Paranormal Twins: The New Beginning

We followed Tadashi through the maze of hallways and rooms in the abandoned mansion. Tadashi put his finger to his lips, his wand in one hand lighting the way and a sword in the other. I was following close behind him, a knife in hand, ready to throw if need be. Sage was behind us, walking backwards to protect us, a dagger in each hand.

Tadashi stopped at a closed door and looked back at us. I nodded and we both looked at Sage, who turned around and walked closer, nodding, telling us it was safe to go on and nobody was following us. Tadashi turned back and turned the knob. It only opened a quarter of the way before something in front of it stopped it. Tadashi pushed the door harder until it moved and slowly made his way inside, looking for any traps. “It’s safe. Nobody… Well, nobody living is in here.” I scrunched my eyebrows together and walked in after him.

What I saw before me had me holding my breath. Immediate images of my mother, dead on the counter, flashed before my eyes. As well as other, just as clear visions of another woman, vaguely familiar, being scratched and killed by, what looked like, Werewolf claws. I shook my head, clearing away my thoughts and memories, and the room reappeared in my vision. A body of a man, no older than 20 years old, was what was blocking the door, an arrow in his back. Dead.

Sage touched my back and I jumped. I realized that while I was spaced out, Tadashi was already halfway across the room, checking the pulses of the men and women he passed. All dead. She looked at me sadly, knowing what I was thinking about. “Come on, we have to keep moving. Jakki might still be here somewhere.” I grimaced, not wanting to think about what position she would be in when we found her.

Sage jerked her head to the left, the opposite way Tadashi went, and I nodded. We walked around, staying close to the wall. Sage didn’t need to check the pulse to see if they were alive, she could hear if any of them had a heartbeat.

I heard a groan and I lifted up my knife, worried that one of these men were alive and was going to try to attack. Instead, I saw something that both relieved, and angered, me- for different reasons. Jakki, my sister, slumped against the wall, barely conscious, but thankfully alive, her hands holding a wound on her side, covered in blood.

I forgot all about the bodies and the danger surrounding us and ran straight towards Jakki, taking off my over shirt to put on her wound. Sage followed behind me, putting her daggers away. I bent down next to her, pulling her hands away from her side. Her eyes barely fluttered.

“She’s lost a lot of blood.” Sage said quickly, looking at the wound. “It’s not super long, but it’s deep. Werewolf scratch.” She grabbed the shirt I took off and put it on her side. I heard Jakki let out a whimper and she opened her eyes.

Her green eyes were dazed for a few seconds before they focused on my face. She smiled weakly. “Jay...” Her body slumped back and she gripped my undershirt tightly. I whipped my head towards Sage.

“Werewolf scratches hurt a lot more than normal animal or human scratches. They don’t heal as quickly or as easily. That, combined with how much blood she lost, is not a good match. She’ll be falling in and out of consciousness until we can get her a blood transfusion and pain medicine.” Sage checked her pulse. “Her pulse is slow, but luckily it’s still there.”

Jakki’s eyes fluttered open again and she finished the rest of what she was going to say. “Jay… You came… I knew you’d come...” She grimaced at Sage’s touches and I pulled her closer to me.

“Shh, of course I came. I had to come. I couldn’t let anything happen to my sister.” I mumbled into her hair. She looked up at me, shocked but happy. I smiled at her and kissed her forehead gently. I pulled her closer and realized I started getting too cold-frost was starting to cover her. She didn’t seem too affected, but I didn’t want to freeze her all the same.

I warmed up slightly, but I couldn’t keep completely warm. Jakki relaxed slightly, Sage finishing with checking over Jakki’s vitals, before a look of concern washed over Jakki’s face. “Marina. Where’s Marina?” She suddenly tried to escape from my arms before pain washed over her and she fell back into my lap.

I pulled her close and stroked her hair. “You can’t stand up. You can barely stay conscious.”

Jakki shook her head, her eyes fluttering. “Marina… I need to find Marina… Promised her...”

“I’m right here, Jakki.” A voice said behind me. I turned back and saw a girl with turquoise hair walk over with Tadashi. She sat down on her legs next to me and took one of Jakki’s hands gently, paying no attention to the blood on them. “We’re safe now.” She looked up at me and smiled a little. “I’m going to take a guess and say that you’re her brother.” I nodded slowly. “Protect her. She’s had a tough life. Protect her and accept her.”

Before I could ask what she meant by that, she hissed, dropped Jakki’s hand, and clutched at her right shoulder. Sage glanced up to her. “What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

Marina pulled her sleeve up to uncover her shoulder. There were claw marks, three of them, only about two inches wide, on the top of her shoulder. “It’s… It’s just a scratch. Nothing big.” She shrugged it off before she hissed again and doubled over, tears pricking up in her eyes. The claw marks seemed to grow. At first I thought it was a trick of the eyes, but the scratches were actually growing and moving down her arm.

Sage moved over to Marina and looked at the scratch. “That’s a Werewolf scratch. But that’s not supposed to happen…” She glanced up at Tadashi.

Tadashi bent down and waved his wand over her scratch. “Sage is right. That’s a normal Werewolf scratch. No magic was added to it or anything. That shouldn’t be possible.” Tadashi stopped and glanced at Sage. “Unless… Marina...” He looked at Marina and she looked up at him, tears falling down her face from the pain. “Marina, what type of creature are you?”

Marina looked at him confused. “I’m a Mermaid. But I don’t see what that has to do with-” She interrupted herself with a screech of pain. Her skin started to turn slightly green and what looked like scales appeared.

Tadashi bit his lip and put his hand on Marina’s back. “Marina...” He sighed. “Marina, Werewolves are poison to Mermaids. You… You’re dying.” He looked down.

Marina looked at him. “No… I can’t be… There has to be a cure!”

Sage sighed. “Technically, yes, there is. But it takes a long time to make and… The poison has taken hold of you. Even if we did have the elixir, it’s too late. I’m sorry.”

Marina looked from Tadashi and Sage before pain gripped her and she relaxed into Tadashi’s arms. She looked over at Jakki, who was close to losing consciousness completely. Marina reached out and grabbed Jakki’s hand again. “Thank you, Jakki… For saving me...” She let go of her hand and let out a small sigh. Her last breath. A small light appeared in her chest, and when it disappeared Marina had a light pink and blue tail instead of legs.

I looked up at Sage. “Why did she change?”

“Mermaids are born with tails. They don’t get legs until after they’re given a bath and then dried off. It’s only fitting that they go back to their original form when they die.” Sage explained. Tadashi picked up Marina and stood.

“We need to get going. We don’t know if the Rogues are going to come back or not, and I don’t really want to be here when they do.” Tadashi looked at me and glanced at Jakki. “Think you can carry her?”

I looked at her and nodded. I put one arm under her knees and the other along the back of her shoulders and picked her up.

Tadashi looked at Sage. “Can you get my wand off the floor?” Sage nodded and did as he said. “Good.” He looked back and forth between us. “Now… Let’s just hope I can get us home without my wand.”

I blinked and felt a gust of wind before opening my eyes and saw we were outside the facility doors. We walked into the facility, Sage holding the door open for us. Andrew and Corey, who were talking by the window, saw us come in and walked over to us. Corey took Marina from Tadashi and looked at him confused. Sage said she’d explain later and Tadashi rolled his wrists out before clapping his hands together.

“So, Corey, you take Marina to the Lead Researcher and talk to her about organizing a wake and funeral. Sage, you and Jay take Jakki to the infirmary and make sure she’s okay. Andrew, you and I are going to go to the Leaders and tell them what happened.”

Andrew looked confused. “I thought we weren’t going to tell the Leaders what happened.”

Tadashi shook his head. “Of course we’re going to tell them. I just wanted to be able to find Jakki first. I didn’t want to lose my job, and they might not have tried to save her since she was new and wasn’t even training yet. Since she’s here and the problem was solved, nothing will happen.” He scratched behind his head. “Well, nothing major will happen…” He mumbled.

Andrew sighed and nodded before they walked to the Leader’s office. Corey kissed Sage on the forehead quickly before following them. I looked at Sage, pulled Jakki closer, and went to get help.