by Amy Cross
“Shame,” I muttered under my breath. “That might actually be useful, if you could be a big bat that could carry me. There'd be -”
Suddenly hearing a rustling sound, I looked over my shoulder.
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
“Hear what?”
I watched the way we'd just come, but there was no sign of anyone. A moment later, however, I heard another rustling sound. I looked to the left, and now I was seriously starting to worry that we might not be alone in the forest.
“How can you not have heard that?” I whispered. “It sounds like there are people out there.”
“You might be right,” he replied, lowering his voice. “I think I -”
Suddenly three women stepped out from behind nearby trees, aiming guns at us. Matthias brought the horse to a halt, just as a couple of men emerged from some bushes behind us. I felt a rush of panic, although the sensation was tempered by the realization that these people weren't wearing military uniforms. As I looked around at them, I began to notice that their clothes were tattered and old, and that their faces were covered in some kind of dirt that seemed designed to help them blend in with their surroundings.
One of the women shouted something in French.
Matthias replied, also in French.
There then ensued a short conversation between them, with the woman sounding very firm and Matthias sounding increasingly annoyed. Finally, this conversation ended with the woman signaling to her friends, all of whom then raised their guns.
“Chloe,” Matthias said cautiously, turning to me, “I don't know how much of that you followed -”
“None of it,” I told him.
“In which case, I think I should introduce you to some people.”
“Is it Nazis?” I asked. “Please tell me it's not more Nazis.”
“It's not more Nazis,” he replied cautiously, and I could see the concern in his eyes. “Chloe, I'm afraid that we're now prisoners of the French resistance.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Matthias
“More angry humans,” I muttered under my breath as I climbed down from the horse, and as I saw – from the corner of my eye – several guns turning to remain trained on my head. “Just what we need.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chloe
“But this is good, isn't it?” I asked as I followed Matthias through the dark forest, with several resistance members walking behind us. “I mean, the resistance are the good guys. They're not going to hurt us.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” he replied. “What good guys?”
“Well, they're on our side!”
“Our side? What are you talking about, we're not on any side, Chloe.”
“Well, no,” I replied, before giving the matter some thought for a moment. “I mean, we kind of are, though. I totally admit that I didn't pay much attention in school, but one thing I did pick up on is the fact that the Nazis were the bad guys. And the resistance were resisting them, they were helping the British and the Americans. So that makes them the good guys, right?”
I waited for an answer, but I was starting to worry that I might be missing something. That somehow I was being naive.
“Right?” I added finally.
“I'm not on anyone's side in this war,” Matthias replied after a moment, “and you shouldn't be, either. The war is just a big waste of time, with humans fighting one another over pathetic little patches of land. Both sides are committing atrocities, but that's fine with me. Let them wipe one another out. Occasonal mass slaughter seems to be an essential aspect of human civilization, it's almost a counterbalance to your rapacity. I decided at the start that I'm staying out of it.”
“But -”
“This whole war is completely insignificant.”
“Insignificant?”
We walked on for a moment in silence.
“You think World War Two is insignificant?” I asked after a few more paces.
“You think it's important?”
“People are dying!”
“And if some mayflies were having a war above the surface of a pond,” he replied darkly, “would you care about that too?”
“Mayflies? Is that really how you see humans?”
“Humans live and die in the blink of an eye. You also seem to take great interest in anything that can bring pain and misery to your species. And you might believe that this war is particularly terrible, Chloe, but it's really nothing. Compared to the great wars of Gothos and Sangreth, compared to the Battle for the Library or the fight at Al'Gere, this supposed war is nothing more than... Well, it's nothing more than mayflies dancing above a pond. And I for one have no intention of wasting my time by getting involved.”
“That's... cold,” I pointed out, shocked by his attitude.
“These people would be dead by now, if I could afford to kill them,” he replied.
“If that's your attitude, I'm surprised you haven't killed them already.”
“Believe me, I would have. The truth is, I'm still recovering. I over-exerted myself at Chateau Malafort, and I set myself back a little. Plus, I can't risk doing anything that might draw attention to us.” He glanced at me. “In case you've forgotten, we have both Klaus Zieghoff and my brother Hugo on our tails. If word gets out that a vampire is even suspected to be in this part of the country, we'll have company.”
We continued to walk, and I was starting to feel as if I didn't really know Matthias at all. In the future – in my past – he'd seemed kind and caring, but I was beginning to wonder whether I'd been wrong about that. The Matthias I was talking to now seemed cold and bitter, and I really didn't like the idea that he saw humans as nothing more than mayflies. I guess maybe I'd expected him to be some kind of shining hero, when in fact he was just like everyone else. He was trying to get on with his life, with as few interruptions as possible.
“So why are you even here with me now?” I asked finally.
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you bother rescuing me from Zieghoff?”
I waited, but at first he didn't answer.
“You seem significant, someohw,” he said after a brief pause. “I've sensed for a while that something important might be coming toward me. A time-traveler who knows my name would seem to fit the bill perfectly. I still don't know how or why you're here, but there must be a reason.”
Stopping, I realized that he was serious.
“So you just see me as some kind of mystery to be solved?”
Suddenly someone shoved me hard in the small of the back, sending me stumbling forward. I turned as one of the resistance members snarled something at me in French.
“They want you to keep moving,” Matthias explained. “Pleasant people, don't you think?”
I turned and started walking again, but I was starting to feel increasingly concerned. Matthias seemed to be so terribly cold-hearted, and I was actually starting to think that he wasn't much better than Hugo. And then, as I saw the outskirts of a town up ahead, I realized that I hadn't been magically rescued from danger when Matthias had freed me from Zieghoff's dungeon. I was still in a huge amount of trouble, and I had no idea how I was ever going to get home.
Or if I was going to get home.
Chapter Forty
Matthias
“Who's in charge here?” I asked as we stopped in the town square, which stood deserted under the moonlight. “One of you must be calling the shorts. Nominally, at least.”
“Maybe you should consider shutting your mouth,” the nearest woman replied, with her gun still aimed at me.
I flinched. Deep down, I wanted nothing more than to rip these idiots apart, and to leave their entrails in the mud for pigs to find in the morning. I knew, however, that the wisest course of action would be to hold back a little, although I calmed myself by silently promising that – when the time came – I would indeed make these fools pay for their actions.
“You're English,” the woman sai
d, switching from French.
“Hardly,” I muttered.
“You sound English.”
“I spent a lot of time there.”
“Before the war?”
“In the reign of Queen Anne, if you must know,” I snarled, before once again forcing myself to stay calm. “Where I come from is none of your concern,” I added, “and even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me.”
“You seem very full of yourself,” she replied. “Very confident.”
“That should worry you.”
“I've never met anyone quite like you,” she continued, stepping toward me. I could smell the excitement on her, and her eyes blazed with a kind of pathetic human curiosity. “When we pick people up, they're usually groveling for their lives by this point.”
“Then you've never picked anyone like me up before,” I snarled.
“Indeed not.” She hesitated. “There's a first time for everything, I suppose.”
“And a last.”
She smiled.
“Michelle,” a voice called out, “that's enough!”
Turning, I saw that a short, round man was coming out of a nearby building. He had several more resistance members with him, and I was immediately aware that this individual seemed somehow to be important. He looked overweight and rather sickly, yet he approached me with a great deal of confidence.
“You must forgive Michelle,” he continued, “she tends to get ahead of herself. She has been through a great deal, as have we all. I'm sure you've been through a lot too. Both of you.”
“We have no wish to get involved with what's going on here,” I said firmly. “Let us leave right now, and I'm willing to overlook the way we've been treated.”
I glanced at Chloe, but she looked totally shell-shocked by everything that was happening, as if she didn't quite understand.
“We tend to be suspicious of people who are found wandering the forest,” the man replied. “My name is Pierre, and I'm in charge of our little unit here. You must understand, it's my job to make sure that we remain safe, and your arrival seems rather strange. You have an English accent, but that doesn't mean much.” He paused. “Plenty of German spies have trained themselves to have different accents.”
“Do you see now?” I said with a sigh, turning to Chloe again. “This is why I never want to get involved in human affairs. Everything is so petty and filled with suspicion. Humans have a tendency to over-complicate even the simplest of matters.”
“Humans?” this Pierre fool muttered. “You speak almost as if you're not one of us.”
“You'll let us leave. Now.”
He stared at me for a moment, and then he allowed himself a very faint smile.
“There are Germans everywhere,” he said finally. “A convoy has been passing through this area, you're lucky that you didn't run into it before we found you. If you're really not on their side, I'm sure you'll prefer to stay here with us until morning. Then we can help you find your way, and everyone will be happy. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?”
“I'd rather take my chances,” I said darkly.
“But you said you don't want to fight,” Chloe whispered.
I turned to her.
“You said you don't want to draw any attention to us,” she added. “If there really is a convoy, we need to make sure that we don't run into it. I know we need to keep moving, but a few hours here shouldn't cause too much trouble. Should they?”
I opened my mouth to tell her to stay out of the discussion, but at the last moment I realized that she had a point. In my weakened state, I needed to avoid major conflict at all costs, and in truth I'd already sensed danger on the horizon. I hated the idea of being told what to do, but staying put for at least a few hours made some degree of sense. As I turned back to Pierre, I saw the self-satisfied expression on his face and I took a moment to force myself to stay calm. There would be time to rip his head from his shoulders in the morning, if I still felt the same way.
“We have food and water,” he said, “and we can find somewhere for you to sleep. That is our offer to you, my friends. You won't find anything better for hundreds of miles.”
“I'm exhausted,” Chloe said. “Can we sleep, even if it's just for a few hours?”
As she said those words, her belly gurgled loudly.
“I'm hungry, too,” she added.
“We stay until dawn,” I said firmly, determined to not seem as if I was capitulating, “but then we leave.” I turned back to Pierre and Michelle. “Whether these people like it or not.”
Chapter Forty-One
Chloe
“You're far from home,” Pierre said as he led me into a room in one of the houses next to the town square. “Your friend sounds English, but there is a hint of something else to him. Whereas you...”
He turned to me.
“You're the real deal, are you not?”
“I'm from London,” I told him.
“But you're not a spy.”
“No, I'm not.”
“And you're not a soldier.”
“How can you tell?”
He smiled.
“I don't like sticking my nose into other people's business,” he explained, “but given the circumstances, I do need to know what you're doing here. I need to determine whether you're a threat.”
“I'm not a threat to anyone here,” I told him. “You have to believe me. I'm on your side. And I can't tell you how I know, but I promise... I know that this war is going to work out just fine. The good guys are going to win.”
“The good guys? You mean us?”
I nodded.
“That's some small comfort,” he replied, “even if I'm not entirely convinced.” He took a plate of bread from a nearby table and set it in front of me. “We don't have much, but we're more than willing to share.” He paused. “Your friend seems rather intense.”
“He has his moments.” I looked over my shoulder, and I couldn't help but hope for some sight of Matthias. He'd been led away by that Michelle woman, and there was something about her that I didn't entirely trust.
“He'll be fine,” Pierre said, as if he'd second-guessed my worries. “Michelle will look after him.”
I turned back to him.
“This town is my home,” he continued, “believe it or not. Many people have died here, more than half our population, but we refuse to accept our fate. I think I speak for everyone when I say that the rest of us would rather die than surrender to those who have invaded our land. But if we are to die, then we might as well at least make our deaths count for something. We might as well take a few of the enemy with us when we go.” He paused again. “Make no mistake about it, we don't expect to survive this war. But we will make ourselves useful to the cause. After all, it's better to die for what you believe in, than to live for lies.”
“I wish everyone felt that way,” I replied, bristling as I thought back to Matthias's refusal to intervene.
“You seem troubled,” he said. “You and your friend... Are you actually friends at all?”
For a moment, I considered telling him everything. How I'd traveled back in time. How I'd been captured by Zieghoff. And how Matthias was a vampire who could – if he wanted – end so much of the suffering that now filled the world. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why Matthias and Hugo didn't single-handedly take on the Nazis and drive them out of France. I knew that if I had that power, I'd be unable to hold back. Finally, however, I realized that there was no point giving Pierre so much information. After all, it wasn't as if he'd be able to do anything to change Matthias's mind.
“You're tired,” he said, “and I should let you sleep. Plus, I have some things that I must take care of, so you'll have to excuse me. You'll find a bed upstairs, it's not so comfortable but it's better than the forest floor. Eat the bread, drink the water, and in the morning we'll find something else for you.”
With that, he stepped past me and headed to the door.
�
�Thank you,” I said.
He glanced back at me, and then he nodded before stepping out of the house.
Once I was alone, I allowed myself to sigh. I'd been trying to hide the pain, but I was still in agony from everything that had happened to me while I'd been Zieghoff's prisoner. I looked down at my hands and saw the bare, sore quicks of my fingers, where the nails had been removed. I could still taste blood in my mouth, and I couldn't help using my tongue to check the gaps where I'd had three teeth removed. There were cuts and burns on several parts of my body, and finally I sat down and felt myself starting to weep.
Tears flowed as I put my head in my hands and tried to pull myself together.
“I just want to go home,” I whimpered, unable to hold back for even a moment longer. “I never asked to get involved in any of this. Why can't I just go home?”
Chapter Forty-Two
Matthias
“You're not from around here, are you?”
Stopping at the edge of the moonlit square, I turned to Michelle.
“And when I say that,” she continued with a faint smile, “I don't just mean France. I don't just mean Europe, either. You're...”
Her voice trailed off, but I could see the excitement in her eyes. She sensed something about me, perhaps some aspect of my true nature, and she was drawn to me. She was far from the first, of course, but something about Michelle seemed especially insistent. I had a feeling that she wasn't going to stop asking questions until I told her everything.
“What I am,” I said firmly, “is none of your business.”
“You're here in my home. That makes it my business.”
I shook my head, and I couldn't help smiling at her arrogance.
“I've heard stories,” she continued, stepping closer, “about... creatures. Things that shouldn't exist, but that do exist. Things that mostly lurk at the edges of our world, but that sometimes get forced into the open. I've met brave men, I've met heroes, but they were still only human. Whereas you, Matthias, are quite clearly cut from an entirely different cloth.”
