Erin

Erin is just a simple young boy who wants to do well in school and be liked by his peers. His boisterous twin sister likes to make this very difficult, however. Despite being generally unkind, loud, and obnoxious, Erica has always been the more popular sibling. Erin doesn't resent her whatsoever, but just wishes she could learn to be more thoughtful. Because Erica is always causing trouble, there are constant fights between his family at home. Lately, Erin has noticed his sister leaving the house at unruly hours. He fears she has joined some type of gang and loses sleep worrying over her safety. Tired of not knowing what in the world his sister has been up to, Erin follows her out one night hoping to receive some clarity. Unfortunately, he loses track of her in an abandoned section of their city. While snooping around for clues to where she might have gone, Erin is confronted by a lavishly dressed young man a few years older than himself. The mysterious person asks Erin what he's doing around here, and claims it's very dangerous. He calmly explains he is searching for his twin sister, called Erica, and saw her come this way. The man shakes their head and tells Erin not to worry about his sister, but instead be more cautious of his own safety. Empty handed and deeply confused, Erin heads home... but has the strangest feeling someone is watching him. The next day, Erica punches him in the arm pretty hard and warns him never to follow her out again. All Erin can think to say is "How did you find out?", to which she doesn't respond.

Even though his family is somewhat well off, Erica's lifestyle occasionally goes a little beyond their means. On one occasion, Erica took things a little too far and put her family in the red, causing their father to explode and ultimately kick her out of their home on an autumn evening. Not wanting his son to go after his good-for-nothing twin, their father locked Erin in his room and instructed him to stay home. Obviously, Erin easily escapes not long afterward out his bedroom window, which was on the first floor. He follows a path of his sister's snotty crumpled tissues and finds her at the park downtown, crying her eyes out sitting alone at bench. Just as Erin is about to greet her, a shadowy figure emerges from the trees behind the bench and speaks to her. Upon seeing this person, Erica nearly falls out of her seat and begins to cry harder while pleading to them. Erin is about to emerge from his hiding place and protect her, but as the figure steps into the light of the street lamp, Erin recognizes it as the oddly well-dressed guy from that one night, except now he's in more casual attire. After they exchange a few words she soon calms down and offers him a seat beside her, which he accepts. Erin is barely able to hear their conversation from his position, but can tell that Erica's much happier and even laughing at this point. Not long after, the two stand up and leave together, and Erin follows them while keeping a safe distance. The pair arrive at a slightly shady part of the city, and enter a shabby looking townhouse. About forty five minutes pass and no activity has occurred, so Erin gathers his courage and approaches the door they entered. Before he can knock, the door quietly opens and standing before him is the strange guy. In a hushed tone, the guy tells Erin that his sister is fine and he should just go home and forget about her. Erin is fed up with all this secrecy and pushes past him, and is standing in a plain looking somewhat messy house. Erin asks where Erica is, and the guy points to a closed door. With tears in his eyes and hands unsteady with fear, Erin slowly turns the knob and opens the door, revealing....... ...... his own sister, loudly snoring on a small bed in a plain bedroom.The guy appears behind him and silently shuts the door, and explains that Erica is just a friend from work who said she needed a place to sleep. Unconvinced, Erin insists on sleeping there too, on the floor beside his sister. The guy says he doesn't care and says he has to go back to work anyway, and leaves. The next morning, Erica isn't angry with Erin for following her this time and tells him to go home and forget about her. He protests but she is uncharacteristically quiet and eventually Erin listens and goes home. Months go by and Erin doesn't catch a glimpse of his sister. Everything strange in his life goes back to normal.