Chapter One
“Jessica!!!”
Laurel screeched for her twin sister, hopping from foot to foot as she weighed the content of the mail in her hand, daring not to open it yet, or even breathe well. They had been waiting for this particular mail for two weeks, and everyday had gone by in slow, agonizing torture as they waited. The thing about waiting for a long time is that it gives you the time to think about several things, and not all of them are pleasant. But, Jessica and Laurel had somehow found a way to balance out their thoughts this time, compared to the other times they have been through this. There was just something about this that felt different to them. They just knew this was it, and if the weight of the package Laurel held was any indication, then the universe agrees with them as well.
“Oh my God! It’s here?” Jessica screamed, bounding down the stairs in twos. She almost tripped, but with the elegance of a dancer, she was able to hold herself up at the last minute, using her slim hands to grab the bannister and then flip herself to the other side, landing in the living room in one swift, elegant motion.
“Yes! Yes!! What took you so long?!” Laurel demanded, slightly irritated to have waited for even a second longer.
“I had a face mask on, sorry.” Jessica responded, sounding slightly out of breath. Laurel knew that her panting was not as a result of the run down the stairs or even the flip - her sister is as fit as a fiddle. It was a result of her anxiety. She felt the same way too.
“Ready?” Jessica asked, and Laurel nodded. She opened the parcel slowly, their hearts beating faster in sync, their breaths coming out in slow, shallow bursts.
With shaky hands, Laurel extracted a letter from the package that also held two CDs, and an invitation card to some event. But, those were not their primary concern, the letter was. Laurel started to read it, without allowing her eyes scan the page first - it was something they did. Neither of them was going to find out their fate first, they would find out at the same time, together.
“There. You read it.” Laurel passed the letter to her sister, her hands shaking badly. Jessica took the letter from her, and held her hand with her other hand. She squeezed it gently, offering her silent support. They rubbed shoulders, and Laurel smiled tightly at her sister, and nodded for her to go ahead.
Slowly, Jessica started reading the content of the letter, and the first few paragraphs made their hearts beat even faster than it already was. Their talent was praised, and it was apparent that the writer was really taken by them and ‘what they could do with a tune’. At this point, both sisters were almost bouncing from foot to foot, about to yell in delight.
“But, we are sorry to inform you that our agency will not be taking you on. Indeed, you have the raw talent, but we require more than that here. You lack the charisma and confidence in these abilities of yours, and those are things we consider. We are truly sorry to let such great talents as yours go, but you have to understand that there are many great talents out there. We need to know that you have something that differentiates you from those before we can take you on. We wish you all the best in your endeavors, and we truly hope that you find the courage to give your talent the representation it deserves.”
By the time Jessica was done, the room was so quiet that when the page fell off her hand, the sound of paper hitting the floor was like a thousand balls hitting the cold hard ground. Jessica’s hands were shaking, and for a moment, she forgot that Laurel was standing next to her. In fact, she forgot how to breathe or how to be. She was completely detached from her own body and everything happening around her that when her sister hit the floor with a thud, she stared at her limp body with an uncomprehending eye, unsure of what was happening around her.
“Jessica! Get out of the way! Oh my God! My baby. My baby!!!” She heard a voice yell at her, but the sound was coming from a very far distance, and then all of a sudden, somebody was shaking her violently, passing a hand across her face.
“I’m not sure she’s alright either.” Another voice said, sounding really close to her ear, but it did not return her back to her body or what was happening around her. In fact, she never wanted to return, there was simply nothing to hold her down here. As that thought drifted through her mind, she suddenly remembered that she was holding Laurel, and that hand had gone cold and numb.
Like a slap across her face, she was suddenly slammed back to reality, her body and mind joining once again and she gasped out loud as she came to, and the first thing she said was, “Laurel”.
She found her sister slumped on the floor, their mother holding her and sobbing. She sank to the ground and held her other hand.
“Laurel.” She whispered. And then she repeated her name again and again, until she was almost yelling.
Jessica felt hands prying her away from her sister, but she fought them off. Well, she tried to. But they were stronger than her, and in the end, they won. Someone strapped her to a bed, held her down and they proceeded to carry her out of their house. She kept on struggling and pushing against her restraints, until she felt something sharp break her skin, and then, she started to feel faint. The last thing she saw before she drifted to nothingness was Laurel. She was being lifted on a stretcher by two men. She tried to reach for her, but her limbs felt heavy, and she was unbelievably tired.
“I’ll just sleep for a bit.” She thought to herself before she passed out cold.
