Chapter ➳ 1 ➳ "A Special Day "

-a few months earlier-

Today was a special day. Our special day.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday Violeta and Zian..."

Our family and friends sang for us, me and my twin brother. I feel lucky that they mentioned my name first because they sort of had to rush saying 'and Zian' to fit into the rhythm of the song. I saw my twin roll his eyes at this.

"...Happy birthday to you!"

I was about to make a wish, but Zian had already blew the candles.

"Rude." I murmured loud enough for my evil brother to hear. "It's also my sixteenth birthday, you know?"

"We're too old to make wishes on birthday candles." Zian retorted.

"No one's too old to make wishes."

"Whatever, I blew it already so we can get this over with. Don't you want to eat the cake?"

I do want to eat the red velvet cake mom had baked for us immediately for it looked scrumptious, but it could've wait for a wish. I don't even believe or rely on wishing stuff like these... I just feel like it's a must to do.

But I didn't argue back, because I'm the mature twin among the two of us.

Mom must've probably heard us bickering because she gave our slices of cake at the same time so we wouldn't argue on who should get to taste the cake first. And yes, it was indeed delicious.

The little celebration soon ended. We thanked the guests for coming and they thanked us for inviting them over.

As soon as all the guests are gone, the real special occasion begins.

For we aren't just celebrating the date of our birth...

...what I'm really looking forward to, and what's really special about today is the fact that me or my brother will be an official spirit guide.

You see, We didn't come from a normal family. We aren't ordinary humans.

I came from a line of family who are spirit guides, those who guide the lost souls to the spirit realm, the land of the dead.

In short, we're sort of like reapers.

But only one of us can be a spirit guide, only one of us, on the day we turn sixteen years of age, can have the authority to guide souls.

My whole life, I have been waiting for this very day... I wish it will be me who will be chosen. I don't think Zian is very amped to be a spirit guide as much as me anyways.

Mom was the spirit guide among her many siblings (she had six of them), so she's the one who trained me and my brother... and now was the day her hard work teaching us will come to fruition.

Mom took a deep breath, "Kids. I know both of you had worked very hard to be a spirit guide, but unfortunately, only one of you will get to be one. But I want you both to open this present from your ancestors who had gifted this especially for you. This will help you do your duty as a spirit guide, for being one is no easy task."

She takes an ancient looking chest about the size of a jewelry box and placed it in front of us. She also hands us a key.

"You unlock it, I open it." I told Zian, he nodded in agreement.

Zian turned the key. It made a clicking sound, signaling it had been unlocked. I slowly opened the chest, heart thumping in anticipation.

"It's..." Zian trailed off.

"...a pocket watch." I finished.

A pocket watch? I tried to hide my disappointment and was also confused. How is this supposed to help us?

"I don't get it." Zian said. "I was expecting it to be a small dagger or something cool like that."

"Human weapons don't work on spirits, and you know that Zian." Mom replied. "And this will surely be useful to you. Perhaps you won't see the reason why this was the very item given to you now, but you will sooner or later."

Dad, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the room, stood up and hugged both of us. "I don't get what your mom is saying either, but you two should trust her. You know me, I'm just the ordinary fellow in our family and I still don't understand these spirit stuff. But I guess... keep safe..."

"We will, Dad."I said, hugging him back. Zian grunts a 'yes'.

"Ok kids. Now it's time for sleep." Mom announced. "Go get ready for bed."

"Wait- already?!" Zian exclaimed, surprised.

I too, was surprised. "You haven't even told us yet who was the chosen spirit guide."

"You will find out in your sleep." Mom winked at us.
"Kids, you do remember what I taught you right? How do spirit guides access the spirit realm?"

Our twin telepathy had worked in that moment. I looked at Zian and he looked back at me.

We both realized what mom meant.

"-In their dreams", we answered in unison.

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A/N:
Finally! I updated!

You guys have no idea how many times I have re-written the plot because I keep changing my mind on how this story is supposed to roll. Lol.

This might be longer than I have expected, but shorter than a typical chapter book I guess.

Let's hope the next chapter won't take forever for me to update.