Dragonborn (need a good title)

Chapter 5

sorry this one's so short, but it'll get better and longer with the next chapter. hope yal like it. pic of Luna. isnt she cute?

I sat there for almost five minutes when I realized that no one had greeted me when I walked in, not even the animals, which was kind of normal, but not even Samson, my Great Dane, which was not normal. Wiping my face, I get up and internally scold myself. What the hell is wrong with me? I’ve never had a problem dealing with guys.  

But then again, my normally subdued Id said, no other guy has had the effect that he has on you. I shake my head, stress is making me ridiculous. I kick my shoes off by the door, and dropped my duffle bag on the floor.  I smelled a delicious aroma wafting through the house. Getting my thoughts in order, I followed my stuffy nose into the kitchen, where I found Celeste and Luna whipping through dishes of food. I was proud to see them working so in sync with each other. It seemed they learned more from Mom and Dad then they knew.

I went to the back of the house, where the large French doors were open, letting in the late afternoon air. I leaned against the door jam and closed my eyes, letting the cool breeze caress my face, the tendrils softly moving along my skin. I sighed and opened my eyes when I heard Artemis and Astrid’s voices float down to me from the tree house. They obviously took it upon themselves to get it ready for the dinner.

Now let me explain a few things about this meal. I’ve already explained that today is the two year anniversary of our parent’s deaths. Last year, we wanted to do something special, so we cooked and set up our tree house, got gussied up and had a beautiful dinner while we reminisced about our parents. Not known to many, we had a small, well, shrine up there that was for them. There have been many times when one or many of us can’t sleep and we go into the sanctuary of the tree house.

I always gave Mom and Dad a hard time for making the tree house look like the one out of the cartoon Tarzan. Now, I’m glad they had the foresight to do so. There was a dining area, a kitchen with a small refrigerator, microwave, with cupboards, counters, drawers and cabinets, a common area that had bean bags, a couch, a TV and other entertainment items. All of the electronics were hooked up to a solar/ water powered generator that was fixed down by the lake. To be honest it looked like a tropical getaway from a magazine, and we loved it.

The second story consisted of a large room that had our beds in it with a large glass wall with a door that opened to a balcony that overlooked our house and the lake that sat behind our house. The room had a small closet for spare clothes and blankets, and off through another door was the room for our shrine. Beautiful and ornate, it was where we went when we wanted to be closer to our parents.

I sighed and smiled. Seeing as they had most everything under control, I ran upstairs to get ready. I stepped out of my uniform and noticed that my own French doors were open. That’s strange. I never leave my doors open, and the girls never come into my room. Hmm. Wind must have blown them open. Shrugging, I continued stripping and started my shower. When the water was warm enough, I stepped into the falling water.

I let the pounding of the hot water on my skin erase my stress and worries. Tonight was about family, and I would be damned if I let some guy ruin it for me. I could feel my Id trying to rebuttal my thoughts, but I concentrated on the sound of the shower and the steam as I inhaled deeply. Tonight would go smoothly and I would think more about Orion and how well we fit together tomorrow. Right now, I had a dinner to conduct. I finished washing and drying and went to my closet.  After fishing around, I pulled out a simple, deep green, flowing dress that I had gotten from my Mom. I was a bit more endowed in the chest than my mother was, but my sisters wouldn’t care.

I slipped the dress on and left my feet bare. I put a light coating of makeup on to enhance my bright green eyes. The dress complimented many of my natural features, including my waist length beautiful red hair which I was leaving down tonight. I was the only one until Luna to have my Dad's hair. Luna kept her hair short though, and it started turning a pretty auburn brown, which I thought was a damn shame. She had the most luscious locks when she let it grow out, and the red had complimented her gorgeous eyes well. The other girls inherited Mom’s light brown hair. I was, oddly enough, the only one who got our mother’s eyes. The others got Dad’s beautiful blue. Not that I’m complaining, trust me.

I walked down the stairs, noting the lack of sound from the kitchen and surmised that they moved up into the tree house already. Also noting the lack of animals, I assumed they herded them up as well. And before you roll your eyes, yes, we do in fact include our animals in our dinner. They’re a part of the family too.

I walked to the base of the tree and stepped into the pulley that served better than a ladder. I pulled myself onto the landing and was greeted by Samson, who, thankfully, decided not to jump on me for once. I sat down at the table that was now laden with dishes and food and drink and looked around at the beautiful girls around me. They all had sad smiles on their faces and all I could do was smile back. We said a quick grace and slowly dug into the food.

I started the night with stories of what I remembered and the girls added on what they remembered. It was a simple ceremony and was over too quickly. We moved to the second story and watched as the stars twinkled and winked at us. Luna gasped and pointed upwards. I followed her gaze and outstretched hand to the night sky.

There, among the dark blanket and winking stars was a comet. A beautiful hunk of rock flying through space with… a multi-colored tail? That’s definitely odd, but it seemed to hypnotize me, and I had a feeling from somewhere in my gut that it was doing the same thing to the girls. I felt Celeste’s hand on my arm, and I think I grabbed it. The comet was as beautiful as it was strange, and I started getting the feeling that it was important for tonight.

“Wow,” I heard Astrid murmur, “it’s so big, I feel like its getting closer…” her voice trailed off and I narrowed my eyes, now watching the rock. It did in fact seem to be getting closer, but it couldn’t be. Comets never fall from their orbit. But it was. And it was coming faster. A cold rush of fear poured through my gut and I was finally able to snap out of the trance. But I couldn’t get the girls to move.

I pulled on Artemis’s hair and tugged hard on Luna’s dress, but they were like stone statues for all the good it did me. I decided I would try later, because what we needed to do was get out of dodge. I left them on the balcony staring at our death, and I started pulling packs out of the closet, throwing clothes into them. I ran to the kitchen and heard someone gasp, and feet running after me. Letting out a breath that someone had gotten free, I started issuing orders of what to pack. I noticed the animals were strangely complacent, and brushed it off. They were probably trying to stay still so I wouldn’t run all over them.

Soon all of us were running around the tree house, gathering items and filling our bags. I felt a strange pull towards the balcony as I put the last non-perishable good into Luna’s pack. Standing up, I felt my feet carry me into the room, then out to the overlook. I heard the girls follow me, and a pack deposited into my hand. The animals were already out there for some reason and I felt Samson’s head against my leg. The comet was right there, coming at us…

Right there…

And then there was nothing.