Shine's palm clapped down on Takabi's cheek, leaving a heavy red handprint.
Kairas watched the two, shocked at the sudden slap, and held back his laughter to keep his stern appearance.
"Don't you dare start making jokes that bad. I have a brother." Her voice sounded strained. Lips dry, with a bit of blood running down the corner from faint cuts. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but I know this isn't his real self."
Takabi rubbed his face, speaking softly, "Surprised you can still say that after what just happened."
"It's not him! That thing was NOT Orion!"
The twins looked at one another then back. Unzipping his hoodie, Takabi slid it off and handed it to her.
"Wear this. You'll catch a cold with no pants." Shine took his hoodie with her good arm hesitantly, and winced slightly when she tried to move her broken limb. Takabi took quick notice, and reached for her left arm.
Shine pulled herself back suddenly, eyeing them down hard. "Back off."
"Hey, I just wanna help."
"Take me to the hospital then. Don't say a word either. You saved my life, I'm grateful for that, but that doesn't mean I believe anything you said." She lowered her head, shaking it slightly. "My brain is pounding. I'm exhausted. I have no idea what happened to my family for them to turn into those things, but I will find out."
Takabi spoke more sternly in response. "Look, I understand wanting to save people close to you, but who you think they are isn't real. They're demons. They kept you around for years because you're not human, Shine."
She dropped his hoodie, attempting to slap him again. This time he was ready. He dodged, faster than she could see, then slipped around her and grabbed her hair tightly, pulling her head back to restrain her. In her weakened state, it was more than enough to restrict her movements.
"Let me go!"
"Not if you're going to try to attack me. Listen to what I'm saying first."
Kairas, who had been silent and watching the trees for any movement, turned towards the two and moved forward, gently grabbing Takabi's wrist. "Now isn't the time. Let's get her help first, then we can explain our side when she's all rested up."
He paused a moment, then released Shine. The girl dropped to her knees, breathing hard and coughing, almost feeling her stomach empty itself again.
The nausea was so intense.
Takabi knelt next to her, watching closely as she heaved. "Sorry. Can you move? At all?"
"Barely," She struggled. "I feel so weak."
Nodding in response, he swept her into his arms, Kairas grabbing his hoodie from the soil. The two took off through the trees, hopping from branch to branch.
Shine slipped in and out of consciousness during the travel. Her mind showed her faint dreams. The two boys, but younger, smaller. Between the dreams and reality, her thoughts would run to Frannie, and what she would think about it all. It sounded unbelievable.
It was. Shine lived it, and still struggled to accept what happened.
Her heart ached. She missed her mother. Orion's cocky attitude and how he watched out for her. Whenever she thought of her father, her mind would twist. It would be another man, with eyes like hers, and dark hair. There was hate in his soul, so clear and vibrate to anyone with eyes. She didn't know this man.
Shine thought she didn't know that man.
She wished she would never know him.
He carried death with him. Blood on his hands and a tainted soul. A twisted mind and ideals. Misguided views on the world. Humans in general.
He wanted ruin.
He wanted to rule a new world.
----------------------------
Shine came to consciousness in a bright white room. She listened to the IV and heart monitor. Steady beats. Her arm was wrapped in a brace, fingers sticking out the tip. She curled them, noting the faint pain that lurked within her bones. The nausea passed long ago, when she was first admitted. Since then, she had been asleep without break.
Takabi and Kairas remained with her during those hours, making calls to her school to notify them of her absence for a while. Frannie came bursting into the room, rushing to Shine's side around three thirty. Her blonde hair was in an anxiety filled mess. No make up, and her beautiful yet tough look was broken like a mirror that slammed against the floor.
Worry was in her eyes as she constantly questioned the twins, but only calmed down when Shine came to. The girl sat up slowly in her bed, the three looking at her. Frannie rushed over and hugged her tightly, breaking into a heavy cry of prayers and such.
Takabi kept his gaze away from Shine. Shine kept hers on him.
She had thoughts, weak ones, but she did truly want to listen to his story. He wasn't who he said he was, so what else about him was a mystery?
-----------------------------------
Takabi placed a tray on her lap.
It was seven in the evening, yet the sky was as dark as night. Takabi placed a change of clothes on the stand by her bed, before sitting next to her bed. He changed as well, wearing a white sweater and blue jeans with timberland boots. His hair was a bit messy, and thin bangs dropped in front of his left eye. Shine dug into the sandwich on the tray, careful not to spill the milk or pudding pack.
"Starved I see," He commented. "Good. You need your energy back."
She swallowed her large bite, looking him directly in the eye and getting right to the point. "Tell me who the fuck you are. I mean who you really are."
"I did. I'm your brother," He replied. Shine scoffed at his words.
"And I told you, I have a brother. A normal, human brother."
"Yeah, you said that before, even though it isn't true."
She eyed him up and down. The feelings she had before still lurked. Her stomach churned and twisted at the sight of him. It wasn't a crush, it was something else. Something burning in her that told him he was being truthful, and yet she refused to believe it.
"So, say what you're saying IS the truth. Why is it I've spent my life with that family?"
"Life? Shine you've only been with them, at most, eight years now." He paused a moment, sitting back in his chair. "Yeah… Eight."
"Okay. Eight years," She repeated. "Who are they really then?"
"Well, Kairas went back to the house and searched it over. You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you." He reached down, unzipping a black bag that Shine didn't notice he brought with him. He pulled out a small photo album and opened it, turning it over and handing it to her. Shine took it, skimming her eyes over and widening them in shock.
"What… What the hell is this? This isn't true, is it?"
It was her house. Worn down. Boarded up windows. Broken porch steps and cobwebs in the corner. Later photos showed the inside. The living room was a wreck. Broken glass table top, upstairs railing smashed apart along with a hole in the wall that showed her room. Her own room was how she remembered it.
Normal. Not aged like the outside of the house, or living room and what she assumed next, the kitchen.
She wasn't asleep so long the home could be that way. Not even close. In fact, it was only the next day from her getting attacked. "How is this possible?"
"Magic does wonders. From physical manifestation or enhancements, to reality alteration in one way or another. Those two placed you under a spell and showed you, and anyone else who looked at that house, a normal, middle class home." He paused for a minute as Shine gave him back the book. The doubt in her eyes faded, but still lingered. "Let's not get too far into this now. Eat up. Kairas'll be back soon."
"Kairas… Your twin, right? How come he isn't… I mean, if it's true, was he like me… At all?" Shine lowered her gaze to her tray. "Part of me does want to believe you, but it's just too crazy. Too sudden. I… I just want something, anything that tells me what you're saying is true, and that you really are related to me."
Takabi looked at her closely, standing from his chair and walking towards the door. "I can't think of anything, but when I do, I'll let you know." Then, he was down the hall and gone, leaving Shine alone in her room to contemplate her thoughts and feelings.