DIVIDED

CHAPTER TWO

There was something amis
Something huge yet hidden
Like a destructive weapon
Placed in the pages of a book
Miamie

Streaks of sunlight bathed the golden door giving it an ethereal beauty. The guards stationed on either sides, unmoving as they heard the 'click-clack' upon the terrazzo floor. They acknowledged their master, opening the ever so secret place allowing the rays of the evening sun take their place upon the elaborate features of he whose angry authoritative demeanor was enough to silence the whispers of those present.
The majestic doors opened once more and the frame of an older man appeared looking far more jovial than the former. With a hair of greyish white and the laugh lines present on his face, he once again neutralized the tensed atmosphere like the wind cooling the sweaty faces of the committee.
They held their breaths in fear of offending the angry man as he made his way to his seat, waiting as patient as ever for his father who dismissed all non-members away.
"Where is she!" he bellowed in anger scattering the neat pile of papers around, along with the hearts of his committee.
"You will find her! I sent the best of you to bring me this threat and all you can do__"
"_you set of creatures, cannot find a girl. What are you hired for?! To sit or search! Ten days was all I gave, and what now?! It has been a whole year and she is still missing".
If only he knew
"Find her no matter what_" "or" he gave them a smile which clearly spelt trouble "I'll be glad to send you lot the other way"
In his dreams
That was what he got for taking her away from me;BETRAYAL. HURT. ANGER. LIES and LOSS.

*****
Umaamah

Typing furiously on the keyboard I gulped in oxygen when I realized that I shouldn't be here. My mind screamed danger against the rhythmic 'tip tap' of the keys but my silly heart I've gotten used to obeying went ahead-
-The heading was not what caught me, it was the flamboyant art surrounded by shades of silky wine. The second I got lured into that world, I realized I was so wrong.
What are the chances of getting a top secret agency's password correctly, expecially if you are amongst such SECRET.
The screen lit up and the figure of an old-not-so-old man came into view.

"Congratulations girl! I knew you would be just like your father someday " he clapped his hands together.
Father?! I was curious
"my dear Umaamah, your father was like this, a tech genius you are, embrace your special talents". He began speaking like one of those motivational speakers but what stopped my internal dialogue was the fact that he was no stranger, he knew my name.

"Oh my! Why did I pick the wrong child. No one would have imagined that the daughter would be the better among the two. Umaamah should have gone with her father, not Hassan" he began completely blocking out the fact that I was on the other side of the call.

This man who seems to be the reason behind a lot of secrets and refuses to divulge his main intent behind all of the drama.

"Who the- is Hassan and what does all this have to do with me?" I chose my words carefully

He suddenly looked serious and I wondered if I made any blunder in my sentence.

"He is your twin" he replied after a span of three minutes bringing out a piece of crumpled paper. I could recognize myself from the photos back home but the smiling face of the boy next to me was familiarly strange.

He seemed to read my mind because his next words meft me speechless

"he is your twin Umaamah, your fraternal twin".

I became a spy for this relative of mine who turned out to be more than he potrays.

Ten years ago, I met my grandfather. Three years later, my mom passed away and now I'm back to the beginning ;an adventurer without a map, stuck between her dangerously safe past and her uncertain future.
I mentally face-palmed at my ridiculous rantings

'what about college'. The thought came unconsciously.

I put the tape down and shut the screen, why didn't I think about college, it was the simplest and easiest plan at the moment.

It was funny to say I always keep my activities in the archive and store them in tapes.

Rummaging through the scattered tapes, I brought out one which looked older than I was. It was taken sixteen years ago, once upon a happy family of four.
¦¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¦
¦kids @ two¦
¦!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¦
It was on our birthday,two years before everything happened. I didn't know what I was going to be dealing with, but they do say 'love conquers all battles' , I believe I could unite a broken family- but first....... Hassan.

As I enrolled into all possible colleges since I knew where he was, I decided to go undercover if I wanted to be on grandpa's good side. I laughed inwardly.

I planned out my stay at boarding schools, well you could say i was an evesdropper and memory book.

I could recall mother's words "we planned on sending them to a boarding school once they became teenagers"
It never happened.

I decided to let the kids stay at Mrs Bakr's so I could maximise my skills and enjoy the mission without much pressure.

Thinking about the kids, I heard Hamzah behind the door "Sis momma, Ruqayyah wants to play at the park, I'm tagging along".

I guessed after knocking for what seemed like forever, he finally decided to speak.

"Okay, stay safe" I replied putting on my clothes in a rush, no time to laze around.

A golden calligraphic writing caught my eye silently begging to be picked up.

'The veiled powerbiked archer' shone in gold looking elegant as the rays of sunshine glistened the black book.

I opened a plain page and wrote with my messy neat handwriting ;
'Project Hassan'

****************
Christopher's (Hassan) POV coming right up
*Stirs the mixture *
*€¥¡L łąŮĞ#ť£® *
....... Curtains close.....
*****************

Hello to the wonderful reader out there...

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Please leave your votes and comments and let's get to know each other.

With love

Lumishar 🖤
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14\02\2023