are you seeing double?

where: Restmore Cabins  in Maitland

TW: sexual assault mention

“Let them burn, Pan.”

Ever since she could remember, she had been the apple of her father’s eye. She was young when her talents were discovered and she had set her nanny on fire. Despite what she had thought, Pandora was not in trouble at all. It had turned out that the nanny had been stealing from their family the whole time they had been employed. The young wytch hadn’t had the heart to tell her father that the reason she had set the nanny on fire was because they had tried to touch her. Not that she would have been heard in the first place. She very rarely was. Being the first born of the twins meant nothing in terms of attention in the Graves family household. It was all about how powerful one was and while she was the more powerful of the two it took more out of her to conjure. Lilith’s gifts came natural and while their father was proud of her. His pride and joy was Lilith. Though as she  grew, so did her power and control. Pandora was the more controlled of the two. Her emotions were raw but the were concentrated and direct. That was when the focus fell from her sister and followed her from that point on.

Pandora could still hear the screams of their nanny in her ears. Could still smell the burning flesh and hair. She was a mere five years old. So young and so vulnerable in terms of the world. She was not, however, impressionable. No, that was Lilith. Pandora was different in many ways. She knew what the world was trying to do to them and what it held for women. It was up to them to prove themselves. That, she thought at least, was what had drawn Valentino to the twins in the first place. They were full of raw power and had long proven themselves to the world that they were not to be trifled with. Since her run in with her lost love, Pandora had ran and ran and ran. She ran so far and so fast that her feet bled. Until she found herself where she was now: in the Restmore Cabins with one of them burning behind her.

where: utp

Vik shifted himself slightly to put an arm around his sullen company, toying the stray strands of on her shoulder affectionately. He hated seeing Lilith like this, someone who had the capacity to shine so brightly relegated to the shade. It wasn’t something he could stand for, feeling just how sapped Lilith seemed to be by it all. The blond didn’t have any brothers or sisters, no point of comparison for the bond, especially not a twin and how close both Lilith and Pandora seemed to be in better moments. A bisection of one whole person, admittedly representing the good and the bad quite clearly. They were chaos and calm and respectfully and Vik had enjoyed his time between the two though alone he did prefer Lilith’s soft nature. As soon as her eyes met his he had little in the way of choice, his brain didn’t often call him to action but his heart was much more dominant. She loves you just as much as I do - Though he’d lived more than one hundred years, most in the ocean, some on land, tortured, adored and a grand mix of the inbetween he was terribly uncomplicated. If you loved him, he loved you back. He pressed a thoughtful kiss to her forehead as a small thanks for matching his want to offer warmth. “Lil, I’d say you’re far in a way more qualified than I’d ever hope to be in talking to your sister, but… If you want me to, you know I’ll try.” It would be an earnest effort to. It was a great unknown as to what he’d be able to gleen from talking to Pandora but the least he could do was strike up a conversation and see where it went. “Did something happen?” There had to have been a trigger point, something that had diverged a path between them. “Did you fight about something? Surely there has to be some reason for all this, right?”

He kissed her forehead and Lilith melted into his touch. Vik was everything she needed in times like these. He was soothing and soft and love personified. He made her feel calm and as though everything was right with the world. If there was a way she could stay with him forever, she was sure she would. In terms of loving someone, the twins were very different. Lilith was much more prone to act on her emotions and letting them get carried away. She devoted herself to someone and them alone. Giving her whole self to them and even in terms of friendship she felt things more deeply than that of her sister. While her sister loved harder. Pandora was a being made to feel one thing and one thing alone. If she was angry the world would know. She bit on her lip at Vik’s agreement. “She closed herself off from me,” she said, the hurt cutting the air between them like a knife, “If someone other than me shows concern maybe she’ll be more prone to open up. Especially if it’s you. Pandora hates upsetting you.”

he turned around, the corners of his mouth lifting into a full smile. it was easier to display emotions as if a weight had been lifted from his  soul. display, not deal with them. because to all purposes he was still an infant in terms of emotional maturity. after the ceremony a gamble with his life that payed off. almost  losing the battle against eternal slumber made lucius have a new world view. apparent  freedom replaced the shackles that were blocking him.his new role at the CHURCH OF NIGHT was his way of winning his desired independence.it was rather that or taking it by force. thankfully, there was no need to go that far. adulthood was a new phase is so many ways.

lilith´s magic was always soothing. now even more so. however he feels someone else close by. pandora. the twins looked the same in terms of physical appearance. almost the same. lucius was aware of certain gestures that belonged to lilith alone. with his eyes closed he could tell the difference even better. magic was like a perfume, all had their own personal brand. and hers, lucius knew all too well.  " lily.“ a hand reached out to tuck the hair behind her ear. there was little hesitation, since he didn’t fear hurting her anymore. no more magically hidden gloves. ” are you hiding from your sister? I can feel her magic close by.“ too much. he wonders if her emotions are under control given the amount of magic that he can feel is slipping from her pores due to his skill. ”  we can hide together.“

“Trailing her,” she corrected. Her eyes darted to follow her sister. Panic clear in  her expression and periwinkle eyes. She hadn’t exactly been quiet in her jump from the tree where she was  carefully hidden. Lilith reached out, lowering branches in hopes that it might hide them a little more than they were. With luck Pandora didn’t look back and kept on her path to wherever she was going. “Something isn’t right and she won’t let me in anymore.” Being honest was another way of telling the twins apart from another. Her sister had a silver tongue and could lie her way through almost anything. She always could. It was how she always got out of getting in trouble when they were kids. Twisting words so that it looked as though Lilith was the trouble maker. Still to this day their father holds Pandora to a higher standard than he does her.

“Lots. My sister is five years younger than me, but we have always been close. My younger brother was far too young to remember our trips here, but he looked so cute in his little sun hat.” He can’t help but smile at the memory.  The texture change was one of the things he enjoyed most about being a vampyr. The grass against his skin did feel nice, but not as good as when he was in a body of water. “You live near by?” he asked, out of curiosity.  “Grass does feel nice, but not better than swimming.”

-

A classic beauty stood in front of her, blonde haired, probably blue eyed. Pretty, but Effie had no real time for pretty. “Lucifer? Is he the man in your life?” The taller of the two asked with a pointed smirk. People’s value lay solely in what they could do for her, whether they were a commodity or liability - relationship charts looking more like business spreadsheets. Though she never seemed it, the dark-haired woman was robotically transactional. Smiles and small touches in exchange for information, dinner dates for insight and so and so forth until she had whatever she needed and then like a landmine she would leave a crater in the target’s life. No longer useful may as well have read as an obituary.

“A question for little ol’ me, did you say?” Effie did enjoy offering theatrics with her movements, playing coy and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She wondered what it was to be innocent, what a excruciatingly boring existence. “The answer’s no, by the way, the first swing is always the most satisfying and I’ve been waiting for this all day.” Always better to preempt others’ selfish tendencies. It had been two days since she last a chance to get her hands dirty and disturbance or not her plans would not be derailed. 

Pandora grinned, splitting from ear to ear as she listened. She would never dream of taking that first swing away from a fellow...executioner. That was how she chose to think of it anyways. If she were honest about it (or with Lilith) she thought a natural order under way. There were those who wanted to spill the blood of others and there were those who took matters into their own hands. Pandora was one who took matters into her own hands. Though she was held back by her sister. Though those ropes binding the two together were well on their way to being severed. She shook her head, curls bouncing with the sudden movement. “No, sweets, there is but one man in my life and he’s...well, let’s just say he’ll be mine again eventually. Oh no, precious,” she purred, “I would never take that away from you. I was just going to ask if I could join in the fun.”

-

Seeing her smile was a grand relief until it wasn’t. While her lips curled her body didn’t seem to follow along, eyes still remaining distant. When she patted the space next to her Vik didn’t hesitate in up-heaving himself and switching sides. Love bug. It pulled a grin all the way from his heart, face scrunched and eyes squeezed tight with momentary glee. He loved love, he even loved like, he loved any version of romance that allowed expression, freedom and contentedness to find each other. He placed a hand on her thigh, palm up. A small offering of touch and a hand to hold should that help lifting whatever dark cloud wished to hover above her head. “That’s very reasonable, Lil.” It wasn’t, but it had to be said. It was never reasonable for a beauty like her to have to disappear herself in hopes of finding solace; the idea of it clawed at his heart. “What’s the matter, darling? Surely there’s something I can do.” Anything, anything. 

“It is a lovely day.” he agrees. The sun wasn’t too bad on his eyes, for now, but he has his sunglasses  on his cooler in case he needs them. “No, it has just been some time since I have been here. My mother used to take my and my siblings here during the summer.” There is a smile at the memory. The drive up, the lake during the day and camping at night. Being there made him feel connected to his old life. “And you? Do pretty women frequent the lake often?” he smirks. He could be charming when he wants to be. He can hear her heartbeat and as heartbeats did these days, he was anxious. The bloodlust was the hardest part about what he had become and he constantly had to fight it, his hunger never sated.