The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 25

REMY

\tWhen I woke up, I felt completely disoriented. I didn't remember making it to my bed at all. The soft lull of the car must have made me pass out. I stretched my body, feeling completely stiff and groggy. When I checked the time, it was already past dinner time. I was a little surprised no one woke me up for dinner, but Caulder must have wanted me to get more rest.

\tl had told Daniel I would come by after school, so I hoped it wasn't too late. I jumped out of bed and quickly washed my face to refresh myself. I rushed out of the pack house to avoid talking to anyone and headed straight for Daniel's house.

\tl knocked on his door and waited for an answer, but I didn't hear anything. I knocked again, and still nothing, so I tried the door handle. It was unlocked, so I opened the door. "Daniel?" I called out.

\tThere was some ruffling from deep inside the house. I took a step in and called out Daniel's name again. I imagined he would be here, since the door was unlocked, but I felt a little strange about entering the house without direct permission, so I didn't move much past the entrance.

\t"Hello? Anyone home?"

\t"Sorry, Remy! I'll be there in a moment. Make yourself comfortable," Daniel finally responded from somewhere far away based on how faint his voice was.

\tl shut the door behind me and moved towards the living room. There was a couch, but it was covered in open books and loose papers, which were spread out onto the coffee table in front of it. I wandered over to the table, curious about what Daniel was working on so frantically in here. The scribbles on the paper were muddled and hard to read from far away, but there were a few words that caught my attention. Coven. Blood. Worship.

\tThe research was about vampires, which couldn't have been a coincidence. Did my family already know of Blade's presence, and they were just keeping another secret from me? I wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case. For being the alpha's daughter, I knew very little about the ongoings of my own pack, and it was frustrating. I knew Caulder was trusted with more information than me, but the only reason was because he was born a minute earlier than me with the right parts.

\tl pulled out my phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the information sprawled across the table. I needed to know what Daniel was researching in case it had to do with Blade. If he was in trouble or if he was trouble, I needed to know. \t"What are you doing?" Daniel asked as he entered the room.

\tl nearly jumped out of my skin when he spoke. I quickly put my phone away. "Oh, I was just taking a look at what you were researching. Vampires, huh?"

\tDaniel's body clearly tensed as I brought up vampires, and he rushed over to the coffee table and started scooping up all of the papers and books. He didn't bother to stack them nicely as he shoved them into a corner. He was just desperate to get them out of my sight.

\t"Oh, that is nothing. Just something silly I'm working on," he said. He laughed as he spoke, and there was a soft sheen on his forehead. He was definitely lying to me. Whatever he was working on wasn't nothing, but there was something about it I wasn't supposed to know, so he was trying to play it off that way. I wondered if anyone told him he was a bad liar.

\t"I've never really heard anyone talk about vampires before," I said casually. I didn't want to ask him directly about the information, because I was sure he would spill one bad lie after another. However, I hoped if I talked about it in a roundabout way he would let some information slip.

\t"Oh, that's because they don't affect our lives. Since the great war, they agreed to stay in their own territory." Daniel spoke faster than usual as he continued collecting his books from the couch. "Vampires aren't important."

\tl followed him as he moved those books. "Have you ever heard about a vampire crossing the territory? We have sorcerers here after all, and aren't they supposed to stick to their territory, too?"

\tDaniel flipped around and tried to use his body to cover all of the paperwork he had just shoved into the corner. He was nervous about me being so close, and I was sure my mother had told him to keep this information a secret. She loved her secrets these days. \t"I suppose it's possible, but I haven't heard of any vampirse ever coming around here. It's a much longer journey to this part of werewolf territory compared to sorcerers." The nerves seemed to disappear as he talked about this, and this statement didn't feel like a lie. He didn't know about Blade's presence on our territory.

\t"What if a vampire did come here? What would happen then?"

\tDaniel furrowed his eyebrows. "That would be more of a question for your father than me. Anyway, do you want tea or something? Let's go to the kitchen." He grabbed my shoulders and started guiding me away from his research.

\t"I don't need anything," I said, pulling out of Daniel's grip. He was clearly trying to get me out of the living room, and I decided not to press him on the subject anymore.

\tl would just have to figure it out on my own. I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn't see any details of the information he had tucked away. I needed to know more about the secret research he was doing. My gut told me it was important. If he wasn't aware of Blade's presence, then maybe it had to do with the dark creature that attacked me. Blade said that a vampire was trying to release that thing after all.

\t"So do you have the information about the blood moon for me?" I asked to change the subject.

\tDaniel's lip twisted. "Uh, yeah. Why did you need this information again?"

\tl shrugged my shoulders. "Just curious I guess."

\tDaniel blinked at me a few times. "Right. Stay right there. I will get what I found for you." He hesitated to leave me alone. He glanced at the corner where he shoved all of the paperwork nervously. "I'll be right back." His emphasis made it obvious he didn't want me to go anywhere.

\t"I'll be here." I gave him a quick smile and then watched him scurry away. There was no point in trying to dig through those books anyway. I just hoped the pictures I took would give me an idea of what was going on.

\tDaniel was back after a moment, and he was a little out of breath. It was almost amusing that he was so worried I would look at his research, but there was a little alarm bell going off in the back of my head, telling me I needed to know more. \tDaniel was back after a moment, and he was a little out of breath. It was almost amusing that he was so worried I would look at his research, but there was a little alarm bell going off in the back of my head, telling me I needed to know more. \t"It's not as much as I would have liked to go through. I was busier than I expected," Daniel said as he handed me the book Ginger gave me with a couple of pages of notes tucked into the front cover.

\t"I appreciate your help anyway," I said, holding the book close to me. "Good luck on whatever you're researching."

\tDaniel shifted uncomfortably. "Thanks. See you around."

\t-

\tThe moment I was back in my room, I opened the book Daniel gave me and started skimming his notes. The notes talked about how full moons naturally gave more power to werewolves. The moon's pull on the earth was the strongest during a full moon, and it made werewolves stronger and faster. This was all information I already knew.

\tHowever, the notes also stated that it was said that during a total lunar eclipse, a werewolf's senses grew to an extreme due to the earth blocking the sun from the moon completely. It made the moon's energy radiate at an unusual intensity. Daniel made a little scribble in the margin indicating that not enough research had actually been done on the effect of a lunar eclipse to know the exact effects on a werewolf.

\tThe next page of notes talked about sorcerers and how magic could be affected by the state of the moon. The moon was considered to have magical properties, so it could enhance the power a sorcerer held within them. There was another note Daniel had made a note indicating my mom was a prime example of this. During the few magic training sessions I had with her, she had talked about how her magic was considered to be derived from the moon, but she had always said it was because of her dual nature. It made sense that a werewolf's magic would come from the moon.

\tThe translations on this page made me think that wasn't the only reason, though. If the moon had magic properties, it could affect both sorcerers and werewolves, so if someone was half werewolf and half sorcerer, they could grow to be unusually powerful during a full moon, but other sorcerers could also be affected by this.

\tThe last page of the notes seemed sparse in comparison to the other pages. There was a brief mention of how the moon sends its energy down to the earth, which affected all three "mythical" beings. All three included vampires. There were more notes originally written, but they were scribbled out and impossible to read.

\tA knock on my door caused me to jump and slam the book shut. I shoved it under my pillow, and then I rushed to answer the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to see my mom standing at the door.

\tShe had a forced smile on her face, and there was something about her energy that made me feel uncomfortable.

\t"Hey, Remy. Are you busy?" she asked.