WC: 800 Words
Frankie Thorn had a secret. Twiddling with her fingers she removed a ring
and slipped it into her pocket. “All the
good ones have some dark harbored past.
Give me a bad guy any day,” Frankie said as she sipped her frozen fufu
coffee. “I’m just saying think about
it. Every decent guy you’ve approved of
has not worked out.”
Finch Thorn, Frankie’s twin, had
a secret too. “Approve is a relative
term. Dan wasn’t half bad.”
“What’s your definition of half
bad,” Frankie asked raising her recently pierced brow, she winced from the motion.
“You know Mom’s going to just
love that you finally put a hole in your face,” Finch said as he drank from her
cup.
Shrugging, “What can I say
Christmas came early for Mom.”
They laughed lightly but the
truth found them in the awkward silence that followed. Frankie reached to retrieve her cup, her free
hand twiddling with the ring in her pocket once more. Feeling the sun warm her skin emboldened her
next words as she searched for the courage, “Now,” she started taking a
tentative sip, “I’m assuming you’re going to tell me who you really are?”
Finch looked across the table at
the girl he’d called his sister for the last year but shook his head, “No, not
really.”
“Then what reason-”
“When? When did you figure it out,” Finch said as he
reached for her cup again. Frankie’s
eyes followed his every move. “How did
you know exactly? I watched your
brother, your entire family, I am curious to know if the twin bond is so
strong?”
Frankie watched as he drank from
her cup once more. “Maybe just a little
bit of that -”
“But?”
“But where’s my brother.”
“He’s somewhere safe, much safer
than here. You know this planet doesn’t
have much time left,” Finch said as he drank more. It was then he reflected how he’d likely miss
her taste in drinks. She never went
wrong in that way but how she’d known still plagued him. Fake Finch started to suspect he might not
actually discover the fatal flaw until he caught her eyes on him and the
cup. He smiled.
“What do you mean,” Frankie
asked as she leaned in closer. The spirals
in her long black hair had fallen, her sunglasses pushed onto her forehead had crept
forward. She stayed hidden as Fake Finch
stared at her and for a moment her mind wondered what if he knows…
“Exactly that,” he said
finishing her drink. As Fake Finch stood
Frankie followed suit. Her hair in
tumbles because she knew this was her only chance.
She rushed to his side of the table
for a goodbye hug, “Please, I- I just want my brother back.”
Fake Finch smiled and shook his
head, “The assignments over-”
“What are you going to do to
him?”
Fake Finch brow arched, “You can
always find out. It might turn out to be
a better set up when you think about it.
You pick- die here or out there?” Fake Finch said looking toward the
sky.
“What are you… really?” Frankie’s
voice fell to a deathly whisper, not afraid of the answer but afraid that maybe
he might see past her. That he might
figure it out. She let one hand fall to
the side and reached into her pocket once more.
The ring was like a talisman, she pulled power from it and as she
watched Fake Finch ponder the answer she worried if she’d be able to keep her
own promise.
“Take me instead,” Frankie burst
out as Fake Finch opened his mouth.
Fake Finch considered her words
and without another walked away. Frankie
watched as he weaved the café tables to the exit and at the gate he
stopped. He waited and Frankie rushed
over. As she grabbed hold of her fake
brother’s hand she took in the sights of this planet once more. It had been home for a long time.
Frankie and Finch were placed on
assignment centuries ago, often choosing their host carefully but now it was in
jeopardy. Frankie found her ring and
slipped it on.
It was at an abandoned warehouse
where they finally stopped. Fake Finch
pulled a key from his pocket and undid the chains. “You know what’s odd? I’ve always thought you somehow knew. It was as though you knew my secret the
entire time.”
“Give me a bad guy any day,” she
smiled nervous that if she spoke any more her mouth might betray her. Afraid she might not ever see Finch
again. As it was Fake Finch took her words without question and let it go.
Frankie twisted the ring on her
finger and held onto her secret once more as she left one world behind and
entered another.
