The Devil Tips His Hat To Me

Chapter XI

A/N

Okay. It's been awhile- months- and I am truly sorry. But let's get into this and hopefully, I get to update once a week. Thank you so much for your patience especially for those who really waited for the next chapter and have been here since the beginning~ <3

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"Okay. Not really what I expected but, okay."

Missi looks cautiously around the area. It was kept clean, as Duke implied earlier, and the sliver of light she's seen on the wall was coming from the slightly opened roof formed into a dome. A huge telescope was placed at the center and it peeks out towards the sky as if waiting for something to happen.

An old observatory is what it is. Beautiful, but it wasn't what Missi guessed it'd be. Nonetheless, it is impressive to see one in person.

"You don't appreciate it?" The vampire supplied as he crossed the room, glancing up and down the observatory telescope as if looking for a speck of dust to swipe away.

"I do, but I just found it a bit..." Missi placed all her attention skywards when Duke turned to watch her expectantly. She clears her throat in awkwardness. "Does it still work?"

"Not anymore, but I still treasure it all the same."

"Yeah. I just found it a bit anticlimactic."

"You're being rude now?" Duke glared at her, Missi only shrugged. He sighed dejectedly and placed a gloved hand on its surface in an apologetic way. The vampire somehow treats it like it has feelings and soul, and Missi couldn't deny the amusement that made her snort quietly. She knows the vampire didn't hear her when he's looking so immersed on his telescope.

"But no matter." He continued softly. "Do you know George Ellery Hale?"

"I think I'm familiar with the name."

Then it dawned on her.

"Oh."

They discussed about the man in school. An astronomer like Galileo Galilei.

"He designed this observatory for me."

"You're not serious."

"I am. What? You think that's impossible because I killed people in his town?"

Missi looks scandalized here.

"I knew how to escape from their judgements and to not give off any suspicion for him to even notice."

"Alright, moving on." She cleared her throat. She moves her gaze up and down along the expanse of its metal surface, motioning at it with her hands. "I meant: How did you convince him to help you build this?"

"Simple. He thinks we're the same because of our love of the night." Duke gave Missi a wide grin. An excited gleam in his eyes stunned her as he swiftly made his way infront of a lever. "It's the only time when people are in slumber and when the stars..." He grasped the handle in his hand before pulling it down without much of a struggle, and instantly the whole dome creaked and moved to open up for the sky.

"Are awake."

Scintillating stars came in sight, making Missi wide-eyed once again in such amazement. It never gets old, stargazing.

"I never realized you really obsess over stars."

"I told you my reason last night. Through centuries, people have come and go but they-"