Tethered Twins

Emmie Keyes

“Dad?” Although those words left my mouth I didn’t know what to believe.

I hadn’t seen my father for five years. Not since he abandoned us over the guilt of my mother’s death, yet this man in front of me was now identical to him.

“Is that really you?” I asked, unsure if this was some kind of trick. This man had had a totally different face seconds ago.

The steam had stopped coming from his face and it was unmistakable. He looked so similar. He looked like my Dad.

“Emmie,” he said. “It’s me.”

I stood up in shock. “You abandoned us!” I shouted. “And now I find out you’ve been working for this villain. What happened to you?” I felt fuelled by rage and questions flooded through my brain. How could he leave us? Was this really going to avenge my mother’s death? Working for the man who had killed Will?

“Just tell me he’s controlling you. Tell me he forced you to do this,” I shouted. “Just tell me something to make sense of this.”

“No. I am working for him under my own free will. Working with Tobias is the best way to get payback for what happened to your mother.”

“But how?”

“Tobias is the reason your mother is dead,” he replied. “Tobias killed her and by working with him I can stop him before he hurts anyone else.”

“No Dad. The 20 Day Siege killed her. It wasn’t Tobias’ fault.”

“In time you will see that it was. He is just as guilty as the people who started the signal on that day. I’ve seen what he is capable of. He killed your brother and he’ll hurt you too.”

“He has said he will protect me. That there are people out there who want to hurt me. I have to at least talk to him.”

“The only people you can trust now are The Deck.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I fund them,” he replied.

“What?” I shouted. “You are in charge of The Deck?”

“Yes. That’s how I’ve been able to keep you safe all of this time. They are my private army in monitoring Tobias and watching after you. Why do you think they hold you in such high esteem? Miss King of Clubs? It’s because I told them to protect you.”

I didn’t know what to say. All of this time my father had been alive and had been watching out for me, whilst he tried to get justice for my mother.

“You could have told us you were alive!” I shouted. “Why didn’t you send me a message?”

“No. I couldn’t. It would have blown my cover,” he replied. “That’s why I’ve been working for Tobias for three years. I’ve slowly gained his trust and helped fund his research. It’s given me a front row seat for his latest experiment.”

“But how do you have so much money?”

“I found someone who hates Tobias as much as I do. He has his own motivations for wanting him stopped and so he was more than happy to help,” he said, not giving away any names. “I know this is a shock but I need you to do exactly what I tell you. I promise I will tell you everything as soon as Tobias is stopped.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“You know how much your mother’s death affected me Emmie. You saw me during my worst times and you know I would do anything to get her back. I now finally have the chance to get revenge. This is the man who killed your mother and brother. We can stop him.”

He placed a box on the table. On the side it said ‘Skin 1.5’. “It’s not as advanced as the tech Grace has but it’s gotten me this far,” he scooped a pink blob of skin from the box and turned back into the blonde haired man I had seen earlier.

It was like a bizarre dream. For a brief moment I had my father back and now he had morphed into someone else. He left the room and promised to return. I stared at the dark room and wondered how my life had changed so much.