The clock struck twelve, marking the indication of a new day, the day the twins were born fifteen years ago. But no one in the Wright family was in the mood to celebrate the happy occasion.

The day they had been dreading was here and in twenty-four hours, Alan and Neil had to depart, and just the thought of letting go of the teens distressed the couple to no bounds. Albeit them being adopted, Jarett and Emily had taken care of them well just like how their own children, not once ill-treating them. Now, to be forced away from them, the couple felt their heart-shattering in unwillingness.

Jarett let out a sigh when the clock struck twelve times and got up from his chair. Even if he did not wish for the day to arrive, it still had and he could not avoid it. It was his sons' birthdays and even if he could not throw a grand party, he could at least wish them.

"Let us wish our sons, Emily." He held out his hand in front of his wife, who sat frozen on the chair. Every minute the hand in the clock moved, Emily was reminded of the time she had with her sons.

"Who knows we might not be able to even wish them after this?"

Emily had somehow managed to control her tears until then. But the moment she heard her husband's anguish-filled words, tears escaped her eyes and she started sobbing immediately.

"Emily," Jarett hugged her and rubbed her back as he consoled her. Though he did not wish to see her in misery, he could do nothing about the predicament they were in.

Fifteen years ago, they had learned of the unimaginable truth when they had taken in the twins as their sons. Yet, somewhere in their minds, they had hoped for a miracle, a miracle that would keep their sons with them forever and would not be pushed into the abyss of death that they deemed the land of Atanor to be.

But it was all their wishful thinking. No miracle happened and the people of Atanor came to take their sons back when it was time.

Emily's sobs turned into wails and none of Jarett's words of comfort worked on her. They had been childless for years and it was Alan and Neil who gave them the pleasure of being parents. But now, even that happiness was being snatched away from them. How could Emily not be in despair?

"Emily, please calm down, dear. Please." Jarett tried his best to console her, only to fail miserably. His wife's tears refused to stop and he did not know what else to do.

"Dad, Mom, what happened?" Neil rushed out of his room with Alan following him closely. The twins had expressions of worry and fear on them as they stared at their parents.

"Mom, why are you crying? What's wrong?" Neil kneeled in front of his mother and held her hands as he stared at his father for answers.

"Dad, what happened?" He mouthed silently and Jarett let out a sigh.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Happy birthday, Alan, Neil." He smiled faintly at them but the smile did not reach his eyes and the boys, at once, realized what was wrong. Their eyes turned to the grandfather clock in the living room and their expressions went grim right away.

Finally, the day they so badly wanted to escape from was here and the countdown for their departure had started. In no time, the day too would soon pass and just the thought of leaving their parents left the twins in misery.

A torturous silence filled the room. Except for Emily's sobs, there was no other sound. Nobody knew what to speak. Words failed them at such a moment.

"Dad," Alan finally mustered his courage and looked at his father, who had his eyes lowered. "I do not want to leave you two. When they come here, we will reject them and not go with them."

"Yes, Dad. They cannot force us to leave you two." Neil agreed.

Jarett shook his head immediately and sighed lightly. "It is not as easy as you think it is, Alan. You will only be in danger if you two do not go."

"But, Dad....."

"But they will be in danger if they go to Atanor too." Emily intervened and stood up immediately, forcing Neil too to stand straight. "If they are here, we can protect our kids." She walked to her children and stood in between them. "Jarett, do something. Please. I do not want our sons to go to that hell hole."

Neil and Alan looked at each other with a frown. Time and again, their parents called the place hell and they were now intrigued to find out why it was so. What was so terrifying about the place that they did not wish to send their children to Atanor?

"Umm...Mom, why do you call the place a hell hole?" Alan questioned and stepped aside so that he could take a good look at his mother.

Previously, all they had got was bits and pieces of information that were not enough to curb their curiosity. What was so frightening about Atanor that their parents were this perturbed? Something had to have happened before, something drastic and ....life-threatening.

Emily looked at Jarett for a moment before she took a seat on the chair again. All of a sudden, she looked exhausted and seemed to have aged a decade.

"Stefan," Emily stopped and looked at Alan and Neil whose focus was on her completely. "Your biological father. We knew him since childhood. He was an orphan and my uncle had adopted him. We three grew up together and at some point in time, we realized that he was not normal."

Emily smiled as she thought of the good times in the past. "All of a sudden, he disappeared for quite some time the day after he turned fifteen and the next time he returned, a year later, he seemed to have changed completely. But in a positive way."

"He stayed with us for a short time and returned on the exact same date next year. " Jarett picked up from where Emily had stopped and boys' eyes went to him. "Although we were curious, we did not question him and one fine year, he brought back his wife, your biological mother, Alyssa. She was a fine young lady. We clicked and became friends immediately."

"But just like your father, we noticed that she too was not normal. Again, we did not question them about it. They had secrets of their own and we did not wish to probe into them. She too would visit us with Stefan every year."

Jarett too stopped speaking and Emily choked on her sobs.

"Dad?" Alan probed with his brows raised and Neil gave him a displeased look.

"But that year, they did not visit us on the scheduled date. In fact, they did not visit us for the next four years after that. There was no news about them until that year." Jarett sighed.

"We saw them for the first time in five years and they were not alone. You two were in their arms as you slept peacefully, not knowing the turmoil your parents were going through."

Jarett pressed his forehead and looked at the floor before he finally, faced his sons.

"It had just been two days since you two were born and they had come to us for help."