“Jason the hell man. Unpack your stuff already!” Nigel yelled at me. He touched his foot where his pinky finger had crashed with the box.

“I’ll do it when I want to.” I threw my pillow at Nigel. The pillow hit his face.

“Do it now, dingus. It’s taking up the whole room.” 

“I nearly fell face first when going to the bathroom.” Enzo pouted. 

“Just pay attention when you walk.” I slid the boxes to the side with my foot which didn’t do anything. It still took up the space and I got a judgemental look from Nigel.

“Why doesn’t he fight back?” Enzo stopped writing. 

“Huh?”

“Why doesn’t he fight back?” He turned around in his chair to face us.

“He must have. At some point, he would have defended himself.” 

“What if he’s avoiding us because of… us?” Enzo turned toward me. 

“Nah.. he would have said so. There is something else.” 

“Trent seems to be the only reason. Fuckin’ ass.” Nigel punched the air. “You stopped me. I could have wiped that smirk off his face.” 

“That’s exactly what he was trying to do. You sit calm when that happens.” 

“Ok super diplomat.” He made a face at me. He threw my pillow back at me but I caught it on time. 

“I know what to do.” Enzo said with a determination on his face. 

Enzo knocked on the door. The phone flashed the time 6:50 AM. The door creaked open and Mrs. Flores' white hair peaked through the small gap. She looked at our faces and immediately opened the door fully. 

“Good morning, Mrs Flores.” We said in unison.

“Oh good morning, boys.” She stepped out. A big smile plastered on her face. Mrs. Flores was a plump old woman. She dressed in her cardigan with her white hair pinned back. “What brings you here?” 

“We came here to pick Ethan.” Enzo said confidently. 

“I mean we are neighbours and we have the same route and where’s the fun in going alone?” I added. 

“You’re his friends. This is happening.” She fanned her tears away with her hand. “Um.. Ethan, your friends are here.”

“Come inside, he’ll be ready in a second.” There wasn’t a need for the second to pass. Ethan stood behind her, glaring at us. 

“Ethan, say hi.” she mouthed. He stepped out.

“What the hell are you guys doing?”

“Being friends with you, idiot.” Nigel flicked at his hair. “Let’s go. Mister smartypants doesn’t like to be late.”

“It’s not even 7.” 

“They walk slow.” I mouthed as I pointed to them. 

We walked all the way to the bus stop, talking about the new videogame Enzo found last night. Ethan mostly stayed quiet. At some point, he lost the depressing look from his face. Penn and Izzy crossed the street. Penn wore her hoodie and Izzy stood in her overalls. They looked surprised at the sight. 

“No uh huh peak winter is the time to take a plunge in the lake.” 

“People with death wishes do that in the winters.”

“Where’s the thrill in that?”  It was then decided that we all would dare to take a cold plunge in the winters. I turned to see Izzy walking next to Ethan. They didn’t look at each other's face or make eye contact. She asked him how his grandma was doing to which he only said fine. She nodded for a moment but then walked up to the others. 

“That’s another near death experience on the list.” I said to Ethan. He gave me a slight nod. He stopped all of a sudden.

“What happened?” I asked. We all stopped and turned to look at him.

“I appreciate the sentiment but don’t come near me anymore. You both know that better than me.” he looked at Izzy and Penny. He left us on the sidewalk, walking alone ahead of us with his head low. Izzy stared at him as he walked away. Her eyebrows furrowed together, a hurt look on her face. My head remained devoid of any thought. The persistence. The aloneness. The hiding. All of it left scratching my mind.  

“Let’s just go.” Izzy said in a low voice, nudging Enzo on his arm as she started to walk.

---------

“Ok, none of this is  helping, what was that that Ethan said?” I leaned on the table. There was still time before the start of chemistry class. We sat in the lab, waiting for the teacher. 

“It’s kinda complicated.” she winced as she rubbed her nape.

“Penn.” She let out a loud sigh. 

“We go all the way back to elementary. Well, Izzy and Ethan do. I came around later. We were always together. Then in third grade, his foster parents sent him out of town. They said he needed some change and out of nowhere, there was his extended family and stuff. He came back in middle school. Mrs. Flores had taken him in. He was different like he was different before that too but this time, it wasn’t him. He wasn’t the Ethan I knew. He stopped talking to us. We tried to talk to him but he.. We sort of fought and then we never spoke again. Something happened and after that Trent and the others started to pick up on him. They bullied us even before that but… you know the rest. We look out for him every now and then but he doesn’t talk to us.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be.” she picked on her fingernail. “Look, I’m not mad or anything, it’s just we don’t know what we did or what happened for us to be this way. Its hard to just go up and pretend like nothing happened even though that’s the exact thing I have to do.” 

“I get that, Penn.”

“Right, like I …” she sighed. 

“It’s fine. I just needed to know what’s going on. It will be fine.” I tried to reassure her. She nodded.

“The last thing he said.” she continued. “He means well. Anyone who interacts with also gets isolated and picked on so he doesn’t talk to us. It didn’t do any good because we are in the same mess as before. Izzy is going to be so mad.” she jerked her hand from her face. I fixed my posture as the teacher walked in, greeting us. 

“Where even is Izzy?” I whispered.  

“I took her to the school nurse. She said she felt feverish.” 

A pang of worry settled inside me. She had remained quiet after Ethan had left and now she wasn’t in class. It was foolish of me to put her in a situation like that. If I had known better. She had seemed weaker compared to the first time I saw her. It must be from her being sick. I hope she doesn’t fall sick or anything. Things have to be made right. 

—--------------------------------------------------

In literature class, Ms. Barr had left the classroom for a moment. Izzy had finally returned for the rest of the classes though she kept her down on the table most of the time. Nigel and I looked back at Ethan, sitting on the last row. Reagan, Trent’s friend and some other threw crumpled paper at his head, watching whose aim was the best. A paperball fell at Penny’s feet. Nigel picked it up.

“Didn’t know you guys celebrated Valentine’s in the middle of September.” He crumpled it again and threw it back at Reagan, leaning on his table. The ball hit and he fell down across. 

“Oh sorry. Hope it didn’t hurt much.” He said aloud as he smirked. I fistbumped him. Penny watched in awe. Then it all started. At every moment, we did what we did best. During lunch, Ethan ate on the bleachers. Some guys threw a bucket full of water over him thinking they could turn his lunch into soup. Luckily he hadn’t gotten wet because Enzo put the shade umbrella over him. Penn kicked on the sprinkler too, directing the water towards those guys. Then came dodgeball. With every aim. With every breath. With my strength. I took out every single one of Trent's gang. At the end, only me and Trent were left. He threw the ball at me but I swerved right and threw the ball right at his face. All of us cheered as he went down.

“You should have seen his face.” Izzy laughed as we got out of the gym room. Nigel mimicked his face. We all laughed. 

“Izzy!” Enzo’s voice panicked. I turned to see Izzy laying down on the floor. Enzo held her on his lap. Her face turned pale, making her veins showing on the face. 

“Oh shit.” Penny rushed to her side. “Is she breathing?” 

We all gathered around in the nurse’s office. She checked her temperature but it came back normal. 

“She’s probably anemic.” she tried to reassure us. I haven’t seen anyone grow pale like her in anemia. This was something else. Mr. Huxley entered the office, rushing towards the nurse. They talked in a low whisper, nodding in between. Their faces told me it wasn't just anemia but something more. They talked about calling her home. 

“You guys go back to class. We’ll be sending Izzy home.” Huxley told us, he put his hands on his back.

“I’ll stay here until she goes home.” Penny said.

“Me too.” Enzo followed and then we all were nodding.

“Do as you wish.” he sighed. 

“Anemia? Bullshit, she may be small but she’s one hell of a eater.” she whispered.

“Exactly.” I whispered back. Izzy laid on the bed. Sweat beads formed on her forehead. On looking closer, she looked much thinner and paler, so much so her blue veins showed on her jaw.

“Have you noticed any changes in your friend’s lifestyle?” We stared at her face quizzingly for a moment.

“She’s not on drugs.” Enzo said in a panic. Then it hit us. 

“Why would she be on drugs?” “She’d rather meet God than do drugs.” “How could you even think that?” We confronted the nurse.

“Ah.. Don’t panic like that. It’s a normal check for her condition. Besides, you never know what could happen.” She raised her hands in defeat.The phone rang on the table. The nurse picked up the phone and went out of the office. 

“Izzy and drugs? She would crucify herself.” Penn said in a low voice with a horrified face. 

“She looked sick for two days now.” Enzo sulked.

“Must have been the cold. We were out till three.”

“The cold doesn’t make you look like you are halfway in the grave.” 

“What if it is what I’m thinking it is.” Enzo’s eyes widened. 

“It’s not. She would’ve burnt half the town by now.” 

Izzy sat straight up. Her face returned to somewhat normal, staring at the floor. 

“Izzy?” Enzo called her name. She didn’t respond for a moment. She turned her head. Her eyes darkened. Black seeped out into the corner of her eyes. She whispered something I couldn’t get a hang of. She grabbed the vase, shattering the glass under her fist. In a blur, her hand moved towards Penny. She leaned back, dodging her. Izzy crashed onto the desk and went for her. I jumped in, grabbing her arm and pinned her down. She pushed me. With all her force she aimed to stab at my face. Water trickled over us. Enzo had thrown the water jug over us. She slumped down against the bed. Steam rose over her head. 

“The hell just happened?” Penny cursed. Nigel pulled me away from the bed. 

“Oh shit.” Nigel cursed as we huddled together.  I looked back to find the window wide open. The bed was empty. Enzo and Penny looked out the window. 

“She’s gone.” He breathed. I stood in my footsteps frozen. A clicking sound came from behind. Nurse Amelie’s silhouette became visible behind the frosted glass. We stood there like we were deers caught in headlights. I drew the curtains behind me.

“What are you guys doing?” Nurse Amelie stood at the door with her eyebrows furrowed. We stood there like we were deers caught in headlights. 

“Uhm… nothing.” I mustered the response, holding the curtain. 

“She woke up and …”

“She’s a heretic.” Nigel completed her sentence. Enzo made sobbing sounds behind the curtain.

“I’m okay.” He cried trying to sound like Izzy. “This is so embarassing.” The nurse gave us a look. More sobbing sounds emerged from behind. 

“I’ll be outside then. Call me when she …calms down.” She slowly stepped outside, looking at us confusingly.

“I hate you.” Enzo glared at me as the curtains pulled back.

“She’s definitely possessed. That was not her.” Nigel said as we rushed out of the nurse’s office and went out the exit.

“Obviously it's not her. Did you see the way she tackled Jason? She could never do that.” 

“Whatever is possessing Izzy is the same thing we saw in the woods,” I pointed towards somewhere. 

“The mirror broke at the end.” 

“Yeah, and Penn held the mirror, not Izzy.” Nigel pointed out 

“You guys trapped the spirit?” Enzo asked with a confused face.

“Yes, it possessed a werebear.”

“But I saw one too.” he pointed to himself. “In the woods, it tried to possess me but Izzy found me just in time. … that’s all I remember, I last saw Izzy’s face before fainting.” 

“Did it say like it wanted your soul?” I asked.

“Yes.” I took a deep breath at his response. 

“But we only saw one.” Penn said.

“One ghost in two places? How’s that possible?” I put my hand over my mouth.

“It’s only possible if they are twins.” Nigel's eyes shot up towards me.

“Are you quoting twin flames right now?” Enzo said.

“Twin flames?” she asked.

“It was a story our grandmother told us. There were two twins in the old times. They ate the same thing, did everything together and even said the same words at the same time. The townspeople never liked them. One day, one of the twins gets sacrificed by the townspeople. The other twin finds her burnt body. She then makes a deal with the devil. If she brings a hundred souls, the devil would bring her twin's soul back. She agrees and kills some people. The townspeople catch her and then hang her to death. As she dies, she thinks she is free  and would be with her sister but the devil is like no, the deal is still active so you can’t leave earth until the deal is done.” Enzo explained. 

“So she is killing and possessing everyone because she needs a hundred souls.”

“And since twins are made of one soul, the other twin couldn’t reach heaven because her sister’s soul isn’t allowed to leave, hence the two spirits.” I added.

“Ethan’s words do match the story.” Penn concluded.

“Even if it doesn’t, the made of one soul could be true. One can’t leave and the other has to stay behind because of them.”

“They are one soul separated into two so we have to find a way to rejoin them.” Nigel gestured with his hands.

“The mirror is in pieces.” Penn pointed out.

“We’ll find them then.” I said.