Cursed Twins

Emilia

The decrepit building seemed to mock our turned backs as we stumbled away.

    Born werewolves all our physical strength was ten times that of a regular human, with training that could go up even higher. But except for the simple training we’d undergone in our childhood Livi and I were nothing compared to the full-grown wolves chasing us through the lot.

    Faster faster, faster!

    If only I could move a bit faster.

    ‘The gate!’ Livi’s voice cried through my mind and my gaze snapped to the barbed fence that surrounded the abandoned lot. With no time to catch my breath, I pleaded with my feet to pound against the earth quicker and quicker.

    Livi was at my side the sound of his harsh breathing obscured by the ominous growls of the beasts behind us.

    My only solace is that my mother was nowhere nearby. She’d gone out early in the morning to secure breakfast and she would be back for a few more hours. We’d been fooling around on the upper floors of the crumbling building when the men made their presence known downstairs. 

    Survive. All we had to do was make it to the gate and survive.

    Then we would find mama and get out of here.

    I missed Damian’s castle. I missed Damian. We hadn’t been home in half a year now but today was the first time we’d dealt with such a terroristic attack.

    “To think pups could outrun my men,” Digging my heels into the dirt I came to a sudden stop Livi beside me clutched my arm. The man towered over us like a giant, dressed in a dark suit his eyes concealed by heavily tinted sunglasses he smirked at us. His sharp canines sent a deep chill down my spine, a huge amount of power seemed to ooze from him to envelop us in it’s suffocating grasp. “You two will fetch a high price in the market. Ah, don’t look so scared now pups. My name is Raoul, this here is my territory, and we the white fangs don’t take kindly to trespassers.”

    Explaining everything in the time I have is impossible but since half a year ago my family and I have been living in the shadows of the world. Mama does her best to keep us safe she warned us of the monsters every day since we were young and we always did our best to avoid outsiders. But last night Livi had been too tired to move so we camped out in the abandoned building, we thought we’d be safe.

    We were fools.

    “You’re young, and your appearances…hey if you’re lucky your new owners might be kinder to you.” He laughed at his own words as if he’d said a joke. Behind us the wolves that had been chasing us shifted and grabbed hold of both of us. “Who am I kidding? I don’t have that type of clientele. Boys make sure to tie them up real tight, don’t underestimate them just because they’re young.’

    I struggled and I saw Livi struggling too, but it was pointless. Their grips were like vices and physically we were weaker. Even with all my twisting and turning the man managed to clamp down heavily silver restraints against my wrists.

    “Don’t move missy, wouldn’t want that damaging your delicate skin.” Raoul clicked his tongue and I froze. Silver is deadly to werewolves, concentrated amounts of it leave wounds that even our speedy regeneration can never fully heal. Gripping my sleeves in my fists I clenched my teeth and glared at him. “I love your spirit kid. But it’s too late already.”

    “Boss seems there was a third party. However, they’ve been gone for quite a while. Should we wait until their return?” A third wolf emerged behind us and addressed Raoul.

    “No. We’ve already caught such rarities. We’ll retreat for now. Get these two to appraisal and make sure you get them situated. They look like they haven’t bathed in weeks.”

    “Yes sir!”

    I dug my heels into the dirt. They might be taking us but there was no way I was going to make it easy for them. But instead of forcing us to walk the man holding me threw me over one shoulder, I heard grunting and then Livi spoke into my head.

    ‘Emilia! I can’t break free! If they take us wherever they’re going we definitely won’t be able to escape.’

    The chances of us surviving if we did somehow manage to break free were even slimmer than escaping once we reached our destination. Free griped me and I fought of tears.

    This was all my fault.

#

Half a year ago…

The summer breeze wafted in through all the openings of the house and I took a deep breath of air. To say summer is my favorite season is an understatement, the long days and short nights were perfect for someone like me who liked exploring nature.

    Livius as usual spent his days holed up in the library and mama was no doubt tending to her garden.

    From what little we’ve been told about our birth father he was apparently super tall, something Livi and I had inherited. Except in recent years, Livius had actually passed me by a couple of inches, and he still wasn’t done growing which I found annoying.

    Trekking silently through the house I made my way to my room. It’d been years since Damian had left and none of us had had any sort of communication with the vampire. Livi tried to put up a strong front but I knew he missed him. According to mama Damian and Livi were special to each other, I didn’t really understand but I really wanted Damian to come back for my brother's sake.

    From the grand window in my bedroom, I could see straight past the wall that protected us. I could even see past the river a few miles out over the hills. Further away, according to what mama said, there was a town. Monsters don’t live there according to her but we couldn’t afford to be careless.

    The monsters would kill us without hesitation if we so much as stuck a finger past the wall so for our safety we had to remain on this side. Still…my curiosity for the world out there had only grown as the years passed. I wanted to step past the wall even just once, but I couldn’t.

    I shouldn’t.

    Bored out of my mind I comforted myself by staring out the window. Eventually from under the hill came running a group of boys. They didn’t look that old and I recognized them as the same group as always.

    They were children from the town and they loved approaching the wall, however they never came to close, or rather they never even looked towards the house at all. The protection kept outsiders from seeing the house at all so I could stare at them all I liked.

    I watched as they pushed each other around, the closer they got the louder their voices became. If I focused hard enough I might be able to catch wisps of their conversation even from such a distance, one of the pros of being a werewolf is my increased ability to eavesdrop.

    “I tell you it’s dangerous over there.”

    “If yer scared get back home to yer mummy,” The apparent leader of the group, a short stocky boy mocked at one of the members.

    “Aye, yer to chicken!” Someone else mocked.

    They joked around as they grew closer to the river bank. The river could be dangerous for humans Damian had told us that on more than one occasion someone had fallen into the river only to be carried away by the current.

    And now those kids were getting awfully close.

    My heartbeat thundered in my ears louder than the sounds of the river as I watched in morbid anticipation. It was obvious what was going to happen next and I couldn’t do anything but watch.

    The same moment the boy started to slip I opened the window wider.

    The second he hit the water my feet hit the ground outside.

    I knew I needed to stop, I knew I needed to go back to my room and shut the curtains.

    ‘Emilia what are you doing!’ Livi’s voice shot through my head as I scaled the wall.

    ‘No time to explain. I’m sorry.’

    Then I crossed the wall. The children’s screams surrounded me as I plunged into the river. Struggling against the current I grabbed the boy and hoisted him against my shoulder.

    The current was stronger than I anticipated and my feet were nowhere near the ground.

    I needed to grab hold of something, otherwise, we’d both be carried away.

    A hand gripped my arm and suddenly I was hoisted out.

    Depositing the boy beside me I gasped for air.

    “Are you an i***t! You don’t know how to swim!” Livius' furious voice filled my ears and I turned to him. He wasn’t as drenched as I was but his clothing was matted to his skin.

    “Livi,” I sobbed and threw my arms around his neck.

    “M-monsters!” Some of the other children still hadn’t run away and now they were pointing at us and screaming. The boy I’d pulled out stumbled to his feet and ran back down the hill, his friends followed suit in a hurry.

    “Let's get home.”

#

Once we managed to get back inside mama was waiting for us. Running to us she threw both arms around us in a tight embrace.

    Mama was beautiful. Her long brown hair cascaded past her shoulders and her big brown eyes always brimmed with love for us.

    She pulled back, her brow pulled downwards and for the first time in my life, I saw tears in my mother's eyes.

    A loud snapping sound filled my ears and I blinked in shock. My cheek ached from where she had slapped me. Pure surprise kept me from crying but tears still crept to the corner of my eyes.

    She’d never hit me before.

    In fact, my mother had never done anything violent in all my life. Well maybe except when she would cut vegetables for dinner.

    “We can’t stay here anymore. The barrier that Damian put up broke the moment you stepped past the wall, maybe an hour or two before one of his enemies gets here and if we’re still here—” She paused to take a deep breath. She cupped my face in one hand and furrowed her brows. “Use the bags under your bed, pack your tennis shoes, and some clothes. Then we need to run.”

    The monsters.

    My heart raced and Livi grabbed hold of my hand. He was as terrified as I was and I was the one to blame.

    Mama rushed us to finish in under twenty minutes. And thirty minutes after I dived in the river after that kid we were running past the wall, through townspeople who stared at Damians house in awe and fear.