DISCLAIMER: RTLFC!!!
***
"About 13 years ago, there was a nice, young couple, called Joe and Rebecca. Apart from each other, they had no family, so they longed to increase their little family. So imagine their joy, when they realized that Rebecca was pregnant. And imagine their elation, when she gave birth to identical twin girls. One was smaller than the other, but perfect in her smallness, except for a birthmark, on her right cheek, in the shape of an hourglass.
"The night after they had been born, someone entered the ward, looking for something. The smaller of the twins was awake, and saw the visitor. He bent over the twin girls, and picked the bigger up. Carefully he took a blood sample, he did the same to the smaller, she didn't yell, because she was in shock.
"About a week later, he returned. Both girls were still in hospital, waiting to go home the next day. Again he stopped at their cot, and picked each one up, individually. But this time, he gave them each an injection, from different bottles. Before leaving.
"The girls grew up, the smaller was called Rachael, and the bigger was Susan, in memory of their dead grandmothers. Susan grew quickly, was the first to crawl, and the first to take her first faltering steps. Rachael grew slowly, moved less, but spoke first. She could not manage 'Rachael' or 'Susan', so she invented names. She was 'Ras', Susan was 'Sura' and together they were 'Rasue'. But still the memory of the visitor had not left her, her first drawing, poor as it was, was of him. She could not forget him, for she still saw him, watching her, watching her twin.
"One day, when they were 2, Susan developed a new habit. She vanished. Causing frantic searches, until she was found. But only Rachael ever found her, often in the most obvious of places, which had been searched. People put Rachael's finding of her twin, down to twin intuition. But the visitor noted it all down. But now he had a new name, Rachael called him 'The Watcher'.
"A week later, at the dead of night, Rachael made her way to her parents' room. And burrowed herself, in the quilt. When they asked what was wrong, she replied
"The Watcher! The Watcher!" she would say nothing else.
"Into their room, came an armoured, cloaked figure, hovering before him, unaided, were 2 knives, light glinting off them. Joe and Rebecca didn't have time to scream, before the knives plunged themselves into their chests. The figure walked out of the room, followed by a small, blood stained Rachael. She recognised the figure, he was 'The Watcher'. He walked into the room she shared with Susan, and when he came out again, he was carrying Susan.
"He walked down the stairs, and met another figure. Neither noticed Rachael following them.
'Have you got her?'
'Yes.'
'And the other?'
'We do not need her. Survival of the fittest.'
'Then the place burns?'
'Yes, with the dead parents.'
'And the other.'
'Yes.'
"They left out the door, locking it behind them. As a fire started to build, taking hold, quickly. Rachael just stood on the bottom stair, staring at the front door, oblivious to the building flames. She was forced to redirect her attention, when the stairs collapsed. Desperately she struggled out from the wreckage, and hurried, as best she could, to the back door. The back door had a cat flap, left by the previous owners. Rachael crawled through the flap, flames licking her left ankle.
"When the fire brigade arrived, Rachael was standing in the back garden, barefooted and covered in ash. She was cleaned up, and taken to an orphanage. They told her that her parents and her twin were gone.
"Mum, dad, dead. Watcher took Sura." Rachael said. They all believed that 'The Watcher' was an angel, make-believe, by a scared child.
"Rachael was quickly adopted by a family. There was a mum, a dad, grandparents, and a younger sister, about a year old, called Hannah, the natural child of the parents.
Rachael fitted in well, and soon more children joined her, the natural children of her adoptive parents. There was: Hannah, the eldest, a year younger than Rachael, she was called Han; Peter and Philip, identical twin boys, a year and a half younger than Han, and often called the 'P-twins', or Pete and Pip; Teresa and Timothy, non-identical twins, born the same year as the 'P-twins', they were nicknamed the 'T-twins' or Tess and Tim; Juliet was a year younger than the 'T-twins, and called Ju; Alan was the youngest, a year younger than Ju, he was often referred to as Al. Rachael got a nickname; hers was Rae.
"For many years, Rae lived in happiness, except for her constant illnesses, which stunted her growth, but she never cared.
"When Rae was about 9, she lost her foster parents. They were all in the car, driving along the highway, when they collided, front on, with a get- away car. Rae got the kids out of the boot, quickly. She sent them onto the grass verge. Then she tried to get her foster parents out of the car. She was pulling open the passenger door, when a huge explosion threw her onto the verge, miraculously unharmed, except for a broken wrist.
"By the terms of the will, her only living pair of foster grandparents had to adopt her. However, they hated her, because she was older and smarter, than their natural grandchildren. She was looked after, but she was never really welcome. In an attempt to get rid of her, as soon as possible, she was pushed. Her carers forced her to read education books beyond her classmates, and she thrived on them, due to a photographic memory. She was offered a scholarship at Bayville High, which she was forced to accept. And there she was bullied, because of her age and her ability.
"Rae had always known when people were lying, and soon her gift bloomed. All illusions were open to her. And it was a shock. For the first time, she saw the real hatred of her carers. She saw the lies at school, and the fear on the streets. She saw the reason why she was bullied; she saw the fear in the bullies' eyes.
"She had no escape, from the shock. She received pictures, in her mind, which she felt forced to capture on paper. She did not know how to cope. But when she realized that she could stop time, but not duration, she saw an escape route, from the bullies. However she could not control it, but it often helped her. She learned to read people's minds and intentions, through their eyes.
"Imagine her fear, when someone who claimed to know her secret, wore shades. She freaked, and started running. Her gift that she tried so hard to conceal was her perfect memory, not her Power, which although it scared her, she knew it to be a blessing. That day, she ran from person to person. Each frightened her, unintentionally. So she fled. A chance meeting, lead her back, and gave her a new home, here, and a new name, Rac.
"Her twin turned up, now called Helen, and betrayed her, to The Watcher. Rac learned the Watcher's name, Magneto. Rac's new family rescued her, and comforted her.
"I was that girl. Mine is not an easy life."
***
Read and Review, people!
***
"About 13 years ago, there was a nice, young couple, called Joe and Rebecca. Apart from each other, they had no family, so they longed to increase their little family. So imagine their joy, when they realized that Rebecca was pregnant. And imagine their elation, when she gave birth to identical twin girls. One was smaller than the other, but perfect in her smallness, except for a birthmark, on her right cheek, in the shape of an hourglass.
"The night after they had been born, someone entered the ward, looking for something. The smaller of the twins was awake, and saw the visitor. He bent over the twin girls, and picked the bigger up. Carefully he took a blood sample, he did the same to the smaller, she didn't yell, because she was in shock.
"About a week later, he returned. Both girls were still in hospital, waiting to go home the next day. Again he stopped at their cot, and picked each one up, individually. But this time, he gave them each an injection, from different bottles. Before leaving.
"The girls grew up, the smaller was called Rachael, and the bigger was Susan, in memory of their dead grandmothers. Susan grew quickly, was the first to crawl, and the first to take her first faltering steps. Rachael grew slowly, moved less, but spoke first. She could not manage 'Rachael' or 'Susan', so she invented names. She was 'Ras', Susan was 'Sura' and together they were 'Rasue'. But still the memory of the visitor had not left her, her first drawing, poor as it was, was of him. She could not forget him, for she still saw him, watching her, watching her twin.
"One day, when they were 2, Susan developed a new habit. She vanished. Causing frantic searches, until she was found. But only Rachael ever found her, often in the most obvious of places, which had been searched. People put Rachael's finding of her twin, down to twin intuition. But the visitor noted it all down. But now he had a new name, Rachael called him 'The Watcher'.
"A week later, at the dead of night, Rachael made her way to her parents' room. And burrowed herself, in the quilt. When they asked what was wrong, she replied
"The Watcher! The Watcher!" she would say nothing else.
"Into their room, came an armoured, cloaked figure, hovering before him, unaided, were 2 knives, light glinting off them. Joe and Rebecca didn't have time to scream, before the knives plunged themselves into their chests. The figure walked out of the room, followed by a small, blood stained Rachael. She recognised the figure, he was 'The Watcher'. He walked into the room she shared with Susan, and when he came out again, he was carrying Susan.
"He walked down the stairs, and met another figure. Neither noticed Rachael following them.
'Have you got her?'
'Yes.'
'And the other?'
'We do not need her. Survival of the fittest.'
'Then the place burns?'
'Yes, with the dead parents.'
'And the other.'
'Yes.'
"They left out the door, locking it behind them. As a fire started to build, taking hold, quickly. Rachael just stood on the bottom stair, staring at the front door, oblivious to the building flames. She was forced to redirect her attention, when the stairs collapsed. Desperately she struggled out from the wreckage, and hurried, as best she could, to the back door. The back door had a cat flap, left by the previous owners. Rachael crawled through the flap, flames licking her left ankle.
"When the fire brigade arrived, Rachael was standing in the back garden, barefooted and covered in ash. She was cleaned up, and taken to an orphanage. They told her that her parents and her twin were gone.
"Mum, dad, dead. Watcher took Sura." Rachael said. They all believed that 'The Watcher' was an angel, make-believe, by a scared child.
"Rachael was quickly adopted by a family. There was a mum, a dad, grandparents, and a younger sister, about a year old, called Hannah, the natural child of the parents.
Rachael fitted in well, and soon more children joined her, the natural children of her adoptive parents. There was: Hannah, the eldest, a year younger than Rachael, she was called Han; Peter and Philip, identical twin boys, a year and a half younger than Han, and often called the 'P-twins', or Pete and Pip; Teresa and Timothy, non-identical twins, born the same year as the 'P-twins', they were nicknamed the 'T-twins' or Tess and Tim; Juliet was a year younger than the 'T-twins, and called Ju; Alan was the youngest, a year younger than Ju, he was often referred to as Al. Rachael got a nickname; hers was Rae.
"For many years, Rae lived in happiness, except for her constant illnesses, which stunted her growth, but she never cared.
"When Rae was about 9, she lost her foster parents. They were all in the car, driving along the highway, when they collided, front on, with a get- away car. Rae got the kids out of the boot, quickly. She sent them onto the grass verge. Then she tried to get her foster parents out of the car. She was pulling open the passenger door, when a huge explosion threw her onto the verge, miraculously unharmed, except for a broken wrist.
"By the terms of the will, her only living pair of foster grandparents had to adopt her. However, they hated her, because she was older and smarter, than their natural grandchildren. She was looked after, but she was never really welcome. In an attempt to get rid of her, as soon as possible, she was pushed. Her carers forced her to read education books beyond her classmates, and she thrived on them, due to a photographic memory. She was offered a scholarship at Bayville High, which she was forced to accept. And there she was bullied, because of her age and her ability.
"Rae had always known when people were lying, and soon her gift bloomed. All illusions were open to her. And it was a shock. For the first time, she saw the real hatred of her carers. She saw the lies at school, and the fear on the streets. She saw the reason why she was bullied; she saw the fear in the bullies' eyes.
"She had no escape, from the shock. She received pictures, in her mind, which she felt forced to capture on paper. She did not know how to cope. But when she realized that she could stop time, but not duration, she saw an escape route, from the bullies. However she could not control it, but it often helped her. She learned to read people's minds and intentions, through their eyes.
"Imagine her fear, when someone who claimed to know her secret, wore shades. She freaked, and started running. Her gift that she tried so hard to conceal was her perfect memory, not her Power, which although it scared her, she knew it to be a blessing. That day, she ran from person to person. Each frightened her, unintentionally. So she fled. A chance meeting, lead her back, and gave her a new home, here, and a new name, Rac.
"Her twin turned up, now called Helen, and betrayed her, to The Watcher. Rac learned the Watcher's name, Magneto. Rac's new family rescued her, and comforted her.
"I was that girl. Mine is not an easy life."
***
Read and Review, people!