"*It's been two days since we've moved to this house", said a black haired girl called Julia.

   "So?", asked her twin brother, who had the same shade of hair like his sister, while tapping his phone.

"So?", asked Julia with a roll of her eyes before suggesting, "You know, we should explore that forest." 

   "Juli, you know that mom told us not to go in there", replied her brother, James, his eyes not leaving the screen of his phone.

  "Come on, James. Mom even told us that she used to play in that forest, when she was a child, with her friends before they moved out from here in Los Angeles", reminded Julia while getting up from her couch and walking out to the backyard, which was the entrance forest.

   James too followed his sister's actions and stood beside Julia before reminding, "You know the story, right?"

   Julia rolled her eyes, "That was a long time ago, Jaime. It's the twenty-first century, bro."

   James shooked his head, "I know, Juli. But that does not change the fact that two boys died in there."

   "Jamie, don't be such a coward ***. That incident occurred more than a decade ago. Plus, mom said that the forest does not have any carnivorous animals."

   "Exactly!", exclaimed James , "Maybe, that forest is the home of a psychopath murderer."

   Julia laughed, "Oh, Jamie. You should stop watching those horror and thriller movies. Mom never told us how those boys died, so it could be anything. Maybe they suicided. Or they fell from a large tree.", with that Julia advanced towards the forest while dragging James with her. To her surprise James did not protest and entered the forest with her. 

   "If I die then you are responsible for it.", started James while removing his hand from Julia's grasp and followed her anyways, because even he felt that it's just a normal forest. Those incidents happened many years ago and the reasons of those boys death are still unknown to everyone. Moreover, Julia's statement did make sense to him.

   The forest was dark but specks of light emerged from the bright blue sky, lighting the forest partially. The bed of the forest was caked with leaves, grasses and broken branches. The forest was thick and most of the trees were large and old. The more the twins walked ahead, the more the forest became thicker. It was getting more darker but the lighting was enough for the twins to see. Soon, they were in a clearing where skeletons were hung from the trees that were surrounding the clearings. James tugged on Julia's right sleeve while saying, "Juli, we should leave." 

   Julia nodded but before they could turn around and leave, a very thick masculine voice stopped them by saying, "Not so soon, the Avery Twins."

Julia woke up, panting and sweating heavily, on her bed. One glance at her bedside clock made her realize that it was just three in the morning. “That’s odd,” muttered Julia with furrowed eyebrows as she was never an early riser. However, her thoughts were occupied by the nightmare from which she just woke up. With an anxious heart, she turned her head to the right to look at the large window that showed her the forest. The forbidden forest as she liked to call it because her parents forbade her from going there. Her and her brother because of some ‘supposedly’ lunatic murderer, who killed two boys a long and long and long time ago.

With a sigh, she got up from her bed and walked towards the large window beside her bed. Even though she didn’t like her new house, she absolutely loved her room. The walls of her room were painted black and white, there was a large bookshelf placed beside her bed, in one corner she kept her two identical beloved DVD case holders, the sliding mirror door that was right across from her bed led to her small walk in closet and in the middle of the room, across from the window, there was a wooden swing. She just loved how beautiful her new room turned out to be.

Then came the thought of her starting school here. Both James and her were going to start school from next week until then James and her were allowed to do everything except for wandering into that ‘forbidden’ forest. She still did not understand the point of that. Those boys died a long and long time ago. Even though the locals said that those boys were murdered, Julia refused to believe so. If everyone knew that the murderer lived in the forest then why didn’t they simply ask the police to catch him? Yes, him. According to her neighbors, the murderer is a man. How they knew it, Julia had no idea. Moreover, she was angry at her mom because her mom forbade James and her from wandering into the forest even after the local authorities assured her that the forest was completely safe. They even informed that there has been no such murder case since 1979, the year the two boys were ‘murdered’ in the forest.

However, her mind still kept wandering back to her nightmare. ‘Was it pointing at something?’ thought she before shaking her head and assuring her, ‘Nah, mom and dad were talking about it during dinner. Telling stories to scare James and I. My mind just made up a scenario to scare me. My mind’s a snitch, taking mom and dad’s side.’ A yawn escaped her natural pink lips, causing her to walk back to her bed before laying on it. Another yawn and she knew that she was going to wake up very late in the morning. The last thought before her eyes closed were about the forest.

The very first thing she heard when she woke up was James’ voice singing, “Lately I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep....” He was in the room next to Julia’s so it was difficult for the former one to stop his voice from reaching his sister. Julia groaned as she listened to her brother’s singing practice. She wasn’t angry at James’ singing skills because, even though she hated to admit it, James was an amazing singer. In fact, she was angry at her parents for giving her idiotic brother that room. “They should have shifted him into the garage,” muttered Julia as she struggled to get up from her lying state.

As soon as she was out of her room she banged on the door that led to James’ room. However, it was unheard due to the loud music, causing Julia to shout, “You ***, open the door!” Still it was unheard. Julia thought that he was doing it intentionally so, she kept on banging on the door while shouting curses as she knew her parents were at work.

After what felt like eternity James opened the door before asking angrily, “What?!”

“You have a horrible voice! So, quit singing!” exclaimed Julia angrily.

“Right,” started James with a roll of his eyes before asking, “Weren’t you the one who wanted me to sing on your 12th birthday.”

“Well, I was a kid back then.”

“You are still a kid, dumbass.”

“No, I am a teen.”

“Well, you are a kid to me.”

Julia rolled her eyes before asking, “Is it because you are three and a half minutes older than me?”

James smirked, “Of course.”

Julia was about retort something when their doorbell went off. Julia and James exchanged a look before descending down the stairs and walking up to their front door. Julia was still wearing her nightwear that’s why she let James open the door. As James flung open the door, a blonde girl appeared in the doorway with a cookie jar. She beamed at the twins before saying, “Hey, I am Patricia Peyton, but everyone calls me Pat.”

“*Buying this house and moving in here has nothing to do with that murderer. It was mom’s wish. She was devastated after grandpa and grandma’s deaths so, this is the least we could do.” added Julia with a small smile.

Pat gave the twins an apologizing look before saying, “I am sorry. I really am because sometimes I am just too much.”

James shook his head, “Hey, you didn’t know. It’s okay.”

There was a moment of silence, which was broken by Julia, who asked, “Wanna watch The Simpsons?” Pat nodded, still a bit guilty, while James carried two glasses and the bottle of orange juice before making his way towards the living room. “Hey, it’s okay, Pat.” assured Julia with a smile before handing Pat a plate of Spanish omelette while she carried the other two plates. Even though James already had his breakfast, Julia knew that he would love to have it again so, she prepared omelette for him too.

Little did the trio knew that they would be going through a whole bunch of trouble together, as they sat in the living room and watched The Simpsons while having their Spanish omelette.

“Will you shut up?!” exclaimed Julia as she banged on the door to James’ room.

“Is this becoming an everyday thing?” asked James from inside his room, the music still playing on.

“Yes! Until you learn to let everyone sleep in peace, ***!” shouted Julia over the sound of the music.

“It’s eleven in the morning, lazy-***.!” informed James in a shout as he kept playing his electric guitar before adding, “I think, the whole town is up and doing their jobs.”

Julia huffed, still angry and annoyed, before deciding to head downstairs. Two more days to go before her first year of High School started and she was absolutely dreading it as she wasn’t an early riser. Upon reaching downstairs, she directly headed for the kitchen, quietly humming to herself the song that James was singing and playing loudly. “Boo!” exclaimed someone from Julia’s left as she entered the kitchen.

“Seriously?” asked Julia with a roll of her blue eyes as she saw her father, who was leaning against the kitchen cabinets with his laptop in one hand and his unusual (but cool) coffee mug in the other, before reminding, “I never got scared of these small things, remember?”

“But it was worth a try.” replied Jonathan Avery, Julia and James’ father, before taking a sip of his coffee.

Julia sighed before giving her father a quick hug and walking away towards the fridge. She began to gather all the ingredients needed for making pancakes before placing them on the kitchen counter. While cracking the eggs she asked, “Why aren’t you at work, dad?”

“Received a call from the hospital. Apparently, there has been some electrical problems. They called off work today for our safety.” answered Jonathan as he sat on one of the stools surrounding the kitchen counter and opened his laptop before starting to type on it at light speed.

Julia sighed and began to mix pancake batter for three people. Remember, they all are foodies? As she placed the frying pan over the stove, James entered the kitchen, his phone in hand, before declaring, “Someone from our new school is having a party tonight. Pat just included us in.”

“Wow, party before the school even started?” asked Jonathan, his eyes quizzically fixed on James, before adding with a smile, “Sounds pretty great, actually.”

James took a seat while nodding his head and saying, “I know right. It’s amazing. At least, I won’t be a newbie on my first day of Senior High.”

Julia nodded, “That’s going to be a relief, actually.”

“When’s it?” asked Jonathan, his eyes back on his laptop.

“Pat texted that she will be here at four.” answered James while scrolling through his phone.

Jonathan nodded, “Good. Just be back before your curfew.”

Julia rolled her eyes, “Well, you never let us forget this. Do you?”

“What?” asked Jonathan with a chuckle before quickly adding, “It’s for your own good, Your Highness.”

“You know, it’s weird. You call her, Your Highness, and you call me, Darth Vader. When it should be the other way around.” stated James, his eyes still on his phone screen, with a frown.

Julia smirked, “Told you. I am his favorite.”

James rolled his eyes, “Well, at least, I am Mum’s favorite.”

Before Julia could say anything Jonathan warned, “You both better not start this war to distract me from work. Again.”

The twins exchanged a look with each other before bursting out with laughter as they got caught by their father. Jonathan just shook his head, but a small smile still caked his face as he began to check his e-mails. After a few minutes, Julia served her father a plate of pancakes then, served the next batch of pancakes to James. “You are going to do the dishes.” said Julia as she sat down with her plate of pancakes while pointing her fork at James, who just ignored her and kept on eating, causing Julia to do the same.

Later that day, right at 4 p.m. Pat, who was wearing a short black dress, was present in the Avery house to take the twins with her to one of her close friends’ party. Both, Julia and James were excited even though, their mother, Josephine Avery (nee. Collins), was hesitant about it. She said, “I have a feeling that you are going to sneak into the forest with bunch of your new friends.” It took the twins and Pat about an hour to convince Josephine to let them go to the party.

So, at last, there they were at Pat’s friend, Bonnie Stone's place. She was a very lovely brunette, who loved partying whenever her parents were out of town. She went to the same school as Pat and the twins so, it was a win-win for the twins to get the chance to party and make friends from their new school. After a while, James was right in the middle of the school’s Rockers, animatedly talking about some new songs he had been trying to play, whereas Julia was being dragged around by Pat to meet her group of friends. This said group contained people, who were the Drifters so, they mingled with almost everyone and no one at the same time.

While pointing at a blonde girl, who was wearing a t-shirt dress, Pat said to Julia, “This is Angelica Coopers. She has an amazing taste in art and fashion. Plus, she's an amazing listener.” Then, she pointed at a ginger guy while saying, “This is Fabian Williams and just know that he is British and extremely helpful with home works.” Then, she pointed at brunette guy with long hair, “This is Ian Harp. He has a good taste in movies and he’s a drummer.” Then, she pointed at a girl, who was wearing a button up shirt dress, with ombre green hair before saying, “She’s Emily Jefferson. Has relationship advises and knows almost all the gossips of the whole school. Oh, and she did PhD in boys.” At last, she pointed at a muscular guy with dark hair, “And this is Derek Hope, but don’t rely on his name because he has zero hope for anything, except for football.” Then, she pointed at Julia, who was wearing a simple red dress with long black boots, before introducing her to the group by saying, “And people, this is Julia Avery, the girl whose backyard leads to the forbidden forest.” Julia rolled her eyes with a smile before waving at the five new people in front of her.

“Heard a lot about you and your brother from this crazy one here.” said Derek while sticking his right hand out to Julia and gesturing to Pat.

Julia shook Derek’s hand while saying with a smirk, “Obviously you did. I’m just that fascinating to be gossiped about.”

The group laughed while Pat just rolled her eyes. When their laughter died down, Angelica stated, “I like you, Julia.”

“Of course you do.” replied Julia with a cheeky smile before informing, “But I do need something to drink.”

After getting some punch and talking with Pat and her group, Julia began to walk around with Emily, who was updating her with her new school's gossips. According to Emily, as Julia was going to start her Senior High she should keep updates on her fellow classmates. Julia so wanted to say, ‘I don’t give a damn.’, but she kept on listening to Emily for Pat’s sake. After a while, Fabian and Angelica came to her rescue as the former one said to Emily in his thick British accent, “Hey, Derek wanted to play beer pong with you.” Apparently, Emily was a fan of beer pong because she instantly vanished upon hearing the news, making the two laugh while Julia stood there confused.

“Sorry, she can be a bit...... annoying with her gossips.” apologized Angelica while flashing Julia an apologetic look before adding, “Thanks Heavens, Fabian noticed your bored look.”

Julia laughed before lying, “I wasn’t bored, just mildly confused.”

Fabian smirked, “You are a bad liar, do you know that?”

Julia, who looked sheepish now, asked, “Was that so obvious?” Angelica and Fabian shared a look before nodding their heads furiously, making Julia say, “I hope Emily didn’t notice it.”

Angelica waved her hand dismissingly, “Don’t worry. She was too oblivious talking about everyone.”

“You mean, gossiping.” corrected Fabian with a smirk.

“Opps.” replied Angelica, making Fabian and Julia laugh.

Julia spent the rest of the time in socializing with everyone while James kept on talking with the schools’ Rockers. By the time the twins and Pat decided to leave, the Rockers were already done with inviting James to their next rehearsal. Julia, on the other hand, became really good friends with Angelica and Fabian as she didn’t get any time to talk with Derek and Dakota, who were busy playing beer pong. Though, Julia was looking forward to talk to Ian after hearing that he had a good taste in movies, but Ian was busy talking with a bunch of Thespians even though, he wasn’t one.

Julia and James made it to their home just five minutes before their curfew so, upon entering they saw their mother sitting in the living room, waiting for them to get home. “We arrived before curfew.” stated James quickly.

“And we didn’t go to the forest, mum.” added Julia, honestly.

Josephine eyed them suspiciously before saying, “Go to your rooms and freshen up. Dinner’s in the fridge.”

Even though, their mother was strict the twins just loved her so much as she also had a cool side, which she showed rarely. However, Julia and James did have a fair amount of share for Josephine’s strictness as the twins were way too much mischievous. Their first victim of most of their pranks was Josephine so, it’s fair that she keeps her children in check. Unlike Josephine, Jonathan was way too much carefree. He gave his children independence, bought them Xbox and the latest games and even some pranking kits. Sometimes he even assisted them in some of their pranks. Though, you can’t blame him because he just wanted his kids to live and enjoy their lives, something he couldn't do because of his aim.