The Immortals

Chapter 1

"Come on Alysa! At least try to be nice this one. She could be really good to us," Esmerelda explained to her sister. Alysa gave Esmerelda a sidewards glance that lasted about a split second before her eyes returned to reading her Percy Jackson book? Esmerelda glared at her, waiting for an answer, but all she heard was the loud punk music that came from Alysa's headphones getting louder. "ALYSA!" She yelled, making a few other people on the bus turn to look at them, but no avail. Finally, she got an idea. Stretching her hand out, Esmerelda closed her fingers around the book before wrenching it out of Alysa's unsuspecting hands.

"Hey! I was reading that!" Alysa exclaimed indignantly. Esmerelda held the book out of Alysa's reach and continued to glare at her meaningfully. Alysa rolled her eyes and fell back in her seat, her defeat evident. "Fine I'll 'be nice', ok? Now give me my book back Esmae!" Alysa demanded. Satisfied, Esmae quickly handed Alysa the book and the two fell into silence once more. Five minutes later, the bus pulled up to their stop. Esmae exhaled loudly, blowing bits of her crazy, red curls out of her face. She turned to Alysa.

"You ready for this?" Esmae asked nervously, wiping her clammy palms on her jeans.

"If by that you mean I'm ready for another failure, sure," Alysa replied, her piercing blue eyes flashing. They were exactly the same as Esmae's. It was one of the things the twins shared. Often, people would look at them and be surprised to learn that they were twins, but upon closer inspection, it was quite obvious. Not only were their eyes the same, but so was their nose and the band of freckles that travelled across it. Their cheek bones and China were in the same places and looked like they'd been cloned. Really, the only difference was Alysa's straight blonde hair and Esmae's fiery mane. But people rarely noticed because they hardly looked.

"Don't be like that! Your always so quick to judge," Esmae scolded as she grabbed her suitcase and her violin. Alysa was already standing outside the bus with her few belongings in a bag at her feet right next to her guitar case.
"You'll see. Bet you ten dollars week be back in a group home by the end of the week. She's probably the- I'm sorry but I just can't handle the sudden burden of parenting 'type'," Alysa guessed. Esmae shook her head and followed her twin into the big brick building ahead of them. But she didn't take Alysa up on her bet. Just in case.

☀️🌑

The tall, young, red headed woman opened the door of her apartment and casually strolled inside. It was very modern with marble bench tops, a brand new grey carpet in the lounge room and pale wooden floorboards in the rest of the house. Chocolate brown couches say in a semicircle around a glass coffee table, a large, dark, wooden table and chairs stood in the dining area.

Sweat poured down the womans face, but she was breathing evenly, despite having just run 6km at breakneck speed. She wasn't tired either, mind you, she hasn't been tired in a long time. Too long to remember.

As the first golden rays of sunshine touched the city of Los Angeles and reached into the apartment with gentle fingers, the woman watched the city quietly, patiently and enviously. LA was full of normal people just going about their daily business, with normal jobs and normal families. Family. Once the word had held meaning to her, but it had been left to lay in the sands of time long ago.

For s moment, the woman felt a sudden pang of loss, but she quickly shook it off. No, she'd been young then, very young. And all young girls needed a family, but not all of them stay. And not all of them become immortal either, for the second time, the woman shook her head. She hadn't needed her family since they'd died all those years ago, and beside, Merida of Dunbroch had always considered herself to be very independent.