Obsession

Chapter I

"It is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, woes, and troubles." read a melodic voice from a shared room between two siblings on the second floor of a family home, "And yet when King Laugh come, he make them all dance to the tune he play. Bleeding hearts, dry bones of the churchyard, and tears that burn as they fall, all dance together to the music that he make with that smileless mouth of his." The clear childlike voice continued but was interrupted by an annoyed scoff "Freya we don't have time for this, we gotta get going or we'll be late for the bus" said a second voice very similar to the first but in a much lower pitch. "I'd rather be late than arrive early and still not have finished my reading assignment, Finley" Freya rolled her eyes at her twin brother who stood at the bedroom door ready to leave, impatiently shifting on his feet for the girl to come with.

"You're nowhere near done yet! If we sit here and read until you are, we'll be waiting all day. C'moonn or I'm leaving without you and you can face Mom alone" This seemed to stir the younger twin into action because she quickly closed the book she'd been reading and stood, shoving it in her open backpack by the door. "Fine fine, when can we stop taking the bus? The school is only a block away, we could walk there and then we wouldn't have to see the other kids..." Freya grumbled, the twins had been bullied for some time now because of their unique features. Both of the twins had bright hair, Freya had cream blonde while Finley had Platinum, their skin tones were also very fair. The only difference between the twins was their facial features, because they weren't identical, Finley had dark brown eyes whereas his sister had bright blue. The two stood out like light bulbs in a dim room and this ostracized them to some degree because the other kids were either jealous or just saw something different and decided to hate it for fun.

"I don't know, you'd have to ask Mom again. I don't think her answers changed since the last time you asked though" Finley shrugged and walked past his sister out of the room to the hall and staircase

"Would you ask her with me? Maybe if it's the two of us together she'd say yes, safety in numbers and all that right"

"That's if we stayed together the whole way..."

"Well, she doesn't need to know if we don't so it's fine. What could happen now after 16 years of everything being fine, c'mon Fox please?"

Freya used the older twins' nickname, which was his middle name, only ever said by his twin sister unless his mother dropped his full name suddenly when he was in trouble. Finley sighed heavily, side-eyeing his twin in contemplation "Fine, whatever, but if you end up getting kidnapped while I'm not with you just remember this was your idea" He'd poke his sister in the arm before walking down the stairs with a playful grin, Freya huffing and stomping after him "How mean!" She'd tease before giggling and side-hugging Finley "Thank you foxy! It'll be so nice if she says yes and we don't have to sit on gum or get our hair pulled anymore"

"yea... but at least we're around kids we can kinda trust not to do anything worse"

"Fox" she whined and dragged the name out "nothing worse is out there I promise, even mom said it's been decades since the last incident, she's just paranoid now!" Fox nodded along, in agreement with his fearless sister and choosing to brush off his worries as well, surely the world wasn't such a cruel place anymore.

When the two had made it to the kitchen, where their mother was preparing their lunches for them somewhat in a hurry, they stood side by side and waited patiently for her attention to be freed so they could ask their question. "Good morning sunshines, you're going to miss the bus so be quick, here's your lunch" She'd dropped their lunch down on the counter in front of them but the two stayed and smiled, Freya spoke first "Mom, can me and Finley walk to school today? We'll be together I promise! Right Fin?" Freya looked to her slightly taller brother for confirmation "Oh uh yea, can we walk Mom? Together? It's only a block after all and it's a nice day outside" He'd add some good points to their cause, earning a smile and an enthusiastic nod from the younger twin beside him.