Five years later.
"Two! One!" the Twins' mother shouted across the backyard that was attached to their fairly new house. After their two children were born, the Exile couple had to search for bigger surroundings that would fit their growing family's needs. They finally settled for a small two story house located in a quiet and private neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. It was probably the nicest looking house they had ever lived in. And what made it nicer is that Abraham finally got a job and was bringing in a good salary, and the agents had not found them. They've lived in peace for five years without so much as seeing the ones who hunted them. Maybe things were going their way after all.
The two little albino twins dropped what they were doing and ran to their mother, who was leaning out of the screen door.
"My gracious!" Vevina exclaimed at seeing her boys. "I can see that baths are in store for the both of you tonight."
The Twins groaned loudly at hearing the word 'baths'. What was the use of taking a bath anyway? They were only going to get dirty again.
"What did you call us in for, Mummy?" They both said at the same time.
"Your father is going to be home soon, so wash up and help me get the table ready for dinner." She smiled lovingly at her children while holding the door open for them, careful not to brush up against them. Both twins bounded inside while being covered from head to foot in dirt from where they had been digging and making dirt roads for their toy cars. Vevina took her boys by the hand and marched them into the bathroom where she took a rag and a bar of soap and gently washed the dirt from their hands and face.
"I want the both of you to go set the table." She said, hanging the wet rag up to dry. Before she could even get the words out of her mouth, the Twins were halfway down the hall. "And don't break anything this time!" she shouted after them.
A clattering of plates and glasses could be heard in the dining room as Vevina washed the sides of the bathroom sink where the dirt had dripped and dried onto it. For some strange reason she felt as though something was going to happen. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was an uneasy feeling. She jumped at hearing a sudden thump. Steadying herself, she realized it was only one of the Twins. Apparently one of them had dropped a glass onto the table. Feeling rather silly, she proceeded to wash her hands and made her way to the dining room before she lost anymore dishes.
Something wasn't right. Abraham had never been this late before. And what was even stranger is that he never once called home to say that he was going to be this late. Vevina sat at the dining room table with the Twins and waited patiently for her husband to arrive. All of them were silent.
"Where's Daddy?" Two asked.
"I-I don't know, dear." Vevina again glanced at the grandfather clock across the room. "Maybe he got held up at the office a little while."
"But he would have called." One added.
"Don't worry. He'll be coming in here any moment now."
Vevina was scared and worried, but she tried not to show it because she didn't want to frighten her children. One of them getting ready to panic was enough.
"Mummy!" Two said excitedly. "I hear a car!"
All of them remained silent and listened for the motor to stop. There was a door slam and the sound of shoes.
"It's Daddy!" the Twins shouted together while jumping from their seats and running to the front door.
Vevina said nothing. She had that uneasy feeling again and along with it she sensed something; something that wasn't right.
"Children!" She quickly called. "One, Two!"
They didn't answer her. She hurriedly got up and ran into the foyer where the Twins were waiting for their father to come through the door. She grabbed onto both of them and dragged them away and back into the dining room.
"But, Mummy, Daddy's home!"
"Hush!" Vevina shoved the Twins into one of the room's corners and away from the windows.
"That's not your father out there."
"What do you mean?" Two asked; confused as to why his mother was acting so weird.
"Just do what I say and stay as quiet as you can."
Vevina and the Twins huddled together in the small corner and waited. A sudden knocking at the back door caused the frightened mother to turn around and face the direction in which the sound came. She quietly moved her children along with her while making her way to the kitchen where she could see clearly through the screen door, her husband.
"Abraham!" She exclaimed, opening up the door. "What's going on?"
The pale, inhuman figure of Abraham stumbled into the small kitchen area and seated himself in one of the chairs placed around the table. His once beautiful and neatly pressed suit was torn and tattered in places, his hair was a mess, his pale blue shirt was all askew and far from being tucked into his pants, and his tie loosely hung from his neck. One would think he had been chased through town by an insane cabdriver.
"Lock the door." Was all he said, once he got his breath back.
The young woman did as her husband wanted, and then turned a worried and fearful look towards him.
"What happened to you?"
"They've found us." Abraham gasped rather hoarsely. "The agents; they've found us."
"Wh-Where are they?"
Abraham pointed in the direction of the front door, but he couldn't make words come out of his mouth to go with it.
"For all I know they're surrounding the house right now as I speak."
"Oh, Abraham. What are we going to do?"
"Barricade the doors with anything you can find. We can't let them inside the house."
"But one of them can burst through the door whether if it's barricaded or not."
"We have to try, sweetheart. At least it'll hold them off until we can think of a way to get out of this house."
The Twins huddled together beside the refrigerator and silently watched as their parents hurried back and forth, carrying chairs, tables and anything else they could find to put in front of the back door. They didn't understand what was going on, but they were too scared to ask questions. Instead they remained as quiet as they could like their mother had told them to do. They did all they could to keep from crying; their silver eyes filling with tears to the point of spilling over and down their cheeks.
After the back door was securely barricaded, Vevina grabbed hold of the Twins and gently ushered them into the foyer where Abraham was busy building a wall of furniture in front of the front door.
"Listen! I hear someone walking around on the porch." Vevina whispered as she pushed the Twins into one of the hallways leading to the bedrooms to keep them safe.
"You and the children get as far back as you can." Abraham said while placing a chair on top of the coffee table he had dragged in front of the door. The footsteps turned into a loud pounding on the door, causing Abraham to freeze and remain quiet. He shot a glance at his wife and motioned for her to stay back. Moments passed by and, again, the pounding sounded.
The Twins crouched low with their mother in the hallway, Two clutching his mother's shirt tightly in his small hand and struggling to hold back tears. What came next happened so quickly that neither of them knew it was happening until afterwards. The pounding grew louder and more violent causing the door to rattle on its hinges and eventually giving way, sending furniture and Abraham flying backwards and onto the floor. Before either of them had a chance to make their next move, agents were on top of them.
It was over.
"At last, the elusive Exiles I've been hunting down for years." The head agent walked in and gazed pleasingly at his capture. "Ever since I was alerted of you escaping Widow's Moor, I was determined to bring you down. It hasn't been easy, I can say that much. I must give you credit for determination. I've never seen an Exile put up this much of a fight before."
Abraham and Vevina didn't bother with making anymore moves and gave up without a struggle. True they could have gotten away, but they both knew it was better this way. At least now their days of running would be over. The Twins, on the other hand, slipped out of the circle of agents and made a run for the open door, but one of the agents standing guard snatched the two children up before they could make it outside and threw them back into the middle of the other agents and tumbling into their parents. Vevina gasped at the rough treatment of her children and narrowed her eyes at the agent.
"How can you be so cruel?" She fought back tears. "They're children, for goodness' sake. They haven't done anything to you. Isn't it enough that you hunt us down like dogs? Why do you have to pick on someone who has no understanding of what's going on?"
Agent Chase coldly stared at the woman in return. "They're programs. That's all they are. Worthless, useless programs that are no good to the system. Small or big, they're still programs. All of you are."
Chase and Vevina locked eyes with each other for a few minutes and then Vevina withdrew herself from any further conversation.
"You've had your fun. Why don't you go ahead and get it over with." Said Abraham, clinching his fists.
"I suppose you all know what happens next." Chase cracked his knuckles and adjusted his dark sunglasses. "Do I need to explain?"
"No." Abraham fought back tears. "We know perfectly well what comes next. And you should know which way we'll choose!"
"I take it that you want to go see him then?" Chase's eyebrows rose. "You want me to take you to Mobil Avenue so you can see the Merovingian?"
"Yes!"
"Very well then. I've done my job and there's nothing more I can do but to lead you in that direction."
"Do we have time to pack a few things?" Vevina's small voice asked. Surprisingly the agent's head nodded. Vevina glanced at her husband, who also nodded. After kissing her children, she quickly darted off into one of the rooms down the hall. Chase motioned for one of the agents to follow her as if he didn't quite believe that packing a few items was what she went off to do.
It wasn't long until Vevina came back with several suitcases and bags in her hands and the agent behind her. Agent Chase and his agents motioned for the Exile family to follow them outside where they placed them in the backseat of a black car. Abraham and Vevina looked sadly at each other, but they both knew that it was for the best. Once the Merovingian took them all in they would be free and would be free of being hunted.
They could finally live a life of peace as a family without any worries.