Sisters in Arms
Chapter One: Meet the Girls
"God, I know your there, it's uh- yeah it's me, Emilyn. Um… how's it going? Ha- yeah, say uh, I know there is a lot of stuff going on in the world and I know shit is like- cray but my sister and I really need you. I know- I know that Robbi and I haven't been the best kids and maybe, maybe this is punishment for putting that cat poop in mom's boyfriend's shoes but I promise… I swear, I promise that if you just make mom better than we'll be good kids… please." Emilyn lowered her clasped hands from their tight position that was smushed against her nose. She took a deep and steady breath and calmed herself down. Emilyn wasn't exactly the crying type and the last thing she wanted was for her twin sister, Robbi, to walk in and see her falling apart when she needed her the most.
Emilyn stood from her kneeling position in front of the second story bedroom window and sighed. The street view that overlooked the once busy Louisiana town was almost barren.
What was once a view of highway 80 that was filled with cars buzzing up and down, going from grocery store, to fast food joint, to home; lather rinse repeat, was now quiet and a rare sight to see a group of three passing. Within the last month people had been getting sick and dropping. Doctors couldn't explain it; people's fevers were pretty much melting their insides into gelatin. So far, no autopsies have been done; apparently peeps around here don't appreciate people cutting up their loved ones so soon after death. Here in these parts we like to get the ceremony going and done with pretty soon with a body as put together and untouched as possible. People even stopped going to the hospital for treatment, they were afraid of the sanitation, that perhaps made it spread faster to other people, so families who caught whatever the sickness was, started using hospice services. Their mother, Ms. Rucker, had gotten home from her regular yearly check up at the OBGYN not feeling well only a week before. Immediately, she knew something was wrong and the next day a Hospice nurse was walking through the door and telling the 13 year olds, their mother was very sick.
"Emilyn… Grandma is here." The door behind Emilyn opened and in walked her sister. The soft soles of her house shoes padded across the wood floor and stopped a foot behind her. "She wants us to stay with her for tonight while grandpa stays here with mom." She said and slid her arms lazily over Emilyn's shoulders and nestled her face against the side of her head.
"No, I wanna stay with mom… I have a feeling, I think she's gonna wake up today." Emilyn looked over her shoulder and bumped her forehead against Robin's.
Robin gave her sister a warm squeeze before letting herself fall back onto her butt to the side of Emilyn. "I knew you'd say that, so I already told grandma that we were going to stay here for the night. Of course, she was hesitant to agree but with a bit of begging and what-not she finally came around and said that we could stay with grandpa here." She smiled and whipped her long brown hair over her shoulder.
Emilyn smiled back and nodded. She could always count on Robbi to keep things smooth and a step ahead of herself. "Thanks Robbi." She whispered and pulled her knees up to her chest as she chewed on her lip and looked back out the window. Robbi was always better at talking to people, whether it was to ease them down from something Emilyn did, or to tell them flat-out "no", she was the one for the job. Emilyn always had problems empathizing with people and often found herself just getting either super awkward in personal information encounters or standoffish and rude in tense social encounters. Not to say that Emilyn is a painfully quiet and shy person, no she's the opposite; they both are… just, in their own ways with their own quirks.
"Alright then, let's go see mom before the nurse gets here." Emilyn patted Robbi on her knee and stood up, immediately holding her hands out to help her sister to her feet.
They walked down the hall and cracked the door to their mom's room open. As they walked through the threshold it was as if the entire atmosphere changed. The girls stood on either side of their mother's bed and looked down at her body as it laid still, deep in slumber. Emilyn sat on the edge of the bed and reached her hand up to her mother's forehead and moved a piece of stray hair from her face.
"Good Lord, her skin is so hot, she's burning up." Emilyn winced and withdrew her hand softly. It didn't hurt physically but the pain was there in the back of her mind and heart.
"Hello, Hello!" A knock came from the door and in walked a beautiful woman with long blond hair, decked out in scrubs that were made with a "fun" balloon pattern.
The girls jumped and looked up as the woman, whom they had yet to even bother learning her name, immediately began setting up her station of cleaning supplies, medicine and whatever else she needed in order to take care of their mother.
"Alright girls you know the drill, out of the room while I treat your mom okay? I'll come get you when I'm done." She said with a warm smile.
Emilyn stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Why do we have to leave? We won't get in the way. I don't understand why it's a big deal that you be alone with her." She cut her blue eyes narrow at the woman and took a step closer to her.
Robbi's eyes widened and she suddenly stepped in front of her sister and laughed before the nurse could retaliate with an aggravated response, which by the look across her face, seemed to be just what she was about to give the 13 year old. "Hey, no it's cool. We really appreciate what you're doing for our mom. Don't worry we're going." She said with a cool smile and turned and quickly shoved her sister out of the door. Once the door was closed behind them, Robbi turned to Emilyn and gave her a stern look. "What is your problem? She hasn't done anything wrong; you can't just attack the nurse for doing her job." She scolded.
Emilyn huffed and crossed her arms as she stomped down the stairs towards the kitchen. "I don't know man, I'm sorry or whatever, I'm just… I don't know I guess I'm stressed out. I hate this… this whole stupid thing, I just want mom to get better and it seems like all she's doing is a whole bunch of nothing." Emilyn snatched open the fridge and grabbed a can of fruit punch minute maid and popped it open. Before she could take a swig though, Robbi took the can from her hand and took her own drink, before setting it gently back into her sister's hand that was still held in the air as if gripping an invisible can as she looked at Robbi with a tired expression of annoyance.
Robbi took a moment to swallow then looked Emilyn in the eyes. "I know, this whole thing sucks but-" She started to say something she made a habit of telling Emilyn often about how everything was going to be okay but suddenly the doorbell rang. Robbi stuck her tongue out in a quick moment of thought as she looked toward the door. "I guess Grandpa doesn't know the door is unlocked." She sighed and moved around Emilyn who was chugging the can of minute maid to answer the door.
"Grandpa, you know we keep the door unlocked while we're here so the nurse can ge-" Robbi stopped mid-sentence again as she opened the door and greeted, not her grandpa but a tall gruff looking man with big dark eyes and dark hair. His face was covered in stubble and he immediately gave a warm smile upon seeing the girl.
"Sup." Emilyn greeted from behind her sister.
The man nodded and gave a little laugh as he pulled a badge out from his jacket and gave it a quick flash before clearing his throat. "Hello ladies, I'm here on behalf of the Willis Knighton Hospice staff. Is there a guardian here I can talk to?" He asked, looking past them into the house.
Emilyn burped and gave a small cough to clear her throat. "Nah, Grandpa's not here yet." She answered bluntly.
Robbi sighed and looked over her shoulder at her sister before calmly turning back to the man who just looked at Emilyn with an expression she couldn't quite decipher. "Uh, yeah. If you're here to talk to the Hospice Nurse she's up in Mom's room treating her right now… you could try talking to Mom but I don't think you'll get much out of her right now…" She said with a shrug and opened the door for the man to come in.
He nodded and gave little smile as he walked through the door. "Do you mind if I ask you two a few questions as well? It's nothing to be nervous about see I'm here to evaluate the nurse on her work… she's uh, she's up for promotion." He said and quickly adjusted his tie.
"Well, if you ask me, I'd say on a scale of 1-10 she's like a 5, she's okay but mom isn't exactly getting any better… in fact… she might be… ya' know… getting worse." Emilyn huffed and threw her empty can into the trash.
Robbi elbowed her sister and rolled her eyes. "No, she's a good person, she's nice and I'm sure she's trying." She said, trying to make her twin look less like an ass.
"Mmm, speaking of your mother, when would you say she got sick?" He asked, furrowing his dark thick eyebrows.
"Like, only a week ago… it's happened really fast." Robbi started with a sad shrug.
"Yeah, she'd just gone to the friggen' vagina doctor for a check-up and when she came back she was like weird and weak, she said she'd fallen asleep there or something and she couldn't believe it, I don't know it's weird. So she called the hospital and they said they would send a nurse here like asap and well, next day Nurse blond and positive up there visited and ever since she left mom's been out like a light." Emilyn finished.
"uh-huh…" The man nodded and looked between the girls with yet another strange look they couldn't decipher. "Well, thank you for the help, I'm going to talk to the Nurse and then I will be on my way. You ladies have a good evening." He said in a friendly manner and quickly stood up. He took a moment to straighten his suit before quickly climbing up the stairs.
"You think she's been doing something wrong?" Robbi looked at her sister and asked once the man was out of sight.
Emilyn shrugged and walked over to the base of the staircase and watched as the man cautiously make his way up the steps until he reached their mother's door. He took a moment to gently crack it open before his eyes suddenly flew open wide and he threw the door open.
Robbi and Emilyn gasped in unison and flew up the stairs after him. "Mom? Nurse? Dude?!" They yelled as their feet stomped as quickly as possible up the stairs. Dammit why did mom have to have a home with stairs? There were definite noises of a fight and struggle. The girls' stomachs sank and twisted as they reached the thrown open door and froze. The man had a long shiny knife that was already covered in blood, and was facing off with the Nurse that now looked extremely different. Her eyes were blue, but not just any run of the mill pretty girl blue no they were bright, glowing night sky blue and her arms were covered in blue tribal tattoos.
"What the fuck?!" Emilyn immediately yelled and gaped at the woman-thing.
"Get back!" The man hollered angrily and took a lunge at the Nurse with his blood-soaked knife. She was too quick though and dodged the swipe. She then looked toward the girls and smiled. It was a dark and sinister smile they would never forget.
It was as if time moved in slow motion after that. The girls were frozen to the spot in the doorway. Emilyn's eyes were glued to their mother, laying still and stiff in the bed, her arms exposed and showing deep nasty looking bruises from the creature's repeated use of Miss Rucker's body. It was apparent at that moment that she was dead. Even if the creature were to fall today, she had won.
Robbi stared wide eyed and mouth agape at the struggle that took place only feet from them. She could hear the angry yells of the man screaming for them to run, to get away before they were hurt but for some reason she just couldn't move. She could barely process what was happening.
She watched in terrible fascination as the woman lunged and dodged the man and the man did the same.
Suddenly the girls were knocked from their daze when alarmed voices yelled behind them. "Dad!" it was two boys, one with light hair and green eyes who looked to be about 15 and the other with brown hair and puppy dog eyes who looked 12.
"Sam, Dean I said wait in the-…. Car!" The man yelled between struggles with the fast and unpredictable fem-fatale.
The girls looked between the boys and man and caught a glare that the older one gave the younger boy, as if he'd disobeyed his command to stay or something.
"Well, don't just stand there; get the girls out of here!" The man yelled and gave another lunge, this time the knife contacting skin with the creature. She let out a shrieking howl as it cut across her arm and she tried desperately just to touch the man.
"You heard him, come on." The older boy said and suddenly grabbed Robbi around her waist and started dragging her down the stairs. She didn't say anything just kept staring into the room.
When the younger boy grabbed Emilyn's arm it was a different story. She screamed and tried to fight against his tightening pull for her to go with him. "No! Mom, please wait, MOM!" She screamed and cried, desperate to not leave their mother. She was dead but Emilyn just couldn't accept it. She prayed for her to be better, she prayed for this and there she was, dead.
"Please, please come on, you have to." The boy begged and pulled her from the door. He was much stronger than he looked and eventually, he was able to get her to walk after him down the stairs and out of the house.
"Here, come sit in here." The older boy called behind him to his brother and Emilyn as he guided Robbi who was just limply walking with him, still silent and lost in her own mind, over to a black 1967 Chevy Impala. Carefully, he opened the door and with a little more force than was necessary, placed Robbi into the seat. The younger boy who, the girls understood him as being called Sam, by the older one, gently guided Emilyn to sit next to her sister. She nodded and took a seat before suddenly breaking down and sobbing into her hands as the boys stood awkwardly outside the open door.
"Mom… she's- she's dead." Emilyn sobbed and looked over to her sister who didn't reply just put her arm around her twin and pulled her close.
"What was that thing?" Robbi asked and looked up to the older boy who gave a sympathetic but hardened look down at the girls.
"It's called a Djinn." He replied bluntly and sighed.
Robbi furrowed her eyebrows and looked between the two boys. "How did you guys know to come here?" She asked.
The boys took a moment to look between each other before the older one, Dean, answered. "We uh, we hunt things like this. We uh, our Dad, heard of the events taking place and we investigated and found out that the hospice and well, a lot of the medical places around here were ran by a large Djinn family. We've been trying to gank the monsters before they could do anymore damage but…we didn't get here in time." He said, his last words trailing off as he looked down at the ground and kicked a pinecone away from the car.
"I'm sorry about your mom…" Sam added and gave them genuine look of grief for their loss.
By then, Emilyn had stopped crying and just sat there, staring at the dash. "You said you guys hunt things like this, you mean there are other monsters like this Djinn that exists?" She said, unable to hide the waver that remained in her pained voice.
"Trust me; you girls don't want to know." Dean snapped, his face suddenly looking tired.
Robbi was about to retort with some more questions about hunting and other creatures but the door to their front house slammed open then shut and, out stormed their father, sweaty and aggravated looking. He walked right up to the car and immediately looked at Dean.
"I thought I told you two to stay in the car?!" He bellowed making Emilyn and Robbi jump at the sudden hostility towards his sons.
Dean bowed his head and apologized, looking frustrated but obedient. Sam looked angry. "We were worried about you!" He retorted and Dean glared at him.
"Worried about me? You two could've gotten hurt, or even them hurt!" He scoffed and pointed aggressively at Emilyn and Robbi in the seat.
"Yeah, we're still here too, bro." Emilyn replied bluntly.
John looked at them and his angry face fell into a tired and more sympathetic one. He leaned down to their level and sighed. "I'm sorry girls; your mother is… yeah. Don't worry about the mess my boys and I will take care of it, in the meantime you two need to contact some other family member to stay with, you mentioned your grandpa earlier…" He spoke softly.
"I'm on it." Robbi nodded and crawled across the seats to the other door and climbed out and headed inside to call their grandma.
"Wait, make sure you don't mention the Djinn. I know it will seem hard to keep it just between the two of you but… well, it's hard for people to believe." John called after her.
Robbi thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Yeah okay, I'll just tell her she passed and the Nurse left us with her boss." She said and turned and kept walking with Emilyn trailing close behind her, their lives now forever changed.