Poison and Wine

Clearly that was the wrong thing to say. The second ‘werewolf’ came out of my mouth, everyone started whispering loudly and giving us scared looks. Annie looked over at me with a pissed off expression. “The fuck is wrong with this town?” She whispered harshly to me as we walked to our first period class. A hand fell on my shoulder, making me flinch and spin around. Peter was standing there, a concerned look on his face. Must have been because of the flinch, I thought before giving him a small smile.

“Hey, Peter,” I greeted.

“You alright there, Red?” He asked, his gaze drifting to my shoulder. “It felt like scales,” he muttered a couple seconds later, reaching for my shoulder again, running his fingers over it softly.

“It’s the texture of the tattoo,” I replied smoothly. “They can do amazing things now a days.” He nodded in understanding, his fingers never leaving my shoulder. I heard Annie talking and saw her talking to Roman. Peter got my attention again by wrapping an arm around my shoulders, being careful with my shoulder.

“Come on,” he said softly, glaring at the people around us. “Ignore them, Red.” I sighed, wrapping my free arm around his waist, fisting his shirt in my hand.

“I’m okay, Peter. It doesn’t bother me,” I stated honestly. Stares and comments never really bothered Annie and I.

“That look on your face proves otherwise,” he countered, pulling me closer. I grimaced slightly. Damn him and his ability to read people like fucking books.

“I swear, I’m fine,” I soothed, and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to his scruffy cheek. We entered the room to our first period class, and I could swear that Annie growled lowly, and pressed herself into Roman’s side. I could feel myself doing the same as I inched closer to Peter, glaring at anyone who met my eyes.

When we sat down in our usual seats, Peter sitting behind me and Roman behind Annie, I felt something poke me in the back. I turned my head and heard Peter whisper, “give me your hand.” I reached behind me, and Peter reached over his desk to lace his fingers with mine, giving them a comforting squeeze before slipping a note into my hand. I opened it quietly, aware of the teacher starting his lecture, and read what it said.

If the stares get to be too much or you and Annie need us, just reach back.

We’ll be right here.

A small smile crawled across my face and I turned the note to the side so Annie could read it. I heard her let out a soft, “aw” before covering it up with a cough and crumbling the note in her hand. “Sorry,” she apologized when the teacher, Mister Kendall, looked over at her in annoyance. “Something in my throat.”

“Please don’t disturb my class again, Brynna.” I groaned loudly. Are you fucking kidding me?

“Seriously?” Annie snapped. “I’m Annie. Antoinette, dark hair,” she explained, lifting a piece of her curly locks. “Brynna, red hair. It’s not that difficult,” she paused. “Sir,” she added like it was an after thought. I laughed lowly and heard Peter and Roman chuckling behind us. I guess the enhanced senses were kicking in fast.

“You’ve been our teacher for how long, Mister Kendall?” I stated, picking up where Annie let off. “All the other teachers know the difference. We aren’t even identical twins! Why is this so hard for you?”

Mister Kendall’s tiny eyes were practically bulging out in anger. He sputtered a few times, his face red before he took a calming breath. I waited with narrowed eyes to hear his retaliation, but he never did. He just continued on with his lecture about French literature.

I shared a surprised look with Annie before reaching back with my hand, searching.

It only took a second before warm fingers laced with mine.



It was now lunchtime and word had spread about my ‘werewolf’ comment. Christina, the girl who cried ‘werewolf’ every time Peter came near her and the girl who found the most recent dead body, came over to us looking nervous as hell. “Is it true?” She questioned, pushing back a piece of her hair. I noticed that there was a strand of it that white.

“Is what true?” Annie said with a bored expression.

“That you two are werewolves.” Annie and I looked at each other and started laughing. Hard.

“God, this town is full of fucking idiots!” Annie laughed, clutching at her stomach. I could even respond I was laughing too hard.

When we finally got out laughter under control, I wiped away a stray tear. “No, that isn’t true. We aren’t werewolves.” I could barely finish the sentence because I started laughing again.

With what was actually happening to us, being werewolves would be a fucking blessing. From what we read, a Lamia is a dangerous creature; one of the most. Christina opened her mouth to say something, but she froze and booked out of our way. I frowned in confusion until an arm hooked over my shoulder and dangled in front of my chest. “What did she want, Red?” I turned my head slightly and met Peter’s gaze.

“Wanted to ask if Annie and I were werewolves,” I replied with a smirk. “She’s hooked on them.”

“Something’s not right with her,” Annie stated, her blue-eyed gaze narrowed in on Christina’s disappearing figure. I hmm-ed in agreement; there was definitely something not right with her. Though, I got that feeling with a lot of people in this town and I was sure Annie did, too. Twin thing, ya know?

The four of us, since Roman was right by Peter’s side since the two seemed to never go anywhere without the other, sat down at an empty table in the lunch room, and I was pulled between Peter’s legs; he was straddling the bench. I felt his chin drop on my shoulder and then, with my newly heightened senses, heard him sniffing my neck. Scenting me. I shared another look with Annie knowing she heard it, too. I spun in his grasp, and pushed myself close to him, my legs resting over his. I wrapped my arms around his neck and played with his hair.

“Darling,” I started with a smirk. “I think the four of us need to have a discussion.” He tilted his head in an adorable manner, confusion on his face.

“About what?” Instead of answering, I stood up, motioning with my head for Annie to follow.

“Are we skipping for the rest of the day?” Annie questioned. I nodded, digging in my bag for my keys.

“Yep.” As I walked to my car, I unlocked the door and tossed my bag in the back. I turned around and saw Peter and Roman standing there. “Are you coming?” I questioned, motioning to the backseat. They shared a look and nodded at the same time.

About ten minutes later, I pulled into an abandoned parking lot, and shut off the ignition. The parking lot was close to the edge of the woods that seemed to surround this town, and Annie and I walked towards it, knowing that this conversation needed to be private.

I could hear Peter and Roman following quietly behind us, and I was glad that they hadn’t decided to ditch us. When we reached a clearing, I stopped and turned to face the two. “We know.”

“Know what?” Roman questioned, glancing at Peter, but he didn’t pay attention. Peter’s eyes were firmly attached to mine.

“How?”

“We know how to use Google,” Annie quipped, crossing her arms over her chest and blowing curl out of her face. I took a couple steps towards Peter until we were face to face. I reached up, placing my palm against his scruffy cheek.

“We don’t care,” I soothed. “I don’t care. You’re still you; even if you do go a little crazy at night.” He held my gaze for a moment before traveling down to my shoulder, and then back to me quickly.

“That doesn’t smell like a tattoo. It smells like snakeskin. Why?”

“You aren’t the only thing that goes bump in the night, Balto,” Annie snarked.



I groaned loudly, tossing another application to the side of my bed. I saw Annie turn her head from her desk to look at me. “What?”

“These applications are killing me,” I whined. She raised a dark eyebrow in amusement.

“If you want to move out after high school we’re going to need jobs, Brynn.” She paused. “Aren’t you supposed to be the mature, responsible twin?” I rolled my eyes playfully.

“That is a horrible stereotype for older twins that I will not put up with!” I stated in faux outrage. She laughed before going back to her applications.

A couple days later, we got a call from one of the shops that we applied to. It was a store where we got to make the items we sold. The owner decided to hire because of our combined skills; Annie was the artistic one, while I had the brains for business. We were the perfect business pair. “When can you start?” The owner, Hilary Ferris, had asked while on the phone with Annie.

“Tomorrow after school,” Annie replied, shooting me a grin. I grinned back, excited that we would be able to save more money to finally get out Chris’ place. We loved our brother, we really did, but he was overbearing and we couldn’t handle that. Our parents raised us to be independent and the only people that we could lean on and truly count on were each other. “We need to go shopping. ‘New outfits make good impressions’,” she quoted from a book she read a couple years before.

“Yeah, I’m all for that. Let’s go.” I threw on some shoes and Annie grabbed her keys. I walked down the steps behind Annie and Chris looked over at us from the table.

“Where are you two going?” He questioned, setting the bagel he was eating down on the plate in front of him. Who eats bagels with syrup?

“Shopping for a first day of work tomorrow,” Annie answered. He blinked.

“When did you two interview?”

“We didn’t,” I answered impatiently. I wanted to get home before nightfall; Peter was going to show us his transformation tonight. “They liked us and wanted to hire us. We’ll probably be home late. Bye!” I grabbed the back of Annie’s shirt and pulled her out the door.

“Bye, Antoinette! Bye, Brynna!” A shudder went through me at the use of my full name.

The ride to the mall was mostly just us listening to music. She turned up the volume when If I Had You by Adam Lambert started playing. I hadn’t heard that song in months.

So I got my boots on,
Got the right amount of leather
And I'm doing me up with a black colored liner
And I'm working my strut but I know it don't matter
All we need in this world is some love

There's a thin line 'tween the dark side,
And the light side, baby tonight
It's a struggle, gotta rumble, tryin'a find it

[Chorus:]
But if I had you,
That would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah if I had you,
The money, fame and fortune never could compete
If I had you,
Life would be a party, it'd be ecstasy
Yeah, if I had you
Y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you
If I had you

From New York to LA getting high, rock and rolling
Get a room trash it up 'til it's ten in the morning
Girls in stripper heels, boys rolling in Maserati's
What they need in this world is some love
There's a thin line 'tween the wild time,
And a flat-line, baby tonight
It's a struggle gotta rumble, tryin'a find it

[Chorus:]
But if I had you,
That would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah if I had you,
The money, fame and fortune never could compete
If I had you,
Life would be a party, it'd be ecstasy
Yeah, if I had you
Y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you
If I had-

The flashing of the lights
It might feel so good
But I got you stuck on my mind, yeah
The fashion and the stage, it might get me high
But it don't mean a thing tonight

That would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah if I had you,
The money, fame and fortune never could compete
If I had you,
Life would be a party it'd be ecstasy
Yeah if I had you
Y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you
If I had you

That would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah if I had you,
The money, fame and fortune never could compete
(Never could compete with you)
If I had you, life would be a party, it'd be ecstasy
(It'd be ecstasy with you)
Yeah if I had you
Y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you
If I had you.

Annie pulled into the parking lot of the only mall in Hemlock Grove, and turned off the ignition. The mall wasn’t as crowded as a mall should be, which was fine with me. I didn’t like people very much anyway.

It only took us an hour to find an entire outfit and accessories, and Annie looked at her phone. “Forty-five minutes until sundown,” she warned.

“Alright, let’s get going.” I pulled out my phone, asking Peter for his address. He replied quickly and I gave Annie the address.

It took us twenty minutes to get there and we walked down the steps leading to the trailer at the bottom of a hill. Peter and Roman were already outside, standing there with a woman. Peter didn’t have any of his usual rings on, which I guess was a smart idea. “Hey,” Peter greeted, walking up to me and pulling me into a kiss.

“Hey yourself,” I chuckled, lightly putting my hands on his waist. I wasn’t sure if he felt discomfort or pain before a transformation, so I didn’t want to take any risks.

“Red, this is my mom, Lynda. Mom, this is my…friend, Brynn.” I shook hands with Lynda, and she shot Peter a look.

“Friend, huh?” I blushed as red as my hair, and smiled sheepishly.

“And, uh, this is my other friend, Annie. Annie, this is my mom, Lynda.” Annie also shook her hand, and Lynda studied us both.

“You two have the same eyes. Related?”

“Fraternal twins,” Annie answered.

“Are you human? You don’t seem human.” I blinked, taken aback by the question.

“No, ma’am,” I answered this time.

“What are you?” Annie and I shared a look.

“Lamia,” we stated in unison. Lynda’s eyes widened.

“Well, won’t have to worry about you two being killed, will we?” Annie and I could both hear the slight tease in her voice so we smirked.

“Nope.”

“What’s a Lamia?” Roman questioned, looking adorably confused. Annie patted his cheek lightly.

“Google it, sweetheart.” Peter’s grip tightened around my waist slightly and I saw him look up at the sky.

“It’s time.” He kissed my cheek and told us all to stand back. He took off his clothes until he was standing in front of us stark naked.

His transformation was…terrifying. Not in the scared sense, but it looked so painful, and knowing that he went through that all the time is what terrified me. His eyeballs popped out of his head, leaving bright yellow orbs in their places. He literally peeled off all his skin, which had me remembering our birthday. I glanced over at Annie to see her looking pale. Neither one of us enjoyed that part of our birthday.

Peter’s face elongated into a canine snout, and he dropped down on all fours. The wolf that was standing in his place was beautiful. I wanted to reach out and run my fingers through his fur. Well, I did until he started eating his own skin. His yellow gaze met mine and he stepped forward after he was done…eating and I stood in place, not wanting to startle him. He sniffed at my hand for a moment before giving it a quick swipe with his tongue. He darted into the forest, letting out a loud howl.