*Peeks head around corner* Hello? Is anyone out there?

This may sound like a joke as it is long overdue, but I'm sorry to anyone who still cares about Time in a Bottle that this upload took so long. All I can say is that school kicked me in the ass last fall semester, and I was extremely lacking in the inspiration and motivation department. Don't feel obligated to read this if you've long since given up on its upload; just know that it is here now.

To any newcomers, welcome! This is a one-shot (series? trilogy?) that somewhat takes place within the perimeters of my story 'Time in a Bottle'. It isn't necessary for you to have read my other story involving Nora and Peter, but if you want to its on my profile :)

Anyways, enough talk: read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canonical X-Men Characters or storylines. Those belong to their original creators and Fox Searchlight Pictures.

*All dialogue spoken in italics—by the sisters—is French.

Paris, France. 1347.

"Mais non, please, Danielle! Please wake up!" Nora pleaded to her sibling. "I'm sorry! We should not have- I should have listened to you—it was too dangerous!"

She clenched her sister's shirt in her tiny fists, sobbing into her chest.

"Please!" she cried. "You cannot just leave me like this! You said we would stay together!"

Nora could feel her head starting to hurt. Sparks fizzled across her body; bright spots danced across her vision. This was new; an unknown experience that frightened her.

She was alone in this—without her sister. What would she do without Danielle? Danielle always knew what to do…

Hugging on to her sister's body, Nora's prayers were answered as she felt movement beneath her.

"I am here, sister." Danielle's eyes flickered open as she spoke those words.

As they held hands, bodies spilling into rays of golden light, Nora knew that they would always be together.

Brooklyn General Hospital, New York. September, 1961.

"Blood pressure and heart rate are rising, Doctor!"

"This head wound won't clean itself, Nurse!"

"Will someone get our anesthetist in here?!"

"And where did you say you found these two?"

"Um…" Timothy Walker gulped nervously. "Well, you see… I was just walking home—sprinting actually 'cause I'd forgot a raincoat. …And, well, then there was this big flash! Like… like lightning.."

"So the two naked children just appeared out of thin air."

"...Yes? One had wrapped a coat around the other. I gave my blazer to the smaller child."

"Uh huh..." The police officer tapped his chin thoughtfully. He hadn't seen anything like this before. Walker was a young man well-known in the community for his kind heart and tardy habits—not pedophiliac activity.

On the other side of the building, in the recovery wing, Nora shivered despite the blanket and warm clothes she had been given.

"Would you like something to drink, sweetheart?"

The girl looked up from her own lap. Thinking for a moment, she then shook her head nervously.

"Are you sure?" The same nurse (Greyson was her name) who had put the strange IV in her arm asked Nora.

Nora nodded. She had passed out when the IV was put in, but not because of the pain—which was what everyone had assumed. It had really happened because of the shock of receiving copies of all the memories Nurse Greyson had ever possessed.

"May I..." She tried out the english language once more. "May I see my sister?"

The nurse smiled pityingly. "She's not awake yet..."

Nora's face fell.

The nurse reconsidered, "but I'll take you to her."

Danielle also had a tube sticking out of her arm. There were bandages around her forehead, and a number of bandaids covering her many scratches.

Band-aid. A word Nora had received from Nurse Greyson's vast vocabulary. They were temporary bandages that stuck to you like sap—though Nora knew it hurt more to have sap removed!

She waited at Danielle's side for many rotations of the clock. (Clock: a much more efficient way of keeping time.) Just as the third rotation passed, Danielle fluttered back into consciousness.

Nora held her hand the entire time, and the moment she felt it shift out of her grasp she was fully awake again.

"Danielle!" She cried out, keeping her voice low as to not draw attention. "You're awake!" Nora felt like crying, she was so relieved.

Danielle was alive, thanks to the magical medicine and kind-heartedness of these future people. Nora pressed her face into her sister's chest, crushing her with a strong hug.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured fiercely. "So sorry..." She repeated the phrase over and over again, her words disappearing all together.

The lights shone brightly into Danielle's eyes; she had to squint. The strange clothes covering her body rustled as she moved to sit up. An object in the corner kept making that horrible noise as she did so; her head spun into a loop as Danielle pressed her back into the bed frame.

She looked to her left and saw Nora practically sobbing her apologies. Danielle remembered what had happened and knew that Nora felt responsible.

It wasn't her fault.

"Shhhh..." Danielle slurred, still woozy from the anesthetics she was on. "Not your… fault..."

Nora sniffed, slowly lifting her head up. Danielle wiped away a tear with one hand before letting it fall on her shoulder.

When Nora had held Danielle's hand before she'd awoken, the transfer of memories from sister to sister had been small—almost unrecognizable. They had practically spent every day of their lives together (excluding the two years before Nora's birth), and knew each other very well.

"Where… where are we?" Danielle asked the question that had been on her mind since the moment she'd woken. She never thought somewhere indoors could be so bright.

Nora wasn't sure how this could be explained to her. According to the Nurse's memories, the year was 1961. That was centuries (another word from Nurse Greyson's vocabulary) from when either of them had been born.

"I think… I think that I somehow brought us here," Nora tried to explain. "We're in a place called 'America', across the great ocean from France. And we're—we're not in the same..." She searched for the most accurate word. "Time? Time. We are in a different time."

Even in her sleepy state, Danielle's eyes visibly widened. The future. This must be it.

"Your gift," she whispered, clutching Nora's hand. "Like how I can sometimes see things. You can… travel."

But I don't want this, Nora thought. I want to go home!

Danielle knew that they needed to leave. Two children alone anywhere was a suspicious situation. Adults would come for them. Adults… with their grabby, manipulative fingers. -Once they got a hold of you, there was no escaping them.

"Sister." Nora prodded Danielle as her eyes began to droop. "What do we do now?"

"We must leave," Danielle said. "Before anyone comes back." She gestured to the tube in her forearm. "Quickly! Get this out!"

Nora got some bandages before following through with it. She knew that blood could arise once an IV had been removed.

As Nora helped Danielle out of the hospital bed, she whispered "There are… other regions to your power… click your fingers, Nora; like the showman does."

Nora followed her instructions, snapping her fingers. In doing that, an erie silence settled into the girls' ears.

No one opposing them, they walked out of the hospital. Nora kept her arms wrapped around Danielle for the entire journey.

They passed by people, all of them stopped. It was like they were frozen in place, just without all the ice.

What has happened to me? Nora wondered.

They had just come out the front doors, and now there were a million rain drops floating in front of them. Floating, but not hitting the ground.

November, 1962. Brooklyn, New York.

"We are leaving today."

"Why?" Nora questioned her sister. She didn't want to leave. It was almost her birthday, and she was certain that Ms. Parkinson would have her glasses by then.

It was recess time. They were sitting on the playground's set of double swings. Danielle's feet just skimmed the ground as they moved back and forth in sync.

"I saw bad people last night," Danielle explained. "A woman in white… a demon."

Nora frowned; she had noticed the dark bags under Danielle's eyes this morning. Those were the usual, tell-tale signs.

"When will they be here?" Nora asked.

Danielle slowly pressed her feet into the sand, effectively stopping her swing. "I do not know. Soon, I think."

"Oh. Okay." Nora was saddened by this, and as they boarded the bus to Oregon, she knew that a part of her would always reside in Brooklyn.

A few days later Nora traveled back to Poland during the time it was occupied by the Nazis.

There she met a boy named Erik. They talked for many hours before Nora was pulled forward to her present.

This trip had been different than the rest; she felt it, spinning between spaces and times. On top of that, her first tooth had come loose. Unfortunately, she had forgotten it back in Warsaw.

Nora had felt a strange connection to the boy, Erik. Danielle spent many hours with her, sorting out his many disturbing memories. Rarely pondered upon in her future years, for Nora, he would soon become a distant thought.

As Nora told Danielle of her adventure, Danielle knew that this had been the deciding point. One year after they had come from France, and now this time was their present.

November, 1963. Huston, Texas.

"Bonne fête, ma soeur." Danielle easily slipped into their language. She remembered clearly the first two weeks when Nora had tried to explain English to her. Or rather: explain how she had become fluent so quickly. That had been a confusing time for the both of them.

"Wow," Nora shifted back into English so the bystanders wouldn't stare. "It's incredible, Dani!"

She couldn't begin to imagine how many books could be inside the building. Built in the 'roaring 20's', Nora had wanted to go to it ever since they'd set foot in Texas, but, to her frustration, Danielle had put it off for three months.

Finally, she would able to go inside. Maybe even get to touch one of the countless books it held. So far, all Nora had seen were the travel brochures.

"Want to go inside? Or are you just going to keep that mouth open?"

Nora stared, first impressed that Danielle had managed that entire sentence. She still had to get a grasp of a few English metaphors.

"Yes, yes! Let's go!" Will we even be able to touch the books? Nora thought. Even though Dani's nine years old now; she's still a kid in their eyes…

"I can know what you are saying in here." Dani tapped one finger to Nora's temple. "Do not worry. You will get to read."

Once inside, Danielle distracted the librarian in the children's section while Nora snuck off to the non-fiction.

She loved reading so very, very much. But some stories were just so… unbelievable. Nora preferred to read about facts.

Finding a book on particle physics (thankfully, on the bottom shelf), she settled into a cushion-y armchair.

She didn't notice the man sitting across from her. Engrossed in her book, Nora would have found the him unrecognizable in a crowd. With his dark hair and brown eyes; large coat and worn hat; there wasn't a distinguishable feature on him. No one knew this man's name, nor the numbers tattooed on his forearm.

But soon, he suspected, many more would. President Kennedy's convention was just over a month away, and he'd heard talk of an attempt on his life. -Of course, there was always talk. However, this time the man had heard something else as well: according to someone, somewhere, Kennedy was a holder of the mutant gene.

His train of thought was severed as he noticed the girl sitting across from him.

For most, the feature to notice about her was the magazine article titled: 'Upcoming Investigations in Particle Physics.' That, or perhaps the lack of a parent. Though for him, it was the girl he recognized.

That's impossible, he assured himself. It's not her. That was over twenty years ago... And the child looked under ten years old.

She looks just like her.

Nora didn't look up as the man jumped from his chair. She didn't stare after him as he exited the library in a rush, catching the first bus out of Texas. And she didn't come across the man again for many, many years.

Danielle watched him intently until he was no longer in sight. He was of some importance; that was all she had been able to decipher from her vision.

However, the true nature of what she'd seen did not come to fruition. President Kennedy was assassinated just over one month later, on November twenty-second. It was done by one Lee Harvey Oswald.

May, 1964.

Erik left Texas in a hurry, so shocked by the sight of the girl that he abandoned Dallas.

The president was shot and killed and he'd done nothing to prevent it.

Reeling from yet another failure, he felt the need to seek out what little family he had left.

Charles was obviously out of the question, and Raven was off on her own, crusading through who-knows-where.

There was one more person Erik's mind went to. They hadn't spoken in almost eight years.

Now he knew: they would never speak again.

"What happened?"

"Are you a friend of the deceased?" The officer looked up from his desk, an unamused expression on his face.

"I'm her… husband," Erik said. That wasn't true; he and Magda had never gotten married. When she'd left he'd been able to track her to the border, and then she had disappeared across the Atlantic.

Now, years later, it had taken five months to find her. When Erik had finally caught up, he had been too late.

The officer raised an eyebrow, now clearly intrigued. "There was another man with her in the car." Usually it was the other way around, with the husband running off with another woman.

Erik frowned, leaning over the front desk. "We haven't spoken in a long time. But when I heard what had happened…"

The officer nodded, "come to pay your respects? That happens sometimes. ..I assume you'll want to hear about the children? -They're fine, by the way; hardly a scratch on them, actually."

"The- the children?" Erik stuttered. He felt dizzy all of a sudden.

"Oh." The officer didn't try to hide his smirk. "I see…"

Erik gulped, white-knuckled fingers clutching the desktop. "Can I see them?"

February, 1967.

This was the place: Nora was sure of it. The same posters she'd found plastered across every storefront, billboard, and telephone booth had detailed this exact location.

Even now, the same leaflets she'd spotted the previous week were plastered across the plaza.

"Hey, you. This is the place, right?"

Nora smiled as Danielle sidled up beside her. "Yes, it's the same address: there aren't too many people, though," she added.

"The posters did say it started at three," Danielle said cheerfully. "Give it some time, sister; it's only twelve in the afternoon."

Noticing how her glasses had become skewed, Danielle began to fuss over Nora, trying to straighten her disorderly appearance.

"Hey, hey! I can get it, all right!" Nora grumpily batted away the intruding hands. "I'm twelve, not a baby!"

"Riiiight," Danielle laughed, mussing her hair before Nora could snap at her again. "Because you're so mature."

A hefty crowd had gathered. All sorts of people: men in crisp business suits; mothers with their children in hand; even the occasional teenager probably skipping school.

Pietro wondered how many of them were actually mutants—and how many were here just out of pure curiosity.

The platform had been set up, the microphone triple-checked. He had ran through the audience multiple times, taking count of anyone who was carrying a weapon of some sort.

Letting his blue eyes survey the crowd one last time, Pietro zipped around to the back side of the platform.

He made eye contact with his sister, Wanda, and she sent the signal to their father.

Clothed in a black dress and a leather coat too heavy for this weather, she gave off an air of intimidation. She looked far too mature for a twelve year old, a fact that caused some distance between the twins.

Pietro had thought it odd when she had died her hair black. He had liked the original, brown colour.

Wanda caught him staring at her, probably latching onto his nervous thoughts before giving him a quick smile.

"It'll be all right," she murmured, clasping his hands for the briefest of moments.

"I know," he said, not entirely believing himself.

At that moment, a hush whispered through the crowd; Pietro knew his father had arrived.

After mother had died, he had wanted to attack this impostor—who was he to call himself their father? Where had he been when the car had swerved into their path?

At the time, Wanda's power had just recently begun to surface, and she'd tried to pry the truth out of him—she had only succeeded in hurting the man.

Then, he'd shown them his gift. Wanda had seen the truth—and whatever she saw, Pietro followed.

Some protesters he'd made a note of earlier lifted their signs ever higher. They were always here. Sometimes they outnumbered the crowds; not today.

As Magneto descended from whatever perch he'd been watching from—using his powers to levitate to the ground—Pietro settled down on the concrete, preparing to wait out the long speech.

Wanda gave him a look, and stayed standing.

He propped his chin up on one palm, watching as their father gave his customary spiel. During their travels across America they had heard it many times over. Only Wanda still bothered with hiding her boredom.

From the crowd, Nora watched, enraptured. Everything about this man just screamed intimidation and power. He was the kind of person you didn't want to mess with—she could see that now.

Though she wasn't exactly sure what his powers were—he'd floated down to the platform; that was cool enough—through his speech of mutant 'progress and brotherhood' Nora became more and more interested in him.

The black-haired girl moved things—a soccer ball; the microphone—without touching them. When she did, Nora was enraptured by the startling red glow around her hands.

The boy—who, oddly enough, had silver hair—moved faster than she could blink, appearing through out the crowd.

As he appeared just a few feet away from them, Danielle flinched in response. She didn't trust these people—especially a man who used children like stage props. She was here because of Nora's undying curiosity, and nothing else.

But what Danielle hadn't told Nora was that the previous night she'd had a vision.

In it, the girl on the stage had spotted them, drawing unnecessary attention to the two sisters. Danielle knew that she would mean nothing but trouble for them

"What are you doing here alone?"

"Are you lost?"

"Where are your parents?"

Those were just a few of the questions the adults would ask if they noticed that the girls were alone.

Questions: which would be accompanied by unprepared—and no doubt suspicious—answers on Danielle's part. They didn't need anymore attention—she was doing a fine job of raising her sister.

It was time to go; Danielle confirmed it by glancing at her watch. The girl on the stage had powers far beyond what she was showing, at least, according to what Danielle had seen the previous night.

She had arranged for them to take an earlier train in order to skip out on the girl's next act. This was something she hadn't told Nora yet.

Nora's enraptured gaze was broken as she felt a strong tugging on her sleeve. She looked at Danielle. "What?"

"We gotta go now," Danielle explained, eyebrows furrowing, "or we'll miss the train."

"But..." Nora looked back at the presentation, "it's not done yet..."

Danielle's expression softened. "I know… And I'm sorry. But we have to go, now."

Discouraged by her demanding tone, Nora slowly nodded her head; she wouldn't meet Danielle's eyes. "Oh-kaay…"

Nora was about to pause time so they could leave when the silver-haired boy chose that moment to completely lose focus.

He had been running through the crowds—unseen by all—taking small amounts of money from the adults in the process. But the moment he saw her everything went out the window.

She was the most beautiful person he'd seen with his own two eyes, a fact that didn't stop him from crashing into the bespectacled, brown-haired girl.

He pummeled her into the pavement with a loud whoomph.

She stared up at him with such big, brown eyes, and his cheeks began to burn a bright pink. Pietro got up, pulling the girl with him by her hand.

"I am so sorry," he stammered. "I- I didn't mean to crash into you like that! Are you all right?" He stared at her closer, waiting for the would-be flustered response.

But all she did was step away from him, slowly withdrawing her hand from his. Nora tried to take deep breaths in and out as the pain began to build, but she soon began to dissolve into hyperventilation.

Confused, Pietro stepped towards her—and was quickly pushed out of the way.

"Idiot!" came the stern voice. He didn't get a chance to look at the taller girl's face before she whisked the younger away.

The crowd parted for them as the beautiful girl was taken away from him. Pietro's shoulders sagged as he wondered if he would ever see her again.

He would—but not for many years.

December 1971. Salem Massachusetts.

Years had passed since then. Nora rarely thought of her chance encounter with Pietro Maximoff; these days, her mind was usually buried in books.

As soon as Dani came home that day, Nora knew something was wrong.

The door flew open, only to be closed carefully without making a sound. Nora closed her eyes as she heard the closet open and then the unzipping of a bag.

She entered Dani's room to see her throwing various items of clothing into her suitcase.

Danielle barely looked up as Nora cleared her throat.

A flash of anxious green eyes. Then the words, "You too. Pack now."

"What happened?" Nora asked.

Danielle shook her head. "Pack first. Talk later."

Nora groaned, "I'm sixteen now, Dani—not a kid anymore! You can tell me these things… please?"

Dani stopped, hovering over a pair of paint-stained jeans. "That boy you befriended."

"Tom," Nora reminded her, arms crossed. Then she frowned, "what about him?"

"Yes, Tom." Danielle shook her head, throwing the painting jeans into the discard pile. "If we stay here any longer, something terrible is going to happen to him."

"What do you mean?" Nora implored Danielle to tell her. "What'sgoing to happen, Dani? Is he going to get hurt?"

Danielle shook her head solemnly, saying, "worse than that."

Nora froze. Eventually, she got it out: "...dead?"

Danielle stopped packing and faced her. "I tell you this every time, Nora. Don't ask about what I see. Trust me, and everything will be all right." She saw how scared Nora looked and went over to her. Taking her hand, Danielle said, "please, just trust me: when have I ever wronged you?"

Nora sighed, defeated. She left the room to go pack.

As soon as she was gone, Danielle let out a breath of relief. What would really happen to Tom if they didn't leave was far worse than dying.

A couple of days later, on the road to Texas, Nora travelled. Danielle waited in the same spot for two days—only leaving once to retrieve water.

Nora had gone to the era of the United States' Revolutionary War; Danielle already knew that. When she returned, she would tell tales of that monumental time.

Knowing that a mischievous, blond-haired boy was safe, Dani looked forward to hearing the stories.

August, 1979.

"How'd the interview go?" Danielle asked from the sofa.

Closing the door behind her, Nora spun around in delight. "It went great!" she exclaimed, "I think the manager liked me; he was nice."

Danielle's eyebrows went up, "exactly how nice?"

"Ugh, not like that, silly!" Nora tossed her head as she walked by. "Yeah, they're like, 'totes desperate for a new prep cook right now."

Dani groaned, "what have I told you about using that word?"

Nora's head poked out from the kitchenette. "What word?" she asked innocently.

"You know what word." Danielle rolled onto her side so she was facing Nora. "'Totes' –and please don't tell me you said it in the interview!" She was currently lying on their apartment's tiny sofa, her long legs extending past one end.

"Oh please, Dani." Nora rolled her eyes, head disappearing back into the other room. "I'm smart, remember? I didn't botch this; I promise."

Danielle nodded, wincing as her head began to reel with pain. "Let's just hope you get this job..."

Nora snorted from the kitchen, "I know right! I'm pretty sure the only reason we haven't been kicked out yet is because you spilled those lottery numbers to the landlady!" That had been weeks ago.

When there was no answer, Nora stepped back into the living room.

Dani's eyes were clenched shut, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Dani?" Nora said, hesitantly creeping over to her sister.

Danielle's eyes opened suddenly and she shook her head. Nora sat down next to the sofa. She extended her hand; Dani took it.

"It's the headaches again, isn't it?" Nora asked quietly.

Danielle nodded, wrinkles appearing across her forehead.

"I'll go grab you some tylenol," Nora started and tried to get up. Dani tugged her back down.

"Don't bother…" she got out, "They barely do anything… just be a waste…"

"Okay..."

Dani knows, Nora told herself. She knows what's best for herself.

Right now, she was having trouble believing that.

Dani's migraine persisted through out the week, growing so terrible that she wouldn't even leave her bed.

Nora put down the phone, a small smile growing. Finally.

The head chef had called—not whom she'd spoken to before. She wanted her to come in for training. It was full-time (probably less) employment in a questionable diner, but it was still a job.

The only thing that worried her now was Dani. Nora was to start tomorrow, and she knew that there was no way Dani was going to be better by then.

Nora was really, really worried about her. After nearly two days, she was considering going against Dani's wishes and taking her to see a doctor.

"You've got to go," Danielle told her. "We need the money."

Nora missed the days when she could've just taken some cash from the nearest convenience store. They were supposed to be better than that now. "No," she persisted, "I can't leave you like this!"

"You're not 'leaving me'." Danielle winced as she moved to sit up. Nora tried to help by supporting her, but Dani shook her head. "You're just going to work."

"But what if you need something?" Nora said. "I- I won't be here to help."

Danielle put a hand on her shoulder, struggling to keep her eyes open due to fatigue. "It's only a couple of hours—training shifts always go that way. Just leave me a glass of water and… go."

Nora shrunk back. Everything inside her was screaming to stay, stay, stay.

Danielle saw this hesitation and shook her head. "Stubborn girl..."

"I'm not a 'girl' anymore," Nora pouted.

Dani smiled. "Of course not." That didn't matter to her.

The next morning she left a pitcher of water on the bedside table. Nora stopped to brush away some of Dani's short, brown hair before heading out to work.

Later that day.

"Danielle, I'm home!" Nora called out as she burst through the door.

She waited expectantly for an answer, and only grew more nervous when there wasn't one.

"Dani?" She checked in the kitchen; empty. The same went for the living room.

Picking up her pace, Nora sped into her and Danielle's shared bedroom.

Please just let her be sleeping. Please, please, please.

A tiny gasp escaped Nora's lips as she pushed the door open. Instinctively, she gripped the handle even harder.

Fear, then confusion swarmed her mind: the bed was empty.

She knew that calling out Dani's name was useless, but Nora still couldn't help it.

"Danielle…?" She consciously stepped into the room, placing one palm against the door.

An icy voice said, "she's not here; not anymore."

Nora whirled around to face the speaker.

The woman sat in the corner—in Nora's chair—one leg daintily crossed over the other.

Her hair was blond and pin-straight—like so many of the girls who had tormented Nora in the past. From her long coat to skin-tight pants she was dressed entirely in white.

Nora stepped forward, trying to seem as if this happened every Tuesday afternoon. "Where..." she growled, "…is my sister."

The woman blinked, seemingly unaffected by Nora's bad-cop act. She stood up, placing one manicured hand on her slim waist. Nora was disgruntled at the fact that she was taller than her—although, most people were.

"I already said," she cooed, "she's. Not. Here."

Nora's brow furrowed. "Who- who are you? What's going on?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Who am I? To make the introductions swift: my name is Emma Frost."

Nora assumed that she already knew hers.

Emma smirked. "Clever girl. You're right, Nora: I know your name—have for quite a while, actually." She frowned. "Of course, figuring it out took a bit longer thanI'd hoped. Dani is ever so imaginative in creating your identities."

Nora started, How… How could she know that? The identities, and- and Danielle's nickname—Nora was the only person who called her that.

Emma interrupted her thoughts, "I know because I've been tracking you two for a very long time."

Nora stepped away from her. "How do you keep doing that?" It's as if she's reading my-

"-Thoughts?" Emma interjected. Nora's eyes widened and the blond grinned evilly. "I suppose you could say it's one of my many… gifts." On 'gifts' there was a rapid change over her body. The crystals appeared out of nowhere, and suddenly Nora was looking at a woman seemingly made of diamonds.

"You..."

"Yes, Nora: I'm like you and your sister."

Nora tried not to think about it, but she knew she had to go back. Just a few hours, and then everything would be all right.

Emma cocked her head, as if listening to something. "Oh, Nora…" She tutted, waving a crystalline finger. "Don't do that, darling." Her face suddenly dropped into a frightening sneer. "Try anything—anything at all—and your sister is dead."

Note: this is part one of three. The other two parts only stand to be edited. I hope to upload them within the next two to three weeks.