--Anonymous
The twins looked at each other, seeming to be mirror images, as they both had the amused -- yet slightly musing -- expression on their faces. It was late morning, and the twins had the time all to themselves, as today was to be the bigcelebration. The door had been locked, and the twins had made sure they talked in the quietest voices and there were nobody around the locked room they were in.
"D'you think that Arwen is suspecting something?" Elladan asked, brows furrowing. It couldn't be ruined now; they were nearly at the high point of the joke. If somebody was to discover this now, they could only imagine the punishment they would be getting and the laughter they would be deprived of.
"Maybe," Elrohir swung his legs around the stairway, and slid down. It was a favorite pastime of both the twins', but they were always handed the task of polishing the stairs afterward. "She's certainly smart enough, for our younger sister."
Elladan mused. "We have to hide the tricks and distract attention from us and from Estel. Nobody is to discover what's going on. This is going to be the best practical joke of our lives."
"We have to think of something more original," Elrohir wondered. "The tricks we've been using are too old. Dye for clothing; pin on the seats; crawly stuff in the rooms — they're all too old. She'll suspect something from us."
The two rolled their head together, thinking, their brilliant minds gearing up. After a few moments both grinned darkly. "You are thinking what I'm thinking, right?"
"We'll need Mithrandir for this."
"Good one, as he's arriving three days from now."
"Just perfect timing."
Eight hours later
Estel was listening to more stories about his latest interest — and phobia — that is, vampires. "How were they first made?" he asked with big eyes. Try as he might, he couldn't help being awed by the "legendary" creatures; he began to think it was pretty cool that he had a vampire — a "Dracularess" — for a sister, as long as he didn't get turned into some miniature vampire.
"Well," Elrohir started, and let Elladan continue on, "there was once this count named Dracula."
"He was really handsome and kind of wicked-looking, but of course that was just a veil over his bloodthirsty notions. Well, actually, he was okay when he was living, although he played really dirty."
"See, this another person —" Elladan raked his head for a suitable name — "Amroth hated him so much, that one night he murdered him."
"With a —" Elrohir looked at Elladan, eyes shining. "A burning rod, a goat, and a knife that held the initial of 'G.'" Elladan almost laughed. His twin was playing out the exact trick on Estel himself. The burning rod, goat, and the knife were to be used in the trick itself.
"So, nine days after he was buried…"
"A hand shot up from the coffin…"
"And bloodthirsty, evil Count Dracula emerged into the world."
Estel had a question. "Why didn't the Valar stop them?"
Ooh… Awkward moment. Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other for help. "Er, you see," Elrohir started,
"The Valar couldn't do anything," Elladan finished before Elrohir could say something really stupid. "That is, Count Dracula was, er, supported by Morgoth."
"Morgoth?" Estel's eyes widened.
Elrohir rolled his eyes; this idea was more stupid than his. But then, at least Estel was innocent enough to believe so.
"Yes, Morgoth. So Count Dracula started acting as a double-sided spy. He acted like friends to the Elves, when he actually flew to their window at night and killed them."
"Wouldn't they wake up?" Estel asked.
"Maybe, but the Count had a special magical power that let everybody fall into a deep sleep." Elladan winked at Elrohir. This story was getting out of their hands… Just the way they liked it.
"And Arwen happens to be a descendant of the Count himself," Elrohir finished.
Estel stood in silence for a few minutes. And then: "We don't have to kill her, right?"
"Oh, of course not," Elladan hastened to say, before he gave any wrong ideas. "We just have to follow the routine, like we're doing, and she probably won't harm anybody else."
"Then why haven't you and Elrohir done this before?"
"We didn't know about it until a couple of years ago. Arwen was away then." Elrohir coughed slightly. Estel seemed to be content with this answer, but he couldn't help shivering with fear and exclamation. To think he was related to a descendant to a famous vampire who was allies with Morgorth!
Arwen slipped out of her room in a black, plain dress and cloak that would let her travel and fulfill her mission — spy — freely, without any trip-ups. Of course, she would have to be aware of the twins. They were too subtle for their — and her — own good.
After going down a couple of stairs, she saw something… and nearly screamed. It takes a lot to make the Undominel scream.