Chapter 1 Carter

I glared at my twin sister, Mattie, as she casually, yet loudly sipped her large soda. Why did she have to be so loud at everything she did?

"Do you have to do that so loudly?" I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do what?" Mattie looked up from her drink a few seconds to listen to me.

"Never mind." I didn't like talking to begin with and I especially didn't like repeating myself.

I took a small sip of my own mug of apple cider, letting the drink warm my insides. I felt the burdens of school melt away. There were two reasons I always came to this cafe, the "Inkling". One, the apple cider. Two, the place happened to be run by my parents.

The place always seemed to have a vibrant and cozy atmosphere, but most of all it was a place for lovers of words, as my mother put it. Excerpts of poetry and famous books were stenciled on the walls and on all of the cups. At every table there was a mug filled with assorted pencils and pens, accompanied by a notepad. Two or three antique bookshelves were reserved for classic literature and poetry.

Naturally, this place was heaven for writers, poets and the like. Mattie and I could be considered part of that population. I wanted to be a writer and she wanted to be a poet or a songwriter. Our mother, Nim O'Hara, was a journalist at one time and still retained her love of written language. Somehow, with a few mixed-up genes, she passed on her passion to us. When I say mixed-up, I mean it completely skipped over our older brother, Elliot. He was more into music and stuff of the sort.

"Hey, Carter? What was our homework in Language Arts? I forgot." Mattie tapped my hand.

"Read your assigned book and write a book report for it. Yours was Anne of Green Gables." I muttered without looking up from my drink. Why was I supposed to remember everything for her? She was just too scatter-brained for her own good.

"Oh. What book did you get?"

"Phantom of the Opera. Pity. I already read it." I sighed. This happened all the time. I tried telling my teacher that, but he never seemed to believe me, though why I didn't know. I'd seen him here a few times and each time I had been sifting through the bookshelves for a good book or I was already reading something. He and my mother were good friends too, so he must have realized it by now.

"Could you help me with mine? I can't really understand all the big words." Mattie cocked her head to the side, making her slightly wavy dirty blonde hair fall to one side and her rimmed glasses slide off

"You're saying you want me to dumb it down for you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that's a strong term, but yes." Mattie's bright blue eyes widened as her face formed into a pout.

"I'm not a dictionary." I grumbled under my breath.

"Okay, okay, Miss Grumpy-pants. I'll go ask Mom what they mean." Mattie sat up and slid out of our booth and walked towards the kitchen where Mom was most likely baking something.

As soon as she got out of her seat, I saw a group of strange looking men enter the café, setting of the bell that hung above the door. They looked pretty foreign and their clothes looked like they were a century old. Were they roleplayers? I didn't hear anything about a reenactment going on… They looked like they had just stepped out of a time machine coming from the 19th century.

"This is seems like a good enough place for a meeting. What do you think, London?" One of the men, who was wearing a heavy wool trench coat, spoke in a French accent, obviously addressing one of his companions.

"Yes, I think it will serve us just well, Phantom." Another man nodded, though he had a British accent.

"I see nothing but darkness and death…" A man with a depressing aura mumbled.

"That's what you always see, Raven! Why don't you lighten up?" The fourth man chuckled and patted the depressed man's back heartily.

The group took the booth right in front the one I was sitting at. I could see their faces clearly now. The men's faces looked vaguely familiar. Maybe from a book or something?

"I'm back, Carter! I have a dictionary this time!" Mattie chimed as she slid back into her seat.

"Why didn't you get one in the first place?" I exhaled.

"Too lazy." Mattie twisted around to get a look at the men behind her. "I didn't know they were having a convention in town."

"There isn't." I muttered.

"Then roleplayers?"

"I don't think so?"

"They have cosplay groups for historical figures?" Mattie cocked her head in confusion.

"Of course not. I don't know who they are, but I know they would appreciate if we weren't gossiping about them behind their back." I hissed, making sure the other men were out of earshot.

"Oh… right." She mumbled sheepishly. "I guess there is just a time machine somewhere." She chuckled.

"You watch too much science fiction. They are probably just from far away and aren't caught up with how we dress around here." I explained, even though I wasn't exactly sure if that was what I thought. It was definitely strange. Most of the weirdos usually went elsewhere to do… whatever weirdos do.

Maybe these guys were an exception.

A/N: What can I say? I like the name Carter.