Chapter 1
"A Strange Job"
Money, sex in full control, look, big brother is watching you,
Unlock your brain and save your soul,
No more limits, no more curfew
Life in the perfect system,
Take a stand and fight for freedom
Keep the faith, you gotta keep the faith
You'd better keep the faith and run away
"Run Away" by Real McCoy
Several years later Zack stood inside the house that he and his brother had just broken in to. He picked up a strange looking crystal knickknack that had been sitting on the coffee table next to the recliner in the living room and studied it. His distorted reflection mixed with the image of the large kitchen behind the object and with a shrug he set it back down. The house belonged to Mr. Ross, an important public servant with intentions to run for state governor in the upcoming elections. Unfortunately for him, his wife and daughter had just been killed in a car accident earlier that morning on their way to the daughter's school.
It was late afternoon now judging by the fading golden light streaming through the house's front windows, casting long shadows across the polished wooden floor. The twins had come here right after they had been released from school themselves, broken in through the back door and were now waiting for the eventual arrival of a grief stricken Mr. Ross.
"It's been two hours!" Cody complained from just outside the kitchen where he was sitting at the dining room table sipping at the last of his Mt. Dew soda. Zack peered out the front windows at the empty driveway once more before going over to join his brother.
"Strange said it would take awhile," Zack stated calmly, pulling a chair some distance from the table, sitting down and propping his feet up on the edge of the table. Strange had met them during lunch to tell the twins of the work he wanted them to do. He'd sat at their table giving the twins their job and answering several questions about the details of the work before he left them. No one else at school seemed to have noticed that he had ever been there.
"I've got so much homework to do," Cody muttered, thumping the bottom of the soda bottle against his lower lip just to give himself something to do.
"You could have done it here while we were waiting," Zack pointed out, letting his eyes slowly close. He was tired from staying up late last night. No matter what miracles had been worked on them to save their lives all those years ago and no matter how much they had changed Zack still enjoyed staying up late and sleeping in as long as possible. He didn't see Cody glare at him in protest.
"I can't concentrate here."
"Sucks to be you," Zack replied, feeling the soda bottle bounce off his head a moment later when Cody playfully threw it at him. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway out front made Zack open his eyes and stand up along with Cody. They returned their chairs to where they had been and retreated around the corner into the hallway that led to all of the bedrooms and a spacious office.
The front door opened and shut, admitting a man who stepped heavily across the hard wood floor. There was a gentle thud as the man set down his suitcase before he continued forward into the kitchen. Mr. Ross was crying Zack noted, taking in the defeated looking appearance of the public servant from where he and Cody were hidden in the shadow of the hallway.
As Mr. Ross opened the doors of his oversized fridge, Zack silently crept forward and stood behind one of the doors to Ross's left waiting to be discovered. Strange hadn't told them to do this, but it was how Zack and Cody operated these days. They were still pranksters at heart and the twins would get a laugh from surprising the man like this later when they left. It was such a Hollywood cliché. Ross emerged from the fridge with a beer in his hand, closed the doors and let his forehead crash against the freezer door as he moaned in grief.
"That won't get your family back," Zack announced his presence, indicating the bottle in the man's hand. Ross jumped in surprise, the bottle slipped from his hand and smashed into pieces at his feet.
"Who are…? What are…?"
"We're just figments of your imagination," Cody announced his presence, emerging from the shadows and walking around so that he stood on the other side of Mr. Ross from Zack.
"I'm calling the cops if you two don't leave now!"
"I think not," Cody muttered crossing his arms.
"Look Mr. Ross, we're not here to hurt you or steal anything," Zack started to calm him down, watching in a detached manner as Ross attempted to back away from them so they were both in front of him, rather than surrounding him.
"What do you hooligans want? Money?"
"We want to give you your family back sir." This made him freeze and stare at Zack in disbelief. Then Ross pointed at the round.
"They were taken from me! I'll never get them back!" Cody stepped forward and gently grabbed a hold of his arm, rotating it to make him point at the ceiling.
"It was their time, so he says," Cody indicated the direction that Ross was pointing before making him point at the ground again, "But he thinks that's all a load of crap and he's willing to give you your family and your whole life back to you."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Do you want your family back Mr. Ross? Yes or no?" Zack asked quietly.
"Oh god yes, I wan…" Ross started to say before Cody kicked his feet out from underneath him. The man crashed onto the floor and lay there with a stunned expression on his face.
"Don't say that name!" Cody hissed.
"You can have your wife and daughter back sir, for a price." This was it Zack mused, the climax of their meeting where he would either accomplish Strange's mission or fail it miserably. He hoped that he and Cody had given a good enough performance to influence the public servant.
"What price?"
"You will run for state Governor,"
"I…I was only thinking about doing that. I don't have a chance at winning."
"You will win, we shall see to that. But when you do, you will work for the same person we do. You will accomplish the tasks that he gives you. That is the price," Zack said with finality, pulling the man to his feet.
"I don't believe you…"
"Then you don't want your family back?"
"I want them back more than anything."
"Then you shall have them. Don't forget our deal Mr. Ross," Zack said dangerously as he and Cody walked to the back of the house. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway could be heard, then car doors slammed shut and the front door opened. A woman's voice was heard talking and then an excited reply came in the form of a little girl's voice. Mr. Ross looked at the twins in puzzlement, looked towards the living room where his wife and daughter had just appeared setting down their things and then looked back. Zack and Cody were already gone. They had left just like Strange had left them on that day in the hospital many years ago.
The day after Zack and Cody had confronted Mr. Ross with Strange's proposal they were having lunch at school once again. Zack wondered if Strange would drop in on them again, it seemed that his favorite time to do this was lunch so that he could snag some of their fries or whatever else they were eating, but he was also preoccupied by thoughts of his girlfriend Max. Now for every teenage male thoughts about their girlfriend are usually a higher priority of their mental process, but Zack was thinking about her because she was sitting in his lap.
The two of them had finished eating a light lunch. Zack wasn't as hungry these days as he had been a couple of years ago and Max just wanted to eat small healthy portions as all girls overly self conscious about their appearance do. When they finished, they had walked from their outdoor table to sit in the shade cast by the cafeteria building on the grass. Max sat in Zack's lap and lie against him with her head buried between his right shoulder and neck and he was returning the affection by having his arms wrapped gently around her with his hands resting in her lap. The smell of her strawberry scented shampoo filled his nostrils and the smoothness of her skin where his arms touched hers was incredible. She was really turning him on and sitting on his lap, she noticed.
"Someone's getting happy," Max teased him, twisting in his arms so that she could kiss him on the neck and work her way up to his lips where she held him for a long moment. Every kiss sent an electric tingle up and down his body and made his heart speed up. Suddenly the end of the school day seemed so far away.
"Can you blame me?" Zack asked softly, caressing her sides with his fingertips feeling the shape of her body underneath her shirt. Max just giggled, "Let's do it now."
"You want to skip the rest of the day?"
"I wouldn't mind. All I can think of is you right now," Zack answered honestly, all thoughts about school pushed out of his mind by the beauty he held in his arms. He wanted her so badly right now and he could tell that she was aroused by his desire.
"My parents won't be home till six," Max whispered in his ear, her hot breath tickling the tiny hairs on his flesh. That was all he needed to hear.
"Sounds like a plan," Zack said, getting to his feet with Max. Together they snuck off to the seniors parking lot and drove off in Zack's bright red 2010 Ford Mustang.
Cody yawned deeply as he set his head down on the lunch table, the edge of his chin resting on the open textbook in front of him. He was really tired since he had had to stay up late last night to finish his homework after spending several hours waiting for Mr. Ross to come home and give him Strange's offer. After that, Zack had kept him up later than he would have liked to have been awake trying to figure out what Strange was up to. The boys had only been working for him for about a year now and while they weren't exactly sure what he was up to, they had several plausible ideas and last night Zack had tried to fit recruiting Mr. Ross into all of the scenarios they had come up with. Naturally he wanted Cody's opinion since there was no one else that he could talk to about the subject.
With a sudden abruptness Cody felt the touch of several fingertips against his neck just as he was starting to nod off. The icy touch made him become wide awake, feel refreshed and full of energy. Cody glanced up as Strange withdrew his hand and sat down next to him at the otherwise empty table.
"You going to eat that?" Strange asked, indicating the unopened bag of Pretzels lying on top of Cody's lunch tray. He simply shook his head and Strange snapped them up and began eating them slowly. Every time Cody saw him Strange had a different appearance, there was no use trying to describe him since he could look like a child, adolescent, adult or elderly person at will. The oddest thing though was that he could appear as both genders too and he liked to mess with Zack and Cody sometimes by coming to give them a job while in the form of a hot babe. Still, no matter what form he took, there was always something odd about him that gave it away if the twins looked hard enough.
"So what brings you here boss?" Cody asked, glad to feel rejuvenated again. One of Strange's powers was healing. He could mend wounds, cure illness and revitalize an exhausted person just by touching their flesh with his own.
"You two succeeded in your mission. Ross is running for Governor and I will see to it that he wins," Strange answered, once again reminding Cody that Strange had employees other than the twins who owed him their servitude.
"You didn't come here to tell me that though," Cody said with a touch of sarcasm. Strange liked having intelligent employees and demanded that they used their brain before brawn at all times. He wanted to have his motives and jobs questioned so that his employees knew exactly what he expected of them and to point out any flaws in the details of a plan.
"You're right. I merely came to tell you to pack for a few days of travel. I have an important mission for you two, but it is hinging on the outcome of another of my plans so you will have a few days until I call upon you again."
"I suppose you won't tell us what the mission is until the time to leave comes right?"
"Bingo," Strange exclaimed, crumpling up the empty snack bag and tossing it on Cody's empty tray. With a wave of his hand, the tray and all of the trash on it turned to ash and blew away in a sudden gust of wind that only seemed to hit the table's surface. Cody didn't even blink at the out of the ordinary sight. He'd seen far more crazy and random sights while in Strange's employ.
"Guess I should tell Zack to pack then. Where is he anyway?" Cody muttered, scanning the nearby tables for his brother but finding nothing. He never really worried about Zack's safety anymore seeing as they were some of Strange's best employees according to Strange himself and the guy had incredible healing powers after all.
"He and the girl Max left a few minutes ago in his car to go and have sex at her house," Strange said in such a detached tone that he might have been talking about the weather.
"Hey, hey, hey, I don't need to know the details!" Cody protested, rolling his eyes at the thought of his brother skipping school once again to make out with Max. Then again school didn't really matter…Zack didn't even try and he still got decent grades as well as never being missed by his teachers when he wasn't there. Just another perk of working for Strange.
"How are you feeling by the way?" Strange asked as he stood up to leave.
"A little weird, but I'm fine. I suppose you won't tell me what's happening to us either?" Cody asked, referring to what Strange had done to them in the hospital when they lie close to death several years ago. He had done more than just heal them. He'd given them something, and now that something was taking hold inside of both twins. Cody could feel it underneath his skin, wrapped around his bones and snaking its way through his muscles. It was a very disconcerting feeling, but so far it wasn't painful and Strange assured him that it would do him no lasting harm.
"You will know in time." Came the predictable answer.
"Figures."
"My time is very much in demand, I must be going. See you soon Cody Martin." Strange walked off into the crowd of students departing the cafeteria as the bell sounded to resume classes.
"I'm not going anywhere." Cody muttered to himself, packing up his stuff and heading off to his next class.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to get a new chapter up. I've been busy working on Reflections In Time lately and enjoying my time off. I've hit a bit of writers block with Reflections, so I swapped over to this story in hopes I could clear it up.
So...what conclusions can you draw from this chapter? Who is The Strange Man? Where does he get these powers from? What is the purpose behind all of these missions that he gives the boys and his other employees? Who are his other employees and will the boys ever meet them? Where are they going for their next mission and what is happening inside of the twin's bodies? Stay tuned for more!!!
P.S. I meant to explain Zack owning a brand new car at eighteen after it was mentioned, but I thought that would ruin his and Max's moment so I excluded it. As Strange's employees the boys have astounding luck for acquiring material objects that they want. For example they have bought things like cell phones and Ipod's and those charges never show up on their mother's credit card or the service continues on without collecting any form of payment. Zack, Cody and Carey went to buy a used car for the boys to share and when Zack merely asked to look at a Mustang he ended up getting it and Cody got a vehicle of his own. The salesman never collected or setup any form of payment, but everything else about the purchase was legit.