Chapter One
“This is going to be such a great vacation!” Viola gushed to Cora as she plopped down on the end of Cora’s bed.
Cora rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her bed. “What’s going to be so great about it?” She asked grumpily. They had no exciting plans other than to get summer jobs and try to stay away from their prison of a home as much of the time that they could.
“Come on! You’ll only stay miserable if you think about it like that! There’s no school so we can go have some fun!” Viola enthused, ignoring her twin’s negative attitude. She didn’t understand why Cora always had to be such a drag all of the time. She knew that their living situation just plain sucked but there was really no reason to wallow in it all of the time like Cora seemed to want to.
“Don’t forget we’ve gotta get summer jobs.” Cora said to Viola impatiently. “Or do you wanna stay in this freak show forever?”
“Oh, I’ve already got my job in the bag!” Viola pronounced proudly and bounced up from her perch on the end of Cora’s bed to her full 5’7” height, stretched her arms and back, and then headed over to her side of the room and started digging through her backpack looking for something.
“Really? What’s that?” Cora asked disbelieving. To Cora, Viola never took anything seriously and it drove her absolutely crazy.
“I saw this flyer on the way home yesterday and called the number. It’s for some kind of sleep study program at the local community college. They pay for you to sleep! Isn’t that great?” Viola gushed while still digging through her pack.
“You’re not serious?” Cora asked sitting up to study her sister with wide eyes.
“Definitely serious! It’ll be great! There’s still a few slots open if you wanna join me! In fact, when I told them that I had a twin, they were even more interested in getting me signed up! Plus, the pay is pretty good!” Viola said as she kept digging. Her brow started to knit itself into a frown above her almond shaped hazel eyes the longer it took to find what she was looking for.
“You told them about me?” Cora asked cautiously and pursed her full lips in consternation. She didn’t know how she felt about that. She was used to Viola’s carefree attitude about life but after everything that they’d been through, Cora just couldn’t trust that openly anymore.
“Yeah. I didn’t see a problem with it.” Viola replied, finally giving up her search and flopping back on her own bed. She knew the tone in Cora’s voice and knew that Cora was going to start lecturing her any second now.
“Of course you wouldn’t…” Cora started. “Maybe you should have thought about my feelings before you start telling strangers about…”
“Look, enough!” Viola snapped. “I don’t need one of your lectures right now. You know as well as I do that they could find out about you without me telling them anything! I don’t know why you act like it’s some big secret! We look exactly alike!” Both girls were identical in every sense of the word in appearance with their long deep chocolate brown hair that flowed down around their shoulders and back in soft waves down to their waists and bright almond shaped hazel eyes. They both had high cheek bones and long, thick, dark eyelashes that required no mascara at all on their narrow oval shaped faces. Both Cora & Viola thought their best feature of all was their full, soft lips. Both girls were a make-up artist’s dream. While Viola liked to accent her features with makeup, elaborately style her hair and stand out from the crowd, Cora was all for keeping it simple with her hair in a ponytail and lip gloss as her only accent to her face.
“I know, I know!” Cora said throwing her hands up in the air as she flopped back down. “It’s just that it feels like people are only interested in us because we’re twins and I don’t like it. Something feels off, and I don’t know what it is. Do you know what I mean?”
“Sometimes, yeah, I do. It’s weird. There’s really nothing we can do about it so there’s no use in letting it drag us down. We have six months left before we can get out of this dump and away from Patrick and Anna Kilpatrick and all of their hatefulness and abuse. I really think that you should do this sleep study with me! You can get another job if you want to or if it doesn’t work for you. Just give it a try! I really wish that you’d let your hair down once in a while and have some fun! Live a little!” Viola replied emphatically. She knew how hard it was for Cora to trust anyone enough to relax and enjoy herself. She probably wouldn’t do it until they were far away from here either.
“I know. I’m looking forward to leaving and never looking back! Do you really think that this sleep study will help us reach that goal? I can’t stay here much longer. I’m tired of always looking over my shoulder and constantly watching your back and I know you feel the same way.” Cora said quietly not wanting anyone else to overhear.
“Yeah, I think that the study is worth a try at least! I was trying to find the copy of the flyer that I brought home in my back pack but I can’t find it for some reason. I know that I put it in here and it’s like it vanished into thin air.” Viola said with a little worry in her voice. “It almost feels like someone’s been going thru my stuff.”
“Is this the first time?” Cora sat up at full attention. She’d been feeling the same way lately. It gave her the creeps and she shuddered just thinking about it.
“Not really. I’ve had this feeling or noticed something missing a few times now. Nothing important though which is why I haven’t said anything before now.” Viola replied.
All of a sudden Cora felt goose bumps rise on the back of her neck. She got up, grabbed her keys and Viola’s hand, heading for the bedroom door.
“What?” Viola asked surprised.
“I think we need to get started on that job hunting.” Cora said giving her sister a pointed look that she knew Viola would get while still pulling her out of the room. One of the great things about being a twin was being able to communicate in a manner that no one else understood, they could read each other’s looks or body language instantly and sometimes it was just something that they felt from each other on a level that most people never reach. She was using that to her advantage now. Another great thing was that they trusted each other’s instincts without question. Viola knew that Cora’s instincts were telling her to get out now and she wasn’t going to argue.
“Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Hold on, let me get my purse really fast! It’s in the closet so it’ll only take me a minute!” Viola pulled her hand free from Cora and dashed back into the room that they shared. There were enough rooms in the house for each of them to have their own room but neither Cora nor Viola would agree to separate, at least not while they were living with the Kilpatrick’s. The shared space ensured that they always had the others back when it was necessary because they never knew when the horror would start up again. They needed to watch out for each other because there was no one else in the world that was going to look out for them. The thought saddened Cora but there was nothing to be done about it but survive and she was determined that they would both do that no matter what the circumstances were.
After waiting in the hallway for much longer than was necessary for Viola to retrieve her purse tapping her foot anxiously, she knew something was wrong. She debated on going back to their room or trying to call for help. Since she didn’t know what could be wrong, it was just a feeling in the pit of her stomach after all, she opted to go check on Viola first before sounding any alarms.
Cautiously, Cora headed back toward their room and froze in the doorway with a scream lodged in her throat at what she found.
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