by Cheryl Davis
“Don’t touch her!” Cora screeched out. She unbuckled and scrambled into the backseat, trying to protect her sister the best she could.
“Cora, nobody’s going to hurt you or your sister. We’re trying to protect you,” Liam said, trying to soothe her.
“Protect us from what?” she screamed out. “You won’t tell me anything.”
“No, but I will.” A very deep, masculine voice said from somewhere behind Liam, where Cora was unable to see. She could tell by the voice the man was a bit older, but that was all. There was a tickling sense of recognition at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t pin it down enough to know how she could know this man, so she dismissed the thought.
“Exactly who are you?” she asked, taking up a defiant tone and posture.
“I am your father,” he said. Those four little words were like a slap in the face to Cora.
Cora sat for a minute, blocking Viola with her body, in shock, then, started laughing as if she’d never laughed before. “Yeah, right. Our parents didn’t give a crap about us and now you want me to think you staged this huge ‘rescue’ mission to save us from Anna and Patrick? That now you give a crap? I don’t think so buddy. Liam, you need to take Viola and I somewhere else. Now!”
“You are not going anywhere until you hear what I have to say. Liam, bring Viola out of the van and lay her down over there. When she wakes up, we’ll sit down and talk. Cora, you need to listen because all of our lives depend on it,” the man calling himself her father said, in a calm, but firm, voice.
She shook her head and tried to block Liam as he reached for her sister. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her out of the van, handed her over to one of the other men, even though he didn’t want anyone else laying a finger on her, and removed Viola from the van, knowing anyone else handling her sister would upset her more than she already was.
Cora fought with everything she had to get free and get to her sister, but with no luck. She was pulled behind Liam to where he laid her sister out on a bed, situated in a far corner from where the van was now parked. The man who called himself their father followed at a distance, studying her.
When Viola was resting in what looked like a comfortable position, the man holding her was ordered to release her. She raced to her sister’s side and curled up on the bed next to her, shielding her. Liam and the other men were ordered to leave, which left Cora lying there even more confused. She closed her eyes tight and tried to figure out what was going on, and how she could save them both.
“You’re wrong you know,” the man said keeping his words soft and gentle. Her head snapped up to look at him, anger clouding her features when she heard those words. “We’ve always loved both of you. We didn’t have a choice but to let you go. It couldn’t have been any other way and for that I am very sorry.”
She didn’t say anything as she assessed his features trying to find hers in them. Her erratic emotional state, fear, confusion and worry stopped her from seeing anything that might be a resemblance between them.
“However, I do have proof. I wouldn’t expect for either of you to believe me without it. I will give it to you when I can talk to you both at the same time,” he said.
“If you’re our father, where’s our mother? Is she still alive?” Cora asked, not daring to believe this man’s words.
“Again, I will answer your questions when I can talk to you both at the same time.” The exasperation in his voice didn’t deter Cora in the slightest. She thought this man was bogus. She just couldn’t figure out what he’d want with them.
“What do you want with us?” she asked, suspicion defining her tone.
“To keep you safe,” he replied.
“Hmph,” she said and rolled her eyes. She didn’t believe him for a moment. There had to be something he wanted from her and Viola, otherwise he wouldn’t have staged their escape from Patrick and Anna the way that he had. She watched as he turned on his heel and stalked off.
When he was gone, she sat up and looked around, trying to figure out the easiest way to get out of there. She’d rather be homeless, out on the streets, fighting for their survival, than be used for some disgusting purpose. There were guards at every door she thought could, possibly, get them out of there. She was just going to have to be more creative on getting them out. She didn’t know how, but she knew that she would, no matter what.
Chapter Five
Cora jerked awake when she felt hands grip tight around her arms. She’d never intended to fall asleep, not here in this place. Sleeping meant letting down her guard and making them vulnerable, which was the last thing she could afford to do.
She sat straight up, gasping. “What?”
“Where are we Cora?” she heard her sister’s fearful whisper. The fear in Viola’s voice pushed away any lingering sleep and grogginess she’d felt upon waking.
“In a warehouse somewhere, but I have no idea where. Things are crazy. We’ve got to find a way out of here,” Cora said, keeping her voice low. “I’ve got a bad feeling about everything.”
“All I remember is walking into our room to get my purse and there were a bunch of guys looking around. One of them grabbed me and covered my mouth so I couldn’t scream, then started asking me where you were. I wouldn’t tell them and tried to fight. I wasn’t strong enough and then everything went black.” Viola shivered as she told Cora what happened to her. The horror of what she’d gone through shown bright in her hazel eyes, making the brown flecks more prominent than usual and widening Cora’s own eyes.
“Yeah, I went back to see what was taking you so long and found you unconscious, on the floor, with a bunch of guys around you. I went and hid in the hall closet, but ended up getting caught too, by this guy named Liam. He got me out of the house just as Patrick and Anna were pulling into the garage. Patrick tried chasing us but we managed to lose him, and something happened to Liam’s backup team so they weren’t there to help us lose Patrick. Then Liam brought us here, where we’re supposed to be meeting, get this, our father. Oh, and to make things even better, our cell phones are toast,” Cora said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“Our father? That’s a joke right?” Viola snorted in disbelief, as Cora nodded, her face solemn. “I think you’re right. We need to leave. Now,” she said, throwing her legs over the side of the bed.
“Good, you’re awake. Now we can talk,” said the man who claimed to be their father, as he walked into the room and got straight to the point.
“You have nothing to say that either one of us needs, or wants, to hear,” Viola said, with her voice full of venom. “If you’re our father, like you claim to be, then we don’t need to hear it. Let’s go Cora.”
“You will listen if you value your lives,” the man replied, the viciousness with which he said it scaring the girls a bit. “This is not a game, and you’re not prepared enough, yet, to survive. I don’t know what Patrick and Anna have done to you, but they will be dealt with at the proper time. The two of you are a part of something much bigger than either of you can even imagine.”
Cora watched as the man paced back and forth, his agitation obvious as his gaze flicked their way every few steps.
“There are things going on in the world you have no comprehension of. There are forces at work that would like nothing more than to see you dead at this moment. To strengthen you both for what is to come, you both have to find your mate, the one you are meant to spend your lives with, by your eighteenth birthday, in six months. The bond created between mates will help to strengthen you to do what must be done and to help you be strong when you feel like giving in. It is a very powerful bond. Each of you has a mate out there, and you have only a limited amount of time to find him,” the man informed them, watching their reactions closely.
Cora’s eyes widened as she looked at him in disbelief. Viola started laughing. “You’re kidding right?”
“Not at all,” the man replied. “Whether or not you want to believe me, I am your father. My name i
s Thomas Daniels. Your mother’s name is Angelica. She could not be here for this, unfortunately.”
“You said you had proof,” Cora demanded.
“I do. Each of you has a different birthmark on the left side of your chest in the shape of the moon, for you Cora, and the sun, for you Viola. That is the only difference between the two of you. I, as well as your mother, also have the similar birthmarks. It is proof of our race,” He revealed, confidence filling his words.
“That’s supposed to be proof?” Cora scoffed.
“That and these,” he replied, pulling out an envelope. Viola took the envelope and pulled out the pictures she found inside. She held them so that Cora could see them as well. The first picture was of Thomas with a beautiful woman, who was simply a more mature version of themselves, smiling bright at the camera and showing off her very pregnant belly. The next picture was of the same woman further along in her pregnancy. There were several pictures like that until they came to the last one of the same woman in the delivery room holding two baby girls, one in each arm with Thomas standing behind her gazing down at his three girls with pride on his face. Both Cora and Viola could not deny they were the infants in this picture, since they did have baby pictures of themselves. Both girls looked up from the picture to stare at Thomas in shock.
“Now do you believe me?” he asked in a whisper soft voice. Cora could see hope burning in his deep hazel eyes with chocolate brown flecks. Eyes so much like hers and Viola’s, she could no longer deny the truth he was telling them.
“Why?” Cora asked him in a whisper.
“Why what?” Thomas asked.
“Why did you abandon us?” she asked. “In this picture you look like you care, you both do, but then you just abandoned us, with Anna and Patrick, like we were trash. Do you have any idea what they did to us?”
“We didn’t want to. Believe me we never wanted to be apart from you. We’ve always wanted both of you with us. Always. They will pay for what they’ve done, do not doubt that. There is, however, a prophecy and those who would do anything to make sure this prophecy never comes to pass. The prophecy revolves around the two of you. If you’re dead, the prophecy is not fulfilled and everyone’s lives are thrown into chaos. After several attempts on your lives, all of our lives, we bound your powers and sent you away, but made sure the two of you would always stay together. Every so often, your mother and I would get an update on how you were both doing. It was the last update that prompted us to act to save your lives again, and bring you back to us. We found out Patrick and Anna have switched sides and were planning to perform a ritual tonight under the half-moon that would have left you both neither dead, nor alive, but in an in-between state, which is worse than either. It would have made you unable to fulfill the prophecy. I put together a team, led by Liam, and sent them out to get you and bring you here, to safety, to us,” Thomas said, his pacing becoming more and more rapid as he spoke.
“What is this prophecy?” Cora asked, hesitant to hear any more.
“What do you mean, ‘bound our powers’?” Viola asked.
“Let me ask you this, do you feel a pull towards either the sun or the moon? Do you feel stronger when you are out under one or the other?” Thomas asked, with a gleam in his eyes.
“The moon,” both girls said at the same time. “We’re both night owls,” said Viola.
“Yes, I thought so. You’re both Lunarians. Our people are either Lunarians or Solarians and gather our power from either the moon or the sun. In most cases, when we mate, a Lunarian will find their soul mate in a Solarian, and vice versa, so there is a balance similar to yin and yang. That was not the case with your mother and I. We broke the rules, so to speak. We’re both Lunarians so when we had you, you became the strongest of our kind to ever be born. The prophecy states that two girls born of a mated pair of Lunarians, born on a full moon and at the same hour, shall be mated and bring a perfect balance to the world of Solarians, Lunarians and humans, on their eighteenth birthday. There is more you are not ready to hear, and your mother needs to explain to you in person. In order to hide you away, we had to bind your powers so you could not be tracked by them. I am so sorry we had to do this. As soon as your mother arrives, we will unbind your powers so you can learn how to use them to protect yourselves. You will also learn about our race and our history.” Thomas stopped pacing and stood before them stiff as a board, waiting for their reactions. If Cora was reading him correctly, he seemed nervous and afraid of their rejection. Still she could not control her reaction.
Both she and her sister stared at Thomas with gaping mouths and huge eyes. They could not believe how loony this guy was. He belonged in a padded room, in a strait jacket.
Before either of them could say anything, Liam walked up and spoke low to only Thomas, so quiet neither girl could hear what he was saying. Liam glanced over at Cora several times while exchanging conversation with the man, their father, before turning toward them. Cora felt an instant pull towards Liam that she couldn’t explain and didn’t want to feel.
“We need to get you up to our medical facility and have you both scanned. It seems Patrick and Anna have another way to track you and are very close. We need to find whatever it is they’re using to track you and dispose of it, right away. Go with Liam while I alert the guards. I will join you as soon as I am able to.” Thomas spoke in a brisk voice and turned and walked away without waiting for a response.
Liam reached his hand out for Cora’s, to help her stand. When she didn’t reach for his hand, he leaned down and grasped hers, in a firm grip, with his. Both of them gasped as an electrical current ran through their bodies at the contact. A current stronger than the one that had occurred when he’d placed his hand over her mouth earlier. Cora tried to retract her hand from his grasp but found she was unable to.
“Let go of me,” Cora said in a breathless voice.
“I can’t,” Liam said pulling her to her feet. He stared deep into her bright, hazel eyes. “It’s you. I can’t believe it’s you,” he muttered in a voice so soft only Cora could hear him.
“What? What’s me?” Cora asked. She found she was unable to tear her eyes from his.
“Nothing. Never mind. We need to get you up to medical right now. Patrick and Anna won’t be alone. They’ll call in more of their kind.” Liam kept a firm grasp on her hand while reaching out with the other one to help Viola to her feet. She wobbled a bit from the lingering effects of the tranq but gathered her balance without any more trouble. Viola said nothing as she watched Cora and Liam, but curiosity was shining bright on her face. Once she was steady on her feet, Liam led them to a staircase and up into higher levels of the warehouse.
Chapter Six
Liam knew there had been something between him and Cora, but he’d never before experienced the electrical spark that occurred when he’d grabbed her hand. He thought back to the house and the less powerful shock he’d felt when their skin touched. He’d heard his parents describe what it felt like the first time they’d touched, but it had been nothing compared to what he’d just experienced with Cora, twice.
‘Could she be the one? Is Cora my soul mate?’ he wondered as he led the twins through the warehouse to the extensive medical facility they had built.
He caught her frequent looks over at him, filled with a curiosity that matched his own. He wanted to know everything about her and he wondered if she felt it too.
“Are you ever going to let go of my hand?” Cora asked him after a little while.
He stopped and looked at her. He didn’t want to break the connection between them, but forced himself to do so. As soon as he did, he felt cold and alone.
‘It’s got to be her. She’s the one,’ he thought, fighting a desperate battle with himself to keep from grabbing her hand again and never letting go.
“Sorry,” he said, and began walking again. Liam couldn’t stop himself from looking over every few steps, to make sure she was still there, even though every nerve ending in his bo
dy was becoming attuned to hers and knew she was close.
“What is up with this place? Has the punch been spiked, because it seems like our ‘father’ is in his own little world,” Viola asked, being her usual sarcastic self. “I mean Lunarians and Solarians? Some freaky prophecy? You’ve got to be kidding us, right?”
“It’s all true. I am a Solarian. I am drawn to the sun and draw my powers from it,” Liam replied. “I’m sure it is a lot to take in like this, but you’re going to have to accept who you are, very, very soon if the world is going to survive.”
“What are these powers everyone keeps talking about? Viola and I don’t have powers,” Cora asked. She was about at her limit with all of this crap.
“You have powers, but they’ve just been bound for your protection. Didn’t Thomas already explain this to you?” Liam stopped before a door and punched in a pin code. They watched as the door slid open with a quiet hiss.
Neither girl responded as they stared into the enormous room that had just about every piece of medical machinery they could’ve ever imagined, and then some.
“Come in my dears!” exclaimed a short man in a white lab coat, as he approached them at a brisk pace. He pulled each of the shocked girls into a huge, warm hug as he said, “I am delighted to see Liam was able to retrieve you and bring you here to safety. I have not seen you since the night you were born. How beautiful you’ve both grown to be.”
Liam cleared his throat. “Dr. Brown, we need them scanned for any possible tracking devices that may have been implanted without their knowledge and we need it done ASAP.”
“Of course. Please follow me,” Dr. Brown said, and spun on his heel. He took off weaving around device after device until he got to the one he wanted. Cora was shocked at how energetic and agile the man was, because he couldn’t have been younger than eighty.
A nurse walked up, handed a medical gown to each of the twins and instructed them to go behind a screen to change. The woman seemed to be a robot, that’s how cold and methodical she was. There was no such thing as a bedside manner when it came to her, and the twins hoped they never had to have her caring for them again.