Reaching Out

With the shock finally ebbing you now lay there wallowing in your self pity and anger. You could imagine Bron having a good laugh at your expense right now. They probably all were. Look at the stupid little human quake in his socks. How cruel. What humiliation. What a betrayal of familial trust. They may as well have pointed and laughed the whole time. None of them could understand. How could they? They had always known the truth, all of them. They were different from each other, yes, yet they were also bound as one by the common trait of their supernaturalness. They didn’t know how it felt to be cut out of what made the Devlin’s special. To be a pariah among your own kin. You imagined this must be how it felt to be told you were adopted only so much worse. Your entire childhood was falsehoods and illusions and they watched you grow up as a risible fool, blissfully ignorant of the reality around you. You couldn’t imagine what they would say about you when you weren’t around. Mocking your weakness, pitying you, laughing at your blind innocence. Your own family!

No, nobody could feel as utterly isolated as you did now. Nobody.

In a flash the eerily beautiful alabaster white face of your twin sister flits through your mind and a pain strikes your heart. A twin. You had a twin. Genetically, had she been human, she would be your closest kin. Given what she was you had no idea how genetics would work here. Still, it meant something to have a twin. Something important. Couldn’t they have at least told you about her? While their true forms were kept a secret her entire existence had been erased and that was so much worse. The very knowledge of her denied to you, your sister stolen from you. That simply wasn’t fair. They should have said something.

They hadn’t even expected her to be there tonight. In the end it was Vespera herself to reveal her existence to you. She wouldn’t have been involved in planning that humiliating scene. She wouldn’t be laughing at you. Did she even know what laughter was? It was her birthday too. Didn’t the others care about that? Did she? In your previous 20 birthdays never once did you see other gifts or cards or even just hear well wishes for your twin on the day of her birth. Didn’t they love her?

Your father had said she disappeared soon after birth. That she only showed up during special occasions. Why had she left so young? Why still come back at all? And why on special occasions? Clearly something kept her connected with the rest of them and she had the awareness to recognize special moments. You remember how the tentacle that snaked under the couch had wrapped around your mother’s ankle. Was that a sign of affection? It looked like it, but how could you possibly say without understanding her more?

Dad told you explicitly not to interact with her without him or your mother there to protect you. But you could sense that Ves was nearly as much a mystery to him as she was to you. When he spoke to her back in the library she never even looked his way despite his loving words. You recall how he readied himself to defend you if necessary. He didn’t trust her, his own daughter, perhaps he even feared her. Could she sense that? Did she too feel the hurt about being different from the rest? Did she feel as betrayed as you did by being denied an honest life with your family? Did your twin feel as alone as you did now?

“Vespera.” You whisper out into the dark empty room. “Vespera, I understand.”

The room remains silent outside of the slight sound of wind pushing against your window. You continue staring up, looking and hearing for any change.

“I’m not afraid.” You say just a bit louder but keeping your voice low and gentle so as not to scare her. She was shy your mother said. “I know how you feel. To be different. To be alone. I always knew something was missing in my life. How could I feel complete…without my twin sister.”

Still there is no sign.

“We shared a womb you and I. We are a part of each other. They had no right keep us apart like they did.” You say with growing confidence. “Can you hear me where you are? Can you hear me sister?”

And still the empty silence hangs over your room causing you to start to feel rather silly for talking to nothing.

“Well…I was glad to have met you. I am so happy to know about you and I look forward to getting to know you. I have stories to tell you about my world and I hope to learn of yours. I have so many questions for you.”

Silence.

You smile. “I’m glad we could share our birthday together at least. It meant a lot to me to see you. Maybe next year I could see you again? I would like that.”

Nothing.

You let out a sigh. “Okay then.” You pull your blankets tight. “If you can hear me Vespera Devlin, I invite you to come visit me anytime you wish. You are always welcome here.” You blow a kiss into the air. “Good night my sister, and happy birthday.” Then, just because it felt right, you add. “I miss you.”

Still, quiet, empty, dark.

You were being ridiculous. It’s not as if you could summon her or anything, you were no Warlock. Even if you could it was probably a bad idea given what your father had told you. She probably hadn’t heard a word you said. And yet talking with your newly revealed sibling went a long way to making you feel better. It gave you comfort knowing you had a twin spirit out there somewhere, no matter what she was. You suddenly didn’t feel so alone anymore.

You close your eyes and ready yourself for sleep, feeling much more at ease than before.