Betrothed

After tearing through several more rooms, Ruth finally stopped in a small alcove at the end of the corridor, dimly lit by a single torch. Inside, sat a lone, marble sarcophagus, intricately designed.

Caleb approached it slowly, holding his breath, hoping, sensing, that Caitlin could be inside.

Ruth sat down beside it, and stared up at Caleb. She whined frantically.

Caleb knelt and tried to push back its stone lid. But this one was much heavier than the others, and it hardly budged.

He knelt and pushed harder, using all his might, and finally, it began to budge. He kept pushing, and moments later, the lid came off completely.

Caleb was flooded with relief to find Caitlin lying there, still as could be, her hands neatly folded across her chest. But his relief turned to concern as he studied her, and saw that she was paler than he had ever seen. There was no color in her cheeks whatsoever, and her eyes did not even react to the torchlight. He looked more closely and noticed that she didn’t appear to be breathing.

He leaned back in horror. Caitlin appeared to be dead.

Ruth whined louder: now he understood.

Caleb leaned in and placed both hands firmly on her shoulders. He shook her gently.

“Caitlin?” he said, hearing the worry in his own voice. “CAITLIN!?” he called louder, as he shook her with more force.

But she didn’t respond, and his entire body went cold as he imagined what his life would be like without her in it. He knew there was a danger to time travel, and that not all vampires survived every trip. But he had never really contemplated the reality of dying on the trip back. Had he made a mistake to keep encouraging her on the search, on the mission? Should he have just let it go, have settled with her in the last time and place?

What if he had lost everything?

Ruth jumped into the sarcophagi, standing with all four paws on Caitlin’s chest, and began licking her all over her face. Minutes passed, and Ruth never stopped licking, whining as she did.

Just as Caleb leaned over, ready to pull Ruth off, he stopped. He was shocked as Caitlin began to open an eye.

Ruth howled, ecstatic, as she jumped off of Caitlin and ran in circles. Caleb leaned in, equally ecstatic, as Caitlin finally opened both eyes, and began to look around.

He hurried over and grabbed one of her ice-cold hands, warming it between his.

“Caitlin? Can you hear me? It’s me, Caleb.”

Slowly, she began to sit up, and he helped her, reaching in, gently placing a hand behind her neck. He was so happy to see her blinking, squinting. He could see how disoriented she was, as if awoken from a deep, deep sleep.

“Caitlin?” he asked again, softly.

She looked at him blankly, her brown eyes as beautiful as he’d remembered. But something, he could tell, was wrong. She was still unsmiling, and as she blinked at him, her eyes held the look of a stranger.

“Caitlin?” he asked again, worried this time.

She stared right at him, her eyes wide open, and he saw, with a sudden shock, that she didn’t recognize him.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Caleb’s heart fell. Was it possible? Had the trip wiped out her memory? Had she really forgotten him?

“Caitlin,” he prodded again, “it’s me. Caleb.”

He smiled, hoping maybe that would help her remember.

But she didn’t smile back. She just stared at him, with a vacant look, blinking several times.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said. “But I have no idea who you are.”

Chapter Two

Sam woke to the sound of screeching birds. He opened his eyes and saw, high up overhead, several huge vultures circling. There must have been a dozen of them, and they circled lower and lower, seemingly right over him, as if watching him. As if waiting.

He suddenly realized they assumed he was dead, and were waiting for their chance to swoop in and eat him.

Sam jumped to his feet, and as he did, the birds suddenly flew off, as if startled that the dead could rise again.

He looked around, trying to get his bearings. He was in a field, in the midst of rolling hills. As far as he could see, there were more hills, covered in grass and odd bushes. The temperature was perfect, and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was very picturesque, and there was not a single building in sight. It appeared he was in the middle of nowhere.

Sam tried to figure out where he was, what time period, and how he’d arrived. He desperately tried to think back. What had happened before he’d gone back in time?

Slowly, he remembered. He had been in the Notre Dame, in Paris, in 1789. He had been fighting off Kyle, Kendra, Sergei and their people, keeping them at bay so that Caitlin and Caleb could escape. It had been the least he could do, and he owed her that much, especially after endangering her with his reckless romance with Kendra.

Vastly outnumbered, he had used his shape-shifting power, and had managed to confuse them just enough to wreak considerable damage, wiping out many of Kyle’s men, incapacitating the others, and managing to escape with Polly.

Polly.

She had been by his side the whole time, had fought valiantly, and the two of them, he remembered, had been quite a force together. They had escaped through the ceiling of the Notre Dame, and had gone searching for Caitlin and Caleb in the night. Yes. It was all starting to come back…

Sam had found out that his sister had gone back in time, and he knew, on the spot, that he had to go back, too, to make wrongs right, to find Caitlin again, to apologize, and to protect her. He knew she didn’t need it: she was a better warrior than he was now, and she had Caleb. But she was his sister, after all, and the impulse to protect her was something he could not turn off.

Polly had insisted on coming back with him. She, too, was intent on seeing Caitlin again, and on explaining herself to her. Sam hadn’t objected, and they had gone back together.

Sam looked around again now, staring out at the fields, wondering.

“Polly?” he called out, tentatively.

No response.

He walked towards the edge of a hill, hoping to get a view of the landscape.

“Polly!?” he called out again, louder this time.

“Finally!” came a voice.

As Sam looked out, Polly appeared, walking up over the horizon, rounding a hill. She carried an armful of strawberries and was eating one, her mouth full as she spoke. “I’ve been waiting for you all morning! Gosh! You really love to sleep, don’t you!?”

Sam was delighted to see her. Seeing her, he realized how alone he had felt coming back, and how happy he was to have some companionship. He also realized, despite himself, how much she had grown on him. Especially after his fiasco with Kendra, he appreciated being around a normal girl, appreciated Polly more than she knew. And as she got closer, and as the sun lit up her light brown hair and blue eyes, her translucent white skin, he was surprised, once again, by her natural beauty.

He was about to respond, but as usual, she didn’t let him get a word in.

“I woke up not ten feet from you,” she continued, as she approached, eating another strawberry, “and I shook you and shook you, but you wouldn’t wake! So I went off and did some gathering. I’m anxious to leave this place, but I figured I’d not leave you to the birds before I went. We have to find Caitlin. Who knows where she is? She could need our help right now. And all you do is sleep! After all, what did we come back for if we’re not going to get up and go and – ”