Page 1 of VIM Redux 10

Chapter One

“Since when do you have a brother?” James asked Shay.

“Last year,” Shay replied.

“So is he a kid or what?” James asked.

“That’s not possible, James,” Bane answered for him. “But Bastian did tell me a little bit about what happened.”

“Our mother was more than what she seemed. She kept one of us and gave my brother away,” Shay explained. “Then she also had another son. Even our father was in the dark about all of this and when he found out, he had a heart attack in prison.” He went on to tell them some of it...

A year and a half ago...

Elizabeth and Joshua Montross were brought in. They wore chains on their hands and ankles. This was a federal prison and only those who had committed serious felonies were housed here.

Their mother and their father were hustled over and sat down into the heavy chairs at the solid metal table.

The two guards knelt down and shackled one of their ankle chains to the steel ring on the floor. They then stepped back to head over to the door. Standing there, it was their duty not to leave the room without their prisoners.

The couple sat there and stared across the table.

Drew and Shay stared back.

Joshua, their father, looked white in the face and against the orange jumpsuit he wore, it made him look like an actual ghost. He opened his mouth to speak and then he couldn’t seem to utter a word.

Elizabeth looked pale as well but she looked enraged.

Finally, Joshua swung his wide-eyed gaze from the twins and turned to her. “You dirty, rotten bitch.”

Elizabeth was trembling as she replied, “I did what was right for us.”

Joshua looked like he might explode as he tried to reach her.

Leaning away from his lunge, she yelled, “Don’t you touch me!”

The guards looked concerned and moved closer to stand on either side of them.

Joshua had his fists clenched, but he seemed to realize the situation. Lowering his chained hands down to his lap, he stared at Shay and Drew. “Tell me what you know.” His voice rattled with an odd tremble.

The guards now stepped back to the wall behind the prisoners.

“We were born perhaps 20 minutes apart,” Shay answered as his voice ran cold.

“H-how could this be?” Joshua asked.

“Apparently, our mother knows that answer,” Drew replied.

Joshua’s eyes zeroed in on him. “You are not Shay,” he stated and it wasn’t a question.

“No sir, I am not.”

“D-did you have a g-good family? Tell me she didn’t just dump you somewhere?”

A gasp could be heard from Elizabeth. “I did no such thing!”

Joshua couldn’t seem to even look at her as he went on, “All this time there were two of you. How could I have not known?”

“No one did except for our bio mother here,” Shay stated in a cold voice. He stared at his mother and demanded, “Tell us why.”