In All the Thunder

Chapter Two: A Broken Fairy Tale Story

Lorena appeared in front of her house - her real house - the Fawcett residence. There were lights on in the house, telling her that she wasn't too late and that Brandon and Nathan were most likely still awake. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

She walked in silently and shut it, locking it back up. And, just like that, she was inside her house, not a wave of emotion flooding over her like water. She walked up the stairs and passed her room. She stopped at Brandon and Nathan's bedroom. She looked at the crack underneath the door and saw it was dark. The light wasn't on.

She took a small breath and twisted the handle. She opened the door and silently walked in. When she shut the door, she heard a little rustling. The dark outlines of her little brothers sitting up their beds appeared. From what little light she had, she could see their curious faces.

"Hey, it's your big sister, Lorena," she whispered quietly. They immediately beamed at her in the darkness. She smiled back at them and sat at the foot of Nathan's bed. Brandon hopped out of his bed and sat down next to her. Nathan crawled over to her out from underneath the covers and leaped upon her back, throwing his arms around her neck.

"You're home!" Nathan cried out cheerfully but quietly. She ruffled his hair from behind her, still smiling brightly. They always cheered her up; after all, they were the only lights in this dark place. She used to always wonder how they could be so happy all of the time.

"Mmhm, home," Lorena repeated. Brandon gave her a quizzical look that she didn't normally see very often.

"Why were you barely ever at home last year?" Brandon asked. Nathan also gave her a puzzled look and nodded his head feverishly. "Why were you always at Uncle Cassius's? We missed you lots."

Lorena wasn't quite sure how to answer this. They didn't get it yet; they hadn't really been told of anything yet. She wondered how they would take it if she told them the real truth. She thought about what she could say.

"Well," she began thoughtfully, "mummy and daddy thought that I was a little bad at school so, in order for me to become a good girl, they sent me to live with Auntie Selena and them all, but since I was still not obeying the rules, I was still there."

It was quite difficult to sugar coat such a horrible thing, but somehow, she had found a way to possibly do it. They nodded their heads, getting it, but not really getting it. That was fine with Lorena though; she wanted it that way.

"Why did you come in here?" Brandon asked curiously. Brandon was always the one to ask questions. Nathan, on the other hand, didn't; he was more of the quiet one--the thinker, but not so logical yet. Brandon got his answers when he wanted them also.

"Well, I wanted to tell you goodnight before you fell asleep, silly," Lorena said with a smile. He grinned cheekily at her. "And, if you two like, I'll read you a bed time story so you can fall asleep more easily. Would you like that? Did mummy read you one already?"

"Yes, story, please!" Nathan declared happily.

"Nope, mummy did read us one tonight," Brandon told her grumpily, frowning a little. "I think she forgot again."

Lorena nodded her head slowly and stood up, meandering over to the shelf to pick out a book. Her finger grazed along the spines of each book.

"Don't read us a story!" Nathan squealed at her. She spun around, looking confused.

"What, but I thought-?"

"Tell us a story from your imagination!" Nathan added quickly, smiling at her happily. She sighed and nodded her head. She sat back down and Brandon crawled back into his own bed. They both got under the covers and watched her intently, keenly listening for the beginning of her fairy-tale story. She sighed again. She was never good at making up stories - unless they were lies. She opened her mouth to begin when Brandon interrupted her.

"A scary story-"

"-filled with lots of adventure-"

"-and the heroes are twins, just like us, but not us-"

"-with very creepy things-"

"-but NO mushy stuff at all-"

"-because that's just plain gross!"

Lorena gave them both a bored look. "Is that all, your majesties?" she asked them dryly. They grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. "Alright, one scary, action-packed, creepy, story with twin heroes and no mushy stuff, at all, coming right up!"

They situated themselves and watched her closely.

"Once upon a time in a faraway land, lived two boys, but they there no ordinary boys, I tell you. They were twins, but more to the point, they were wizards. Not yet of age yet or even the age to go to a Wizarding school, people knew that they were more than just twin wizards; they were Mystics, magical people who were blessed with the gift to be able to do magic without the use of a wand. Now, there was this girl, see--"

"I thought we said no mushy stuff, Lorena?" Brandon complained loudly.

"Yeah, you cheated us out of a great story!" Nathan groaned unhappily. She grinned at them.

"Hold about, you two; there isn't any romance," Lorena said. They looked as if they didn't believe her. "Just because there is one girl, doesn't mean the hero's gonna kiss her. I have guy best friends."

The two of them frowned at her deeply.

"Yeah, and you also have a boyfriend," Nathan pointed out dryly. She gave him a certain look and he lay back down. "But, please do, continue on with the story."

"Right then, like I was saying, there was this girl, see. She was moderately pretty, you could say, but she was no princess. In fact, she was a mere pauper, but she was very smart indeed. The twin Mystics, however, were princes and very rich.

"After many years, the twins had gone to a special school where only few went to. In fact, there had been less than a hundred students there - less than fifty students - because this was a school for Mystics. But you see, the girl, the pauper, was also a Mystic - the only girl Mystic for a hundred years, in fact - but she had not the money to go to the school so she learned on her own.

"Well, now that the twins and the girl were seventeen, they were practically ready to move out and party! But, seeing as how the twins had to be respectable and the girl didn't have that kind of money...it didn't happen. Hm, sad, that was. Well, one day when an awful storm came over the town - ruining the twins' day of pure Quidditch madness - this drifter came into town-"

"What's a drifter?" Brandon asked curiously.

"Um, like a stranger, but you know, more mysterious," Lorena answered unsurely, not quite sure of the real answer. It had just popped into her mind randomly. "Okay, well, this drifter came into town. He was rather spooky, if you ask me. He had a haunting look about him. Well, no one really paid him much attention, but he certainly paid that girl much attention. He had his eyes on her and she didn't like it one bit because she knew that he knew that she was a Mystic. I mean, this drifter was evil and he was a bad bloke-"

"Like You-Know-Who?" Brandon queried anxiously. Nathan gasped and recoiled, pulling his blanket over his head. He was more sensitive about such things while Brandon was quite brash...like Sirius, for example. Nathan was much more like Peter...or Remus. Yeah, more like Remus probably than anyone.

Lorena paused and stared at Brandon. He was looking at her with his curious eyes. She nodded her head slowly. "Yes, like You-Know-Who, I suppose..."

"More like Marcus?" Nathan wondered out loud. At this accusation, a small smirk fleeted across Lorena's face. It was a proud thing for her to say that she had actually taught them that Marcus was "not the nicest of people in the world" and that he could "be evil when he feels like it". Lorena nodded her head.

"Yeah, a lot like Marcus, Nathan," Lorena replied calmly. Nathan stuck his tongue out at Brandon, who pouted a little. "Anyways, well, the two twins didn't know about this, but they knew the girl. In fact, they were friends with her even though she was a poor girl! They were very nice to her, unlike how they were to their parents because they were very mischievous.

"One day, the twins went outside to play some games with their magic with her, but they couldn't find her at all. 'Where are you?' they called out, but she never came. It came to be that they figured out that the evil drifter kidnapped her! So, they went on this grand adventure to save her.

"They followed the tosser's tracks with their magic only to come upon a fire breathing dragon in China; and they had to defeat it. It shot towering flames at them, and they dogged them, escaping death by just inches. One of them leapt onto the dragon's tail and climbed on it. With his magical powers, the Mystic calmed it down and made it fall asleep. They advanced forward.

"They were hot on the drifter's tail and were catching up rather quickly. So, the drifter caused a very violent storm to take place and flood the canyon they were in. Indeed, it flooded up and they were tossed around in the water. One got his foot caught between rocks, and the water rose above his head. He was stuck and sure to die. That's when his twin dove under the water and broke the rocks, freeing him and they barely escaped-"

"Who got onto the dragon? Who got stuck?" Brandon asked hastily, words speeding out of his mouth a hundred miles per hour. "Which one did that?"

"Does it really matter?" Lorena groaned, not really wanting to choose.

"YES!" Nathan and Brandon cried out in unison. She rolled her eyes and thought.

"The older one got onto the dragon, but the younger one saved the older one from drowning," Lorena told them calmly. They looked at each other and then back at her, eagerly awaiting the rest of her story. She wondered if she would ever get through with this. With them interrupting her, she might never get to the ending of it. However, she continued on with it.

"They crossed a scorching dessert, nearly dying of dehydration and heat stroke, but they made it to an oasis where they rested. They were brought back to health by many nice butterbeers. Mm... Oh, while they were resting in the lake, something happened. There was this hole in the bottom of the lake and the entire lake was drained, sucked in it, taking the twins along with the water! Around and around they went and then, they landed in mud.

"They walked for hours when they found themselves in a homey type place. They saw their friend tied up in a chair, being drained of her powers! The older twin saw the tosser and immediately jumped into action, fighting him. He dodged blow after blow and fought back. Meanwhile, the younger twin raced to save the girl before it was too late. He untied her and gave the girl her powers back.

"The three Mystics banded together to form a mighty sphere of bright light - magic - and threw it at the evil man, making him disappear forever. When they got back home, they were heroes and the girl was no longer a pauper. She became very rich, and the boys were both crowned king since obviously, two heads are better than one. They were still friends and lived happily ever after. The end."

Lorena looked around the room and saw that Brandon had fallen asleep already. Nathan was trying to keep his eyelids from drooping over his eyes. She smiled at him. She stood up and walked over to him, ruffling his hair a bit.

"'Night, Nathan," Lorena whispered with a smile on her face.

"Good night, Lo-Lorena," Nathan yawned. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Lorena walked over to the door and opened it, light flooding in just a bit. She looked back and saw that they were now both peacefully asleep, dreaming of wonderful things. She smiled again and walked out, silently shutting the door behind herself.

Lorena started for her bedroom when something stopped her. It was a mirror. She had always taken to look at her reflection.

Allen, her twin brother looked nothing like her. Why? Well, because he was a Fawcett, naturally, and his father's son. He had the normal dark hair, dark eyes, and tan complexion. She had light hair, light eyes, and rather pale complexion. They were also very different. He was horrible in Potions; she excelled in it. He was an obedient idiot; she was a stubborn arse. He was afraid of almost everything and couldn't stand up for himself for anything; she was brave enough to defy her family every day of her life and had fun doing it, too.

She sighed and started to walk for her room again when Allen appeared at the top of the steps, giving her a bemused look. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"What?" Lorena asked calmly.

"Nothing," Allen replied quickly, looking away from her and walking, as if going to his bedroom.

"I'm sure it was," Lorena sighed dully, grabbing her handle. Allen suddenly stopped and put a hand on her arm. She jerked her arm a little, and his hand came off. She looked over her shoulder at him to see that he was looking a little guilty.

"Actually, it is something," Allen grumbled under his breath.

All in all, her family, including herself, was not very good at expressing their emotions to each other and communicating with each other. They found it rather difficult talking to each other - Lorena and Allen, did - because they had been brought up in a way that didn't teach them how to. She turned around and leaned against her door, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Okay, what is it then?" Lorena asked evenly, obviously uninterested in whatever he was about to say. He looked a little nervous as he fidgeted. He didn't look her in the eyes.

"Dad wants you out of the house," Allen muttered. She smiled at him, which he was not expecting. "But I don't want that. I mean - uh - you're my sister, and it doesn't matter if you sort of - er - got Marcus and Uncle Cassius sent to Azkaban and-and you're dating that-that guy. I just-"

Lorena put a gentle hand on his arm. "Listen, Allen; it's nice of you and all to try and defend me, but it's going to get you nowhere in life," she told him flatly. "Thank you, anyways, for at least trying. Tell father that I'm trying to find a house; and I'll be at work all day tomorrow."

"You work? When and where did you find a job at?" Allen asked immediately, looking and sounding a bit curious. He lit up a little; she crossed her arms across her chest. "Perhaps you'll get to stay a tad bit longer now that you've gotten yourself a job; Dad'll be real pleased about this."

"Oh, goodie, now that I have pleased daddy, I can go on living a happy life!" Lorena cheered sarcastically, grinning at her twin brother, who was suddenly frowning at her. Why must she always rain on his parade when something good happened? Better yet, why did she always make him sound so stupid?

"Listen, Lorena; I just don't want you to have to be separated from our lives all together," Allen mumbled under his breath. "I know that while you never really did obey the rules that were set for school, you did obey them here. I know you still care about Nathan and Brandon a lot."

"Yeah, I do, so I'd appreciate it if you mention nothing about what has happened over the past year or so, Allen," Lorena told him, glaring at him piercingly. "I don't want them to know what our parents have put me through and what our uncle and cousin really did for a living."

"Lorena, I didn't know about-"

"Goodnight, Allen," Lorena interrupted, somewhat coldly. "I probably won't be seeing you tomorrow."

She rounded sharply on her heels and opened her bedroom door to walk inside. When she turned back around, she saw his stunned expression and slammed the door in his face. He never got it. He never saw it coming ever. To put it simply, he saw what happened behind closed doors, but said nothing. As far as Lorena was concerned, Allen was another family member that had forgotten that she was just a girl still.

Lorena went to bed, sleeping in restless dreams that night, only to be awoken around three in the morning by a nightmare of a Slytherin boy with black hair. She pulled her legs to her chest and looked out of her window to the stars, only to find that she could see no stars. Out here, she could see nothing.