Welcome to our Life

Here is the story that made me want to continue this crazy dream I have. It is short (er than the rest), just mean to give you an insight on their lives.

Ylva looked at the sky. The sky was dark, and there was a 83% chance of rain according to the weather forecast. Not good weather for a cruise. She sighed, then exchanged a glance with her twin. They were both tall, and had thin limbs. They had the same jet-black hair, same grey eyes, same nose. Her brother was wearing a thick maroon jacket and a grey beanie. She was wearing a grey peacoat, and was debating whether or not she should have worn it. It was really cold, their breath coming out as a white fog spreading around their faces as they walked down the street to their hotel where their parents waited for them. She glanced around the shops, selling food, toys, paintings, everything.

“Ylva, there is a nice sweater right there, can we go buy it?” Troy asked her. He turned to her, his loose black curls bobbing over his forehead where they had escaped the grasp of his beanie.

“Yeah, why not? Mom and Dad don’t expect us for at least another hour.” she replied, following him to the store. A thick black sweater awaited them. “You sure you want to buy this? It looks a little big.” The sweater was a little baggy around the waist, but otherwise it was nice.

“I’ll try it on first.” Her brother smiled at her. They had the same teeth too. She grinned back at him.

“Yeah, fine. Just make it snappy, I want to get to the warm hotel.” she said, walking with him to the changing rooms. She sat on a bench while he got changed. At least the bench is comfortable. Her brother came back in record time, “It looks nice. The sides aren’t as baggy as I thought they were before.”

“I know, I like it. Warm too.” he told her, then spun on the balls of his heels to show her the back. “Well, let’s go then.” He hugged her one-armed around the shoulder, “Little sister.” he grinned at her while she glared at him.

“One minute doesn’t count. Don’t do that.” Ylva continued to glare at him. “Troy? What street are we on?” She looked around, no signs. She saw him looking around out of the corner of her eye.

“Grape Street. Hold on.” He pulled his phone out. Leaning over his shoulder to see the phone.

“We aren’t even close to Willow! Come on, get the directions up.” She watched him get the directions, then snatched his phone out of his hand, “Let’s go.” Troy sighed behind her.

“Can I have my phone back? Please?” He begged her. She shook her head.

“Nope. Not until we get to Mom.” Ylva told him crisply, Troy sighed next to her. “Look we are almost there, only a couple more blocks.” She showed him his phone. “Can I have my umbrella? It’s starting to sprinkle and you wouldn’t want your phone getting wet, now would you?” Troy grumbled then shoved her umbrella into her waiting hand. She shouldered out of her peacoat and into a rain jacket. “Could you put my peacoat into my backpack?”

“Hold on.” Troy told her as he got into his new sweater and then put his rain jacket on over it. He grabbed her peacoat and folded it up neatly before placing it into the backpack.

“Thanks, here’s your umbrella.” She handed him his open umbrella. The rain started pouring then. It was cold, but it smelled amazing. The smell of the city, smog, and hot dogs that were being put away hastily, were all getting washed away to be replaced with the smell of the crisp rain. They finally got to the hotel. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, pulling it out, she saw her mother texted her. “Mom tells us to meet them in the dining hall. Good, I’m starving.” Troy nodded and smiled at her. They walked into the dining hall together, and Troy slung his arm over her shoulder, then he tweaked her nose. “Stop. That. How can anybody have such a talent for pissing me off?”

“Well, I only mess with you, everybody else adores me.” He told her with an innocent grin.

“Yeah, I know.” She grumbled back at him. He was very popular, he plays basketball, volleyball, and soccer, gets straight A’s. She, on the other hand, got A’s and B’s, didn’t do any sports except soccer, but that was only casual. She plays with her brother in the park, him being goalie, his normal position, while she shoots. She gets 1/10 in. And that’s leaving out the fact that he is stunningly handsome. No, that’s an understatement. He is absolutely gorgeous. Long lashes, curled at the ends, framing those stunning grey eyes, high cheekbones, the loose black curls hanging on his forehead, determined to escape the grey or maroon beanies he always wears. She was beautiful as well, she just doesn’t realize it. She had the same eyes and high cheekbones, the raven-black curls pulled back in a loose ponytail, she has a round face, unlike her brother’s sharp face. They were also inseparable. They were always together, had that same friends, though they were slightly different. He had mostly boy friends, while she was friends with girls. But they stuck together even when they were with the wrong friends. She went to watch his games, and he helped her learn, and play.

“Look, there’s mom.” He told her, she shook her head, stopping her brooding. Her mom was waving them over.

“Hi mom. Look at the sweater Troy bought.” She told her while taking off her jacket, and hanging it and her umbrella on the rack. She shivered, and walked over to her parents, Troy a half a step behind her. They sat, down and ordered their food.

“It’s very nice, what took you so long?” Her dad asked, raising an eyebrow. Her dad had the round face and grey eyes, like her. Her mother had the black curly hair that they had both inherited, and the high cheekbones combined with the pale skin, with the defined face that Troy had.

“Why, we went to a strip club for a couple of hours.” Ylva told them. She watched their shocked faces. They can be so gullible.

“And then found a w***e.” Troy added. He exchanged a glance with her, and they smiled.

“Well, I didn’t do anything.” Ylva replied, then smiled. “I went shopping and got Troy his present.” Troy looked looked down sheepishly.

Her mother was the first to understand, “Oh yes? And why did you do that?” she grinned at them and they grinned back, watching their panicking father look from their mother to them. Then he understood too, and his face darkened.

“That was mean. You scared me. What did you really do?” He asked them, his mouth pulled into an annoyed grimace.

“We told you already, I found the w***e and we both went to the strip club. You know, teenagers need to have fun too.” Troy replied, then got distracted when their food came. He snatched up his fork and dug into their chinese food. She started shoveling her soup into her mouth.

“Fine, I know you’re messing with me, so stop. Once you finish that food, it’s straight to bed with you two.” Her father told them. Her mother smiled at them then grabbed their father’s shoulder and shook him lightly.

“Calm down.” She told him, then turned to them. “We will all be going to bed right after dinner. We have a big day tomorrow.” She told them right when Troy finished his noodles and started working on some stray pieces of chicken. She lunged forwards and attempted to steal a piece of chicken, but right when she thought she had him, he flicked his fork up and blocked her easily. Then he speared a piece and dropped it on her plate.

“Thanks.” She ate it and then finished up her soup. “Let’s go to bed.” She got up and they went upstairs to their bedroom. They changed into pajamas, brushed their teeth, then collapsed on the bed. “Night.”

That morning, Troy woke first. He walked over and shook his sister awake. She woke up slowly, rubbing her eyes. The alarm went off and she turned over and slapped it off. “You gotta get up, we’re going on that cruise today. We have get ready, we only have a half hour to get to breakfast, so let’s pack.” She sat up and rubbed the back of her head. She got out of bed and shivered. He walked over to the wall and turned up the heater. They went and stood over the vent to warm up. “Well, let’s get ready.” Troy pulled away from the vent reluctantly. He went to their suitcase and grabbed clothes to take a shower while his sister packed and changed. When he was done he came out of the bathroom, finger brushing his hair. “Let’s go, you sure you don’t want to take a shower?”

“I took one last night.” She said while she nodded and pulled her hair back into her ponytail. “Let’s go.” They walked to breakfast together and ate their food in a comfortable silence. He walked back up to their room while Ylva went to the bathroom.

Troy’s phone rang, he pulled it out, “Hello mother. What’s up?”

“Are you ready to come on the cruise?” She asked through the phone.

“Not yet, we are just finishing up eating, we’ll come soon.” Troy told her.

“Don’t!” She shrieked. Troy pulled the phone away from his ear, then put it back.

“Mom. Mom! What’s going on?” He asked quickly, heartbeat climbing.

“You’re father and I think something really weird is going on. Just don’t come. You know why we came here, right?” She asked quietly.

“Yes. We came to investigate the sinking ships.” He whispered back to her, covering his mouth.

“Good, you should follow in our footsteps, you would make a great spy.”

“Mom, this isn’t the time! What are you doing?” He asked urgently. “What can we do?”

“Nothing. You’re father and I will take care of this. Look, meet your father at Diamond Strip Club. Tonight, at 9. It won’t be suspicious if two men meet at a strip club. Stay there for one hour. As you leave, give your father a box. You have to pack it just like it came from the mail. You know how to do it. Pack weapons. We got security clearance at the airport with our badges, they are in a hidden department at the bottom of your father’s suitcase..”

“But mom! Let us come with! We have the training necessary to help! We can both use guns and knives and everything!” Troy protested.

“Exactly. You need to stay here and watch port. Look, you can’t stay at the hotel, if they find us out, all they have to do is look at our history here to trace us back to you. Then they will kill you. Now, you have to take your stuff and be on the move at all times. Never sleep in the same place twice. My purse and credit card are in my luggage. Use the money to buy everything you need, but no more. They can trace your purchases. You remember you to drive a motorcycle? You need to buy one. No, buy two. Leave the car. You are barely old enough to drive a motorcycle by yourself.

Now. Fill your sister in on the details. You need my key necklace to get into the suitcase. She has a role to play too. Tell her to go shopping, get sturdy boots, thick socks, clothing for cold weather and sleeping bags. You know what to do now.” She finished. “I love you. We love you, and your sister too.” She hung up before he could answer. He sat down and started crying. They are leaving them alone. Ylva came into the room and sat down next to him. She hugged him and asked what was wrong but it was in one ear and out the other. It took a couple minutes for him to snap out of it. He filled her in on what was going on. She grew paler with each sentence.

“Okay. I will leave now and get everything we need. I will buy the motorcycles first and bring you the first one. You pack everything up. At 8:00 you leave on the motorcycle to Diamond Strip, I will pack everything I bought in backpacking bags and we will meet back here after you give all that stuff to dad. “Bye.”

“Bye. Don’t die, or I will never forgive you.” Troy told her with a weak smile. He got up and went to mom’s jewelry case and grabbed the key necklace. He shoved it in his pocket and went to the nearest post office. He left with all the things he needed to pack in the guns. He unlocked the secret compartment, and pulled out his parent’s pistols and four knives. He packed them in the box, and taped the slip of paperwork on the top after filling it out with fake names. Then he slammed the box on the floor and kicked it into the wall. When it looked thoroughly beaten-up, he grabbed it and pulled his cold-weather clothes on. He checked his watch and strapped his throwing knife on the side of his shin. Then he tucked a large knife in his belt behind his back. 7:39 PM. He heard his sister jumping up the stairs. He walked to the door and threw it open. He nodded to his sister, who handed him a motorcycle helmet and a thick leather jacket wordlessly. He ran out with his “mail” wrapped in oiled paper to keep the rain off. The wool-lined jacket was also oiled to keep rain off. Good choice sister-o-mine. He shoved the keys in and revved the motorcycle. Then he shoved the package into the storage compartment and shot off down the street, following the directions on his phone. He saw his father getting out of his car and he sighed with relief. His entire body tensed up when he saw another man get out of his car with him. He saw the glint of a gun in its holster. He pulled up short next to his father. “Who the hell is he?” he whispered in his father’s ear, not looking at the man so he wouldn’t know they were talking about him. Though he probably knew already.

“That is a man that the agency sent us. He will be joining as your mother’s brother. Let’s go.” They walked in the strip club and talked quietly about their plans. “Let’s go.” His father got up and went to the motorcycle, Troy unlocked it and pulled out the heavy package, he smiled.

“Here is the china grandmother sent you, father.” Troy said with that easy smile.

“Thank you Troy.” His father replied, muttering, “I just hope it was the china I told her I wanted.

“Nice seeing you again uncle.” Troy smiled and waved at his ‘Uncle’. Then he hopped back onto the motorcycle and hit the speed limit, then passed it. He drove right past the hotel then slowed down silently, the car that was following him passed. It might just have been someone on their way home he told himself. But maybe not. He got back on the motorcycle and drove quietly, with the lights off, to the hotel. He parked in an alley, where his sister had parked hers and looked at the bags Ylva had strapped to the motorcycle. He grabbed one of them and secured it to his motorcycle. Then, satisfied, he trotted up the stairs to his room. He knocked once, paused for a second, then knocked four times. Ylva yanked the door open, and hugged him.

“I was getting worried. You took so long.” She told him, squeezing him around the shoulder. He grabbed her shoulders.

“You have everything?” He asked. She nodded, “Show me.” She brought him to the bedroom, there were two sleeping bags, food, collapsible cups, small round oven plates. Everything they would need. “I got each of us a gun and knives, here.” he tossed her two knives and handed her the gun. “I also got a mini-gun. Here is the ammo belt. Do you want to carry it or should I?”

She shook her head, “Troy, you know you have to carry it. You are much stronger, and I am much better with knives. You can control the minigun.” she told him. “Let’s go. Here is your backpack. It has food and water in it. Mine will have extra weapons and cooking supplies, clothes, and other random things. Both of ours have hidden pockets and binoculars. So let’s go.” She got up and tossed the heavy backpack to him, he caught it and put it on. She shrugged it onto her shoulders and they walked out together.

“Look, let’s go under City College bridge, it should be safe enough there. We just have to take turns keeping watch. Tomorrow, we will find someplace safe that is high up, and set up camp there. We will take turns going to port and try to figure out whatever they found out. Ready?” She nodded and got on the motorcycle, he got on his and shouted over his shoulder, “Follow me!” he didn’t wait for a response, but let the motorcycle come to life beneath him. He leaned back and the motorcycle went on its back wheel, then he slammed back down and drove away. Ylva followed him closely, but skipped the dramatics. He signaled right with his hand to the driver behind him, using that to check the face. A man and woman with a toddler in the seat behind them, crying. He whipped his face back and moved lanes. Ylva moved with him. Then he turned the exit, and, again, Ylva followed him. He could see her looking around, she obviously couldn’t see anybody following them, but when she turned back to him he stuck his hand out and twisted it, then stuck one finger out, signaling that there might be one person following them. Then he flashed an open hand and a finger pointing left. He turned right sharply, Ylva, expecting this, turned just as suddenly. A car almost crashed as it tried to turn with them. It had to skid to a halt while they zoomed by to city college bridge. They got to the park and drove on the sidewalk slowly and drove into some bushes. They were thick enough that Ylva got a nice long cut on her cheek. She winced, but then got off and rolled out their sleeping bags. There was no moon, a silent blessing. She used the long plastic sticks she bought and hung the tarp above the sleeping bags.

“Did you eat?” She whispered at him, he shook his head, and she pulled out a bread roll and handed it to him. He tore it in quarters and ate each piece slowly. Then she gave him a small piece of cheese, and nibbled a bit for herself. They put a tarp over their motorcycles and stored their gear under the tarp with the motorcycles. They pulled the guns and knives out to clean and dry them, and stored them under their  “tent”.

“I’ll take first watch.” She whispered to him. Troy nodded at her and crept into his black sleeping bag, he fell asleep in moments.

Ylva sighed and watched the sky slowly fill with stars. The rain began then, so she went into her sleeping bag under the tarp, sitting up. She shook Troy awake after a little while and went to sleep.

Ylva woke to Troy shaking her shoulder. “Whassup? What’s wrong?” she murmured when she saw his face. He raised a finger to his lips and strapped on his belt knife and boot knife, then motioned for her to do the same. She followed suit and handed him his mini-gun and ammo belt. He put that on too and his pistol. She put her other throwing knives on various parts of her body. She grabbed her jewelry box and grabbed a pair of stud earrings. She grabbed a small ring and tossed Troy a necklace. She donned on her necklace and a bracelet. Each of these things had their uses. The stud earings were explosive when taken apart with a five second fuse. The small ring had a gemstone that could be ripped off and underneath it was a needle with a deadly poison  that sent your nervous system into shock when pricked directly into a major nerve bundle. The necklaces have a single metal circle, like a small locket. Inside that circle was a teaspoon of sleeping powder. A couple grains in your mouth would calm your nerves and soothe adrenaline. One pinch would send you into a deep sleep for the next day. Three pinches and you would never wake again.

Two pinches. Two pinches were key if they were to use it on themselves. It would send you into a sort of hibernation. For the rest of the day, your heartbeat would slow. So would your breathing. It looked as if you were dead. It was perfect for their job.

Troy waved his hand at her, lowering one finger and making a fist. She nodded and made a T with her hands. He nodded. She went and packed away their things very slowly, very quietly. She rolled their sleeping bags up and laid them next to each other, then wrapped them in the tarp, the sticks in the bundle as well. She strapped each thing to their places on the motorcycles while Troy sat directly behind the thin layer of bushes. She snapped her fingers quietly and he looked up. She hand signalled him packed and ready to go she nodded to the motorcycles and he crept over slowly. He climbed on top of his motorcycle and she got on too. She put her helmet on and flipped the visor down, for some reason she had neglected to do so last night and got her scratch, she raised her hand to her cheek and winced.

Troy flicked his hand and counted down from three. At zero, they drove out of the bushes. They zoomed out and drove onto the streets, turning suddenly, they shot down them. This time it was Ylva who was leading. She signalled for him to be watchful. He looked around and together they pulled off onto a dirt road up a mountain. Nobody was trailing them.

“All good! I’ll get camp set up, will you get the binoculars out and watch the ships?” Ylva asked Troy, he nodded at her. She drove their motorcycles into the forest, one at a time, then set up their hidden kamp. When she returned, Troy was laying on the floor with binoculars in hand. “I’m going to make soup, okay?”

“Ah, hells no. You suck at cooking, you would probably burn it! You watch, I will cook.” Troy smiled a vicious smile and handed her the binoculars. Grumbling, she grabbed them and took his spot, raising the binoculars to her eyes, she sat still for a long time, watching the port. There was almost no activity there, except. . . three people? Or maybe four? What the heck? The port should be busy, It was just a little past noon. . . oh. “Troy? Did you see this?” she called to him.

“Yeah, I did. I was wondering if you would catch on.” He told her, his voice grim. “We should take turns checking it out tomorrow.

Troy lifted the crate of crab, wrinkling his nose at the smell, when he heard a gunshot, he dropped straight to the floor, rolling onto his side, wood burst at the second gunshot, the crate exploding next to his face. Drawing his knees in, he catapulted into an alley. Leaning against the wall, he reached into his boot and pulled out his throwing knife. Then pulled out his gun. He turned the corner and ran, crouching, to the box of shrimp he dropped. Then changed his mind, it wasn’t much help a few moments ago. Running to a crane, he slid on the floor behind the tread. A spray of bullets punched into the metal, and one left a deep graze on his arm. Blood gushed from the wound, cursing, he ripped his jacket off, and wiped the blood away. It kept on pouring. Binding his arm with his jacket, he turned and felt the bare steel of a gun barrel against his neck.

“You had best keep quiet if you want to live. When we get there, you can explain what those gunshots were about.” Turning, Troy watched a policeman grab his gun and knives.

“You’ve saved me. I will tell you when we get somewhere safe.” Troy told him, he grunted and squinted at him suspiciously. Then he grabbed Troy’s arm roughly and dragged him to his car. They drove in silence, and Troy pulled out his wallet so he can show the policeman his ID once they got there. Once they did, the policeman pulled him out, grabbing his injured arm. Troy gasped and fell to his knees, vision going grey. He could hear the policeman asking if he was okay, but he felt sluggish, and stupid. He snapped out of it. “The graze.” He wrenched the jacket off to show him. They walked into the building and into the interrogation room. “All cameras and recording devices off. Now.” The policeman stood and walked into the other room. Troy stripped his shirt and thin kevlar vest that was underneath it, his bare chest showing off the scars from bullets, cuts, and new bruises that were spreading. Dark purple spotting the pale yellow bruising. “I must have gotten shot more than I realized.” he said when the policeman walked back in, gaping.

“What the hell is going on?” He asked and ran out of the room, returning with a doctor, who was holding many things.

“Do you have a knife?” The policeman nodded and pulled out his gun, then his knife, handing the knife to Troy and held the gun casually. Troy nodded his thanks and pulled out his wallet. Then he slashed a cut on the top, leaving a secret pocket. He pulled out his real ID, his spy license. He handed it to the bewildered policeman, who’s eyes widened as he read the card. “Are you sure you turned off those cameras? If not, it’s best if you turn them off and delete the videos. My cover, and my families cover, will be blown and we will be murdered. I don’t want to die.” The policeman nodded and left the room as the doctor pulled out a small bottle, was about to fill a hypodermic needle with whatever was in the bottle. “Halt. Inject yourself with a little bit of that into yourself before you shoot it into me. Protocol.”

“Oooookaaaaayyyyy.” The doctor said as he filled the bottle half full, then cut off the blood flow in his arm. Patting it, he barraged Troy with questions. Most of them were along the lines of ‘What else hurts’. For some reason, he avoided the whole ‘spy’ thing. He injected the substance into himself. Then Troy nodded for it to be injected into him.

“I need to call my sister. I should have done that right when I got here! I need to tell her to MOVE.” Troy told the doctor, grabbing his jacket and pulling his phone out. He punched in her number almost viciously, and waited for her to pick up. “Oh thank god! Ylva you need to move now. Pack everything up, and come to the police station. Keep my motorcycle hidden.” She said yes and hung up. She knew there was no time to explain. He told the policemen everything he knew. Gradually, more and more policemen and women came and filled the room. He got up. “We need to send a huge team out. I found their base. We have to go. Quickly.” Noise filled the room, speaking orders, doctors demanding that he sit down and go to the hospital. “It’s just a graze. I’ve had worse. You just bandaged me up. Leave me be.” He went with the first policeman he met and he showed him where to get good equipment.”

“How did you become a spy?” He asked in wonder. Troy stared at him long and hard. He pulled off a helmet from the shelf and pulled on a thicker kevlar vest.

“Family trade.” The policeman goggled at him. “My twin and I started training at six. Now we are eighteen and registered spies.” he picked up his equipment and strapped them to their appropriate places on his body. Ylva crashed through the door.

“SWAT team is here! You found their base?” Troy nodded at her and tossed her the same equipment he had on though she already had her weapons. “Good.” She sighed in relief. “I escaped just in time. There were people driving all over the place, searching for somebody. Everybody had cleared the streets in fear. Apparently this is a common thing.”

“Just as well we are putting a stop to this.” Troy told her.

“Our boss came. He is currently making everybody sign the paper of secrecy.” Ylva told him while she changed too. The policeman had gone to sign it, leaving them alone as they changed and Troy told the story of how he got here.

“You ready? The vans are about to leave.” A policewoman poked her head in.

“Yeah, let’s go, Troy.” Ylva said.

Author's Note

Alright! Tell me everything! Hates, likes, improvements! I will have the next chapter up in the next two weeks, depending on how much schoolwork I get. Who knows?

Anyway, it's been so long, I want to make sure you understand the nonsense spewing from my mind. . . (: