Violet Tyler hated her life. No, seriously, she hated it.
She wasn't miserable, of course. She wasn't an orphan, stuffed into an Orphanage of Fear, or living on the streets. She had a family that loved her: mother, sister, and friends. Her life could be much worse than it was now, she knew.
In fact, the worst thing that ever really seemed to happen to her and her sister was the death of their father. And they hadn't even been born then, just barely conceived; nothing more than a mass of cells and genetic material that would eventually split into a pair of identical twins.
But, the thing was, frankly, she was bored. Ever since she could remember, she and her sister (whose name was Susan) had been in the same routine: wake up, eat, go to school, come home, do homework, eat, go to bed, repeat. Over and over again, nonstop, for thirteen years.
She despised every second of it. School was hell, and she had better things to do than make friends who were more interested in their hair and clothes than her.
She spent most of her time in her and her sister's room, with an eye through the telescope peeking through the window.
That was what she was doing at the beginning of our story.
"Look at this, Susan! Look!" the thirteen-year-old begged her identical twin.
Pained groaning came from the lump of blankets on the bed next to her. "Violet," Susan groaned. "What time is it?"
"Three minutes to midnight. Come on, look at this!"
A few moments of squirming out of her blankets, (which strangely reminded Violet of a caterpillar breaking out of its cocoon) and Susan was kneeling by her sister's chair. "What is it, Violet? Is it really that important?"
"Yeah, it is! Look!"
Violet was nearly bouncing in her seat as Susan looked through the telescope. She would see it, she was sure! Soon enough, Susan would be 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing right along with her sister!
"...it's the moon," Susan murmured, unimpressed.
Violet's heart fell. She could almost hear the whistle and thump of it hitting the ground, like on the cartoons. "Yeah, right? It's so beautiful! Look at all those stars, and the moon is so clear tonight! I was specially waiting till midnight to see it! There's nothing more pretty than a full moon at midnight!"
The remaining scraps of Violet's hope were destroyed with another yawn from her sister. "Sorry, I'm going back to bed. Sorry I didn't like it as much as you did. Goodnight."
Trying to mask her disappointment, (and utterly failing) Violet uttered a quiet, "Goodnight."
Pulling the telescope out of the window, she put the cover on the lens and closed the window. With one last glance at the moon (a drop of white in a sea of black, she thought with a smirk) she climbed under her covers and closed her eyes.
I guess it's just you and me, moon...
~o~o~o~o~
Violet's day did not improve. Between the rude awakening by her mum, her losing her homework, and arriving at school late after her quest to find said homework, she had had better days. She'd been shunned at school (as usual), and had to bail out Susan when she angered some people who really shouldn't be angered.
And now she and her sister were being followed home by them, of all people.
They never had a name. No one was able to think of one, since anyone could remember. They were made up of four people: two boys, and two girls. They did nothing with anyone other than the four people in their group, whispering to each other about who knows what.
And they were after the Tyler twins. They'd been following them home since...they didn't even know!
"What is your problem?!" Violet snapped, whipping around to face them. "Why're you following us?"
"Oh, sorry! We didn't mean to bother you, but we needed to get your attention!" one of the boys exclaimed.
"You could've gotten up and talked to us, then!" Susan murmured.
Ignoring her, a girl in the group stepped forward. Her skin was a shade darker than average, with black hair and brown eyes. "I saw your telescope pointing out your window. I never knew you were into outer space." She reached out her hand. "I'm Lily Poynter. I live in your apartment building."
Apprehensively shaking her hand, Violet looked at the rest of the group. "Um...why are you asking me this?"
One of the boys (blonde hair with blue eyes) spoke up. "We're wondering if you want to join our group. We're Paranormal Investigators, but we call ourselves the Investigators for short." With a smile, he looked toward the twins. "We study any kind of extraterrestrial life and activities, like Betty and Barney Hill, that case in America-"
"And the Valentich disappearance, too!" a bespectacled, brown-haired boy piped up.
"Yes, Jeremy, we do that, too," the other boy said. "We do anything involving aliens, but we have one main focus right now." He pulled a folder out of his bag and handed it to her. "Have you seen this man? Have you at least heard of him? He's fascinating; he's been seen all over. Think of any place at any time, and he's probably been there. He even has a name, too! He's the Doctor!"
Susan took the picture from his hand, and stared at it for a moment. "You're kidding," she said bluntly. "What alien are you talking about? This is a normal man. How are we supposed to know that you just didn't snap a picture of some random bloke off the street?"
Lily's face paled. "No, we're serious! Ask my dad! He's seen him!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. Thanks for asking, but we have to go home now. Our mum is going to be worried." Susan gave the pictures to the boy, and started walking back to their apartment. "Come on, Violet!"
Hesitating, Violet stood in front of the boy. "Um...can I see those pictures?"
He smiled. "Sure." He placed the folder in her hand.
Before she opened it, she smiled at him. "What's your name anyway? And the other girl?"
The boy started. "Oh, we didn't give you our names, did we? Well, I'm Neil Shaw. The one with glasses is Jeremy Middleton. The black-haired girl is Lily Poynter, and the girl with the red hair and braces is Emily Turpin."
Smiling, she extended her hand. "Violet Tyler. The other one's my twin sister, Susan. I know we're identical, so don't worry; I won't be too offended if you mix us up."
Neil smiled and shook it. "Well, Violet, have you decided whether you're going to join us or not?"
Violet shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe a look at this Doctor you're talking about will convince me," she laughed.
Flipping open the folder, her heart almost stopped. "Um...can I bring these pictures home?"
He raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Alright. Just be careful; we have more like them, but there's no copies."
The oldest Tyler twin grinned at him. "Thanks. See you tomorrow! I'm definitely in!" She turned and dashed after her sister.
The whole way, her mind was dwelling on one thing: the man, the Doctor, whatever he was called...he looked like her and Susan. Yeah, his hair was a bit spikier and more unruly than the twins' straight hair (from their mother) but they had the same dark brown shade as him, and same brown eyes...
Ugh, what was she thinking? Their father was dead and buried, if what their mother said was correct. And why would their mum lie to them?
Violet put the pictures in her bag, and ran up the street to her apartment.