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

by Mike Essex

  Mr King looked out of his top floor window at the TethTech building. “I gave you everything,” he said.

  “I’m sorry sir but there are men downstairs to see you,” one of his guards stood in the doorway to his office.

  “Tell them to wait.”

  “I don’t think that will be possible. There are journalists, police and the Board of Directors.”

  Mr King froze at the last part. It was the Board of Directors he feared the most. If they were here with the police then they must know the truth. He opened up a search engine and typed in his name. As he saw the top results he knew that it was over.

  “Glenn King Funded The Biggest Terrorist Attack In History,” read the top story.

  He would be lucky to make it out of the building alive. An angry mob circled around the base of his tower. His staff were evacuated through the back exit and were allowed to leave after checks had been made to ensure Mr King was not amongst them.

  There was no escape. “Send them up,” said Mr King, as he prepared to face his fate. All he wanted was another week of freedom. Another day of denial. But that wasn’t to be.

  Tobias read the news stories with glee. He received an alert on his monitor every time a news story was posted with Mr King’s name and he read every one of them with a big grin.

  Mr King had been removed from his position of power and the company had been shut down for the day whilst the board appointed a new leader. The plan had gone perfectly and Tobias was ready to make his next move.

  He sat down in a large leather seat and placed a headset on. Two clamps moved in around his chest and he closed his eyes. When he opened them two orange pools had formed in his eyes and he was now truly ready for change.

  --<><>--

  Emmie Keyes

  The alarm rang out through The Deck’s hideout.

  “It’s the sound. We have the sound,” said Jill running from room to room and waking each of us up.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The frequency we found on the DualCam. It’s been detected and we’re running a trace on the location now.”

  If she had found the signal then that meant that another Siege could be about to happen. Only this time it was an entirely new sound wave. Its effects were not known and that worried us even more.

  “Ok everyone,” said Gabe “It’s time to do what we prepared you for. Grace is the Skin 2.0 ready for our disguises?”

  Grace nodded as Jill dashed back to the computer panel. “Ok. Let’s see where you are you sneaky sound.”

  She rapidly tapped a pencil against the desk as she watched the computer zoom in. When the location was revealed she dropped the pencil to the floor and raised a hand to her mouth.

  “Grace!” she shouted. “Turn off the Skin 2.0.”

  “But don’t we need disguises?” I asked.

  “No,” replied Jill. “It’s located in a place no-one sane would ever go.”

  “You mean?” asked Gabe.

  “Yep. London.”

  FORTY-TWO

  Emmie Keyes

  I had never seen the original capital city before, no one my age had. For twenty one years the city had been sealed off and a quarantine had been issued. Since the 20 Day Siege, London had been a place no one dared visit.

  Rumours said that the sound wave which killed all those people still echoed throughout the air in the city. It was only through the technology Tobias had created that the sound wave continued to be held in place successfully. In all this time scientists had yet to find a way to block the signal completely or perhaps they had given up, aware that the capital city could never be the same.

  This meant travelling to London was very dangerous. If anyone were exposed to the signal for a long time, it would start to eat away at their Tether and both they and their twin would die. If a new sound wave had been created that was similar, then it’s likely it would have the same effects.

  “Now I know why you need me,” I said. “It’s so you can disable the sound wave. Anyone else would die if they went to London for a long time. As I don’t have a Tether I can’t be killed that way.”

  “That’s correct,” replied Gabe. “However there’s something we haven’t told you about The Deck.”

  I looked at him with anxious fear.

  “We were all born without twins and without Tethers.”

  “But, that’s impossible,” I replied.

  “In theory, yes,” said Gabe. “We were all born on the same day during the 20 Day Siege and our twins died before we had chance to bond with them. Somehow we were able to survive without them.”

  “That’s not right. I’ve met Grace’s twin,” I said.

  “You mean Kenan?” asked Grace. “He’s right over there.”

  A slim short man came over. It was someone I had seen countless times before. “Kenan?”

  “It’s me Emmie. Grace and I never had twins so we pretended for each other,”

  “But why?”

  “When we were children it was because we were afraid of being different,” said Grace. “As we grew older we realised how different we were and that there was a risk we would be experimented on. So we kept the secret hidden and kept the lie going.”

  “That’s why The Deck was started,” said Gabe. “To keep those of us without twins safe and to get revenge on the man who took our twins away.”

  “That’s also why I joined,” said Grace. “I didn’t want to be a victim of something I couldn’t control.”

  “So how many of you are there?” I asked.

  “In the UK we’ve only ever found the twenty of us without a twin, although people don’t exactly advertise the fact that they’re freaks. Around the world? Who knows,” said Gabe.

  “Am I like you? Is that how I survived?”

  “Honestly? We have no idea. Everyone in The Deck was born without a twin but you had one you were connected to. There’s something about you that exists in no-one else Emmie.”

  “How do you even know all this? You only met me a few months ago.”

  “The data that March provided us with from TethTech gave us everything we needed to know. Tobias had been tracking the brainwaves of everyone during Tether events using DualCam’s given to all his employees.”

  I prayed Will had not been involved in this.

  “Your brain has a unique signature,” he continued. “Your brainwaves are twice as strong as any other human, including all of us. It is as if you have a Tether inside yourself, as well as the one you have to Will. When Grace told me you had survived Will’s death then I knew it had to be true. You can survive any signal, even this new one.”

  “And you knew all of this, yet did nothing?” I looked at Gabe disgusted.

  “We did everything! We have always tried to keep you safe.”

  “And my brother?” I screamed.

  “I’m sorry. He was never the priority. You were the one we needed.”

  It was the last straw. I’d known The Deck had secrets but knowing they could have saved Will. Knowing they had been watching me. It was all too much. Gabe tried to stand in my way but I dashed past him. I don’t think anyone expected me to leave but I wasn’t going to stay here. I needed time to think.

  “Don’t be stupid,” shouted Gabe. “How long do you think you can survive out there without us? Tobias will find you in a matter of hours.”

  “Then I’d better make the most of them,” I ran towards the exit doors, darting past Grace’s chambers. All I could focus on was running.

  I reached the double doors with my shoulder held out and tried to knock them open. They didn’t budge. I looked to my side and saw a control panel. It was locked and looked like the only way out of the building. There was no help from March this time. He wanted me to stay and had no intention of letting me go.

  Gabe caught up to me and raised a gun at my head. “You can’t leave,” It was the second time he had threatened me with a weapon.

  “Let me out of here. I won’t be anyone’s puppet,”
I replied. “You won’t shoot, I’m too important.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” he said as he continued to aim at me.

  Will he really fire on me? I wondered. I was trapped. The door wouldn’t open and there was no escape. Whether it was Tobias or Gabe, they both wanted to manipulate me to their own end.

  “Fine. Do it,” I taunted. He wouldn’t shoot. I couldn’t stop the signal if I was dead.

  We stared at each other as other members of The Deck looked on. We were both too far gone now. He couldn’t back down and seem weak in front of his team and I didn’t want to submit.

  “If that’s what you want,” said Gabe as he released the safety from his gun. “It’s a real shame. You had so much potential.”

  He started to pull the trigger and before he could finish Grace dived from behind him knocking him to the floor. “What the hell are you doing to my friend!?” she shouted “I thought you were on my side!”

  Grace tossed me her keycard. “Run Emmie. Run!”

  I grabbed it and swiped it through the keycard panel, opening the door. No one else tried to stop me. As the door closed I could hear Gabe and Grace fighting. Their romance was clearly over.

  I dashed out of the shopping centre and found my bike parked in the storage room in a women’s clothing store. Just where March had told me it would be. I started to wonder if this was another one of his small favours and if he was still loyal to me.

  Whatever the case it was clear lines were being drawn within The Deck and that they were not the perfect team they had been made out as.

  I checked my phone before mounting my bike to find over one hundred and sixty missed calls. They were mostly from Rex. He had called me every day since I had disappeared, some days more than once. It seemed that he hadn’t given up hope. Even when he hadn’t heard from me for three months.

  I jumped on my bike to ride back to him and sent him a text message; “Hide and seek?”

  FORTY-THREE

  Grace Wilkerson

  “What were you thinking?” shouted Grace, as she forced her knee into Gabe’s crotch.

  “I couldn’t lose her,” replied Gabe through gritted teeth.

  March emerged from his lab. “What the hell is going on?” he prised Grace from Gabe. Chris came over, grabbing Gabe and holding his arms.

  “He tried to shoot Emmie,” shouted Grace. She looked disgusted by what he had done.

  “I wouldn’t have fired! I couldn’t allow her to leave!” said Gabe.

  “So you thought pulling a gun would be the best option?”

  “Three years of research and planning will be ruined if we can’t get her back. If Tobias finds her first things will be even worse. What else could I do?” replied Gabe as he clenched his fist in frustration.

  “It’s all ruined now anyway,” said Jill. “Emmie was our only hope for stopping that signal. Unless you know of another person like her?”

  Everyone looked at Gabe for an answer. He looked back at his team and realised that no one, not Grace, March, Jill, Chris or anyone else could help. Everything relied on Emmie and he had allowed anger to ruin their chances.

  “What happened to you?” asked Grace. “You know violence is only necessary in extreme scenarios. You taught us that. Yet Emmie told me that you tried to shoot Faye and now this is the second time you have threatened Emmie.”

  “Violence is necessary now. I’ve seen what Tobias can do and I’ve seen the cruel human nature we have to stop by any force necessary,” said Gabe.

  “What did they do to you in that cage?”

  He stayed silent and refused to explain anything that had happened.

  “Then fine. I’m going to get Emmie back but I need you to get yourself together. We can’t afford for you to lose it again. She is my friend first and I will protect her,” said Grace.

  Gabe nodded and waved his arms at the rest of his team as they got back to work. Grace grabbed another keycard from March who handed her a new phone “You’ll need this,” he said.

  Grace didn’t feel right leaving Gabe after what had happened. There was definitely something not right with him but right now she had a duty to her friend and to everyone in the world.

  Grace knew that no matter what Emmie wanted, she would have to trust The Deck. For the good of everyone.

  --<><>--

  Rex T Jules

  Rex stared at his phone in disbelief. “Emmie?”

  He hadn’t heard from her for months and he was starting to think he never would again. When he heard that Vlad had escaped from the Smyth West jail, he knew Emmie would be under threat again and he had been in no position to help her.

  The doctors had managed to save one of his lungs but the other one had been too badly damaged and had completely shut down.

  Medical care in Smyth West wasn’t as good as the rich could afford but the doctors did what they could for him. They removed his damaged lung and made sure he’d be able to live with the other. So long as he didn’t subject himself to a high amount of physical activity he’d be fine and could still live a good life. Admittedly a shorter one than he would have otherwise.

  Where his lung had been removed he had a scar, as well as several marks across his chest from the knife Vlad had struck him with. Those marks were a reminder of what he had done for Emmie and how he had tried to save her. He hoped she had used the extra time wisely.

  He smiled at the thought that she could still be alive but dreaded that it could be a trap, especially given recent events.

  After three weeks in hospital a tall man dressed in a long black leather jacket had come to visit Rex. When Rex saw the man he reached for the emergency call button but his hand was stopped.

  The tall man was the spitting image of Vlad but his face was different. He had none of the scars that clouded Vlad’s face but the rest of his features were almost identical. He wore sunglasses so Rex was unsure if he had orange eyes.

  “I just want to talk,” said the tall man, as he released Rex’s hand. Rex pulled his hand back to his chest and stared at the man with fear. He looked at the man’s waist to see if he had a concealed belt of knives but there were no obvious places it could be. Whatever this man’s weapon was it was well hidden.

  “Ok,” replied Rex. “Talk.”

  “Three weeks ago you wasted my time. You told my brother that Emmie was in London and yet I searched and searched for hours and found nothing. Do you know how valuable my time is? You wasted four hours of my life. That’s 240 minutes I will never, ever, ever get back. Time is a valuable commodity Rex and you took it from me.”

  Rex stared at the tall man. Great, another psychopath, he thought.

  “You took time from me and it would only be fair if I took it back,” said the tall man as he moved in closer to Rex.

  “Yet I see you have already paid the price. A very, very, high price, for your deception,” the tall man opened Rex’s shirt, to reveal his scar. “One lung left. If you live a healthy life then in a best case scenario you’ll have only lost ten years from your life. That’s 3,653 days. 67,672 hours. 5,260,320 minutes and many, many, more seconds you have lost. I’d say that’s more than fair isn’t it?”

  “It was worth it,” replied Rex, without really thinking.

  “How so? The way I see it you have lost far, far more time than I. What could you possibly have gained to make such a sacrifice worthwhile?”

  “I saved someone I love. That is worth any amount of time,” replied Rex, thinking about what he had done for Emmie.

  The tall man laughed. “Really? You think you have saved her? She may be very, very far away but we are so, so close to catching her. When we do then all that time you gave will have been oh, so, so wasted. “ he backed away from Rex and stood tall once again.

  “I hope you will remember this lesson and remember it well,” he said. “If you waste my time or my brother’s time again then we will make you pay it back in kind. Remember, it will be a very, very hefty price.”

  He left Rex
alone to ponder his warning and to live in fear for the next few months. He now had two psychopaths watching him. What did you do Emmie? he wondered.

  Now Rex looked at his phone wondering if this was a test from Vlad and his twin. He couldn’t take the chance that it wasn’t. If Emmie was alive he had to see her. It was worth the risk. He called Rufus to explain what had happened. They knew exactly what her cryptic message meant and the two of them travelled to meet her.

  FORTY-FOUR

  Vlad Givik

  Two shadowy figures sat in a blue saloon car outside of Rex’s house. They had been watching him for weeks knowing that he would lead them to Emmie. Vlad and the tall man watched as Rex and Rufus hopped on a motorbike and rode away from his home. They followed behind making sure not to be seen.

  One hundred miles away Tobias Zen said to himself “Time to check in.”

  He sat back in the chair and placed a head set on. Around him were lines of computers and row upon row of turned out lights. He closed his eyes and two lights turned on from one of the computers. Two LED’s pulsed like a heartbeat, each one at a slightly different pace.

  Vlad and the tall man’s eyes turned to orange as Tobias took over their bodies. They could still think for themselves but he was in control of them now. The transition was seamless and they continued to drive now under the control of Tobias.

  “Hello boss,” replied Vlad, showing a small element of control. “You could have killed us you know.”

  Tobias used his connection to tweak a nerve in Vlad’s brain. The pain was enough for him to get the message very quickly.

  As Tobias sat in his chair he controlled the two of them separately. His thoughts were interpreted via one of the computers which separated them and gave Vlad and the tall man a separate set of tasks. To make things easier for him Tobias had left them with some self-control so they could do mundane tasks like driving for themselves but if he wanted to he could completely control their every action.

  For the two twins who loved to be in control, this was an interesting trade off. They were immortal whilst under Tobias’ control but were less in control of their own life. It was a conflict that they talked about often when their thoughts were their own.