“We’re here”. Blade announces as we stop in front of a small redbrick house. It has a small porch with a dirty porch swing. There are some toys scattered around the driveway. We walk up the stairs. As we do, I hear a piercing scream coming from the other side of the door. I’m quite startled but Blade seems unfazed. “My niece and nephew”. He explains. We walk inside. It’s relatively neat. Especially considering two kids live here. Speaking of. Two kids run into the living room. They look about four or five in age. The boy has golden curls and pale golden skin. He has faint green eyes and the most adorable smile. The girl couldn’t be more different. She has long straight hair that’s chocolate brown like Blades, pale skin and green eyes.
“UNCLE BLADE” The girl squeals, running into Blade's arms. “YAY UNCLE BLADES HERE”. Says the boy delighted. “Hi rascals”. Blade chuckles, scooping the girl into his arms. He seems so different from the Blade that was here just a while ago. He turns to me as if he just remembered everything. He coughs and places the little girl down. “Um Roxane, these are my twin niece, and nephew. This is Cye”. He gestures to the boy. “And Luna” he gestures to the girl.
“Hi, are you Blade's friend or his girlfriend?”. Cye asks while Luna makes oohing sounds.
“Um no we’re just friends”. I say flustered as Blade looks like he’ll burst laughing any minute.
“Yeah. Actually I need to take Roxanne to Great-grandpa”.
We walk into another small room. It has floor to ceiling bookshelves on one wall, a fireplace, crackling and burning, and a few leather seats. Seated in one is an old man. He’s wearing a sweater vest, he has a bald head and a cigar in his mouth. On the couch a younger man sits. He looked like an older Blade so I assume that he’s Blade's brother. The old man notices us and says “Blade my boy take a seat. And who’s the lady you’ve brought”
“Grandpa, this is Roxanne”. Blade introduces me
“Hello Mr.Apollo” I say shaking his head
“Please call me Mason. It would be nice to hear it once and a while. Nowadays it’s just, Dad, grandpa and great grandpa. That one hurts most”. He smiles with a broad grin.
“I’m Keanu,” Says the man on the couch. “Blade's brother and the father of those two mini monsters you met earlier”.
‘It’s lovely to meet you all”. I say sweetly sitting next to Blade on a couch.
“So dear what brings you to our neck of the woods” Asks Mason taking a drag on his cigar.
“Well actually I'm wondering if you could answer some questions about the Young family. Your neighbours”. I reply
Mason’s eyebrows furrow. “Well that’s certainly an odd request. Why would you be interested in that”?
I dive into the story. Taking time to explain how suspicious my encounter with them was.
“So I think they’re hiding something”. I finish
“Why do you think that?” asks Keanu.
I shrug “The noises, the footsteps up the stairs and they both answered the door. Why would two people need to answer the door?” It’s just suspicious
“Well you’ve certainly got your wits about you to learn so much already”. Praises Mason. “There really isn’t much to say about that family or what’s left of it. They've always been really private. Didn’t talk to anyone. I mean I figured it was grief from the tragedy they faced but looking back they were pretty isolated even before. No one ever came to visit them. Pretty much all of their coming and goings were routine. Rachel never socialised with any neighbour kids. But that was pretty expected considering the longstanding beef with the south public school and Redwood”.
I type some of these details into my phone. “Sorry dear but I'm not sure what else there is to say”. Mason says
“Well i know something but not sure how important it is”. Says a voice. We all turn to the door to see a tall man. He has brown hair and a light beard. He’s wearing a construction shirt and pants. “Hi I’m Treyton Blades dad”. He says sitting in a chair. “I’m Roxanne. Please tell me what you know. I'm working with nothing to begin with”.
Treyton leans back in his chair. “Well when I was a teenager. Very young, I saw the Youngs unloading baby stuff out of their car. I offered to help and noticed that they had two of everything. Two sets of each pink outfit, two times the baby formula, two times the diapers, even two cribs”.
“That's very interesting” I say typing it into my phone. “Was Mrs.Young still pregnant at the time”.
“Um Yes i think so but barley. I think I heard one mention having them in a week”. Treyton says thoughtfully.
“Them . Did they say them? Not her?” I ask.
Blade eyes switch on. Like he’s trying to figure something out. “Why would The Youngs say them? Are you sure they didn’t say her?
“No,'' Treyton says. Because I asked what they meant and they said they weren't sure what they were having”.
“That explains it,” Keanu concludes.
“No it doesn’t” Blade and I say in unison.
“If they weren’t sure what they were having, why did they buy clothes? You said they were all pink so they were all girls' clothes. If they didn’t know the gender wouldn’t they have bought some boy clothes”. Suddenly the Youngs are looking less like grieving parents and more like they have a few skeletons in the closet they’re trying to hide.
“It also doesn’t explain why they had two of everything including cribs”. Blade says.
“It is all quite strange” remarks Mason
I think hard. The term them being used. Double everything.
“Of course”. I say shattering the silence
“What”. Blade says urgently
All eyes are on me. “I can’t believe I missed this. Blade do you think it’s possible Rachel was a twin”?
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