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

Chapter 4: You're me?

Heading to school was a drag, and I sat in all of my classes this time. Most of my teachers including Mr. Tanner were surprised. "Ms. Hillshire." Mr. Tanner called on me as soon as class ended. I turned around and put a fake smile on. "Everything alright? Today seemed your head was in the clouds."

I shrugged. "It's okay," I lied. "I'm used to it."

"Have you made any new friends here yet?"

"Never needed to." I said. "I'm sure some poor sap will come along soon to try and get to know me." I played around with the strap on my backpack because I was itching to get home. I'm sure Damien was able to free himself at some point.

"Odette, the semester's almost over." he said. "I know you're doing okay by yourself, but tell you what: how about in the next class period, I'll have a project. You can find a partner to work with to find a famous historian back in the 1800s-1900s and do a slideshow together."

"Of course. I'd love to talk about the time period I was born in." I whispered to myself.

"What was that?" he asked, and I thought, Oh crap.

"Nothing." I said quickly, grinding my teeth together. I smiled at him. "Do I have to?"

"It's mandatory." he said. "I think it'll be a good way to interact with your peers."

I sighed. I didn't think pretending to be depressed was going to be a bad thing...or something to seek attention for. Mr. Tanner looked at me concerned. "Your teachers came and talked to me, Odette." Oh. "They said they weren't used to you attending every class. You can see that was the reason why I had this project in mind..."

"I see." I mumbled. "Well, it was nice to chat. Mr. Tanner, but I have to head home."

I eyed the clock to see it was 4pm.

"One more thing, Ms. Hillshire." he said, and I turned back to look at him. "You and your...guardian. Have you two been getting along well at home? I understand that he's not related to you by blood, but is he-?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." I answered quickly. I didn't want to be rude, but I didn't plan on being interrogated today. "I really do have to get going though, sir. Gotta head to the grocery store on my way back before night falls. See you tomorrow!"

I hurried out of the classroom before he could say anything else. The hallways were empty, and I dreaded going home.

~~~

I opened the log cabin door easily and I found that strange. "Damien?" I called out. "Damien, are you here and still breathing?" I looked over to see that the chair was empty and his plate was cleaned, too. Actually...it was tossed to the side, so I guess it's still considered clean. "Well, you've freed yourself. Come on out, now. I won't hurt you."

I cautiously made my way over to the chair and notice the charm was gone, too. Did he take it with him? "Odette, get out of here!" Damien yelled. I perked up when I heard him, and looked around to see if there were signs of struggle. Sure enough, the ropes I tied him up with were frayed. They were scattered over the chair and I saw a blood trail leading to the basement.

"I leave you alone for a whole day and you're already bleeding." I cursed under my breath and hurried downstairs. I noticed Damien up against a wall. Someone was with him, but I couldn't tell who it was. Their forearm was against his throat, and I could see Damien fighting back a little bit. "Hey!" I shouted with a snarl. "Tall, dark, and mysterious! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" The hooded figure turned to look at me, and I noticed its eyes were black with red pupil colors. They glowed just like mine did before. He was out to feed on Damien.

"Get out of here, Odette." Damien mumbled again. "I can handle it. This guy's been looking for you."

"Who is he?" I asked. "More importantly, I thought you hated me." I kept my eyes on the hooded figure and my whole body tensed up, but I knew if I made one step forward, Damien would be gone.

"I never did." He gasped. I noticed blood was seeping from his forehead and the hooded guy's nostrils flared as he sniffed Damien's scent. "That was just something to throw enemies off us. I had a feeling it didn't work. It felt like someone was watching us the other night so I had to create a diversion." Damien winked at me, and I frowned. He managed to toss back the charm towards me and I barely caught it. "This is yours. Believe me when I say meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me."

I closed my eyes out of fear. "You say like you're about to die, and you know damn well I'm not letting you." I said, and I lunged forward. I tossed myself against the hooded figure. I was more surprised we were allowed that conversation. I bared my fangs at him once he was knocked to the ground, and Damien slid down afterwards. I wanted to show no mercy, but I had questions: "Who are you? How did you get in the cabin?"

The hood revealed the attacker's face, and that's when I knew I butchered the pronoun.

Once I saw the long black hair, the familiar green eyes, and the same shirt I was wearing...I started to freak out. "Obviously, I'm you." the girl said, and my eyes widened. There was absolutely no way... I started to reach for her neck; but then Damien shouted, "Odette, back off!"

I stopped whatever I planned on doing, and looked at him, angrily. My lookalike managed to slip from underneath me and fled the room. "How are you going to tell me that when I had her in my reach? Are you crazy?" I asked.

"Well, I was going to say, "we needed more answers from her", but instead, you scared her off."

"I scared her off?" I snapped. "Who's the one that got pinned against the wall? Who's the one that invited that person in the first place? Speaking of which, how  the heck did you manage that?"

"He - she, or you, I should say - decided to play as you an hour ago, and well, the door was still unlocked so I told her to come in." He said as a matter of fact, then blinked. "You didn't think to tape my mouth either, so how else was I supposed to answer it?" We paused for a moment to catch our breaths, and Damien eyed me carefully. "So...how do you have a twin?"

"I don't know." I said, truthfully. "I'm an only child, I shouldn't have a sister." I was so confused on what had happened. I needed to clear my head and ask Damien a bunch of questions about everything.

Suddenly, the sun started setting, and it was just about that time to hunt.