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

Chapter 9: Warnings

(Celeste's POV)~

Sometime during Odette and Damien's conversation~

My head felt like it wanted to burst that night. I heard something beeping when I woke up in a daze. I saw some wires connected to me and that's when I knew I was in the hospital. The last thing I remembered was Odette fighting her twin sister. It was super weird, and more importantly, I was super freaked out.

I groaned in pain, and I had my hand up to my forehead. Bandages? How badly did I crash?

Oh, wonderful, my car must've been totaled by now and I know my parents won't be happy about it.

I looked around my hospital room and it was empty, and quiet. It was about 10pm and I heard soft murmurs from doctors outside, and them wheeling patients through the hallways. Ugh, this is the absolute worst. I didn't think that I'd be able to get into another car crash after I got licensed years after.

I had a weird feeling when I laid my head back down again and closed my eyes. I opened them up, and saw someone in the room with me. I nearly screamed, but then they got to me so quick that they put their hand to my mouth to cover it so I was muffling. "O-Odette?" I managed to say. I looked at her, but something was completely off.

This was not Odette...at least, I don't think.

She was glaring at me, wanting me to be quiet. "You both got away easy today." Odette said, cooly. "I won't be so generous next time."

"Who are you?" I confronted.

"Obviously, not her." she said, removing her hand from me. "Ugh, I hate this."

"Well, you're the one that looks like her, with genetics and all." I noted, rolling my eyes in response. "Why did you attack us, anyway? How do I know you're not really Odette?"

She paused and smirked. "Oh, poor you...You have no idea what Odette's world is like." She grinned evilly at me. Odette's twin was fiddling around with her amulet, the exact replica that Odette was wearing this morning. It was a beautiful pendant. Kind of tacky though, for her tastes. "Would you like to find out? It's a fun world."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The hospital phone next to me rang and I looked at the caller ID. It was a number I wouldn't have recognized, but I ended up picking it up. "Hello?" I answered, and I was surprised. "Hey, yeah, I'm fine, Odette. Are you okay? I should be out of the hospital in a couple days or so and then I'll be resting at home. They chalked it up to a concussion for my injuries."

Odette sounded worried sick over the phone, and it wasn't like her to be this concerned. She's usually the quiet and annoyed one in class. This is the part where I'm ultra confused.

Is the one I'm talking to over the phone the real Odette? Or is the real one standing right in front of me?

"Don't worry about me," I continued, looking skeptically at the Odette standing idly by. "Just explain to Mr. Tanner tomorrow what happened, as I'm sure he'll be curious where we were, okay? Get some rest. I'll be out of here in no time."

I hung up the phone and Odette placed her hand around my throat and squeezed it. I gasped for some air.

"Consider this a warning message for Odette, the real one." She spoke, and I tried to press the call button from the bed to call in help. "You wanna know who I am? Call me Sophie instead of that scum of the earth." Sophie quickly eyed my finger next to the call button, and grabbed it, squeezing my finger so hard that it felt like it was about to break. I grimaced and wanted to cry out. Everything happened so fast that I couldn't keep up or grab something near me for defense.

The next thing I knew after she let go, my neck twisted in an odd way and my eyes fluttered close.

Odette had killed me.

~~~

(Odette's POV)~

I grabbed my backpack and waved off to Damien. We both talked about how we were going to find some leads about my double. He was going to go to the library and research more about them since he had the time, and I was going to go to the Brown family graveyard. Something about that graveyard seemed weird to me and I had no idea why.

I killed some time by not rushing to school that morning, but I got there still on time. I walked through the doors and just started my day like normal. I couldn't help but wonder if Celeste was doing okay, even though she said she was fine.

My hand reached for my amulet and I noticed I was fidgety in one of my classes. I was bouncing my leg, and I just fiddled with the amulet. All I could think about was, why me? Damien had said last night that I was strong, but now I'm thinking this is all just to tell me how weak I am. I don't have any one else, but me to look after and that's fine. However, I don't want it to be just me anymore.

I turned when I was 17 years old, almost dying from the disease that spread during the tuberculosis outbreak in 1892. I didn't have any other sibling and all I remember was surviving the transition.

Everything my whole body felt then was rewiring itself. My heart stopped beating, and my lungs also stopped working. Not many vampires tend to remember this stuff, but I do. I was conscious enough to remember the pain and the fire in the pit of my stomach.

My fangs grew out, and my eyesight changed drastically. I remember the world before looking so bleak before it got sharpened.

The bell rang, and I returned back to reality as I began to change classes. I was lucky enough to not get called on today. Even if I were to get called on, I'd still be able to pick up what was going on in the lecture or things we were learning about.