Familiar

Chapter Nineteen

(due to plot reasons, I've made Ryan's twin his brother - not his sister - in the last chapter. Apologies for any confusion). 

TW: Death

"The spell will not work the same when a connection is already solidified. And in the case of your twin brother - the connection is too strong. Much like with Ryan and his twin brother."

Twin brother? Ryan had never mentioned who he had tried to rescue. And how did this doctor know that my brother, Cayden, was my twin? 

I was positive I had never brought it up to Ryan.

"How did you know that?" I asked Dr. Gadsden, my tone immediately accusatory. He held up his hands calmly.

"Your marks make it clear." He gestured to my arm where my sleeve was still rolled up, revealing the red. As I pulled my sleeve down, he continued. "Ryan's and one other have been the only other cases where those marks have been seen. I drew the natural conclusion."

"Natural conclusion?" I got up from my chair, grabbing my bag and walking towards the door. "That was private, and he shouldn't have told you anything." Logically, I knew it wasn't really the doctors fault, and Ryan was the one who deserved to be yelled at. 

"Look, wait, it's Kara, right?" I turned, pausing with my hand on the door handle. "Talk to Ryan, but don't - ah, I mean, just be careful on the advice he gives you."

"What do you mean?" The doctor now looked uncomfortable. 

"I can't tell you."

"But you're telling me I can't trust Ryan?" I spoke quietly now.

"Not that you can't trust him, just that - you should be careful. And you should stop what you're doing." 

That made me pause further, so I walked back to his desk, more confused than when I walked in. 

"Why?" I asked simply, though I had a feeling about what he was going to say. 

"As I said, your connection to your brother - by being twins - is stronger than that of typical siblings." He sighed heavily, finally lowering his hands. "It will take some time to explain..."

I nodded, urging for him to continue. 

"The spell, as I'm sure you've figured out, brings people back from this," He gestured to the painting on the wall again. "This place. This inbetween, lost place. And when you contact them, they can become aware of your attempt. The connection - the reason why you are supposed to have a token of theirs and focus on a memory - is built overtime. In the case of twins however, that bond is already there. And for reasons we haven't been able to figure out. Twins tend to - overeact to being on the other side. It appears that they become more desperate to make it back."

"Back where?" I asked hesitatingly. 

"Back here, back to this world, or this plane of existence, or whatever you want to call it." He takes a breath. "Essentially, the red marks indicate that your twin brother is so desperate to come back, he's willing to even take over your body to do it."

"And that's what happened to Ryan?" I ask.

"I've already said I can't speak on that." He says, still speaking softly. "You will have to ask him about it." 

"What aren't you telling me?" I challenge, raising an eyebrow. 

"Probably a lot." He amends. "But as you've already been upset at me for knowing more about you than I should, I'm not going to divulge patient information that has not already been shared with you."