“Stop giggling girls!” Mom yelled.
She was driving us to our new home. We pointed at the statue, mom was clearly outraged. What kind of residential neighbourhood has the statue of naked twins on a main street? Mom parked the car on our driveway and settled us in our room upstairs. She opened our bedroom window and we looked at each other with a glint of mischief in our eyes, we had a direct view of a pair of butts. Mom gave us the usual “you dare not” look and went downstairs to call dad. We could faintly hear the argument they were having about the statue. You see, this was our first house together, as a family, my dad had selected it but mom was clearly not pleased.
Mom was from a conservative family, with an IT job, she couldn’t digest much of the arty stuff that my dad loved. But they were happy together. My dad argued that the statue was older than our neighbourhood and had some historic significance. But all my mom could see was the view of naked butts from her girls’ bedroom window. While my father spent time in his studio space my mother decided to try and get the statue removed.
Lily and I enjoyed the statue very much. We’d make up puns and try to throw paper balls aiming at various “interesting” portions of the statue. We quickly became popular in our class partly because we were fun and we came in a pair; and partly due to the location of our house near the statue. Our new friends were intrigued by our inventive games grounded on the statue. Lily and I decided to humour their curiosity by inviting them for a sleepover. Our parents were happy to find us adjusting well to the new surroundings and their tensions seemed to dissolve a little.
The sleepover was going well with sharing our usual games and jokes, until someone asked for horror stories as per the sleepover tradition. Our friend Safiya seemed to be taken aback a little which we assumed was because she was a scaredy cat. So, we decided to nudge her to tell us a story instead. Safiya hesitantly asked “Do you know the myth of the statue of the evil twins?”
We didn’t know the twins were “evil” and we laughed. “Nice try Safiya!” But the rest of our group was silent as well confirming what Safiya had said.
Safiya went on, “My Grandma belongs to this town, she tells me to not take this route because of the statue.”
Lily and I looked at our friends in disbelief. “Apparently, the statue has a sacrificial podium underneath the landscaping that the city council did a few years ago.” Bailey chimed in.
“And, isn’t it strange that the previous family which bought this house also had twins?” Uma looked enquiringly at everyone.
“Yes, my Grandma says it is cursed. She could only remember families with twins occupying this house. She says that as a pattern the girl dies and the boy goes mad.” Bailey dropped the bomb.
“But me and Lila are both girls, so the myth doesn’t hold up in our case.” Lily quickly shut the story down.
Lily could sense my discomfort without me saying anything. Its probably a twin thing. But I was disturbed by the revelation for a different reason. You see, I had a secret. I had not told anyone, not even Lily. I have felt like a boy from the inside for a very long time. I was waiting for my family to be together to muster enough courage to come out.
That night Lily slept in my bed and held me tight. I knew she couldn’t sleep either.
A few days passed without much of an incident. We had become quieter and our usual games involving the statue came to a holt. We hardly ever opened the window curtains. In the meantime, our mom had failed in all of her attempts to get the statue removed. She found her own peace by putting up planters on the side facing our house, effectively hiding their butts.
As things settled, I decided to come out to my family. Lily was supportive and I felt like she already knew. My dad was shocked but supportive. My mom seemed a bit disappointed. I wanted my mom’s support the most, but her silence just made me angry. I didn’t want to raise my voice. I walked out to sit on the street bench near our house until I cooled down. It was dark and for the first time, I felt scared of the statue. I couldn’t tell what it was, the air felt heavy and it felt darker. I knew in my gut that the twins knew about me and were plotting to take Lily away. By the time, Lily had come outside to pacify me and take me back. What would I do without her?
That day, I was walking back from school with Safiya. Lily was not well. I parted ways with Safiya on the street before reaching my house. I was alone near the statue again, at sundown. I saw the front of the statue, for the first time, clearly. I couldn’t make out the gender of the twins by looking at them. Their genitals seemed to be both female and male at the same time. Their bodies neither had distinct male or female features. I freaked a little especially because Lily was not there with me and decided to rush homewards. Thats when I heard giggles and whispers from behind. I ignored it and walked towards our driveway. I felt like somebody had thrown a tiny stone at me from behind. I turned around and there was no-one.
“Lily, I know it is you! I swear I’ll tell mom that you are not sick!” I shouted. Nobody responded. I turned my head towards the statue and in my peripheral vision I could see one of the twins in the statue turning its head back to its original state. I ran inside and locked the door. Lily was asleep in our room. She was running a high fever.
I fell ill by the night. After school Safiya came home to share the homework with us. I was feeling a little better and decided to go downstairs to meet her.
“Is Lily alright?” This was her first question. She handed me a protective charm from her Grandma and asked me to tie it on Lily’s left ankle. “You must sleep in a different room, where they cannot look at you directly.” She added discreetly. My mom fed her snacks, oblivious of our exchange, while I sat there in a knowing shock.
I didn’t question anything at this point. I did as she told. Lily was better by the next day.
Luckily, after a few days, my mom was offered a job in another city and our family decided to shift there.
I decided to visit Safiya’s Grandma before we left, to thank her in person. She told me the stories she knew about the statue. Apparently, this statue had been there even before she was born. She knew five other families who had occupied the property before us. First four had twins, one girl, one boy, who experienced the fate that Safiya had revealed at the sleepover. The last family had twin boys, who are still alive to her knowledge. At the time, people had started finding dead animals and birds with their heads chopped, in pairs, at the podium below the statue. The town authorities suspected animal sacrifice but the investigation didn’t yield much success. As the frequency of the nuisance went on increasing, the Council literally decided to bury the problem, the podium beneath the statue, with a landscaped grass mound. The incidents stopped for a while and then the family moved away. The house had been empty for several years now. Since, it is a cul-de-sac with a single house on the end, nobody ventures near. But sometimes, passerby find dead animals, notice unexplained movement or hear whispers and giggles while walking by the statues.
I thanked her and our luck before biding goodbye.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
We shifted to an apartment in a big city. I found a doctor to help me with the transition. Mom and dad were happier. We made new friends. Everything was great but Lily got sick a few weeks ago, doctors don’t know why. And now, I keep hearing whispers. I think I am hallucinating but they seem so real. They ask me for the blood of a pair of humans in exchange for Lily’s life….