The Tethers of Altraggo

Rain seeps through the cracks of the covered town square, creating a steady stream that drips onto the stone pavement. It’s the stream that commands her vision as she looks ahead, breath rattling between her lips, but she does not let it show. She can feel herself commanding the muscles in her jaw to relax, shrugging off the rain, so cold that shards of ice melt into her skin. Above all, she can feel herself commanding her eyes to look anywhere other than the raven haired woman who blends into the crowd.

The horde of angry bodies looking on is getting restless, shouting profanities over the thunder and knocking the raven haired woman over, but she simply regains her footing and looks forward, straight at her. Even from here, she can spot the glean over her eyes and the redness taking over her olive skin. Tears finally fall as she pushes through and reaches out, mouthing something that she can’t make out. But as she grips onto the wooden chair she’s bound to, taught frayed ropes turning her wrists and ankles a sickening shade of blue, she can feel how deeply she wants that woman to leave. Terror, panic, defeat, rise up in her as she wills her away: to go anywhere but here.

There. She can feel her heart grow lighter with relief, then sink with sadness as a tall man breaks through the flock and snatches the raven haired woman, burying her head in his chest and swimming upstream through the writhing bodies, their thirst for blood only more palpable as she catches a man in the corner of her eye. She can feel his fingers dig into the nape of his neck, hear the cheers and yells grow louder as cool steel tickles her throat. Then, searing pain assaults her, blood washed down the valleys in her neck and onto her waterlogged dress until her head feels as if it’s floating above her body. In her drowsy condition, the words of the crowd, the claps, the cheers, are louder still, riddled with hatred and profanity. Then, it all goes dark.

Cassidy jolts awake to a room illuminated by the light of a dim lamp that sits on the night table between her and her sister’s matching beds. She clutches her throat and turns to find Cassandra already awake, breathing heavily and obsessively combing the hair out of her face.

“Oh… sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up, but I had—”

“It’s okay; I had one too. A nightmare, I mean.”

Cassandra looks up, intrigued. “Do you remember what it was about?”

Cassidy nods. “Vividly.” She describes the entire scene to her sister in impressive detail, even recalling the chilling rain soaking through her dress. As she goes deeper and deeper into the story, Cassandra looks more invested. Her expression is usually some form of hard, but it’s even more noticeable as she locks eyes with her sister, focused and thoroughly engrossed. When she finishes, Cassandra stays silent for a few moments before shaking her head and retelling her own dream.

She stands in the middle of a town square, surrounded by yelling members of a crowd as she angrily holds back tears. She stares at a woman sitting in a wooden chair, and as a man with a knife comes into view, she loses it. She pushes forward and screams a name: “Amara!” But she only gets it out a few times before someone pulls her back and away, shielding her. As they push past the crowd to the other side, she wakes.

The two stare at each other for a bit before concluding that it was probably just another symptom of their bizarre twin bond. There have always been things about them that no one can explain, like the matching birthmarks on their wrists, or the intuition that the other is feeling down even if they’re not in the same room, and being right. But they both know it has never been this extreme. Nevertheless, Cassidy turns off the lamp and insists that they try to get some rest, but sleep manages to evade them both.

Tomorrow, they’re supposed to be attending some New Year’s Day celebration hosted by their school’s Student Council. As a member, Cassidy is expected to go in early to set up, and Cassandra feels the need to chaperone, though she makes fun of the event at every chance she gets. The twins had just started their twelfth grade year at a new school somewhere across the country from their previous home. It’s nothing new of course, seeing as they’ve never lived anywhere longer than two years. Their father travels for work, dragging them along wherever he’s needed.

Cassidy has always attempted to do something involved with her new schools: joining an academics team, or volunteering to read to younger kids for community service. When she was younger, it was always to meet new friends or feel included, but lately, it’s just been another bullet point on her college application. It’s not that she doesn’t want to meet new people; it’s that she’s never been very good at it. As she grew, she learned that it was easier to keep to herself anyways, only allowing one or two friends in her heart. She hates big groups all the same, and it makes things easier when she has to leave them a few months later. Truthfully, the only friend she’s kept for all of these years has been Cassandra.

Light peaks through their butterfly curtains, providing a backdrop for the chorus of alarm tones that fill the room. The girls get dressed and don’t have to walk far to reach the kitchen: one that resembles that of a mediocre hotel. The walls are painted a drab shade of beige, and the counters are an unattractive splotchy brown. The condo they moved into six months ago is definitely one of the smaller homes they’ve resided in, but it’s not like they haven’t lived in worse conditions. Besides, neither Cassidy nor Cassandra resents it in the slightest. Cassidy enjoys the coziness of it, and Cassandra has always preferred sharing a room with a sister over having their own.

As they round the corner, they find their father sitting around the table, gnawing on a piece of dry toast and fighting to stay awake.

“Morning girls,” he says, not looking up from his breakfast.

Cassidy bends down to plant a kiss on his cheek. “You didn’t have to wake up with us, you know. We can drive ourselves.”

He shrugs and continues. “I wanted to make sure you left on time.” Cassidy smiles sadly and rummages through the fridge for something to eat. As a single father, Benjamin Vera has never been anything less than involved in his daughters’ lives, but his protectiveness has only grown as they’ve grown older. Lately, Cassidy has only figured it has something to do with her and Cassandra graduating soon.

Cassidy breathes in and shakes the thought from her mind as she whips up breakfast: cold cereal and day old coffee. She plops herself down at the kitchen table, next to her father and sister.

“Sleep well?” their father asks no one in particular. Cassidy warily looks at Cassandra for confirmation, who nods dismissively in between sips of cereal milk. Cassidy sighs slightly before speaking, telling the story of their strange double nightmare. As she retells both sides, her heart begins to thump absently against her chest, stealing her breath. There’s something strangely unsettling about that dream. She thought that some of the details might be a bit foggy by now, but she can still recall each and every second of it, and something tells her that Cassandra can too.

When she finishes her story, she makes an attempt to laugh it off and poke fun at the weird attachment between the two of them, which each coaxes a thin smile out of Cassandra. But their father doesn’t laugh. Instead, he sits up straight and furrows his brow, his eyes flicking down to each of the girls’ wrists. Quickly, he shakes off the expression and looks back up at their faces, dismissing the story.

“You must be closer than I thought,” he chuckles, but it ends a bit too abruptly. “I’ve heard of shared dreams, but I didn’t think they were real.” He shrugs and lifts a mug of coffee to his lips.

Cassidy glances at Cassandra, who seems unphased. Still, she looks down at her wrist and stares at her X shaped birthmark, roughly the size of a quarter. To be fair, he could have been looking at it the same way Cassidy’s mind drifted to her and her sister’s shared mark when she first assessed the dreams. Still, Ben has always had a weird obsession with them. When they were little, he would always take extra care to dry the area with a towel when they got out of the bath, and always rubbed his fingers over the marks after tucking them into bed.

“Why is it so quiet?” Cassandra looks up at the two of them, putting on a nonchalant expression, but Cassidy can sense the concern underneath. She must have picked up the energy hovering over the table.

Cassidy, though, just shrugs her shoulders. “Just thinking, I guess.” She smiles slightly, but she knows that Cassandra can pick up the concern beneath it too. Breakfast stays pretty quiet after that, only ending as they clean up their plates in silence and stuff them into the barely functioning dishwasher.

Afterwards, Ben slips away to make a call, and Cassidy and Cassandra slip on their winter coats, ready to face the medley of wind and ice that awaits them. They’ve lived up north countless times, but Junible’s weather is something else entirely. Just last night as the three of them counted down to the new year in the city’s only park, rain poured out in buckets, dampening the fireworks and soaking each of them to the bone. Shards of ice were sprinkled in the rain, just warm enough to fight off snow. Her mind flickers to the dream for a moment, her heart lightening a bit at the discovery of a possible source. They were both tired and only half asleep anyways, and that always does the weirdest things to people.

As they finish buttoning their coats, they pop their heads into Ben’s room to say goodbye, and he gives them a halfhearted grin as he waves, though the phone is still pressed against his ear.

As they arrive on the scene of the only high school in their small town, Hansel jogs through the parking lot to greet them, a scruffy looking boy with messy brown hair that spills onto his face. “Well look here; the party has arrived.” He throws his hands up and flashes a goofy grin. Cassandra tries to suppress her smile as she rolls her eyes and falls into his arms. They break out of their hug, and he plants an ice cold kiss on her cheek.

Cassidy clutches to the straps of her knitted shoulder bag in waiting. “And hello to you too,” she jokes in an awkward attempt to break the two up. The hint seems to be received as they all chuckle and set out for the empty gym.

The next few hours are spent hanging streamers and blowing up balloons on opposite corners of the room. Cassandra doesn’t stray far from a group of ten or so friends, making sarcastic jokes about what a strange idea it was to host a party on one of the most boring parts of New Year’s. But it gives them an excuse to see each other over winter break, so they can’t complain too much. Cassidy, though, makes herself comfortable at her own station, diligently crafting party centerpieces without company to distract her. Some students shuffle past and attempt small talk, and though she never fails to give them a smile and make conversation, it’s not very successful

Truthfully, she’s yet to make any friends in this town, which is a bit worrying considering that this is supposed to be their home for the next few years. Apparently, the pharmacy their father works at in Junible needs enough help that he’ll have a stable position there until the girls graduate college. Cassidy has already gained early acceptance from a university not too far from here, and though she threatens to find something further away, it’s safe to say that Cassandra will end up applying to the same one.

Of course, there’s always Hansel as far as friends go, but Cassidy isn’t sure that he counts. He’s Cassandra’s boyfriend, but he’s always tried to pay attention to Cassidy too. Though, he’s not exactly her first choice. He’s always near Cassandra, and something about seeing them together irritates her on some level. Maybe because he reminds her of all the other boyfriends Cassandra has picked up and dropped over the years. She’d be grumpy for a few days once they had to leave town despite Cassidy trying to tiptoe around her. Still, Cassandra didn’t seem to remember the few friends that Cassidy had to leave behind just the same, even if they weren’t “in love.” Maybe that’s the difference between them. Cassandra can’t seem to stop bouncing between whoever she met last month, and Cassidy when things went south. But maybe that’s what happens when you have friends.

Once the lights dim and the gym fills up with music and voices, Cassidy finally slips away to the bathroom stalls. She prods her hair in the mirror and cautiously eyes the door as she breathes in and out. The day has finally taken a toll on her, and the sound of small talk and blaring bass is giving her a headache. This happens far too often for her liking. Despite her fascination and fondness of new people, crowds always wear her down. So, she can’t help but weave in and out of the gym for an hour before Cassandra spots her, and she can’t help but sign in relief when she pulls her aside.

“Ready to go already?” Cassandra frowns and pulls her towards the exit, and Cassidy reluctantly follows.

“But aren’t you having fun, and—”

“Let’s just go already.” Cassandra tugs her arm harder and doesn’t let go until they reach the parking lot.

Cassidy enters the condo first, stripping off her boots and coat and taking Cassandra’s to hang next to her’s.

“We’re back,” Cassandra sing-songs before perching herself next to their father on the sofa as Cassidy follows. “What are you up to?” Cassidy’s eyes flicker to Ben’s phone as Cassandra absently turns on the radio, dialing it to the news.

“Hey, can you turn that off for a second, hon?”

“Sure, why?” Cassandra obliges.

“I have something to tell you two.” Ben looks up at them and stores the phone back in his pocket. “Can I do that?”

“That depends on if it’s good or bad,” Cassandra says warily.

“You can tell us,” Cassidy assures him, lightly shoving Cassandra to the side.

Ben chuckles and turns to face them. “Well, I’m not gonna lie to you; it’s not good. But I’m telling you knowing that you are mature and responsible and you understand why we have to do some things we don’t like sometimes.”

“Okay…” Cassandra drags.

Ben clears his throat. “I know what I said a while back about the pharmacy, but this is all a little sudden. Um… I got a call this morning from my boss, and they think they’ve found another pharmacy that needs a technician more than Junible’s. It’s kind of far. It’s… where I grew up actually, if you remember me telling you. It’s a pretty big city south of here on an island off the coast. It’s called Altraggo.”

“Can’t you just tell him that they need help here? Isn’t that what you did last time?” Cassandra offers, but Ben just shakes his head.

“It’s my hometown, and I want to go. I’m taking it because I think it’s time we moved back.”

They both stare at him, clearly stunned. Cassandra furrows her brow and scoffs, leaving Cassidy the only one capable of forming a complete sentence. “But… why? If we move there, we’ll just be leaving for college in a few months. It doesn’t really—”

“You’re not going to college here sweetie. There are lots of big, really beautiful universities in Altraggo, and I’m sure you’ll love one of them.”

“Why one of those? Why can’t we travel somewhere else?” Cassandra quips.

“Can’t afford it.” Ben frowns. “But girls, we’re taking a flight in the morning.”

Cassandra shakes her head.

“Yes. That’s final.” Ben raises his voice just slightly, but lowers it again at the sight of his daughters’ confused faces.

“I’m sorry, loves.” He breathes out and lifts himself off of the sofa, avoiding both of their eyes as he walks off.