Tethered Twins

Chapter Eight

Emmie Keyes

“Grace!” my relief at seeing my best friend was just as strong as seeing R&R, only this time I knew I had someone I could tell my secrets to.

“Emmie Keyes as I live and breathe. Did you miss me?” replied Grace.

Grace was the same fashionista she had always been. Every outfit she wore made me jealous and her current top with belt and skirt combo made me as jealous as usual, especially as I was still wearing pyjamas with little sheep on them. She was also incredibly beautiful, something her job as a make-up artist made it very hard to compete with.

Her slightly dark coloured skin went with anything and made her skin always look healthy and tanned, a rarity this time of year with the typical British weather. She wore fake eyelashes with alternated red and brown lashes that went perfectly with the red streaks in her chocolate brown hair. Thanks to her job she got free make-up which was a novelty for most of us and I was always thankful for any samples she could give me.

After she had given me some mascara and lip gloss we laughed and talked like old times. For a brief moment it was as if all was right in the world again.

“You rang?” asked Grace, clearly wanting to know why she had been dragged half way across the country overnight.

 “It’s bad Grace it’s…” The next sequence of words were hard to think in my head and even harder to say out loud.

I sat down on a pink bean bag whilst my eyes began to water. “It’s Will,” I said “He’s...” I forced myself to say it. “He’s gone Grace, he’s gone!”

“Gone? Gone where?”

“Gone, gone!” I clarified “I watched him die.”

“No, Emmie. I’m sure he’s ok. If you’re alive that means he’s alive somewhere too. It must be a mistake. We can find him.”

Her words tried to comfort me but it was no use. “This is different. I saw him die and I no longer feel him tied to me,” my eyes started to swell with tears and Grace realised that I wasn’t joking.

Grace sat on the floor with me and placed her arms on my shoulders. She didn’t want to pry but wanted to know more so she could help, “How did he die?”

“He was murdered.”

“No!”

“I saw the whole thing; he was killed by two orange eyed men,” I explained.

“Orange eyed?”

“It was like nothing I had seen before. Their eyes had an orange pulsing glow and they spoke in a language I couldn’t understand.”

Grace nodded along as I explained how Will had died, a dead stare in her eyes as if she heard the words but didn’t really understand what I had said. As if she couldn’t process the how or the why of the situation.

I told her about the DualCam, the last recording it played and how my identity was slowly being destroyed. I felt relief in being able to share what had happened with someone I could trust.

Grace had always been weak. That’s why she clung to me for help and why her job was so low pressure. But she was a good friend and had always helped me when I needed her.

“Emmie, don’t you see what is happening here?” asked Grace, snapping me away from my story.

“Whoever wanted to kill your brother, they think you are dead too. That’s why they deleted your files. You aren’t safe, especially if they know you are still alive,” said Grace.