I had a twin sister Alexandra. That was a long time ago. I still remember the way she died. My father is a rich man. A multi-billionaire. But being this rich obviously has consequences. When I was 6, Alexandra had decided that we should both play hide and seek. But this time the rules had changed, the game boundaries were broadened. Usually we'd play around the house and in our garden but I had suggested to include the streets as well to make the game longer and harder. I was "on". I had to find Alexandra within 10 minutes or loose and she would come back to home base. 5 minutes went by. 10 minutes went by. By this time, I had given up on looking for her. I was waiting for her to come back when I heard a sharp piercing cry. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the front of our house. Alexandra was being dragged into a black SUV. "ALI!" I yelled. The men immediately noticed me approaching and looked at me carefully. "You idiots, you picked the girl!" A man in a black suit and white balaclava yelled. Suddenly my sister was dropped onto the road and the men came after me. At this point I could hear my Nanny searching for me frantically. "If you leave my sister, I'll take her place" I pleaded. Tears almost clouding my vision. The men ran at me and hauled me off my feet. At this point my Nanny, Sylvia had arrived with a gun in her hand. "Put that child down you sick bastards!" She screamed. She started firing the gun managing to kill 2 out of the 3 bad guys. The guy who just mocked his men for picking up the wrong person seemed enraged and and put a gun to my head. "You stupid bitch, you're gonna pay dearly" he chuckled. Sylvie shot him in the chest. You could see where the fabric was torn and where the bullet was embedded in his chest. It stained his black suit jacket. He looked up at Sylvie and smiled. Then he pulled the trigger while laughing a cruel and twisted laugh that made him gag on his own blood. I fell to the floor. Life spilling out of me faster than the speed of light. I prayed that I would go to heaven and that Alexandra would be safe.
My father came then as I was lying on the pavement. Over my brothers dead body. He dragged me into the house by my hand. "Let's get this straight, it was your sister that died. You are still alive. Your sister is dead." My father roared into my face. "Understood?" He asked. I nodded. Tears streaming down my face, mixing with my brothers blood. Sylvie brought me upstairs and cleaned me up and tried to comfort me. "Shh, everything will be okay. It will be okay." She repeated, over and over again. I believed her for a while until after lights out when I saw her shoulders hunched, knees tucked up and her back was against the wall. She was crying. Deep throaty cries that almost sounded inhuman. What was she crying for? That she killed 2 men? That she let my brother die? I didn't know. I didn't want to know because I was afraid of the answer. There was only one thing I was 100% certain about.
That day, Alex died. And so did Alexandra, who had to become the new Alex.
