Flower and Tree

Chapter 3

The day was October 17th, exactly a fortnight until their birthday, and on a hunch, Rosella and Rowan decided to transfer some of their clothes and most precious items into hidden compartments in their currently-unused bedrooms. Neither of them knew why, they merely sensed that it was a wise thing to do.

It was a good thing too, because the previous day, Hannah Tiger had entered the rooms they had been given and found them unused. Therefore, when the duo returned home that afternoon, the woman followed them, and witnessed Rosella entering her mirror-sanctuary. She told Brian, and when the twins came home, the adult Tigers met them at the door, arms crossed and stern countenanced.

"John, Mary, go to your rooms and do not come out until we call you, no matter what you hear."

"But Mom..."

"Now." Hannah's tone brooked no argument, and the younger twins obeyed without further protestation. The raven twins' brows furrowed in confusion, as the adults grasped their wrists and drug them to their rooms, or rather, where their rooms had been. The dividing walls had been knocked out.

The duo's eyes widened in shock as they looked upon what had previously been their rooms. The mirrors had been smashed, thus destroying the only ways into their sanctuaries, and they knew that once the only ways in were destroyed, the sanctuaries were destroyed as well. They now had nowhere to hide, to escape.

They turned to look at the adults, not bothering to attempt to hide their feelings of shock and despair. Then as one, they bowed their heads, accepting of what they knew would come. Brian picked up a piece of mirror-frame and ordered them to turn and put their backpacks on the floor. The raven twins braced themselves against the wall and closed their eyes. Whack! The piece of mirror-frame impacted with Rosella's back, and she grunted in pain, a sound soon made as well by Rowan.

Soon the attic was filled with the sounds of wood hitting flesh and the grunts of pain soon turned to crying out; and both sounds continued long into the night. The twins fell asleep that night on their stomachs on the floor, because their backs, from their shoulders to their calves were covered in welts and dark-purple bruises.

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The next day, when Rowan awoke, he attempted to roll over and let out a gasp. His back hurt. He managed to stand, and looked around at the missing walls and broken mirrors and remembered. 'Oh, that's why.'

The blue-eyed boy shook his head and, after gently waking Rosella, painfully dressed. At least, being non-magical, the adult Tigers could not find the hidden compartments in the chests-of-drawers, thus a good deal of their clothes and their most precious possessions were safe, at least for now.

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During lunch that day, they did not even enter the lunchroom, instead going straight to the library and hiding in the back until break was over. They were in no shape to actually deal with people at the time. The two must have fallen asleep, because they were awoken by Librarian Natser telling them that lunch break was essentially over. With a nod of thanks, the twins headed to their next class in silent lockstep.

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Jenny watched the twins she had come to think of as her children leave the library, an odd stiffness to their movements. After a moment she realized something that the stiffness could mean. She instantly phoned her husband.

He picked up almost instantly. "Hello?"

"Rupert, this is Jenny."

His voice gained a smile. "Jenny!" Then a frown. "Why are you calling during work? What is wrong?"