The Identical

Chapter 2- Selena and Verity no more

Selena
The van slows to a stop and I look over to Verity. I can't see her. The doors to the van open. I am once again blinded by the light. My eyes refuse to adjust, not after what is probably hours in a dark van. Two of the bad men get inside the boot of the van. I watch as they unlock Verity's chains. She cries out as they haul her away. I don't. Mama told me to be brave. I'm going to be brave for Mama. Mama told me to be brave. I'm going to be brave for Mama. One of the bad men undoes the metal bits round my wrist. I don't know what the metal things are called, but I don't like them. The bad man grabs me by the waist and tugs me out the van. I want to scream but I don't. Mama told me to be brave. I'm going to be brave for Mama.

Verity
Selena is not here with me. And I am scared again. I whimper in fright. I don't like it here. It smells funny. And everything is too bright. I close my eyes. Daddy told me the monsters couldn't get me if I closed the eyes. Maybe these monsters will disappear if I close my eyes. But they didn't in the light. And I don't think they will now. They don't. And I tear up. I want Mummy and Daddy. I want sister. I want Selena. The scary man carrying me turns. I don't know which direction, and I don't try guessing. I always get it wrong with Mummy anyway. He turns left or right again. And then finally we go through a door and into a room. He puts me down on the floor hard. It hurts my bum. Then he turns and leaves the room, closing the door behind him. I try and open it. It's locked. Mummy and Daddy never locked the door, even when I was really really naughty, like when I drew on the toilet. I look around the room. It's almost empty. Not like at home. There are two beds, they are metal and the mattress is thinner than the one at home. There is a blanket and pillow. They both look thin too. There is a set of drawers. And a window. It's very small though. Too small for me to get through and I'm even smaller than sister. Thinking of sister makes me feel even more alone. I hate it here. I hate it. I walk over to one of the beds and pull myself up. I cover myself with the blankets and cry. It's not fair. I hear the door knob turn.

Selena
They take me through the halls of the building. I keep my eyes open the whole time. I want to close them so bad. I want to surround myself in darkness, so I don't have to be here anymore. But I don't. Papa used to tell me that sight was my greatest strength. I don't really know what that means but I think it's a good thing. And Papa said it, so it must be right. They take me through corridors. The corridors aren't like the ones at nursery. There aren't any colours. I don't like colours anyway. But I also don't like this. It's scary. I'm scared. I want to cry so bad but Mama told me to be brave and I'm going to be brave for Mama. For Mama. The bad man carrying me stops. There's a door, it's heavy and metal. The man puts me down, and I think of running. But I don't. The bad man will probably punish me if I run. He gets out keys from his pockets and unlocks the door. There is a bedroom there. But it's not like my bedroom. My bedroom has a carpet and toys. This bedroom has only two beds and a table thing. And a window. But it's a small window. Something moves under the covers of the bed. I think it is a monster. But then it removes itself from the covers and it's Verity. She is crying. I want to run to her but the bad man is gripping on to my wrists. His grip is tight, and it hurts. I don't say anything, even though I want to. Mama said to be brave and I'm going to be brave for Mama. He pushes me into the room and I fall to the floor, scraping my knees.
"Get up", he sneers. So I do. I don't want to, but I do. I see blood on my knees as I look up but I don't say anything. I hate it here. And I hate this man.

Verity
The scary man with the gun pushes Selena to the ground and I see her struggling not to cry. Selena is brave. I'm not. But I don't mind. All I care about is getting out of this scary place with all these scary people. The scary man starts to speak. I look at him and he glares at me. I look down fast.
"You have been brought here for reasons I can not divulge", he says. I don't know what divulge means but I pretend to know.
"There are rules however, and those I can divulge."
I still don't look up, but I listen. I can see Selena is as well.
"There are 5 main rules, 1. No speaking unless spoken to, 2. You will go where you are told, nowhere else, 3. No eye contact, 4. No crying and 5. Obey all orders."
Those rules make me want to cry, but I don't. I'm not sure what will happen if I break any of the rules. And I don't want to find out either. Mummy and Daddy never hit me but Jacob's mum used to slap him when he was naughty, and I don't want to be slapped.
"Also, you will need to change your names for security reasons."
I don't want to change my name. Mummy named me after her Mummy. I like my name. I don't want to change my name.
"I don't want to change my name", I say.
I feel the scary man's eyes fall onto me.
"What did you say?" he growls.
"I don't want to change my name."
He stalks over to me, and I cower away. All I want to do is wrap myself in the blanket. He slaps me and I fall back on to the bed, hitting my head. I feel tears well in my eyes but luckily before they fall he leaves the room, locking the door behind him. I crumple to the floor. My cheek stings. I sob. And sob. Selena comes over and hugs me.
"He said we can choose our names."
"Really?", I sniffle. She nods her head. We sit on the floor for a bit in silence. It makes me a bit happier that I can choose my name. The floor is hard and cold. At home, my bedroom has a nice, soft rug. I think about home. Today we were going to have lasagne for dinner. I like lasagne. It's my favourite food, especially when mummy makes it for me, she puts loads of cheese on it. And sister was going to bake cookies with mummy for dessert. And then we were going to watch a movie. Daddy was going to buy popcorn as well. But Daddy's dead now. And so is Mummy. And I don't know where sister is. I hope sister is okay.
"I know what I'm going to change my name to", I say.
"What?"
"Alara", I say, that is sister's name. Sister's name is a nice name.
"I like that", Selena says, "I think I'm going to call myself Crimsyn."
"That's a nice name as well", I say.

Selena/Crimsyn
Crimsyn is the name of my best friend. I miss Crimsyn. But Veri—Alara is nice to. I think Alara is brave, Crimsyn would be too scared here. Crimsyn cries at everything, but I won't. Even though my name is now Crimsyn. I hug Alara tight.
"Be brave", I whisper. Mama told me to be brave and I'm going to be brave for Mama. Maybe Alara will be even more brave now. I don't want her to cry. The bad man will hit her again. Alara is very pretty I think, she has brown hair and green eyes and lots of freckles and a beauty spot above her lip. Mama had a spot like that above her lip, but she had blonde hair like me. Now there is a red hand mark on Alara's face where he slapped her. It looks like it hurt a lot. I don't like seeing Alara hurt. Especially after the bad men killed Mama. I'm scared they will kill Alara.