Page 1 of Unlocked

Chapter 1

Jamison

Eight years old

“Come outside and play catch with me,” Jonathan begs from the doorway as he pushes a brown lock of hair from his eyes. He’s rolling a battered baseball back and forth between both hands.

“I’d prefer not,” I reply to him as I flip the page of my book. I stole it from Aunt Greta’s bookshelf last month and have read it at least ten times. She has an entire shelf with her “special” books that she lets none of us children touch. I regularly sneak in and switch out my books after finishing them. I’m careful to keep a children’s book close by whenever I am reading so she doesn’t catch me. My current book is a Stephen King novel calledThe Dark Half. I rarely reread a book this many times, but the storyline is quite fascinating.

I look up at my twin, who still hasn’t left the doorway, and ponder what it would have been like if one of us absorbed the other in utero. Maybe if Jonathan had absorbed me, he would have been adopted a long time ago. Aunt Greta doesn’t say it, but I know it’s true. I’ve overheard the many potential parents who come by in hopes of adopting children here. And I’ve listened to her on the phone, telling others she’s ‘not sure’ about me. A memory sucks me in from just a few weeks before.

“We had another couple come by this week,” Aunt Greta says over the phone. “They loved Jonathan, but his brother…well, they couldn’t understand how identical twins could be so different.” She sighs and nods before continuing, “He’s been like this since they landed on our front steps as newborns. He never smiled or laughed. He never even cried!” She goes silent while listening to the other person speak. “I can’t split them up. The couple asked, and I denied them, so they chose that little boy Jeremy instead. At this point, I’m assuming they will stay here forever. You know how hard it is to find families willing to take children after age five. They are well past that already.”

I’m jolted out of my memory by the feel of my mattress dipping. Jonathan stares at me with his bright blue eyes, the only difference in our looks. While his are bright and blue like the sky, mine are deep blue like the ocean's darkest depths.

“Where did you go?” he asks me quietly.

“Nowhere,” I reply, eyeing the ball he is still fidgeting with. “You don’t even have a glove.”

“I found some in a bin out in the shed earlier today. I think they were left here last week. Aunt Greta said we could have them. Please play with me. All the other kids are too small and they don’t throw right." He pouts as he pushes his lip out.

I roll my eyes before carefully sticking a small paper in my book to mark my spot.

“Fine,” I say as I push off the bed, making Jonathan jump up. I lift my mattress and slide the book under it to hide it from Aunt Greta. “One hour, and then you leave me be for the rest of the day.”

My twin smiles wide before yanking me out the door and down the rickety steps of our orphanage. I follow him outside, and we make our way over to the grassy area farther away from the house. We begin to throw the baseball back and forth. Afew minutes pass before we hear a car coming down the long dirt road to our home. I see a sleek black car pull right up by the front steps. Aunt Greta runs down the steps of our house, looking extremely flustered, before stopping in front of the car. A man and woman both step out and around to the front of the car before stopping in front of Aunt Greta.

“Who do you think they are?” my brother asks curiously. “They look rich.”

“I’m not sure,” I reply as I gaze at them. The man is wearing a suit, and the woman is wearing a pretty flowy dress that hangs just below her knees. I see the jewelry flash on her fingers, ears, and wrist. My brother is correct. They do look rich. The question is, why are they here at an orphanage? Aunt Greta always lets us know ahead of time if a prospective family will be showing up. I break my gaze from the couple just in time to catch the ball my brother throws at me.

“Sorry." he says when he sees me glare at him. “I thought you were ready!”

A few more minutes pass, and the couple still hasn’t moved from where they are standing with Aunt Greta.

“We should go over there,” Jonathan says as he walks up to me. “Maybe they will like us? We could live in a giant house and ride in a cool car like that.”

“I doubt they will want us. They are probably here hoping to get a little girl. I bet that woman already has a closet full of princess dresses ready to go.”

“Whatever." he says before taking off towards the couple. I stroll over, giving my twin plenty of time to talk to the friendly couple before I show up andscarethem away. He is speaking animatedly about his baseball by the time I get there. The couple both smile at him while he talks.

“And who is this?” The woman asks as I approach.

“This is my brother, Jamison,” Jonathan replies.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I say, shaking her and her husband’s hands. The woman furrows her brow and looks towards Aunt Greta, who coughs a little before muttering. “Jamison has a high vocabulary. He reads a lot.”

“Well, that is wonderful." the man says as he rubs his wife’s back. “Isn’t that, honey?”

A look of disgust crosses the woman’s face, causing me to narrow my eyes. Jonathan looks at me with pleading eyes. He doesn’t need to speak a word and I know what he is saying. My heart sinks a bit. I’m the reason my brother doesn’t live in a fancy home with a mom and a dad. I don’t want to, but I force a smile onto my face. It feels foreign and fake, and I know I’m not fooling the woman because she doesn’t smile back. The man does, though. He beams at me. His large white teeth shine brightly as he squeezes his wife’s shoulder.

“They are perfect." he says to Aunt Greta, and her eyes widen.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see other children before you decide?” Aunt Greta asks.

The man looks at his wife, who stares at me and then at my brother while biting her bottom lip. I don’t like the way she looks at Jonathan. She seems hungry, as if she might devour him any second. The smile from my face drops and I’m ready to grab my brother and run, but the pleading look on his face stops me. He wants this so badly. He wants a family. I don’t need anyone but him, but Jonathan…I know he needs more.

The woman looks at her husband and nods.

---