The Rise of Chaos by AnnMarie Stone
The
Reborn series, Book #1
New
Adult ~ Paranormal Romance
**Previously Published as
“Anastasia’s Suffering”**
All Anastasia has ever
wanted was to start a new life, a normal life, a life without her parents. As
soon as Anastasia gets that chance however, she discovers quickly that a normal
life was never a possibility for someone like her.
Anastasia has always known
that she was different, but she has never understood why. Two mysterious
strangers, identical twins, offer answers that she desperately seeks, but can
she trust what they tell her? One is evil and a creature of Chaos, the other is
Light and a being filled with a Pure soul. Unfortunately for Anastasia, it's no
longer clear which is which.
Chaos had
already separated Anastasia from her soul mate, weakening her own purity. With
her defenses down, she is a perfect target for Chaos to seep in and take
control. Chaos has already corrupted her father, could she be next? Or will her
determination to save her true love from the same fate be enough to protect her
from corruption?
When Chaos threatens to extinguish Light once and for all, Anastasia will have
to decide which side to fight on. The unique abilities that have always made
Anastasia different from everyone else are the very same abilities that may
save or condemn her.
I found myself in the forest
again, or at least I thought that’s where I was at first. The same familiar Oak
trees surrounded me, but there was a subtle difference. This time, I could see
large trails that were clearly manmade. The trees canopied over the trails.
There was something uniform about them. I felt as if I knew where to go,
despite not fully recognizing where I was. I began following the trail as if it
was a trail to my home that I would have normally taken without a second
thought. It was guiding me to where I needed to be. It was different somehow. I
was anticipating the moment when I would meet up with my love, but some part of
me worried he was not coming. This was an entirely new dream. One that may have
had nothing to do with him.
As the oaks grew bigger, the
wider the paths became. I knew that this place had been manufactured. It was no
longer in a natural state. It was beautiful. I found myself happy and content
with the amazing landscape and the gorgeous serenity that surrounded me. Then I
saw the bridge. It was breathtaking and something that I could only have
concocted in my mind. How could a bridge hold so much beauty? Somehow, it did.
I felt drawn to it. As I decided to move toward it, I realized that I had
already changed my course.
The bridge was small and
arched over a stream that was connected to a nearby pond. As I approached, the
sky seemed to get brighter. I could see a stunning white Swan, wading in the
pond. The bridge was made of stone. As I inched closer I could see the bright
yellow steps within the stone walls of the arch. The oak trees cast a light
shadow over the bridge, but I could see that the bridge was no longer empty.
I felt my love approaching
the bridge from the other side of the pond before I ever saw him. He must have
sensed me as well. He smiled when he finally saw me. I’m quite sure that I
returned the smile, with the same love that he held for me. He walked to the
center of the bridge at the highest point and waited. I ran to him and wrapped
my arms around him as tightly as I could. Until that moment, I had no idea how
much I craved his embrace and his touch.
He opened his mouth to
speak, but I could not hold back any longer. I stifled his words as I pressed
my lips to his, pulling myself closer, pressing the length of my body to his as
if we had molded into one. The feel of his lips on mine as we kissed
transcended anything that I had ever thought about love. I felt tingles from
head to toe. I felt sparks of electricity everywhere he touched me. It was so
amazing. As our lips and tongues explored each other’s mouths, I felt his hands
sliding further down until he reached the small of my back. He continued to
caress my hips, pulling me closer until I could feel his hard body pressed so
tightly against mine.
In that moment, this man
that I loved, that I knew nothing and everything about at the same time, was
all that I could sense as the world around us disappeared. He was my world and
I was his. I could not let go of that kiss. I didn’t know when I would get the
chance to feel this bliss again. But alas, he reluctantly pulled his lips from
mine, but did not release me from his loving embrace. He held me so close that
I couldn’t feel anything but his body against mine. My eyes were still closed
from the kiss and it took me a moment to regain my composure. All of that from
a single kiss? Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes to take in all
that I could before the dream faded away and left me alone in my room. For a
moment, we stood there on that beautiful bridge, looking into each other’s eyes
and holding on to the moment. Oh what a moment it was.
“My Love, you have come to
me. I can’t believe that you are here.” I was so shocked to hear him speak,
that it took me a moment to process his words.
“I have come to you?” I was
more than a little confused. “You just spoke to me! I have waited so long to
see your face, and feel your touch. And now I can finally hear your beautiful
voice!” I was elated. The dream wasn’t fading. We were in each other’s arms,
and speaking to each other!
He chuckled. “Yes. It’s the
same for me. I have been learning how to send these messages, but something
always messed them up before. I can’t believe it finally worked.”
“Maybe it’s this place? It
feels…magical.”
“You know, I think you’re
right. I’ve tried the lake so many times and kept failing. I was tired of
waiting, so I thought I’d give the pond a shot. I’m so glad I was right.”
“Me too.”
It was wonderful to hear his
voice and for him to still be there. I didn’t want to wait any longer and I
reached for him, placing my hands on either side of his face. I pulled his lips
to mine again. My need for him was overpowering my need for information. He
returned my kiss and picked me up, setting me down on the stone wall of the
bridge. The kiss turned more passionate as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
It was my turn to caress his body. I placed my hands on his sides and slowly
moved them up around his back and up to his shoulder blades. He cupped my face
with his hands as he tenderly kissed me, deeper and deeper, moving his hands to
my hair. There was so much need, so much desire and lust, yet it was all
shadowed in comparison to the pure love that surrounded us.
Then, it was my turn to
reluctantly pull away. I ended the kiss. We were breathing heavily as I buried
my face into his chest.
“I hate to say it, but we
should probably talk a little more and kiss a little less. We don’t know how
much time we have.”
He lifted my face so that I
could meet his eyes. I could see that he hated stopping as much as I did.
“You’re right. I have a
message for you, although I wouldn’t really call it a waste if I don’t get to
it.” His eyes took on a deeper look. I could see through him and into the
soul that occupied his body.
“Well then, tell me the
message and then we can get back to the fun part.” As I spoke, I brought my
arms back from around him, making sure that I felt the curves of his muscled
torso as I did. My hands found their resting place on his hips. As I looked
into his eyes, I returned the deep meaningful gaze that he had just given me.
He cleared his throat and
blinked.
“Um…yeah. Ok. The message.”
He was stammering and it was actually quite charming. “Ok, so first. I am
totally breaking the rules right now. I’m not supposed to contact you like
this, but as you can see I’m drawn to you just as much as you are to me.”
“Yes, I can see that.” I
smiled up at him, still sitting on the stone wall of the bridge. I gave him a
light squeeze, almost a hug around his waist.
“I have to warn you about
Lukasz. Have you met him yet? I was hoping to tell you before you met him, but
I never got the chance.”
I was taken aback by his
words. Why would I need to be warned about Lukasz? I dropped my arms from
around him.
“I met him a few days ago,
but he’s not the one to worry about. It’s his twin, Tristan that’s the one I
need to worry about. Do you know them?”
“Everyone knows them. At
least around here they do. They’re kind of famous. But that’s not the point.
You need to know that he’s not what he seems.”
“What do you mean?” Should I
tell him about my gift? That I can ‘see’ what people are, not just what they
seem to be? Yes. I decided I should.
“I know them both pretty
well. Are you aware of my gifts?” I really hoped he was. I didn’t want to
explain it. He’d probably think I was crazy.
“I am and so is he. He can
manipulate that gift, he is very cunning. He shares your gift, but he’s had
many years to learn how to use it to his benefit.”
I was shocked. Could Lukasz
really have tricked me? No. I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t.
“I will have to really think
this through. I want to believe you, I really do. I feel like you believe what
you’re saying. But Lukasz? I don’t know. I saw everything. I saw into his
soul.”
“Anastasia, think about it.
Really think about it. Did you see everything?”
I thought about it. No, I
didn’t. He blocked parts. He even told me that. Could he have affected the
entire exchange? Altering my perception of him?
“Do you have more to the
message?” I didn’t want to talk about it, but I knew that at the very least I
needed to gather as much information as I could.
“I saw it in your face. You
remembered something. What was it?”
“I remembered that he
shielded some parts of himself from me. If he can do that, could he alter it
altogether? No. I don’t think he could have affected it that much, could he?” I
remembered the picture that my mom had. Was I wrong? Lukasz said that Tristan
had been following me for years, but could it have been him? He did have the
photos.
“You just thought of
something else, didn’t you?”
“Yes. My mom, but don’t
worry about that. What’s the warning?” I knew the picture was important, but
that was a long story and I didn’t think we had the time to go into it.
“Just watch what you think
you know. Focus on the facts and don’t let him manipulate you.”
“Got it. I’ll be careful.
Consider me warned.” There was so much more I wanted to ask, so much I wanted
to know. How much time did we have though? “How did you know my name?”
“I’ve always known your
name.”
Ok? “What about your name?”
“He said that you will know
me as Andrew.”
I opened my mouth to ask him
what that meant and all that came out was “Beep, beep, beep.”
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Abruptly, I returned to my
room, the embrace of my love so far away. You have got to be kidding me!
“Andrew? Why do I know that
name? Who’s Andrew?”
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