The man with the two faces, Textfreak1 [100 best novels of all time TXT] 📗

“My name is Adam Sanders. When you read this morning’s paper you may come across an article about the unusual life my sister and I live. The author of this particular article wanted to write about children who had experienced extraordinary losses. Actually, there isn’t anything interesting about my sister Nicole or me, but what we went through is interesting indeed. I can’t remember everything in detail, but enough to tell the story which took place a long time ago.”

It was one day before Christmas. Nicole’s and Adam’s father had gone on a business trip and they stayed with their uncle at his apartment. Victor Jones, the uncle, wasn’t married, didn’t have a girlfriend and no children, for sure. He was a great chef and loved cooking for his guests. While Adam and Nicole were in their room, he prepared dinner and whistled to a song he heard on the radio. He had already finished baking the fruit cake and was just about to grill the steaks.
Meanwhile Nicole and Adam sat in their room, thinking about what they could do. Nicole looked tired, her long blond hair was tied together elegantly and her dress didn’t show any lint. Slight dark circles let assume that she hadn’t sleep very well for the last days. She was lying on a large bed, persisently staring at the ceiling. Her brother Adam sat motionless at the window sill, leaning his head against the cold window. His short blond hair looked tidy just like his sweater and trousers. Minutes passed and they didn’t speak a single word. An opressive silence was in the air.
Adam looked out of the window at snowy New York. Now and then a hooded silhoutte tramped through the snow-covered streets. Like shadows, they were moving slowly against the blizzard.
They didn’t know for how long they were sitting in their room, but when the sun set and darkness fell, they broke away from their stiffness and followed delicious smells which came from the kitchen.
The living-room was furnished tastefully. A big flat-screen TV set stood next to the fire-place, a Christmas tree was bedecked with fairy lights and huge, colorful Christmas tree balls. Victor had switched on the television where a fat old lady with a red head and badly dyed hair, was shrieking the last rhyme of a Christmas carol.
Adam and Nicole sat at the black, wooden table, which was loaded with delicious food: Roast chicken, roast beef, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, steak and bacon, lamb chops, carrots, gravy, frozen chocolate bananas and fruit cake.
Adam and Nicole were accustomed to loads of food - they had four chefs preparing their dinner, after all. Victor came out of the kitchen, took a seat next to Nicole and looked at the two of them with a satisfied face.
“Enjoy the food! And I hope you like it,” he said with a smile and began to eat.
“We always do, uncle Victor,” replied Nicole with a smile and started, too.
“Thank you, Nicole. Remember, tomorrow morning I’ll drive you home, so we can celebrate Christmas with your father. He called me and said he would probably come home at midday tomorrow.”
“He’s coming?” Adam responded surprised and stopped eating. “I thought he would stay in Washington until New Year’s Eve.”
“It seems business proceedings turned out well. I really don’t know, we only talked for a few minutes.”
“It’s getting better and better”, Nicole said and ate an extremely big piece of meat.
Two hours later, they were all stuffed. They watched another bad singer who violated another Christmas carol with his awful voice, only this time it was an old man with grey hair who hadn’t bothered dying his hair, at all. Nicole and Adam went to their bedroom and wished their uncle a good night. He replied with a smile he would clean the kitchen first, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to sleep.


When Adam closed the door, they pulled on their pyjamas and then slipped under the blankets of the two large beds. Nicole turned off the lights and fell asleep within minutes. However Adam couldn’t go to sleep. He stared at the ceiling and could make out the shadows of the snowflakes which flew silently against the window. At the ceiling they looked like black points which were dancing in front of the moonlight. For Adam, the shadows seemed to tell a story. A sad story of a kingdom which had been fallen, perhaps in war. The citizens tried to escape, nearly went down with their kingdom, but a hero saved them all.
A story as old as time itself. It was the old war between good and evil and in the end it was always the same. The good defeated the evil. But if you were confronted with the contrary, would you just feel sorry for the innocent people who may have died? Or would you think about it and whisper to yourself that they perhaps had deserved to? With this question one can define his personality. Heartless or softy. Strong or weak. Confident or unconfident. Adam would probably come to know that the answer wasn’t that easy to find as one would think, because every situation is different and you’ll always act in a different way. Finally, Adam’s eyelids became heavier and he fell asleep.
The next morning, they got up early, had breakfast, got dressed quickly and drove to their home with their uncle. It was unusual for their father to celebrate Christmas with them. After what happened to their mother it was the first time for them spending a holiday together.
Victor parked his new, black Mercedes in the drive-way. The youngsters got out of the car and ran into the big house. The employees were off that day, but had managed to fill up the fridge, to decorate the Christmas tree and to place the presents in front of it. Adam and Nicole pulled off their coats and sat down on the couch, happily waiting for their father.
“Oh shoot!”, said Victor and entered the living-room.
“What is it, uncle Victor? Did anything happen?”, Nicole asked tensely.
“Don’t worry. Your father is about to come in a few minutes. I just forgot to feed my neighbour’s dog. They asked me to take care of it, because they went on vacation. Would you mind if I drive back home and come back again later?”
“Of course not! Dad will be home any minute, so you can drive back home with a good conscience!” Adam answered.
“Thank you. I’ll hurry, I promise,” Victor responded and disappeared behind the big living-room door.


“I can’t believe it. It’s the first time we’re celebrating Christmas together since mom has died,” said Nicole with a rather sad smile on her face.
“I know. Maybe things will get better,” replied Adam, but he didn’t believe in what he was saying. He had a strange, horrible feeling.
Suddenly they heard a car door slam. Both of them ran to the window instantly. A huge man with gleaming, blond hair and horn-rimmed glasses on his crooked nose leaned against his black Porsche and shouted in his cell phone. Adam and Nicole couldn’t suppress a smile.
“Dad,” whispered Adam. They both ran outside. James Sanders, their father, hung up angrily. He put his cell phone back into his pocket and ran his fingers through his hair. He turned around and faced his children, smiling.
A black Mercedes drove down the street at high speed. The window was let down and a gun was unsheathed. Everything around Adam and Nicole seemed to become quiet. The next thing they could hear was a shot, fired from far away. James Sanders’s eyes widened and for one moment he stood motionless, looking at his children still smiling. Then he fell on his knees opened his mouth, but before he could say anything he fell on his back and lay lifeless in the snow. His blood spread like a stainless, red flower in the snow. Nicole began screaming and the world arose from its short sleep. The black Mercedes disappeared behind the next corner and people came out of their houses curiously.
Within three minutes, the police arrived and two policemen ran a yellow tape around the front yard which said “Crime scene do not cross”. A soft, cold wind blew through the street and made everything more bitter.
Detective Matthew Walker, raised his eyebrow when he entered the scene of crime. He finished his coffee, threw the paper cup into a trash basket and got an overview of the scene.
“Name of the deceased?” he asked a policeman in a monotonously voice.
“James Sanders. He was forty-four, worked as a broker and was a widower. His wife, Emilia Sanders, had died of cancer, two years before. His wife’s brother, Victor Jones, helped him to raise the children by taking care of them when he went on business trips. We questioned both children Adam and Nicole, and Victor Jones. At the time of crime he was on his way back home to feed a neighbour’s dog. We checked that and his neighbours went on vacation indeed, but nobody can assert that he really drove back home.”
“Do you have any good news for me?”, Matthew asked annoyed.
“I do. The kids saw a black Mercedes and the driver shot James Sanders. Unfortunately, they didn’t see his face, but guess who drives a black Mercedes”, the policeman didn’t have to say another word.
“I want this Victor Jones at headquarters!”, he said and was about to go.
“Sir”, the policeman replied nervously.
Matthew Walker turned around and looked at the man. “What else?”
“Adam and Nicole Sanders. They don’t have any relatives. Where are they going to stay, because we can’t-“
“I know we can’t let them stay here alone!”, Matthew shouted.
In the same moment a red BMW arrived at the yellow tape. A middle-aged man with grey hair got out of the car and came up to Nicole and Adam. It was a good friend of James and Emilia Sanders. Dominic Young was his name, hugged Adam and Nicole and took them by their hands.
“What the-”, Matthew watched Dominic Young walking to his car with the children. “Hey. Mister!”, he yelled twice.
Dominic turned around irritably. “Yes?”, he asked friendly, when Matthew got through to him.
“Who are you? You can’t just take them with you!”, he pointed at the Sanders siblings.
“I’m Dominic Young and an old friend of James and Emilia Sanders. I heard what happened and I can’t let them stay with their lunatic uncle. Are you aware of his prehistory? He is an alcoholic! And I knew that something like that was going to happen. Is it true that James got shot by a driver in a black Mercedes just like Victor’s?”, said Dominic in an unpleasant tone.
“I can’t-“, but Matthew was interrupted.
“I knew it! I’ll blame you if anything happens to Niki or Adam, because of that guy! Good day!”, Dominic turned around. The three of them got into the car and he started the motor.
“Wait a second!”, Matthew shouted and ran to the red BMW. “Where can I find you? I need to know where the children are if we have any further