Risen

3

She was back in the woods, dried leaves and twigs crunching under her feet, snacking on some onion rings, her skateboard being held behind her with her backpack, pausing for a moment when she came upon a burnt house. She knew who it had belonged to, the family had once visited her family, but that was when Nova was around seven or eight, she still remembered them well enough. Talia Hale was a kind woman to Nova, who had been curious about everything then, even if she had already known about werewolves, the woman had attached herself to her, treating her as one of her own and even sending her gifts on birthday's and Christmases until it all stopped one day. Nova knew why, the Hale family was well respected in the werewolf community, as Talia had the rare ability to shift into an actual wolf.

The Argents were the ones responsible for the Hale house, Nova knew that as well, since some of them often paid a visit to the Wolfe house, the family she had grown up with. She had never been fond of the family of hunters. As she continued to munch on her onion rings, Nova lightly pushed the front door open with her foot, looking around as she chewed on the one that was in her mouth, entering what used to be the living room of the house. Everything was dark, falling apart from the fire, and smelling of ash and dust, but that was to be expected until the bank decided to reclaim the property and rebuild the house. And it might even be sold for cheap because of what had happened. A low sigh emitting from her nose, swallowing the onion ring that was in her mouth, taking her backpack off and setting it down on the floor.

It was a shame that her first visit to the Hale House had to be when it was burnt down, she had always wanted to see it when it was standing and beautifully painted, and Talia even promised to let her visit when she was old enough.

"What are you doing in here?" A male voice spoke up

Nova turned around, seeing a man standing there, looking as if he was in his early twenties, wearing dark colors and a slight stubble on his face.

"This is private property" he continued

In response, Nova simply took another onion ring from the small paper bag, bringing it up and taking a bite, looking at him before looking around the living room once more, removing a crumb from her red lips

"I asked you a question" suddenly pinning her back against the fireplace, her onion rings falling from her hands and on to the floor

She looked at him as she chewed, then looking down at the floor, her onion rings scattered a few inches from the small bag, swallowing the chewed onion ring, then looking back at Derek.

"You owe me some new onions rings, Derek" she said

"Who are you?" He demanded "how do you know me?"

"I'm not surprised you don't remember" shrugging slightly

His eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking at her face in confusion. The color of her eyes were familiar, as well as the color of her hair and skin. Derek took a step back, which allowed Nova reach up, wiping her mouth with her shirt before blowing a lock of her hair away from her face.

". . Little Nova?" He asked

A small smile formed on her lips, watching as he looked at her, since she had changed a lot from when he had last seen her when she was a child. She now stood at five foot five, her ears were triple pierced, and her body had matured, but the look in her eyes told a story that he didn't seem to like. The ring on her right middle finger confirmed who she was, remembering his mother had picked it out especially for Nova, who never took it off unless she was at practice, showering or washing her hands.

"Hey, Derek" she greeted

"What are you doing here?" He asked "you live across the country"

Tears quickly formed in her eyes, looking away from Derek, trying to calm herself down before she broke completely. There was no telling when she would be over it all, or when the pain that filled her heart would go away.

"Nova . .?" taking the step closer

He cupped her cheek in his hand, turning her head so she looked at him, tears running down her cheeks, her bottom lip quivered slightly,

"What happened?" His voice gentle

". . . They're dead" her voice breaking

∆

Nova had cried in his chest for almost an hour, letting it all out with someone she trusted, and he let her, knowing what kind of pain she was in. All she wanted to do was scream and destroy something to pieces, angry, sad, wanting to know why it happened to her, why her family was taken from her. They sat in Derek's Camaro, the man buying her a larger order of onion rings and even and chocolate shake, which she enjoyed, food somehow making her feel better, sometimes eating her feelings, but she also had a super fast metabolism with a lot of energy.

"I'm staying with Irina" she informed

"Irina?" He asked "Irina Phoenix?"

"Mm-hm" nodding slightly "since I was adopted into the Wolfe's, lawyers contacted any biological family that was available on a short notice. Irina was the first to answer, and I didn't even know she existed" a deep sigh emitting from her nose ". . they were murdered"

"You don't have to tell me" he replied

"Someone needs to know the truth" leaning back in her seat, feeling his eyes on her "I mean, I couldn't exactly tell the cops that an alpha werewolf killed my family" a sniffle emitting from her "James managed to escape with Eli, cops think he's the one responsible, which is why they thought it was a good idea for me to move with Irina . . . Across the country. They think he won't be able to find me"

She reached for her bracelets, taking them off, which revealed the bandages that covered the wounds, which quickly gained Derek's attention. The wounds she had, wrapped around her wrists, jagged and beginning to scab over, her healing process wasn't as a werewolf's, and they would most likely leave a bad scar, which would cause her to keep her bracelets on in order to not seem like a moody teenager to tried to commit suicide for attention. She just hoped she wouldn't have to remove them, not wanting anyone to know what really happened.