When I awoke, I found myself in a bed that wasn't mine, in a room I didn't recognize, with a man I didn't know watching me. That last part sent a trill of fear straight to my gut—what the fuck?! Disoriented, I tried to move in a defensive stance, but found that my hands were tied to the bedpost. I struggled to keep the panic contained, surveying myself and my surroundings. I appeared to be unharmed, and the room around me was dark and cold. The only furnishings were the bed I lay on, a nightstand beside it, and a few other dressers and things scattered all about.

The man was tall and broad shouldered, with dark hair and dark, sinister eyes. He reminded me of an older-looking Danny Worsnop, which was completely uncalled for considering he probably wanted to kill me. He eyed me hungrily, and I gave him a fierce look, warning him not to come closer. He dressed in all black, and sat at the end of my bed, watching me closely. He stood up, coming closer to my side.

"Welcome, Serenity White," he said, opening his arms in a grand gesture. "You have no idea how long I have waited to have you here. You have no idea the lengths I've gone to ensure this moment would come, the hand I've had in your life, guiding you to this point in your life. The ways I've changed you and your lover boy out there." A smirk tilted the corners of his lips upwards as he paced a few feet away from me.

"Oh, I'm so excited to see your potential shine! I've watched you for a long while, you know," he said in conspiratorial tones. "Since you were a wee little tyke. I wanted your mum at first. She was so powerful—you know how the Second Child thing works, with all the passed down powers. She had so many. Once I got to her, she had pretty good control over them. I threatened her with you at first; you and your brother were the most important things to her. But she called my bluff, of course. If I couldn't get the powers out of her, I'd go for you next, and if I killed you, I'd have no one to turn to. She didn't know about your sister, of course."

My mind reeled with the information this man was throwing at me. My mother? My sister? What the fuck was this psycho talking about?

He seemed to notice my confusion and stopped. "My, my, excuse me, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me rewind. Would you like to hear about your mother and how I killed her, or about the sister you never knew you had?"

I could only stare at him in horror as his words echoed in my head over and over again. Killed my mother? My breath wasn't returning to my lungs, having been suckerpunched by the realization that I was staring at my mother's murderer. She hadn't just died in a car accident; she'd been killed by this monster. Anger and pain erupted like a volcano in my chest, and I lunged at him with a strangled cry, breaking free of my restraints. He scrambled backwards in fear, holding a hand out towards me. Mid-leap, I froze, unable to move, and I growled in rage at him. A crazy bright light shone in his eye as he watched me, holding me immobile.

"Fantastic," he breathed. "What a beautiful creature—and I haven't even seen any of your abilities yet! Anger becomes you," he purred. "I'll let you down if you're a good girl. You don't want to hurt me. I'm your only way out of this place alive. Kill me and you'll never see your friends or family again. Now—shall I get on with the story? I'll choose for you: how about I tell you about how I killed your mum?"

He lowered me to the bed and held me there while I seethed, desperately trying to calm down so I could tune him out. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what he had to say. It would only hurt me. I suspected that had to be his intention. The swirl of emotions rumbling within me was no help to avoiding that outcome.

His voice turned reminiscent. "Ahhh, your mother was quite a fighter. You remind me so much of her. Watching you grow up was an interesting experience. She was no longer in your life and yet you had so much of her in you. Amazing. Anyway, I caught her in much the same way that I caught you—car accidents are my specialty. I sent my minions to get the job done; can't have my hands getting dirty."

An image of the white-faced creature flashed in my mind's eye.

"I would have spent a lot longer with her, but she was very… resistant. I knew very quickly I couldn't break her. So, I disposed of her. The same kind of trauma one might expect of a vehicular accident victim. I felt so disappointed," he sighed, "but I knew she'd will her powers to you. She wouldn't will it to your sister—she didn't even know the child existed. I have your aunt to thank for that. Valencia was so complacent, eager for her sister's downfall. Envy is quite the motivator." He winked at me.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I shouted. "You're not making any sense! Let me go, you bastard or I swear I'll—"

"You'll do what?" The creepy smile had disappeared, a darkened look taking its place. "You don't have the power here. I do. And you will do what I ask of you, or there will be consequences. Am I clear?"

I glared at him with hatred, defiance bubbling to the surface. "Go fuck yourself," I spat, hot all over with anger.

His entire face darkened even further, but there was a hint of eagerness there now. "You say this now," he murmured, standing with an object in his hand I hadn't noticed before. "But I like to make myself perfectly clear. If you don't obey me…"

He was at my side now, and I only had a second to recognize the object in his hand before he stabbed it into my thigh. I let out a piercing howl in pain and utter surprise as the dagger impaled my skin down to the hilt; I fought like hell to fight him, but his magic held me in place, completely vulnerable to his torture.

"There will be consequences," he said, and he twisted the dagger in my thigh at the word, wrenching it out at my choked scream. It bled profusely for a few seconds before it slowed, healing itself. It burned like a bitch, but I held in as many of the signs of pain as I could, hating to give him the satisfaction.

He stood, leering over me. "I believe I've made myself crystal clear now." Then he turned and walked away to the door, leaving me alone. His hold on me dropped the second the door closed behind him, and I instantly leapt off the bed, gingerly on my healing leg. I hobbled as quickly as I could to the door, yelling for the man.

"Get back here!" I screamed, reaching the door. I pounded my hands on the door—a big mistake. An intense electric shock ran from the door to my body the second I made contact, and I snatched my hands away with a frustrated, pained yelp. Obscenities escaped my mouth, and I collapsed to my knees in front of the door, resting my forehead on the cool floor, trying to calm the rising panic inside. As much as I couldn't believe it, this was happening. I'd been kidnapped by my mother's murderer. No one knew where I was.

I was trapped.

~000000~

Dawn was afraid.

She hadn't felt this emotion this strongly in a really long time. In another state, in another time years and years ago, she'd felt like this. Lost and completely unsteady, the world falling apart right under her shoes. There was no telling what the next day could bring.

Back then it was about who her mother would bring next into their small apartment. Right now, it was about Serenity's life.

It had been weeks. Weeks without a single word about her except that she was missing. The police had organized countless search parties all over the woods at Sam and Billy's insistence, but they'd all turned up fruitless. According to the rest of the world, Serenity had simply vanished into thin air.

Around the third week of literally nothing new, police had shown up on the doorstep and announced apologetically that there would be no more searches for her; due to the amount of blood at the scene, and the lack of any physical evidence anywhere, they pronounced her dead, case closed.

It broke her, that announcement. Embry had been standing behind her when she heard the policeman say it. Jacob, who'd answered the door, had been unable to stand upright. He'd fallen to his knees, hand to his mouth, and the policeman had apologized, patted his shoulder, and left. The pain they all felt was indescribable. There was no way to put their loss into words. Serenity, cousin, best friend, mother, sister, daughter, partner—she was gone.

But Dawn could feel it in her heart that she was still out there somewhere. She couldn't be dead—she would know. And wouldn't Jacob know, as her imprint? Wouldn't he be able to feel if she was dead?

"Hey," Embry said, running a very warm hand up her side. They lay in Dawn's bed; he'd taken to sleeping with her since Serenity's disappearance. He helped keep the nightmares away. She had dreams in which Serenity was in the dark, bruised and bloody, with a man standing over her, whip in hand. He crooned several skin-crawling encouragements, goading her, trying to get her to use her powers. Every time she resisted, dragging herself back up on unsteady feet, the whip lashed out again and again, driving her to the edge until she couldn't take it anymore. The first time, it was the blue fire. The second was the elemental manifestation. Each and every single time, it was healing. He hurt her so badly that she needed to heal, and on some level the baby was helping her too, healing her from the inside and remaining unharmed against the duress.

Dawn always woke up screaming, desperate to find and help her cousin, but every time she woke up, she was hit again with the realization that Serenity was gone, and there was nothing Dawn could do to save her. She couldn't even take comfort in the fact that she might be alive; not when Serenity was being tortured like that.

"Hey," Dawn said, turning around in his arms to face him. She couldn't help the feeling of relief that washed over her at the fact that he was here, helping her through this. She knew he was just as worried about Serenity as she was; after all, the two were best friends. But she was glad that they could mourn and cope together. She felt so lucky to have him.

"You alright?" he asked, and her heart tugged at the concern in his voice. "Scared to sleep?"

Biting her lip, she nodded. Sleep was no longer a reprieve from the day to day worry that it used to be; not with those nightmares.

Sighing, he pressed a scorching kiss to her forehead, and the tension began to leave her body. He knew just how to comfort her when she was anxious or afraid or sad. "You don't have to be afraid," he said, running a hand through her short hair. "I'm here; if you start twitching or screaming, I'll wake you up, alright? I won't let you suffer through it."

This time it was her turn to sigh, though in contentment. "Okay," she whispered. Turning back around, she clutched the hand that was wrapped around her and pressed a kiss to it, making him chuckle and return the favor on her forehead. Within minutes she found herself asleep, and in a dream.

It was no different from the other dreams. Except that it seemed the man was already done torturing Serenity, who lay on a bed surrounded by zombie-eyed women; they were mechanically treating her wounds, which consisted of various cuts and lacerations all over her body. She was sweating and bleeding, her breathing labored. The only place unharmed was her bulging stomach. Dawn's throat tightened; it pained her immensely to see her cousin like this.

The man was talking to her, his voice disturbingly cheerful as he spoke. "Oh, my dear," he was saying. "You could've avoided this from the beginning. If you would just stop being so stubborn and resilient, this wouldn't happen. You're very lucky that baby of yours isn't fully human, or there would be a lot of damage done."

Through ragged breaths, Serenity huffed out, "Fuck… you."

Unfazed, the man continued. "I'm starting to wonder… should you prove useless to me, I might just keep your boy, there. Regardless of who you will your own powers to, he could prove himself to be quite an asset."

Serenity tensed, and then snarled at him in blind fury. "Over my dead body," she snapped viciously.

The man gave a heartless chuckle, standing up and moving towards the door. "But of course," he chirped cheerfully. "How did you think I was going to do it?"

A feral growl ripped its way out of Serenity's throat, and she launched herself toward the door. "Get back here, Markus!" she shouted, stumbling towards him.

He stopped, and turned around with a hand outstretched. Serenity froze in place, frustration gracing her features. The wounds littering her body were healing now, no longer bleeding. She was levitated back to her bed, and the man walked back, pulling a chair away from the vanity and over to the foot of the bed. "You're right," he said conversationally. "We aren't finished here. I still have much to talk to you about. I know you've been curious. You are allowed one question. Ask carefully, I may not feel so charitable next time to answer more."

Serenity stared at him quietly for a few seconds before saying, "My sister. What happened to her?"

Dawn felt her jaw slacken in surprise and shock—Serenity had a sister?

The man's lips stretched into a smug smile. "Of course. Well, it's quite a story. It happened a long while ago. I might need some convincing…"

He snagged a vase of flowers off the vanity and threw its contents at Serenity; she instantly raised a hand and the water turned to ice in mid-air, connected to the vase itself. She knew what this man—Markus—wanted. His eyes brightened, a jittery laugh escaping his lips. With a sickened look, Serenity fisted her hand and the water melted, but congealed into one ball with a flutter of her fingers, a few wilting roses caught inside. It was then that Dawn realized what she was doing; she was showing him her abilities, giving him what he wanted.

"Marvelous," he breathed, a greedy look flashing in his eyes for a second. It vanished in an instant, and he was suddenly back to his relaxed state. Just as he opened his mouth, Serenity spoke.

"Explain my sister—then my aunt."

He tsked disapprovingly. "Patience, child," he warned. "I'm getting there."

"Well, you know your sister quite well. She is your twin, after all. You were born together, but all memories of you two being connected were quickly wiped away at your birth. You see, I sired your true cousin, the child your aunt Valencia bore. It was known that she was going to have a son, but when you and your sister were born, I kept him with me, with the intention that he would aid me in my plans." He scoffed. "He proved useless in that endeavor."

"Who?" Serenity said; Dawn heard the slight tremor in her voice. She herself had a sick feeling in her stomach. "Who is my sister?"

His smile took on a sardonic quality. "You know her as Dawn Lori Chance. Your parents, friends, other family members—they all forgot about Dawn in relation to you. Their memories were altered to what they are now—as they should be. To everyone else, Dawn is your cousin, and you are a single child with nothing more than an older brother."

Serenity looked like she'd been punched—Dawn knew she must look the same. Her head spun with this information. Her first thought was that he was lying. This had to be a cruel joke. But the longer she stared at his unwavering expression, at the look on Serenity's face, she knew it had to be true. A tingle went down her spine as the reality of his words settled in. She and Serenity were sisters. Twin sisters.

Oh, god—

She didn't know what to think, what to feel; everything she'd ever known was falling apart. A whole life she could've lived flashed before her eyes: A warm, loving home full of happiness and safety, a sister who would've known her better than anyone else in the world, an older brother who could have protected her and given her advice, a father who would guide her and show her wrong from right, and a mother who would have loved her unconditionally. She wouldn't have had to deal with all the rotten boyfriends Valencia brought home to their apartment in Atlanta. She wouldn't have had to deal with Valencia's jealousy when their eyes—and sometimes their hands—would wander her way. She would've had a normal childhood, a complete family. It was a life she wished she'd lived. A life that had been taken away.

Markus was still talking. "Well," he was saying, shifting his weight to one hip. "Almost everyone else. Part of why I couldn't stand working with Valencia was because she was so sloppy. She had absolutely no work ethic. And unfortunately, she was also very loose-lipped when she was drunk—which was too often, considering she was an alcoholic. In one of her moments, she spilled the whole thing to your uncle, that Luke fellow. He reacted like any normal person would, I suppose. He couldn't stand to stay with her any longer and left. He would've taken Dawn with him, but I couldn't have that—luckily his conscience kept him from doing so. Valencia was punished for her mistake, of course, and I had to send my minions to deal with him. It was her fault; if she hadn't spilled all that information, he would still be alive."

It seemed that their breath caught in their throats at the same time. Serenity was shaking with anger, but Dawn was numb. Her father—the man she'd known as her father, she'd loved as her father—was dead? How had she never known? How could Valencia keep something like this from her? How could one man have fucked up her life like this?

The numbness began to fade away, leaving nothing but a simple feeling in its wake, burning in her chest. She looked at Marcus with pure, unadulterated hatred. She'd never felt such a thing in such magnitude towards anyone, not even Valencia. But this man had killed people she loved, taken away a life she was meant to live, and kidnapped her twin sister. When she found him, there'd be hell to pay.

Caught in her thoughts, she hadn't heard Marcus's parting words, only catching him as he turned and left Serenity shaken to her core on the bed. Mechanically, she stood up gingerly and walked over to the dresser beside the vanity, taking clothes out of the drawer and beginning to put them on herself. Her swollen belly was bigger than Dawn remembered. Dawn's resolve to find her cousin strengthened itself ten-fold. There was no way this was just a silly nightmare—Serenity was alive, and she needed to be found before Markus did anything worse.

Dawn walked closer to Serenity, uncertain. She didn't know what to do now. So many things made sense concerning their blood relation—their uncanny similar appearance, and the way they seemed so connected all the time. It also explained why Dawn had the powers of a Second Child. They'd all just assumed Dawn had another sibling that had died or something that nobody talked about—and now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure why she had assumed that. Perhaps the thought was just put into her head by the man she'd seen torture her twin sister time and time again.

Suddenly, Serenity stiffened, her eyes locked on something in the mirror in shock. She spun around, staring at Dawn as if she could see her. "Dawn?" she gasped. Dawn wasted no time in rushing and wrapping her arms around her sister. "What are you doing here? How is this possible?"

"I don't know," Dawn sniffed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she pulled away but kept her sister close. "But I need to get you out of here—where are you? How can I find you?"

Helplessness filled Serenity's eyes. "I don't know," she croaked, tears also streaming down her face. "I don't know anything. I haven't been out of this room. He feeds me and gives me the basics, but it's just to keep us alive. He tortures us—over and over again, because I refuse to show him my powers, or transfer them to him. I keep telling him I don't know how, but he doesn't believe me. No matter what, I always end up back here, bleeding and wounded, until I show him something he asks for. I don't know how much of this I can take. My powers don't work to hurt him. He made an enchantment on the room somehow to make sure I can't hurt him with my powers. I don't know where I am, or how long I've been here. There's no way to tell."

She glanced around the room, desperation and a look of craziness flashing in her eyes.

"You've been missing for almost a month," Dawn said, brushing Serenity's hair away from her face as it crumpled in pain from this information. "The police have pronounced you dead. We're having the funeral in a few days." She bit her lip, unsure of how much more she should say. "You're getting buried next to Mom."

Serenity's eyes flickered up to hers, catching the use of the word. "How much did you hear?" she asked flatly. It seemed she'd reached her emotional threshold.

"All of it," Dawn replied, her jaw set.

Words tumbled from Serenity's mouth as if she couldn't hold them back. "He killed her," she breathed. "He kidnapped her and tortured her and then killed her because she wouldn't give him what he wanted. He's been after our powers all this time—he's altered our lives in so many ways, I don't even know them all. I don't know what to believe anymore. I think I'm losing my mind. All I know is that I hate him. I hate him so fucking much. I'm gonna kill him, I swear I will. I don't know how, but I will."

Suddenly, the door opened up again, and in came Markus with a furious look on his face. Dawn jumped up, standing in front of Serenity protectively. If he thought she'd let him hurt her again, he was sorely mistaken.

"Ah," he growled, "I thought I sensed something going on in here. Magic—of the mental variety. Normally it wouldn't get past me, but I guess I shouldn't have underestimated the power of the twin mental connection." It was then that Dawn realized he held a bat in his hand. He gripped it tightly, rushing through Dawn and over to Serenity, muttering to her before he cracked the bat over her head in the blink of an eye, knocking her unconscious. "Naughty, naughty."

Back in her bedroom, Dawn awoke with a gasp, her heart beating wildly. Embry startled awake beside her, worriedly hovering over her. "Are you alright?" he asked apprehensively.

Dawn gulped, sitting up and bustling about their room. It was barely beginning to lighten outside, but now that she was awake she couldn't let time pass. She needed to find her sister.

"No," she said, pulling dusty old books from underneath the bed. "Serenity's alive," she said tensely. "And I've got to find her."