is a letter from your father. Just for you. We have been guarding it for centuries. It has never been opened.”
Caitlin took it in awe, feeling its weight in her hand.
“I do hope that you wil continue with your mission,” she said softly. “We need you, Caitlin.”
The nun suddenly turned to go.
“Wait!” Caitlin yel ed out.
She stopped.
“I’m in Paris, correct? In 1789?”
The woman smiled back. “That is correct.”
“But why? Why am I here? Why now? Why this place?”
“I’m afraid that is for you to find out. I am but a simple servant.”
“But why was I drawn to this church?”
“You are in the Abbey of Saint Peter. In Montmartre,” the woman said. “It has been here for thousands of years. It is a very sacred place.”
“Why?” Caitlin pressed.
“This was the place in which everyone met to take their vows for the founding of the Society of Jesus. It is in this place that Christianity was born.”
Caitlin stared back, speechless, and the nun final y smiled and said, “Welcome.”
And with that, she bowed slightly, and walked away, closing the door gently behind her.
Caitlin turned and surveyed the room. She was grateful for the hospitality, for the change of clothes, for the chance to bathe, for the comfortable bed that she saw lying in the corner. She didn’t think she could take one more step. In fact, she was so tired, she felt like she could sleep forever.
Holding the bejeweled case, she walked to the corner of the room, and set it down. The scrol could wait. But her hunger couldn’t.
She lifted the overflowing goblet and examined it. She could already sense what it contained: white blood.
She put it to her lips and drank. It was sweeter than red blood and went down more easily—and it ran through her veins faster. Within moments, she felt reborn, and stronger than she’d ever had.
She could have drank forever.
Caitlin final y set down the empty goblet, and took the silver case with her to bed. She lay down, and realized how sore her legs were. It felt so good to just lay there.
She leaned back and rested her head against the smal , simple pil ow, and closed her eyes, just for a second. She was resolved to open them in just a moment, and read her father’s letter.
But the moment her eyes closed, an incredible exhaustion overcame her. She couldn’t open them again if she tried.
Within seconds, she was fast asleep.
*
Caitlin stood on the floor of the Roman Colosseum, dressed in full battle gear, holding a sword. She was ready to challenge whoever attacked her—indeed, felt the urge to fight. But as she spun around, in every direction, she saw that the stadium was empty. She looked up at the saw that the stadium was empty. She looked up at the rows of seats, and saw that the entire place was vacant.
Caitlin blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the Colosseum, but rather in the Vatican, in the Sistine Chapel. She still held her sword, but now was dressed in robes.
She looked about the room and saw hundreds of vampires, lined up neatly, dressed in white robes, with glowing blue eyes. They stood patiently along the wall, silent, at perfect attention.
Caitlin dropped her sword in the empty chamber, and it landed with a clink. She walked slowly towards the head priest, reached out, and took from him a huge silver goblet, filled with white blood. She drank, and the liquid overflowed and poured down her cheeks.
Suddenly, Caitlin found herself alone in the desert. She was walking barefoot on the baked dirt, the sun beating down her, and she held a gigantic key in her hand. But the key was so big—unnaturally big—and the weight of it was pulling her down.
She walked and walked, gasping for air in the heat, until finally, she came to a huge mountain. At the top of that mountain, she saw a man standing there, looking down, smiling.
She knew it was her father.
Caitlin broke into a sprint, running for all she was worth, trying to make it up the mountain, getting closer and closer to him. As she did, the sun grew higher, hotter in the sky, bearing down on her, seeming to come from right behind her father himself. It was as if he were the sun, and she were heading right into it.
Her ascent grew hotter, higher, and she gasped for breath as she got close. He stood with his arms are outstretched, waiting