What Does the Hawk Say?

The Twins  

The sun was sinking, going to bed for the night, and Alora wished she could do the same, but there were other plans in the works for her. There was no turning back from the path laid before her. Her brother had worked too hard to get her into The Academy; she couldn’t back down now.  Even as this thought occurred to her, there was a loud, “smack” against the frosty glass of her third-floor window. She jumped at the sound; she found that she was often jumpy these days. Peering out, she saw a red-tailed hawk who had the unfortunate experience of colliding with her window pane.

“That’s odd,” she thought aloud. “Hawks are usually so keen and aware.” She told herself to check it out when she made it out the door, wondering if it was still alive, but she had to keep packing before her brother got there.

It felt strange to be leaving the only home she had known for the last 7 years, and she was having a hard time deciding what to take with her and what to leave behind. “Bring only what you can carry,” her brother had told her. “You will not have much room or use for personal belongings.” Though, she later discovered that she would be allowed one travel trunk in her room there.

Why had she agreed to this, begged for this even? “There’s no backing down now,” she reminded herself again as she placed the last item carefully into her trunk - her mother’s diary - safely stowed and locked away where no one along the way would find it, hopefully.

She locked the trunk and strapped on her backpack, and glanced around the room wondering if she would ever return. She wondered what would happen to the rest of her belongings. There was no time to think about that now. A knock at the door brought her back from her reverie.

“Are you ready for this?” her brother gave her his warmest smile, the one that lit up his blue eyes making them brighter than any she’d ever seen. 

Mom’s eyes. Even though they were twins, Alora had inherited her father’s hazel eyes. Sometimes they seemed to glow an almost magical green, but mostly they just reflected the color of the earth in summer.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” was all she could think to say, trying not to let any of her fear show, though she was sure her brother could sense it. He knew her better than any other being in the world; sharing the same womb seems to do that.

James was well-dressed, but she could tell that he was wearing his gear under the facade of his business suit, probably just picked up from the cleaners. He frequented “The Fairy Godmother” at least twice a week, and was probably their best client. So many suits to clean…

She could see why so many women swooned over her brother. His sandy brown hair caught the sunlight where it hung charmingly just across his forehead and brought out more of the brightness in his eyes, and his smile could warm an entire room. He was well-built - you had to be in his line of work - and knew just what to wear, it seemed, to accentuate the lines of his muscles without looking like he was showing off too much. Now, she would begin the same training he had. She wondered if people would think of her the same way.

The Academy. One year and she would be out, but then what?  Would they allow her and James to be partners?

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you more about what to expect,” James said as if reading her thoughts, “I’m not allowed to, but I can tell you it will be worth it, especially if we’re ever going to find Mom.” He turned to look out at the busy street, and Alora took one last look inside her apartment before closing and locking the door, for how long, she did not know.

“Your rent will be taken care of while you are away, and someone will come by to check on things every once in a while. People will be led to believe that you are an exchange student studying somewhere overseas, which is mostly the truth.” He was trying to reassure her, and there was that smile again. She couldn’t help but return it. She also noticed a new tattoo on his arm but decided to wait until later to ask about it.

“Let’s go then,” she replied, “I am ready.” The driver was waiting for them at the street. He stepped out of the car to open the trunk and passenger door for her. She smiled at him vaguely, lost in her thoughts again.

“You look so much like your father,” the driver commented.

“Did you know my father?” She studied the driver’s face and saw that he was indeed old enough to have known him.

“Yes, very well. In fact, I have something for you. It was entrusted to me for safe-keeping, and though it belongs to you, I cannot give it to you until you complete your training.” he replied

The car pulled away and he continued, “Your father couldn’t leave you much, but he made sure that this heirloom was not lost or forgotten. It may be vital to your success and survival.”

“Did you attend the Academy with him?” she asked.

“Yes, we were roommates, and since neither of us had ever shared a room with another person before, there were a lot of hurdles to overcome. I had heard stories about your dad and your uncle - stories that were not complimentary.” he paused to see if her interest was holding. She returned his gaze in the rearview mirror, prompting him to continue.

“Quickly, I learned of your dad’s aptitude for scientific thinking and experiments. I was a little closer than I wanted to be to some of those experiments in fact,” he laughed and continued, “I recall one season, he decided that we needed a method of cooking food in our dorm room and that he had to invent it. So, he spent weeks putting together some sort of device using stored solar power for a tiny oven to cook our food in.”

She raised her eyebrows at him but said nothing. “The first attempt to cook anything ended in an explosion that nearly burnt down our dorm room and caused the whole building to evacuate. Needless to say, the RA’s were less than happy,” he laughed again and the fondness he felt for her father was evident.

“He always did have a knack for explosions,” James recalled, “Remember when he tried to make you a curling iron, Alora? Nearly burned our house down too.”

“And there was the sidewalk de-icer…We had to chase it down the street before it microwaved all of the neighbors’ lawns,” she recalled. Now it was her turn to laugh. It felt good - like a little weight was lifted.

“We used to love to go skiing - near the Academy is some of the best skiing in the world - so Jared decided that we needed a personal ski lift, something that would take us and our gear up the mountain, then meet us back at the bottom and repeat. The first two trips up the mountain and back were successful. The third time, when we arrived back at the base, there was a whole squadron of Orion soldiers holding your father’s device.” He hesitated to continue, and Alora could see that he was struggling with some deep pain from long ago.

“Why would the Orion come for my dad’s invention?” She was suddenly very curious, envisioning the last time she had seen any of their ranks, the hawk emblem boldly displayed on their uniforms. She was reminded of the hawk crashing into her window before she left, and that she had completely forgotten to check on it. Weird... Was that some kind of sign?

It made her nervous that these were the very people that would be training her. Surely, her brother would not allow her to knowingly, willingly walk into danger. She had to trust that. What if he didn’t even know the extent of their power though?

“It seems the Orion had been keeping an eye on him all along - all of his experiments and failures - and saw the potential for greatness. They saw his value to them, to their goals; that is all they care about…You must be very careful, Alora. You need this training, but don’t trust anyone,” he told her, suddenly looking very concerned.

“What is your name?” she had to know before they reached the airport, and they were getting very close now.

“Just call me Hopkins,” he replied.

“What happened at the base of the mountain?” she pressed.

“Your dad looked at the squadron with defiance and made a beeline for his invention - it was his best one yet and he did not take kindly to those soldiers stealing it. They were caught off guard and one trigger-happy jackass pulled the trigger on his pistol. I had to watch…” he trailed off, not wanting to remember or describe the rest, though she was pretty sure James had probably already heard all of this, but she had not. He was probably privy to a lot of information that she was not. She wondered again if she really wanted this. Did she really have a choice though? It was either accepting all of this - the favors her brother had pulled for her - or living forever in regret, wondering if she could ever save her mom. It was impossible to choose the latter. 

Thanks for the favors, James. She couldn’t help but feel apprehensive as she saw multiple flights taking off from where they had just parked at the airport, knowing she would soon be on one of them and on her way to a whole new life. James had said it would be worth it; she could only hope and pray that he was right, and maybe after enduring the next year, she would be the one offering the favors.