Timeless

Chapter One

Chapter 1

Riona groaned and thumped her head against the steering wheel, trying to keep her temper in check.

"I mean, I knew that it would clash with my skirt, and especially my shoes, but I though, you know, maybe I could wear it ironically, but honestly! I never thought it would look this bad!" Her twin sister, Fiona, continued to bemoan her choice of . . . some sort of makeup. Ri really wasn't paying attention. For one, she was driving, so she had much more important things to focus on. On the other hand, Ri had never cared much for feminine interests in the first place so the conversation wouldn't be going much better under other circumstances. "This is where you tell me that it doesn't look so bad . . ." Fiona prompted.

"You look gorgeous Fi, you always do." Ri said truthfully. Although the two were identical twins, they were as different as night and day. Both were tall, slender, and naturally blondish-brunettes. Their features were the same, their voices, even their gestures and the way they moved. But there were differences as well.

Fiona was very feminine, not that that was a bad thing. She liked to look pretty, whether through makeup or fashion or jewelry, and she honestly enjoyed the process and intricacies that came with what Ri called her "face paint". Fiona was a serial dater, a party girl, and a diva of the highest caliber, if a little bit of an air-head. But she meant well, for the most part.

Riona on the other hand was more of a sweatpants and tank top girl. Not that she didn't care how she looked, just that she valued comfort over style. She wasn't a tomboy per say; Ri liked to think of herself as more practical than anything else. But she never had been able to get excited over powder that made her face itch and shoes that could be used as weapons. She had always been that way, even before that summer.

However, the biggest difference between the sisters were their eyes. Fiona had nice, normal, beautiful greenish grey eyes, the color of a rain-soaked field covered in a fine morning mist. Riona, on the other hand, had bright, vividly violet eyes.

Ri's eyes had been grey at birth, just like her sister's. Within six months, they had turned a pale lavender mottled with flecks of a deeper plum. The doctors called in Alexandria's Genesis, a genetic mutation that resulted in an extended life span, almost glowing pale skin which never tanner or burned, fertility without menstruation, an immunity to most diseases, and an inability to gain any significant amount of weight or grow any body hair other than eyebrows, eyelashes, and on the top of the head.

Even without this information, Ri had liked her eyes at first. She remembered being proud of her their color, especially when Fiona would say that it wasn't fair because purple was her favorite color and could they switch sometime? But that had been when they had been younger and words such as impossible had no meaning and whispers of "unnatural" and "mutation" or "defect" were as hurtful as a pat on the head.

As they grew though, and began to meet new people, it became more and more apparent that Ri's eyes were a novelty to the rest of the world. At least they hadn't been that noticeable back then. They had looked blueish from a distance, so unless someone got really close to her face they usually weren't that noticeable. Of course, that hadn't boded well for her first kiss with Billy Wallace in the fifth grade. The next day, the entire class knew that her eyes were a strange color and that her kisses were slobbery like a dog's. Soon after that, puberty had put an end to any attempt she could make about brushing off questions about her eyes. Their color had deepened to a bright violet with orchid and mauve colored streaks, which effectively negated any chance of saying they were blue and that the light must be weird.

Ri started to resent her eyes, and the attention she got because of them, despite Fiona's insistence that she was so lucky to never have to shave or deal with cramps or watch what she eats. Of course, Fi had no problem admitting that Ri did not deserve the attention her eyes brought her as, if she wasn't going to make the most of it and make an effort to actually look good for peoples viewing pleasure, then why did she deserve any of it? As far as Fi was concerned, there was no down side to purple eyes, other than the fact that Ri got them instead of her. Ri thought that the worst thing in the world was to be stared at and whispered about. They were both very wrong, and after that summer, neither complained about their lot again.

Ri parked in front of the high school and pulled out her phone, dialing her brothers number as Fi obliviously continued to talk about make-up and color schemes, or something along those lines.

"What," Austin snapped from the other end.

"I don't have much time. You'll have to hurry if you want a ride home," Ri warned him as patiently as she could.

"Fine," the call clicked off.

"Rude," Ri mumbled. But she couldn't complain further. Austin slammed through the school doors and stomping down the steps, too eager to get home to care enough about causing her grief and making her late for work. The car door slammed shut and the fifteen year old slumped grumpily in his seat. Ri winced in sympathy for her car, but refrained from commenting. He'd probably do it again just to spite her. There was silence, well, other than Fiona's meaningless, incessant chatter; a silence that almost lasted until they got home. Almost.

"Don't order me around," Austin spat. Ri resisted the urge to groan loudly and beat the steering wheel.

"I'm not going to have this argument again," she told him firmly but politely.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Austin's voice spiked, cracking a little which made him angrier.

"Please don't shout," Ri steeled her voice, but remained calm. This just frustrated the boy more.

"Hey, I was talking, thank you very much," Fi sounded offended,

"Shut up!" Austin shouted.

"Excuse me?" Fiona turned on him.

"Here we go," Ri mumbled under her breath. Ding ding ding . . .

"You stupid, delinquent, ass!"

"Dumb, narcissistic, bitch!"

"Ooh, narcissistic! Has the druggie been paying attention in class?"

"Has the bimbo been whoring around?"

"ENOUGH!" Ri punched the car horn to emphasize her point.

"FUCK YOU!" Austin screamed. Ri was too focused on the intersection they were crossing to notice where Austin's hand was at first. By the time she did, it was too late.

Austin reached out and yanked on the wheel, spinning the car out of control. Fi shrieked, a high pitched noise that only added to the panic in the car. Ri held on tightly to her wits, fighting for control of the car. But a truck that had been slightly behind them in the neighboring lane was already barreling towards them with no room to brake. And as it was, it would hit the passenger's side doors and crush Fi and Austin, most probably killing them.

Ri grabbed Austin's shirt and yanked him down between the seats, hoping that it would be enough to keep him from taking a dive into the windshield. Damn the idiot for not buckling up, and damn herself for not checking. With that, she pulled the wheel sharply to the right until the headlights of the truck blinded her.

~~~

Yes, Alexandria's Genisis is a real thing. Well, okay, not really real, but a real idea, not something I just thought up on the spot. There are accounts of people who might have had it a few hundred years ago, but no one knows of anyone today who has it.