Life as Me: Ekaterina and Annika

Ekaterina and Annika: short story life

                He was as much evil, as he was handsome. He was dark. He was what any woman would want as their husband. They couldn't get him though. No woman could because he didn't want them. He didn't want just woman. Not until his beloved was back in the world. And she was. She appeared outside his front door on the sunny Friday as he opened his door to watch the sun rise on his front porch. However, he wasn't expecting the girl to be a twin. He opened this front door to find two pink bundles wrapped and placed delicately into a basket right on the porch steps.

He was shocked. Derrick was shocked. He was supposed to only get one girl to be his beloved, not a set of twins. He now had to figure out if he had to choose one or have both of them. He decided quickly when a shadow was spotted watching him from the edge of the forest. He bent down to pick up the basket and the pale baby girl gave out a whimper as the basket shook slightly. He watched her carefully to see if she would wake up, before proceeding to turn back into the house and lock the front door behind him. The sunrise could wait.

Placing the basket on his black bed sheet, Derrick looked closer between the two little girls. One of them was slightly bigger than the other. The smaller one was the darker one. She had tanned skin, ebony black hair starting to curl at the ends; he was yet to see the colour of her eyes. The bigger one of the two had white-blonde hair and pale skin. The blonde one gave another whimper, and this time Derrick had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes open. The crystal blue orbs instantly darted to here he knelt next to them on the bed. Derrick smiled at her but frowned when tears appeared in her blue eyes.

She cried. Derrick knew she was going to be the outgoing child of the two, she would also be the one that will ignore him the most and be the loudest as well. He saw her confidence when she started shifting and he noticed that she moved closer to her twin. That small movement woke the other baby and Derrick was lost as he stared into the chocolate brown eyes staring back at him. She didn't cry, nor did she make a sound at all. She just stared at him and when he smiled at her, she smiled back, a toothless grin that brightened his day.

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Twenty-one years later

Ekaterina loved her sister. She adored her and always had, ever since the day they were born. But she also hated her. Ekaterina hated how her sister was the pretty one of the two, her blonde hair always catching the attention of men around them and her blue eyes seeking out her next prey. Ekaterina hated how she even had the attention and devotion of Derrick. The man that took them in the day they were left on his door step; the man that hasn't aged a day since and matched their own twenty-one years.

She suspected what he was and wasn't sure if he knew she knew or even if Annika knew about him. But she kept it to herself at all costs. She didn't know what would become of her if she ever brought the subject up. It was nearing their twenty-second birthday and she needed answers. She had a feeling something was going to happen and one of the twins wasn't going to survive the night of their birthday.

Derrick was listening to her thoughts. He couldn't help it. She captivated him and had since she had first opened her eyes to him all those years ago and smiled at him. She knew, and he knew. She just didn't know the extent of what was heading for them and he was going to keep it that way until their birthday. The oracles had told him that he had to choose one, and only one. He had made his decision the day he found the girls and he wasn't planning on changing it at any moment. Not even when Annika had cunningly thought about her plan so vividly. He wouldn't allow her to go through with it.

Annika hated her. She hated her sister. She hated how Ekaterina was so oblivious to the attention she got. She hated that no matter what she did, the men around them were always interested in the darker beauty. She had tried flirting, she even tried giving herself away but would never do that to Derrick. She was saving herself, saving herself for the night of their twenty-second birthday. And she had a plan. A plan that was going to make her the best twin of them, the one that will finally get all the attention, even the adoring looks Derrick had always given Ekaterina.

The night of their twenty-second birthday arrived quickly. The Tuesday evening was foggy and cold, but they were all familiar with it. The three of them had sat down at the large twelve-person table in the dining room to eat. Ekaterina watched as Derrick picked at the food like he always had, and she knew why. Annika watched Ekaterina glance at Derrick, and she saw red and green; the anger and jealousy taking over her bitter heart.

Derrick moved before Annika could even begin her plan and pulled Ekaterina from her chair within seconds and had her on the farthest end of the table. Annika froze in reaching across the table, her hand frozen, intended to stab the twin that sat on the other side of the table, knife now dangling from her trembling fingers.

Derrick watched carefully while Annika got over the shock of her twin once being in front of her in perfect reach and then vanishing within milliseconds. Derrick kept his hands around Ekaterina, keeping her calm while he reassured himself that she was safe with him. He could understand why Annika was the way she was. He also understood what he had to do to ensure that she never harmed what was his, ever, again. He kept an eye on Annika who had collected herself and risen from her chair. She was now crossing the room with angry strides and he pushed Ekaterina back into the wall behind him. His body became a massive shield for her small form, and she stayed where she was.

Ekaterina knew what was about to happen and felt no pity for her sister. She whispered one last sentence to her sister.

"I always loved you Annika, but Derrick was mine from the beginning," and she crept out from behind Derrick to watch as her sister halted in her steps.

Annika's eyes were wide. She couldn't believe what was happening. How had things gone so terribly wrong so quickly? She had planned it perfectly. At least in her mind it had felt perfect. So, what had happened? Why had Derrick moved Ekaterina out of the way? How had they become so close without her noticing?

Ekaterina still felt no remorse. She knew Annika wasn't supposed to have even been born. That's what the oracles had told her when she had found them for the first time, after following Derrick one night. They'd said she was destined to have appeared on Derrick's door step.

So, Ekaterina accepted the fact that she would never see her sister again. She smiled that same smile she had the day she first looked at Derrick. Except this time, her mouth was full of sharp white teeth. They were the same teeth that Derrick had, the same teeth that scared Annika all those years ago when he had smiled at her for the first and only time.

Annika was scared again. Derrick had turned her sister into a monster, the same monster that had haunted her dreams and had killed her each and every night since she could remember. Only, this time, she would never wake up.

At the time she came to that realisation, Derrick struck, and Ekaterina threw her head back and laughed.