My vision went blurry as I saw Melody hit the ground and my body followed, collapsing right next to her. I had only a second to see the damage when I realized we’d both been shot at least twenty times. We were both dead.
Voices screamed at me as I lost consciousness. The last thing I heard, “Burn their bodies and let’s get out of here!”
*******************************************************
I opened my eyes and sat straight up, the full moon’s light shining down on me. The pain was gone, my wounds were healed with no proof of ever having been shot. All of my old scars had vanished. Even my clothes were different. I was wearing a white flowing dress that fell to just below my knees and two white and very girly heels on my feet.
I blinked away the sleepiness in my eyes and focused on my sister, who was already on her feet, walking around. She seemed angry and a bit confused and I couldn’t blame her. She was wearing the exact same thing that I was and her hair had been dyed back to it’s natural black color. She looked beautiful and it drove her crazy, especially since we’ve always tried so hard not to look alike. Being identical twins isn’t always fun, you know?
“Key!” she yelled as loud as she could. “You’re finally awake!”
“What - what happened?” I asked.
“No idea. I woke up a few minutes ago and have been trying to figure that out. We were dead, right? I could have sworn my body was swiss cheese.”
I pulled up my dress and checked my legs. They were perfect. Not even a hint of the support beam that fell on me or any of the bullets I knew should be there. I just shook my head and stood up. I was surprised that I wasn’t tired. Since we were little kids, Melody and I were always tired. We didn’t take breaks or vacations. We were always doing something and could never catch up on sleep.
“How do you feel?” I asked, wondering if she had the same feeling.
“Perfect,” she answered, shrugging her shoulders. “This is the best I’ve ever felt. I could take on a fully grown elephant with this kind of energy. Something is bothering me, though.”
“What’s that?”
She pushed her long hair out of her eyes and said, “We were in the middle of the desert, Key. This place looks similar, but it’s not. Even the sand here is softer. It’s more like the beach than desert. And do you smell that? Saltwater is close.”
Indeed, I could smell the sea. And if I listened closely, I could hear the gentle crashing of waves not too far away. “Over there,” I shouted. We ran over a small hill and glimpsed a huge beach with a single campfire. The ocean was clearly visible in the moonlight as well as a single figure in front of the fire.
Wordlessly, we crept toward the camp fire. We positioned ourselves so that the person wouldn’t see us coming. There was no telling whether he or she was one of Luc’s people who came to look for us.
As we closed in, we moved apart, with me to the left and Melody to the right. I approached first, noticing it was a man dressed in dark clothes, grabbing his left shoulder and pulling him back to the ground, my knee quickly pressing against his chest, pinning his left arm as well. Melody jumped in quickly, securing his free hand.
I was a moment away from snapping his neck when he screamed, “Stop! It’s me!”
“Jake?” We said at the same time. It was him.
“But, you’re dead! We saw you get blown up!” Melody said, trying to hold back her emotions. Those two always had an odd relationship. He was hard on her, trying to get her to mature faster than she was ready for. And in turn, she was hot and cold with him, never showing too much emotion, but never pushing him all the way. But, I’d never seen her like this with him.
“Likewise,” he chuckled. “I watched the house burn with you inside before-”
“You watched the house burn?” I said, completely confused. “You weren’t in the car when it exploded?”
“Uhh-” he stumbled, sounding and looking like we were interrogating him. “Well, I was, but I can’t really explain to you what happened.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Melody said, her tear soaked cheeks catching the light of the moon.
“Both,” he answered plainly. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you what happened. The only thing I can say is that we are out of danger and can now go after HIM without any pursuit. That’s what matters most right? That we’re all alive?”
“Fine, old man,” Melody said, spitting on the ground. “One day, I’m going to beat it out of you, though.”
Jake just laughed, “Don’t worry. When we find HIM, all will be revealed. I just can’t say anything now. It’d just complicate things in so many ways that you’d wish I hadn’t said anything. So, please, just trust me.”
“Where are we?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“Northern Florida,” he replied with a bit of hesitation in his voice. “Don’t ask me to explain that either, because I can’t. All I know is that our target is only hours away. There’s a car in the parking lot about a mile away. We can use that.”
Melody and I shared a look of confusion. I knew he was hiding something important, but he was right. We weren’t dead. And Luc was going to pay for what he had done.
Chapter 2 - Heart Break
Start from the beginning
