1 Chapter 1

"Veronica Louise! Get down here now!" Ronnie winced as she heard that ear-piercing screech from downstairs and once again wondered how her twin sister managed to sleep through it. They shared a bedroom which was barely big enough for one of them and Ronnie often slept on the floor because of this. She sighed and looked in the mirror to make sure her hair was covering her eye. Both Stephanie and Veronica had a rare condition called heterochromia which caused their left eye to be brown and their right eye to be coloured. Ronnie's was red and Steph's was blue, the only difference looks wise between the two sisters. Ronnie had learned the hard way that people didn't like things that were different and had since encouraged her sister to hide her eye. However despite looking almost identical they were very different from one another. Stephanie was outgoing, an optimist and the sweetest girl you had ever met. However Ronnie was serious and despite only being 17 felt it was her duty to protect her sister no matter what that meant for her. Ronnie was about to leave when Steph began to toss and turn in her bed, arching her back as if in pain, her face frozen in a look of terror, eyes tight shut. A blue streak appeared in her hair and she let out a small whimper as ice began to cover her bed and the walls around her. Her and Steph both had certain abilities that allowed them to manipulate a particular 'element'. Ronnie, fire and Steph, ice.

When Ronnie was nine years old in a particularly bad foster home she lost her temper with her "carer" and lunged at him. She looked down and saw that where she'd touched him were scorching burn marks and she quickly ran and locked herself in the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and her left eye was red. She cried out and fell backwards, her hand brushing the toilet paper setting it on fire. The next day the twins were kicked out of their foster home for the first time but Ronnie never told Steph why.

A few years later Steph was sleeping and started to freak out. Ronnie was woken up when Steph started crying and immediately ran to see if she was ok. Steph screamed and ice started to cover her bed. Ronnie went to wake her but when she touched the ice it burnt her and she pulled her hand away. She comforted her sister as best she could and gradually the ice began to recede back to Steph's hands.

Ronnie rushed to her sisters side flinching slightly as the ice hit her, by this point she had gotten used to the pain and could push through it to help her sister. She combed her hands through Steph's hair gently. "Shhh it's ok... It's ok." Stephanie began to relax and the blue streak in her hair disappeared. Once she was sound asleep again, Ronnie waited for the pain to go away and got up and headed towards their bedroom door, pausing to look back at her twin, suddenly peaceful again and happy...

"VERONICA!" Ronnie rolled her eyes and quietly shut her bedroom door to muffle the shouting for her sleeping sister. She looked over the banister to the hall below where, as expected, stood their current 'guardian'. Barbara Hodge was not a pleasant woman and was definitely not as attractive as she thought she was. Her face was plastered with make up and she wore heels in attempt to appear tall. Despite this Ronnie still towered above her. Ronnie walked down the stairs slowly keeping eye contact as Barbara waited. When she reached the bottom she stopped hands on her hips.

"What do you want now?" She mumbled through gritted teeth.

"You haven't done your chores," Barbara screeched, her face writhing in anger at Ronnie's relaxed nature.

"Yeah, so?" Barbara's face grew red even through the various layers of makeup.

"How dare you!" She screamed. "I put a roof over your head and feed you. So when I ask you to do something, you do it!" Ronnie cocked an eyebrow sceptically, desperately trying to stay calm. Ronnie tended to have problems controling her anger and as a result would often give in to her power.

"I told you, I will do my chores when you feed everyone," she snarled.

"Carry on like that and you'll be the only one who doesn't eat!" Barbara cried triumphantly. Ronnie thought for a second then shrugged.

"As long as Steph gets fed I really don't care," she stated. Barbara looked like she was about to explode and Ronnie laughed. Barbara narrowed her eyes and took a breath.

"You and can take that wretched sister of yours and find another place to stay," She warned. "That brat doesn't deserve food." Ronnie closed her eyes. She was breathing heavily and could feel the anger welling up inside of her. She opened her eyes again and looked at the vile woman in front of her. She could kill her so easily if she wanted to. Barbara took a step back her eyes suddenly wide.

"You- your eye..." She stuttered. "It's red."

"Shit," Ronnie muttered and looked away. She suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Barbara by the throat, ramming her into the wall. In her free hand a small ball of fire danced between her fingertips and she smiled at it.

"Never come near me or my sister again or you will regret it," she said her voice low and threatening. Ronnie had become very good at scaring people living in the foster homes and she knew it. She brought her hand closer to Barbara and she flinched away from it.

"Ronnie?" Ronnie let go of her and froze. Barbara fell to the floor and desperately tried to catch her breath and stand up but with little result. Ronnie turned around slowly her eye already returned to its usual colour.

"Stephanie!" she said as brightly as she could. Stephanie sighed and walked over to her sister.

"Ronnie you've got to stop this." Ronnie winced and looked away.

"How much of that did you see?" She asked.

"I didn't see much but I heard everything," Steph replied.

"Oh thank god" Ronnie breathed. Steph didn't yet know of her abilities and Ronnie had hidden them from her since they were five years old when Ronnie had discovered her own.

"Get out!" Barbara screamed at them, finally catching her breath.

"But I-" Steph started.

"No! I don't want you or that freak anywhere near me!" She panted. Tears came to Steph's eyes as she rushed out of the room and Ronnie followed, hating herself for letting Steph see that. Ronnie was normally the one who broke the news of them having to move again to Steph. She caught up to Steph just before she went into their room.

"Hey, it's going to be ok," She whispered. "Just over a year and then we can move into our own place."

"We could never afford that," Steph sighed.

"Look I didn't want to tell you this but I've been saving up all my money from my job and I can afford a few months rent on a cheap flat," Ronnie smiled as her sisters face lit up.

"Really?"

"Of course, I would never lie to you."

"But what would we do after you're money runs out?" Steph asked.

"It won't. I'm going to get a better job and now that you know we can use you're money as well, if that's ok." Ronnie winced as she said this as she hated asking her sister for anything. Steph put an arm on her shoulder and Ronnie looked at her.

"Yes! I just wish you would have told me sooner," She replied. "Come on let's go pack up our stuff."