by Amy Cross
“A prophecy?” I replied, furrowing my brow. “Here?”
I headed over to look at some of the stones, but I found no text anywhere on the surface.
“I know you loved Judith!” Chloe called out as I checked another stone, and then another. “I'm so sorry, Hugo, but she wasn't who you thought she was. I don't know exactly where she came from, but she certainly wasn't a timid little laundry girl. She was lying to us all, right from the start.”
“I'll get her back,” I murmured, still searching the stones for some hint of a message. “If there is a prophecy, I need to find it. Maybe it's buried. That'll be hard to get to.”
“We're all on the same side!” Chloe shouted. “You have to know that, Hugo! There's still time to stop this! We have to go back and get Matthias, and then the three of us have to come up with a plan!”
“There's no prophecy on any of these stones,” I said, taking a step back as I realized that – once again – I was missing something. “But if the prophecy was buried, then no-one would know about it. It must be here somewhere, in plain sight.”
“Look at the bigger picture,” Judith whispered.
I opened my mouth to reply to her, before feeling a shudder pass through my chest. Turning, I looked around, but all I saw was Chloe still struggling on the ground.
“It's all around you,” Judith's voice continued.
“Where are you?” I asked, before realizing that I was risking madness. Clearly my subconscious mind was manifesting somehow as Judith. If I answered her, I would end up as a gibbering fool who talked to himself.
Still, there had to be a point to her message.
It's all around you.
What did that mean?
“Matthias wants to help you!” Chloe shouted, although I barely even noticed her voice as I looked at the stones on the far side of the circle. “He's your brother! You need to let him do that! You need to trust him!”
“I see it!” I yelled suddenly, as I finally understood how to reach the prophecy.
Stepping forward, I looked at the various stones and I realized that I was right. Filled with a kind of nervous excitement, I finally recognized that these stones hadn't fallen or tilted at all. They had been built this way, forming a short message written in an ancient language that I dimly remembered from my studies. I quickly found where the message started, and I turned slowly in order to see it all.
“The circle cannot be broken,” I whispered out loud, “only seen.”
I clenched my right fist.
“What kind of prophecy is that?” I spat, turning to Chloe. “Of course the circle can be broken. It means the circle of fate, but it's wrong. This isn't a prophecy, it's a warning, it's scaremongering! We can change time, we can alter things that have already happened. And that means we can go back and save Judith.”
“Judith's dead, Hugo!”
“But she doesn't have to stay that way!”
“She was still dead in the future,” she replied. “When I first met you, you were trying to get her back. You'd lost your mind, you were this decrepit husk and you were desperately trying to save Judith, but you couldn't. You just kept failing.”
“You're a liar!” I snarled, filled with fury as I stormed back over to her.
“You just can't face the truth,” she said, staring up at me with fear in her eyes. “She's gone, Hugo. It's a tragedy and I feel so bad for you, but Judith is gone. And you have to accept who she really was, she -”
“Liar!” I screamed, grabbing her by the throat and throwing her across the clearing until she slammed hard against one of the stones.
She tumbled down to the grass and let out a pained groan.
“I will change time to get Judith back,” I told her as I stepped closer. “And if that doesn't work, I will change reality. And if that doesn't work, I will rip all of existence apart and put it back together the way it should be!”
“You... sound like... Zieghoff,” she gasped, as she began to sit up. “You're going to end up the same way.”
“Zieghoff was a fool,” I replied, “and -”
Suddenly, however, I realized that she was right, at least in one respect. Zieghoff had died at Chateau Malafort, that much was certain, and he'd died spectacularly. From what I understood of Chloe's journey back in time, the ring somehow seemed to combine with the flames of a dying vampire, and that was what had allowed her to move from one year to another. Murhenge wasn't special, there was no real need to be there. What mattered was the inferno and the ring.
“We have everything we need,” I whispered, as I understood the full implications of what I had to do.
I should have had Matthias with me.
If I had, I would have killed him and used the flames from his death to send both myself and Chloe through time. I would have then used sheer strength of will to make sure that we went back to a point that would allow me to save Judith.
Since Matthias was not with us, however, I had only one choice.
“When a vampire dies,” I said cautiously, as I took a dagger from my belt, “his body burns. It is said, however, that the great Gothos himself managed to survive that fire and live on, at least for a while. He was neither alive nor dead. Many have dismissed that legend as untrue, but I suspect that it has its roots in something that really happened. And if Gothos could do that, then so can I.”
“Hugo,” Chloe said, still staring up at me from the ground, “please...”
“Here,” I added, handing the rings to her, forcing her to take them both. “You're going home, Chloe.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I'm sending you back to where you came from,” I lied, knowing full well that once the flames began I would be able to send us both to a different point in time. At least this way, however, I could count on her cooperation.
I placed the tip of the dagger against my chest.
“A vampire can only be killed by another vampire,” I explained, “and must die alone. I shall rely upon that latter point to make sure that I am never alone, in which case I shall go on for as long as it takes. I shall reorder time and I shall get Judith back, and then you'll all see that you're wrong about her. She loved me, and she was a good person, and when I get her back I'll make you understand that.”
I began to push the dagger's tip into my chest, although after a moment I felt myself hesitate.
“All I have to do,” I added, “is cut out my own heart.”
“Hurry,” Judith's voice whispered in my ear. “I'm waiting for you, Hugo. If you love me, you'll get me back.”
“Hugo, we have to get Matthias!” Chloe said firmly. “That's the only way to fix any of this!”
“Of course I love you,” I whispered, as I felt Judith's hand on my shoulder, and as tears ran down my face. “I'm coming, my darling. I'm coming to get you right now.”
With that, I felt her hand on my own, and together we pushed the dagger into my heart. I let out a pained gasp and dropped to my knees, but I knew I had to stay strong. Slowly, I began to cut my heart out, pushing through the pain as I heard Judith whispering her love into my ear. I could feel blood pouring from the wound, but finally I reached into my chest and pulled my heart out. I knew I should be dead, but I could hear Judith still whispering and I knew she was with me, and I also knew that no vampire can die unless he's alone.
Even as Chloe screamed, and as flames roared from my body, I began to laugh.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chloe
“No!” I shouted, lunging forward and then falling against the grass. The flames were everywhere for a few seconds, before suddenly fading away.
Startled, I turned and saw that there was no sign of Hugo. I was still in the stone circle, but it was as if Hugo had vanished into mid-air.
And then, as I looked around, I saw some electricity pylons in the distance. I was sure they hadn't been there earlier, and a moment later I heard a distant rumbling sound. Looking up, I watched for a moment as a plane flew acro
ss the sky, and I slowly began to realize that something had changed.
I was home.
“No,” I whispered, not quite daring to believe that it could be true. “It can't have been that simple, not after so long.”
I hesitated, before trying once again to pull free of the ropes that Hugo had tied around my wrists and ankles. This time, perhaps due to the brief inferno that had erupted from Hugo's body, I found that the ropes came away quite easily, and finally I got to my feet and stepped out into the middle of the circle.
The plane was still visible in the distance.
Looking down at the palm of my hand, I saw that I still had the ring, except that there was only one copy of it now. I figured both versions must have somehow merged together when I traveled forward through time, although to be honest my head hurt a little as I tried to work out exactly how the mechanics of time travel functioned.
“I'm home,” I whispered, as I finally allowed to myself to believe that it was possible. “I made it home!”
***
“Thank you so much for the ride!” I said as I stepped out of the car and then slammed the door shut. “You have no idea how important it was!”
“And you're sure you want to be dropped off here?” the man said, peering past me and looking at the overgrown, abandoned church. “Are you sure I can't take you to a nearby town instead?”
“No, this is perfect,” I replied, taking a step back. “Thank you again.”
With that, I turned and headed through the gate, and I was relieved to hear the man driving away. I'd had to hitch several rides after leaving Murhenge, and it had taken a while to even figure out how to find the church again. Finally, however, I'd arrived, and as I made my way toward the wooden front door I realized that the place didn't seem to have been touched at all since my previous visit. Which seemed like a relief at first, although after a moment I began to wonder how and why an old church could have been left completely abandoned.
Stopping, I looked over toward the far wall, and to my horror I saw that the wheelbarrow was right where I'd left it. I took a few steps over, and then I winced as I saw a set of bones.
“Sorry, Judith,” I whispered. “I guess no-one found you.”
As I headed toward the church's main entrance, I couldn't help but wonder how it was possible that nobody had been to the church in the decades since I'd last been there. Almost immediately, however, I realized the answer. With every step I took toward the door, I felt a greater and greater sense of unease in my chest. It was as if the entire church was emanating a kind of dread that hung in the air, and by the time I reached the door I understood that pretty much anyone else would have turned around and run away by that point. The church was giving off seriously bad vibes, and I actually had to force myself to reach out and open the door.
I hesitated, worried about what I'd find, and then I stepped into the dark, cold, still interior.
As soon as I looked toward the altar, I saw him.
Matthias was right where I'd last seen him all those years ago. More than seventy years had passed, and he'd remained on the altar with that stake embedded deep in his chest. At the same time, even from a distance I could see that he was in no way rotten. He seemed to have simply remained in that frozen state, right where Hugo had left him.
“Matthias,” I whispered, before starting to walk toward him and then quickly breaking into a run. “Matthias, it's me!”
Reaching the altar, I hurried up the steps and reached out to grab the stake. Looking at Matthias's face, I saw that he hadn't changed at all, although there was a thick layer of dust covering his features and there was even what appeared to be mold. I knew I had no time to spare, so I took a firm hold of the cross and began to pull. At first, it was difficult to get the damn thing to move at all, but I gave it a few twists and finally it began to slide out from the wound. Once it was free, I tossed it aside and looked down once again at Matthias's face, but so far he still hasn't stirred.
“Matthias, wake up!” I said, shaking his shoulder gently. “Matthias, please, you have to be able to hear me! I'm so sorry I couldn't come back before, but -”
Suddenly he gasped and opened his eyes, and he sat up so fast that he almost headbutted me.
“Matthias, it's me!” I gasped.
He stared straight ahead for a moment, before turning to me. He blinked a couple of times, as if he still wasn't quite sure what was happening, and then he started to look around.
“It's morning,” he said cautiously. “How long have I...”
He paused, and then he furrowed his brow.
“Hugo did this to me,” he sneered, before climbing off the altar. “I knew he was angry about what happened to Judith, but I never thought he'd go so far as to stake his own brother in the chest! How long has he been gone? We have to follow him to Murhenge, he'll have gone there to try to -”
“It's been seventy years, Matthias!”
He stopped and turned to me.
“I'm back in my own time,” I told him. “I don't really understand much of what happened, except that Hugo tried to come with me to some other point, but I ended up here. Well, at Murhenge. I got a ride back here, and apparently it's about a week before I was sent back in time from Paris, which means... I guess it means there's another me out there, running around Paris right now. Matthias, I don't understand any of this, I don't even know where Hugo went. He tried to use his own flaming body to power the time travel, but obviously it didn't work. Not for him, at least. It only worked for me.”
“Seventy years?” Matthias replied, clearly in shock. “I've been here in this church for seventy years?”
I nodded.
Reaching up, he touched the side of his face.
“You're a little moldy,” I told him.
“That's...” He hesitated. “That's quite disgusting.”
“To me, it feels like less than a day since we got here,” I replied, “but you've been here all that time. No-one came to the church, I think somehow they must have sensed that something was wrong here.”
“Then they were right,” he said, stepping toward me. “Chloe, we have to -”
Suddenly he let out a pained gasp and stumbled forward. I hurried over and managed to hold him up, but to my shock I saw that his face briefly seemed so old and frail. His features quickly returned to normal but, as I helped him take a seat, I realized that I'd seen that face once before.
In my neighbor's apartment in Paris.
“Get out!” I remembered him screaming to me when I'd gone in to check whether or not he was okay. “Out! Get out of here!”
“We have to get to Paris,” he said now, clearly in a great deal of pain. “There isn't much time. We have to make sure that Hugo doesn't do anything to change time.”
“I still have the ring,” I said, holding it up for him to see. “One of them, anyway. The other one seems to have sort of folded into it. Or stayed in the past, maybe. To be honest, I'm a little fuzzy on all the time travel rules here.”
“I doubt anyone could wrap their head around all of that,” he replied. “There's no time to lose, Chloe. We need to go to Paris and I need you to tell me everything you remember about the days before you were sent back in time. Don't leave any detail out, even if it seems completely insignificant.”
“How are we going to get there?” I asked, as he got to his feet and we made our way along the aisle. “Matthias, I don't even have my passport! It's still in Paris, in my apartment there!”
Stopping, he turned to me.
“Don't worry about that,” he said, with a faint smile. “We'll travel via the Underworld.”
“The what?” I asked, although now his smile was making me feel rather nervous. “What's the Underworld, Matthias?” I swallowed hard. “I'm not going to like it much, am I?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hugo
Opening my eyes in the darkness, I realized that something had changed. The emptiness was gone, replaced by a sudden hunger th
at told me everything I needed to know. I had spent so very long in my cell, meditating and plotting, but now at last I could sense my brother's mind out there in the world. He had been revived, which meant that the wheels were once again beginning to turn.
“Hello, brother dearest,” I whispered, as I heard an orderly coming to the door of my cell, jangling his keys as he walked. “I think it's finally time for me to get out of this wretched place.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chloe
Several days later...
L'ascenseur ne sont pas en cours d'utilisation.
Well, at least I knew what that meant now. My years in war-torn Paris had helped me gain a pretty good understanding of French, so – as I made my way up the stairs and headed toward the apartment that Matthias and I were using – I figured that getting about would no longer be quite so difficult. By the time I reached the seventh floor, I also noticed that I wasn't out of breath.
I guess surviving World War Two had helped with my fitness, too.
I headed toward the apartment door, before stopping as I realized that it was already open. On the way to Paris, I'd drawn up what I thought was a pretty accurate list of my movements during this period, but as I approached the door I suddenly realized that I might have made a miscalculation. Sure enough, I soon heard a familiar voice coming from the apartment's front room.
“I just came to help,” I heard myself saying. “My name is Chloe -”
“Get out!” Matthias shouted. “Out! Get out of here!”
I immediately pulled back and hurried around the corner, and then I stopped and listened to the sound of my younger self rushing out of the apartment, followed by the sound of the door slamming shut.
Then silence hung in the air for a moment.
“My name is Chloe,” I heard the other version of me say, sounding a little sad. “I just wondered if you needed help.” She paused. “I guess that's a no, then.”
With that, she began to make her way down the stairs. Even though I knew that I shouldn't, I couldn't resist peering around the corner, just in time to see my her face before she disappeared from view. Or rather, my own face, just younger. I wanted to call out, to warn her – to warn myself – about everything that was going to happen, but Matthias had already told me that I couldn't risk doing anything like that. I had to be smart, and I had to trust that everything would eventually be okay.