DESTINED FATE

25th December, 1997.

It was cold. Very cold. Snow was falling and the cold wind was not helping. Walking through the snow with his legs deep in the fallen snow, eight-year-old Liam hugged himself tighter in order to protect his almost frozen body from the bitter cold. He had a perfect family, perfect grades and even perfect features. He was not even needy in any sense, he lived near the Vale Mansion. His parents were very close to the Vale family, his ancestors were close friends with the Vales for many centuries. He had a five-year-old sister, Jane, and a two-year-old brother, Cody. They were a happy family, and he even had a scholarship for his good grades.

But Liam felt empty. And miserable. His chest was always aching. His parents had taken him to hospitals upon hospitals but the doctors could not find anything wrong with him. Sometimes the pain got so worse that he cried. His body was always weak and he was always complaining. It got to a time that he stopped complaining. To everyone, there was nothing wrong with him. But the pain was always there. It was always like a very hot hook was around his heart, pulling him towards somewhere over the horizon, so he was always at the beach, gazing at the wide stretch of water and wondering why he always felt like his relief from all the pain was there, somewhere far away from Charlottesville, over the horizon.

Then his nightmares.

Anytime his chest got too painful he had nightmares. It was always one thing he saw; a girl. She was beautiful, so beautiful. She was at least thirteen, with very long raven hair that was almost below her waist in soft ringlets. Long eyelashes and black as midnight eyes. Slim and tall and graceful, she was truly a sight to see. Anytime he saw her, his chest pains stopped immediately. Anytime she smiled, he always felt euphoric. But the girl never said a word to him. All she did in his dream was to sit with him near the beach and just smile as he watched her. That was not the nightmare. The nightmare was when the girl gets up and start walking away. His chest flared, like he was being poked with a hot iron rod. Then he would start screaming and begging her not to go, but she never turned back. His parents used to rush into his room in panic, but as time went on, they were less panicked when it happened. And it happened at least four times a weak. His parents even sought for help by letting him see a therapist, but nothing changed.

All this made Liam's life miserable. He did not even have the will to live. He rarely smiled, and he was sometimes bullied and called a freak. A handsome freak.

It was a cold night, and Liam just wanted to be in his bed dammit. He had gone to the beach earlier that day, even though it was very cold. He did not know it was going to snow so heavily.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid" he chanted to himself, teeth chattering and making the words sound like 'shupid'.

"A f-freak a-and a f-fool. R-really, Liam? Phoebe will b-be s-so..." he trailed off and swallowed thickly, the pain in his chest flaring slightly due to the name he mentioned. He had named the girl Phoebe, P for pain and B for beautiful. Beautiful pain. "D-diss-sappointed i-in y-you" he finished his sentence.

The cold was getting worse, and it was getting harder to see anything.

"G-god help me-e" he said and coughed.

He walked for a minute and suddenly stopped. He squinted his eyes and shielded his eyes with his hand as he tried to see where he was. He smiled to himself when he saw that he was getting near his neighborhood.

"Every breath you take, every move you make. Every bond you break-" he stopped singing when he heard a snap of a twig in the forest at his left side. He rolled his eyes in amusement. 'Typical horror movie cliché'.

"Every step you ta-" he stopped again when he heard the snap of the twig again.

"I should really stop singing this song, its creepy. What to sing, what to sing..." he heard the snap again.

He turned around and swept his wet hair from his face. He was now paranoid. His heart was beating fast and he was shaking, from the cold and from his fear. Someone was following him, that was for sure. It was Christmas day for Christ's sake. He just wanted to go home, crawl under his bed sheets and dream of Phoebe all night. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently it was. Was he going to die on a Christmas day? That sucked, he was only eight years old.

"Who is there?" he asked.

The only answer he got was more snapping of twigs, and it was getting nearer.

Adrenaline kicked in, and he turned around and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Except, he didn't go far. He fell flat on his face in the snow. What a nice time to fall down like a damsel in distress.

'My God' he thought as he scrambled up. He looked around. Then he saw a man, standing in front of him. Liam blinked twice.

"O-oh a-are you a-also lost?" Liam asked whilst getting up. The man did not answer. He was as still as a statue. "Uh, sir?"

"How old are you?" the man asked.

His voice was eerily calm. He crossed his hands on his chest and squatted to Liam's level.

'Whoa' Liam thought as he backed up.

The man's hand shot forward and held Liam. Liam shivered. The man's hand was very cold. His eyes were a beautiful golden color. His features were so perfect that Liam wondered if he was even human. He was as white as the snow.

"William, how old are you?" the man asked again.

Liam blinked. No one called him that. Not many people knew his full name.

"Who a-are you? And h-how d-did you k-kow my name?"

The man exhaled heavily, like he was dealing with a stubborn little boy. Or an annoying one.

"Let me see, you were born on 25th December, 1989. Today is your birthday. Happy birthday, by the way. I'm not good with calculations, but let me try. 1989 to 1997 makes you...um...eight years. You are eight years, right?" the man said.

Liam stared at the man with his mouth opened and his chocolate brown eyes wide.

"W-wha...h-how did...w-who are you!" Liam stuttered as he tried to get away from him. The man's grip was unmovable.

"I'm going to give you a gift. You are a Patronis Fatum, like me. Your mate is not here yet, that's why you are always in pain. Keep this-"

"W-what do you mean by I'm always in pain!?" Liam yelled, shocked as to how the man knew all this.

"You are too young to understand, but I just want you to keep this with you at all times" he said as he handed a small ring to Liam.

It had the letters SV engraved on it in gold. As soon as Liam touched it, all the pains in his body reduced. With wide teary eyes he held unto the ring like his life depended on it.

"Put it on your index finger. Do not take it off. It will help with the pain".

Liam slid the ring onto his finger and looked at the man.

"What is a Patron is Fatum? And a m-mate?" Liam asked and coughed. The cold was getting to him.

"I'll answer your questions one day. Just keep this ring with you. I'll be on my way now. Take care"

"W-wait-!" Liam said but he was already gone. He just disappeared like he wasn't there in the first place.

"Just tell me your name!" Liam yelled.

"Damon" Liam heard behind him. He squealed and spun around.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Liam yelled, clutching his shirt tightly and pouting.

Damon chuckled. "You sound like a girl, squealing all manly like that"

Liam blushed, or would have blushed, but the cold was too much.

"Let's get you home. You are freezing. Close your eyes" Damon said.

"W-what-, aaah!" Liam yelled as he was carried away so fast that his surroundings was blurry.

He closed his eyes and in less than a minute, Damon stopped moving. Liam was then put down on wobbly legs. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in front of his house.

"Goodbye" Damon said.

Liam turned around but he didn't see Damon. He shook his head, and went into his house. He wondered who and what Damon was, and what SV meant. But he didn't dwell much on it. He was just glad he was not as sick as he used to be. And that he was home safely.