"Au Revoir!” I say as I walk out with $700 worth of stolen clothes. You see, that’s the good thing about being invisible. I’m literally invisible. I’m not joking.  Anyways, as I am walking out with these huge bags of clothes, I can’t help but think, what is my better half up to?
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Flying makes me feel calm and serene.  It’s the one thing that clears my head, though today not even flying is going to clear my head. You see, I just got the envelope that I have been waiting for since last week. This was going to determine what Awa and I do for the next week. Oh, did I mention she has absolutely no idea about any of this?
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I come home to a bunch of junk mail. “Why does Avian never clean out the mail? He’s probably flying.” I wonder what’s got my brother so stressed; Avian is much more responsible...a sleek black package catches my eye out of the bundle of mail. That can only mean one thing.  It is yet another package from the law enforcement asking if we have changed our minds about helping them with the human experimentation case.  Only this one is labeled reply, and has my brother’s name in grey block lettering. I guess I know why he is out flying.
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I come home hungry and tired. I decided not to steal anything from the rooftop gardens today. As I enter, I immediately know something is wrong. That’s the thing about having a twin, you’re basically like one person. At least, in my case, Awa and I are. I hope that it’s not what I think it is, but when I walk in, I see Awa holding the sleek black package that’s been driving me crazy.
“ I can explain..”  I say, but I know I messed up big time. I really really messed up. As I try to explain to her what was going to my mind when I agreed to help Leon, I see the look. She’s got that look in her eyes of utter betrayal that she had when ma and pa sold us for human experimentation.
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I tried to understand why he would do that to me. As I sat in our cozy loft in the middle of Winnipeg, Canada, I thought back to the day when our parents sold us for human experimentation. We were poor but we had lived that way for thirteen years, me and Avian.
We had just finished our chores when the people had come to give us “shelter, food, and money.” Little did we know that “shelter, food, and money” was three years of painful torture with chemicals being pumped into our bodies for hours at a time in hopes of making us stronger and prettier.  When we were discarded from the institution, we were lost and very scared. Avian had developed wings but had kept them secret, so upon request, he flew to Winnipeg. I had seen it in one of the books I had stolen from the library.
When we reached, we lived with Hakim. He used to be a stable boy in the institution for a year before he was able to escape with his girlfriend. His girlfriend was shot when the alarm went off but he was able to escape. He welcomed us with open arms and wouldn’t let us pay for a thing. He helped us look for a house while feeding us and giving us a warm and cozy house to live in. He basically took care of Avian and I for six months before we were strong again and were able to move out and into our own apartment.
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Ava was distant and glazy for the next couple days. She had said that she understood why I had agreed to help, but I doubted it. She began to spend time with Hakim a lot, and I was starting to get a little worried. Awa and I are close. Like, insanely close. I guess the whole being tortured side by side thing added to us being really close. Anywho, as much as I am grateful to Hakim for all he did for us, I always thought he had a thing for Awa. Turns out that would be the least of my worries.
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When I woke up the next day, I went to get my usual cup of coffee from the kitchen but saw Leon in the fuzzy brown carpeted living room, with my favorite cup. Being me, I paid more attention to his hands on my cup rather than why there was a cop in my living room. After staring at him dumbfoundedly for many seconds, the pieces in my head began to click and I realized that he was here to talk to me about the human experimentation case. I saw his face break out into his signature sly grin, and I gulped down my coffee.
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After trying to go back to sleep for two hours, I walked into the grey tiled kitchen to find Leon and Awa making eggs benedict. I looked at Awa with some scrunched up face before she and I doubled over in laughter. I took it that we were back to being okay but to make sure, I gave her a look and she nodded with a warm smile and outstretched arms. Our long hug caused two batches of burnt eggs and one more scene of all three of us doubled over in laughter.
After many long hours of looking at green blobs, we reached the abandoned facility where Dr. ME had built his camp. It looked like any other abandoned building, but we had learned not to judge a book by its cover. We were here on a rescue mission, so Leon called for back-up, and he had armed us with tasers from Hakim’s “bakery”. Even though we had a gun at the house(for safety), we didn’t have proper training. In we went, scared and afraid. By the size of Awa’s eyes and how pale she was, I could tell she was having flashbacks. I was horrified at how similar it all looked. Same equipment, same everything. Down to those capsules they put us in.
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I saw eyes, and hands banging on the glass. I ran to the similar frosted sky blue experiment capsules and pressed the all too familiar buttons to open them. Two children, about the age of ten, emerged from the capsules paler than printer paper and their frail skinny bodies trembling in fear. I looked at them with this immense sadness that filled me to my core. They looked at me with this tired and scared expression.
“ My name is Awa, and I promise not to hurt you. I came here to find and imprison Dr.ME.” I said in a soft gentle voice.
“ He left, and he locked us in the capsules so we couldn’t escape. How did you know what buttons open them?” the little boy said. I would later find out his name was John.
“ I’ve had some experience with those capsules myself.” I explained.
The children looked at each other, looked at me, and I nodded. There was immediately a loud sigh of relief from them both followed by a look of sadness and understanding at Avian and I.
After letting the children out, we went to look for Dr.ME. They were a little reluctant to tell us their names, but later introduced themselves as John and Joanna. We found tire tracks and crumpled up paper in a tiny part of the garage. Leon sent a soil sample and a piece of the paper to the lab in hopes of finding any information on the whereabouts of the scientist. While Avian flew around the area with Hakim on his back looking for any sign of the white Toyota Corolla the children had described, Leon and I drove to the nearest Costco and got them some blankets, clothes, and food.
After getting John and Joanna settled down and asleep in Avian’s and mine apartment, we went to the police lab and found out that Dr. ME was still in Winnipeg, but the lab scientists couldn’t pinpoint his exact location. They said that he was probably in somewhere downtown Winnipeg. My heart lurched a little as I began to run outside to get on Avian’s back and fly back home.
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He was right there, in our home. He had taken the liberty to drug and tie up John and Joanna while brewing a dark roast I had bought from the market for himself. Using Awa’s favorite mug, I might add.
“Nice to finally meet the legends who survived. ” He said with a hideous smile on his scarred face. I looked at Awa proudly, for she was the one that had placed that scar on his face many years back when they had escaped.
“ Let them go. Haven’t you already inflicted enough pain on them already?”
“ Oh, but it’s not about the pain. It’s for the greater good of the society. Don’t you remember that?” Dr. ME said with a mocking look of disappointment on his face.
While Ava had been making small talk with Dr. ME, I had been signaling to Hakim and Leon to get in position. Leon had silently called for backup and Hakim had gotten his weapons ready. We all lurched at the same time; Awa at the children, and Hakim, Leon and I at the doctor.
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It all happened so quickly. I had untied the children, and when I turned around I saw it. My best friend being shot in the head by that horrendous man. It was like some sort of redemption for him. He had this satisfied look on his face . Since I was still invisible, I ran to him and began to strangle him. Leon held me back for I must have turned back to color. Right then, the officers crashed through the door and punched Dr. ME in the face before handcuffing him.  I ran to Hakim and crumpled next to his lifeless broken body, as my body filled with the tremendous sadness I had long forgotten.
When I was able to stand again with the help of my brother, I walked over to Dr. ME and told the guards to look the other way. Without question, their heads simultaneously turned to the opposite direction. Even though he was already banged up, I punched him square in the face once more for good measure. His face crumpled into itself and he looked at me in shock. The guard on the left turned back, looked at me and gave me a nod of approval. As Dr. Me was ushered out of the broken front door, I looked him in the eye for the first time since I had met him.
“You better get that door replaced” I said to Leon with a weak smile on my face.
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After Hakim’s funeral, Awa and I had a constant stream of people in our house giving their condolences. Awa was so crushed, she wouldn’t eat, drink, or talk to anyone. After Hakim’s girlfriend had been killed, he had been obliterated with grief. Awa and I had been living with him, so we were taking care of him and he took care of us. Eventually, the company of each other had nursed us back to health. Hakim bought a little area in a nearby cemetery and buried all of her things along with the engagement ring he had bought her with all his savings, and as we buried his things beside hers that night, we knew that at least now they would be together.
Epilogue
2 months later, we are all getting back to normal. Hakim’s will stated that he wanted us to take care of his belongings. Since he lived on the same apartment floor as us, we gave his apartment to John and Joanna.  The four of us agreed to testify for Dr. ME’s long sheet of crimes, and he is paying a life sentence to a maximum security prison in some foreign state I can’t pronounce.  Leon got a promotion because of how well he handled the case and became captain. As for Awa and I, we agreed to be consultants for  Captain Leon’s police department.  Slowly, we are beginning to feel like we no longer are someone’s property. Each day, we remember those who helped us and how they would always be with us, making the days to come seem brighter and happier.