• T W I N S
    the curse

    By LyricalNana

    “Don’t worry, Eva. Mom and dad are bringing the medicine back for you, okay? So don’t give up!”
    “But,” Eva coughed into her fist. “We don’t have any money… Why are they using it on my medicine?”
    “Because they love you, Eva!” Pan sat on her knees on top of the large bed. Tears filled her eyes as she watched her younger twin sister lie in bed, ill. “So keep on fighting, okay?”
    “Okay.”
    “Promise me!”
    “I promise you, Pan. I’ll keep fighting.”


    “I hear that another pair of twins has been born with the curse, Crocell.”
    “Is that so?”
    “Ah, of course it is. And her time has come.”
    “Their age?”
    “9.”
    “Only?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well then, guess I’ll be on my way to do my job.” The man named Crocell left the dark dungeon.
    “I’ll see to it you do.” The mysterious shadow stands there, looking in the direction of Crocell’s departure and laughs menacingly. His hands are held out in front of his chest, each finger contacting the opposite finger in a pattern. And with that, he disappears in a black smoke.


    After sitting with her sister Eva for a few moments, Pan was drifting to sleep. Eva was wide awake as she lay there in pain. Pan sat on the bed still with her head bobbing back and forth and her eyes closing and opening constantly. Suddenly, something hit the window with a loud bang. Both of the sisters gasped and turned to look at the window. It was only a crow. “Oh. Phew! I got scared for a second there for some reason, Eva.” Pan turned to look over at Eva again. “Eva…?”
    Eva’s eyes were wide in fear. It was as if she’d seen a ghost. Or as if she’d seen something terribly frightening or something that would scar her for life.
    “Eva?” Pan whispered again, afraid.
    “So you must be the weak one…” A deep and manly, yet young, voice spoke in the silence. His mouth curved into a smile as he walked over and next to the king-sized bed. His footsteps were heavy as they walked on the oak wood panels playing as the floor. “So young… and yet death is coming your way quickly. But now that I’m here, I’ve just figured out that you’re not going to die as soon as we thought… In a few years, though, you will.”
    What was he babbling on about? Something having to do with, death…?
    Slowly, Pan’s head turned to look at the man. He was tall, perhaps it was because she was so small, and he wore some kind of jacket and cloak. It was a dark shade of royal blue. She could see his eyes perfectly as he withdrew his hood. They were a mix between an emerald green and a cerulean blue. Pan couldn’t help but stare at them. Yet, she was still so afraid. “Who… Who are you?!”
    “Me? I am the infamous Crocell Leonard.”
    “…”
    “In other words, I am Death’s Worker.”
    “Death’s…” Pan started.
    “Worker…?” Eva finished.
    Crocell nodded proudly. “You know the guy with the scythe and the black cloak; made of bones. One touch and you are a goner, that guy.”
    The two 9-year-olds stared at him with big watery eyes. Crocell mentally smacked himself. It was pretty obvious they were scared to death. What did he care though? He took souls all the time. “Anyway, I’m just here for her.” Crocell pointed at Eva.
    Pan looked at Eva briefly before making a move. That was his turn to gasp. Pan stepped off of the bed and stood shortly in front of him. Her arms were in the air, spread out as if she were a shield, and she had a stern look on her face. “I’m not letting you take my sister!”
    Crocell was caught off guard. He knelt down on one knee and put his left arm on his perched knee. “What makes you think that?”
    Gulping hard, Pan just shouted at him, not answering his question. “You can’t have her!”
    He was beginning to get very irritated with this little girl. Ticked off, he stood up. “Fine, whatever. Besides, it’s not her time yet.”
    “Yet?” That’s when Pan recalled his words earlier. He had said something about in a few years that Eva would die.
    “I like deals. So let’s make one up.”
    “A deal?” Pan had a confused and questioned look on her face. Who in the world is this guy?! And why does he want my sister?! Still having a young mind, she hadn’t fully processed ‘death’.
    “Yes, a deal. Next time we meet, if you aren’t bothersome then I’ll let you be with your sister forever.”
    Stuck in awe, Pan looked at Crocell with wide and believing eyes. “Really?” Pan loved her sister very much. They were best friends. In this world, her sister was really the only one she had, besides her parents. They understood each other perfectly. They got along really well.
    When they first moved here, they went to the park one day to play after school. No one could tell them apart since they were so identical. They hated it a lot. They’d be mistaken as each other since they were so alike too.
    Do you guys want to play with us?
    Me?
    Me?
    Both of you, of course!
    You’re talking to both of us?
    Everyone would always talk to both of them so they wouldn’t get the wrong name. Or if they only wanted to play with one of them, they would just have to play with the other twin too- because they couldn’t tell them apart.
    The twins hated it. But they didn’t hate each other for that.

    “Hello?” The man’s voice broke her train of thought down memory lane.
    “Huh?”
    “Deal?” He held his hand out for her to shake and to put the deal in play- to make it official.
    Hesitating, Pan gulped once more. Her throat felt extremely dry as she looked at his hand. Sweat ran down her face. “Deal…” She spoke quietly and softly.
    “Pan!” Eva’s voice was hoarse as she called out her sister’s name. Don’t do this… She thought to herself and just watched as Pan moved her hand closer and closer to his, until they eventually met and shook.
    A bright light emitted from inside their hands, inside of their handshake. Pan watched in amazement and just kept staring. Crocell smirked evilly. Then, the bright light disappeared, taking with it Crocell. Pan didn’t think too much of it, only wondering if it was real or just merely a dream.