It's been a month since moving to Oregon. Everything seemed at peace and falling into place as my family adjusted into the new home. I was out on the beach today with my siblings. The sun was shining above brightly as I had a hold of Andrew by the neck. "I don't know how many times i gotta kick your ass" I chuckled as i threw my weight into it and pushed him to the ground. "We might be twins, but you can't ignore the fact im stronger than you" I said in his ear.

Andrew huffed, and finally tapped out. "I dont know how you do it, you're the laziest person i know"

Alexander and Warren then came up to us with smiles on their faces. "So Alexei still kicking your ass?" They asked in unison. Alexander looked to me and waved me over. "Ready for a real fight sister?"

I have been waiting for my chance to take on Alexander or Warren, so i jumped up to my feet, adrenaline already running through my veins. "I'm ready when you are"

"So cocky for someone whose only won against her twin brother" Alexander said as he got into his stance.

Everyone gathered to watch, Cassius sat next to Andrew and gave me a large smile and nodded. Besides Andrew, Cassius always was on my side.

I got into stance and stared Alexander down, my long red hair tied back into a pony tail, i'm a lot shorter than Alexander by several inches where he stood 6 feet tall i was only 5 feet 4 inches. 'Remember to use his weight against him' I heard my brother quipped in my mind.

Soon before i could reply Alexander darted straight to me, and he was very fast even though his built was bigger. I recoiled back for a moment, then as Alexander approached i slid beneath him and jumped on his back and pushed him farther into the direction he was going and let inertia take care of the rest making Alexander fall to the sand.

Alexander let out a small grunt and turned around, his rebound abilities were significant as he grabbed my foot and yanked it from under me and i quickly fell, hitting my head against the sand and then Alexander was on top pining me to the ground. "Out for the count so soon?"

Cassius jumped to his feet. "C'mon Alexei, you can kick his ass"

I took a deep breath, then kicked my legs and managed to break Alexanders grip and pushed him off of me. We collided where i managed to get around his shoulders and into a choke hold. Something inside of me suddenly told me to stop. It was yelling inside my head. Making my head pound. The feeling i had when we first moved here came back. Someone was here. I quickly let go of Alexander, and for some odd reason he too looked about the beach. Both Warren and Andrew got to their feet. "Someone is coming" I said, not realizing i said it out loud.

We all peered down the beach and saw a group of people walking a long the shoreline. It just looked like a simple family to me, but something felt off about them. It was the same exact feeling she had on the balcony. It sent shivers up my body. When they all looked at us they smiled, and looked a little surprise to see us.

A woman, looks to be at least 20, strolled over. She had long black raven hair and honeyed brown eyes. "We're sorry to intrude, we didn't realize people came to this part of the beach." She said. "You must be the Taylor family that just moved in, that house has been vacant for years." She turned to the other strangers with her. "We're the native tribe here, and our land is just that way" she gestured down the beach. "I'm Briar, and these are my siblings, Larkin, Augustus, and Oliver" she gestured down the line of strangers.

I narrowed my eyes and suddenly felt very agitated, i looked down the line of people as Briar introduced them. Briar seems rather friendly, she also seems like more of a mother than a sister to this batch. I could feel the protective attitude she gave off as she talked. Larkin looked to be about 17 with dark brown hair and the same golden honeyed eyes, she just waved but no words of introduction. My eyes wandered over to Augustus, who matched my eye contact. He was rather tall, with jet black hair that held the salt from the sea. Looking at him made my heart thump loudly. He smiled kindly at me and walked forward when he was introduced. I found it hard to break contact.

"Yeah we just moved in" Alexander's voice broke my concentration. He then shook hands with Briar and gave her a smile. "We just moved here from Florida, this is my brother Warren, Cassius, and those two are Andrew and Alexei" He said as he introduced each one of us.

Briar looked a little surprised. "Two sets of twins? Your poor mother" She joked, and everyone chuckled.

"Well, actually, all of us but Cassius was adopted" Warren stated as he stood next to his brother.

As they all began to chatter among themselves, i found myself walking away. Something inside me was mad, was irritated, like these strangers did something against me when they didn't do anything at all. My body felt hot as i found myself standing in the ocean, the brisk water lapping my bare feet. Andrew walked behind me. "Everything okay?" He asked, but i knew he felt the same confusing feelings as i did. I sighed deeply as i watched the waves lap at my feet.

"Sorry we crashed your party" A voice of honeyed silk met my ears and i turned to see Augustus walking towards us.

I looked to Andrew and shrugged. "it's no problem at all, I just didn't think we'd see anyone here since its summer vacation" I said as i turned to him. Augustus looked into my eyes "Woah... you're eyes.." he stumbled over his words.

I laughed "Its a genetic condition" i stated and smiled, the feeling of agitation melted away. "It's called heterochromia iridis"

Augustus broke eye contact and looked to his feet. "Sorry.. i know that, i've just never seen it quiet extreme like yours. I mean you have two completely different eye colors" He took a step closer and looked into my eyes again. I could feel warmth radiation all over him, and it sent sparks through my entire body. "One green eye, that matches emeralds, and one blue eye that looks like i'm staring into an ocean"

I blushed slightly and took a step back. "Well thank you" I said slightly flustered and shot Andrew a look, but he was snickering at me.

"C'mon Augustus, we gotta go back" Briar called from the group as they started to walk away.

Augustus looked at me and smiled. "I hope we can become friends" He said and then rushed off to join his family. They soon disappeared from the beach, almost feeling like they were never there.

"So strange" I muttered while looking at Andrew. "We should be heading back soon anyways, it's almost dinner time"

We all gathered our things and began trudging back through the woods up to our house. It was a pretty far walk, but for me, being in the forest felt like i was missing something i never knew i had. I felt the rocks and dirt underneath my shoes and took a breath of fresh air. "Is it weird on how this place feels more like home than any other place?" I asked out loud, looking between my siblings.

"I know right? Its so comforting" Andrew agreed, looking to Warren and Alexander who shared the same slightly worried look between each other.

"I've always loved dense forests" Alexander said after a few moments of silence. "For some people being out here gives you a sense of clarity, for others not so much"

We ended up walking the rest of the way in silence, besides the conversation Andrew in I were having with out mind link. 'So you liking Augustus huh?' the thought to me jokingly, an amuzed smile appeared on his mouth after i hit him in the shoulder.

'Oh shut up, they're interesting, and not just him either, they all were kinda weird, but in a good way' i thought back and shook my head, but i couldn't help but linger on the thought of Augustus. Maybe being a native tribe is what gives them a weirdly comforting vibe that i couldn't quite place, but it was nice to be able to meet some like-minded people. I was never much for city and city life, but here i felt more free. 'To learn from them would be wonderful to me.

We finally reached the house and our father sat on the back porch, having some coffee and reading the paper. He must have just gotten off work from the police department for he was still wearing his uniform. "Had a good day at the beach?" He asked as he saw all of us approach the house.

"Yeah, we also met some of the tribe members you told us about" Warren stated as he sat down in a chair next to James. "They seemed pretty cool"

James nodded and smiled. "Well im glad, they're very wonderful people, they sent me a house warming gift at work today"

As the older siblings sat down to talk, Andrew and I headed inside to see if Eliza needed any help. "What's for dinner?" I asked as i entered the kitchen but saw on the counter several pizza boxes.

"Well obviously we're having pizza" Elizabeth said in a monotone voice, not breaking her concentration on washing some dishes.

I looked to Andrew and could tell he felt the same awkwardness. It was never easy around our adopted mother, it always seemed, at least to me, that she regretted adopting us in. I soon slid next to Elizabeth and grabbed the dish from her hand gently and began washing the dishes. "Don't worry, we got it, you just go eat and relax" I said with a smile.

Elizabeth smiled softly and went to dry her hands and grab a cleaned plate "Well i go better tell the others dinner is ready whenever" She said as she walked away towards the back door.

Soon everyone was settling around, joking around, and stuffing their faces with pizza.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lied awake that night, tossing and turning and unable to sleep. The sounds of the forest is always louder at night. I kept picturing Augustus, the way he looked at me. I sat up from bed, giving up on trying to sleep. I looked over to my phone that read 1:15 AM on it and I sighed and kicked the covers off. I wandered out to the balcony, looking at the tree line. Quiet howls and hoots could be heard and the rustling of the trees as a breeze ran through them. I took a full breath of fresh air and sighed deeply, things felt weird but calm at the same time.

The forest still called to me, it felt like it was almost begging me to come in. I looked off in the direction of Andrew's bedroom, and I could tell he was sleeping peacefully; and I did something i've never done. I left him sleeping while I walked downstairs quietly and went into the back yard. I strolled up to the forest tree line, and grazed my finger tips along the bark of a red oak. The cool earthy ground felt comforting below my feet as I closed my eyes. Taking everything around me in.

"Lexei, what are you doing?" I heard Cassius's voice behind me. Snapping me out of my daze of the forest.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" I asked, and was met with the shake of his head. "I just couldn't sleep.." my voice trailed off as I looked to the ground.

"Is something on your mind? Andrews not here and ya'll don't go anywhere without the other" Cassius stated. Which he is right.

"I'm not sure, for some reason i felt like I needed this, and I didn't want to wake him" I ran my fingers through my hair as strands of it fell around my face. Cassius put his hand on my shoulder and smiled comfortingly. I put my hand over his and sighed deeply.

"Well if you ever want to talk, you know i'm also here for you" He stated as he turned to walk away. "It looks like you need some personal time, try not to stay up too late, we have visitors coming tomorrow."

"Visitors?" I asked. looking back as Cassius was walking away.

"I guess that tribe we met yesterday is coming over for dinner, i overheard mother on the phone with them after dinner"

This sparked a small amount of joy in me as i stood along the tree line, looking out into the forest. I get to see Augustus again. Soon after standing i sat on the ground, my body feeling tired as i leaned against a tree, feeling the rough bark against my back. Stifling a yawn i closed my eyes for what felt like mere seconds then everything went black