Is It You?

A little inspiration from Kauru and Hikaru.

     I had never given much thought to how I would die. Even if i didn't, I would not have imagined it like this. I, like anyone else, would hope for the most peaceful kind of death. But I, like everyone else, know that isn't always the case.

     I wasn't normal. Normal as in get up, go to school, come home, go straight to your room - kind of normal. I was seven. I went to Ouran Elementary School and carpooled with my brother there and back everyday. We only had each other. We didn't have friends and never tried to make any. We were identical twins, so we automatically stuck together. Just us and our barrier to keep the world out and ourselves in. Some people tried to break it. All of them failed.

     It isn't like we hated humanity or had some strange medical condition. We just didn't care. Neither did they. "Let's play the 'Which One Is Nicolas?' game!" My brother and I spat in unison. 

     The little girl who stood before us pointed at my brother and quietly said, "You. You are Nicolas?" as more of a question, rather than the answer.

     Again, in unison, we said, "You got it wrong." We picked up our stuff and walked away, leaving her speechless. From that moment on, that was our favorite game. 

     

     Auntie barged in through the door, knocked the maid out of the way. "My dears! My cutest dearies of them all!" She yelled, engulfing us in an outrageous hug. We struggled to push her away, but when we did. We ran over to the maid and helped her up.

     "I can get up just fine myself, you twerps," She said, shaking us off.

     Our aunt grabbed my wrist and tore me away from Vincent. "Oh, Vincent, look how much you've grown!" Auntie picked me up and rubbed our faces together. I sighed, not even caring enough to correct her.

     The real Vincent tugged on Auntie's dress and muttered, "Put Nicolas down, Auntie. I am Vincent. Can't you tell?"

     Apologizing to me, I shot Vincent a thanking gaze. "I am so sorry, boys!" Just then, Dad came in to the room and "hello"'s and "how have you been"'s sprinted across the air between them. While that was going on, Vincent nudged me and together we snuck upstairs. 

     We sat reading upon our bed for hours, until Dad realized we were missing. "Are you hungry?"

     In sync, we shook our heads no and ignored the fact that he just referred to the two of us at once. Some Dad. He walked out the door and upstairs was so silent, I paid careful attention to his foot step pattern. It went off a little bit, I could tell, before he reached the stairs. A loud *clang* came from the stairwell and I punched Vincent on the shoulder, only hard enough to grab his attention.

     I put my finger to my lips and we creeped into the hallway and peeked around the corner. No one was there. We walked fully out into the hallway and looked puzzingly at each other. "What do you think that was, Nicolas?" my brother asked me. I shrugged, just as confused as him.

     The every light was off upstairs and we paraded through the halls, seeing if we could catch a glimpse of whatever that thing was. Vincent noticed a movement and his eyes were locked. He ran to a different hallway, barely scratching the corner before he turned. I followed closely enough behind not to lose him. 

     The one maid that Auntie shoved onto the floor was fiddling with the combination lock to a small safe we have. She did a double take to us and whispered, "What the hell are you guys doing here?" in a harsh tone.
     "We were just observing," Vincent said.
     The maid scowled and spat, "Go away, I'm doing something for...er...your father."
     I glanced around and then said, "Is that why you hit him on the head and bothered to drag him in that corner?" pointing to my knocked out father.
     "Okay, kiddies, look-"
     "We have the code."
     "You do?"
     "If you play a game with us, we can give it to you if you win," Vincent made the agreement with her. I side glanced at him and he gave me a wink.
     She rolled her eyes then said, "Fine. Let's play."
     "Let's play the 'Which One Is Nicolas?' game," my brother and I said simutainiously. The maid pointed at my brother and we shook our heads. "Well, you lost. Sorry!" Vincent said, before grabbing my wrist and running down the stairs.

 
     Later that night, I heard our door creek open. Vincent and I sat up, "Nick? What was that?" The maid from earlier stepped out of the shadows with a small dagger in her right hand.
     She walked up to our bedside and asked us where the code was. The knife was driven into our china piggybank and she snatched the small piece of paper. "Couldn't you just have broken the bank without the knife?" I bravely asked.
     "Oh, right. I almost forgot why I brought it."
     Vincent gulped. "You two know too much. I can't risk you spilling anything to anyone. Especially not Daddy."
     "We w-w-wont!" I mumbled.
     She chuckled, "You bet you won't."

Author's Note

Alternate ending.