The Tandem Chronicles

Chapter 1: Live and Let Die (Or the Other Way Around)

"BIRCH!"

I opened my eyes.

My first thought was there had been an accident. My head was blurred, the memories foggy. I felt a throbbing in my forehead and my legs ached and cracked when I stretched them.  All my fingers felt broken and everything inside of me felt like it was bruised in one way or another. I struggled to keep my eyes open.

Then I remembered the word.

“Together,” I muttered, before grunting as I tried to sit up. After much pain, careful deliberation, and calculation of the angle, I finally got myself into a decent position and surveyed my surroundings. I was sitting on a downy, soft bed made with goose feathers, in a off-white painted room with an end table and a large window on the wall in front of me, looking out on to the vast countryside. I could see people outside, playing polo, and wondered if this was real life.

My torso felt like it was being constricted, and I concluded I was heavily bandaged.

A few memories of the supposed dream came back, rasping in my head. A girl named Stella. A Fairy. A genius. My... sister? But the rest was fuzzed out. I could remember pain, and the words ‘necklace’, ‘together’, and ‘haven’, but that was all. I wasn’t sure if these things were dreams or memories. I tested my legs and then swung them over the side of the bed, eager to start walking. My feet took a few unsteady steps before limping slowly to the door. I raised on leaden arm, opened it, and beginning my exploration of the house. There was a large staircase, which I went down while clutching the railing, and a huge kitchen that had a few people sitting about, talking merrily and eating bacon. I took a few more steps before falling over and saying, “Ow.”

Nonetheless, that was enough to cause instant panic. The second I looked up, everyone was getting up in a hurry, and rushing at me. The fluttered over me with shocked voices and sentences that were all a jumble, wanting to help, but something holding them back. I heard the words, “Not supposed to be awake” and then everything spiralled into darkness.

 

I gave an exasperated sigh. “Why are we still in here? Jene said she would meet us here at precisely two in the afternoon. It is two-oh-five.”

I could see Liz, the girl I saw in my dreams, roll her eyes. “Listen. Jene says she’ll meet us here in a few minutes. Just chillax.”

I rolled my shoulders. “Why must I carry Birch's tooth in my pocket? I feel as if I’m dishonoring her.”

“So Len has something to work with. Now shut up and look in front of you, arty boy. I don’t think she’ll mind.”

“You do not think she would have minded,” I corrected her, and looked over to the far right, where I saw a large man lurking in the shadows. He gave me a nod, and seemingly disappeared.

“If were are being fully honest with one another, I would tell you that this place is giving me chills,” I stated, looking around the large cathedral.

“We’re here because of her. Now shut your pie hole, Artemis, or I swear to Frond, I’m going to-”

“Hey, guys,”  Said another girl, walking in. I assumed it was the Jene Liz was speaking of. “So I spoke to Len about the picture. He says that he can get it for us.”

“And after this...” Said Liz, glancing at the cathedral. “She’s going to leave us. For good.”

I shook my head. “At the risk of sounding cliche, she’ll always be here. In our hearts.”