The Stitch Twins

It must have been five days since everything started; there was no build up to what happened to me. I hadn’t moved into a new haunted house, I hadn’t bought some kind of cursed object from a strange tradesman that conveniently disappeared the next day nor had I tried to communicate with the dead using an Ouija board only to let something much more vicious out. I had never even believed in such experiences before in my life, I just thought they were all just fictional. I mean, I’ve always been a horror movie fan – but I never believed anything like that to be real and even then I would never have expected it to happen to myself.

Everything started the day my parents left me and my sister Lucy alone in the house for the week on a business trip. Thinking about it now, maybe they were waiting for us to be alone…because you are so much more vulnerable when you’re alone.

“Both of you behave while we’re gone and stay in the house. Oh and next time you put the ready meals in the microwave, take it out of the cardboard box and actually read the instructions,” my mum sighed at us both remembering the mess we made in the microwave. We were always pretty useless when it came to doing anything in the kitchen, if it were physically possible we’d probably manage to burn cereal.

“And make sure you clear out that loft!” Dad called dragging his suitcase down the stairs and shoving it into the boot of the car with a grunt. After that mum kissed us both on the forehead, smiled, and got into the car…she always had such a comforting smile. I wish she were here with me right now.



Lucy slammed the door shut behind them with a bright grin on her face, her usually uninterested eyes suddenly sparked with a hidden mischief.

“We should throw a party!” She exclaimed as I rolled my eyes.

“Yes because that isn’t clichéd at all,” I muttered sarcastically, I would have much preferred to enjoy the peace and quiet. She pouted placing her hands on her hips before leaning forwards spreading the grin across her face further.

“Just because you have no sense of fun,” she sneered.

“I do have a sense of fun,” I scoffed, “and it’s called reading.”

I pushed up my glasses with my forefinger as they slipped down my nose. She just shrugged and span around tossing her dyed blonde hair with her. Regretfully, I never really liked my sister…

“We better go and sort out that loft.”



It took an hour to convince her from her distraction known as ‘boyfriend’ who she was texting…well by the look on her face it was probably more along the lines of sexting (not that I would ask for details) to finally go up into the loft. I pulled down the step ladder and of course being the male I was sent up there first. Lucy handed me a torch as I climbed up into the blackness being hit violently with a musty smell. I hated the sheer darkness of the loft; it was dense and made me feel as if the room itself along with everything in it was just painted black. We never used the loft for anything but storage as the floorboards were still weak and the room was not insulated. Of course by that as soon as I pressed a hand on the ground to pull myself up, the wood creaked an unsettling cry and I nearly dropped the torch in my hand. With an icy breath I switched on the light seeing nothing but piles of boxes covered in cobwebs and layered with dust. I pulled myself up, resting on my knees, I moved the light around; it was ominous when all you could see of a room was a line from where the torch was shone, as everything else was shrouded in darkness. You never could know what exactly was up there. Even if you could move your light source fast there was nothing saying that the thing up there wouldn’t just disappear back into the darker areas or hide behind a box only to be watching you from a distance. I pointed the torch at the ceiling in which an old rusty lamp shade without a bulb was rocking steadily back and forth gently. It made me wonder why it was doing that because there were no windows in the room, so no breeze, nor was there anything big enough in the room to catch it. That was when the scuttling came. An unexpected chill coursed down my spine and I out of instinct I flashed the light around to where I believed the noise to be coming from. I saw…nothing. I jumped with a quiet shriek as I heard footsteps coming up the ladder. It took me longer than it should have to realise that it was just my sister. I bit back a sigh of relief as I turned around to see her head poking up from the hole.

“You’re such a wimp,” she laughed shining her own torch in my face clearly seeing the expression of panic I had plastered all over it. I moved out of the way so she could crawl up here still with a look of amusement.

“If you’re wondering what that noise was, it was probably just a mouse,” she commented nonchalantly, gazing around the space with curious eyes. I didn’t say anything back believing she was probably right.



<p class="MsoNoSpacing">We shuffled across the continuously screeching floor until we reached the first pile of boxes. Most of them contained bunches of old clothes some of which we had outgrown but mostly clothes that Lucy had bought, worn once and decided they were out of fashion. Other boxes contained rusted house-hold ornaments which no longer went with the décor so were simply abandoned up here to rot; there were moth eaten curtains, cracked vases, stale discoloured photos, busted up gadgets and so on. It was all rather boring until we came across the box labelled: old toys.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">We both raised our eyebrows in curiousity at this box wondering about the memories it held inside. She ripped off the tape pulling off a layer of cardboard with it which just showed me how long the box hand been up here and how brutally strong my sister could be at times which was, unnerving. She opened up the box flaps and peered inside a smile quickly splaying across her lips. She pulled out one of her dolls from her childhood, dressed in a fancy pink dress still in the upmost perfect condition.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Hey what is this?” She questioned out loud pulling out a small model of a golden robot. My eyes lit up as I saw it and I snatched it out of her hand, so that was where he went.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“I see, one of your geek things,” she teased looking back in the box rummaging around a little. This time I took a glimpse more than inquisitive in finding out what other treasures of mine were still left in there. I was delighted when I found all my notebooks; I had slipped the torch in my mouth so I could flick through. Even as a child I always aspired to be a fictional writer though my genre of choice was still a close debate between horror and science fiction. I still carried around with me a notebook and pen just in case inspiration ever hit me. You’d be surprised when muse or an excessive need to write would come up.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Putting the notebooks to my side telling myself I would read them later, I took another glimpse back in the box. There were more dolls inside, all ones which I remembered seeing on my sisters shelf when we used to share a room. That was when I saw one – no two…dolls which I didn’t recognise. Lucy was mindlessly stroking her favourite dolls hair with a child-like smile on her face. Knowing that I wasn’t going to get any attention from her I pulled out the dolls myself only to find them both stitched together by the hands. The dolls were significantly colder to touch than anything else that had been taken from the box. I thinned my eyes, they weren’t the type to be used to play with but more the type you kept in a room as an ornament. The figures were definitely old, they looked fairly similar, both of young girls dressed in dirty white silky dresses that had ripped and frayed at the edges,   the doll on the right had red ink splattered all over the stomach area that I could have sworn looked like it had been stabbed by a leaky red pen. Their porcelain faces were lifelike, cracked in places, but most certainly lifelike so much so that it was eerie. I brushed the dark matted hair out of the face of the doll on the left to see that someone had gone over the eyes in a black marker pen so ferociously that the original paint work of the eyes could no longer be seen. The ink must have been wet at the time as it had dripped down the rest of its face, if I didn’t know any better I could have said the figurine had been crying. I frowned before removing the hair of the other one to see the same black marker pen, but this time not over its eyes but over its mouth making it look like there was just a great gaping hole of black which in turn had leaked down it’s chin.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“What kind of child were you?” I criticized holding up the dolls trying to get my sister’s attention. I wasn’t sure if I was mocking her or being serious when I asked this question considering someone’s mental state to which they decided that making creepy dolls look even creepier was acceptable.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Hmmm?” She mumbled letting her eyes slip away from the doll in her hand to the ones in mine. Instantly her eyes widened and her mouth opened for a moment before slipping shut again. She cocked her head to the side, narrowing her heavily made up eyes.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“They aren’t mine,” she merely stated, but instead of looking mystified by how some random toys had ended up in our box she simply looked interested. She shuffled closer wanting to get a closer look; the torch-light now gleaming at their faces. She took them off me, giving them a once over with her eyes.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Maybe they’re mums? She might have thrown them in here by accident – oh look there’s one of those little pulley things, you know the ones where they make a sound?”   She exclaimed, as I could nearly smell the excitement coming off her. She reached for the long piece of string that seemed to come out one of the dolls backs before pulling it out. It was silent for a moment as the string began to retract itself. The sound of coarse heavy wheezing filled the air lasting for a good ten seconds before the shrill of a little girl’s voice took over.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">‘Together forever’ it said before shrieking into a fit of high-pitched giggles. The giggles slowly became deeper and groggier as if batteries had started to run out except there were no batteries. It when then she decided to drop the items on the floor, the dolls wiggled as if alive, squirming and flailing they’re little arms as the noise continued and the string continued to worm its way back into the dolls spine.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Ok t-those things are c-creepy,” Lucy stuttered as the dolls became silent once more. I looked at them, they’re heads had turned during the movement; the one with blacked out eyes was facing my direction, exactly in my direction. It felt like she was staring at me…I couldn’t help but imagine if I had moved around the room the face would follow me. What was weirder still was that the other doll with the concealed mouth was facing my sister. Her eyes stared briefly at the one facing her before she looked at me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Maybe we should finish this off tomorrow eh?” She announced; her voice tinged with fright. I nodded at her, utterly speechless myself. I took down my notebooks and she took her favourite doll.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">I spent the rest of the evening reading through all my old work, smiling at my own imagination. I always had a good one. Lucy was jittery, talking at me making up rational ideas about how the dolls got into the box, I told her to do something else and take her mind off it. She eventually did and spent three hours on the phone calling up the boyfriend. I had convinced myself there was nothing to be afraid of, they were just ''dolls. ''I was right about one thing in the end, they were just dolls – but what was to fear was what the dolls had brought along with them.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">I slept uneasily that night, not because anything was keeping me awake but I just felt something churning up in the pit of my stomach. It was a nervous feeling like the feeling you get when you were anxious about something the next day. Eventually however I did manage to fall asleep. My alarm went off as usual, 8am, I always like to get up early even when there was no school. I turned over as usual, stretching my arm out to find the button on top of my alarm clock. I thumped my hand against the wood of my bedside table and slid it across trying to find the blasted thing. I had just woken up and didn’t have my glasses on so everything was blurry and unfocused. It took a moment of hopelessly tapping the wood for me to finally put my hand on something. Whatever it was, it was cold, I slid my fingers across it before starting to feel some silky material. My breath caught in my throat as I sat up with a start. I reached towards my other bedside table for my glasses and quickly slipped them on. I blinked turning back around letting my vision come into focus. But…there was nothing there. Nothing but my violently ringing alarm clock. I sighed. I reached over to turn it off before it decided to wake up my neighbours down the street. As I leant back, I pressed my hand down on the covers only to feel a lump, a lump which certainly wasn’t myself. I felt around for a moment before slowly turning my head and quickly peeling back the covers. The dolls were lying there next to me, their faces both staring right at me as if to say: you found us. I shot out of bed, picking up the dolls and darting towards my sister’s bedroom down the hall assuming this was some kind of joke she decided to play on me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">I knocked on her door repeatedly telling her to get up. She eventually opened the door with a yawn, her usually perfectly straightened hair stuck out in various directions and hints of yesterday’s make-up that didn’t all come off was still present on her skin.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“What did you do this for?” I questioned irritably shoving the figures in her face. Her face contorted into that of genuine confusion.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Why did you bring those things down with you?” She asked gesturing for me to take them out of her sight. I frowned at her before realising that she wasn’t joking with me…if she hadn’t brought them down then who did?

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“What should I do with them?” I uttered, exhaling heavily.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“You can put them in my drawer for now,” she told me, “we’ll throw them out later.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">We had breakfast after that, if there was one thing we could make correctly it was toast. I sat eating my slice of toast writing in my always-carried-around notebook about the dolls considering how they would make a great addition to any horror story I may have one day written. I slipped the notebook back in my jacket pocket along with the pen once I had finished. We ate in silence for a while – until we heard the strange noise coming from upstairs. We both craned our necks to look at the ceiling above us; we were directly below Lucy’s room. There it was…quick little footsteps, as if someone were darting across the floor above us. We then turned to look at each other in horror, mutually agreeing with each other that we had no choice but to investigate. Of course we had a choice – we could have ignored it, gone about with our daily routines but who does? Curiousity truly was a jerk.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">We crept up the stairs; Lucy held in her hand a kitchen knife, she asked me to take one too, I refused stating that I was too clumsy and would probably end up hurting myself. We made it to Lucy’s room, I half expected that there was probably someone in there…robbing us. But when we eventually opened the door we were met with a very different sight. The row of teddy bears across her shelf were now all stitched together in one big long line, from each paw to the next. Everything on her vanity table was stacked up playfully in a tower only a movement away from toppling over. The bed sheets and pillows all positioned to make a little den over the bed. The music box was open and playing that familiar tune while the ballet dancer span around on the spot. Her white walls were scribbled on with crayons, tens of small pictures of two little girl stick figures with their hands clasped together were repeatedly drawn across the paintwork with the phrase: together forever. Lucy dropped the knife, nearly stabbing herself in the foot if he hadn’t moved to pull her away in time. I scrambled over to the drawer, yanking it open seeing the two dolls in the exact same position as when I put them in there. I closed it again before turning around to face my sister.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“I think someone is messing with us, it wouldn’t be the first time one of your many exes’ has come round and tried to play a prank on you like this,” I elucidated crossing my arms trying to make sense of it all.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Yeah…that’s probably it, it’s probably Dylan I mean I only broke up with him last week, he’s really possessive and he does have a little sister…” she muttered with a nod seemingly ok with the idea. The window in her room was still open from the night before and there was an easily accessible route to her bedroom window via the shed right next to it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">It was that night that things really started to get weirder. I had fallen asleep again with that uneasy feeling along with a growing headache. I had a strange dream, I found myself in a forest – a forest that I didn’t recognise. I was being lead through it hand-in-hand with a little girl. She must have been about ten years old, with dark hair that was nearly black, pale skin and a chalk white dress that fluttered in the breeze. Her hand gripped tightly in my own that even for her size was beginning to feel painful. She led me to a clearing in the forestry where she finally looked at me with an oddly familiar face. Her eyes were whitish with a glassy look and I realized she wasn’t looking at me at all, just in my direction, she couldn’t focus her eyes. She was blind. She turned her head away from me and then looked straight out in front of her, I followed her movement. On the other side of the clearing between two trees was Lucy holding the hand of another little girl who looked just like the one beside me except her eyes were a dark brown in colour. I could hear that girl’s heavy wheezing from over here.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Together forever…” the little girl besides me voice echoed as I felt her nails dig into my skin.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">That was when my alarm went off and I jumped back into reality. I lethargically reached out to my alarm clock and smashed the button telling it to shut up, noticing how much it hurt my hand to do so. I groaned as I sat up in bed, slipping on my glasses wondering what was up with my hand. I was utterly astounded and uncontrollably terrified when I saw the problem that my jaw dropped and my heart stopped for the briefest of seconds. In the palm of my hand was stitched in the shape of an eye with black thread. I ran my fingers over the stitching feeling all the bumps that went in and out of my skin, skin that was still red raw from when it had been done which only looked no more than hours ago. I turned my hand over and was met with just as much surprise as on the back my hand was sewn too…with the word: forever.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Lucy burst into my room smashing the door forcefully against the wall before darting over to me with a look of pure stricken panic on her face.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“You see this?” She exclaimed out of breath showing me the sewn lips in the palm of her hand and then the word: together on the other side.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Together forever,” I muttered.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Like any teenagers in distress the first thing we then decided to do was contact an expert via video chat on Skype. “So what’s up dude?” My friend Erik asked leaning back on his office chair sticking his hands into his black hoodie and placing his feet on the desk. Posters of all the famous horror movies stuck on his wall in the background.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“I don’t know that’s why we came to you,” I told him, holding my hand out in front of the camera watching my computer screen for his reaction. Lucy sat next to me wringing her hands.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Holy shit dude? What happened?” He gasped as I started to explain the story. He listened intently nodding at every available chance he could.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“I think you’re being haunted…” he eventually concluded looking rather proud of his deduction. I made a noise of complaint while rolling my eyes. I was hoping for a more logical explanation than that. I looked back at the screen.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Are you being ser-” I cut myself off seeing Erik lean closer to the monitor with narrowed eyes, looking towards my left tilting his head as if I were in the way of something.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Whose that behind you?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">I froze. Hearing nothing except the drumming of my own heartbeat in my ears. Lucy tensed up beside me; her hand lashed out and grabbed hold of my arm.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Can you hear that?” She whispered, refusing just as much as I was to turn around. I listened hearing nothing around me except complete and absolute silence. I shook my head.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“The wheezing…it’s getting closer…” she stammered as I started to tremble. I couldn’t hear anything! What was she talking about?!

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">The Skype connection short circuited, the screen blacked out. The lights flickered until suddenly they went out and we were left in total darkness.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“Something touched me!” Lucy shrieked pulling away from me so hard that I heard the chair tumble to the floor with a loud thump.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Taptaptap.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">The sound of light footsteps darted across the room. I stood up from my own chair abruptly realising I couldn’t stay still any longer.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">“Lucy w-where are you?” I called, holding my hands out in front of myself trying to feel my way around. I caught hold of the wood of the chair scared to Hell thinking about what else was in here with us. "I'm g-gonna find the l-light switch," she told me, her words quaking with fear. Then I heard the wheezing, first there was the hack, a gut wrenching sound, then came the hard, crusty breath before a high-pitched shrill at the end. The noise repeated...and repeated and repeated. I felt my legs starting to give up; my heart was pounding so hard in my chest that it hurt. I held my own breath in fear that whatever was here would…find me. I stumbled forwards trying desperately to find my sister, clawing the air with my fingers trying to find something to grab on to. Thump. I felt my shin hit something hard and I cursed under my breath. I tried to move away but found myself tripping over my feet; I fell to my knees, hard, hearing a small crack that shattered every thought in my head of possible escape. I reached up hoping to find something to pull myself up with. I caught hold of something cold and stone-like. I felt an icy shiver crawl up my arm, making every last hair stand up on edge. I pressed the tips of my fingers down feeling strands of something thick and matted along with a small hole in which the sensation of thick oozing liquid coated my skin. I gulped. I was too scared to move my hand. "I think I've found the light switch," I heard Lucy announce, with a false sense of relief in her voice. "No don't turn on the-" I shouted not wanting to see what I was holding on to. It was too late. The light flared on and I closed my eyes out of pure fright before I could even witness what was in front of me. I heard my sister scream with such terror I thought my eardrums would burst. I heard a dainty giggle. "Get your fingers out of my eye socket."

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> I fainted.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> The terror didn't end there. When I awoke again I was in an unfamiliar room, lying down, looking up at a densely cobwebbed chandelier with candles which had long since outlived their expiration date. I tried to move but found that something was tied around my arms and legs, holding me down. My right arm was stretched out to the side and I could feel something warm touching my fingers. I looked to see Lucy's hand pressed lightly on top of mine. She was still unconscious. The room smelt distinctly of decay. As I turned to my other side I saw a frosted over window in which three small potted plants sat on its ledge, all the flowers had wilted and died and dangled lifeless over the edge. Underneath the window was an array of assorted teddies, all of which were old and rotting, and had their paws stitched together in a long line just like in Lucy's room. I turned back to my front to notice a door and a broken dresser, on top of the dresser…sat the ominously staring dolls.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> "Lucy...Lucy..."I whispered tapping her hand with my fingers trying to get her attention. It took a few moments to rouse her; she panicked for a moment trying to pull herself free of her bonds before giving up with a whimper. "What are these...vines?" She muttered as the door to the room creaked open. We both held our breaths for what was about to come as two little girls scuttled into the room. Both had matted black hair that clung lifelessly to their faces, both had grey porcelain faces with cold, cracked skin, both wore raggedy, once white dresses that were now stained with dirt. They were holding hands; they're fingers interlocking with each other bound with thick, black stitching ensnaring them both together by skin. The one on the right had no eyes, instead she had gaping black holes that dug deep into her skull with a dark oil like substance that trickled like tears down her face. The other girl breathed heavily from the cavern of a mouth that didn't exist. There were no lips, no teeth, no tongue, just a black hole with more of the murky oozing substance dripping down her chin like drool. She wore the dress with the big red bloody stain in the middle. The eyeless girl grinned before getting onto her knees pulling the other one with her. They kneeled in between us both, the mouthless one held a long rusty needle with a long lace of black thread in between two bony white fingers. "What are you doing??" I managed to spurt out as the eyeless girl turned and grinned at me. "Together forever," she said. The mouthless girl moved unnaturally fast, holding down mine and my sister’s hands forcefully. She bent our fingers over each other much to our own protest until we were holding hands just like they were. Then without another second...the stitching began. I felt my fingers being forcefully attached to the skin of my sisters; I could feel the red hot needle pierce my flesh and the blood run warmly down. Lucy was sobbing quietly. As the needle tip caught the edge of my forefinger I shrieked in agony. The eyeless girl turned to face me, her eyebrows lowered into a disapproving frown; she raised her finger to her lips leaned forwards and preceded with a 'shhhhhhh'. I was relieved when she had finished her work, sitting back to admire her masterpiece. I couldn't move my fingers; even if I could I wouldn't have wanted to, every inch of my hand stung from the past sensation of the needle. The girls moved once again, crawling over towards my sister. I only dared to watch for moments as Lucy’s lips were held together with small fingers…before the rusty piece of metal was dug inside. I turned away but was unable to stop the sounds from penetrating my ears, from penetrating my mind. Every muffled screech, ever strained cry and ever spasm of muscle banging across the floor. I had looked back only when the height of the noise had died down, Lucy laid shaking, blood oozing from her battered lips down her chin. The sight was pitiful and I felt sorry for her. It was then when I saw the mouthless girl hand the needle to the eyeless one that I knew what was about to happen to me. Oh God no. I ragged at the vines trapping my arms and legs, desperate to break free but no matter how much I struggled the bonds would not give. I watched the girl crawl towards me, her face inches away from mine that I could feel her raggedy hair brush against my cheeks and some of that black oozing liquid drip onto my face. I wanted to turn my head away but I found it impossible to stop looking into those caverns for eyes. She raised the needle in the air and I watched it come closer towards my watering eye. Then everything went dark.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> It was when I heard a desperate muffled mumble and was shaken forcefully by the shoulders that I was awoken. I tried to open my eyes. But they were stuck. My eyelids were pulled heavily over my eyes and painfully sewn together. The absence of light made my chest constrict painfully, I was…blind. I never knew how frightening the dark really was until that moment. I felt a tear glide down my face and over my lips. The tear didn’t taste salty, it tasted metallic. I felt helpless, the only comfort I had was Lucy's hand, at least I knew that she wouldn't leave me...she couldn't leave me... My ears were on overdrive, every sound made echoed loudly inside my head. The dripping of water from the ceiling onto the floor, the scraping of fingernails against wood as my sister tried to move. I could hear every gritty breath my sister made a she tried to breath and it almost started to sound like...wheezing. I noticed the lack of bonds tied around my arms and legs and raised a hand straight to my face over the rough thread that made the world black. I hesitantly tried to pull on the end, wanting to remove it but it hurt, it hurt too much to try. They were sewn so tight that if I pulled the thread out, I would have yanked off my eyelids as well! "A-are they still here??" I asked quickly remembering that she couldn't answer. "Click your fingers twice if they're gone, once if they're still here," I told her my voice barely a whisper. Click. I tensed. Click.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> A wave of relief washed over me as I let out the breath I had been holding.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> “We have to get out of here,” I uttered, tugging on my sisters hand. She made a mumbling sound before pulling me to my feet. My knee hurt and I found it hard to stand. I don’t know how long it took us to get out of that building but the next thing I remembered was the sound of crushing leaves and snapping sticks as we must have entered some kind of forestry area. I held my other hand out running my fingers across prickly tree barks, jagged leaves and every so often a pointy thorn. Lucy never stopped pulling me, she just kept on walking, even when thunder struck and the rain started to pour and we both became cold and wet she never stopped walking, I never stopped walking – never stopped stumbling.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> The thunder grew louder like the sky itself was angry, I knew we were lost. Lucy had been sobbing for the last two hours none stop. I was so surprised when she stopped that I walked into her shoulder. Just as I stumbled on my feet and fell backwards dragging my sister along with me, there was a loud crash of lightning. We both hit the floor. Then a deafening bang resonated, only inches away from us. I heard of branches of a tree snap off, Lucy stifled a scream, only part of the high pitched noise cracked out from the small holes in her lips. All I heard then was a sickening squelch, a brutal crack, a loud splatter and then…gurgling. A liquid splashed against the side of my face and ran down my cheek.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> “L-L-L-Lucy…?”   I stuttered. There was no response…only the sound of gurgling. I rolled onto my side, pressing my hand up her arm noticing it spasm under my touch. I traced my fingers upwards until they started to get wet. My hand started to shake and then I touched it, I noticed the feeling straight away considering I spent the last few hours getting used to its texture. A tree branch, I could feel the liquid pouring out from where it had impaled my sister.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> “N-No…” I whimpered as everything went silent. I was alone.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> I lost track of the time I spent stroking her long, silky hair, weeping. Her hand was cold by the time I had stopped, my knee by this point had gotten worse and I knew I couldn’t stand and I especially couldn’t drag my sister with me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> So here I am now, writing the account of my story in my notebook, I had forced myself to pull out the thread in my right eye so I could see through a small slit. I can’t blink, my eyes stings and my vision is still blurry. I can see enough to be able to write these words that I am writing right now. I apologise for the drops of blood on the pages but my eye won’t stop bleeding and I apologize if this sounds so rushed but I don’t have the energy to write. If this is the last thing I can accomplish with my life – to tell others of my story then at least I have done something. I said I wanted to be a writer one day, if you are reading this now then I have accomplished my goal, thank you for making my dreams come true. I wish I could have told my sister how much I appreciated her and I wish I could have seen my parents one last time. My name is Leo, I am sixteen years old and I need to warn you of something before I die, if-

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> Together forever.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> Together forever.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> Together forever.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> Police Report: 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> Two bodies were found three days ago in the middle of Green Hill forest; the victims are the missing sixteen-year-old twins Leo and Lucy. Lucy was killed by a fallen tree branch which impaled her in the stomach whereas Leo was found having died from dehydration with a notebook still in his hand. The notebook was filled with what he must have imagined being his killer put in some imaginative story. The words ‘together forever’ were found on every page after the account of what seemingly happened until the last two pages where the handwriting changed to a more girlish kind. The passage written was something like a fairy-tale:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">'' Once upon on a time there lived two ten year old twin princesses, they’re names were Alyssa and Alicia. They lived in such a pretty big white castle in the middle of a big forest. At first they were sad because they weren’t like all the other children. Alyssa was born blind and Alicia mute. The sisters loved each other very much and did everything together; they played dolls, made flower crowns and read stories. Alicia was Alyssa’s eyes and Alyssa was Alicia’s voice. They were so close that they felt even their teddies and they’re dolls should be together forever too so they stitched them all up. Then one day they decided they didn’t want to be apart either, so they held their hands together and stitched them too. It hurt a lot when they did it, but then they knew they would always be by each other’s side. Then mummy and daddy got mad at them for doing it and tried to split them up. The girls got upset and ran away into the forest but they got lost, there was a bad thunderstorm that night and lightning struck a nearby tree. The branch broke away from the bark and fell impaling poor Alicia in the stomach. Alyssa cried and cried telling her sister that they would be together forever and ever and ever. Then eventually she died too curled up next to her sister, both with smiles on their faces, they will always be together. ''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt">   

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;tab-stops:45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"> Two dolls were found next to the bodies, stitched together at the hands, both exact replicas of Leo and Lucy. Leo’s doll was found with its eyes covered in marker pen, and the Lucy doll had its mouth too covered in ink and a massive red stain over the clothes it was wearing. When the voice string was pulled at first all that could be heard was heavy wheezing and then the voice of Leo was played saying ‘together forever.’ The dolls were put in the ‘Stitch Twin’s’ evidence locker along with the other twenty-six sets of dolls that were found at the twenty-six other crime scenes of the still unsolved serial killings since the death of Alyssa and Alicia. All victims were twins.

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