LJ Idol Wheel of Chaos — Prompt 10 — Intrigant

[flipflop_diva]

The birth of the Jefferson twins literally caused the earth to shake. Or so go the stories that swirl through the streets and the houses of the small town of Hijinx where the boys were born and raised and which they called home until the world lost track of them.

As it was told, it was a very cold and very stormy night at the end of October. The wind howled and knocked around trees and dirt and even a few people who thought they could actually walk the streets asking for candy. Rain poured down, thunder boomed, and lightning flashed. And then the earth began to move and shake like it was part of a popular boy band.

Above Sarah Jefferson’s head, pieces of the cheap plaster ceiling began to peel away. Farther above her head, shingles from the roof started to break off.

But by the time the shaking had fully died away, there were two little boys cradled in Sarah’s arms.

“Twins?” Franklin Jefferson stared down at his wife and the boys, mouth agape. “But the doctor swore there was only one!”

“Pranksters, I tell you!” said Rosemary Jefferson, Franklin’s mother, who had been helping Sarah through her labor. She smiled down at her new grandchildren. “You watch out for these two.”

It was probably the most prophetic thing Rosemary ever said in her entire existence. Some in the town of Hijinx say she was teasing. Others say she knew more than she could ever let on.

But whichever case it may be, those little boys grew up to embody every word she said that night.

It started off innocent enough. Hiding pacifiers and bottles and sippy cups and diapers from their mother and father and babysitter. Crying for dinners they already ate but pretended they hadn’t. Giving away their toys and then telling their teachers the other kids took them.

In elementary school, they became pros at switching places. Pretending to parents and teachers and friends that they were the other brother. Pretending they had never been engaged in a conversation they definitely had been by saying it was the other sibling.

In middle school, it got worse. Switching places for tests. Writing each other’s essays. Running a homework ring with a bunch of the other kids.

By high school, there wasn’t a single person left in town who could trust them. They had become adept at stealing homework and phones and tablets. Stealing clothes from locker rooms so the victims had nothing to wear. Hiding teachers’ grade books. Taking tires off neighbors’ cars. Putting their grandmother’s dog in a tree and pretending they hadn’t seen it.

And every time, when their mischief was uncovered, the Jefferson twins would laugh and laugh, high-fiving and congratulating themselves on a job well done, before moving on to the next scheme. Convinced they were the smartest people in the town and no one would ever catch them in the act, and most definitely would never catch them in time to stop them.

Despite everything the boys had ever done, the two of them were accepted into a college a few cities over. Some in the town of Hijinx say the boys altered their own school records, deleting the list of detentions and suspensions and changed their failing grades to As. But others say it was the school officials who did it, not wanting to risk the twins staying in town. They thought if the boys left for college, they would find new targets and new opportunities and would leave the good people of Hijinx to the first peace they had known since the boys were born.

And so the boys packed up their shared car with all the stuff they owned and moved themselves to college. There they found exactly what the people of Hijinx had hoped they’d find — people who underestimated them and their intelligence.

For a while, it was the same tricks that had always brought them success. Trading places in class. Paying people to do their homework. Stealing keys and clothes and phones from the other kids in the dorm and leaving them in unusual places, like up in trees or inside the dean’s office or stuffed in a book in the library.

But as the boys became more enmeshed in college life, their machinations changed. One of them would meet a girl, and then the other would swap in for a date or two, just so the first one could accuse her of cheating. Or worse, of not knowing her own boyfriend. And the girls would be so angry and humiliated that they never said anything, because they didn’t want to look foolish.

That was how Augusta O’Reilly became their newest victim. She’d had no one to warn her, no one to tell her about this nice boy she met one night at a fraternity party, who brought her drinks and listened to her stories and was nothing but respectful.

And no one warned her after that either, when she kept going on dates with the sweet boy who gave her presents and offered to study together. Nor did they warn her when she fell in love with him and started talking about the future. She was full of hopes and dreams and love and happiness.

And then it all crashed down around her one frosty winter morning when she woke up with one twin to find the other twin opening the door on them and cursing her out for sleeping with his brother.

An hour later, Augusta was seen leaving the boys’ dorm, embarrassed and angry and heartbroken, while the twins had a good laugh and high-fived each other and talked about going to a few parties that next weekend, already on the hunt for their next victim.

But a funny thing happened on the following Friday. Both twins’ roommates came home to find both of their things cleared out. No notes, no texts, no messages on the whiteboards on the door. Just gone.

Of course, neither roommate cared too much — “Not a great loss,” one reportedly was heard saying — and everyone just assumed they had finally been expelled, even though the official record of the university showed no such thing.

So what happened to the twins? Well, no one can really say for sure, except for one person, but there were rumors. Rumors of them waking up tied together in a basement somewhere. Of the basement door opening hours later and of a familiar figure walking in.

The twins stared at her.

“Augusta?” one asked. “I can explain.”

“Oh,” she said sweetly. “I’m not Augusta. I’m Julia. Didn’t you know we were twins?”

And if the stories are true, the last thing the twins saw was Julia’s wicked smile as she held a knife in her hand. Serving justice to two manipulators in the best way she knew how.




Fiction.



This was written for the new season of therealljidol, Wheel of Chaos! If you liked my entry, please consider voting for me or any of the other amazing contestants. You can find all the entries here. Looking for the voting post on Sunday night!

Comments

[muchtooarrogant]

You know, I'm glad I'm not a twin, those guys typically get a bad rap around here. (grin)

It's interesting reading entries this week because unless the author specifically tells you at the beginning, there's no way to know whether someone's going to go for just the intrigue or secret plan with illicit intent aspect of the prompt. :) Your dark ending surprised me a bit, although I suppose with all the prior twin plotting I should've known. :)

Dan

[drippedonpaper]

I don't endorse violence, but I have come to see that many people...don't seem like they will ever change :(

I'm glad their cruelty stopped, honestly. Karma is a b-tch!

[halfshellvenus]

I would love it even more if there WERE no Julia, and August was just lying to them at the end!

What an awful pair-- sociopaths more than pranksters. :O

[legalpad819]

Muhahahaha! I guess the Hijinx twins got what was due to them.

[roina_arwen]

I do like a well deserved comeuppance story!