Tethered Twins Saga: Complete Trilogy (Twins, Souls and Hearts)

by Mike Essex

  She loved his hair most of all, which was a very dark brown, almost black in colour that rose up in the middle and spiralled down either side like a peacock’s feathers. He had light stubble that flowed across his face and his broad chin.

  For all intents and purposes he was the leader of their team, a burden that she knew weighted heavily on him and she could see this in the bags under his eyes and the age that had started to show on his face despite him being in his early twenties.

  The other man Chris, was very tall, six foot five by her estimations which also made him very lean. He had spiky brown hair and long sideburns. His youthful face showed no sign of a wrinkle and combined with his blue eyes made him seem younger than he really was. He was the newest member of the group so was a little headstrong but she knew that Gabe would keep him in check.

  She knew her friends would do a good job.

  Besides what could one man do against twenty men? With that thought she climbed onto her motorcycle and drove out into the night.

  As she rode along the motorway the neon lights from her bike flashed across the road. A stream of red lights snaked behind her and her motorbike had a row of red lights on either side that formed a pattern onto the road in the shape of angel’s wings.

  She loved riding, especially at night; she enjoyed having the roads to herself.

  She passed a billboard for a company called ‘TethTech’ which showed a man and a woman holding each other in bed. The man had his chest exposed and the woman had her leg and her arm draped across his chest. She was covered by a single white sheet. At the back of the billboard was another man who looked identical to the first. He was watching the couple as they embraced, with a shocked look on his face.

  In large letters on the poster were the words “Innocent Blocking Devices, by TethTech”, with a further line underneath which read “There are some things twins shouldn’t have to share. Keep your intimate moments secret. Available at all Chemists.”

  She looked at the billboard and it made her laugh. The idea of a twin watching her having sex made her uneasy and she wondered if this was perhaps the greatest invention in all mankind.

  These roads had seen better days, back when the Government still invested in public infrastructure. Back when their burden of debt didn’t make every non-essential service a massive liability.

  When the world lost the tax income of one billion people it started to become harder to sustain life the way it had been. The economy had been built to scale and investments had been set in motion for the existing population. Suddenly millions of products went unsold as there were less people to buy them forcing the economy to collapse. Whilst all of this happened corporations were continually finding new ways to avoid paying tax through offshore loopholes, just to keep themselves afloat and to offset the loss from not selling their products.

  The country, in fact all countries, had become unsustainable. With it, millions lost their jobs and the key public services fell on the hands of the public.

  “Want better roads? Get out and fix them. Want healthcare? Find a friend who is a doctor.”

  That was the way the world worked now. If you couldn’t do something yourself, then you found someone to help or you paid through the odds.

  It split the country into two types of people.

  The haves: Those who had money, who worked in or ran large corporations. Those who could afford luxury goods, who never went hungry and who had everything they could want.

  The have-nots: Those for whom money no longer had any meaning. People who had to rely on bartering and trading one item for another in order to get by.

  It saved our economy. The Government finally had enough money to pay off their debts, simply by leaving the weakest members of society to fend for themselves. If you were one of those with money, then life had never been so good.

  What money the Government did have left, they poured into public defence funds. As Great Britain regained its power and financial stability, people started to feel that we would become a target from other countries that had not seen the same recovery.

  Countries that had put their people first had collapsed. They had kept their pride until the end, hoping that other countries would work together to help them and ultimately everyone lost out. At least in Britain the rich had stayed rich, even if the poor had no healthcare and no support.

  In amongst this chaos Grace had found her home in an organisation known as ‘The Deck’. She thought of it as her calling.

  Most people called Grace a terrorist. She preferred to think of herself as restoring the balance. A small cog, in a larger machine that wanted to put the world right again.

  Stopping Tobias was the first step towards a better world and as she rode down the motorway she knew she was heading for the next step.

  “Emmie.”

  FIVE

  Gabe Treeth

  Gabe Treeth hadn’t expected today to be so easy.

  He knew capturing the biggest murderer in history would be a challenge and yet today had been one of the easiest missions in his career.

  A captive prisoner, a team with no injuries and best of all no civilian casualties.

  These three factors would be impressive on any mission but on this one they were just worrying.

  He looked down at Tobias, who was now handcuffed. Tobias was oddly quiet for a man who loved to be heard. He now seemed defeated when mere moments ago he acted like the most confident man in the room.

  After much frustration Gabe could no longer stand the suspense. He opened his mouth to speak to Tobias with a few stern questions in mind and before he could do so his questions were answered, his fears were realised.

  The gunshot echoed around the studio, as one of the members of his team fell to the floor. A clean shot to his neck and before the solider could even hit the floor he was gone. A soldier and friend no more.

  He lay on the floor, his eyes staring into nothingness. On his chest a Six of Clubs playing card had been covered in blood as it escaped and ran down from his neck.

  The remaining team quickly moved from their places to find cover, while they surveyed the room for their mystery assailant.

  Each soldier made sure to hide away from the mass of motionless bodies, to ensure any shots were directed far away from them but it dwelt on every one of their minds that a stray bullet could hurt an innocent person.

  Two of the team had ducked behind the presenter, Jonathan’s desk and took Tobias with them to ensure he could not escape in the panic.

  “How would you all like to take part in an experiment?” Tobias was suddenly very vocal. “I wanted to save the unveiling of this new technology for tomorrow but you forced my hand. So run along like good little guinea pigs and enjoy the game!”

  Before the soldiers could react, their mystery attacker jumped down from the lighting above the studio. As he fell he quickly flipped round to ensure he landed on his hands and feet to minimise the impact on his body. He dashed under the seats that housed the crowd, moving carefully to avoid the blue light.

  He rose to his feet quickly and efficiently and promptly pointed his gun at Gabe. “Take out their leader first,” came a voice that echoed in his mind and he began to stare directly at Gabe.

  The assassin had a slim build with the body of a runner; a small body but with muscles ready to be used for drastic speed. As he dashed along, his long blue hair swung in a ponytail behind his head. Despite such a unique hair colour, something else about him caught the attention of the team.

  His orange eyes did not break from focus. Did not blink. Did not look away.

  Not a word was said. There simply was no time for negotiations. Within seconds of landing the assailant fired his shot and Gabe had a split second to shift his body, with the bullet lodging firmly in his shoulder.

  He fell to the floor gripping his wound, screaming out in pain.

  Their leader was shot and yet the entire team did not respond with gunfire. It was too risky and there were too many inno
cent bodies in the way to ensure a safe shot.

  “So the answer to the first experiment is obvious,” stated Tobias with cold hard fact. “Are you loyal to your leader above all others? No. You put the needs of innocent people first. A noble response, although one that shows you lack loyalty and are easily manipulated.”

  “Let’s see how far we can push that…” Tobias smiled, as his second experiment began.

  --<><>--

  Grace Wilkerson

  She had known Emmie for eighteen years and like all good friends Grace was always finding out something new.

  Like how Emmie was going to save the world.

  She wasn’t jealous, best friends had to support each other. Although she did feel full of guilt that she knew so much about her friend and yet had lied to her about almost every detail of her own life.

  So when Grace received a call from Emmie that said she was in danger, she knew it was more important than anything.

  As she raced through the city towards Emmie, her red hair flowing out from underneath her bike helmet, she felt very alive.

  What a day, she thought We capture the person I love to hate and then the chosen one needs me. Apart from the day she met Gabe, Grace had never felt more wanted.

  “But first things first,” she pulled up at a public restroom and entered with her large red polka dot backpack.

  Once inside she found the nearest stall and closed the door behind her making sure to lock it thoroughly.

  She placed her head in her hands and lent forwards.

  Steam started to emerge from under her hands, as a chemical transformation began.

  The skin from her face started to melt and drift downwards towards the floor in one big long blob.

  Beneath her hands a magnificent change began to happen. The white skin gave way to cocoa coloured skin tones as her true face started to be revealed from underneath the mask. Her newly revealed small brown eyes, the curves at the edge of her smile and her thin nose had often seen people refer to her as being ‘cat-like’ something Grace often saw as a compliment.

  The transformation continued to move upwards over her forehead and into her hair.

  The locks of red hair changed in colour to a chocolate brunette tone and bit by bit they started to curl around themselves. Two large waves of her hair kept the red colour and made it even brighter. It was a startling contrast to the brown of the rest of her hair. Her fringe stopped just above her eyes and the rest of her hair curled around her head stopping just above her shoulders.

  The steam began to stop and in one swift movement Grace scooped her hands downwards and gathered together the ball of skin.

  She opened her backpack, pulled out a hexagon shaped box and stored the skin in its silver lining.

  Closing the box, she inserted it into her backpack and retrieved a change of clothes. She was now wearing a silver top with short sleeves that stopped just below her elbows. The top had two belts that went across it which loosely criss-crossed over her chest. She put on a pair of dark jeans which had red and black diamonds that intercut with each other throughout the design.

  After ditching her army uniform, but keeping her black riding boots she left the stall.

  She took a moment to admire herself in the mirror. “Back to normal,” she remarked.

  The red haired girl was gone. Replaced by a chocolate haired goddess with light brown skin.

  “Just like Emmie remembers.”

  She left the restroom, mounted her bike and drove the last few miles to Emmie’s house.

  SIX

  Emmie Keyes

  “What time do you call this!?” bellowed the voice from room 12B.

  “It’s Emmie, I need your help.”

  Although it was 2am I knew Rex T Jules would forgive me eventually for disturbing his sleep.

  “Who is it?” I heard Rufus L Jules ask, Rex’s slightly fatter, camper brother.

  “It’s Emmie, I think she’s drunk,” replied Rex.

  “Oh that could be fun.”

  “Please, could you just answer the door?” My voice began to sound frustrated.

  “Ok,” replied Rex.

  The door opened and my eyes filled with tears for the tenth time that night, only this time they were tears of joy. Never had I been so happy to see two people.

  “Emmie, come here,” Rex embraced me and I became overwhelmed with happiness.

  “You can see me? I‘m alive?” I asked.

  “I think so, although you did wake us up at 2am so this could be a dream for all I know,” said Rufus with a sarcastic tone.

  I didn’t mind the sarcasm. This was as real as any other day and I was relieved to know that I was still alive.

  In the hours since my brother had been killed I had seen my life erased and was starting to wonder if the phone call I put into a close friend has been real or imagined.

  Although I knew I was alive, I still had no reason why. Nor was I any closer to understanding why traces of my life had begun to disappear. Nonetheless this was a start. A brief ray of light in the darkness.

  Rex and Rufus had always helped me in times of trouble and had been like having two extra brothers; their kind faces always there to help me get through the loss I’d experienced years before. They were almost identical twins, although Rex had a more muscular build from his work as the town’s maintenance man. Rufus also differed in that he had long brown hair that he wore in a ponytail and Rex instead kept his hair short and spiky. Rufus often told him he had too much gel in it and I tended to agree.

  As I looked at Rex’s ‘Alabama Jones’ T-shirt he’d gotten from “the greatest rock gig of all time,” as he often put it, despite never actually attending the show, I also realised I was still wearing pink pyjamas with little sheep on them. My long blonde hair was a mess, all frizzy and falling over my eyes. Years ago I’d have felt fine them seeing me dressed like this but I didn’t want to feel like a little girl any more even in front of my honorary brothers.

  “Would you like to come in?” asked Rex.

  I looked down at my pyjamas and decided it wasn’t worth getting changed now so I walked in.

  “So R&R what’s new?” I asked using my affectionate nickname for the pair.

  “Nothing much, I’m still living with this muppet,” replied Rufus.

  Living with a sibling was nothing unusual, in fact I was something of an outsider for not living with my brother. Typically siblings would move out of their family home at eighteen and live with each other until they met separate partners and got married.

  Even then it wasn’t unusual for twins to date another sets of twins, so a family home could contain a brother and sister, who were married to another family of brother and sister (or any other combination of couples you can imagine – apart from dating across the same bloodline, which would be disgusting…).

  Twins shared every moment, although for intimate moments they could use an ‘Innocent Blocking Device’ to stop their twin from being scarred for life. These devices allowed twins to keep a small amount of their life private when they needed to and for most people they would share everything else, including living together.

  It meant R&R lived in a similarly small apartment to my own but they’d changed their kitchen into a second bedroom for Rufus. Instead of the kitchen they had a stove in the front room and a single frying pan that they used for most of their cooking. Their apartment was bare like my own with two wicker chairs they’d carried five miles offering the only source of comfort.

  Seeing the sacrifices the two of them made to live together reminded me of just how foolish it had been for me to not live with my brother. R&R knew if one of them died, then the other would too, so it made sense for them to live together and look out for each other.

  “Twins should stick together,” that was the moral message drummed into me at school.

  But with Will’s job so far away and my job unable to let me move there really was no other way. Neither one of us wanted to put our life on hold
for the other so we went our separate ways, assuming everything would work out.

  “So I believe congratulations are in order,” Rex smiled one of his big grins and gave me another hug. Just as warm and full of joy as the last. “Well done on passing your exam, my junior police officer.”

  “Go you! How does it feel to be saving the world, one scumbag at a time?” Rufus had to get involved as well.

  “I don’t know yet, it’s my first day next week but it feels amazing to have passed,” I replied, unsure if I’d ever get to wear my badge after all.

  “Well, I think it’s an excellent achievement, in this world we need more people looking out for the little guy,” replied Rex.

  Rufus pointed to Rex’s belly “Well she won’t be looking out for you then fatso!” Rex wasn’t fat but Rufus did like to tease him regardless.

  R&R had been this way for as long as I could remember. They joked that Rufus couldn’t wait to meet a good man so he could be free of Rex and Rex a good woman but in reality the two of them were the perfect mixture of family and friendship.

  For the next two hours Rufus and Rex talked to me about old times and helped take me away from my troubles. They were comforting in the best possible way, without trying to pry into what had happened. For all they knew, I was drunk and for now I wanted to keep it that way.

  As Rufus explained how Rex was getting a bald patch and had better meet a woman soon my phone began to buzz. It was Grace and she was only five minutes away.

  “Ok guys, I need to go but before I do I need to ask you a favour,” I looked at them and the mood changed. My drunken act was gone and I knew this next part would have to be deadly serious.

  “Oh?” replied Rex.

  “If anyone asks about me you need to tell them you haven’t seen me,” my face showed no sign of a smirk, I wanted them to know I wasn’t joking around.

  “Oooh do you have the Mafia after you already? That was quick super girl!” Rufus interjected.

  “No but I think Will is in trouble and until I know he is safe, then I need to be careful,” I hoped it was enough information to give them without revealing the truth.