Ed's twin

The sound of the morning bell brought me back to my body. I jolted into an upright position panting until my body stopped shaking. With closed eyes I searched until my hands found my glasses case. Grumbling I made my way to the bathroom.

My mind wouldn't stop replaying the moment of Eric looking at me. Placing the case along the sink counter I splashed some cold water onto my face. After a few splashes my body stopped shaking enough for me to pat dry my face. The unmistakable sound of Ed knocking on my door told me it's time.

With my sunglasses on I opened the door to say, "Morning guys". Feeling Ed's eyes scan me fully he said, "Did you get enough sleep? You look like hell." I replied with, "I always look like hell in the morning". Mat gave a small shrug in response. Ed rubbed his hands together before saying, "Whatever, it's time to eat".

Mat and I followed him until we all stood at the door to the main area entrance. This time Ed was the first to go through the door. Moving ahead to give Mat a wink before the door closed on me I had just enough time to see him return the wink. On the other side of the door I saw Ed leaning against the wall waiting for us.

Taking my chance I made sure no cameras or guards were around. I took my glasses off to tuck the frames into the back of my pants. Covering my eyes with the palms of my hands before saying, "Do you have a twin?" Seeing his eyes widen while his shoulders tensed through the tiny spaces in between my fingers told me everything.

Hearing the door open I turned toward it while putting my glasses back on. Mat looked from me to Ed, I gave a wave for him to follow me. We walked a few paces before Ed caught up to us. In a flash he wrapped his arm around my waist to take me into the bathroom. Once inside the dark room Ed pinned against the door. Before either one of us could talk Mat banged on the door frantically. "It's ok Mat, hold onto my glasses for me", I said. Glaring daggers at Ed as he let go and took a step back. Opening the door with enough room for my wrist to slip through I took my glasses off. Feeling Mat take hold of both my glasses and hand I said, "Give us a minute and I'll be out first, Ok?" He tapped my hand twice before letting go. As the door closed Ed whispered into my ear, "You're the one I saw just a few minutes ago, aren't you?"

I opened my eyes to look deeply into his before saying, "Yes I am. Now who are you?"

"My name is Eric, I'm Ed's older twin brother", he said.

Noticing that Ed's eyes became cloudy while his voice dropped just a tiny bit was enough proof for now.

"Have you told anyone else about me?", I asked fearing the wrong answer.

He just shook his head in response.

"Can you control others like us? The guards?"

He waved his hand back and forth while shaking his head.

Without thinking I asked, "Do you want to get out of here?"

He leaned in to say, "More than anything".

Seeing the sincere fire in his eyes I said, "I'll come see you tonight".

Placing my hand on Eric's chest to guide him to the toilet. Once he sat down I opened the door for Mat to give me back my sunglasses. Ed asked, "Did I just pass out or something?" With my glasses back on I looked into his eyes to see no sign of Eric. "Yeah, you weren't looking so good, Mat and I brought you here", I told him. Mat looked at me quizzically. I quickly signed trust me, he nodded in response.

Ed look down at himself before getting up with a shrug, satisfied with the answer. I let out a sign of relief while taking a look at Mat doing the same. We all left the restroom to join the tail end of the line to get our breakfast. The rest of the day passed by without a hitch, except Edgar gave me a little shock by the time I left for the solitary area.

~

When the time the last bell rang we all ran to our rooms. I didn't wait for Ed to enter his this time. As my own door closed behind me I took my glasses off to meditate in the center of my room. Feeling my mind begin to empty I saw myself leaving my body.

Quickly I made my way to Mat's room. Seeing him begin to relax on his bed I slid down the air vent to whisper in the bathroom doorway, "I can see you". His body twitched after hearing my disembodied voice. Mat's eyes found mine easily, I grinned watching him squirm out of the comforter. He walked into the bathroom where we could talk privately. Keeping the light off he sat on the toilet to say, "What the hell?!"

"Dude I'm about to blow your mind, Ed has a twin named Eric who is here with us", I said. Seeing his eyes widen I continued with, "He's locked in the Maximum security area. I went there last night, that's where they keep the thing from the pit during the day." I saw his body begin to tremble with that last sentence.

Taking a step back I waited until he looked back up at me. He nodded in response for me to keep going, "I'm going back there to talk with Eric." Mat eyebrows furrowed with worry while asking, "How do you know you can trust him?" I answered with, "I don't trust, although as of right now we need him. He can control Ed, what makes you think he can't control others like us? Or maybe the thing from the pit? We need more allies, not enemies."

He shook his head out of concern telling me, "Z I really don't like this". I lowered myself to his eye level to say, "Neither do I, although if we want a fighting chance to get these collars off we're going to need help. They're in Maximum security for a reason so they must be stronger than us." Mat let out a sign before he reluctantly nodded his head. "If there's any luck in this world I'll see you in the morning", I said leaving him. Mat whispered before I was out of earshot, "Be careful". Looking back I gave him a quick wink in response.

Back inside the vents I went past Aunt Patty's office only to find a dead end. Going back to the vent before hers I saw the resemblance of a breakroom. Seeing my favorite guard getting a cup of coffee I saw the perfect opportunity to go unnoticed into the Maximum security area. Slowly making my way down through the shadows, another guard came in. When Edgar turned to greet him I seeped into his shadow. Non the wiser he stayed there to finish his coffee while making idle chit chat with the other guard by the name of Steven.

Patiently I waited until Edgar finally got up to make his rounds throughout the Maximum area. Keeping my eyes closed I had to wait for the right opportunity to ditch Edgar for Eric. Steven helped by asking, "Which one does he think is the worst one here?" Edgar said, "That's a tie between Eric and David". Hearing that peaked my interest. Neither one of them made any comments on why. Hearing my name being mentioned by Edgar as he said, "You see this one freak by the name of Tamara although she prefers to be called Z is one tough cookie. I've given her shocks without any reason ever since they brought her here. I even got the chance to make her go limp to take her to see Nurse Ratchet. Watching that psycho bitch go to town on Tamara was a sight to be seen. Crazy bitch loves to torture. I stayed to watch the whole thing through the mirror. That girl Tamara barely made a sound. If I had my way I would've made her sing like a canary after a few minutes and then have my own fun with her." Suppressing the urge to expose myself by killing Edgar where he stands took every ounce of will power in me.

Hearing Steven say, "So this is Eric huh?" Taking my chance to leave for the shadow under Eric's door I heard Edgar say, "He may not look like much although this guy can take on a blast from a tank and can control those other freaks." Waiting until I heard the sound of their boots moving down the hall I poked my eyes out from under the door. Seeing Eric meditate in the middle of the room I knew I had to be extremely careful from here on out. Having no idea if there was audio in this room or not I waited never taking my eyes off him. No movement from him. Before I could make a noise Steven came back to his room opening a small window for a tray of food to come through. Taking the chance to hide under it was easy. Steven said, "Chow time". Seeing Eric get up to come to the door I waited until his hands touched the trey before moving into his shadow.

Feeling him shudder I hoped he wouldn't say a thing about it. Steven asked, "You going to take the tray or just stare at it?" Hearing Eric respond with, "Felt like someone walked over my grave". Made my stomach drop, he took the tray to the same area where I found him at. Once the window for the food was closed I heard him wolf down the gruel we all apparently eat. After a few minutes the next thing I heard was the same door being opened for the tray to be taken away. After the food door closed again Eric went to the restroom.

Before he could turn the light on I whispered into his ear, "Is it safe to talk?"

Instead of answering he turned the knobs for the shower to turn on at full blast. "As safe as it can be now", Eric said.

Moving away from his shadow I looked him right in the eye to ask, "Can you control others like us?"

He pressed his lips into a line before answering with, "I can control Ed because he and I are identical twins. With others I have to touch them before I can make them do anything. What can you do?"

Making my astral body more corporeal I said, "I can manipulate and become shadows, astral project, and I can turn into other people if I have a sample of their DNA."

Seeing him flinch I waited for his next question, "What do you have planned?"

I answered with, "I know you're the one who sent me to Nurse Ratchet. How can I trust you?"

Seeing his face drop before saying, "The Director has me use Ed to keep a closer eye on everyone. She knew you'd be trouble that's why she placed you in the solitary unit instead of here. The Director is trying to break your spirit, she was going to send you to Nurse Ratchet eventually."

Even after hearing all of that I still didn't trust him enough, "I need some leverage against you, and Ed doesn't count".

After letting out a heavy sign he said, "Her name is Shelly, she was my girlfriend before we got infected. She can make anybody see things, they keep her in the main area. The Director told me that if I don't do what she wants she'll give Shelly to Nurse Ratchet."

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes along with hearing the love in his voice I told him, "I still don't trust you, so I'm going need some of your blood." Eric lifted his hand into his mouth to bite down until he broke the skin. I stood in awe as Eric did what I said without hesitation or question. With his hand still bleeding he extended it toward me freely. Moving underneath it I opened my mouth to take in a few blood drops.

Feeling my body shudder I knew something was beginning to change in me. My mind began to flood with everyone's thoughts. It didn't matter if they were sleeping or human I could hear everything all at once. Covering my ears to try to block out the noise was in vain.

Having no idea how long it had been until I could hear Eric's voice calm the others by thinking, hear me and focus on my thoughts. Listening to him solely I managed to deafen the other thoughts racing into my mind. Opening my eyes again I saw Eric crouched down to my eyes level for him to ask, can you hear me now? I whispered back to him yes, can you hear me?

He only nodded his head in response.