Victoria Farmer

Alice turned in her ad for the local newspaper, trying to hide the pain in her eyes. She never wanted to sell her brother’s belongings, but the fact was she didn’t want the reminders either. How can a sixteen-year-old die so young and quickly?

            She exited the building, got into her car, and sighed as she pressed her forehead against the steering wheel. The tears started building, and eventually began sliding down her rosy cheeks. Her long blond hair shielded her face from anyone walking by. The pain in her chest had haunted her ever since she’d found her twin brother’s body laying on the bathroom floor. His face had been pale, and looked to be in anguish. The way his piercing blue eyes looked back at her had made her stomach quench, and her heart stop. She still couldn’t figure out why he had killed himself, and part of her blamed herself. She knew he had had too much stress and that he’d been depressed, but she never did anything to help him. Not when their father beat him or when the guys at school bullied him because all the girls at school wanted him, or even when he had begun cutting. She felt like a terrible twin. Weren’t twins supposed to have some kind of bond that joined them on some kind of telepathic level? If so, then she was the worst twin and sister ever.

            She wiped her tears away, stifled one last sob, and put her keys in the ignition to turn on the radio and heater. The chill from the snow that was beginning to collect around her Porsche was making her more depressed than she already was. She looked out the windshield and sighed, when had the cloudy, murky weather of Vancouver ever stopped making her feel relaxed and peaceful? She knew the answer, but pushed it out of her mind. She pressed her hands against the heater, trying to warm them. The soft music playing on the radio helped to ease her back in control of herself.

            She recalled some of the happiest moments of her life in an effort to help her feel better, but all they did was make her feel worse – every one of them include Jack, her brother. She never knew why, but there had always been a physical attraction between Jack and her. She first began noticing it when she was fifteen. They had been at the park with their family, and Jack was throwing the Frisbee around with their dog, Lucky. She was helping her mom set the plastic dishes on the table when she caught a glimpse of something in her peripheral vision, a young man with unmistakable, angelic beauty. When she turned to see who he was what she saw made her gasp. It was Jack. The sun cast a beautiful glow around his golden hair, and his muscle shirt showed off his perfect body, the sweat making his light skin almost glow, too. When he’d looked up at her, his eyes pierced into her very soul, and she somehow knew that he was looking at her the same way. They both had turned away at the same time, and she tried to shield the blush that was coming to her face. She felt ashamed of some of the thoughts that had run through her mind.

            Tears began to fill her eyes again, and she wiped them away. She didn’t need to remember her brother like that, and she chided herself for even thinking about what had happened. Then new memories came into her mind, unable to be held back.

            She had been walking down the hall at school, holding her textbooks close to her chest as she swiftly ran through the hall, trying to get to class on time. She’d turned a corner down the Fourth Hall, and had stopped when she’s seen Jack flirting with Melissa Valencia. An uncontrollable jealousy and rage surged through her before she could even think about what to do. Immediately she’d walked up to Melissa, and made a snide remark about some gossip she’d heard about Melissa hooking up with John Miller at a party the previous Friday night. Melissa had stormed away in shame and embarrassment. Alice had immediately regretted what she’d done, and walked away without turning to look at Jack. Jack hadn’t said a word to her the rest of the week – she assumed it was because he’d been trying to figure out why she’d done it. She didn’t even know why she’d done. She wasn’t a mean person. She was always nice and polite, and mostly really shy. So why had she been so cruel to Melissa. She knew it was from jealousy, and a possessive feel that had taken over her, but she hadn’t wanted to accept it.

            About a month later the school had held a masquerade ball for all of the honor students and seniors. She’d gone in a gorgeous royal blue sequin dress with a feathery mask that had brought out her blue eyes. When she’d examined herself in the mirror at home she’d thought she had looked decent, but when she arrived at the ball many people stopped and stared at her, wondering who could possibly have looked so exquisite. She only smiled at the awed onlookers and continued walking around; watching the giddy teenagers dancing to the pulsing music the DJ had been playing. Around ten that night she had been leaning against the table that was holding the refreshments, looking for her brother. She hadn’t known why, but she knew she had wanted to find him for some specific reason. She had been about to give up when someone grasped her arm, and pulled into the shadows near the restroom. No one ever used them except for the girls who needed a mirror to do their make up because the restroom were poorly managed and wreaked like a broken sewage line.

            She was about to turn around and fight off the stranger when she noticed how, oddly enough, she felt utterly right being in the stranger’s arms. Slowly, the stranger turned her around and looked her in the face with such adoration and love that she lost all will to fight him off.

            “I’ve been looking for you,” he’d said with the most angelic and familiar voice she’d ever heard.

            “Why?” she’d asked, confused at why anyone would be looking for her.

            “I’ve got something I want to do, and I need to do it now before I lose my will to do it,” he answered quickly. She could feel the anxiety rolling off of him, and she began wondering who he was. His voice and eyes seemed to call out to a force within her, and she wondered why.

            She was about to ask why he was so nervous when he slowly, and cautiously, bent down, cupped her face, and gently pressed his soft lips against hers. The kiss had felt like magic, and caused an electric charge that surged through her and awakened something inside that she’d never known existed. Immediately she wanted him, all of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled herself against him. Her breath quickened, and suddenly she didn’t only want to kiss him. She wanted him.

             He pulled away, and held her hands – he looked as breathless as she felt. When her heart rate slowed down to a regular pace she immediately felt ashamed of her behavior. Why had she acted like that?

            “What was that?” she asked, catching her breath. She gazed into his piercing eyes in wonder.

            “I’ll answer that later,” he said.

            “Well, then, will you tell me who you are?” She asked, start struck.

            “Only if you promise not to freak,” he answered.

            “Why would I freak?” she asked, and then suddenly regretted asking. He pulled down his black velvet mask, and she knew immediately who he was. Jack. Her emotions began colliding, and she backed up against the wall. Her heart rate accelerated, and her breathing quickened. “What’s going on?” she asked, holding her hand against her chest.

            “There’s something I haven’t told you, that I should’ve a long time ago,” he answered, leaning a hand above her head against the wall.

            “And what’s that?” she asked, trying not to meet his eyes.

            “I’m not just your twin,” he began, lowering his voice. “I’m your Twin Flame.”