He was arguing with a middle-aged woman over the price of a pair of fangs. Despite his stern voice and words- no, he would not lower the price for her- there was a merry twinkle in his eyes. Soon, he had the woman laughing, and she bought two pairs for a slightly lower price.

The man turned to me, his smile welcoming and open. “Yes, dear, how may I help you?” Alec smirked beside me. Dear? I stomped on his foot and turned back to the man.

“How much is a pair?” I asked sweetly. Alec chuckled silently beside me, and I kicked him. Alec gasped and stopped immediately. The vendor looked at me and laughed.

“A sweet young girl like you wants a pair of vampire fangs?” I gritted my teeth and glared at him. He gasped slightly.Two minutes later, Alec and I walked away from the vendor. My fangs were hidden safely in the depths of my pocket, and Alex was shaking his head in wonder.

“I don’t know how you did it, Jane. You just glared at him, and then it was like he was in pain!” I shrugged.

“I really don’t know what happened, Alec,” I whispered. Was he accusing me? Or- and this seemed more likely, given his revering tone of voice- was he admiring the bizarre…skill? Yes, it seemed like a skill, but a gruesome one at that. I glanced at him. Could I tell him the whole truth? Yes, I decided. He was my twin. Of course I could. He would understand. Or, if he could not completely empathize with the situation, he would help me.

“I felt really weird while I was doing it,” I confided, looking at the ground, ashamed. “It was the strangest feeling, like I was burning him just by looking at him. It felt so… weird. But it also felt like… it felt like I wanted to hurt him. I liked it,” I finished in a rush of words. I peeked at him to gauge his reaction and saw him nodding thoughtfully.

“Yes, I think I know what you mean. Sometimes, when I’m looking at someone, and they’re mad at me… for a second or two, it’s like their mind isn’t there. Like they don’t feel anything at all. And then they come back. And they look really scared, and they’re not mad at me any more.”

I looked at Alec suspiciously. What he was describing sounded impossible. But what I’d told him seemed false, too. So was he telling the truth? Or was he mocking me? I growled at him.

“Calm down, Jane. We’ll talk more about it later, at home. For now, let’s just enjoy the fair.”

We walked along in silence. Though I tried to take in as much of the festivities as I could to play the charming daughter role when we returned home, I was grappling with the disturbing thoughts and images that filled my head.

What was going on with Alec and I? Were we sick? Were our minds messed up? What was wrong with us? I was sure that if we were supposed to be able to make people feel pain or nothing at all, our parents would have told us. Maybe we should tell them. It didn’t seem normal, and maybe we were sick.

But… at the same time, it wasn’t something I wanted to share. I wanted to keep it between Alec and I. I liked the power. As I thought these words to myself, I shuddered slightly, and was glad Alec had no idea what he was thinking- although, I realized, he might be thinking just the same thing.

No, I thought. I wasn’t shaking due to the fear of the power. I had to be honest with myself. I was shaking due to fear of what would happen if people found out.