“Just do it.”
“Do you think I’m afraid? I’m not some timid ten year old
boy, Jay.”
“Then prove your manlihood, chicken.”
Rob chugged the last half of his beer and crushed the can.”
This is ridiculous,” he said to his twin brother in the seat next to him.
Jay followed in suit, draining the can and throwing it
behind him. He heard the clang of it hitting the existing pile and rolling to
the floor as he slammed the passenger door of the beat up Chevy Cavalier.
Shoulder to shoulder, the twins stepped to the entrance of
the abandoned trail. The light of the full moon shone on the backs of their
heads casting two identical copies ahead of them. Rob swore he saw Jay’s shadow
wink at him.
Impossible, he
thought before taking a step forward. Jay, again followed in suit, dropping
behind him and marching in cadence.
All was quiet, eerily quiet. The only sound in the forest
was that of their steps on the rocky terrain and the occasional gust of wind. On
either side of them, the trees thickened. Rob could feel the innumerable eyes
penetrating his shell and scratching his very soul. He just knew somewhere in
those trees lived the thing he was most afraid of, but there was no way in hell
he was going to tell Jay that.
Somewhere deep in the tree line, a screech owl broke the
silence. Rob nearly jumped right out of his combat boots. His could feel the
tiny hairs on his neck stand on end and his knees begin to shake. For a second,
he wasn’t sure if he was going to throw himself on the ground and play dead or
run back to the car. Lucky for him, Jay’s hysterical laughing reminded him of
exactly what they were doing here.
“Afraid of a little bird, Robbie Boy?”
“You don’t have to be such an ass, you know,” Rob growled
back. He hated it when Jay called him that. It was just so demeaning and it
took that endearing quality he connected with his mother away from the nickname
to hear it from his angry twin brother.
Rob picked up the pace as he fought the urge to turn around
and deck Jay. He could only think of his mother’s last words, “Keep an eye on
JayJay, Robbie. He’s not as strong as you.”
“Yes, Robbie. Do watch out for your poor brother. We’d hate
for anything to happen to him.”
“Stay out of my head, Jay,” Rob snapped as he pushed his way
through the thickening underbrush. He’d been so busy trying to keep his fear in
check, he hadn’t been watching the path ahead. Now that he looked, it had
utterly disappeared. In its place were briar bushes and saplings.
Jay took advantage of Rob’s distraction and probed his mind.
“Robbie? Are you afraid? Is this too scary for you?”
“Seriously, Jay. I’m out here with you. The least you could
do is stay out of my thoughts.”
“What good is my twincense if I can’t peek into your head?
Come on? Just a-”
Jay was cut off mid-taunt with a yelp. Rob didn’t slow to
see. He knew he’d caused his brother’s pain. Just a mild shock now and then to
remind him who’s in charge.
“Was that necessary?” the second twin whined.
“Yes. Now have I made myself clear?”
“Fine,” Jay said kicking a rock out of his path.
“I can see the tower rising ahead of us.” Rob pointed toward
what looked like a needle protruding from the haystack that was the forest
line. “Just another mile or so. Can you make it.”
Jay scoffed. “Of course.”
Rob reached into the sheath strapped to his back and
withdrew a machete. Jay, again, followed in suit, raising his hand strung bow
over his head and withdrawing an arrow from the quiver. Jay readied himself for
an attack from either side. He could tell from Rob’s stance there was bound to
be something in the trees.
“Do you hear them?” Jay whispered.
“Panting. Look to the left.”
Jay did as he was
told. “The eyes, Rob.” He forced tremble into his voice.
Shoot them, Rob
thought loudly.
“I can’t do that. It’s like…”
I know what it is. You
must shoot it.
“But…”
If you don’t, it will
hurt us. Quickly, between the eyes.
Jay lined the arrow against his finger and prayed it would
penetrate the skull for the instantaneous kill. He let the arrow fly and
watched as it hit the target. Within seconds, the two amber lights went out.
“Good job, brother. On we go.”
“Are there more?”
“Most likely.”
“How many?”
“Reach deep, Jay. Can you feel them?”
“I feel you and me?”
“Use your twincense, JayJay. Are there more?”
Jay gasped.
Rob lifted his machete and wacked the overgrowth in front.
“Stay close. If you see one, shoot it. Always between the eyes. This is what we
trained for.”
“Do you have your shield up?”
Rob nodded. He knew his twin would be able to see the slight
movement. Together, they pushed through the forest, one cutting the trees while
the other flying arrows.
The more arrows Jay let fly, the freer he felt. Like with
each one he killed the more of him was free. He briefly remembered his mother
saying, If you stretch yourself too thin,
you will never keep up. If only she knew…
“I think I see the base of the tower,” Rob said, breaking
the rhythm. Jay looked past his brother and grunted an agreement.
The end of the trail lay a hundred feet from them. Retaining
the lead, Rob skirted to the right into the dense trees. He couldn’t hear any
panting in that direction and if all else failed, he had his machete. Again,
Jay followed in suit.
“How many guards?” Rob asked.
“None. But they are everywhere. How are we supposed to pass
them.”
Rob smirked. He let his hands fall to his side and closed
his eyes, trusting his brother to protect him. He held his own mirror image in
his mind, replacing his own baby blues with the glowing ambers of the others
and let the electricity fly. The howling came from all around as the targets
fell to the ground in pain.
He opened his eyes and barked the order. “Run. Straight to
the door.”
Rob broke through the door and latched it behind Jay just as
the shock war off. Wasting no time, the brothers climbed the spiral stones
ahead of them. It was something they’d done millions of times in their
childhood but never in the dark and never without Mother.
As remembered, the stairs opened into a circular room filled
with state of the art computers and buzzing machines. We’re not alone, Rob thought.
Jay raised an arrow and scanned the room. In the center of
the room, strapped to a stainless steel work table was Gemini.
Jay sprang into action. He threw his archaic bow to the
floor and ran to the side of the table and began undoing the straps. First his
ankles, then his wrists and lastly, the headpiece.
From behind a mirror stepped a graying man in a blood
stained lab coat. “Hello, my boys.”
“I have done as you requested, Father,” Jay said.
Rob’s face smushed up in a look of utter confusion. Father
was dead. He saw it happen.
“I’m sorry, Robbie Boy. Did you really think it was going to
be this easy? Did you really think you could just swoop in from your high class
life and rescue me?”
“But he’s just…”
“Gemini is part of me. You left me. You asked for this.”
“Sorry it has to be this way, son. Your mother did ask you
to look out for JayJay. Consider this your ultimate act of obedience.”
Gemini flew from the table and was on top of Rob before he
could raise his machete. He lifted the young man over his head and slammed him
onto the steel table, hard enough to render him immobile but not enough to
shake his consciousness.
“I want you to feel each burning jab. Every grating strap. I
want you to hurt,” Jay said. “Oh, don’t worry. There was nothing you could do
to change this. I was the original. From me, you came. You robbed me of my life
and now I will take yours.”
With that, Jay reached above the table and pulled the life
force wires from their hook and snapped them into a needle the size of his arm.
“If I miss your heart, I will have to do it again, I suggest you be still.”
Rob felt immense pain spread from his chest outward and all
went dark.
Happy Halloween he
thought before he lost consciousness.
