by Amy Cross
I ran over to help him, but he was already trying to get back up.
“Find Judith!” he gasped.
“But -”
“Find Judith!” he said firmly, pushing me away. “I can deal with Zieghoff, Chloe, but I need to know that Judith's safe first. Go into the dungeons and find her, and get her out of there, and then get her as far away from this place as you can.”
“What are you going to do about Zieghoff?” I asked.
He looked past me, and I turned to see that Zieghoff was shuffling slowly toward us.
“I'll find a solution,” Hugo said after a moment, and then he pushed me again. “But I need to think clearly, and for that I need to know that Judith is safe. I'm trusting you, Chloe. Judith's the most important thing in the world to me, and I'm trusting you to save her. Now run!”
I hesitated, and then I heard a growling sound nearby. I turned and saw Zieghoff glaring directly at me, and I instantly felt a rush of instinctive, primal fear rising through my chest. I took a step back, but the fear was getting stronger and stronger, and finally I realized that Hugo was right. Turning, I stumbled out of the room, and then I tried to work out how I was going to find Judith.
“I'm going to help you!” I heard Hugo shouting. “Whatever power you've got now, Zieghoff, you need to know how to control it or it could destroy you. There's no more -”
Suddenly he screamed. I turned to look back, but all I saw was flickering orange light cast against one of the walls, and I felt a wave of heat rushing through the air. I wanted to go back in there, to help Hugo, but I could hear him shouting at Zieghoff now and I realized that I had to do what he'd asked me to do. I had to trust him, and I had to find Judith.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chloe
Stopping in the gloomy corridor, I realized I could hear someone whistling up ahead. I'd been searching the dungeons for a while now, without any luck, but at least it seemed that Zieghoff had sent most of his guards away. Now, finally, I had a sense that maybe I'd found where Judith was being held.
A moment later, the entire corridor shuddered, and a thin layer of dust fell from cracks in the ceiling. There had been several similar tremors over the previous few minutes, and I'd heard a few loud thudding sounds as well. Whatever was going on between Hugo and Zieghoff, they seemed to be doing for more than just talking. Still, Hugo had told me that he'd got things covered, and I figured I just had to trust believe that he knew what he was doing.
And I had to find a way to get Judith to safety.
Making my way toward the doorway at the corridor's far end, I stopped for a moment and listened as the whistling sound continued. I had no weapon, and no real ideas, but I figured I'd just have to figure something out on the fly. And then, as if to remind me that time was of the essence, the whole building shook harder than ever. All around me, the walls seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
I hurried forward, into the next room, and I immediately saw Judith on the floor behind some bars. Then, hearing a noise nearby, I turned to see a soldier staring at me.
“You again?” I gasped.
It was the same soldier I'd encountered before, back in Paris, and sure enough his left foot was heavily bandaged, and his nose was still taped up as well. He stared at me for a moment, as if he genuinely couldn't believe that he was seeing me, and then he turned and tried to hurry to his gun. Thankfully, his injured foot slowed him down, and I managed to grab him and pull him back.
“You shot me!” he gasped in broken English. “This time I'm going to -”
Before he could finish, I swung a fist at him and punched him on the side of the face, sending him thudding down to the ground. I grabbed the gun, but then I saw that the guy was already unconscious.
“I guess there's a first time for everything,” I muttered, as I slowly clenched and unclenched my fist. The punch had hurt, but at least nothing seemed to be broken.
Crouching down, I took a set of keys from the soldier's belt and hurried over to the jail cell's metal door.
“What are you doing here?” Judith asked.
“Hugo sent me to get you out,” I replied, just as the building shook again. I started trying each of the keys, hoping against hope that eventually I'd be able to get the door open. “It's complicated, but let's just say that his plan has taken a bit of a detour.”
“I told him not to work with Zieghoff!” she exclaimed. “You have to believe me. I begged him, but he wouldn't listen!”
“He's a stubborn guy, that's for sure.”
I tried another key, but I was still having no luck.
“What's happening up there?” Judith asked, as the building shuddered again. “It sounds like the end of the world.”
“I think that might not be far off,” I muttered, as I tried the final key. “Hugo says he's got everything under control. We just have to get out of here.”
I turned the key, but I still wasn't having any luck.
“It has to be one of these!” I said as I started again, trying each key for a second time.
“How could he work with that monster?” Judith replied. “I'd rather die than have Hugo help the Germans.”
“Hopefully it won't be -”
Suddenly I froze, and I looked between the bars and saw Judith's horrified face. In that instant, I thought back again to what Hugo had said in the future.
“For everything you destroyed, Chloe,” his voice had snarled, echoing now in my memory, “you must now pay a heavy price. For Judith, for all the pain. For how she died. Did you really think I'd let you get away with it?”
“What is it?” Judith asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It's nothing.” I got back to checking the keys, but I quickly found that – once again – none of them fitted the lock.
“I don't think this place is going to last much longer,” Judith said. “Chloe, you have to save yourself. Get out of here before the ceiling comes down.”
“I'm not leaving you!” I said firmly, but it was clear that the keys weren't going to help. Hurrying back over to the unconscious soldier, I checked to see if he had any others, and then I started searching the room. “They must be here somewhere!” I shouted, as a loud rumbling sound filled the entire building. “What kind of person doesn't keep the key close to the locked door?”
“You have to run!” Judith shouted. “Chloe, I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me!”
Realizing that the key definitely wasn't nearby, I suddenly remembered having seen another office upstairs, in one of the rooms near the main entrance. The keys had to be there.
“I'll be right back,” I told her. “I think I know where to get the keys, but they're upstairs. I'll be back in two minutes, I promise!”
“Just go!” she sobbed. “Get away while you still can!”
“I'll be back!” With that, I turned and ran back out into the corridor, although at that moment the building began to shake violently and I was thrown against one of the walls.
Hurrying toward the stairs, I realized I could hear screams in the distance. It certainly didn't sound like Hugo had Zieghoff under control, but he'd told me that I had to trust him. I made my way up into the main hallway, and then I hurried to the office. The door had been left open when the soldiers had left, and I figured that the remaining guards would have fled once the building began to shake. I started checking all the drawers in the desks, desperately hoping that the right set of keys would have been left behind.
Finally, in a bottom drawer, I found a set of keys. I carried on searching for a moment, but there seemed to be no other sets, so I ran back out and headed toward the stairs that led back to the dungeon.
“No!” a voice snarled suddenly, and I was swept off my feet and sent flying across the room.
At the last moment, I managed to grab the side of the door as I was pulled back into the large chamber, and then I turned and saw that flames were filling the room. Hugo was on the ground, not moving at all, and Klaus
Zieghoff was watching me from the heart of the inferno. Energy was dancing in the air all around him, and flickers of what looked like lightning were moving all over his body as he laughed
“I was just about to kill the irritating Mr. Hugo Bane,” Zieghoff said, as flames burst from his eyes, “but I might as well deal with you at the same time. After tonight, I'll be far too busy conquering the world.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chloe
“Stop!” I yelled, as I felt an invisible force pulling me toward the flames. “You don't have to do this!”
I was still clinging to the door, but my grip was slowly slipping and I knew that I couldn't hold on for much longer. Already, the heat from the inferno was starting to burn the back of my neck.
“They'll all bow down before me now,” Zieghoff said, his voice filled with a sense of wonder. “I won't even need to see the future, not yet. I'll force the world to bend to my will. I'll end the war in Europe first, I'll finish that all tomorrow morning. Then in the afternoon I'll deal with the Soviets and the Americans, and then I think I'll sort out Asia in the evening. That'll leave me time to crush China the day after, and maybe South America as well. I should have the entire world under my control within seven days, which seems somehow fitting. And then, on the seventh day, I shall rest.”
Suddenly my fingers slipped from the door, and I was dragged through the air. I managed to grab the side of a column, but the heat was becoming unbearable and my grip was once again starting to come loose.
“The only question is how to kill you,” Zieghoff continued. “As the one who initiated this chain of events, I suppose you deserve a somewhat fitting death. I considered keeping you around, but you're no longer essential to my plans and I'd prefer to eventually master time travel on my own terms, so I think I shall burn you. Yes, that seems like a relatively quick way for you to die. Not entirely painless, but then you deserve a little discomfort. After all, you really haven't been as helpful as you might have been. In fact -”
I waited, still clinging to the column, but after a moment I looked over my shoulder and saw that Zieghoff was clutching his side as if he was in immense pain.
“It's all so new,” he grimaced, clearly struggling. “It's all... I'm not used to the power, I feel as if it's... almost too much sometimes and...”
He hesitated, and then the invisible force stopped pulling me as Zieghoff dropped to his knees.
“No!” he snarled. “I can contain it! I'm strong enough!”
I scrambled back around the column, trying to get away from the worst of the heat, and a moment later Zieghoff let out an agonized scream. The heat seemed different somehow, and after a few seconds I realized where I'd experienced it before. It was the same kind of heat that I'd felt in the mansion, right before I traveled back in time. That time, the inferno was caused by Matthias dying, which meant...
I peered back around the column, just in time to see the flames starting to completely engulf Zieghoff. He cried out, shouting something that got lost in the heat, and then I saw his body starting to break apart.
Rushing across the chamber, I grabbed Hugo's arms and started dragging him toward the door. I struggled a little, but finally I managed to get him out into the hallway, and then I pulled him all the way through the main door and along the path that led to the open grass. Finally, figuring that I was far enough away, I laid him down. As I did so, the blue ring fell from one of his pockets and landed on the grass.
Picking the ring up, I realized that this must have been the other key to my journey. Somehow, this ring had sent me back in time, and I figured that maybe it could send me the other way as well. After all, why else would Hugo have had it with him?
I hesitated, and then I pocketed the ring before hurrying back into Chateau Malafort.
The heat was incredible now, and the chamber seemed to be filled with fire. I stopped and looked at the immense white light, and the whole building shuddered around me as I realized that this was my chance. The inferno was starting to dim a little now, as if the flames would soon die, so I stepped forward as I felt the pull of home. I didn't understand fully, but in that moment I felt absolutely certain that all I had to do was step into the light with the ring in my hands, and I'd end up home. I could even feel my own time period calling to me somehow, as if trying to help me.
There were tears in my eyes.
Home.
I took a step forward, and then another. Reaching out, I held up my hand and I saw traces of fire dancing around my fingertips, trying to pull me closer.
Suddenly the building shook again, and this time the ground beneath my feet began to give way. A loud creaking sound filled the air, and I looked up just as chunks of stone began to fall. The inferno was fading faster now, and I realized that I only had at most a few more minutes left before my chance would vanish. I stepped forward and reached for the ring in my pocket, but then at the very last moment I felt the ground shake again. I put my hand in my pocket again, but – before I could take the ring out – my fingertips brushed against the keys I'd taken from the office.
Judith.
I had to save Judith.
“For Judith, for all the pain. For how she died. Did you really think I'd let you get away with it?”
That's what Hugo had said to me. Had he been talking about this moment, or about another? All I knew was that I couldn't leave yet, not without making sure that she was safe first.
I raced to the stairs, and then I made my way down into the dungeon as quickly as I could manage. The building was constantly shaking now, as if it might entirely collapse at any moment, but finally I reached the room where Judith was being held. The unconscious soldier was gone, having most likely woken up and fled, so I headed to the metal bars and began frantically trying the new set of keys.
“You shouldn't have come back!” Judith shouted. “The whole place is about to fall down!”
I tried one key, then another, until there was only one more left. I slipped it into the lock and gave it a twist, and finally there was a faint clicking sound and I was able to pull the door open.
“Run!” I yelled, grabbing Judith's arm and dragging her out of the room.
We hurried along the corridor and up the stairs, and then out onto the lawn. Judith immediately dropped to her knees and tried to get Hugo to wake up, while I turned and stepped back toward the building. I could still see the light burning, albeit not so brightly now, but I realized there was still a chance.
Reaching into my pocket, I took out the blue ring. I could still feel home calling for me.
And then, with a loud groaning sound, Chateau Malafort collapsed. The entire roof fell down into the main part of the building, and then a huge cloud of dust rose up into the night air as the walls buckled. I stared with a sense of horror as the place was destroyed, and I watched for several more minutes until the entire building had completely fallen. By the time it was all over, the inferno had been extinguished, the strange calling sensation was over, and my chance to get home was gone.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chloe
“I'm fine!” Hugo gasped, sounding a little irritated as Judith tried to examine another of the cuts on his face. “I'm a vampire, remember? I can handle a few scrapes.”
He turned to me.
“I suppose I owe you my gratitude,” he continued. “When I was battling Zieghoff, I knew that I just needed to keep him distracted until his body was destroyed. I knew he couldn't last long with all that power, with thirteen full doses of the serum in his bloodstream, but for a few minutes there I started to wonder whether I might be destroyed in the process. Klaus Zieghoff was, however briefly, the most powerful vampire that ever existed. That ever could exist. But there's a reason why that much power is never concentrated in one body, and we just saw a perfect demonstration of that reason. But thank you, Chloe. Without you, I would have died with him.”
“Would I have ended up back in my own time, if I'd gone into the light?” I as
ked. “I had the ring. It fell out of your pocket.”
“That ring acts as some kind of anchor for you,” he replied. “I don't understand it fully, not yet. But to the best of my understanding, yes, you'd have made it home.” He paused. “I'm sorry, Chloe,” he added finally. “If the fire had just lasted a little longer...”
I thought about it for a moment, and then I nodded.
“What's done is done,” I told him, as I looked over at the smoking ruins of Chateau Malafort, “and I made the right decision. I'll just have to find another way to get home. That's all.”
“Stop fussing, woman,” Hugo muttered, pushing Judith's hands away. “I'm fine.”
“What do we do now?” she asked. “Where do we go?”
“I need to study that ring properly,” Hugo replied. “Vampire deaths aren't generally known to act as portals for time travel, so there must be something very unusual about that ring. I'll need some proper equipment, and I'll have to find a place to work where I won't be disturbed, and I'll need access to a library and perhaps to an assistant as well, and of course there's also the question of how I might -”
“Matthias,” I said suddenly, interrupting him.
“I beg your pardon?”
“We have to find Matthias,” I continued. “I'm surprised he didn't find his way to us already.”
“Yes,” he replied cautiously, “I'm surprised about that too. I can only assume that something, of some nature, must be keeping him from coming to us.”
“He was in pain,” I explained. “I sensed it. Don't ask me how, because I don't know, but tonight I somehow sensed him screaming. He was alone, and he was scared, and he was angry. That's all I know, but... We have to find him.”
“What's that?” Judith asked, looking past me.
Hugo and I turned, and we both saw that there was an orange glow on the horizon.
“It's Paris,” Hugo said darkly. “Paris is burning. There must be a particularly bad bombing raid tonight. This human war just goes on and on, doesn't it?”
