up the few steps into our little home.

We had been here for three months and our cabin had quickly transformed. We first came here to shattered windows, a broken porch, cobwebs and animal droppings everywhere, and holes in just about every wall. Within the first few days, my father and brother had restored everything leaving my mother and me to clean after the animals. It was disgusting by the way.

My mother decorated the cabin. That was always her favorite part about moving. Although she didn’t get a chance to do it much on earth. The light blue and green tones of everything were supposed mirrored the oceans on earth before the war. It was calming and different from all the purple outside.

           It surprised me how much this planet was like my former home, such as the three hundred and sixty five day calendar and many of the same plants and animals. Of course there were bigger differences that reminded me I was on a different planet, like the purple sky, dark, almost black, purple trees, orange gravel and of course all the different species that inhabited Bolton.

I’ve found this planet to be quite peaceful. It was definitely different from the chaos back on Earth. We were always moving, different homes, cites, states, and once we moved countries. It was nice, finally, to get to stay in one place for more than two months, to be able to unpack and make the house your own. To know you would be there for a longer time period.

“Sweetie can you set the table please,” Mom asked when I walked through the door. I nodded and grabbed the plates and utensils from the counter and quickly went to setting the table. Simon followed a minute behind me, his hands full of our lesson papers.

“Simon, we need more fire wood.” Dad’s gruff voice came from the kitchen where he was taking the food from the oven. His pale face was flushed from the heat and his red hair stuck to his forehead.

“Be right back,” Simon mumbled and placed the papers on the coffee table to make his way to the barn. I knew he never liked that chore but Dad always made him do it. I think Dad was trying to toughen him up in a way.

“I’ll be in my room,” I said when I finished setting the table. No one objected so I made my way to the first room in the small hallway.

Once inside I went to the adjoining bathroom that I shared with Simon to clean up. I caught my reflection in the mirror. Bags found their way underneath my eyes. My long blonde hair was in a mess of a French braid. Crystal blue eyes stared back at me but they seemed to be those of a stranger, dim and lifeless.

This planet really is changing me.

Ever since the move, I had been tired and drained of my energy. Simon said it was from the different atmosphere that I was not used to it but there had to be something else. No one was constantly taking naps but me, my parents were the happiest I had ever seen them and Simon seemed to be right behind them. Once again, I was the outcast of the family.

“Annie, it’s time to eat,” Simon said through the bathroom door.

I quickly sprayed some cold water on my face to wake me up and made my way to the dining area. Everyone was already seated and eating away at the chicken and rice dad had prepared.

My eyes wondered over to my mom as her fork poked away at the chicken. Her curly brown hair was pulled into a messy bun with a few strands finding their way out of it. A small smile was on her lips as she thought about something. I couldn’t help but smile at seeing her happy.

Her amulet necklace lay on top of the simple green dress she was wearing, its purple mist lazily floating around the glass orb. My grandmother had given the necklace to my mom just after Simon was born. The Strega mothers made it hundreds of years ago to protect the family from harm. When the oldest daughter has her first child, the necklace must be passed on. I smiled at the thought of my mom giving me that necklace when I have a child. However, it seemed like that day would never come.

My dad looked older than his years. His red hair hung over his forehead matching the beard he let grow out slightly. I could see the stress invade his purple eyes every time he looked at me, no matter how hard he tried to hide it with a smile. Protecting his family and the move was affecting him as well just not as bad as it was with me.

“Annie, there is something we have to tell you,” dad spoke looking over at me.

“What is it?” I smiled taking my first bite of the chicken. I held in a groan as the taste exploded in my mouth. My dad sure did know how to cook.

My parent exchanged a look before mom answered my question. “Your father and I will be leaving for a few days, four at the most.”

“What? Why?” I could not stop the panic that found its way into my voice. I looked between my mom and dad waiting for someone to answer me.

“There are people we need to speak with,” dad replied quietly looking down at his food.

              “Can’t you take Simon and me with you?” I croaked. We haven’t been without them since our move here. The thought scared me. They never left us alone on earth either. Now they were just going to leave.

“It’s not that simple, Annie,” he whispered.

“What if someone attacked us while you both are gone? Or we get robbed and kidnapped or something?” My breath started to quicken at the thought of something bad happening to any of us while they were away. Even though we had yet to see another person around it was still a possibility.

“I promise you nothing will happen to you or your brother as long as you stick together,” dad said trying to clam me. His hand reached over to sooth me. “If we did not have to leave we would not. You know that right?”

I nodded and looked over at Simon. He seemed to know beforehand that they were planning on leaving. He did not seem nearly as surprised as I felt. I should have known they would tell him before me. They always did.

“Where are you going?” I asked looking back at my parents.

“A village. It is a day’s ride from here. We will only be gone for four days at the most.” Mom replied in her soft voice. Her hand moved across the table to grasp mine.

The small gesture should have brought me comfort like it has so many times before but it did not. I took back my hands and gave my attention to my food.

They thought I couldn’t handle it. They were right, of course, but I had to show them wrong this one time. This was my chance to prove to them that I could be strong and hold my own. I had to prove that I could survive on my own and not be dependent on my parents, as I always seemed to be.

I could see my parents exchange another look of worry at my action of dismissing the conversation.

“Is this okay with you, Anastasia?” My mom asked me when I did not reply.

“It’s not as if I will be able to stop you from going,” I said quietly. “You both are obviously not going to budging on the subject of Simon and me joining so why keep talking about it.”

“Annie, you know if we didn’t have to go-“

“-we wouldn’t. You’ve already said that dad,” I said interrupting him.

“Annie,” Simon hissed. I knew what Simon was trying to do. He wanted me to stop talking back. He always kept my manners in check.

“I’ll be in my room,” I retorted leaving the table.

              After I was back in the safety of my room I brought out the book of spells my brother had me reading. At first, I did not want to read anything out of it. I’m not sure why, I just had a bad feeling about it. Maybe it was the whole idea of a spell book. When I told Simon that he laughed at me and told me to stop being such a baby, therefore, I did what any sister would do and hid his favorite book from him until he apologized. Once he did, I got up the courage to open the book. The first page had one spell on how to grow a garden. When I saw that, I laughed at myself. How could I be so scared to read something so innocent? After that, I tried to memorize one spell a week. Which was not hard since most were in Latin but there are also a few with a list of ingredients and how to perform them.

This week’s spell was a binding one. It causes the person or animal to stop moving instantly. However, if one word was pronounced incorrectly it could cause the person’s heart to stop and kill them. I paid extra attention to this spell. If I ever had to use it, I would not want to kill the person. I wasn’t a killer.