The Realm of Truth (Book 1) [In the process of editing]

Chapter 2: Meteor Shower

The day went by pretty quickly, and I survived another day of being a vampire with sharp teeth. I didn't kill anyone, so that was a bonus. Once school let out, I went straight home after I did my hunting for the evening.

I knocked on the log cabin door and waited. Sometimes I wish I could open it with my foot, but last time that happened, Damien locked me in the basement.

It was when I was getting used to living with him. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much. I ended up repairing his front door once he let me out. Then, when a week passed by, he started stepping up around the house. Damien disciplined me a lot when I wanted to feed with no remorse.

Finally, he opened the door and smiled at me, "Welcome back. How was human school?"

"If you must be wondering, I didn't kill anyone" I said, proudly. He looked impressed and walked over to the living room. 

"Check this out!" Damien said, and I stared in awe. His telescope was balanced on a tripod, with a silver optical tube. It was classy, I'll tell you that much, but I know nothing about it. This was the part where I stopped paying attention. "It's a reflecting telescope. I made it so I could see far away objects clearly with a mirror. If you come over here, Odette, I can show you how it works! When you look into the eyepiece, there's a primary mirror that reflects the light and image, and a secondary mirror that gathers it - Hey, where did you go?"

"You lost me after being technical with mirrors!" I called out from the kitchen. "So, what time do you want me to join you for this celebration?"

I heard Damien sigh in disappointment. I didn't want to give in. My mindset was filled with wanting to kill and it was either humanity or no humanity at all; but this was the one who was willing to take me in. He could have told to leave anytime he wanted to, but he wanted to know more about me. I started feeling selfish.

I walked back to the living room with a pout, and I saw him on the chair with his head down. I decided to lift the telescope and take it outside with me.

That caught his attention.

"You're going to break it." Damien said, stepping in front of me.

"I'll break you if you don't move." I snarled. "I'm trying to make things up with you."

"A vampire who cares, how surprising." he replied angrily. "Put it down. Now."

I snarled some more. Blood pumped through my veins as I felt like I wanted to rip his heart out for testing me. "Do not provoke me."

"You provoked me first."

Before I could do anything else, I sat the telescope down, and shoved my hand against Damien's throat. I pushed him against the nearest wall and he started gasping for air. "Stop it, Damien." I said. "You know what will happen if you're not careful around me."

"You're not as strong as you think you are..." Damien gasped, and I shot my green eyes at him. It was glowing with hatred. "I know you, and you know that you won't do it."

"Try me."

"Calm down, Odette, and let me go. You don't want to cross this line."

"What line? You're not my family." I let him drop from me, and he was able to get some breathing room. I walked away and went to my room.

He wasn't wrong though. I wouldn't kill him. I'd strangle him.

Damien's been my best friend and guardian for two years, and he's actually done quite well without provoking me until now. In fact, it was the first fight we've ever had together.

Who knows how we're able to sort this one out.

~~~

The Gamma Normids, of course.

The peak was tonight for the meteor shower. Damien had mentioned that the day before. Apparently, the Gamma Normids were known for its weak meteors, but still visible. I wondered how much we were going to see.

I placed a blanket down over the grass and helped Damien carry out his telescope. It's been a few hours since our fight happened, and I just stayed in my room, doing homework. I didn't plan on talking to Damien for a while even during the meteor shower, but he had other plans.

"I didn't think you'd come out and watch." Damien said, rubbing his hand over his chin. I felt him looking at me, and I just sat there quietly on the blanket. "Here." He handed me a small box with a bow on top of it. "Happy birthday, Odette. I'm sorry about earlier. I really was hoping you'd be just as excited as me."

I hesitated on opening the box, but I pulled the ribbon off it slowly. I released the cover from the case and saw a charm. "What's this?" I asked, staring down at it.

"Just something to add to your amulet. I thought it'd be a nice addition...and something to remember me by."

I looked at him with my eyebrows scrunched together. "What do you mean, to remember you by?"

"In case things go south and we have to split from each other. I'm not going to be around for a while, and you will be. I don't want to be a problem for you." He smiled sadly. Damien was about 23 years old, and he's been without family for years now, just like me. I wondered if he had any distant families. "I don't care what happened earlier. To me, you will always be the strongest vampire ever." He said, "Someone who doesn't go back down without a fight." I looked at the tiny charm in my palm. It was a silver moon dream catcher, with three little evergreen leaves.

"Wow, Damien." I said, smiling at how beautiful it looked. "Thank you."

"It's for good luck. If you ever get scared, it'll trap those negative feelings into it."

I removed my amulet and hooked the charm through the chain, then I placed it around my neck. "Damien, look!" I exclaimed, pointing upwards as I managed to see a meteor streak through the night sky. It was 2am and it was a bit chilly, which didn't mind me and him.

There were at least a hundred meteors streaking through the night sky, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in all my life. Back then, I was too busy transitioning into a vampire to notice the wonders in the night sky. 

Damien and I exchanged looks together, and I was starting to question about what he said earlier. Something about it felt off to me, and I had no idea why, but I wasn't planning on thinking about it too much.