"So you’re the William, I’ve heard so much about?" he said as he watched the new boy slowly sit down next to his twin.

"Yeah", Will said quietly.

"So are we going to finish watching this movie or what?" Joe demanded impatiently as he looked over at Frank who was sitting next to Con on the loveseat. The older boy shrugged his shoulders and then started up the movie.

Con found it very hard to finish watching the flick. His mind was very bothered by what he saw and he wondered why Frank didn’t see it.

There was something wrong…unnatural even about the two boys who sat quietly side by side on the couch. And then about 10 minutes later as he saw William start to fidget Con knew he was right.

By the time the movie ended it was later then they had thought it was going to be and Frank asked Con if he wanted to just stay over. He could use the guest room that their Aunt Gertrude usually stayed in.

"That would be great", Con admitted as he stifled a yawn and got up.

William and Joe moved more slowly and were still in the rec room after Con and Frank went upstairs.

"This is no good!" William hissed at Joe, incensed that a police officer was going to be spending the night.

The aspirin Frank has given him had worked a bit and Joe was feeling a bit better even as he carefully got up.

"There’s nothing you can do", Joe said bluntly and headed towards the stairs. He really wanted to crawl back in his bed and go to sleep.

"’night Con", Joe said as he passed the older man on the stairs.

"Good night…" Con paused, "Joe?"

He was rewarded with a small wave as Joe never noticed the slip up and continued on up to his room…but Will did.

Damn, he thought as he pressed past Con and followed Joe up the stairs and to the room.

Damn.

* * *

Con Riley had helped Frank take up the empty pizza boxes when he realized he had left his wallet and car keys on the coffee table. Heading back to the rec room, he was on the top of the stairs when he overheard Will and Joe talking and he froze…

Con flashed back to that upset kid on the other end of the phone…

Con knew that voice…he recognized it.

But it wasn’t right…it wasn’t Will’s voice…it was Joe’s.

And then seconds later when the blond kid passed him on the stairs and said goodnight Con was just overwhelmed with a strong impression that it wasn’t Will…it was Joe.

Now as he stood in the rec room and heard Joe following his brother, Con had no idea what to think.

"Did you get lost or something?" Frank yelled down the stairs teasingly and Con forced himself to shake off the feelings hoping that maybe in the morning, things would make more sense.

* * *

Joe watched William stalk around the room with growing amusement. At first he had been terrified.

Terrified that Will would take out his wrath on him again…for the second time in one day. And he didn’t think he could have survived it if he did.

But once he realized that his brother was actually not going to do anything to him tonight, he was able to relax just a bit and allow his exhausted body some room to breath.

William was upset because he dared not ‘play’ tonight for fear that Con, who he suspected was suspicious, might catch on. .

And if he happened to catch a glimpse of Joe’s back…

Rounding around on his brother, William stopped next to his bed and said in a hushed dangerous voice, "You make sure your back is covered…all the time!"

Nodding Joe closed his eyes, his exhaustion winning in the war for his attention. Slowly he drifted off his final awareness being that William was still stalking around.

* * *

Frank had his best night of sleep in days. He correctly assumed that with Con downstairs in the guest room, his brothers might put off their nocturnal activities for this one night.

He could still hear Joe’s voice echoing the first night after he had caught them…

And William’s…

Then the laughing…

Shuddering, Frank was right.

And in fact he didn’t hear any noise coming from their room at all.

* * *

Joe awoke with a start. How could he have forgotten?

Iola.

As quietly as he could he pulled his stiff body out of the bed. He was feeling a bit better then last night although his head was throbbing slightly and he felt flushed.

He was still wearing Will’s sweater and he carefully tried to pull it off, unable to keep groaning as his back, stiff and burning, protested. Joe was sure he had reopened some of the blisters as he could feel a fresh stickiness.

But he needed to talk to Iola and make sure she was alright. He didn’t think he could handle it if William did anything to her…

William watched him without saying anything as he managed to get the sweater off. When Joe turned around Will could see the brownish stains on the back of the undershirt and was pleased that he’d had the foresight to make Joe wear the darker sweater.

Joe started to pull off the undershirt but then stopped as he realized, with mounting horror, that the shirt was actually stuck to his back in certain places and it would be excruciating to try and take it off.

"Need help?" William saw the dilemma and was quick to offer. This could get entertaining.

Joe was torn, knowing that it would be even worst if his twin ‘helped’ but letting out a defeated sigh, he nodded his head. There was no choice. He was afraid of the open sores getting infected, if they weren’t already.

He certainly wasn’t feeling very well.

William stretched as he lazily unfolded himself from his blankets and then shivered when the cool air hit his body. It was chilly this morning.

Stepping up to Joe, he sized up the problem and plucked at the shirt to see how badly stuck it was. The young boy flinched and pulled away but William’s tight grip on his shoulder made him freeze.

Letting go of Joe, he mulled the problem over for a moment. If they were alone he would have no problem just yanking the shirt off however he didn’t need Joe screaming and waking the whole house. And then he grinned and Joe felt what little color he had left in his face drain.

This wasn’t going to be good.

* * *

William walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

"In here", William said to him and Joe paused before reluctantly going in. William closed the door and turned on the steam vent.

Then reaching over he grabbed the hand towel and gave it to Joe who looked at him expectantly before realizing what Will wanted him to do.

His hands shook slightly, but he did it anyway. Taking the hand towel, he stuffed it into his own mouth and then leaning over the bathroom sink he waited.

A second later, he screamed into the hand towel as William just ripped the shirt away from his skin. He felt his knees go weak from the intense wave of pain and wavered but the other boy, as if expecting it, caught him and then turning the sink facets on; he put Joe’s head under the water.

Panicking, Joe fought to keep his senses and a moment later, Will let him go and he stood up breathing in ragged deep gulps of air. The older boy laughed as Joe pulled away and staggered towards his room

"You’re welcome", he said as he slipped out his clothes and into the shower. The day had started on an amusing note.

* * *

While Will was in the shower, Joe grabbed the cordless phone from the hall and called the Morton farm.

The phone rang and rang and rang until finally a breathless Mrs. Morton answered

[Hello?]

"Hi Mrs. Morton, " Joe said toweling his wet hair, "Can I talk to Iola?"

He heard a heavy pause and then Iola’s mother said

[She doesn’t want to talk to you. I’m sorry Joe but whatever you did yesterday…she’s still very upset about.]

Joe felt his blood grow cold. So Will had done something.

Catherine Morton continued,

[I don’t suppose you want to tell me what happened?]

Shaking his head, although the mother couldn’t see it he just said, "Not really. But thanks. Mrs. Morton?"

[Yes?] Catherine said wondering what he wanted.

"Is…is she okay?" he was afraid to ask…but he had to know.

Mrs. Morton paused before answering

[I don’t know. She is very upset.]

"Okay thank you", Joe hung up and made a quick decision. He was feeling lousy but he had to get to the Morton farm…he had to see Iola and make sure she was okay.

* * *

Iola Morton had just been coming into the kitchen when the phone rang. She listened quietly to her mother’s side of the conversation.

Mrs. Morton sighed as she hung up the phone and then jumped a little when she saw her daughter standing behind her. She hadn’t realized that Iola was in the kitchen, "Good gracious child…you just about gave me a heart attack!"

Iola’s smile didn’t’ reach her eyes and her mother continued, "That was Joe. He wanted to find out how you were doing. I told him you didn’t want to talk to him."

"Thank you", the dark haired girl said quietly and then sat down soundlessly at the table and picked at a piece of toast without really eating. Chet was still upstairs and her father was in the barn, having eaten his breakfast an hour earlier.

"How did he sound", Iola asked after a few moments.

"Who dear?" Her mother asked as she patted some of the grease off the bacon she had just finished cooking.

"Joe."

"Ah’, her mother said knowingly and suppressed a small smile. Her daughter really had it bad for the boy, "well like he always does I suppose…" and then she stopped and turned around to look at her daughter, a perplexed look on her face.

"What’s wrong?" Iola asked becoming concerned and then her heart leapt as her mother continued, "Well I suppose it was Joe. But now…come to think about it, he never did say who he was…didn’t you say he and his brother sound a lot alike. Poor Laura, she probably needs nametags or something." Chuckling at her own joke, Mrs. Morton turned back to the bacon.

Iola froze as her mother’s words echoed in her mind… didn’t you say he and his brother sound a lot alike…

Was it possible? Could it be??