Twin Reflection

Chapter 15 - Willow

Willow was finally calming down after the second encounter with the strange man in town. They were now both sure that it hadn't been a coincidence meeting the same man twice; he was after them. However they didn't know what to do, should they have told their parents?

After dinner on Tuesday evening their parents, clearly worried, had asked them both if they knew why they had received that call.

"Girls, can you come here for a moment." Her mum had said as they finished clearing the table. "I got a phone call yesterday morning..."

Ella and Willow had exchanged quick, worried glances.

"The man who phoned said he wanted to speak to either of you, but he wouldn't tell me what he wanted to say. Is there anything I need to know about."

"Um... No, not really Mum why?" Ella asked slightly too innocently.

"We just wanted to know if you knew why I received this call in the first place." Their mum was now staring at them looking very suspicious. Willow carried on wiping the same spot on the table, holding her breath.

"Weird... I don't know. School has been the same as always really, I mean apart from the end of term assessments, you know." Ella said casually putting the dirty cutlery in the dishwasher.

"Have you noticed anything Willow?" her mum asked.

Willow stopped wiping the table and turned to look at her mum. "Um... N-No, schools been fine." Willow stuttered trying to maintain eye contact with her mum.

Her mum's shoulders relaxed, but their dad cast a suspicious glance in Willow's direction, "Okay then girls" Their mum said, "They must have called the wrong number or something, I guess." She shot her husband a quick look and carried on cleaning the kitchen. Their dad however still looked worried but disappeared into the living room without saying a word.

They had escaped by the skin of their teeth...

It was now Wednesday and as far as Willow could tell their parents were now convinced that it was some misunderstanding. Willow and Ella were less sure. They both agreed that he must be looking for them, however they still didn't know why. He must have known about their powers, he wouldn't be chasing them down for any other reason. Since the man hadn't been seen since, Willow had put the thought at the back of her mind and tried to focus on her assessments.

Later that afternoon, Willow walked towards the library to find Katie and Ella as well as a few others who often sat with them. They always had lunch in the library as the librarian had allowed them to if they didn't leave any rubbish. Since Ella had fallen out with Vicky and most of her group, she had been joining them there for lunch too.

"Yeah he's been there for a while, he keeps coming back every now and then." Katie was saying when Willow joined them.

"Who?" Willow asked, munching on her apple.

"You know that weird guy in that posh, black car who keeps driving past. He looked a bit dodgy." A boy called George replied, smirking.

"You saw his face? What did he look like?" Ella butted in.

"Um," said George surprised by her sudden urgency, "Well he was wearing a black suit and he had dark hair. I don't know what he wants, he looked pretty determined."

Willow and Ella exchanged terrified glances, they thought it may have settled down but clearly he was still looking for them.

Later on, Willow was sat on a bench watching Ella play football. She had promised her that she would come and support her and a few girls from her football club. They were playing a 5-a-side game and Willow was of course cheering on Ella's team. They were doing well, 3-1 to their side. She saw them passing the ball quickly to the other side of the pitch. However something else caught Willow's eye, a dark figure on the opposite side of the field. He was dressed in dark clothes and he had brown hair. Willow wanted to scream and get Ella's attention, but she was at the other side of the field. Panicking she looked back at the figure at the other side of the field, his hair looked lighter than before, it could be the light or maybe there was more than one person following them. She jumped when the man looked directly at her, not knowing what to do she looked over to where Ella was playing. Her heart was beating extraordinarily fast and she didn't dare move or tell her sister. She risked a glance up to where the man was stood, only to see that he had disappeared. She looked all around the football pitch but he was nowhere to be seen. Strange she thought, the other day he had been keen enough to follow them around.

At that moment Ella came running towards her, beaming.

"WE WON!" she shouted hugging her sister, "You have no idea how nice it is to play football again! Willow? Willow, what's up?"

Willow was stood rigid in her sisters embrace, "Ella, he was here, the guy who followed us was stood at the opposite side of the pitch then he disappeared." She lowered her voice, looking fearful. "He must know about our powers!"

"Willow, I am sure that nobody saw me move the ball the other day. I swear." Ella said looking around her.

"I know, but where else would he have seen our powers. We need to be careful, we don't know if they are good or bad." Willow grabbed her bag and started to walk home, Ella at her side. She did feel closer to her sister now more than ever before and couldn't believe that less than a week ago she had been worried about Vicky and her group of friends.

Willow edged past the enormous dog who was lying exactly in front of the door and walked into the kitchen where her mum was tidying up. She couldn't help finding herself wanting to tell her mum about everything. Were they doing the right thing? Willow had no idea. She backed silently out into the corridor and went to bedroom. She sat on her bed for a few minutes listening to the sounds from downstairs. After a while she picked up her new phone that she had got for her birthday, and flicked through a few messages. Sighing she put it down again and tried to think of something else but the strange man who kept on turning up wherever they went...

After about half an hour Willow couldn't bear it anymore. She needed to get outside. It was already getting a bit dark and she knew it was probably a stupid idea but she needed to clear her head. She grabbed her favourite dark blue jacket and changed out of her school clothes, zipping up her hoodie as far as it would go. It was December after all and probably quite chilly outside.

She passed the kitchen and slipped silently out of the front door, pulling her hood over her head and already wishing she had brought some gloves.

As if on auto pilot she walked quickly to the main road and got on a bus in the direction of the lake. She leant against the window and looked out onto the road. Was there really someone trying to find them?

She sighed and her breath fogged up the glass on the window, the bus was empty apart from an old woman humming in the corner. When they approached the stop nearest the lake Willow pressed the red stop button waited for the bus to slow.

In the car park, a few late dog walkers were bundling wet dogs in cars and a few fishermen were loading equipment into large four wheel drives. The sun was setting by the time she reached the pebbly beach and only the last, pink and red rays of light were shining onto the water.

She felt a lot better now she was out in the fresh air. She hated being cooped up inside where she could do nothing but worry about the future. She gazed around, taking in the beautiful scenery that surrounded her. The lake shimmered in the evening light and her reflection danced in the water below her. She closed her eyes and tried once again to make her whole body become invisible. She had been trying since she had developed the power but hadn't managed it yet.

It was so cold outside anyway that Willow barely felt the cool sensation pass over her and only realised she had finally done it when her reflection in the water vanished.

Willow felt as if a huge weight had been lifted of her shoulders as she stood looking out over the lake. She allowed her senses increase beyond the range of any normal person so she could hear every sound from the woods around her.

She allowed herself to momentarily forget her concernsas she embraced the wonderful feeling.