Annalisa Story/PART 3: Loss

At sixteen years old Annalisa was busily working with the binding equipment in the family business, the Time-Bound Bindery. They bound books in much the same way books had been bound for centuries, with loving hand-crafted precision using a wooden press and the right glues, leather, and paper. If any of the Garou Nation questioned the family profession, utilizing paper which came from trees, the Lettercraft family made it known that they painstakingly traced their resources back to those which were renewable and green.

It was satisfying work, the binding, the press, often it involved leather-crafting. The book that Annalisa was working on was one she had tracked down, print of Proust's work which had needed new bindings before it could be resold to a rare book dealer. It was satisfying rescuing the past, keeping knowledge and writing in-tact. Aside from which, it kept her from fidgeting and pacing while waiting for her father and sister to return home for the first time in months.

"Now Anna," she remembered Anastasia saying, "You're my sister, so you've got the knack. Finding information when you're appraising books is just like scouting, so don't slack off on really digging while I'm away with Dad's pack. You know Grandpa can't do it all, and Mom can only run the til! You have to be her eyes and... "

"Allright, allright An!" said Annalisa, "Goddess, you really do get long-winded on goodbyes!" She had hugged her sister close, kissed her cheek, and shooed her out the door, but her heart had never ached so badly in her life.

Annalisa was just getting the book set in its bindings when the door to the shop opened, setting off the bells. She rose to her feet and saw he sister coming through the door, but was already in her sister's arms before the look of despair on Anastasia's face sunk in.

"An... Sis, what's wrong?" asked Annalisa as she shook her head, a sense of dread welling up inside.

"Dad... he... he fought bravely," started Anastasia, before the tears overwhelmed her.

"No... oh, no... no... " said Annalisa, but she couldn't let herself cry.

Their father had always been closer to Anastasia, his daughter who had bred true. It was for Annalisa to comfort her twin, and so she held Anastasia close and stroked her fingers through her hair. She was just glad that their mother was out at the time, because she was going to need her sister to help her when they told their mother that her mate had been killed.