Disgraced: Twins of the Zodiac

A Bothersome Thought

    How could she? How dare she? 

    As he wailed on the punching bag in the far end of his room, anger steadily migrated throughout his whole form-rage even.

    She fed on my friend! He hissed to himself. In front of my girlfriend. He punched the bag hard, causing it to swing so far back that he had to dodge when it came back his way. In front of my friend. He hit the bag again, even harder than before. In front of Jen’s friend! His thoughts were bringing him closer and closer to conniption.

    Worse than all of that however-worse than showing herself to his friends and girlfriend-even worse than her feeding on Marlo. He hit the punching bag again, causing it to fly back. This time he did not dodge it on its return but instead stopped it with his hand.

    His sea-green gaze suddenly became distant as he thought about the happenings of a few days ago. What his twin sister had done...to him.

    “She used against me!” He said in a low mutterance. 

     All of three and a half days had come and gone-maybe more, considering his mind was too boggled by the thought to keep up, since the incident. His anger and frustrations were almost irrevocable from just thinking about it.

    When Jeriko and Aurora were younger, not only was it prohibited to use against one another by their mother, it was inherent that they couldn’t-the rule that their mother created for purposes bordering on the ‘just in case’ occasion. However, it never did come to fruition, one being able to use against another.

     He remembered when he was younger, vaguely, as it was, how their mother related to them the true dangers that Aurora was in because of this trait that the twins inherited.

    It was also a part of the Gemini coven, and no one else’s, for the firstborn twins to fight until death. In so doing, deciding who was strongest and more fit to live.

    Jeriko never fully understood why this had to be; however, because he was quite accepted as a young kid, in spite of his murky family past, he never really bothered in inquiring further about it.

    As time grew on and the year of he and Aurora’s battle grew nearer, Jeriko realized how much he did not want to lose his younger sister, no matter how out of place she was. He was secretly glad that he did not have the inherent means to do bodily harm to his sister.

    Naturally, it didn’t change anything, unfortunately, as the Zodiac elders were adamant that one of them had to go, regardless. It was that night that they ran away that their mother finally told both him and Aurora who the elders had their eyes on. 

    Aurora, being assumed the weaker of her and her brother due to the little hiccup of her not taking on the traits of Sorcery, was, of course, the ideal target for the Zodiac. She was always considered, the nil talented sore of the Zodiac. Or at least that was how they referred to her. Sometimes, Jeriko felt, in a sense, guilty in admitting that he’d allow himself to feel this way as well.

    Now, however, Jeriko couldn’t help but wonder whether such heckling names were just a cover-up for what they truly knew about his younger sister. Maybe they knew, he thought to himself. Maybe they had a feeling that she wasn’t as weak as she panned out to be.

    The thought of this-the thought of it all-the sneaking, the lying-it sent Jeriko to his peak of frustration and before he could control himself, a hard blow from his fist, pounded into the punching bag, along with an iridescent orb of pure energy. The bag flew back into the wall of the room, embedding a hole within before it exploded.

    Jeriko walked away, and suddenly slouched on his bed, his head dropping in his hands as he realized that maybe it wasn't Aurora who was the weaker of the two...but him.

    He took in a deep sigh, wondering how long his sister had been hiding the fact that she was not only a vampire but quite formidable in sorcery as well. He wondered if she would have ever told him and if not then why? It was all of a sudden that he felt as though he could not trust his twin now. 

    He looked down at his phone and saw a few texting messages from Jennifer, wanting to see him. Apparently, they needed to talk.

    Jeriko tossed his phone to the bed and took a quick shower, deciding that he’d go meet up with her. Maybe...hopefully, it would take his mind off of what he was thinking of. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Either way, he’d try.

    Jeriko didn’t even look at himself in the mirror before he started to walk out of the room. His gaze was facing the floor as he made his way to the exit of his room door. It wasn’t until he felt the usage of power being exerted that he realized that he wasn’t alone.

    He turned around to look at the large indentation and hole in the wall being repaired along with the punching bag being put back to rights.

    Bewildered at first, Jeriko did not turn around immediately before turning around-needing to gather that time to recover from his surprise and anger.

    “Wouldn’t want Mags to see the mess that you’ve made.” 

    At the sound of that sarcastic tone, Jeriko grimaced as he faced his sister, his gaze barely reaching hers. 

    “I was going to fix it. I didn’t need you interfering.” He grumbled.

    Jeriko wanted to say so much more than that but knew that had he done so, he surely would have said or done something that he’d regret. He was still too angry to have a civilized conversation with his twin right now. He started to walk past her when she took him by the arm, halting him. He had forgotten how truly strong she was.

    “We need to talk, Rik.” She said.

    He couldn’t even look at Aurora, the bitterness still having a hold on him. He snatched away from her.

    “I’m busy.”

    “Too busy to talk to your sister?” Aurora asked. It didn't seem to surprise her that he didn't want to speak with her. In fact, she expected him to be standoffish with her. It would have surprised her not to hear him say it. But still…”There are things that we really need to talk about...things that I need to tell you.”

    “Oh, you want to tell me things now?” Jeriko asked. He looked at his sister. “And what exactly are you going to tell me, Aurora? How you’re not just a blood-sucking parasite, but an all-powerful sorceress, too?” He caught the hint of hurt in Aurora’s gaze as he said what he said and in truth, he regretted saying it after witnessing the pain. “I shouldn’t have said that.” He muttered.

    Aurora averted her hurt gaze from her brother. She didn’t want him to see how much his opinion of her mattered. Though, she already knew that he probably saw how it affected her to hear what he thought of her.

    “I deserved that.” She said, understanding where his hostility was coming from. She had done something quite atrocious three days prior, anyway, when she fed on his friend in front of him and then proceeded to use against him as well...her own brother. 

    “No, you didn’t.” Regardless, of what happened, Jeriko could not justify being so hateful towards Aurora.

    “I should have told you about-”

    “Yea, yes! You should have!” Jeriko hissed. “Why didn’t you?”

    “Because of how you’re acting now, Jeriko-”

    “Oh right!” Jeriko bellowed, cutting Aurora off; surprisingly, she flinched when he yelled at her the way he had and took a step back-only half a step. “Blame it on me!” He said. “Everything is my fault!”

    “I...never even said that-”

    “You might as well!” Jeriko hissed. “Every hard time you go through is my fault!” He said. “You call me selfish and self-absorbed! What do you call not being honest with me all this time?” He incredulously asked. “I mea-how long have you even...been like this? How long have you been this powerful?”

    "Well, when we were younger, you know no one really wanted to make time for me and-"

    "What does that have to do with anything, Aurora?" 

    "It has everything to do with it, Jeriko," Aurora tried to reason. "No one-not even the teachers and mentors wanted to help or even be around me so, the only person I had was mom and-"

    "So what, she's the one? She gave you these powers?" Jeriko cut her off again.

    Aurora felt bombarded with her brother's questions and accusations, looking away for a moment to gather herself before she decided to answer her older twin brother. “If you let me explain, I will tell you-”

    “Why should I?” He asked. “How can I trust you? You’ve been lying to me all this time.” He hissed. “I thought that it was supposed to be me and you but you-”

    “You have friends, Jeriko!” Aurora hissed. “You are the one that always has better things to do! Not me!”

    “You don’t bother to make friends, Ro! How is that my fault?” 

    Aurora, at this point, was tired of fighting with her brother. “I don’t want friends.” She solemnly replied. 

    “And I take it, that’s my fault as well.” Jeriko snapped. 

    “I did not say that.” Aurora closed her eyes in frustration. "You know it wouldn't be easy for me to keep friends, Jeriko but I'm not saying that it's your fault-"

    “That’s all I’m hearing,” Jeriko said.

    “Of course it is,” Aurora said sarcastically. “Because you won't liste-” She cut herself off, closed her eyes a moment more before taking in a deep breath. “Just hear me out, Jeriko.” She finally managed. “That is all I am asking.”

    Jeriko stared at his younger twin sister. He really had to think about whether he even wanted to hear any more from her at this point. “Fine.” He finally decided to say. “After, I’m done with Jennifer.” He saw Aurora roll her eyes and this irritated him. “Marlo hasn’t been doing so well by the way. You know, after your little feeding frenzy.” He shook his head. Thinking about that, only frustrated him even more. “I’ll hear you out, Aurora. But I don’t trust you anymore.” He said as he walked away and toward the head of the stairs. Before taking his descent, he left Aurora with a bothersome thought. “I’m beginning to think that maybe it would be best if we split ways. Not like you need me anyway.”