It was a nice sunny day when he arrived, not a cloud in the sky, such a peaceful day and yet today was the day everything changed. A dark blue car came up the driveway to a small house; it was two story and had two bedrooms, on the outside it looked like a normal home.
In the back seat of the car sat a young boy of seventeen years of age, he had slightly tanned skin, messy brown hair and green eyes. He wore dirty yellow scarf around his neck, a dark green shirt, brown cargo pants and white sneakers. The boy's name was David Blake. He was being taken to his mother, his father now no longer with the living, she was the only living suitable guardian. His mother and father had divorced a long time ago, his father took him and his mother took his sister. Unfortunately his father passed away a couple months ago. The boy had remained silent throughout the entire journey, he didn't utter a word as they drove up the driveway and only took in the site of his new home.
He couldn't really remember his mother after not having seen her or his twin in over a decade, with their parents divorcing when they were six. But he was still sort of looking forward to it, he may have been scared of starting a new life but was going to see his sister again. He couldn't wait to see her again after so long.
The two social workers exited the car, the one exiting the driver's side was a tall woman, tall in heels anyway, her hair a dark brown and cut short, just short of her shoulders, she wore a dark blue blouse with a black over coat, black miniskirt accompanied by nylons and a pair of black heels her name was Faith Brown. From the passenger's side stepped out her male co-worker. His hair a light brown combed over, he wore a white shirt with a blue overcoat and blue pants with black shoes, his name was John Peter. John opened the back door and David stepped out.
They approached the front door, Faith lightly knocked on the door. The first response they received was a feminine voice saying 'Shit' before the sound of footsteps approaching. The door opened to reveal a tall blonde girl with tanned skin dressed in a pink low-cut shirt that revealed an ample amount of cleavage accompanied by a black leather jacket, light blue jeans and black leather boots, her hair was a little ruffled but other than that it looked pretty good, reaching down to the upper center of her upper back in length. The flesh of her neck had a small bruise upon it and there was a small cut on her left cheek.
"Can I help you?" she asked, her tone sounding rather stressed, the girl's gaze soon rested on her brother and her eyes widened.
''David?'' Anna asked shock filling her voice at seeing her sibling.
''Anna?!'' David's eyes widened when he saw the state of his twin. ''What happened to you?!'' He pushed past her and entered the house, the two workers following suit.
''N-Nothing!'' Anna answered quickly whilst pulling the collar of her jacked up to cover the neck bruise. "I just cut myself in the kitchen'' she added correcting her tone, hoping they would accept her explanation.
But she knew now that they were in the house no matter what she said or how much she manipulated her tone she wouldn't be able to hide the truth. They entered and saw the living room, cans and bottles of variety of alcohol brands scattered about, the twin's mother sat in the only chair watching the TV, beer bottle in hand, she looked over at them, her face slightly wrinkled and ever fixed into a scowl, she glared at Anna before moving her gaze to their 'guests' and glaring at her son, even after all these years she recognised him but she quickly put on a mask of normalness for the social workers. The woman smiled, trying to look innocent.
"Hello." she greeted, not liking how the social workers were looking round the living room.
'I knew we should have cleaned this place up!' Anna mentally scolded herself, glad that her companion had aided her in healing her wounds. If all she had was a small bruise and a cut she was doing well, last night her face was barely recognisable as human, being covered in cuts after having a beer bottle smashed in her face. She was glad her clothes hid the scars that would never leave her but she was still nervous, she may be able to play off the abuse but not the fact her mother was an alcoholic.
''Hmm...'' Faith hummed in disappointment at seeing the countless bottles. John headed off to take a look at the rest of the house. He wondered into the kitchen and found even more beer and what not in the fridge.
''We definitely have an alcoholic.'' John muttered to himself. Meanwhile David walked off to stand next to his sibling and looked at her in concern.
"Are you sure you're okay?'' He asked softly enough so that only she could heard. Anna glanced at him and nodded slightly. David frowned and looked at their mother with a slight scowl.
"John!'' Faith yelled for her companion.
''Yeah?'' He replied reappearing from the kitchen.
"Search the house.'' Faith instructed, they both split up to look deeper in the house, leaving the children and mother alone.
David's gaze remained on his sister; Anna ensured to keep her emotions hidden and was more than glad that while other people were in the house their mother would behave, but what about when they go away and leave David here?
"You sure you're okay?" David asked again.
"Yeah, nothing's wrong." Anna insisted, controlling her tone to make it sound as if she was talking about something as casual as the weather. Anna headed to the kitchen with David following after her. The boy glanced back at his mother suspiciously while Anna continued doing what she had been doing before they arrived; making dinner. The girl was making burger and chips for her mother and a sandwich for herself.
''Why are you cooking? Isn't that out mother's job?'' David questioned his sister and glanced towards the living room once again. ''And why the hell is she drinking? She's not supposed to do that, at least not this much.'' He continued to question his sister with concern shining in his eyes.
''Don't worry about it brother.'' Anna forced a smile on her face. ''It's okay I don't mind cooking.''
''If you say so...'' David muttered and grabbed an apple from the counter to munch on. ''You know they're gonna leave me here, right? Our dad passed away...'' David told his sister sadly as he swallowed a bite.
"Dad's gone?" Anna gasped, emotion flooding her voice despite her control 'You can't stay here, we can take what mom dishes out but you won't be able to' she mentally gasped, fear infiltrating her mental tone.
"Yeah...so I'm moving in with you guys." David answered.
''You can't stay here!'' Anna closed her mouth quickly but was unable to stop the words from leaving her mouth.
''Huh? What do you mean?'' David asked curiously and raised an eyebrow.
''Uh...'' Anna bit her lip but was saved from explaining her outburst when Faith and John walked back to the living room.
"We will we back here in a month and see if you have limited your consumption of alcohol Miss or have a least taken steps to do so.'' Faith began. ''If you have not we will have to remove both Anna and David from your care. Until then we will leave David here.'' John finished with a warning glare at the mother. With that the two workers left the house.
Anna felt her heart rate increase as she heard their car leave the driveway, she focused on keeping control of herself.
"What did you mean I can't stay sis?" David asked again.
"You'll work that one out soon, go upstairs and into the first door on the left, lock it and don't go through my stuff." Anna instructed, her gaze hardening and any objection her brother had died, he left her and headed upstairs. Anna heard her mother rise from her chair and begin to head her way, her hand curled into a fist as she prepared for the onslaught she was about to receive.
"Anna, why did you let them in?" Danielle asked softly, curled her hand into tight first.
"They pushed past me." Anna answered as her mother came to stand beside her.
"BULL SHIT!" Danielle spat, grapping the handle of the frying pan Anna was cooking with. The woman lifted it and slamming it into Anna's face from the left side, the grease scolded her flesh, the hot meat of the two burgers stuck to her left cheek only adding to the pain, she squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the bruise form among the burns from where the pan had hit her, her head shot to the right.
"Now look what you've done you've ruined my dinner!" Danielle spat, BANG, another hit, this time the underside atop her head, Anna let out a scream of pain "Just like you ruined my marriage!" she continued, hitting Anna with each word, each hit harder than the one before. Danielle continued until her daughter was on the floor, tears leaking from the girl's badly burnt and bruised face. Once her mother was done, Anna rose back to her feet and began making dinner for her guardian again.
Up on the second floor David was still walking towards the room pointed out. He froze when he heard his sister scream and scrambled backwards, running down the stairs and sliding in the kitchen he saw his sister with her back to him and his mother sitting calmly on the table with a scowl on her face.
''What the hell was that!'' David yelled and glared at his mother. Stepping further into the kitchen he placed his hand on his sister's shoulder and turned her around. David gasped when he saw the state of her face, silent tears streaming down her face. ''WHAT DID YOU DO?!'' He roared at his mother.
"Stay out of this David!" Anna warned and stepped forward.
"I don't see why it's any of your business." Danielle countered, moving away from the table and towards the rolling pin on the counter.
"No, Mom! I will bare all of David's punishments!" Anna said confidently, moving to stand in front of her brother.
"Oh you'll take it will you?" Danielle questioned, gripping the rolling pin and turning to face her children, slowly approaching them.
"Yes!" Anna answered confidently and then turned towards her sibling "I told you to hide in my room, now go there and don't come back until I call you" she instructed him with a slight glare.
"But..." David began, his sister's glare hardened, he nodded and headed back up the stairs and into the room, locking the door. Anna turned back to her mother just in time to be hit across the face with the rolling pin, blood shot out of her mouth as her head sharply turned to the left.
"You dare tell me who'll be punished!" Danielle spat out before striking her again.
Anna fell on her back and put her hands up to block the blows to her face.
''Yes I'll tell you who to punish! David hasn't done anything wrong!'' The girl shouted and winced as the rolling pin connected to her forearms once again.
Upstairs David was pacing around the room furiously.
''What the hell? Why did I leave her down there?!'' He muttered angrily to himself. ''We're supposed to be sibling! Twins! We should be protecting each other!'' David stopped and took a deep breath. ''It's true. We should protect each other.'' David's green eyes narrowed. He unlocked the door and went downstairs once more. Marching in the room he grabbed the other end of the rolling pin, stopping it inches from Anna's bruised arms.
''I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!'' David yelled and twisted the rolling pin out of the woman's grasp. He then clenched his left fist and punched the woman in the face making his mother stumble backwards and hit the table. Anna bolted to her feet and snatched the rolling pin from him, putting it on the counter.
"You shouldn't have done that! I told you to stay upstairs!" Anna scolded her brother.
"I'm not leaving you to take this alone! We're twins for fucks sake!" David argued back.
"Except I can take this and you can't!" Anna barked, her gaze locked on their mother as the woman stood back on her feet and grabbed a steak knife.
"You dare strike me!" Danielle spat, Anna pushed David out of the way and into the table, he struck it with such force that he flew onto the table itself and slammed his head and the table against the wall. The knife shot forward and pierced Anna's left shoulder. She gasped as it went into her flesh, deep enough so only the hilt of the knife could be visible.
"I said I would take his punishments!" Anna said with determination through gritted teeth. Danielle twisted the knife causing her daughter's expression to become one of pure pain. The mother removed the knife and sliced Anna across her stomach.
"Fine then, here's his too!" Danielle snarled before slicing at Anna's stomach again, pulling the knife back into the air and then plunging it into the girl's right shoulder, leaving it there "I expect dinner to be ready in ten minutes." The abusive woman instructed before leaving the kitchen. Anna glared at her retreating mother before reaching for the knife and pulling it out of her shoulder. She then added the bloody weapon in the pile of washing up and started cooking again, this time boiling hot dogs since it'd be the only thing she could cook in the time limit her mother had given her.
Clutching the side of his head David wobbly got back on his feet. 'How is she so strong?' He thought and looked towards his sister's direction. Gritting his teeth in anger when he saw the cuts.
''Damn it Anna! Why won't you let me help you!? Do you really think I'll just stand by and watch you get hurt like this?!'' David asked his twin with frustration coating his voice as he went to a cabinet and grabbed a first-aid-kit to bandage his sister's wounds.
"Don't bother, they're already healing...I've been living with this for the past eleven years David I'm used to it and I can survive it. You would not" Anna muttered.
"What do you mean they're already healing?" David asked as he turned to face his sister and saw the cuts on her looking like month old scars with no blood coming from them.
"How?" he asked, shocked.
"I adapted, last night was worse than this and yet the only signs were a small bruise and a small cut. I'm not normal, I heal fast but you would not." Anna explained, hoping he'd drop it. Besides with the stories of mutants on the news she believed he'd just assume she was one and not the host to an alien life form.
''How is that possible?'' David gasped an expression of shock upon his face. He wasn't about to drop a serious issue like this. It involved his sister damn it! ''I'll be staying here for now on so you better explain how the fuck that is possible! I'm your twin damn it! You have to trust me with these things!'' David ranted and started pacing the kitchen. It was going to become a habit of his.
"Even if you 'adapted' a person cannot heal this quickly! And before you point it out, you are not a mutant! I know that for a fact!'' David glared at his sister with concern and anger reflecting in his eyes. ''You better tell me what the hell is going on when night comes!'' he continued.
"And how would you know if I'm a mutant or not? We may be twins but you're not a replica of me, maybe you're a mutant too and it just hasn't emerged yet? Maybe my mutation showed up as a survival instinct!" Anna argued, David turned back to face his sister, she did have a point and it did sort of make sense when he thought about it.
"But still even if you can heal you shouldn't have to deal with this, especially not alone!" David countered. All he wanted was for his sister to be safe!
'I'm not alone' Anna mentally answered, not that she'd ever say it out loud.
''Leave it be David. Its fine.'' Anna concluded and turned back to her cooking. Her brother clenched his hands into fists and stomped out of the kitchen, stalking up the stairs and slamming the door shut.
'Why don't you let him in?' a feminine voice asked within Anna's mind.
'Because I don't want him to know about you, I just got him back and I don't want to lose him! The questions he's asking will force me to reveal you to him!' Anna answered.
'At least let him comfort you, you need someone to talk to about this' the voice argued.
'Besides the voice in my head?' Anna countered. The voice in her head, in her opinion, was enough comfort.
'He's your twin you can trust him' the voice insisted.
'Frost, I've gone through this long alone I can continue. I don't want to drag him into this' Anna told Frost with finality in her voice.
'Like it or not he's in it' Frost shot back before going quiet. Anna placed the food on the table just as her mother returned. Two hotdogs and chips for her mother, a ham sandwich for her and one for her brother if he decided to come back down. Danielle glared at her daughter, furious that her daughter's wounds were already healing.
"Freak." Danielle muttered which Anna promptly ignored.
After a few hours, night came. David hadn't come down to eat so Anna placed his sandwich in the fridge for tomorrow. She sighed and walked up the stairs and into her room. Anne sat on her bed and across from her, David sat on the extra bed in the room with his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do. His sister didn't trust him enough to reveal how it was possible for her to heal that fast and he guessed he couldn't really blame her. They haven't really known each other for very long. If only their parents haven't divorced it probably would have been different. Punching the mattress in frustration at the situation he cursed his inability to help out.
"Calm down David." Anna said as she took a seat beside her sibling the bed.
"How can I be calm when my own twin won't trust me enough to tell me how she heals so fast?" David remarked. Anna let out a small sigh.
"It's not that I don't trust you bro...It's a secret I've had for a long time now so of course I won't tell you straight away" Anna explained.
"But we're twins!" David pushed his point across even though he knew it wouldn't do him any good.
"I still have my privacy and my secrets! You'll probably learn of them soon enough though, there's a sandwich for you in the fridge if you want it." Anna said.
Sighing heavily David finally let the subject go.
''I'm not hungry. Before coming here they practically stuffed me full of food.'' He chuckles slightly. ''So how have you been doing? Aside from the beating? We need to catch up, don't we?''' David smirked and looked at his sibling.
"I've been doing well, kept my grades up, kept myself active apart from home life stuffs been good, you?" Anna asked.
"Recent events aside yeah, so you got any friends to introduce me to tomorrow? We've got school don't we?" David questioned.
"I have school, don't know if you'll be enrolled though." Anna answered 'Shit he'll be home alone with mom' she mentally screamed, it looked like David had the same realization as his expression was one of anxiety and almost fear.
''Well...'' David chuckled ''First time I'll be missing school, eh?'' He said trying to make light of the situation. "I will never miss school as much as I will tomorrow.'' He smiled at looked at the door. 'Oh crap' He thought to himself 'Well at least she will be away from the beating, that's a relief.' This thought calmed him. He cared only for his sister's safety and it didn't matter if she could heal super-fast, the beating still inflicted pain on her and David wanted to make sure she felt as little pain as possible, after all he was finally here to prevent it.
"I'll stay here until you're enrolled in school." Anna stated like it was no big deal.
"But what about your grades, attendance and friends?" David objected immediately.
"A couple of days won't affect my grades, I've already read ahead in my classes, as for attendance, a few days won't do too much damage to my attendance record." Anna listed off his concerns with a small proud smirk.
David narrowed his eyes when she didn't mention her friends. 'Damn it girl! Stop acting so strong! You have me to help you now, damn it!' He raged mentally but did not let it show on his face.
''You're going.'' He told her with a flat tone.
''No, I'm not.'' Anna replied with the same tone.
''Yes. You. Are.'' David got up from the bed and walked towards the window. ''I'm not going to let you skip school just so you can stay here of all places!''
"Regardless of what you say bro I'm calling in sick tomorrow and staying home with you." Anna stated with a smile, glad she had one this argument as well. This was all for his own safety after all.
Later...
"So where's my room?" David asked.
"Only two rooms, mine and moms, you take the bed tonight and tomorrow I'll take you to the mall and hopefully we'll find something to make your stay more comfortable." Anna told him. She left the room before David could argue about the bed. "I've gotta rush to the store for milk. Keep the door locked and only unlock it when I return." She instructed, the door closing and her footsteps beginning to fade. David pulled out his phone and dialled the number Faith had given him.
Anna, however, once outside ducked around the corner and out of sight. She willed Frost to cover her body, her clothing melted into a black spandex that covered her body, light blue streaks opened all over her new skin, her hair lengthened to stroke the floor, turning scarlet, her eyes became white and a fang filled maw opened upon her face. Bat like wings with blue striped erupted from her back and she began to flap them and take to the skies.
David paced the room as he waited for Faith to pick up the phone, all the while muttering curses under his breath. ''Hello? What is it David? I did not expect you to call this soon.'' Faith's smooth voice replaced the ringing from the phone causing David to smile slightly.
''Hey, I need to report my mother for abuse towards my sister.'' David answered.
''Do you have any proof?'' Faith asked, she was about ready to go into that house and bring the woman in but protocol dictated she needed proof before taking any action.
''How about: I saw it with my own fucking eyes!'' David glared at nothing as he said that.
''Very well. We'll come by tomorrow and see for ourselves.'' David sighed in frustration at hearing that ''I'm sorry David but we can't take any action before having proof. When we come I will personally check your sister for any kind of bruises even if it means stripping her to her underwear.'' Faith promised with determination. David laughed slightly from her words and nodded.
''Thanks.'' He smiled.
''No need, that's our job.'' With that Faith ended the call. Smirking David placed his phone back in his pants' pocket.
"You won't be hurting my sister any time soon 'mom'. " David said to himself and started getting ready for bed, hoping that when Faith and John come there would be something to show them but thanks to his sister's incredible rate of healing it wasn't guaranteed.
Meanwhile Anna or Frost, as she referred to herself when clad in her Symbiote, glided over the city keeping an eye out for any form of trouble. She wished there was something because she needed something to take her frustration on. Luckily she found what she was looking for. A mugger, his face masked by a black balaclava, running from a woman with a bag in hand. Frost began her decent, stopping just above the pavement and then starting to pick up speed, aiming for the running thief. Spreading her wings to stop herself just before hitting the man, she breathed a blue mist on him and then flew back to watch. The blue mist soon became denser turning to ice and freezing the mugger's lower body.
With her job done, Frost landed on the ground and took the bag. The Symbiote host turned around to give it back to the woman but the stranger took one glance at the monster in front of her and ran away screaming.
'See? I don't want to tell my brother my secret otherwise he will react just like this.' Anna spoke in her mind in a dejected tone and dropped the bag, taking flight once again.
'You can't be sure of that unless you try.' Frost replied.
'I'm not going to risk losing my only family left.' Anna answered.