Aaron Cyrus February 20th,20XX

I’d initially felt bad for looking through Harper’s bag, but I’d justified it by telling myself that I needed to find their legal guardians and let them know that the kids were safe. The twins weren’t the first runaways I’d come across, and I knew that more often than not, there was a reason they’d run away from home. But there were better alternatives to living on the streets.

I wanted to help, but it would have made things a lot more difficult on both parties if I couldn’t tell anyone where the kids had popped up from. I’d only wanted to get information about their residences or at least a school, but what I actually found was a sealed envelope with a familiar address as its source.

Squire. Inc?

A sealed envelope? It was strange enough that they were carrying any sort of paper letter in this day and age of technology, but it was doubly strange that it came from Squire.

I’d guessed it was an application, since I didn’t think that Joyce had sent out the acceptance letters yet, but opening it proved me wrong on both assumptions. I’d only opened it since an application would have had their home address and a school to contact but what I got was an acceptance letter, signed by Joyce herself, and names that I was familiar with.

Tillo and Kaja Lando.

But I hadn’t been sure, which was why I’d called Joyce to confirm. And not only did she confirm that the names were correct, but that they were shapeshifters.

I looked at the clock and waited for them to finish in the showers. From how frantic she’d sounded, I knew she’d probably lost patience and had gone to deal with Archer’s situation. I didn’t blame her for her anxiousness to get the kid out of that household, but I wished she’d stuck with the plan she’d made. It wasn’t like she would get into a lot of trouble for doing things this way, but dealing with the aftermath would be difficult.

Joyce wouldn’t be here for a few hours, or maybe until tomorrow morning, so I just needed to keep them here until then.

The choice to lie to them crossed my mind, but doing things like that left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. It wasn’t like we were kidnappers or sketchy people. As well, those kids were bright and on guard. There was no way they wouldn’t find out something was wrong, and if they ran away, I had little confidence or motivation to run after and catch both of them.

I suddenly heard soft giggles from the hallway, and the twins entered the doorway. I had to double check with my memory and remind myself that I wasn’t just seeing things, but they definitely looked more similar than they had before. The resemblance had gone from looking like siblings to almost identical twins.

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‘Megan’ wore a pink dress that I’d found in Cherry’s now abandoned closet, and Harper was in the yellow dress. They both had black hair that reached their shoulders, but aside from an alternating piercing on their right and left ears, looked exactly the same.

Megan had a bright smile on her face and bounced as she walked, while Harper looked uncomfortable and constantly looked down to make sure the dress’s hem stayed as low as it should.

That was probably Tillo.

I had a choice to make, but I struggled to make it. Megan misunderstood my struggle for words and let out a lighthearted giggle. The familiar sound told me she was the one that had laughed in the hallway.

She stepped forward and twirled in place with a playful smile on her face.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Cyrus? Are we prettier than you thought?”

Being teased by a seventeen-year-old wasn’t fun, but it helped me make my decision. I smiled as warmly as I could and motioned for them to follow me into the kitchen. Gordon had gone out for some take out, but at least I could get them something to snack on.

“You two look great. Sorry if they’re a bit big though, I don’t have a hobby of keeping children’s clothes in my house. And Harper, or should I call you Tillo? It’s fine if you’re comfortable with that, but I have some clothes in my room if you want to borrow any. They might be a bit big, but that shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”

Their footsteps stopped in sync, and I could feel their stares burning into my back.

“How did you know his actual name?!”

So I’d guessed right.

The one I could now assume was Kaja stepped forward and pushed the hostile Tillo behind her. I finished turning around and maintained a warm smile on my face. I was having a bit too much fun playing the mysterious older guy, but I’d have to give them answers soon, or they would run away.

“I know a lot of things, miss Kaja. I know that you’re both runaways, I know that you’re both seventeen and… I know that you’re both shapeshifters, or mimics. Not too sure what you two call yourselves.”

Joyce would probably have done a better job intimidating them with information about themselves, but I didn’t think I was too bad at it. Kaja’s eyes narrowed further with every word I took, and her mouth set into a determined grimace.

“How do you know all that about us?”

I waved them to follow me again and spoke as I walked. Mystique and intrigue aside, I wondered when their last meal had been. The priority was to get them something to eat.

“I don’t mind telling you, but aren’t you two hungry? You’re barely more than bones and skin. Come here.”

As if on cue, Tillo’s stomach growled and Kaja looked uncomfortable as the sound reminded her of her hunger. There had only been an energy bar in Tillo’s bag, so I could imagine they had had little to eat recently.

Still, despite their obvious hunger, they didn’t follow me.

Well, I couldn’t blame them, after all, a stranger had casually told them their deepest and darkest secrets.

Now would probably be a good time.

I focused as much as possible, wanting to look cool, and carefully pulled myself into the air. I kept a calm smile on my face, but I mentally chanted my weight to myself. I needed to make myself about that heavy when I landed, otherwise I would ruin the floors here too. It had cost me more than was comfortable to make up for the damages in my last apartment.

Both their eyes widened like saucers and their chins moved up like they had been attached to strings as they watched me rise into the air.

“Look, now you know a secret of mine too.-”

I landed as carefully as I could and stood still for a second to readjust to my weight, then began walking toward the kitchen again.

“You guys aren’t allergic to anything, are you? It’s so late at night, I doubt any hospitals are still open.”