"Pretty lady! Come dry off and let Valentina read your fortune!"

It began to rain as Adina Ionescu strolled through the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was a colourful neighbourhood famed for Chinatown and fortune-tellers like the one who called to her. The presence of college students, starving artists, and overly friendly drag queens felt like home. Adina found it welcoming from the moment she stepped into the city.

She loved the shouts of Ukranian women making pierogies, battling the sounds of Chinese blaring over the television set. Every day, she walked by the park and brought fresh batches of cookies to the weathered old men who played chess in the park.

When Adina and her twin sister Irina stepped off the crowded Chinatown bus that gave them their freedom, everything was life and love and energy. Not even the filth and debris and occasional remnants of lives gone wrong could take the shine from Manhattan,  the streets periodically cleansed of sin by random downpours.

The girls had grown up in a very different sort of world, a suburb of Las Vegas where the chime of the ice cream truck driving down the street qualified as interesting. Irina applied to New York University to study dance, while the level-headed Adina planned to become a successful businesswoman. Manhattan was perfect for both sisters.

Irina's declaration was met with a firm and resounding no from their mother. In Silvia's mind, the family always stuck together. Irina's reminder that her mother's parents were back home in Romania earned a quick slap across the mouth for her impertinence, and the girl ran off to her room in tears.

"They are growing up, Silvia. You have to let them go. They will make their choices the way you made yours. Do not make Irina escape through the bedroom window as we had to do."  Adina listened to her father with her ear pressed against the wall. Irina sobbed softly.

"Irina is different. She is selfish. Her life is not for her choosing. That is her price." Their mother speaks firmly, a note of sadness in her voice. "Irina's gift is my curse. My mother cursed her because I abandoned the family. There are plenty of opportunities in Las Vegas. You have two daughters to consider, Laslo."

"No." The sound of Laslo, their father, echoed like a slap. "My Irina will not be a mistress to a gambler or marry an alcoholic. There is only one kind of dancing a girl learns in Las Vegas, and that is not a life for Irina."

The next day, Adina stared at her mother's red-rimmed eyes. The girls would go to whatever school would have them. The one concession was they would go together. They'd protect each other.

Adina walked through the rain alone, a strange Russian voice calling to her.

"You, the girl who dresses like there is a funeral with all that black! Come in. I will give you your fortune."

Adina jumped from her reverie. She looked down self-consciously, examining the long and old-fashioned black skirt and the black cardigan that hid a lovely figure. "No, thank you. I know my future."

"Come anyway. Company is welcome." The fortune-teller wore a bad wig and smoked two packs a day, making her seem sixty. Adina saw that beneath the disguise was a pretty woman approaching middle-age.

Everyone's got to earn a living somehow. The blinking neon sign reminded Adina of home.

***

Adina was hesitant as she sat down at the table. The fortune-teller adjusted her wig with a little smile, hiding the strawberry blonde that lurked underneath. "Clients expect we have black hair to tell fortunes. You could make good living this way."

Adina chuckled. "I think I don't like people well enough."

The woman laughed too, pouring a half cup of vodka in a tea mug and doing the same for Adina. "Drink to get warm. I am Valentina."

Adina's smile was shy but genuine. "Thank you, Valentina. Not Esmeralda or Rosina or simply Gypsy?" She tried to keep the mocking tone from her voice, but couldn't.

The fortune-teller didn't look offended, but instead lit up a cigarette and let out a loud peal of laughter. "Smart girl, knowing profitable tricks. Valentina is good Russian name. You speak like the American girls, but I know better. Someone taught you too, once upon a time."

Adina smiled. "No, not me. It was my sister Irina they taught. She had the gift."

Valentina put her mug down and studied Adina with interest. "You know not only tricks but what is real, yes?"

Valentina hummed. "You are a receiver, a medium. It must be tiring. Your mind is never quiet."

Adina paused, unsure of how to answer. "Irina sent me here, didn't she? You are like me."

The costumed fortune-teller lowered her voice to match Adina's. "I am like you, yes. I am conduit for talkative spirits. Irina said your magic is very much damaged. You receive, but responses never transmit."

"Oh." Adina blushed. "No. I have no gifts, even if Irina thinks otherwise.  You're right that my mind isn't quiet, but that is mundane."

Adina fell silent and sipped from her mug. Her issues were far from magical, plaguing her since adolescence. Paranoid schizophrenia with auditory features, the doctor's voice echoed in her ears. She hears voices that are not there.

Valentina reached for the bottle of vodka and lit a new set of candles, the old ones burnt down to nubs. "There is a fine line between dark magic and madness. Irina glows like sunlight. You are night sky. Necromancers often doubt their sanity.

Adina's eyes went wide. "Valentina, I am simply troubled. Irina was born with magic. I was born three minutes later, completely ordinary. It works that way with twins. I wasn't the special one."

The fortune-teller regarded Adina with sympathy. "Through centuries, many famous prophets ended in graves too early. Irina needed to tiptoe through life. She could not. She needed attention and applause. It is a common affliction."

Adina bit her lip softly. "I wouldn't know."

Valentina's eyes showed a moment of compassion. "No, myshka, little mouse. People neglected you. You needed only the tutor and skill to complete your magic."

Adina shifted in her seat and whispered. "Irina must have seen. Why did she never say anything?"

Silent for a moment, the fortune-teller refilled both mugs. "Irina says sorry. She liked feeling special. She would like to make up for mistakes. That is why I called you."

Adina's face lit up, desperate with hope. "Valentina, I must learn. Please! I can become like you. It is too late for Irina, but you can save me."

"There is a cost, myshka. Magic always comes at high cost." Valentina looked almost mournful.

Adina nodded knowingly. "I have money. What is your price to help repair my magic and let me converse with spirits? I could hear Irina again!"

Valentina's blue eyes almost burnt holes into Adina's skull. "It is not money that is required. Irina asks for confession. She wants truth about why she died."

The fortune-teller began to throw a mixture of salt and gold powder upon the table like glitter, chanting in soothing Russian words. Adina's posture grew defensive at the request, her arms wrapped around her almost-dry oversized black clothing.

"We were walking home, and it was late. Some men thought Irina was pretty and called out to her. " Adina's voice still held a hint of jealousy. "I steered her through an alley to keep us safe, but it was too late. They saw us and followed. One bullet hit Irina."

Valentina produced a shaker, distributing something like water. The pink liquid created a circle with the shape of a pentagram inside. It made Adina feel safe.

"You look innocent, myshka, but are not what you seem. Your story is for ordinary people. The rest of us know prophets do not die by accident. Irina would have seen her fate."

Valentina's eyes narrowed. "Irina says she followed you. She was angry because she could not see."

Adina pushed her chair back and scrambled to her feet. Valentina smiled as she stood within the circle, scattering sprigs of sage. "Irina remembers her Mama often cloaked her mind when you were girls, to punish her. No one saw your magic. You were free, which angered Irina."

A heavy sigh falls from Valentina's lips. "Myshka, she grows irate. Irina insists someone cloaked her mind while you took her to her death and disappeared. The poor thing cries that she died alone. She asks why."

Adina saw the ritual was ready. She finished the half-mug of vodka in a single gulp. "She was there with me. Mama was there, in my mind. She empowered me. I never knew I could block Irina's sight. Mama said Papa took everything she loved best and her mother placed a curse upon her daughters. She would end the curse by taking what my father and grandmother loved best." 

Adina's voice changed suddenly, speaking in a heavily-accented, deep tone. "People say nothing is stronger than magic. They are fools. They forget the power of revenge."

The girl was frozen as her mother's voice came from Adina's lips.  "Adina does what her elders command, Irina. You must forgive."

There was only a shocked silence. Adina jolted at Valentina's hand grasping hers. The room filled with Irina's spirited voice as the energy moved from the fortune-teller's touch.

"You always cared for her, Mama, never me. You blamed me. You said she was damaged because I took pieces of her magic."

Irina's voice laughed without glee. "Your powers will be stronger than mine, Adina. Necromancers thrive on the other side."

Adina watched in terror when the fortune-teller's dishevelled wig and lined face started to disappear. Bit by bit, she saw Irina's familiar face appear. It was like a mirror. "I offered much to get someone to teach me everything. Illusion, draining mana, absorbing life---the price was immense. My children will be without magic. It is for the best."

Adina tried to make her voice work, but it sounded like someone slowly suffocating. "Valentina..wasn't...real."

Irina giggled. "There is a card reader, a fraud calling herself Valentina. I worked on copying her for weeks. I was convincing! Oh, I will make a divine actress, Adina."

The figure grasping her was fully Irina's. Adina wanted to move but felt like a statue. "You were clever enough almost to figure out the ruse. You asked why you didn't hear me. You do not follow your instincts."

Adina gurgled furiously, trying to escape Irina's grip. "You were alive."

Irina smiled, unashamed cruelty upon her face. "No. You were alive. I am alive. I only hear the living, Adina. We will not speak again for a long while."

A tear ran down Adina's face. Please don't leave me, Irina.

The punishment of not hearing Irina's voice was almost unbearable.

Adina didn't speak, the feeling of suffocation trapping her. "Relax. It only takes a few minutes. I almost got to the end of it myself. A group of drunk girls screaming for help saved me."

Her voice croaked out a faint sound. "Irina--"

"You were my albatross. Finally, I am free, and you are normal."

Adina stopped fighting, realising Irina's words were true. The world was peaceful and without voices.

Irina's face blurred. The dancer's figure held itself haughtily. It was so like Adina's, yet so different. Adina wondered at her own stupidity, a girl willing to die for magic.

It was more than that, Adina thought weakly. I dreamed of being like her.

Irina responded as if her twin had spoken aloud. "You always had magic of your own. I tried to kill you for it before we were born. I'd have done anything  for twice the power."

Adina felt the lids of her eyes close. She was happy to leave Irina, whose lips held a pretty smile.

No one will mourn me.

"I was made for greater things, Adina."

Word Count: 1999

Author's Note: This story was my 5th Star Author (1st place) win and moved me into the final two. It's not the best story I've ever written, but I'm feeling very proud of myself for this story that I wasn't so sure about but couldn't let go. I always trust my instincts and I'm glad I do--you know, mostly. *laughs*