Tethered Twins

Vlad Givik

Two shadowy figures sat in a blue saloon car outside of Rex’s house. They had been watching him for weeks knowing that he would lead them to Emmie. Vlad and the tall man watched as Rex and Rufus hopped on a motorbike and rode away from his home. They followed behind making sure not to be seen.

One hundred miles away Tobias Zen said to himself “Time to check in.”

He sat back in the chair and placed a head set on. Around him were lines of computers and row upon row of turned out lights. He closed his eyes and two lights turned on from one of the computers. Two LED’s pulsed like a heartbeat, each one at a slightly different pace.

Vlad and the tall man’s eyes turned to orange as Tobias took over their bodies. They could still think for themselves but he was in control of them now. The transition was seamless and they continued to drive now under the control of Tobias.

“Hello boss,” replied Vlad, showing a small element of control. “You could have killed us you know.”

Tobias used his connection to tweak a nerve in Vlad’s brain. The pain was enough for him to get the message very quickly.

As Tobias sat in his chair he controlled the two of them separately. His thoughts were interpreted via one of the computers which separated them and gave Vlad and the tall man a separate set of tasks. To make things easier for him Tobias had left them with some self-control so they could do mundane tasks like driving for themselves but if he wanted to he could completely control their every action.

For the two twins who loved to be in control, this was an interesting trade off. They were immortal whilst under Tobias’ control but were less in control of their own life. It was a conflict that they talked about often when their thoughts were their own.

For now the arrangement served them well. Tobias had promised them that in a week’s time he wouldn’t need to take them over anymore but that he would keep the link alive. It would allow the twins to live forever. They would be invincible and free to control their own fate. It was something they both had dreamed of. Serving Tobias in the short term was a small price to pay for immortality.

Tobias watched through their eyes as they saw Rex and Rufus leave through the city boundary and head towards a large stone building. A military base? What business would they have there? he wondered.

Tobias ripped control from the tall man and stepped his foot on the brake pedal. The car stopped sharply and Rex disappeared in the distance. “What did you do that for?” asked Vlad. “We’ll never catch them now.”

Vlad heard a voice in his head. A thought that wasn’t his own. “Leave.”

“No! We have to stop them. I will kill them,” replied Vlad, unwilling to give up his prey. He looked over at his brother and saw that he was not in control. His head hung downwards as he waited his next instruction.

“Leave or I will make you leave,” stated Tobias in Vlad’s head. Vlad was powerless and not happy.

The tall man sat upwards again and fixed his gaze on the road ahead.

“No Brother!” shouted Vlad. He tried to grab his brother’s arms and stop him from turning around but Tobias amplified the pressure in his brain and took over his mind. He sat back in his seat and put his arms on his lap. Tobias had complete control of him now.

--<><>--

Rex T Jules

“Did you have to bring that?” asked Rex, as he pointed to the frying pan in Rufus’ hand.

“Oh yeah,” replied Rufus. “This baby saved my life. There’s no way I’m letting it go. It saved your life too bro. Never did get a thank you for that.”

“I’m pretty sure I said thank you.”

“Whatever. As long as you save my life one day then we can call it even,” playfully teased Rufus.

“I’ll try to remember that.”

“So this is a trap right? The stabby twin and the time loving twin back to finish what they didn’t do last time?”

“Probably but if it’s really Emmie then we have to know if she is still alive. We still don’t know what she’s caught up in.”

“That girl always was good at keeping secrets. What makes you think she’ll need us? We’re not soldiers. We’re just one amazingly attractive guy, me and one slightly chubby brother, you. What can we do?”

“If she sent us a message then she needs us, that’s more than enough for me,” replied Rex as he parked the car.

“Then it’s enough for me too,” said Rufus as he looked out at the military base in front of them. It was a large stone bunker comprised of snaking walkways that had once housed tanks and jeeps. The army had used it as a large storage facility years ago but they no longer had a need for it. All military vehicles now patrolled the large cities and coasts twenty four hours a day on rotating shifts.

It made the country feel safer but really it was just a power play to stop other nations from invading the UK and taking our remaining wealth. Soldiers didn’t receive a salary but they got their food and living expenses paid for so for any of the have-nots it was an appealing prospect and many people applied. Most of them assumed war would never happen so their lives were fairly well looked after with minimal risk. Yet, they dreaded the day that war would eventually arise.

For Rex and Rufus this base was the perfect hiding place. When they had been growing up the two of them along with Grace and Emmie had come to this base to play hide and seek. It was only two hours walk from Smyth West and it provided a lot of entertainment for free.

So when Emmie had simply texted Rex the words “Hide and seek?” he had known exactly where to go. He hoped the message had been cryptic enough that no one else would find them either.

They entered the base through two large metal double doors which automatically turned on hundreds of overhead lights revealing several stone pathways that curved around the building in spiral patterns. They had learnt the path to the centre of the base over many years. Right, left, left, second right, over the walkway and then one more right.

--<><>--

Emmie Keyes

As I saw them turn the last right they shouted to me. “Emmie!” Rufus was carrying a frying pan which seemed odd even for him.

I hugged them both and was happy to see familiar faces that I could trust. “I missed you both.”

“We thought you had died Emmie. What happened to you?” asked Rex.

“It’s a long story.”

“Well it’s a good thing we bought tea, a kettle and some marshmallows!” replied Rufus.

“Grace would hate you right now.”

“Well she’s not here is she?”

Whilst we made a small fire from some logs and boiled the tea, I told them what had happened with Will, Tobias and The Deck. I left out my relationship with March as I really wasn’t sure what I thought of him now but I told them about Grace’s deception with her fake twin.

“But you’ve always been able to trust Grace. She’s one of the good one’s surely?” asked Rufus, tucking it to a rapidly melting marshmallow.

“I did. I mean I do, I still do trust her. I just don’t know enough about The Deck and what they want from me. No matter what I do it seems like Tobias and The Deck want something from me.”

“Well duh! Everyone wants something from everyone. That’s life. All you can do is decide who you want to give yourself to. It sounds like The Deck want to save the world and Tobias wants to bring it to war. It’s a pretty easy choice Emmie.”

“He’s right.” said Rex, causing Rufus to let out a gasp in shock. “As much as I hate to say it my brother makes a good point. Whatever The Deck want, it sounds like if you do nothing then a lot of innocent people will die. There’s no way Grace would let anything bad happen to you.”

R&R had always spoken a lot of sense and I regretted not confiding in them earlier. They had proven to be the most truthful people of all and I should have trusted them in the first place.

“Loverboy here is right,” said Rufus. “Besides he practically died to save you.”

“What?” I asked, shocked.

Rex opened his shirt to reveal a large scar on one side of his chest. “I was attacked. The man you said attacked Will, the one with all of the knives, he attacked me. He wanted to know where you were so I lied to him so he wouldn’t find you.

It made sense. The men who had killed Will had the same orange eyes as Tobias’ experiments. If he knew I was alive, he would probably have sent them to look for me. Yet something didn’t add up about them. In all of his experiments that Tobias had shown, one of the twins sat stationary whilst he controlled the other. Yet when Will was attacked both men moved independently, despite presumably being related and having orange eyes. It was as if a third force was controlling them but I didn’t know how that could be possible.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I didn’t want anyone else to be hurt because of me. That’s why I’d never told R&R about the orange eyed men in the first place. Although I wanted to protect them they’d been hurt anyway. I felt horrible.

“It’s ok. I may have lost a lung but as long as I don’t put too much pressure on my body I’ll be ok,” said Rex. I couldn’t believe he would endure so much pain for me. We’d known each other a long time but his sacrifice touched me.

I hugged him and said I was sorry. He told me not to blame myself and that he’d do it again.

“How many lungs do you think you have?” Teased Rufus. “I doubt you could do it again. Anyway you missed the best bit,” Rufus started swinging the frying pan he had been carrying since I saw him. “I saved my bro and possibly the world.”

“I doubt you saved the world,” said Rex.

“Always so ungrateful!” replied Rufus and it was just like old times.

--<><>--

Rex T Jules

In the town of Birmingham, on the twelfth floor of Mr King’s tower a server turned on by itself. The virus Tobias had installed started to work its way into the system. No one was there to stop it. Mr King was being interviewed by the police and his staff were either at home or being subjected to questions. The virus was free to do whatever Tobias wanted it to do.

The server sent out a command deep into space where it was received by a satellite. The satellite tilted its angle slightly and pointed towards the south of the UK. A signal was beamed down back to the Earth, where it landed in the town on Smyth West.

In an army base.

On Rex’s phone.

His phone emitted a small buzzing sound, which raised in volume until it was so loud Emmie, Rex and Rufus had to cover their ears. When the sound had passed Emmie looked at Rex and saw that he had changed. His eyes now pulsed a dark orange colour. She looked at Rufus and his eyes did the same.

“Hello Emmie,” said Rex. “I knew I’d find you again.”

“Tobias?”

Two more orange lights had been activated on the computers around Tobias. One for Rex and one for Rufus. Tobias looked out through the eyes of Rex at the girl he had let escape. He saw the fear in her eyes and it made him smile. It made him feel powerful.