"Snowflakes danced outside the hushed world, each one a silent echo of the past.
The winter sky was pale and heavy, like a canvas soaked in memories, deep memories."
"The two little daunting brothers yet made their way into the cursed castle, their coats clutched tightly in all the cold, boots tightened firmly."
"They journeyed up in all silence and innocence, until Frederick tripped on something that felt so smooth, and fell. "Ouch!...."
"Ouch! My leg!....."
"Meg!"
Megan looked up immediately, puzzled.
"What?"
"That was my line. Urrgh." Morgan slammed the book close as she stood up. "Finally caused a break with the whole Frederick and Roderick...thing. But at least you should have allowed me know what he tripped on."
Megan yawned and gently closed the huge thick-covered storybook she was holding too.
"Maybe gold?"
"In a cursed castle?" Mo leered.
"Look, I did nothing wrong Mo. I was supposed to read the speeches, remember?"
"Whatever. I didn't really agree when you suggested that. " Mo frowned as she grabbed her unfinished mug of tea and went closer to the window. Taking a sip while releasing her frown, she gazed longer at the gentle fall of thick snow.
Megan came by the window too, arms wrapped around herself and her long dark curls spilling over her shoulders. "Oh. I didn't know that." She smiled at Mo. "Don't be sad sweet sister," she said as she patted Morgan's auburn hair. "...or you'll have to read the whole book to me yourself."
Morgan sipped another tea with a scoff. "As if."
They leaned against the silvery window ledge, their breath fogging the glass.
Outside, the world was quiet, and the Adams estate stood tall and proud amidst acres of white, the tall iron gates barely visible beneath the snowfall.
Mo passed to mug to Meg, not looking at her. Meg smiled as she took it from her and took a long sip, exhaling. "Well, tea really helps by this time."
"By this time you say...was when they died." Morgan said as she finally looked at her twin.
There was harsh silence for a while. A type that begs to be broken.
The air between them grew colder. Not from the chill of winter, but from the hole grief had carved into their hearts. It had been three years since the assassination. Three long brutal years. And every snowfall brought it back.
Megan's fingers traced a line through the misted glass as she let out a bitter laugh.
"We can never forget it, can we?"
"I would never even if I want to. Mom's favourite perfume would never stop scenting along the whole hallway."
"And Dad's cologne too. Too strong." Meg chuckled.
"You know, I think they gifted themselves the deodorants at the same time. On their 5th anniversary, yeah."
Mo sighed as she bit her lips and tried to focus on a beaver. "Please, I don't want to remember Meg."
"I can't help it. I made a promise. I have never forgotten it."
There was another silence, this time, short.
"Do you think they knew?" Mo was the one who broke it.
" Knew what?"
"That someone was coming for them."
Megan's throat tightened. " Dad wasn't the type to be caught off guard. His only problem was that he trusted too easily."
Mo frowned. "How do you know that?"
The door creaked open before Meg could reply. It was Nanny Fiona, holding a tray of hot cocoa, her eyes kind but weary.
"Girls, " she said gently, " you'll catch your death by that window. Come sit by the fire."
Morgan came to take the tray from her, but Megan didn't move. She glanced outside still, steadily.
"We'll be downstairs soon Nanny." Mo said as Nanny Fiona left. She has been their one and only family left since their parents death. Working with the Adams family since the twins' birth, she has been nothing but a second mother to them.
Her own husband and only child had died on plane crash, while going for their little vacation in Paris. She thought to visit death too since the grief became unbearable, but instead, Mrs. Adams had knocked at that moment. She was heavily pregnant and urgently needed a nanny, and a kind soul had referred Mrs. Fiona to her.
Mo came back to the window, carrying two cups of the hot cocoa.
"More to drink. The cold is bitter please." She said as she handed Meg one. "At least, let's be alive to revenge."
Meg finished up the remaining tea in the mug, kept it gently on the window ledge and took the cocoa from Mo. "Thank you. Ofcourse, we will."
The snow was still descending, meekly now, but in her heart, in Megan's heart, a fire had been stirred, not of warmth, but of vengeance.
Because love had been stolen from them. And someone would pay.
She had vowed already. She had told Mo. She would make them feel it. The pain her parents felt on the night they were shot, that feeling. Every bit of it, not just pain. Regret. Terror. Emptiness. Every ounce of what theygave them, she had vowed to give back..... slowly.
They were mirrors, yet not the same. Megan and Morgan Adams, twins of legend. Their striking resemblance could fool even the most watchful eye, and their Nanny Fiona could attest firmly.
Countless times when they were babies and even growing up, it had always been a struggle to tell them apart. Mrs. Adams had joked with her when she newly became the twins' Nanny, that it wouldn't be an easy one for her, and she had firmly argued against that until she finally surrendered.
The girls pranking her then was very easy, all they had to do was dye their hair the same colour, and Nanny would be so confused. It made them laugh so much at her, but over the time, it became futile when she finally mastered them so well.
Now she knew them more than anybody else, maybe more than their late parents as they grew more. They had been assassinated when the twins were just seventeen, and she knew she had tried so hard to make the pain easier for them. And she was very grateful too, for they became the companion she once lost.
"Are you visiting the company this week?"
"I don't think so. " Meg replied. "Lots of project for this semester. And besides, Lanster have everything under control."
And Mo totally agreed. The semester has been really tough so far, and Lanster, Meg's personal assistant was good. And hot! She smiled.
"What of you? How're coping with the new workers?" Meg gulped the remaining cocoa, going for one more.
"Well," Mo sighed. "Most of them are too dull. "
"Uh uh."
"Yeah, we don't need dull people. The competition is around the corner!"
Megan had been the one in charge of AH. Adams and Heavens company. She became the manager when Mr. Edwards Adams, her dad, died. The youngest CEO. And Mo, on the other hand had always taken after their mom, Elizabeth. Always loved fashion. So when she died, Mo took over the fashion company. Together with her twin, they became the youngest billionaire CEOs.
"True! Oh Mo. I really hope we win."
"I can't pray for more. But coupled with school stress and the preparations for this competition, I'm about to lose it."
"Awww, I'm so sorry my baby, " Meg held her cheek. "But pls don't lose it before I do."
They were laughing when Nanny Fiona came in again. "Girls," she called, drawing the syllables. "Someone's here to see you girls."
The twins gazed at each other, then back at Nanny.
"Who?" They coincidentally said simultaneously.
Nanny shrugged.
"I don't know, one of you."