Story
Leaning over the keys, Hemmie scrolled through the coding, her vision partly covered by the blue streaks of her bangs. I'll have to dye it again soon, She thought mindlessly. Maybe lavender, in honor of Aimee. Why did it have to be her that left? Why not me? Rather than pushing the though away, she heaved herself from the chair and made the long and inevitable trip from her room to the East Tower. Aimee's room. The room no one hadn't been in since she left. Even standing outside the door, she couldn't stop from remembering the fight they'd had that same night. The yelling, the accusing, the stupid emotions that had built up and spilled over the edge. The things that neither of them meant to say that made Aimee walk out the door. The night she lost her twin, her other half. It was her fault, and even as she stood outside Aimee's door, she couldn't forget. Taking a deep breath, she turned the doorknob slowly and pushed the door open.
It was just like Aimee had left it. Her schoolbag sitting on the bed. Her desk messy with books and papers. Her keyboard out and ready to play, music sheets falling onto the floor. It was a nightmare frozen in time. Hemmie closed the door and slid down against it, shaking with grief. She never cried, hadn't since she was a little girl. But now she let the tears come, and even though she desperately wanted to stop, get up off the floor and walk as far away as she could from that room, she couldn't move. She couldn't hear anything, not even her own voice, because while she cried, that horrible night seeped into her mind.
The argument wasn't even important. It didn't matter what was said. All that mattered was that Aimee got so angry that she whisked her tote bag from the door and stormed out of the house. It had been pitch-black outside; Aimee hadn't been watching where she was going. Although she was smart enough to be head of her class, her street smarts were limited. That was more Hemmie's field of expertise, that and computers. And even though Aimee knew well enough to hide in the woods, she didn't know her way around them and was going in circles.
About five minutes after Aimee left, Hemmie broke out of her trance and realized that her twin would get into trouble the longer she stayed on the street. She grabbed a flashlight and her phone and went to go find her sister. Her first thought was; where would I go if I wanted to be alone? The woods. Of course. Just the other week, she had told Aimee that she was going there to enjoy the silence. Hemmie sprinted for the woods, knowing that Aimee would soon get lost in the unfamiliar territory. Once engulfed in shadow, Hemmie stood still and listened carefully for the sound of movement. Her perfect hearing detected footsteps about 40° to her right. Running quickly but quietly, her eyes darted from left to right, looking for signs of Aimee.
Meanwhile, Aimee heard peoples' voices and stumbled upon someone's late night party. There were rambunctious college kids screaming and laughing, most didn't even regard her presence. Those who did assumed she was a loner who decided to join them in their fun. She walked to the opposite end of the party and sat down on a fallen tree lodged in the dirt, setting her bag down next to her. She dropped her head in her hands and tried to breathe, to calm herself down. She didn't mean to get mad at Hemmie, but sometimes her sister made her frustrated. If only she would apply herself to her schoolwork, then the whole family would get along better. But Hemmie's stubborn and thinks she can make a living by being a hacker. Someday she'll get caught and there will be no one but Aimee to help her. That's why she pushed her sister, because she loved her.
While she was thinking this over, someone sneaked up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. It was one of the drunken boys with his friend, but they weren't playing around. They dragged her away from the rest of the party, covering her mouth so she couldn't scream. Although she fought as hard as she could, they was stronger than she was and had no problem controlling her. One of them pushed her into the dirt face down, laughing at her vulnerability. She was already terrified when she felt a sharp pain as one of the boys threw his empty bottle at her back. I'm going to die. The thoughts seeped into her subconscious. They're going to kill me.
Hemmie had finally found the party in the woods and she looked around frantically at the wild teenagers. This was a crowd of people that Aimee wasn't used to. She worried that Aimee was in trouble when she discovered her sister's abandoned bag next to the log. Something was definitely wrong. As she went deeper into the woods, she heard quiet laughter ahead of her. Slinking through the brush, she saw the most horrible thing ever imaginable. Aimee lying face down with two intoxicated boys standing over her laughing. One of them had thrown something at her and there was glass cutting into her skin. Instinctively running toward her, Hemmie screamed at the boys to let her sister go. The larger of the two held her back, laughing, then roughly threw her on the ground and kicked her head. A jolt of searing pain ran from her temple down her spine. In the last moments of consciousness, she heard the sickening crunch as the rock flew from the boy's outstretched hand and split Aimee's skull into pieces. Then there was nothing.
Wrenching herself from memory, Hemmie was back in the house, lying on the floor of her sister's room. She couldn't cry anymore, she had to face the horrible truth that she couldn't save her sweet, innocent sister. Aimee was dead, and it was her fault. No wonder her parents named her Mayhem. She's caused destruction her whole life. And now she has to live with her curse, while Aimee died with a gift. The gift to love something that no one else can. A monster.