The Curse of Twins

London, 1751

It was a dark, rainy day in the winding streets of London. Dull lights from heaths and oil lamps flickered from the inside of windows.

Suddenly, there were screams.

"Murder!"

"What? Where?"

"That way!"

"It's a woman! He's killed a woman!"

"You there, stay where you are!"

"Don't even think about trying to escape! We've got you surrounded!"

"In the name of His Majesty the King, you're hereby arrested!"

The figure made no attempt to move away from the body he was hovering over. Instead, he straightened his back and gave a slight shrug. There was a smirk in his voice as he spoke, "No matter. I was finished, anyway."

The statement caused the officer to stop mid-step. "What?"

No reply.

Hesitantly, they tied up his hands, and it was only after they were sure that the criminal had been rendered immobile that they found the courage to remove the man's hood.

Gasps.

"Lord Bonnefoy?"

"Lord Bonnefoy, you have been found guilty of the murder of the Countess of Kendal. You are hereby sentenced to be hung publicly at Tyburn. Court adjourned!"

Days later, sitting in the cold, dank wagon, still in same attire that he'd donned during the murder, there was no sound around him save for the sound of the wheels going over the unpaved road and the sound of hooves trotting rhythmically as it pulled the cart along. Glancing at the guard who sat on the opposite side of the cart, he raised a brow. "You. What's your name?"

Despite having his hands and feet bound and the fact that he was heading towards his death, his title still granted him some authority. The man looked unfazed though. "It's Chief Constable Arthur Kirkland."

"Ah, Chief Constable Kirkland, is it? I must be quite dangerous if I get to have the honour of being guarded by someone of your ranking. I seem to have met quite a few iconic figures these past few days. Caught by the Bow Street Runners, tried by Chief Magistrate Fielding…they even let me keep my clothes in prison. At this rate, who knows? Maybe the king will attend my hanging."

The man raised a brow. "For a murderer who's going to be hung very soon, you sure are calm."

He shrugged. "For a man escorting a murderer to the gallows to be hung, you sure are friendly."

The officer turned his head, revealing piercing emerald eyes studying him. "You…although you've only been found guilty for one murder, your eyes are telling a different story. Tell me. Just how many people have you killed so far?"

"Hm? Very impressive observation, chief constable. Alright, I'll tell you. In the past decade or so, I've killed a total of 39 people." The officer's eyes widened in disbelief. The young man couldn't help but chuckle, "you made the observation and asked the question and yet you're shocked by the answer? Well, Chief Constable Kirkland, seeing as we'll be in each other's company for the next little while, shall I tell you a story?"

The man looked sceptical. "A story?"

An offhanded wave. "Don't worry, despite being a criminal, I find those made up stories of blood and gore distasteful. Besides, I'm not that great of a story weaver, the only stories I can tell are the ones I actually know. This is the story of an unfortunate pair of twins who were brought into this world without ever asking to be…"

It was a sunny July day when they came into the world. Their mother, a shepherdess from a penniless family, didn't survive through the ordeal. And all around them, the villagers began whispering among themselves.

"Twins are a sign of misfortune", the head proclaimed. "Surely, the death of their mother was proof of that!"

"One of them must be the bringer of misfortune…would that mean the other's lucky?"

"Look at that one, look at his eyes! Surely, he must be the evil one!"

"Yes! A sign, clearly it's a sign!"

"Yes! Twins and eyes like that, they must've been fathered by the devil himself!"

"No, no, we cannot be sure…"

"What shall we do with them?"

"Yes, what shall we do indeed…"

Studying the babies, they were convinced that one had to be evil while the other good, but which was which? Not even their leader could provide the answer to that. So, not wanting to risk offing the wrong child, they gave the unnamed pair to an orphanage located in a town nearby.

There, they met a sister who would serve as a mother-figure to them for nearly 4 years.

"She was a young and kind woman. This sister was the only one there who didn't fear the two and approached them like normal children. She even named these twins who'd been nameless before. Do you know what she named them? Alfred and Matthew. Alfred was the one with blue eyes while Matthew was the one with the unnatural purple eyes, the one that everyone feared despite never having done anything wrong. Without her, they would've never survived such a miserable place. It was always crowded with children, some were sick and some were dying, but they were all there. The people there were always looking for an excuse to get rid of them but it was only due to the pleas of this sister that they allowed the twins to stay as long as they did. Those years with her, they were spent happily."

"Are you two happy here?"

"I like sister!"

"Yea!"

"And I'm happy if Mattie's happy!"

"And I'm happy if Alf's happy!"

"…I guess we're happy!"

"Unfortunately, as expected of these unlucky twins, their happy days didn't last very long…"

"I'm afraid I'll be going away soon…"

"Why?"

"Why?"

"Where will you be going?"

"Is it very far?"

"Me and Mattie were being good! Why do you have to go away?"

"I-is it because of my eyes?"

"Of course not, dear, you must believe me when I tell you that I love your eyes very much! I'm afraid I was just born with a weak constitution, just like you were born with your eyes. They say it's a disease of the soul and I'm afraid that no matter how much I pray, I won't be getting better."

The twins began crying.

Taking them into her arms, she shook her head. "Don't cry, my darlings. There's no need to despair. One day, you'll be taken in by wonderful people and live long lives full of happiness."

"Only one of her predictions came true. And then the next day, she died. She died, and of course, they blamed the twins and the one with the horrid purple eyes."

They had just turned 5 when they were forced out of the orphanage. Curse and unwanted, with nowhere to go, they dwelled in alleyways and abandoned buildings around the town, never daring to venture further in fear of finding nothing more. But miraculously, even in such an unforgiving place, they managed to survive. They stole to live and ventured out to the farmlands when the weather was fair.

All the citizens within the vicinity knew of them.

The cursed twins.

The taboo twins.

The bringers of death and misfortune.

The twins with the devil's eyes.

Whenever they were caught or seen, they'd get flogged and attacked by the adults, pelted with rocks by their children. They were unwanted by everyone there, but still, they didn't dare to venture beyond the borders of the town.

And every night, while curled up together under whatever shelter they found, there'd be tears and choked whispers. "I'm sorry, Alf. I'm really sorry, Alf. I-it's because of these eyes…it's because of me that…that…"

"Hey! Don't say that! Stop apologizing to me, Mattie! I don't care about it! It's fine as long as I have Mattie around!" He attempted to brush aside the other boy's overgrown bangs only to get his fingers tangled into the other's greasy, matted locks. "I like you and I like your eyes, okay? Besides, I'm your hero, I'm supposed to be here to protect you so stop crying!"

"Then one day, after they botched an attempt at stealing from a noble, it appeared that their luck had finally completely run out. The townspeople had been waiting for an excuse to send them to their deaths and they finally found one. But that day was also when the miracle they'd been waiting for finally took place."

"Now they've done it!"

"Finally bit off more than they could chew!"

They weren't yelling out of concern but out of relief. At last, they'd be rid of these accursed twins. And the nobleman merely stood there, observing the scene in silent curiosity.

"I'm terribly sorry, milord! "

"We'll make sure these two get what's comin' to them, sir!"

"Come on!"

Pulling the boys up by their hair, they began leading them away. One of them began thrashing about. "Don't touch Mattie! I'll kill you if you hurt him!"

The other boy merely hung his head, trying to hide his eyes while apologizing profusely, "I'm sorry. Please don't hurt Alf, I'm sorry."

Then finally, the man in the noble garbs spoke up, "Where are these boys' parents?" He had a thick French accent, completely new to most of the townspeople but understandable.

"They're orphans, milord. Menaces, the both of them. They've been causing us nothing but trouble since they showed up."

Suddenly there was a yelp. The wild twin had bitten the hand of his captor and had forced the man to let him go. Running to pull his brother free, the two of them clung to each other while surrounded by the men, one angry, and one fearful.

"Yeah, we've put up with them long enough. If they're going to be a hazard to travellers, well, we just can't have that!"

"Better if you not look this one in the eyes, sir. He's got the devil's eyes! He'll end up cursing you!"

The man had an unreadable expression on his face as he studied the boys. Then he spoke again, though his voice was calm, it was charismatic and demanded respect. "You poor people…I'm very sorry that you have to deal with such…pests. I understand that you've had a hard time dealing with them, so to show you how much I feel for you, allow me to personally deal with these two. And here," he handed over a small sack of coins, "to repair any damage they may have done."

"M-milord!"

"You are far too kind, milord!"

No one attempted to return the money or to suggest an alternative solution.

"Tie up their hands and bring them to my carriage."

"Yes, milord!"

They'd just killed two birds with one stone.

"Not a word was spoken between the three of them until they were in the carriage and had left the town far behind. The twins hadn't the slightest idea what was in store for them. Of course, it was Alfred who spoke up first."

"Where are you taking us? If you hurt Mattie, I swear I'll to hurt you three times more!"

The man merely watched them from the other side of the carriage. He didn't question or doubt the boy's ability to carry out that threat. Maybe it was because he saw something about the two that most others had missed.

"P-please don't hurt Alf. I'm sorry, I was the one who was hungry…"

The timid voice drew the noble's attention towards the boy who was staring at his hands through long, unkempt hair. "Oh? And why are you apologizing for being hungry?"

"Because Alf was stealing for me."

"And are you two still hungry?"

The two exchanged glances and nodded warily.

"Well, that won't do."

The man stopped the vehicle and a guard rode up to the window. "Is something the matter, milord?"

"Fetch me two loaves of bread."

"Surely you can't be thinking about feeding those two, milord!"

"Are you proposing that I let them starve to death in my carriage then?"

"No, milord, of course not! I'll go get the bread right away!"

"A minute later, they found their hands untied and a loaf of bread sitting in their laps. And the man sitting across from them watched them expectantly with a smile on his lips."

"Why aren't you eating, mes chers? You're allowed to. No one will punish you for eating."

Without another moment of hesitation, the two dug in. Gnawing away hungrily at the bread, tearing out large chunks and swallowing them whole.

"Slow down! If you eat that fast, you'll just end up sick!"

They didn't hear him, too concentrated in devouring what they'd assumed to be their last meal.

"But instead, the man took them into his household. He had them washed and fed them food they'd never seen or dreamt of eating before; meats and fats and cheeses and other things that they couldn't even put a name to. And at the table, the man just looked at them with that same smile he had on this face, and the only thing he said to them was…"

"Bon appétit, mes chers."

"It turns out that he was a French nobleman who inherited a large quantity of land and gold from a distant relative. Originally, he'd come from a line of famous chefs and was suddenly given a boost up this…hierarchy. But this man didn't act like the others, he remained kind…he didn't mind the fact that they were twins nor did he care about the colour of their eyes. He employed tutors for them and showered them with love."

"Mon cher, don't you want to look like your brother? Look, doesn't his hair look much nicer now that's it shorter?"

"Yes, but…"

"You can't cut Mattie's hair if he doesn't want you to!"

"It's okay, Alf."

"…is it because of your eyes? Are you afraid that people will hurt you?"

A nod. "They hurt Alf too…"

The man brushed the boy's bangs away. "You poor things… I promise you, no one here will hurt you here. Look at me, Mathieu. There, see, that's better. I think your eyes are absolutely lovely. It's a shame that people in this country can't see that, but I really do adore them. Do you think you could let me cut your hair so that I can see them more often?"

"Mattie?"

"O-okay…"

"Merci beacoup, mon cher, you have no idea how much that means to me. I promise you'll be safe here, the both of you."

"The twins had found themselves a family, a father who understood that they weren't' the same. Matthew needed affection while Alfred needed space, but at the same time, they weren't to be separated, ever. This man understood it all, and his name was Francis Bonnefoy… but we called him papa."

There was no comment on the subtle change of pronouns.

"Hey Mattie, are you happy here?"

"Yeah! I love papa! He plays with me in the gardens!"

"He taught me to ride a horse yesterday! Now I can be like a real hero!"

"Really? Are you happy here, Alf?"

"I'm happy if Mattie's happy!"

"And I'm happy if Alf's happy!"

"…I guess we're happy then!"

"And we were happy…it's just too bad we were probably the only ones. You see, papa wasn't married and to all the other aristocratic families, we served as a hindrance to them and their goal of gaining wealth and power. So of course, they did what all aristocratic families did."

"That Bonnefoy's taking his charity work too far!"

"Yes, taking in orphans is one thing, but allowing them to use his name is another!"

"He's already in his 20s and he hasn't even chosen a wife for himself yet! It's not normal, it's like he's being enchanted. Those two must be the devil in disguise!"

"This is absolutely preposterous!"

"We must put an end to this!"

"But how? We can't simply waltz in and tell him to do otherwise."

"No we can't, but if those street rats weren't around then perhaps he might finally come to his senses."

"Yes, yes, but again, the question is how? We can't anything that'll draw suspicion to ourselves."

"Maybe we can get one of the workers to do it? They're always together though…he's even given the workers explicit orders not to force them apart."

"Should we hire a mercenary to do the job?"

"Poison them?"

"No, what we need is an accident."

"Yes…an unfortunate accident…those twins, they're unlucky anyhow."

"They put their plan into motion to rid themselves of us. We didn't suspect anything at the time but papa did. He never left our side, not even with guards because guards could be bribed. Papa had promised us safety and he tried his best to keep that promise, but in the end…in our own home…"

"Alf, I can't find my toy…"

"Did you leave it on the bed?"

"No, I've looked…papa? Have you seen my toy?"

"Hm? Non, mon cher, have you looked everywhere?"

"Yes, even in the gardens…"

"Well it must be somewhere... Come, we'll go around and take another look. Alfred, will you be alright on your own?"

"Yea, I'm a hero!"

"Bon, we'll be right back then."

"Okay."

"And then it happened."

"W-what's happening?"

"I don't know! He just started screaming!"

"Which one is he?"

"Alfred!"

"Where's Matthew?"

"Lord Bonnefoy? Where's Lord Bonnefoy?"

"T-terrible news! The lord…the lord and one of the boys…"

"What happened!"

"The balcony collapsed with the lord on it!"

"Is he alright?"

"No, they didn't survive the fall."

And suddenly, the little orphan boy found himself inheriting the title of 'Lord Bonnefoy'.

"It wasn't fair, what happened to us. And these aristocrats were cruel. They went and caught the man they'd hired and sent him to his death, but we knew what they'd done. What they didn't understand was that we weren't to be separated, ever. Only papa had understood this. We weren't to be separated in life or death. I hate being in a world without Mattie."

There was no uncontrollable grief or long periods of mourning, just a cold and calculating sense of rage. And so, ever since that day, an uneasy silence settled in the Bonnefoy mansion.

"But I couldn't let them get away with what they'd done. Luckily, those idiots came flocking back when thought they could take advantage of the situation like I'd expected them to. It didn't take very much effort to get all the names of those involved."

The man found him playing by himself in the hall by the suit of armour that was armed with a mace and a shield which had the family's emblem painted on it. "Al-Lord Bonnefoy?"

He looked up with a bored expression. "Yes?"

"I'm here to offer my sincerest condolences for the loss of your father and brother." The word 'father' was forced but the man made a convincing saddened expression.

"Oh? I don't really mind, actually I'm glad they're gone." He smiled childishly. Like the man, he could be an equally convincing liar and actor. "Mattie wouldn't let me be the hero when we played and papa took his side, so I'm glad. Now no one tells me I can't be the hero anymore. Actually, I heard something about you having something to do with it. Did you?"

An overly exaggerated gasp. "Milord, that's an outrageous accusation!"

"I guess you didn't then," a shrug, "can you tell me who did it? Papa left me a lot of things…it seems like too much work for me to do and doesn't seem very fun either. You adults seem to like these things so I figured I'd give it to whomever it was that did it."

The mention of the reward, the man cleared his throat and spoke quietly, "A-actually, milord, I may have had a small part in it…"

"Really? But you just said you didn't! I heard you were smart so I thought you would've been part of it but now I'm not that sure…"

"No, milord, I was definitely among the planners."

"That's what I thought! Wait, you said planners…who were the others? We have to make sure all these things papa left me is split evenly! He's always telling me to do things fairly!"

"W-well…I suppose your father was a wise man…are you sure you want to give away all of your late father's property and gold?"

The greed couldn't have been more evident in his eyes.

"Yes, if I give it all away then I can go play, right? And people won't bother me about…about tax collection? Or whatever it was called."

"That's certainly true, milord." His statements grew more confident with each word. "In fact, I believe I can recall all the names that took part…"

"Can you write them down so I can make sure I can ask the steward to split the things up evenly?" He handed the man the piece of paper with an innocent smile and resumed playing with his toys.

"O-of course, milord! Though I feel like I should mention that the idea was mostly mine…"

He cocked his head. "Hmm? Then it'd only be fair that you get more, right? I'll remember that!"

"Thank you milord, you're most kind!"

Retrieving the piece of paper, he ran his eyes over the names and let out a scoff. "No, thank you. You've done your part just fine."

"Wha-!"

Giving the suit of armour a kick, its loosened arm with the mace swung down and there was a crack and a thump as the man slumped onto the ground. Blood slowly seeping from his head.

Folding the piece of paper up and hiding it away in his outfit, he let out a wail. Within moments, the servants came running only to find the gruesome scene on what they assumed was a murder attempt gone wrong. After all, it was no secret that there were greedy eyes set on the Bonnefoy fortune.

"Milord! Are you unharmed?"

"You poor child! You've been through so much! Come, let's get you cleaned up…"

No one would've ever suspected that a 9 year old boy would be capable of something so horrible.

"And that's where it all started. Everything would've been just fine if they'd left us alone. The idiot didn't know what hit him. How's that for a nice little story? Would you like all the names that were on that list and how they died, chief constable?" There was a smirk in his tone as he emphasized the man's title.

The officer frowned. "So you went and killed everyone on the list? You kept mentioning that you called yourself a hero, these deeds don't seem very heroic."

Shaking his head, the prisoner disagreed, "No, it's exactly what a hero would've done. Before anyone else, I promised to be Mattie's hero. And anyone who hurts Mattie, I'll hurt them back three times more. That's all there is to it. Daughter, son, wife, grandchildren, it didn't matter who. Before I can see Mattie again, I have to pay everyone on the list back for what they did. Even after they figured out what was happening, there wasn't anything they could do about it, not anymore. For all their planning, they just ended up digging their own graves."

The blond spoke softly, as though to a child, "Are you sure that's what your brother wanted though? The both of you faced nothing but the worst side of people from all classes for which I'm very sorry for, but in your story, Matthew doesn't sound like the type to encourage revenge."

His reply was a childlike smile. Behind those bright blue eyes was no sign of repentance, but rather, it was of satisfaction. "Well, I'm quite pleased right now, and I'm happy if Mattie's happy. And Mattie's happy if I'm happy. So I guess we're happy right now."

"That's…"

The wagon came to a halt.

The prisoner looked around with an unimpressed expression on his face as guards arrived untied his feet. "Hm, I guess we're finally here. Looks like the king didn't show up after all, how disappointing."

Rising from his seat to escort the man to the gallows, the officer asked, "Why'd you tell me this story?"

"I just thought you looked like someone who would appreciate the irony."

The man swallowed hard and asked a little reluctantly, "What do you mean?"

The young nobleman grinned darkly. And suddenly, the constable could see what Francis Bonnefoy had seen and why he'd treaded carefully around the boy. He could see what the boy's brother had always known and accepted. There was so much malice behind those eyes that he wondered how he could've ever missed it.

As the killer was led onto the gallows, and the noose brought down around his neck, he faced the officer one last time and let out a cruel laugh that sent shivers down the spines of all those who heard it. "Those townspeople and aristocrats were right. One of those twins really was the devil in disguise. But don't you find it funny, chief constable, that by ridding themselves of what they thought was the devil, they summoned him instead?"

Suddenly, there was only silence.

But to all those present at the hanging that day, the devil's voice continued ringing in their ears even long after the event…the one that just kept laughing and laughing…

Nya~

It's been awhile! As always, sorry for my crap summary! And as always, ff dot net went and changed its format to confuse me. So here I am, procrastinating again. Instead of studying, I decided to try typing a darker one-shot. I'm not even sure what genre to label this as. Let me know what you thought of this attempt? Hopefully it made you at least shiver or something. They weren't to be seperated or Alfred wouldn't have anyone restraining him or something like that. London didn't really have a police squad until this guy, Fielding, went and gathered these constables together to form a group which was then dubbed the Bow Street Runners by the citizens. London in the 18th century was also rather unappealing...open sewer systems, disease, horrible sanitation, gin consumption was really high and lighting really sucked. This might be the last thing I post until...August or September, so enjoy!