There is no shortage of unusual, twin stories around us. The idea of twins or triplets or quadruplets has been fascinating mankind since time immemorial. We have always imagined these children having fantastic capabilities because of their time together in the womb. They might develop a stronger bond than ordinary siblings. An example is Castor and Pollux from Greek mythology. When Castor died, Pollux parted with his immortality to be with his brother. They might even become the opposite of each other, such as the good Gilgamesh and the evil Enkidu. Even today, we hear such bizarre stories of twins, triplets, and more, coming out from around the world. Here is a list of 10 unusual, twin stories from around the world.

1 Identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons were famously known as “The Silent Twins” as they would only speak to each other in their secret language. The twins had made a pact that for one of them to live free, the other must die. Jennifer soon died under mysterious circumstances.

June and Jennifer Gibbons, a pair of identical twins, were born on 11 April 1963. They grew up in a small county town in Wales, in the United Kingdom. The sisters faced a lot of bullying at their schools, being the only Black students.

This pushed them to become even more reserved. The sisters stopped speaking to anyone else. They only spoke to each other. People couldn’t understand their language even if they tried to due to the sister’s version of a sped-up Bajan Creole, an English-based Creole language that is spoken on the island of Barbados with has African and British influences.

After several failed attempts to get the sisters to speak to others by a string of psychologists, June and Jennifer were sent to separate boarding schools. Soon after they were reunited, the sisters began creating stories and plays in a soap-opera style. They even recorded a few in their voices for their younger sister Rose. They wrote stories about young men and women primarily exhibiting strange and criminal behavior.

The twins started taking drugs and got involved in the criminal acts of vandalism, theft, and arson. This led to their subsequent hospitalization at the Broadmoor Hospital; a highly secure mental health facility. The sisters were at Broadmoor for 11 years.

It was here that their longstanding belief, that for one of them to lead a normal life the other one must die, took shape. After a long discussion between the two, Jennifer agreed to sacrifice herself.

From Broadmoor, the sisters got transferred to a more open Caswell Clinic in March 1993. On arrival, Jennifer was found unresponsive. She was immediately taken to the hospital where she soon died.

The reason for her death was given as acute myocarditis (sudden inflammation of the heart). However, what led to this remains a mystery. June now lives near her parents in West Wales, quietly wanting to put the past behind her. (1, 2)

2 In 2008, the twin sisters shot to fame in the aftermath of a rampage on an M6 Motorway in London, UK. The incident involved assaulting police officers, pedestrians, and eventually murder in London. The bizarre story of the Swedish twins, Ursula and Sabina Eriksson, has left behind a trail of unanswered questions.

Ursula and Sabina Eriksson were normal twins from Sweden born on November 3rd, 1967. The sisters had a healthy childhood and youth with no history of mental or general health problems. Sabina was living a normal happy life in Ireland with her partner and two children. Ursula was living in the United States.

Ursula came to visit Sabina on 16 May 2008. Soon after, the duo, for reasons unknown, left for Liverpool, England. The sisters caught the eyes of the driver and co-passengers on the bus for their unusual attachment to their luggage.

The driver requested the two to get their luggage checked. However, the sisters refused and were kicked off the bus by the driver at a rest stop. The manager of the rest area called the police who let the women go deeming them harmless.

Soon after, the story took an unanticipated turn. The sisters left the rest area on foot and decided to go across the M6 Motorway, so they jumped over the guardrail into the oncoming traffic. Drivers on the motorway tried to swerve around the two, but the sisters did get hit by the fenders of the cars.

Soon after, police and paramedics came to assess the situation and tend to the seemingly unharmed sisters. While the police were still talking to them, Ursula made another attempt to run into the traffic. She was immediately followed by Sabina.

The sisters suffered multiple injuries including multiple fractures, head injuries, and more. Yet they showed unfathomable strength and determination. They engaged in an altercation with the police and made several attempts to get themselves run over by the traffic. The sisters were eventually detained and admitted to a hospital for further evaluation.

Doctors were not able to find any probable cause for the sisters’ suicidal tendencies. Although it was believed by many that the sisters suffered from a case of “shared psychosis,” also known as folie à deux. Soon after the diagnosis, Ursula was committed to a mental facility for three months while Sabina was released.

Hours later, Sabina met a man on the streets who was willing to help her after hearing her story. The day after, Sabina stabbed him to death and was found harming herself with a hammer. Sabina was convicted of manslaughter and was imprisoned for five years. (1, 2)