Poison and Wine

“So, what would you two like to do for your birthday?” I dropped the fork I was holding, and looked at Annie with wide eyes. I completely forgot our birthday was in a few days. Annie’s look mirrored mine, and I knew she forgot it, too.

“Ugh, shit, that’s on Sunday isn’t it?” Annie questioned, letting a yawn. Neither of us got a lot of sleep the night before. Annie had another nightmare. She never told me what her nightmares were about. At first, I was hurt. Now, though, I realized that she had a right to keep things from me. Just because we’re twins, doesn’t mean she had to tell me everything, and I knew she felt the same way if I hid things from her. We’re both entitled to our privacy.

“Yes, it is this Saturday. The big eighteen,” Chris mused with a weird smile on his face. I furrowed my eyebrows questioningly at him.

“Everything okay, Chris?” Annie asked, clearly on the same wave-length as me.

“Just thinking about what to do for your party,” he answered, attempting to hide the weird waver to his voice. Annie and I both narrowed our eyes at him. “Honestly. Hurry up or you’re going to be late for school.” I shared a look with Annie, both of us knowing that he was lying. We knew our brother better than he thought we did. I finished eating my bacon and eggs; if there’s one thing that didn’t change about Chris, is his cooking. Best damn cook, I swear, even something as simple as bacon and eggs. Annie was the second best cook. I can’t cook worth shit. I can ruin cereal.

I quickly ran into the bathroom before Annie could, laughing when she started cursing at me. I brushed my teeth and braided my hair into two braids and then opened the door only to be pushed aside by Annie. “In a hurry?” I questioned with a laugh.

“I have to fucking pee,” she grumbled, shutting the door in my face. I let out a chuckle and grabbed Annie’s keys off the counter.

“Bye, Chris!” I called out.

“Have a good day, Brynna!” He called back. I felt my right eye twitch slightly at his use of my name but decided not to say anything. Walking out to the car, I unlocked the driver side door, started the car, and then climbed into the passenger seat. I only had to wait a couple minutes before Annie was on her way out, her hair now pulled into a side ponytail. She got in, put on her seatbelt, and backed out of the driveway. I messed around with the radio, as I do most mornings, looking for a song both of us like. This Means War by Avenged Sevenfold started playing, and Annie and I both immediately started singing along.

Hide my face again, harbor in the shadows
Feel this weight of sin hammering away
Die - with the guilt of a thousand AWOL soldiers
Die - watch the scythe usher me astray

I can't go on this way
Not as I am today
The ugly side of me is strong

Take aim, a loaded gun.
Pull back on all who run.
A coward's truth inside the wrong.

This means war
This means war
This means war

Lash your tongue of bane
Carry me to nowhere
Mental holocaust
Battle never ends
Lie! Mask the pain
Of a child who's forsaken
Lie! To myself
Praise the new regime

I left me long ago
Reasons you'll never know
No one to miss me when I'm gone
With no more words to say
No argument to stay.
Another post I don't belong

This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war

No home to call my own
No finding someone new
No one to break the fall
No one to see me through
No name to carry on
No promise for today
No one to hear the call
No tattered flag to raise

Walk the razor's edge
Cut into the madness
Question all you trust
Buy into the fear
I see the man ripping at my soul now
I, I know the man
I know him all too well

There's nothing here for free
Lost who I want to be
My serpent blood can strike so cold
On any given day
I'll take it all away
Another thought I can't control

This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war

As the song was blaring out of the radio, we pulled into the parking lot. People were giving us strange looks as we belted out the lyrics, loudly and horribly I might add. After we pulled into our normal parking spot, Annie looked over at me and I noticed that she wearing a dragon earring that looped over the shell of her ear and the tail went through pierced hole. I was wearing the matching earring on my right ear. “Did we seriously do this again?” I asked with a laugh, showing her the earring.

“Dude, I thought I was being original,” she protested with a chuckle.

“That’s what I was trying to do, too.”

“We should probably stop trying to be original when it comes to the two of us. We keep screwing up,” she laughed, getting out of the car. I followed suit, hefting my bag over my shoulder. I saw Roman intercept Annie and a second later, an arm draped over my shoulders.

“What’s up with the black out, Red?” Peter Rumancek asked lowly in my ear. I smirked over at him.

“Makes my hair look brighter.” He laughed, steering me in the direction Roman and Annie were going. We all had the same first period class, so why not walk together? When we walked into the classroom, every eye was on us.

“Nice of you four to join us,” the teacher drawled. Annie gave him a look and then glanced at the clock.

“There’s still a minute before the bell rings,” she sneered. “Sir,” she added as an afterthought. I snickered, and then quickly covered it up with a cough when the teacher looked over at me.

“Please take your seats.” Annie and I took our normal spots next to each other, but Roman and Peter went to the seats behind us. Roman glared at the two kids behind us until they stood up quickly and moved to the seats the two usually occupy.

“Hello again,” Peter chuckled behind me. I looked over at Annie and we both shared a smile.

That was how the rest of the day went. They invited us to eat lunch with them, Shelley and Letha joining us. I didn’t mind Shelley. I would never get tired of her. Letha, on the hand, kept flirting with Peter and then when no one was looking, would smirk over at me. I wanted to punch her in the face, but I don’t hit pregnant girls. When Annie asked who the father was, Letha just smiled and answered, “It was an angel.” An angel? Really, Letha? Could she not come up with a better lie than that?

When school was over, Roman smirked over at Annie and I when we were tossing our bags into the backseat of the car. “Would you two like for me to pick you up tomorrow?” He questioned. Annie smirked right back.

“No, thanks.” I waved at them both and got into the car, Annie right behind me.

“So, today was weird,” Annie said slowly when we were a good distance away from the school. I nodded in agreement.

“Yep.” The rest of the ride was in a comfortable silence. When we got home, Chris was waiting for us in the kitchen. “Aren’t you supposed to be a work?” I asked, dropping my bag to the floor.

“I took the day off to get you both something,” he grinned. He motioned to two boxes next to him. “The top one is Antoinette’s and the bottom is Brynna’s.” We each took our designated box and opened them slowly. Inside were two dresses. Mine was black, and the bottom was uneven. I looked over at Annie’s and saw that hers resembled mine but was a bold red color. Annie pulled off reds much better than I did. It clashed with my hair.

“Holy shit, Chris,” she breathed.

“I was hoping you two would like them. In case you were wondering, I didn’t pick them out. The girl behind the counter knew you both from school and picked them out for me. I just paid.” I rolled my eyes with a smile. Not surprising. “Now, you two are all ready for your party.

Right. The party.



That Friday, I watched as people danced to each song at my and Annie’s party. I didn’t know why Chris decided to throw it the day before, but I’m sure he had a reason. I smoothed out my dress and looked at one of the guys that flirted with me at the Halloween dance two weeks previous. “Why aren’t you dancing with anyone?” Chris asked, appearing next to me.

“Haven’t found a good enough partner,” I answered with a smirk. He chuckled and reached out to play with a piece of hair that fell out of the braid.

“I wish you’d go back to blond,” he sighed. My smirk grew.

“Maybe in a few weeks.” He let out a laugh and walked away over to a girl with long, brown hair and matching eyes. She handed him a drink and he took it with a smile. Girlfriend, maybe? I scanned the crowd again and saw Annie dancing with Roman. When did he get here? I asked myself a couple seconds before a weight settled on my shoulders.

“Wanna dance, Red?” I glanced over to see Peter standing there, his eyes looking like they were shinning in the strobe lights pulsating in the club Chris rented out. I nodded.

“Sure.” He led me out onto the dance floor and a slow song started playing. He pulled me close, his arms circling my waist and mine wrapped around his neck. I noticed Annie and Roman dancing somewhat close to us and then my attention was pulled back to Peter. He was humming along to the song near my ear, and his voice sounded heavenly.

“So, I just noticed the button on your dress,” he muttered. I glanced down to the “kiss me it’s my birthday” button pinned to my dress. I glanced back up to say something along the lines of, “yeah, I noticed” but he cut me off by pressing his lips to mine.

I melted, I swear.



Other than the kiss that Peter and I shared, the party was rather uneventful to me. When we got home it was close to midnight so Annie and I immediately went up to our room. I gathered up some clothes to change into and Annie let me have the shower first. I changed into a pair of black boxers with a black Jack Daniels tank top and tossed my hair up into a bun. When it was around twelve ten I noticed that my right shoulder started itching. Badly.

I scratched at it and scratched at it and I was sure I was starting to draw blood if the warmth sliding down my arm was anything to go by. I felt my skin gave way and stared in horror at the large piece of bloody skin in between my fingers. I looked back at my shoulder and just underneath the mess of blood was something bluish-green. I wiped at it and shivered when my fingertips brushed it.

It felt like a snake’s scale.