Kaiya and I look at each other with a look of terror. How can a story like this be related to us? What are the odds? I always joke that we are twins but now it might be real. How can we look different yet so similar? My appearance is more towards the East Asia side with long straight black hair while Kaiya has melanin skin with short curly hair. Maybe it isn't us. It can't be. Dad said we were born in Montreal. Montreal is our home. Our family. Our life. But that doesn't explain the bracelets. Kaiya and I have the same since we were born. Dad said it was our lucky charm and that we should always keep it with us. So, we did. We wore that bracelet for 20 years old. Mine was made of white pearls with a black one in the middle where my name is carved. Kaiya's one was formed with black pearls with a white pearl in the middle. Her name on that lonely white pearl in an ocean of black ones.

"Psst dude... why aren't you shook?" Kaiya whispered to me.

"Bruh maybe we have a new reason to live longer lol." I replied.

"True. Should we dig some more." She asked hesitantly.

"Hell yeah! I want to find the truth. Maybe it is us though. You never know. Plus, now we have something interesting to do." I winked at her.

"Excuse me but do you have a picture or a description of those bracelets?" I asked the old man.

"Of course, I do!" He replied enthusiastically. "I might be old, but I definitely remember those jewelries. They were made of pearls. White and black pearls. The middle of each one is of another color with their name on it."

"Does it look like th..." I didn't finish my sentence before Kaiya cut it. I know that look. She doesn't want me to continue what I was about to do. She took my wrist and bring me outside after thanking the old man for his time.

"Dude! We could have known if we are the pair of twins in question. Why did you do that?" I asked clearly pissed at her.

"That man is old. He doesn't know if they are still alive or not. He might have a heart attack from surprise if he knows that there are still people from his family who are still alive. He's a loner and will die soon. We can't just tell him "oh hey what's up grandpa?" We don't even know if it is really us. Imagine it isn't and we tell him that yes, it is us. How will he feel if he found out? Devastated." Kaiya screamed at me.

She's right. Even though there are a lot of proofs going in our way, we can't really confirm it. The old man might have a heart attack. He is old and weak already. We can't give him a shock. What if it is only a pure coincidence? We have two completely different nationalities. How is it possible for one to look so Asian while the other so Hispanic? The parents' genes must be intense. Nothing makes sense except those similar bracelets. We need to ask our dad for more, but we are already sure they wouldn't answer. Hopefully, the Internet helps.

7:57pm.
Nothing. Nothing about those two islands. No information about the war either. Who were they? Why did they live there? They aren't even recognized in the world map. Something is wrong? Do they need help? It's been 20 years after the war unless it is continuing. Maybe the islands have been decayed? What happen to them. We can't even book a fly since nobody knows if they exist or not. The only way is by boat and even for that, we need to find a driver who knows the way. That day killed me. I am so tired from thinking about it. I fell asleep.

Friday, March 23th. 9:34am.
I went to the BAnQ in hope to find some peace and study for my finals. Curiosity kills the cat. "I'm at the national archives library." I exclaimed. There must be something about islands in there. I pack my stuff and take a computer. I could have asked the librarian where the archives section is, but knowing me, I prefer to walk around the sixth floors library than ask someone for help. Too bad I can't use the computer since I don't have a library card.

11:08am.
Found it! I found the archives section. The books were arranged in chronological order. "When was the war?" I asked myself. I knew I have a bad memory but not "that" bad. Shame on me. No wonder why I suck at school. "God...Was it ten years before I was born? I remember there was a nine in it." The whole floor are only archives and I ain't going to search for a date the old man clearly told us yesterday. I take my phone out and text Kaiya.

[Me]: Dude! Do you remember the date the old dude told us yesterday?

[Kaiya]: Why do you want to know this? I thought we were going to ask our dads about that later.

[Me]: I'm at the library right now and it took me 2 freaking hours to find that archive section bruh.

[Kaiya]: 1989. Also, I'm in class so stop texting me. I can see the principal creeping in front of my class's door. Geez... that dude will never leave me alone after what I did.

[Me]: HAHA! Sucks to be you buddy! Btw come to the library when your class is over and help me find answers. Third floor. Dad probably won't say anything. What if they made a promise to never tell that story to us? OMG! REVELATION!

[Kaiya]: I want to say that you're overreacting, but you might be right...

[Me]: Woah... Is Kaiya ... that girl who always think I'm a drama queen... is agreeing with me? I must have saved a country in my past life lol.

[Kaiya]: YES YOU SAVED THE DRAMALAND MISS DRAMAQUEEN! Anyways my class finish in 30 minutes, so I'll be there by 12.

What's wrong with being a drama queen? Some things turned out to be true. We can't always be optimist in life. I put my phone back in my jacket's pocket and try to find the 1989 row. It took me ten minutes. Not bad for someone who hates reading. Although I don't like to read, I find libraries interesting. The decors are just amazing. I can literally spend all day in here reading books. Wait... Does that mean I don't really hate book? I just hate the fact that I must read to have good grades. The best will survive, and the weak will perish. No diploma, no life. "Thanks for the brainwashed schools". I told myself with a fake smile plastered all over my face. BOO! Someone attacked me from behind! It was Kaiya. She woke me up from my thought.

"You could have killed me you know? Not that I don't mind but now we found a purpose in life." I explained.

"Yeah right... I still want to die though. I love hacking for them, but not really. Plus, the principal hates me so much like God, just go have some fun in the bedroom with your wife or something." Kaiya replied. "Please don't say something like that. I'm already imagining it and oh my god the number of kinky things they can do!"

Since she arrived earlier, I told her to dig the books on this row instead of keeping imagining pervert thoughts. We both start looking for answers without making the conversation die between us. We always have something to say even though we didn't live that long.

8 hours and 200 000 archives later, we found nothing. Nothing at all. How is that even possible? There is literally nothing about those two islands. Are they hidden or something? Who knows? "Let's go Kaiya! There is nothing here for us. I hate this." At that moment, I stumble and hit the table behind me, and a book fell on the floor. I pick it up and a picture fall out of it which takes me by surprise because I've seen that book already. There wasn't a picture inside when I looked at it the first time. Someone must have put it in here, but no one passed by there. I ask Kaiya and she said the same thing.

[Me]: Someone was there.

Instead of asking me out loud why was I texting her since I'm just next to her, Kaiya took her phone out and texted back.

[Kaiya]: I think you're right. I also saw that book too. The cover was so pretty, I had to look at it and I'm sure there wasn't a detached picture inside.

Something was suspicious at this point. I started looking left and right with my eyes to see if there was someone, but there is no one. It was late and the sun set already. Kaiya and I put the books back in their place and wait for my dad to pick us up since he works near the library. The entrance was literally empty. There are only five people still there at least, but I have that strange feeling. Someone is watching us, or I am just paranoid.

[Me]: Do you have that feeling that someone is watching you?

[Kaiya]: Yes

We looked at each other. There is definitely something wrong. Every time the both of us agree on something based on our instinct, it turns out to be right. There was a pair of eyes watching us, but where? There are only two security guards left, an old man librarian and a student struggling to understand what he is studying.

[Me]: There is only 4 people. I don't know for you, but I'm really scared now.

Beep, beep! My dad is here. We rushed through the front door and climbed in the back seat. I opened my bag to search for my water bottle but take out the picture we found earlier instead. We didn't even look at it since we knew someone was spying us. I turned the picture around and... A group of doctors standing in front of an ocean with the sunset in the background. Two different groups of people. East Asians and Hispanic. In the middle, an Asian and a Hispanic baby playing with sand while an old man looks at them. They have pearls bracelet around their ankles. Just like ours. I show the picture to Kaiya and she gasped.

"What's wrong ladies?" my dad asked.

"Oh nothing! Kaiya forgot she has a test tomorrow and forgot to study." I made an excuse.

"You're just like your father, Kaiya. He once forgot our final math exam and when I asked him why he didn't come to do the exam he said he didn't sleep last night and that he will bribe the principal."

"So, did it work?" I asked with curiosity.

"Definitely. That guy finish with an A in math class. I barely failed. That guy was lucky or else he'll be in jail by now."

Kaiya and I look at each other, remembering that she somehow also has a similar situation. The car ride home was quiet again.

[Kaiya]: I think we should go see the old man tomorrow and ask for answers. Maybe give him our name too.

[Me]: You're right. Dad won't answer our questions. We must do something.

[Kaiya]: Let's not talk about it with our dad. You heard the old man. It was a hard moment for him so imagine for our dads. They didn't say anything for 20 years. The old man will talk. He doesn't know who we are. He'll tell us his story for sure. Let's go tomorrow.

Kaiya is right. We definitely know for a fact that our dads won't say anything. Every time we tried to ask something about their past, they just shut us down or change the subject. I thought it was because it is hard talking about the death of a loved one and everything from the past reminds them of their significant other, but there is more to it. I can feel it and Kaiya too. We decide to visit the old man next week at the hospital. He is our only option. We want to know where we come from and what happened for real. We decided to reveal our identity if he doesn't trust us with his story. This is the start of our adventure to the unknown.