Chapter One: Blue and Green
[Background Music – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Marilyn Manson]
The orange and red leaves fell onto the abandoned street of Walnut Avenue, the pink sky slowly darkened as the orange sun faded down into nothing. The long row of identical, white houses were decorated with decorations, whether they were for Thanksgiving or early Christmas decorations, lights flickered on as the peeking sun disappeared and a girl stood behind a window at the last house at the end of the row.
“Monroe,” Her mother, Renee, said, smiling at the 15 year old girl, “Dinner is almost ready, would you go get your sister and father from the backyard?”
Monroe Kingsley sighed, flicking a few strands of light red hair away from her blue eyes, “I guess…”
Monroe turned on her heel but looked back out at the front yard for a moment, she missed how Walnut Avenue used to be, unlike every other street in the small suburb, Walnut Avenue used to have children playing on the streets, riding their bicycles and playing hopscotch and jumping rope. Now it was just a deserted little road, the residents would only come out of their houses to gather the mail or newspaper, or to go to work in the city.
Monroe never understood why Walnut Avenue was so different; she never even understood why her life had changed so abruptly whenever Amber had been welcomed back with open arms. Amber had been the horrible, rude, self conscious one, and Monroe had been the trusted, sweet, caring one out of the sister’s.
Everything changed whenever Amber came back from her grandmother’s. Monroe’s identity faded, Amber’s identity was recognized.
Monroe slowly walked out of the house and into the backyard; her father and Amber were tossing each other a football. Monroe watched the routine suspiciously, her father would throw the ball toward Amber, Amber would watch it fly carelessly and watch it drop to her feet, and she would then smile a toothy grin and say the words that got on Monroe’s last nerve: “Whoops. I’m sorry, Daddy, I’m not good at this!”
Monroe watched her father’s small lips twist up into a smile, “That’s okay, sweetie.”
Monroe was fine with Amber’s pet name, Monroe was Princess or Pumpkin, and Amber was just Sweetie, or Honey.
Monroe leaned against the backdoor’s frame, raising an eyebrow as the two finally noticed her, Amber smirked behind her father’s back and Monroe hoped her eyes were like a sword to Amber.
“Is dinner ready, Monroe?” Her father, Dan, asked, smiling slightly.
Monroe responded with a short nod, her father jogged up to the backdoor while Monroe held it open for him, Amber followed slowly but Monroe let the door shut loudly on Amber. Monroe felt the urge to lock the door, but she just glared and smiled maliciously at Amber.
The scent of cooked food wafted through the air as Monroe entered the dining room, a large bowl of spaghetti rested in the middle of the table, a tray of bread next to it. Renee slowly sat down, the large bump on her stomach prevented her from doing much, “Oh,” She said, looking down at her stomach, “He kicked.”
Dan walked over, pressing his palm against Renee’s stomach, she glided his hand over the area’s where the unborn baby was making itself known, they both laughed and Amber rolled her eyes. Monroe smiled, “I can’t wait to have a baby brother,” She giggled.
Renee smiled at Monroe, “I’m sure he will love you, Monroe, you get along so well with children, and it amazes me.” Renee looked over at Amber, “I’m sure he’ll like you, too.”
Monroe felt a victorious feeling pass over her; for once Amber had practically been ignored. Amber laughed, “Yeah, but Monroe is the one who is great with kids, I don’t care much for them, I’m sure I’ll love our new brother.”
Monroe blinked at how Amber said “love”, and suddenly felt fear crawl over her body.
The family ate their food in silence. Monroe quickly finished, but waited until Amber asked to be excused, after Amber left the dining room Monroe glared at her mother and father.
“What is it, Princess?” Her father asked, noticing the pain in Monroe’s face.
“Amber…”
Renee raised her eyebrows, “What about her?”
“She’s only been her for a few weeks and she’s already starting to scare me again.”
Dan chuckled, “There’s nothing wrong with Amber, she’s all better.”
Monroe frowned, “No!” She exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down, “She hasn’t changed… I can sense it, I mean… Did you hear how she said ‘love’?”
“What do you mean?” Renee asked suspiciously.
“She’s… I could see something playing in her eyes, something dark… I can’t put my finger on it, but I can just tell something horrible is about to happen…”
Dan rolled his eyes, “Monroe, you can be so naïve. There’s nothing wrong with Amber, she’s normal now.”
Monroe frowned, standing up out of her chair; she picked up her plate and walked to the sink, dropping it. She stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom, as she walked down the hallway Amber’s bedroom door.
“I heard you down there.” Amber hissed.
Monroe stopped in her tracks, turning her head to look at Amber, “Oh, yeah?”
“You may not trust me, Monroe, but I can gain their trust easily. You’re right, nothing has changed, and once I gain their trust completely… You’ll be nothing.” Amber smiled, mischievously.
“That isn’t true, Amber…” Monroe frowned.
“Silly girl,” Amber toyed, stepping out into the hallway, “We’re twins. We look the same, we sound the same. We are the same.”
“No,” Monroe hissed, “We are nothing alike.”
Amber smirked, “Oh, please, Monroe, we’re exactly the same… Or we can be, I know your weaknesses, I know what you love and care about, I know everything about you and you know everything about me. I can use that against you.”
Monroe gulped, “I don’t need this, Amber, there is one thing you lack, that I have.”
“And that is?”
“Your eyes are green.”
And with that, Monroe continued down the hall to her bedroom.
