~*~Llanview, Pennsylvania - 1984~*~
Thirteen-year-old Todd Manning spent the majority of his time in his bedroom typing over the old-fashioned typewriter his mother Barbara Manning had bought for her son at a yard sale. It was his life's ambition to become an accomplished writer. One day he hoped to become famous for his books. He spent hour upon hour writing his violent-themed tales. His mother was impressed with his writing, but she never knew the extent of the blood shed Todd liked to pour into all the pages.
Todd kept a set of glossy black pencils on his desk at all times. One day as he was typing away upon his latest story, Todd heard strange noises. It sounded like a crowd of birds had flocked right outside his window. With the sparrows screeching in his brain, Todd reached for a pencil from the nearby coffee mug. With a shaking hand, he scribbled words upon a piece of paper. "The Sparrows are Flying," he had scrawled. He dropped the pencil onto the paper and climbed into his bed, his aching head clutched in his hands.
The next day as Todd was waiting outside for the school bus, he collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital where Dr. Wolek showed Todd's mother the X-rays that had been taken of Todd's skull. "As you can see, we've discovered a mass in Todd's brain which must be removed," explained Dr. Larry Wolek to Barbara Manning.
"What sort of mass is it, Doctor?" Barbara asked fearfully.
"It's a tumor, Mrs. Manning. But it looks as though we caught it in time. Todd should be just fine," the doctor tried to reassure her.
The next day, Todd was taken in for brain surgery. As he lay upon the operating table with a portion of his skull removed, the doctors searched for the tumor. The exploratory surgery revealed that the "mass" within Todd's brain was not an ordinary tumor. A nurse looking on fainted when a malformed eyeball came into view amongst Todd's brain tissue. What was revealed was actually parts of a tiny fetus consisting of one eye, two teeth, fingernails, and a part of a nostril. "Ohhh my God, I have heard of this, but I have never actually seen it!" gasped the attending doctor.
"It's called Vanishing Twin Syndrome," Dr. Wolek explained as he removed the tissue from Todd's identical twin that had been absorbed by Todd's body when Todd and his identical twin brother had been developing in utero. "Todd's mother was actually carrying identical twins, but one did not survive. Todd's body absorbed the fetus of his twin, and the tissue which remained was collected in Todd's brain cavity. Vanishing Twins Syndrome actually happens in one out of every eight twin pregnancies. This condition is also known as Parasitic Twins."
"That's the grossest thing I've ever seen," said the young nurse whom had fainted as she rose to her feet. She had to step out of the operating room to get some fresh air. As she stood at a window in the nurse's station she saw a sight in which she'd never forget. Thousands of sparrows had swarmed the hospital in thick black clouds. They tapped at the windows with their wings while giving frantic, high-pitched shrieks.
"What in the world is it?" the nurse asked the nun who stood at her side.
The nun crossed herself and said a hurried prayer. It looked like something out of the 1963 horror movie, The Birds. "I don't know, but something evil lurks nearby. I can feel it," answered the nun.
The young nurse wrapped her arms around herself, feeling frightened by what she had just seen. Never in her life had she witnessed anything as gruesome as what had been revealed lurking in the teenager, Todd Manning's brain. As the doctors finished Todd's operation and closed his skull, they collected the tissues of his twin in a specimen jar. "I wonder what his parents will say," remarked Dr. Wolek as he prepared to send the tissues off to the laboratory for further testing.
"I suppose they will be surprised to find out that their son had a twin," said the assisting doctor.
"Yeah, I wonder what they would have named him," Dr. Wolek pondered.
Three days later, Todd's parents held a small ceremony for Todd's twin within the Llansing Cemetery. They didn't mention this to Todd who was still recovering in the hospital from his surgery. In fact no one knew about Todd's twin brother but the hospital staff and the cemetery caretaker by the name of Vimal Patel. "This is highly irregular, to bury human remains without a proper casket or a headstone," Vimal protested as the tiny box was lowered into the earth.
"We own the plot so I don't see how it matters," snapped Peter Manning, Todd's father.
Vimal just shook his head, walking away from the scene. He had been the caretaker of Llansing Cemetery for many years and never before had anyone asked to bury the remains of a family member under such circumstances. He was a superstitious man, so he stood at a distance, chanting words he hoped would ward off evil spirits. As the last words fell from his lips, a flock of sparrows crossed overhead.