The Lost Sister
Inspired by Unstoppable preview and this idea. "What if Ian actually had a twin sister that he didn't know of?"
17 years ago, London, England
In the famous (insert hospital here), many monarchs and famous celebrities gave birth here. There was even a betting station inside the very hospital for people to wager whether the newborn monarch was a girl or a boy, or which twin is a girl, a boy or whether both twins are girls or boys.
However, there was one woman who was about to give birth, and she's being rushed to the emergency room right now.
Bursting through double doors, a fair woman was on a bed being rolled by two nurses and a doctor. Vikram Kabra was catching up to his wife as he was trying to calm her down.
"Isabel! Isabel, remember, you wanted this. Calm down!" he chided as she was screaming like crazy.
"It hurts! How do you think I was supposed to react?" she said as she tried to hold the pain.
"Relax," he said as they were about to enter the final pair of doors. "You're almost there. Just remember, breathe and don't go out on me."
He then relaxed his pace until he stopped right in front of the emergency room, where he would have to prepare himself to raise two Lucian leaders of this generation.
Today, Kabra Mansion, England
Ian rose from his bed. He tried, as he could, to sleep but he can't. The events that changed his life made him sour and broken. No wonder my fa—I mean, Vikram became who he is, he thought to himself.
He then stood up and felt his bedside table to ring the bell. After he'd rung it, his faithful butler Bickerduff strode inside the room, opening the curtains to give light to his room.
Ian's room was immaculate, to say the least. There were two closets full of expensive clothes, suits and shoes. One was for his 'casual' wear (his definition of casual was polo shirts and perfectly ironed pants) while the other was for his suits for branch-related work and his polo outfits. There was a bookshelf with six long shelves filled with books from every genre, from Jane Eyre to How to Rule the World: A Young Man's Guide. There were two other doors in his room other than the one Bickerduff came in. One lead to his personal bathroom (with the rumoured number of hair care and other styling products that could've rivalled to a girl in his stature) while the other led to his personal study.
However, the room where he was today was a bit dusty, the closets opened and found almost empty because of either losing them, ruined by successive and dangerous missions or Saladin, the Cahill's family pet. He was almost out of hair care products and his personal study was messy even after his efforts of cleaning.
Ian went inside his bathroom and changed himself into more suitable clothes while Bickerduff cleaned his bed and other belongings that were scattered about. When he came out of the bathroom with a clean white shirt with a pair of jeans and dress shoes, Bickerduff then led him to the dining area where a simple omelette and ham was waiting for him.
"Any word from Paris?" Ian asked as he finished his meal.
"None sir, although there have been incidents of agents and former leaders lashing out against the current branch head," his butler replied with his monotone voice that resembled a funeral director.
Ian cringed as he drank the last of his orange juice. Aunt Nikola, as he called her, was the current branch leader and was found out to have helped Amy and Dan while they were searching for a Clue in Russia, helping under the name of NRR. But that wasn't the worst of it. There were reports of Nikola persuading former Lucian agents to join the Madrigals in order to keep the peace between all the branches.
"Any other news?" he said as he stood up and wiped his mouth with his blood red handkerchief.
"None sir. Your father is still deemed lost, and rumoured to be dead after he went to Argentina."
"I see," he said in a monotone lacking in pity. He didn't have pity anymore for he had it only for himself.
"Sir, there is also a message from Amy Cahill, from Massachusetts," the butler said while he gave to him the envelope with a 'C' marked at the right-hand corner and cleaning up his plates.
"Hmm…odd," he said. Amy could've sent him an email, or even called him if it was about branch matters. However, his heart still hoped for her as he noticed that even she was losing herself as well. From the time she hid in herself right after she gave the gear that set the Doomsday device in motion, he knew that she wouldn't be the same again. As annoying as he should be, Ian was actually missing Daniel, his former troublemaker/torturer. He too hid himself, however he showed a hard, outer exterior of an attitude that would've preferred him unleashing Saladin to him any day now.
Sinead and her triplets, Hamilton and his family, Jonah, Phoenix…everyone was a former reflection of themselves before these events happened. As much as he liked, he hated Grace Cahill. She was the reason he was close to bankruptcy. She was the reason why his life took a turn for the worst. He would've wished for his life to start all over again minus the Clue Hunt, but he knew in his logic that there are just some things you can't change.
He went back up the stairs and settled in a plush velvet chair in the mansion's library. It was as grandiose as the one in the Madrigal mansion in America, only there were heads of animals hanging on the walls and an upper floor leading to several conference rooms when the need arises. He took out the letter opener Isabel gave him when he was 6 and opened the letter. Inside was a handwritten letter with a SD card inside.
Ian,
I wrote to you this because I don't want anyone, not even the Internet, to know of how we are going. And when I meant 'we', I meant me and Dan. Also, I asked a Madrigal courier who was a fond friend of Erasmus to deliver this.
Someone just attacked us while we were burying the remains of Mac, or Mr. McIntyre, in the Attleboro cemetery. He, or she, tried to bury me alive while I was there. Dan fended him off, but he/she still escaped and Evan's tombstone was broken because of the effort.
Also, someone broke into Nellie's phone and 'humorously' sent those photos we'd have since the Clue Hunt in the Internet and added phrases like 'We're off to steal another precious artifact' or 'Drugged thieves'. They even increased the public's suspicion that we are thieves, but you know the real story. Who would even believe that we were told by someone to steal those artifacts, build a Doomsday device and Isabel herself saved us all? No one of course.
Then, when we tried to defend ourselves from the lies the media brought down on us, another person attacked us. We were trying to talk to the head of Pierce Communications Inc., James Pierce, when his secretary almost made us fall stories high in a construction site.
We are trying to find what the Pierces (the ones who we thought was responsible for the cemetery incident and then the secretary issue) are up to and if they were planning to take us down [again]. Ugh. As if we had any more problems.
But that's not the worst of it. Erasmus gave to me his flash drive containing secrets that are far worse that what we have here in the Cahill vault. Mostly it's about Arthur Trent and what he found out about the Vespers, but there's something else. There's a—well, find out for yourself. It's in the SD I sent you.
Trust me, there's something more about Isabel and your dad (I forgot his name) than I thought,
Amy Cahill.
P.S. Wouldn't you mind writing to me? I could use another person to understand me. Yeah, I know Sinead and I are best friends again, I just wanted someone else other than her and Jake to talk to about these things. I mean, you had a rough day too.
He reeled his mind of his parents ever mentioning something about Pierce Communications Inc., James Pierce or anything about someone named Pierce. He knew there was one, but the memory was fading faster than ice in a warm room.
He jumped as someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?" he asked as he hid the letter inside his pocket.
"Bickerduff sir. Would you like some tea?" he asked.
Ian sighed in relief as he took his seat once again. "Yes, please come in."
Bickerduff came in and wheeled a tea tray with some small sandwiches, a teapot with Earl Grey tea and three teacups. He set the small sandwiches on the table in front of Ian while he poured him a cup of tea. Another reality of the Kabra mansion was that he had to dismiss all the maids and butlers in order to keep from spending what's left of his one million dollars from the Clue Hunt. Bickerduff was the only one left.
After Ian sipped his tea and took a small bite of the sandwich, he slouched in his chair.
"Is there something wrong, sir?" the curious butler asked.
"Oh, nothing Bickerduff," he replied. "It's just the letter."
He sat down as he poured himself a cup of tea and stirred some sugar in it. "What did she say?"
He took a deep breath and summarized what he'd read in the letter to him. Then he patted his pocket. "She also said that I should take a look at the contents of the card. I don't know what she's trying to imply, but I'm guessing it's very important. Could you fetch my laptop from my room Bickerduff?"
He stood up and bowed down before he left. After a few minutes, he came back with a bag that had his laptop, specially designed for Lucian agents like him. He then turned it on and inserted the card reader containing the card Amy sent him. He clicked the one folder that was inside. It was promptly named, Ian.
As he looked at its contents with a focused expression, he was being shocked with every part he'd read. They were a collection of newspaper clippings, articles and letters from Vikram and Isabel to several of their confidants. But one letter shocked him the most. It was dated several weeks after he was born, and it was written to Aunt Nikola.
[Date Redacted]
[Address Redacted]
Dear Ruslanova,
I'm afraid the search efforts are futile. I've asked even Irina to search for the person responsible for our eldest daughter's kidnapping but even she had failed. I would never jump to conclusions but I know that retched person who took our dear Francheska Madeline is still alive.
I have no other choice. Do you know the phrase, "Sometimes you would have to do everything yourself," because that's the one thing I'm going to do when Grace finally initiates the Clue Hunt.
Yours truly,
Vikram Kabra
P.S. The rubies you've sent to Isabel were absolutely splendid. However, she won't even acknowledge the fact because of what happened to her.
As the shock was about to register, a familiar whistle of a dart whisked in the air that left Ian unconscious.
