Microsoft Word - BETROTHED.docx (2 page)

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—”

“Please!” Sam called out, breaking into a laugh. “I can’t get a word in!” Polly stopped and stared at him, looking surprised, as if she had no idea she were speaking so much.

“Well then,” she said, “speak!”

Sam stared back at her, distracted by how blue her eyes looked in the early morning light; finally having a chance to speak, he froze up, forgetting what he was about to say.

“Uh…” he began.

Polly threw up her hands.

“Boys!” she exclaimed. “They never want you to talk—but they never have anything to say themselves! Well, I can’t wait around here anymore!” she said, and hurried off, strutting through the fields, eating another strawberry.

“Wait!” Sam called out, hurrying to catch up with her. “Where are you going?”

“Why, to find Caitlin, of course!”

“You know where she is?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “But I know where she
isn’t
—and that’s in this field! We need to get out of here.

Find the closest city, or buildings, or whatever, and figure out what time we’re in. We have to start somewhere! And this is not the place!”

“Well, don’t you think I want to find my sister, too!?” Sam called out, exasperated.

Finally, she stopped and turned, facing him.

“I mean, don’t you want company?” Sam asked, realizing as he said it, how much he wanted to look for Caitlin with her. “Don’t you want to search together?” Polly looked back at him with her large blue eyes, as if summing him up. He felt as if he were being scrutinized, and he could see she looked unsure. He couldn’t understand why.

“I don’t know,” she finally said. “I mean, you handled yourself pretty well back there in Paris—I do have to admit. But…”

She paused.

“What is it?” he finally asked.

Polly cleared her throat.

“Well, if you must know, the last—um—boy—I spent any time with—Sergei—turned out to be a liar and a con-man, who tricked and used me. I was too stupid to see it. But I’m never going to fall for anything like that again. And I’m not ready to trust anybody of the male race—not even you. I just don’t want to spend any time with any more boys right now. Not that you and I—not that I’m saying that we’re—not that I think of you that way—as anything more than a friend—than an acquaintance—”

Polly began stammering, and he could see how nervous she had become, and couldn’t help smiling inwardly.

“—but it’s just that, regardless, I’m sick of boys. No offense.” Sam smiled broadly. He loved her candor, and her spunkiness.

“None taken,” he answered. “The truth be told,” he added, “I’m sick of girls.” Polly’s eyes opened wide in surprise; that clearly wasn’t the response she’d been expecting.

“But it occurs to me that we have a better chance of finding my sister if we search together. I mean—just—” Sam cleared his throat, “—just professionally speaking.” Now it was Polly’s turn to smile.

“Professionally speaking,” she repeated.

Sam reached out his hand, formally.

“I promise, we’ll just be friends—nothing more,” he said. “I’ve sworn off of girls forever. No matter what.”

“And I’ve sworn off of guys forever. No matter what,” Polly said, still examining his hand, as it dangled in the air, unsure.

Sam left his hand out patiently, waiting.

“Just friends?” she asked. “Nothing more?”

“Just friends,” Sam said.

She finally reached out and shook on it.

And as she did, Sam couldn’t help noticing that she held his hand just the slightest bit too long.

Caitlin sat up in the sarcophagus, and stared back at the man before her. She knew she recognized him from somewhere, but could not place where. She stared at his large, brown, concerned eyes, his perfectly chiseled face, his cheekbones, his smooth skin, his thick, wavy hair. He was gorgeous, and she could sense how much he cared for her. She felt deep down that this was an important person to her, but for the life of her, she could not remember who it was.

Caitlin felt something wet in her palm, and looked down to see a wolf sitting there, licking her.

She was surprised at how caring it was towards her, as if it had known her forever. It had beautiful white fur, with a single grey streak running down the middle of its head and back. Caitlin felt she knew this animal, too, and that at some point in her life she'd had a close connection to it.

But try as she did, she could not remember how.

She looked around the room, trying to take in her surroundings, hoping it might jog her memory. The room slowly came into focus. It was dim, lit only by a torch, and in the distance, she saw adjoining rooms, filled with sarcophagi. It had a low, vaulted ceiling, and the stones looked ancient. It looked like a crypt. She wondered how she had gotten here—and who these people were.

She felt as if she had been awakened from a dream that would not end.

Caitlin closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply, and as she did, a collection of random images suddenly flashed through her mind. She saw herself standing in the Roman Colosseum, fighting off multiple soldiers on its hot, dusty floor; she saw herself flying over an island in the Hudson River, looking down at a sprawling castle; she saw herself in Venice, on a gondola, with a boy she did not recognize, but who was also beautiful; she saw herself in Paris, walking along a river with a man who she recognized as the same man across from her. She tried to focus on that image, to hold onto it. Perhaps it would help her remember.

She saw the two of them again, this time in his castle, in the countryside of France. She saw them riding horses on the beach, then saw a falcon, circling high above them, dropping off a letter.

She tried to zoom in on his face, to remember his name. It seemed to be coming back to her; it was so close. But her mind kept flashing something new, and it was so hard to hold onto anything.

Lifetime after lifetime flashed before her in an endless snapshot of images. It was as if her memory were repopulating itself.

"Caleb," came a voice.

Caitlin opened her eyes. He was leaning in close, reaching out a hand, holding her shoulder.

"My name is Caleb. Of the White Coven. Don't you remember?"

Caitlin's eyes closed again, as her mind was jogged by his words, his voice.
Caleb
. The name rang like a bell in her brain. It felt like an important name to her.

White Coven. That, too, rang a bell. She suddenly saw herself in a city she knew to be New York City, in a cloister at the northern end of the island. She saw herself standing on a large terrace, looking out. She saw herself arguing with a woman named Sera.

"Caitlin," came the voice again, more firmly. "Don't you remember?"

Caitlin
. Yes. That was her name. She felt certain of it now.

And Caleb. Yes. He was important to her. He was her…boyfriend? He felt like more than that.

Fiancé? Husband?

She opened her eyes, and stared at him, and it was all starting to flood back. Hope filled within her, as slowly, bit by bit, she was starting to remember everything.

"Caleb," she said back, softly.

His eyes suddenly filled with hope, watering. The wolf whined beside her licked her cheek, as if encouraged. She looked over at her, and suddenly remembered her name.

"Rose,” she said, then realized that wasn't right. “No. Ruth. Your name is Ruth."

Ruth leaned in closer, licking her face. Caitlin couldn't help but smile, and stroked her head.

Caleb broke into a relieved grin.

"Yes. Ruth. And I am Caleb. And you are Caitlin. Do you remember now?” She nodded. "It's coming back to me," she said. "You are my…husband?"

She watched as his face suddenly turned red, as if he were embarrassed, or shamed. And at that moment, she suddenly remembered. No. They were not married.

"We are not married," he said, apologetic, "but we are together."

She was embarrassed, too, as now she started to remember everything, as it all started flooding back to her.

She suddenly remembered the keys. Her father’s keys. She reached down, into her pocket, and was reassured to feel them there. She reached into another pocket and felt her journal, still there.

She was relieved.

Caleb reached out a hand.

She took it, and let him pull her up and out of the sarcophagus.

It felt so good to be standing, to stretch her aching muscles.

Caleb reached out and brushed the hair back out of her face. His soft fingers felt so good as they brushed her temple.

"I'm so glad you're alive," he said.

He embraced her, hugging her tight. She hugged him back, and as she did, more memories flooded through her. Yes, this was the man she loved. The man she hoped, one day, to marry. She could feel his love coursing through her, and she remembered that they had gone back in time together. They had last been in France, in Paris, and she had found the second key, and they had both been sent back. She had prayed that they would come back together this time. And as she held him tighter, she realized that her prayers had come true.

Finally, this time, they were together.

"I see you two have found each other," came a voice.

Caitlin and Caleb, in the midst of their embrace, both spun at the voice, startled. Caitlin was shocked that anyone could have snuck up on them so quickly, especially given their alert vampire senses.

But as she stared back at the woman standing before them, she realized why: this woman too, was a vampire. Dressed in all white, wearing a hood, the woman lifted her chin and stared back with piercing blue eyes. Caitlin could detect a sense of peace and harmony coming off of her, and she let down her guard. She felt Caleb let down his guard, too.

The woman broke into a wide smile.

"We've been waiting for you for quite some time," she said, in a gentle voice.

"Where are we?" Caitlin asked. “What year is it?"

The woman only smiled back.

"Come this way," she said, turning her back, and heading back out through the low, arched doorway.

Caitlin and Caleb exchanged a look, then followed her out the doorway, Ruth at their side.

They walked down a stone corridor, twisting and turning, and it led to a set of narrow stairs, lit only by a torch. They were close behind the woman, who simply kept walking, as if assuming they would follow.

Caitlin felt a desire to ask more questions, to press her on where they were; but as they reached the top of the staircase, the room suddenly opened up into a magnificent sight, taking her breath away, and she realized they were inside an enormous church. At least that part of the question was answered.

Caitlin once again regretted not having listened more carefully in her history and architecture classes, regretted not being able to tell at first sight exactly what church this was. She thought back to all the magnificent churches she’d visited—the Notre Dame in Paris, the Duomo in Florence—

and couldn't help thinking that this reminded her somewhat of them.

The nave of the church stretched for hundreds of feet, had a tiled, marble floor, and had walls adorned with dozens of carved, stone statues. It had soaring, vaulted ceilings, climbing hundreds of feet high. High up were rows and rows of arched stained-glass, flooding the church with a soft, multicolor light. At its far end was a huge, circular piece of stained glass, filtering light into an enormous, gilded altar. Spread out before that were hundreds of small, wooden chairs for worshipers.

But now, the church was empty. It seemed as if they had the entire place to themselves.

They walked across the room, following the vampire, and their footsteps echoed, reverberating in the huge, empty hall.

"What church is this?" Caitlin finally asked.

"Westminster Abbey," came the woman's voice, as she continued walking. "The coronation seat of Kings and Queens for thousands of years."

Westminster Abbey
, Caitlin thought. She knew that was in England. London, in fact.

London.

The idea of being here hit her like a wave of bricks. It was overwhelming, awe-inspiring. She had never been here before, and had always wanted to go. She had had friends who had gone, and had seen pictures online. It made sense to her that they were here, given this city's long medieval history.

This church alone was thousands of years old—and she knew that this city had a lot more like it. But she still didn't know the year.

"And what year is it?" Caitlin asked, nervous.

But their guide walked so quickly, she had already crossed the huge chapel and ducked through another arched door, forcing Caitlin and Caleb to hurry to keep up.