Chapter 1
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As Ashleigh Gonzaga turned off the engine in his car, his mind wandered back to the days when he was in high school. Although this wasn't a very long time ago, it felt like ages since he'd been sitting in his marked up desk. For some strange reason, he missed being in a class full of his idiotic friends. He missed being yelled at by his teacher for not completing his homework. He missed the feeling of security. Now, after successfully passing all of his courses in college, he and his best friend, Brigette, had moved in together. They had spent all 4 years of high school and college together. They were practically inseparable. What could have been better?
While Brigette Oliver sat in her graduation present, she pondered on what she was going to do with the rest of her life. She knew she wouldn't be able to live with her best friend for the rest of her years. She needed a career, a man, a family. And now was the right time for all of that. She wanted nothing more than to come home from work and have her husband and children greet her with happy smiles everyday. She'd give anything for it. But for now she'd be happy enough with her best friend.
The two friends both got out of their cars and walked over to each other. Brigette had parked her car in the garage, wanting to keep it safe from anyone who wished to steal it. Ash, on the other hand, had parked his new car in the driveway, not really caring who saw it. He waited for her to exit the garage and when they were close enough, Brigette pulled him into a friendly hug. She inhaled a giant breath, consuming the smell of Ash. He always wore the cologne she has bought him for Christmas a few years ago. It really suited him. 'A beautiful smell on a beautiful man' she thought.
"I'm so excited to see what it looks like upstairs!" Brigette exclaimed. Ash nodded in agreement. Their fathers, both vice presidents of a very successful and secretive company, had purchased a fully furnished house for them to live in for as long as they needed. Just like Brigette and Ash, their fathers, Oliver Collin and Thomas Gonzaga, had been good friends since their young ages. They grew up together in a small town, always trying to outdo their peers. This eventually landed them both spots as VP's in a highly prosperous company.
After they had made their way up the short flight of stairs, Brigette withheld a large gasp. Although the space was very small and cramped, she thought it was beautiful. Ash looked over to look at his friend. He sensed she liked it and smiled at her. She looked back at him and returned the smile.
After a few minutes of looking around, they decided to sit on the couch and talk. "I really like this place" Brigette said. "You haven't said anything about it yet, how do you like it?" he asked curiously. Ash playfully looked around, a disguised look spread across his face, "Well…" He looked at Brigette to make it seem like he really hated it. She held her breath until he said what she wanted to hear. "I like it!" Ash affirmed. "Eee!!" Brigette squealed. Just after she had calmed down, she heard a knock on their front door. "Who could that be?" Brigette thought aloud. "I'll go check who it is" and with that she walked dow to the front door.
"Well hello there little missy" Oliver said cheerfully. Brigette beamed, walking over to give her father a hug. "Ahem" the other man coughed. "Oh, don't think I didn't see you there Thomas" Brigette said, wagging a finger at the old man. He smiled and opened his arms for a hug. She eagerly hugged him back and stepped back to look at them. "You two have gotten younger, I can tell" she laughed. She held up a finger as if to say 'hold on a moment' and opened the front door to call Ash down. "Ash! There are some people you might want to come down and say hi to".
When he opened the door, he saw Brigette talking to her father and his own father staring impatiently at him. "Well it took you long enough. I thought you hadn't heard her" Thomas chuckled. Ash gave him a small smile and gave his father a hug. "Nice to see you too dad" he said, still embracing his father. When he stepped back he saw Brigette and Oliver both smiling at them. "Well how about we go in for a cup or tea or something" Brigette said, clapping her hands together. When the other men nodded in agreement she jogged up the stairs towards the kitchen.
When they were all settled into a chair, they all started conversing. Brigette, meanwhile, was standing with her hands on her hips, waiting for someone to tell her what they'd like. "As much as I'd love to stand here and wait for you all day, I want to know what to make for you today" she said sarcastically. Ash looked up from the table and smiled at her. She always knew how to get people's attention, maybe not always in the best way, though.
They had no time to respond, though, because there was a familiar knock on the door. Brigette rubbed her neck, exhausted from all the running up and down the stairs. "I'll get it" she sighed, figuring they'd take awhile to get their minds made up. After she had taken her time walking down the stairs, she was surprised to see a very familiar woman standing in front of her.
"Well it took you long enough Oliver!" the woman said, stretching. "Blaze? What are you doing here?" Brigette asked. The woman named Blaze looked hurt. "What, no friendly hug hello?" she said. Brigette smiled and leaned in to give her old friend a hug. She stepped outside more and faced Blaze properly. She hadn't aged very much since the last time she had seen her. She still had those bright glowing blue eyes and charcoal black hair. She had gotten a lot skinnier, but that's what happens when you're the most popular girl in school trying to get with all the guys.
"So are you gonna tell me what you're doing here or not?" Brigette asked cheerfully. "I live next door silly!" Blaze replied pointing to her house. "I just came by to say hello" she concluded. "Why don't you come upstairs and say hi to Ash's dad and mine, they got here not too long ago" Brigette asked. The smile on Blaze's face was enough, so Brigette opened the door and signalled for her to proceed into the house.
"Look who's come for a little visit" Brigette said as they were at the top of the stairs. As they walking into view, everyone at the table stood up to greet Blaze. "Thomas! Collin! Long time no see" she screeched, leaning in to give Collin a hug, then Thomas. "What have you been up to young lady?" asked Collin. Although Blaze had spent a lot of her days at Brigette or Ash's house, she mainly stayed over at Brigette's home. Her dad was always so happy and brought her whatever she wanted. He was like a second father to her. "Well, after college…" she started, explaining what had been happening over the last couple of months.
As they all sat intently listening to her story, Blaze looked at the clock and gasped. "Oh my gosh! It's getting late, I need to get back to Brent, he'll be wondering where I am". As she got up, Brigette stood up with her. She walked Blaze over to the top of the staircase. "Well, we can talk more later" she said leaning in to give her a hug goodbye. "Keep yourself out of trouble" a voice said from behind. "Oh you know I will Coll" she replied to Collin, giving him her brightest smile. As they all waved to her, she descended down the stairs.
Half an hour of standing talking to their fathers was getting to Ash and Brigette's legs. There was nothing interesting on TV, but Collin was intent on finding something. Suddenly, a loud snapping noise was heard coming from the TV and the screen went black, smoke billowing up from behind it. "Now look what you've done! You broke their television before they even got to enjoy it!" Thomas nagged. Collin looked down at his lap, and then turned around to face the children. "I'm so sorry you guys! I never knew the TV Thomas bought for you would be of such poor quality" he said smirking at Thomas, who sat there amazed at his words. "You old fart! Stop trying to put the blame on me! You..." He was cut off by Ash. "Guys! Enough! It doesn't matter who bought it or who broke it. We don't watch much TV anyways, so it's alright."
"Sorry son, I just don't like being accused of things I didn't do" Thomas said. "Anyways," he continued after a short but uncomfortable silence, "it's getting pretty dark out, and I don't like driving too late now that my sight it leaving me. We can talk after our business trip." "What business trip?" Brigette and Ash said in unison. "Oh I didn't tell you? See my minds failing me too. Well, Collin and I are heading down to New York for a month-long business trip. We won't be able to keep in touch, so all talk will have to be saved for after the trip."
Thomas hastily got out of his seat and Collin followed. They walked over to the stairs while Ash and Brigette followed. "Well, in that case, have a good trip you two!" Ash said hugging his father. Brigette did the same and smiled to the elderly men. As they waved goodbye they disappeared down the stairs. Yawning, Brigette stated "It really is getting late, think I'll head for bed!" Ash was shocked. "But the night has only just begun!" he laughed. "Well then you can stay up, I'm pooped!" Ash laughed a bit and patted her on the shoulder, "you get some sleep then, I won't bother staying up either then." She smiled and nodded, walking into her room. He stepped into his room and got changed.
A few hours had passed since Brigette had entered her room, but she couldn't fall asleep. She decided it might help if she read a good book. This was a book from her high school days called Gossip Girls. Even though this was a teen book, she still loved reading them. She liked the idea that in their own world, everyone had the hottest boyfriends, the hottest cars and the prettiest faces. It was every high school girl's fantasy. Although she had lived parts of it, she had always longed for the perfect guy to come and sweep her off her feet. She wanted a high school love, someone who would eventually ask her to be his one day. Oh well, you can't have everything, she thought.
Meanwhile, Ash was up, going to get a drink. Before he could reach the fridge, though, the phone rang. He sprinted towards it, not wanting to wake Brigette. When he picked up the phone, he didn't even have time to greet the person with a 'hello', they immediately started talking.
The voice was deep and muffled, barely audible. "Tomorrow a woman will greet you with more news". With that, the mysterious person hung up. Ash was confused. He didn't know what to think of that phone call. Who was this woman that was going to greet him with more news? And what was this news in the first place? He decided not to bother Brigette, so he went back to sleep, not really in the mood for a drink.
The next morning Ash woke up bright and early. After he got dressed, he walked out of his room, not surprised Brigette wasn't already up. He opened the fridge and studied its' contents. He decided to make some omelettes. As he heated them up in a frying pan, he didn't notice she had awoken. After putting the omelettes onto a plate he turned around to see Brigette facing him, smiling.
"Good morning" she said. "Oh, hello, I didn't hear your door open. I hope you're in the mood for omelettes!" Ash said cheerfully. She walked over to the counter to grab her plate of omelettes, and sat down at the table with Ash.
While they ate, Ash told Brigette about the mysterious phone call. "That's a little creepy" Brigette said. "Don't think too much about it though, it was probably just some punk kids trying to scare you." After they talked for a bit more, Ash cleared the table. Only moments later, there was a light knocking on the door. He quickly walked down the stairs and opened it.
To his surprise, a lady who looked like a fortune teller stood before him. "Hello?" he asked. She was too busy looking into her crystal ball to return his greeting. "Hello who…" he tried again, but was cut off by her sudden mumbling. "Yes hello boy, my name is Jewel Anderson and I am here to tell you something." He was surprised the person on the phone was correct. He would be greeted by a woman wanting to tell him something. But what did this Jewel Anderson want to tell him? "All in good time boy" she said suddenly, as if she read his mind.
"I don't…" Again he was cut off by this woman. "I know you don't understand, dear. But you will… you will eventually understand what you and your sister were meant to do. Both you and Brigette will." Sister? He was an only child, he didn't have a sister, and neither did Brigette. The old woman continued, "Within a week, you will be greeted by two of whom you will not recognize, but will come to know very well in time. They will tell you things you'd never imagine hearing in your entire life. You won't like it, and in fact, you might even send them away. But you cannot avoid them forever. They are, however, the ones who will change your lives forever."
Ash had had enough. Who was this old woman, to come to his home and tell him of things that she probably had made up? "Listen lady…" "Jewel" she cut in. "Yeah whatever, don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I don't care. I know for a fact that I don't have a sister and neither does Brigette. And how do you know her name anyway? What kind of sick pervert are you?" He stopped, exhausted from letting that all out. This gave her time to respond. "Ash, no need to yell, I'm only trying to help you…" "I'll yell if I damned well want to! This is my house and I will not have some old loon come and tell me her bedtime stories! Now, get off our property! Now!" The old woman didn't look awestruck at all. She simply turned and stalked off down the street, disappearing around the corner.
Ash angrily marched upstairs and sat down on the couch beside a frightened Brigette. She had heard the whole thing from the window, and was shocked at how Ash had reacted. Sure this woman had said a few unnerving things, but he didn't need to freak out on an old lady. As he sat down beside her, he noticed she had probably heard the whole thing, happy he didn't need to explain the whole ordeal. "Wow" was all she uttered. They sat in silence for a few more minutes until she suddenly broke it.
"Do you think she was telling the truth? I mean, if we thought we wouldn't have gotten the visit, and we did, she must know something. She did know our names..." Brigette said. "I don't believe in crap like that. I don't really feel like talking about it now, I'm gonna go lie down for awhile. We can talk later" and he stood up and walked into his room, leaving Brigette alone on the couch.
After about 5 minutes of silently sitting in the living area, Brigette's thoughts were interrupted by the deep voice of a man. He sounded young, but she could tell it wasn't Ash's voice at all. "You're right," he said. "The woman was telling the truth. I will come and visit you in exactly two days, sister. Me and his." She sat there shocked out of her mind. Who was that? Why did he call her sister? She was so utterly confused. Her head was starting to ache; maybe it was because of the voice that was previously talking to her inside her head. She got up and wandered over to the cabinet that stored their medication. She swallowed two Advil's and went into her room to lie down.
The next two days went by quickly and uneventfully. Brigette kept that nights odd voice in her head to herself, she didn't want Ash to get upset anymore than he already had. The day before was spent over at Blaze's house. Afterwards, they drove down to the grocery store to restock their rapidly emptying fridge. While at the grocery store, though, Brigette could feel another strong head ache coming on. She hoped it didn't mean what she thought it meant. But boy, was she was terribly wrong.
"Hurry up, sister. We'll be arriving at your house soon. We have much to talk about, the four of us." As quickly as the voice came, he was gone, leaving a poor Brigette to sort out what to do. Ash turned to see her snarling, hands balled into fists. What was wrong with her? "Brig, you okay?" he asked. This seemed to shake her from her deep thought. She looked up at Ash and stammered, "We need to leave, now." He was startled by her sudden need to leave. He didn't know what had gotten into her. He decided it was best to do as she wanted, and he quickly paid for the items they had picked up. Ash watched as Brigette paced back and forth, hands massaging her head. She must have a headache, he presumed.
As they got into the car, Brigette still hadn't said why she wanted to leave so quickly. "Brig," he started, while awakening the engine. "What's wrong? Do you have a headache or something?" She simply looked over to him and replied, "We need to get home soon. I don't want to keep them waiting." Ash hoped she didn't mean the people the crazy old lady had warned them about two days ago. He didn't know why she believed the hag. She was obviously telling some sort of twisted lie. He hoped.
When they got home, Ash was relieved to see nobody waiting for them. He could tell Brigette was a bit more relieved as well. She helped him carry the groceries into the kitchen but let him put them away himself. He didn't mind though, all he wanted was for her to take an Advil and lie down for a bit, maybe that would help her deliriousness. Once he was finished putting away the last bag of peas, he felt a strange wave of relief mixed with confusion and anger wash over him. The doorbell rang. He stood there for a moment, wondering what it was he was feeling, but didn't have time to think for too long. Brigette had silently gotten up, a little too quickly for his liking, and walked down to greet whoever was at their door.
Once Brigette reached the door, she opened it, already knowing who would be standing on the other side. She didn't, however, think they would be so properly dressed. Before her stood a tall tan man with mid-length burgundy hair, dressed in a fine fitting black suit. The woman to his left had shoulder-length charcoal black hair, and was wearing a flowing grey top with long, flared sleeves, dark blue jean-capris and knee-length boots.
They stood there analyzing each other for a few moments. Brigette didn't know what to say to them. Who were they really? Was this man really her "brother"? She was so confused, and she felt a headache start to form at the back of her head. Suddenly, she felt the urge to call Ash down, hoping he could somehow interrupt this deafening silence. "Ash! Come down here now! There are some people you might want to meet."
"This is going to be a lot harder than I first expected" the woman whispered to the man. He gave her no reply; he just stood there staring at his sister. He already knew it wasn't going to be an easy task, trying to convince total strangers that they were, in fact, related.