Killing For Family

Chapter 3

The werewolves gazed at them with an indescribable emotion in their eyes. Some would say it was pity, some contempt. Whatever the looks in their eyes, the twins were used to it. They were an abnormality at best, and a freak show at worst.

No-one knew where they came from, including the twins. They had one piece, their rings, from their childhoods, and they were determined to find out what it meant. It was what they had both decided to do as soon as possible - find their birth family. Or their graves.

They were taken into captivity young but soon matured. They didn't have a choice.

Again, maybe all they ever wanted was control. Something they were severely lacking as they were being dragged handcuffed through dense forest, their light footsteps barely making a sound compared to the blundering of the four werewolves beside them. Only two of which they knew the name of, Atlus, and now Kira. The man and woman that turned up in the office.

Though the twins winced at how loud they were being, their minds were working overtime to find a way to escape. However, all too soon they reached the beginning of civilization.

Unnoticeable, except for the quietened birds, the odd unexplainable noise, and the light marks in the trees and grounds that showed people had been there, most of which leading upwards.

So they were not surprised when the werewolves stopped near a tree and started to climb. Which, in itself, would be the eighth wonder of the world, but add on the fact that they were living up there, and you ended up with something similar to a natural phenomenon.

The twins exchanged doubtful glances, but after a few sharp reminders on their chains, started climbing.

They reached a solid wooden platform, the dark treetops overhead sheltering them from the shadowy night. Frail wooden bridges ran from tree to tree, linked between large wooden houses perched precariously on the branches. There was no way they had stayed like that without a bit of magic help.

Small lights lined the paths, and though most huts were dark, some had glowing light emitting from the windows.

They were led across one or two of the whimsical bridges, not encountering anyone, until they reached a wide expanse of wood, stretched between five trees. Small benches and chairs littered the area, toys scattered, and even a few adults lounging around, whose attention was drawn to the twins as they entered.

Celia caught the eye of her twin, they were both very confused because; one) This was the first time they'd heard about a village in the trees, let alone seen and visited one. Two) they weren't being immediately locked up or thrown in the dungeons.

"Are we clear?" Atlus lowly asked one of the new werewolves who was leaning over the side of the platform and scanning the ground below.

He gave a nod back, and Atlus started giving out brisk orders.

"Okay, Kira can you get the stuff from the cupboard," torture weapons? "And can one of you go fetch the Alpha, and the other get the food from earlier?" He said talking to the two werewolves who had traveled with them. "And I suppose someone should get those cuffs off them." He looked doubtful and stayed cautious.

So there they sat, cuffs off, uneaten food in their laps as they waited for the mysterious Alpha to arrive. Celia shuffled nervously, not sure how to react to this unusual situation, so instead settled on counting carefully the number of nails in each plank, estimating the number of planks in a row, finding out how many rows there were and then multiplying to find out how many nails there were on the platform.