Distant Lands
New Day, New Me

I wake up in Damon’s guest bedroom, feeling like shit. I open my eyes and see blurry. I have an awful headache.

When I get up, my muscles feel heavy and sore. I hear Damon in the kitchen, probably making breakfast.

I walk out towards the kitchen and see him looking for something in the fridge.

“You weren’t kidding when you said the whiskey from this world is different,” I say.

Damon turns around. As soon as he looked at me, he had a shocked expression on his face, as if he had just seen some kind of monster.

“Oh! My!?” he yells and puts his hand in front of his mouth.

“What!?” I yelled, startled, looking back behind me to see what hideous thing he was looking at.

“Your face! What happened?” he asks.

“My face!?” I ask, touching my face.

I run to my bedroom to look in the mirror. Damon is coming along.

“Oh! My god!” I yell, looking in the mirror.

My whole face is puffy; I look like a hamster when they stuff their cheeks full of food.

“Damon, what the hell is happening to me?” I ask, almost crying.

Damon looks at me and shrugs his shoulders, then he covers his mouth with his hands, and he starts to chuckle, then laughs out loud.

I can’t believe Damon. How can he laugh at me right now?

“Damon!” I yell, slapping his chest.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry little human, I mean Liz,” he says.

“Do something,” I say.

“Alright, let me get in contact with Ivan,” he says, leaving the room in a hurry.

I turn to look at myself in the mirror again. I look like my puppy did when he ate a bee. I start to chuckle as well but then cry at the same time. I sit down on the bed and wait for Damon.

What is taking Damon so long? I remember that I have the computer to look up the symptoms. I grab the sphere and hold it in my hand.

“Computer on,” I say to the orb. The orb glows. I tap up to the air.

“Search,” I say. A holographic screen pops up. What can cause these symptoms-extremely swollen face, blurry vision, and sore muscles,” I say.

I started to read the results: Could be many causes. It could be an allergic reaction to something. Damon walks back into the room and sees the orb.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“I’m looking up my symptoms,” I say. He grabs it from the air.

“Turn off,” he tells the orb.

“I spoke to Ivan and the physician at the Ranch. The doctor thinks it’s a viral infection. But he can’t treat you until he does some tests,” he says.

I look at Damon, and I start to see two Damons. I blink hard and rub my eyes, but the blurriness doesn’t go away. I begin to sway forward.

“Liz? Are you okay?” he asks, holding on to my shoulders.

I see Damon’s concerned face. He picks me up effortlessly and lays me down on the bed. I come in and out of consciousness. I see Damon pace back and forth. Then everything goes black.

Everything is dark around me. I’m floating in the air. I begin to levitate downwards until my feet touch the ground. I hear a noise. I turn and look at a vampire, staring at me, stalking me.

He runs fast towards me; before I can even take a single step, he grabs me by the throat. I’m unable to move.

I can’t breathe; I hit his arms, trying to free myself. Someone else walks up to me. It’s Damon; He looks at me and smiles. He comes close to me and stares right in my face. Then he smells me, and he leans in close and opens his mouth to bite me. He sinks his fangs into my arm.

I wake up and hear myself screaming, pushing Damon away.

“Shh, It’s okay, Liz, you’re okay,” Damon says, holding me.

“I look up at Damon, His blue eyes look tired, and his hair is messy.

“How long have I been sleeping?” I ask.

“It’s been three days,” he says.

“Three days!?” I say, trying to sit up. I stop and hold my head, feeling weak.

“Slow down. Your fever finally went down. All you have to do now is rest. Regain your strength,” he says.

I look at my arm, bruised from being poked by needles.

“Humans are so delicate,” he says. He gets up and grabs a glass of water, and hands it to me.

“Thanks,” I say, drinking from it.

“Was it a viral infection?” I ask.

Damon looks serious, and I’m beginning to think something happened while I was out with a fever.

“Um, Liz. You did have a viral infection. It was a bad one, one that is not present on Earth. Liz, you were...dying,” he says.

“I was dying?” I ask.

“Yes. Your body was shutting down. The virus was replicating fast. So…”

He looks down to the floor. I just wait for him to continue. He looks back at me.

“I…”

Okay, now I’m losing patience.

“You what?” I ask.

“I asked the doctor to administer a vaccine that repairs damaged DNA. He said it was the only option. It saved your life.” he says.

“Okay? So, that’s a good thing, right?” I ask.

“Well, yes, but it also changed your DNA,” he says.

“In what way?” I ask.

“Your body will now repair cell damage, forever,” he says. I look at him, confused.

“Humans can already repair their cells,” I say. He sighs.

“Congratulations, Liz, You will now stop aging,” he says, smiling.

I stare at him, speechless. He gets up and walks out of the room.

What did he just say? This is impossible. Stop aging? Scientists back on Earth have tried to replace ways to stop the body from aging. Immortality can’t be possible. He’s undoubtedly just messing with me, right?