BLOOD

"You're being sent to your father and that is that kids. Don't make an issue about it!" Our mom said, he r voice finally raising a octave louder than she wouldusually get. She looks at us once more before walking out the living room of our tiny house.

"This sucks ass." Marc says frowning. "I'm going to go pack. You should too."

I follow him as we walk to our room and get our things from our adjoined closet and packing them in brand new suitcases mom bought today.

"We're being sent away to our dad. Whom we've never spoken to before." I mutter. "Why can't we just stay? I'd rather eat less than food than move away to another state. To Alabamer."

"You know we have to leave. You heard what mom said- she can't provide for us anymore. We have to go." Marc says, and as always he has a point. "Anyway maybe you'll finally be a nice person instead of a b-"

"I dare you to finish that Marc." I say plainly, grabbing a stack of clothes.

"Okay. Bitc-"

"Marcus Billings. Did you just call your twin sister that horrible name?" Asks from the door behind him.

"Mom she made me." He says throwing me under the bus.

"That is not true, I gave you two options. Either you say it or don't." I say with my hand on my hip, my other hand still holding the clothes.

"Shut it and pack you two. I don't want to hear a peep out of either of you two. We leave early tomorrow morning to go to the airport. So be ready by five." She says then walks out.

We continue to pack in silence, then going through each others things to make sure we didn't miss anything. We didn't.

"Should we syncronise our alarms for 4:30?" Marc asks. I nod and we set our alarms. "Tomorrow is going to be something else. Don't you think?"

"I don't want to think about that. Let's just go to bed." I say climbing into my bed- for the last time.

"Now you two pack everything you need right? If you didn't I'll find a way to send your things through." Mom says once again as she looks at us worriedly. We reassure her, once again, and walk towards our gate to get onto the plane. Waving at her once again before walking away from her.

"Remember that ghost show we used to watch every Friday?" Iask Marc as he squeezes his eyes shut while we go through turbulence.

"Yeah what about it?" He asks, his eyes still squeezed shut. I rub his hand in comfort.

"Most of hose stories happened in the South." I say trailing off. "Ten bucks says we'll come across a haunted house, maybe dad lives in one already. We'll have to wait and see."

"That is the only thing we can do on this plane Katy. Wasn't that pretty obvious?" He points out.

"Don't get your thong in a twist. I just wanted to make smalltalk." I say raising my hands up in surrender.

"Whatever. Shut up and read." He says, he turns away from me and looks out the window.

"I love you too." I whisper as I pull out a book from my backpack, trying to get into the story.

But it didn't work. I'm excited. What will dad be like? Will he welcome us with open arms? Does he still have black hair? Will he have the same smile like he did in pictures mom had back home?

I frown. There was that word. Home. A place I haven't found yet, will it be with dad or with mom? Wait was even with mom? What if-

"Your gears are turning. Things will be fine when we land. We're a team against the world remember." Marc says nudging my should lightly.

I smile at the pact we made 10 years ago when we were seven. We swore to support and be in each others' corner till we died.

"Abbeville is big right?" I ask him. "Places to look at and stuff right?"

"Sure. Plenty of book stores and fast foods to raid." He says smiling, he knows my weakness. Food and books. "You're drooling."

"Aren't you worried about what things will be like when we get there? Everything is changing around us." I say ignoring his statement.

"Think of it this way. We're humans, and if there's one thing we know how to do is survive. We will be fine. Nothing there will kill us." He says gripping my hand. "Now shut up and read."

"Oh you're such a jerk." I say smiling before going back to my book. Which this time sucked me right into its pages.

When the plane finally landed we were next to each other as we walked out the gate. We look left and right, hoping for our names to be on a board or soemthing, and instead of that we see our father waiting for us near the front of the crowd. Smiling at us. We walk towards him.

He stands there for a few seconds looking at us before bringing us both into a bear hug. His hair wasn't completely black anymore, it was greying in some parts.

"You two look just like your mother. How is she?" He asks as we wait to get our bags.

"She's good." I say looking at him, he didn't have the same smile anymore. More like a small grin. "She says hi."

"That's good." He says as we grab our bags one after the other. "Do ya'll want to eat before we got home or do you want me to whip up something at home?"

"We think you cooking would be nicer." Marc says deciding for us, dad smiles and leads his way to his truck. It was maroon and big.

"What would you two like to eat?" He asks as we settle in, Marc in the front and I in the back.

"Lasagne." I pipe in before Marc could.

"She meant pizza dad." Marc says calmly.

"Marc you chose eating at the house. Now it's my turn. And besides you don't choose the right food." I say glaring at him. He turns to glare right back at him.

"Wow this'll be interesting." Dad says laughing. "Anyway I set up two room for you two. But if you want to share that's fine. There are two bathrooms, mine and yours across from your rooms."

"I get my own room? Away from him?" I ask. Dad nods. I turn and lean my head on Marcs shoulder. "It would be nice not having to share the room with you. But I would miss you and sneak in your room sometimes."

"As if I'd let you in my room." He scoffs, but I can clearly see he's lying. I smile at him.

"So what can we expect from Abbeville?" I ask dad. He smiles and begins talking about as many things as possible as we drive to his house.

"You'll love it. I've lived here since your mom and I divorced." He says as we carry our luggae upstairs. I dump mine closest to the bathroom before checking out Marc's room. Looked exactly like mine except where our beds were.

"I've enrolled you into school. You start on Monday. Anyway while I cook please get comfortable, explore a little. But mind the forest down the street."

"Why are there vampires or something?" I ask.

"A lot of people go in there and went missing for days, then turn up somewhere far from the forest. They never remember anything. So steer clear." He says cautiously. "Now I will be downstairs cooking. Have fun."

He leaves and I go to my own room, unpacking backpacks and two suitcases. I look at my bare room, besides a few pictures I set out around the room it still looked bare. I walk downstairs into the kitchen and see dad leaning over a large stove.

"How did you and mom meet?" I ask as I sit on a stool by the counter.

"She never told you how we met?" He asks me. I shake my head 'no'. "Well we were both at the hardware store oaying for our own things. She bought a security door and was asking who in the area could set it up for her. I said I could do it. She looked at me and smiled. We exchanged numbers and the next day I set it up for her and she invited me for coffee. We were friends for a while before I asked her out on a date. Many dates later I asked her to marry me." He pauses and smiles broadly. "She said yes and two years later we had you two."

"Why did you two get a divorce?" Marc asks from the threshold.

"We fought a lot over the years, left too many things unsaid an unresolved. And over time those things became a barrier." He doesn't finish, instead diving into his own sea of thoughts.

"Do you still love mom?" I ask. He looks at me.

"Things changed." He said not answering my question.

"Except your feelings." I say. He frowns and turns back to cooking. Leaving the room in an endless silence.

"We'll be walking around the area for a bit if that's okay." Marc says as I stand.

"Stay safe. Be back in an hour." Dad says. That was our queue to leave.