The Burden of the Gifted

Chapter One
Birthday Wishes


It all started ten years ago in the early hours of a warm, August day. A young woman by the name of Carrie Matthews was fixing herself a simple breakfast when her water suddenly broke. She and her husband lived no where near a hospital, and so they had a friend who happened to be a doctor come immediately.

While Carrie was giving birth, two men arrived at the cottage. The first was a young boy of thirteen. He had a mess of dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His skin was pale and a few pimples had made their home on his face. He was skinny and tall for his age and was dressed in a tee-shirt and jeans.

His companion was an older and shorter man in his late twenties. His light brown hair was neatly combed and bushy eyebrows hovered over his dark eyes. His skin was also quite pale, and the man was slightly overweight. He was dressed in an expensive brown suit and wore polished dress shoes.

The two let themselves in and took a seat in the front room.

"Stop fidgeting, Alex." The older man said shapely after only a few minutes had gone by. The boy shot him a look.

"I can't help it, Michael." he said. "I'm nervous."

"Well, of course you are! A new baby is a very stressful event."

"Do you think it'll be healthy?"

"No one found anything wrong with it before." Michael shrugged.

"But things go wrong, don't they?"

"They will if you talk like that! You're going to jinx the whole thing!" Michael frantically reached behind him and knocked on the wooden windowsill. Alex let the subject drop, but five minutes had hardly passed before he started to fidget some more.

"Will you cut that out?" Michael snapped.

"Can't believe I'm about to be an uncle." Alex gave him a goofy looking grin.

"I know," Michael sighed. "It's a bit scary, isn't it?"

"Just a little." Alex smiled. He paused. "How long does it take to have
a baby?" he asked.

"It varies." The two got quiet again. They could hear Carrie yell in pain as the contractions took over her body every few minutes are so. After a bit, Alex winced.

"I am so glad I'm not a woman." He said. Michael laughed. They waited for a few hours, and Michael offered to take Alex home as the sun began to set, but Alex insisted on staying. Only a little while afterwards, a man ran down the steps.

His hair was light brown and reached down to his earlobes. His eyes were a dark color and his skin was light, his cheeks flushed. The man was tall and muscular, dressed in blue jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. A wide grin spread across his face when he saw the two.

"I was hoping you two had gotten my message.” He said.

“How’s Carrie?” Michael asked.

“She’s tired, we both are. Although, I think she has a bit more reason than I do, but all the same. It’s over though.” Somehow, his smile became even wider. “The doctor says that you can go up and see them. One at a time, though. So, I guess, Michael, you come up first and then Alex can.”

Michael followed him up the stairs, hardly able to contain his excitement. They moved down the short hallways into the bedroom. Carrie was lying in the bed, looking exhausted but happy. Her blond hair was messed and sticking to her scalp, and she looked as if she’d been to hell and back. In her arms, she held a bundle of blue cloth. The doctor was on the other side of the room, bending over something.

“Blue for boy?” Michael asked quietly. Carrie nodded, tears glistening in her watery blue eyes.

“John, I’ll take a look at your hand in just a moment.” The doctor sad over his shoulder. Michael looked at him.

“What happened to your hand?” He asked, noticing for the first
time John’s right hand. It was a strange color, looking almost purple, and hung limp at his side. John whimpered a bit.

“Carrie insisted on giving a natural birth.” He said. Michael laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder.

“You’re getting old, man.” He said. “Here you are married and now, you’ve got a kid!”

“Kids.” The doctor said, standing upright. He came over, carrying a small, pink bundle. Michael stared at it as if it were the Devil himself. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, and didn’t seem to be
breathing. John clapped him on the back and Michael fell forward.

“Kids?” He finally choked out. “Plural? With an S?”

“Nothing gets by you.” The doctor muttered. He crossed the room and handed the bundle off carefully to Carrie so that she cradled a child in each arm. Michael looked at John, his mouth hanging open
slightly.

“Isn’t it great?” John beamed.

“That’s not exactly the word I was going to use to describe it.” Michael replied.

“What word, then?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” John’s grin faded and he looked at Michael with a hurt expression on his face. Michael sighed and took his friend by the arm and led him into the hallways.

“John, I dunno if you’ve forgotten, but our kind, we only have one kid. Always. No exceptions. Now how the hell did you wind up with two?”

“I don’t know.” Said John, shaking his head. “And when the doctor said there was another baby inside Carrie, I didn’t want him to take it out of her. But he had to, of course. And the whole time, I was trying to figure out how it happened, and what I was going to do. But Mike, I’m telling you. As soon as I saw her face, I really didn’t care about how she came to be. She’s so beautiful. The most beautiful girl there ever was! And my boy, he’s so handsome! And you can just tell he’s gonna be a strong man when he grows up! God Mike, I’m a dad!” John was laughing now and looking as if he were about to cry. The two friends hugged tightly and went back into the bedroom.

After a while, they called Alex up and John had to explain everything again. They all sat with Carrie and the twins for a bit before the doctor shooed them out, insisting Carrie get some rest.

John drove them all into town, buying them a large, extra cheesy pizza to celebrate. They were talking about the birth so loudly that the manager couldn’t help but overhear, and gave them another pizza for free.

“So are you looking forward to starting at the academy next month, Alex?” John asked presently, his mouth full of cheese. Alex took a sip of his soda before answering.

“Yeah. You’re like, the principal there or something, right?”

“It’s called Headmaster at these private school types, but yeah. Basically.” John replied.

“Sweet. You gonna, you know, cut me any slack?” Alex punched him playful in the arm. John laughed, grinning at Alex.

“That’s funny. You’re funny.” His grin suddenly vanished. “Not a chance.” Alex scowled.

“Way to ruin the night.”

“So what are you and Carrie going to call the twins?” Michael asked, changing the subject. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t asked
already.

“Well, you know how she and I didn’t want to know the gender of the baby, right?” Michael and Alex nodded. “Well, we picked a name for each gender that we both loved. Conner if a boy, and Danielle if a girl. And since we have one of both, we get to use both names.”


***


Three years passed and the twins learned to speak in that jumbled mess children do. Every September, John had to go to the academy at which he worked. He would come by every now and then, and he was always home on breaks and holidays, but for the most part, Conner and Danielle were without a father from September to June.

Things would probably have gone the same way that year, if not for a phone call John took about a week before the twins’ birthday. He spoke low into the receiver, so low that only the person on the other end of the line could have possibly understood his words. They spoke for nearly an hour, and when he did hang up, John looked both shaken and angry. He and Carrie put the twins to bed and afterwards, sat in the kitchen downstairs.

“What did he want this time?” Carrie asked John as he made two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

“He and a few others want to meet the twins.”

“What for? They’re only children. What could he possibly want with them?”

“They want to study the unique Matthews case, is how he put it.” John answered bitterly.

“Come again?” Carrie said, arching an eyebrow.

“He also said it would be a good idea to remove the twins from us for a while. Keep them supervised and all that.”

“What?” Carrie stared at him. “What did you tell him?”

“What do you think I said? Sure, you can have my kids? No! I told the bastard if he came near my family I’d kill him.” John slammed the mug down on the table, splattering it’s hot contents all over the surface. He cursed, wiping it off of his hand.

“Will he try again?” Carrie asked.

“He said he would. That’s why I called the rest of the staff at the academy. I’m going to move us all there for the year.”

“To the school?” Asked Carrie, surprised.

“Why not? I’d be able to keep them protected there, and this way they’d get used to the academy. Plus, I doubt they’ll object to coming with us. The months at the school have always been hard on us all...
This way everything works out in the best for them.” Carrie nodded.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Is everyone at the school okay with it?”

“Are you kidding? They’re thrilled at the thought of having something other than a bunch of temperamental teens at the school for a change.” Carrie laughed.

“Well, I think it’s a wonderful idea. Are you sure you thought of it?”

“Ouch, that hurt.” John said, giving her a mock-crushed look. “But one more thing. We’re not leaving for the school for another two weeks. Keep the kids inside until then. I’m not taking any chances.”

“They’ll hate us for not letting them place in the forest.” Carrie
objected.

“I don’t care. I said I’m not taking any chances. They’ll get over it.” John answered. He gave her a kiss. “You go on up to bed. I’ll clean this up.” He indicated the hot chocolate that was now soaking into the wooden table. She kissed him back.

“Yes Daddy.” She said, smiling.

“Hurry up or I’ll ground you!” He warned. She laughed and retreated upstairs. John watched her go before getting out a rag and wiping up the chocolate. Before going upstairs, he locked every door and window in the house. Then he went upstairs and silently opened the door to his children’s bedroom. The walked inside quietly, closing the door behind him, and sat in between their beds. They were both fast asleep. Danielle had her thumb in her mouth and her other arm was wrapped tightly around her teddy bear, Berry.

Conner was turned on his side, he head facing John. He was tucked warmly under the covers and looked as if he were having a very
pleasant dream. It was amazing how much the two looked alike. Danielle wore her hair short, although not as short as Conner. Their hair was light brown and each of them had light, icy blue eyes. Their skin remained stubbornly pale, despite the hours they spent outside in the sunlight. They were tall for their age, but not very.

The two were the best of friends, and never wanted to be without one another. John had read up on twins shortly after their birth, and it seemed twins developed a stronger bond between one another than other siblings. Conner already seemed to know he was older than Danielle. He played the part of a big brother very well. He tested everything first before allowing his sister a try. The two were always running outside through the forest that bordered their home. They loved the adventure, although they always had a parent with them to make sure they didn’t have too much adventure.

John ran his hand through Danielle’s hair, and she turned over on her side. John smiled, stood, and gave them each a light kiss on the cheek. “Good-night, my angels.” He murmured and left.


For the next week, Conner and Danielle were confined to the house. Carrie had been right when she said the twins would become angry at them for the imprisonment. The looks they gave their parents were venomous and they hardly spoke a word to anyone but themselves. They avoided their parents as much as possible, which was difficult to do in the tiny house. Mostly, they stayed in their room. But on the morning of their birthday, this became impossible as the aroma of freshly baked cake reached their room. Cautiously, the twins poked their heads into the kitchen. Not seeing their parents, they ran to the counter and set to work on reaching the cake.

“See? I told you it would work.” Carrie bragged. They stepped from behind the cupboard door.

“Honey, no one likes a boastful woman.” John told her. The twins scrambled at the sound of his voice, but he swept them into his big arms before they could run off.

“Happy birthday, guys!” he cried, giving them each a sloppy kiss on
the cheek.

“Thank you Daddy.” The twins mumbled, wiping off the remains of his wet kiss. John set the two on the counter and Carrie joined him.

“Your mother and I have a surprise for you.” He said, grinning. “You guys know how I’ll be leaving next week for the
academy, right?” The twins nodded. Now, Carrie took over.

“Well, your father and I talked about it, and he spoke to the others at the school. We’ll all be going to live at the school for the year. Not just Daddy!” Conner’s face lit up, but Danielle scowled.

“I like it here.” She said.

“Well, you’ll like it there even better.” Said John.

“No I won’t!” She retorted. John sighed.

“You know, for a three year old, you have quite an attitude on you. And you definitely don’t get it from me.” He refused to look at Carrie as he said this.

“You’ll have lots of room to play.” Carrie told her daughter.

“We like playing here. If you’d let us play.” Danielle muttered. She thought about it for a moment, and then smiled. “But I guess it’s okay.”

“Oh, well now that we have your permission, why don’t you go upstairs to start packing? Your mother will help you. I have to go pick up a few things.” Without another word to their parents, the twins hopped off the counter and ran off, babbling excitedly and not making any sense at all to anyone but themselves.

“So, I have an attitude?” Carrie asked, setting her hands on John’s shoulders and rubbing them roughly. John cringed.

“No, of course not, dear. I didn’t mean you. I was talking about…My mother.” Carrie let go of his shoulders.

“Well, she certainly does. I’ll be sure to tell her you said so.” John cringed again as Carrie began to walk away. He thought he had been saved for at least a while when suddenly, an apple smacked him soundly on the back of the head. He spun around, but the only thing left of Carrie in the room was the sound of her retreating laughter.


For the remainder of the day until evening, Carrie helped Conner and Danielle pack up their belongings. The birthday party was set to begin at six. But six came and went but Alex and Michael still hadn’t shows up. The twins were impatient and so waiting was not an option. Carrie and John had only just restored speaking terms between them and their kids and they didn’t want to ruin it now.

“We’ll just have to start without them.” Carrie sighed. It was half past seven already and the twins were getting restless. So John and Carrie trooped into the front room, breaking into a round of Happy Birthday. John carried the cake while Carrie held two neatly wrapped package.

John set the cake down on the table in front of the twins and he and Carrie finished their song. Then, Carrie handed a package to each child.

Conner ripped the paper off of his to reveal a small wooden box. Inside lay a tiny figurine of a lion. It was carved into white marble and was incredibly detailed. A scar ran above his left eye and the lion wore a serious look on it’s face. The lion was attached to a piece of string. Carrie bent and tied the string around Conner’s neck, fashioning a necklace.

“Happy birthday, sweetie. This is a very special gift. It’s very important you keep it with you always and forever.” She smiled and straightened. All eyes fell on Danielle. Unlike her brother, she took her time opening the gift. Underneath the paper was an identical box to Conner’s. However, inside lay a wolf carved into black marble. It had a sad expression on it’s face and it’s eyes were cast towards the sky. Carved neatly on the wolf’s breast, right on the heart, was a tiny x. As John tied the figurine around Danielle’s neck, he seemed worried.

“What’s the matter?” Carrie asked.

“Black marble…” Was all he said. Before she could reply, there came a knock at the door.

“That’ll be Alex and Michael finally.” Carrie said. She crossed the room and opened the door. But the two men who entered the room were not Michael and Alex. They were strangers to Danielle and Conner, but John and Carrie seemed to recognize them immediately.

The first was taller than John and had to stoop a bit when he walked through the doorway. His face was clean-shaven and tanned. His eyes were dark brown and his eyebrows were set so that he had a glaring look about him at all times. He was young, and his brown hair seemed to be turning blonde gradually.

The second man was much shorter and had hair as black as the night sky. He had a bit of stubble growing on his chin, and also seemed to be quite young. His eyes were bright green and looked at though they would shine in a dark room.

John stood as they entered.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded. The tall man turned his eyes onto John. He had been inspecting the house around him with obvious disdain.

“Hello to you too, Mr. Matthews.” His voice seemed as slick as oil, falling from his tongue easily. He barely moved his lips when he spoke.

“I’m not interested in hellos, only good-byes!” John snarled.

“And why is that, Mr. Matthews? Are we interrupting something of importance?” The man inquired.

“As a matter of fact, yes. We are trying to celebrate the twins’ birthday.” Carrie answered loudly. The stranger’s eyes fell on her. He
gave her a small smile.

“Are you now? You know, Mrs. Matthews, if I may be so bold as to
say, that if I did not know any better I would swear you have never carried a child, let alone two. You’ve such a perfect figure.” His voice faded and she shrank back against his gaze. Without another word, the man spun on his heel, crossed the room, and sat. He pulled Danielle into his lap.

“How old did you say the twins are now?” he asked.

“They’re three.” John answered. He snatched Danielle from the man and set her down on the floor. “I won’t ask you again. What are you doing here?” The stranger sighed.

“You always were a man of business. Very well. They sent us for your answer.”

“I already gave them my answer. I said no, I still say no, and I will always say no! If that is all, then get out.” He growled. The man smiled
again.

“Asking is more of a formality than anything, really.” He said. “I’m afraid we will follow through either way.”

“Over my dead body!” John said angrily. The stranger sighed once more.
“I am sorry you feel that way.” He said softly. “Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”

“Get out!” John roared.

“Very well.” The man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a gun. Before anyone could react, he aimed and shot. Carrie’s scream filled the house as John fell to the ground. She rushed over to him and collapsed at his side, clenching his motionless body. She raised her head and stared at the man, tears streaming down her face.

“Why?” she screamed. The man looked at her with regret on his otherwise expressionless face and raised the gun once more.

“It didn’t have to end this way, Carrie. If only you two had cooperated. I truly am sorry.” He said and pulled the trigger. She fell instantly, lying dead beside her husband. The man bent and dragged his finger across her face.

“Such a pity.” He ran his hand through her golden hair and straightened. He noticed Danielle and Conner for the first time now. They were staring at their parents, their eyes going read. Danielle climbed onto John’s chest and shook him vigorously. But he wouldn’t wake up.

“Daddy!” she screamed in despair. Conner, looking just as miserable, was staring at his mother’s face.

“Mommy?” he whispered tearfully. “Mommy wake up. Please wake up, Mommy!” He was yelling now. The man quickly picked up the two, sat down and set them in his lap.

“No, no, no.” He scolded. “Don’t touch that. You’ll get death all over your little fingers.” Danielle turned over in his lap and buried her face into his chest. At that moment, she didn’t care that it had been him who pulled the trigger. She just needed to cry. Conner however, was looking at him with pure hatred. The man did not notice, however, and as he absentmindedly comforted Danielle, his eyes fell on the forgotten cake.

“They haven’t made their birthday wish, yet I see. You, light these candles here.” He said sharply. His silent companion crossed the room and obediently lit the candles. The lights were dimmed and the tall man broke out into song.
“Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Conner and Danielle.
Happy birthday to you.”

“And now you must make a wish and blow out your candles.” After the candles were extinguished, the man cut them each a piece and got the milk out. He let them take their time eating, taking them to the kitchen so they wouldn’t get distracted by the bodies. When everyone had finished their cake, he set the dishes in the sink.

“Well, I think that was a lovely party, don’t you?” The man asked his companion. The other man shrugged and nodded. “But it’s best time we get going. Danielle, give your brother a hug good-bye. Go on, hug him.” Danielle held Conner tightly, as if she knew what was coming next.

“Erm, help me pry them loose here.” The tall man said. He and his companion pulled apart the twins and Conner was left standing on the ground. “Wave good-bye, Dani. It’s time to go. Whoops, I almost forgot.” The man pulled Danielle necklace from around her neck. “Pesky guardian was trying to stow away, wasn’t she?” The man smiled and allowed the figurine to drop to the floor with a clatter.

“You’re just going to leave the boy, sir?” His companion spoke for the first time. The tall man looked at him seriously.

“I think quite badly of people who kill children. I’ll let them take care of her,” he nodded to Danielle. “And let nature take it’s coarse with the boy. He’s only a child; he won’t remember us. Let him have his life. Somehow, I think he will wish we had killed him, so I’m still maintaining my villain traits.” He opened the door, holding Danielle tightly “Get the car.” He told the second man and looked at Conner after he had left. The boy was watching him with a hard look in his eye, as if daring him to leave. “The best of luck to you Conner.” The man said. And then, he was gone. The second man appeared a few moments later driving a large, black van. The tall man strapped Danielle into a seat and jumped in himself and the van sped off into the night.