Life as I Knew It
Chapter 6
When the train made a full stop, Damon looked outside his eyes looking in wonder as he took in the sight. Wherever they were they sure were beautiful.
"Where are we?"
"Georgia, I believe. This isn't our last stop, but this is the destination of the train we're on. We'll stay here for about two days before the next one comes along."
Nodding, Damon took his and Stefan's pack as he gently shook Stefan waking him up before they got off the train and followed Julian to the place where they would be staying.
"This place is enormous." Damon voiced as Julian turned to him smiling.
"Of course, we're a pretty large group and we need the space. You can go ahead and pick a room for you and your brother."
Nodding, Damon took Stefan to the first room he saw not being picky as he put Stefan down on the bed as he sat down on the other side making sure that no one came in as he finally let his tears fall feeling all the emotions he had been avoiding for the past couple of hours . Sure, he had looked tough on his outer exterior but in truth he really missed his mom. He wondered if she had made it out alive or not.
"Are you okay?" a voice said startling him as he looked back at Stefan who was now awake. Shit. He didn't want Stefan to see him this way.
"I'm just scared Stefan. We've never been on our own before."
"Do you think he killed her?" Stefan asked causing Damon to spin around in utter shock.
"I'm going to be serious with you right now Stefan. I don't think she made it out of there alive."
Nodding Stefan struggled to hold back his tears as Damon pulled him closer to him so that they both could let it out. Whatever happened in this world they would need each other now more than ever. He just hoped that he could keep his promise to his mother and keep them both safe.
"What are we going to do now? Can we trust Julian?"
"I'm not sure yet. All I know is we must stick with Julian until we find a safe place. We're not that far from father and we don't need him to find us. Julian can hopefully get us there and then we'll figure everything else out after that."
"Okay." Stefan agreed as Damon felt his eyelids droop. He was exhausted and now that he could finally sleep, he wanted nothing more than to do that.
"We'll talk about this more later. For right now I need some sleep."
Stefan nodded his head in understanding as Damon rested his head against the pillow letting sleep overtake him for the first time in days. He just hoped his few hours of peace didn't cost him everything.
A knock on the door awoke Damon that night as he fought off the last remainders of sleep to go answer it. After he had, Nora stood on the other side looking at him as if she wasn't sure how to deal with him either before she spoke.
"Dinner is ready if you and your brother wants to join us."
"Thanks for letting me know. We'll be down in just a minute."
"Do we have to go?" Stefan asked as Damon nodded.
"He's helping us Stefan. We at least owe him the curtesy of one dinner."
"What if he's as bad as dad?"
"I guess we'll have to find out." He replied as Stefan got out of bed taking Damon's hand and walked to where Julian and the others sat.
"Damon. Stefan. Nice of you to join us. Come. Sit."
Looking at each other, Damon and Stefan sat down at the table as Valerie smiled at Stefan and Damon took in all the food. They never had much in the way of resources, and it seemed almost wasteful for all of it to be in front of him now.
"Is there something wrong? Julian asked noticing Damon's hesitation.
"I guess I'm just a little hesitant to trust." Damon answered.
"With how your mother described your father I'm not surprised. I'm sorry you and your brother had to go through that."
"Whatever I went through was nothing compared to what my mother went through."
"I'm sure she'll find a way back to us eventually."
"Somehow I doubt that. Especially with my father involved."
"I'm keeping a positive attitude about the situation. I have eyes and ears everywhere in that town. If something happened, we should know about it in a day or so." Julian assured not making Damon nor Stefan feel any better.
"Let's say if she did survive. How will she know where to find us?"
"She knows our final destination. Don't fret boys, your mother knows what she's doing."
"I pray to God that you're right." Damon replied finally taking a bite of his food. It was delectable. He had never tasted something so exquisite.
"What's this?"
"Steak. New York Strip to be exact."
"It's delicious."
"I'm glad you like it."
"So. How did you meet our mother?" Damon asked curious.
"That's a long story. I would be happy to share it with you at another time. For right now, why don't you use this time to get to know the others."
Shrugging Damon went back to his food wanting nothing more than to pry into Julian's life. He wasn't interested in the others.
Leaving the subject alone, Julian went back to his own dinner leaving him to wonder how well did his mother really know Julian?