Chapter 4
Duo peered nervously from behind the curtain at the assembling crowd.
"Daddy, don't worry. They're not even here to see you silly!" Anastasia giggled and twisted around on her piano stool. "I'll be fine, and Cree will be fine too." Referring to her brother as Cree meant that she was happy and content. It served as a comfort to duo, and he walked towards her.
"I know darling, I just get worried." He gave her a big bear hug, and she squealed in delighted protest.
"Daddy! Mommy says that if you crease my dress with all your hugging she'll do you in. Where's Cree?" she looked around and a puzzled look settled on her otherwise angelic face. Then it disappeared and she lit up in excitement as two men walked through the door, negotiating a large piece of canvas around the corners. A bemused Cory was following them, padding silently behind.
"Isn't it pretty daddy?" the over-excited girl jumped down off her stool and ran towards her brother. She enclosed him in a huge bear hug. He just stood there with a taken-aback look; as though he had been minding his own business and a lunatic had rushed over and started showing him extreme displays of affection. Actually, that wasn't so far off.
"Anastasia, let your brother go. Mommy's going to pull the curtain open soon, and you need to be ready." He bustled the two towards their places, Anastasia on the piano stool, and Cory standing by his painting. Duo did have to admit it was a magnificent piece. Cory had painted it from a photo, taken the previous week by a photographer who came in to take the whole family's portraits. It was a larger-than-life oil of Cory and Anastasia, sitting side by side, their bodies facing each other and their faces lit up with joy. Duo doubted very much whether a finer painting could be done by someone even ten years older than Cory. The painting captured the spirit of the children. Duo was just contemplating how much a piece like this would sell for when he heard a hiss from offstage.
"Duo! Get off the stage. She's about to pull up the curtain." Quatre whispered to him. Then he hurried into the front row, and sat down.
"Bye bye twins! Good luck, I love you lots!" he whispered to them.
"Love you daddy!" they whispered back in unison. Duo followed Quatre, sitting near Wufei. On stage, Ana cleared her throat and the chatter from the audience died out.
"Ladies and gentlemen. We are all here today to celebrate the joint birthdays of the children of duo and I. We would like to express greatest thanks to everyone for the delightful presents. The twins were thrilled to see them. To say thank you, they would like to put on a little show for you. My daughter is going to play a piece on the piano that she learned especially for tonight, and my son is going to show you a painting he did of himself and his sister. We would appreciate."
Duo zoned out, he had heard the speech often enough to know it by heart. He allowed his mind and eyes to wander from guest to guest. They took in the Lecrances', a married couple who owned the property next to theirs. The Twinings, who owned a fruit tea company just a mile or two away. The Smiths, the Newmans, the Lloyds and the Beech's were all in attendance as well. Duo knew these people only through the parties Ana had thrown over the years. There were also about a dozen people that duo didn't recognise. They probably worked with Ana, he didn't know. As his eyes started to move towards the stage again, he caught sight of something that greatly unsettled him. A tall ebony skinned man with glaringly white teeth stood at the back of the hall, grinning. The man was dressed all in black, black three-piece suit, black dress shirt, and black tie, with a long black vampire style coat worn with an air of indifference but power. His two side gold teeth glittered in the half-light of the hall, and duo felt a steady, almost canine, growl rise up in his throat. The man seemed to hear him, although duo knew this was impossible, because he looked over at duo and his grin widened. He dragged on his cigarette and then discarded it to the floor, where he stylishly stomped its last red embers out. Then he glanced back at the stage. Ana was finishing her speech. With a swish of his long coat, he was gone.
"Whats the matter Maxwell? You seem even more angry than usual. Whats with the growling?" Wufei leant over and whispered to him.
"Ronan. Here. Now. Gone." Duo whispered back through gritted teeth.
"You're kidding!" Wufei forgot to whisper and almost shouted out. He quickly went quiet though and started scanning the hall.
"Gone." Duo repeated.
".So without any further ado, may I introduce, Anastasia and Cory, the most talented five year old twins in the history of the Norvatis family!"
There was loud clapping from every part of the hall, as the curtains drew back to reveal a darkened stage. A Drumroll, and then the spotlights were switched on, trained to Anastasia's piano stool. Except, there was no Anastasia. Duo leapt to his feet at once, and went round to the back of the stage. When he got there he found that Cory was missing too.
"Sorry folks, they're probably just hiding! Little rascals, always playing tricks on us." The crowd laughed good humouredly, and waited while duo hunted around, calling for the twins.
"Come on! This is no time to hide. Mommy's going to be very angry if you don't come out." Still no twins.
"Tell you what folks, why don't you go and sit for dinner, we can have the twins show after the feast." The crowd started to mutter politely, as though they were worried, but nonetheless started to move towards the dining hall.
"Duo, what's happened? Where are they?" Ana was panicky, evidently worried about her children.
"Don't worry, you know them, they're probably hiding out somewhere. If we look we'll find them." Even as he uttered words of comfort, and icy hand slid around his heart. He remembered Ronan standing at the back of the hall, grinning. He also remembered that he hadn't seen LJ anywhere. Could it be? No, LJ was evil, but not evil enough for kidnapping. So the search continued. Ana went to entertain the guests, and they seemed to have forgotten about the children. After two hours however, with still no sign of them, duo suggested that they go home.
"Sorry people, if we cant find them there's really no point." They saw all the guests out, most of them saying goodbye in a worried, uncomfortable and vaguely sympathetic voice. He remembered that kind of voice. At the hospital when they had told him that there was nothing they could do for lily, and that she had been gone before he got her there, when he had started calling them liars and cursing them, then they had had that voice. He hated that voice. The other ex pilots and their partners had all insisted on staying and helping duo and Ana look. With the exception of Emily, who had to look after the baby, they hunted through the house, searching every room. Ana had broken down and started crying when she went into Cory's room. She had said the sight of all his little shoes lined up against the wall, all his toys neatly stacked, had been too much for her. Duo had put her to bed and carried on searching. For hours and hours they looked, yelling out the names of the children. At daybreak, they all collapsed into chairs in the living room.
"Does anyone want coffee? We need it." Livinia stood up and started towards the kitchen.
"Livinia, check, check to see if LJ is in her room please? Just please do it." Asked a weary duo. When she returned 10 minutes later, she had a tray of mugs and a puzzled look.
"Duo, she's not in her room. All her stuff is gone too. It looks like she left in a hurry. I found this though." She handed him a small light blue envelope. With shaking hands he opened it. It contained a letter on a sheet of blue paper, written in LJ's small neat writing. Fearing what it might say, he did not read it out loud.
To the one who calls himself Shinigami. Truly duo, truly you are a fool. I assumed that you would have enough sense to see what was coming, but apparently I overestimated your abilities. I assume you have guessed by now, if you haven't, then you will surely scream in agony at what I am about to reveal. I have taken your precious children. I have taken them from you, and am going to keep them to myself. First though, I am going to make sure that they never want to see you again. The little ones did protest an awful lot, screaming they were. Didn't want to go with strangers. Wanted to stay with daddy. Had to do a good bit of silencing, did Ronan. But they were quiet in the end. Of course, any child who has just been told their father wants to kill them will be rather thoughtful. You didn't give me the only thing I wanted, so now I have taken from you the only thing you had. Your children. Never again will that son paint. Never again will that daughter play the piano. They will grow up to be street children. Your daughter will be called things suitable only for a whore, and your son will fight and kill many people in the battles that you strove so hard to make sure he would never see. All the things you hoped would never happen to your precious twins are going to become reality. Do not expect to see them again. Remember shinigami, this would have been prevented if you had only given me what I wanted. I hope you die with that knowledge. I hope you never forget for one moment that your children will live like slaves because you were selfish. From your nightmare, Lady Jacquel, the teenage slut that you rejected. Ps, my innocence was lost at the hands of you at the age of only 13. Your daughter will suffer for it. Greatly.
Enraged, Duo reread the letter and stuffed it into his pocket. Then, with his head clasped in his hands, he let loose an unearthly wail. Never again would he see his only children.
********
As the ex-pilots left that day, they hurried out of the house as quickly as possible. They had stayed for three hours after duo received the letter. After that, it had been too much. So they left the house. Left the sound of Ana sobbing and screaming. Left the sound of Duo shouting insults at everyone. Left the sight of smashed glass and servants hurriedly packing their bags. Duo had dismissed all the servants. He had shouted that no one was trustworthy and that he'd shoot anyone whom was still there the next day. No one doubted his threat.
Duo peered nervously from behind the curtain at the assembling crowd.
"Daddy, don't worry. They're not even here to see you silly!" Anastasia giggled and twisted around on her piano stool. "I'll be fine, and Cree will be fine too." Referring to her brother as Cree meant that she was happy and content. It served as a comfort to duo, and he walked towards her.
"I know darling, I just get worried." He gave her a big bear hug, and she squealed in delighted protest.
"Daddy! Mommy says that if you crease my dress with all your hugging she'll do you in. Where's Cree?" she looked around and a puzzled look settled on her otherwise angelic face. Then it disappeared and she lit up in excitement as two men walked through the door, negotiating a large piece of canvas around the corners. A bemused Cory was following them, padding silently behind.
"Isn't it pretty daddy?" the over-excited girl jumped down off her stool and ran towards her brother. She enclosed him in a huge bear hug. He just stood there with a taken-aback look; as though he had been minding his own business and a lunatic had rushed over and started showing him extreme displays of affection. Actually, that wasn't so far off.
"Anastasia, let your brother go. Mommy's going to pull the curtain open soon, and you need to be ready." He bustled the two towards their places, Anastasia on the piano stool, and Cory standing by his painting. Duo did have to admit it was a magnificent piece. Cory had painted it from a photo, taken the previous week by a photographer who came in to take the whole family's portraits. It was a larger-than-life oil of Cory and Anastasia, sitting side by side, their bodies facing each other and their faces lit up with joy. Duo doubted very much whether a finer painting could be done by someone even ten years older than Cory. The painting captured the spirit of the children. Duo was just contemplating how much a piece like this would sell for when he heard a hiss from offstage.
"Duo! Get off the stage. She's about to pull up the curtain." Quatre whispered to him. Then he hurried into the front row, and sat down.
"Bye bye twins! Good luck, I love you lots!" he whispered to them.
"Love you daddy!" they whispered back in unison. Duo followed Quatre, sitting near Wufei. On stage, Ana cleared her throat and the chatter from the audience died out.
"Ladies and gentlemen. We are all here today to celebrate the joint birthdays of the children of duo and I. We would like to express greatest thanks to everyone for the delightful presents. The twins were thrilled to see them. To say thank you, they would like to put on a little show for you. My daughter is going to play a piece on the piano that she learned especially for tonight, and my son is going to show you a painting he did of himself and his sister. We would appreciate."
Duo zoned out, he had heard the speech often enough to know it by heart. He allowed his mind and eyes to wander from guest to guest. They took in the Lecrances', a married couple who owned the property next to theirs. The Twinings, who owned a fruit tea company just a mile or two away. The Smiths, the Newmans, the Lloyds and the Beech's were all in attendance as well. Duo knew these people only through the parties Ana had thrown over the years. There were also about a dozen people that duo didn't recognise. They probably worked with Ana, he didn't know. As his eyes started to move towards the stage again, he caught sight of something that greatly unsettled him. A tall ebony skinned man with glaringly white teeth stood at the back of the hall, grinning. The man was dressed all in black, black three-piece suit, black dress shirt, and black tie, with a long black vampire style coat worn with an air of indifference but power. His two side gold teeth glittered in the half-light of the hall, and duo felt a steady, almost canine, growl rise up in his throat. The man seemed to hear him, although duo knew this was impossible, because he looked over at duo and his grin widened. He dragged on his cigarette and then discarded it to the floor, where he stylishly stomped its last red embers out. Then he glanced back at the stage. Ana was finishing her speech. With a swish of his long coat, he was gone.
"Whats the matter Maxwell? You seem even more angry than usual. Whats with the growling?" Wufei leant over and whispered to him.
"Ronan. Here. Now. Gone." Duo whispered back through gritted teeth.
"You're kidding!" Wufei forgot to whisper and almost shouted out. He quickly went quiet though and started scanning the hall.
"Gone." Duo repeated.
".So without any further ado, may I introduce, Anastasia and Cory, the most talented five year old twins in the history of the Norvatis family!"
There was loud clapping from every part of the hall, as the curtains drew back to reveal a darkened stage. A Drumroll, and then the spotlights were switched on, trained to Anastasia's piano stool. Except, there was no Anastasia. Duo leapt to his feet at once, and went round to the back of the stage. When he got there he found that Cory was missing too.
"Sorry folks, they're probably just hiding! Little rascals, always playing tricks on us." The crowd laughed good humouredly, and waited while duo hunted around, calling for the twins.
"Come on! This is no time to hide. Mommy's going to be very angry if you don't come out." Still no twins.
"Tell you what folks, why don't you go and sit for dinner, we can have the twins show after the feast." The crowd started to mutter politely, as though they were worried, but nonetheless started to move towards the dining hall.
"Duo, what's happened? Where are they?" Ana was panicky, evidently worried about her children.
"Don't worry, you know them, they're probably hiding out somewhere. If we look we'll find them." Even as he uttered words of comfort, and icy hand slid around his heart. He remembered Ronan standing at the back of the hall, grinning. He also remembered that he hadn't seen LJ anywhere. Could it be? No, LJ was evil, but not evil enough for kidnapping. So the search continued. Ana went to entertain the guests, and they seemed to have forgotten about the children. After two hours however, with still no sign of them, duo suggested that they go home.
"Sorry people, if we cant find them there's really no point." They saw all the guests out, most of them saying goodbye in a worried, uncomfortable and vaguely sympathetic voice. He remembered that kind of voice. At the hospital when they had told him that there was nothing they could do for lily, and that she had been gone before he got her there, when he had started calling them liars and cursing them, then they had had that voice. He hated that voice. The other ex pilots and their partners had all insisted on staying and helping duo and Ana look. With the exception of Emily, who had to look after the baby, they hunted through the house, searching every room. Ana had broken down and started crying when she went into Cory's room. She had said the sight of all his little shoes lined up against the wall, all his toys neatly stacked, had been too much for her. Duo had put her to bed and carried on searching. For hours and hours they looked, yelling out the names of the children. At daybreak, they all collapsed into chairs in the living room.
"Does anyone want coffee? We need it." Livinia stood up and started towards the kitchen.
"Livinia, check, check to see if LJ is in her room please? Just please do it." Asked a weary duo. When she returned 10 minutes later, she had a tray of mugs and a puzzled look.
"Duo, she's not in her room. All her stuff is gone too. It looks like she left in a hurry. I found this though." She handed him a small light blue envelope. With shaking hands he opened it. It contained a letter on a sheet of blue paper, written in LJ's small neat writing. Fearing what it might say, he did not read it out loud.
To the one who calls himself Shinigami. Truly duo, truly you are a fool. I assumed that you would have enough sense to see what was coming, but apparently I overestimated your abilities. I assume you have guessed by now, if you haven't, then you will surely scream in agony at what I am about to reveal. I have taken your precious children. I have taken them from you, and am going to keep them to myself. First though, I am going to make sure that they never want to see you again. The little ones did protest an awful lot, screaming they were. Didn't want to go with strangers. Wanted to stay with daddy. Had to do a good bit of silencing, did Ronan. But they were quiet in the end. Of course, any child who has just been told their father wants to kill them will be rather thoughtful. You didn't give me the only thing I wanted, so now I have taken from you the only thing you had. Your children. Never again will that son paint. Never again will that daughter play the piano. They will grow up to be street children. Your daughter will be called things suitable only for a whore, and your son will fight and kill many people in the battles that you strove so hard to make sure he would never see. All the things you hoped would never happen to your precious twins are going to become reality. Do not expect to see them again. Remember shinigami, this would have been prevented if you had only given me what I wanted. I hope you die with that knowledge. I hope you never forget for one moment that your children will live like slaves because you were selfish. From your nightmare, Lady Jacquel, the teenage slut that you rejected. Ps, my innocence was lost at the hands of you at the age of only 13. Your daughter will suffer for it. Greatly.
Enraged, Duo reread the letter and stuffed it into his pocket. Then, with his head clasped in his hands, he let loose an unearthly wail. Never again would he see his only children.
********
As the ex-pilots left that day, they hurried out of the house as quickly as possible. They had stayed for three hours after duo received the letter. After that, it had been too much. So they left the house. Left the sound of Ana sobbing and screaming. Left the sound of Duo shouting insults at everyone. Left the sight of smashed glass and servants hurriedly packing their bags. Duo had dismissed all the servants. He had shouted that no one was trustworthy and that he'd shoot anyone whom was still there the next day. No one doubted his threat.