Eternity Complex - Prologue & Ch. 1

Prologue
Germany 1442
Long clouds slowly rolled across the sky, giving the moon an ethereal glow as it struggled to illuminate the hills below.  On top of one hill sat a dark figure atop a horse, so black it almost absorbed the darkness surrounding it.  Both horse and rider were perfectly still, and except for a breeze moving the horses mane and tail, they could have been statues.  They had been in the same position for some time now, not moving, waiting for some unknown signal.

Suddenly, without any perceptible movement from the rider, the horse broke from it’s stillness into a full gallop.  The rider shifted fluidly and held tight to the horse, and together they flew down the hill towards a large copse of trees.  Hidden in the trees were several more dark pairs, identical to the one now approaching, waiting like silent shadows to envelope them within their fold.

Chapter 1
Angeline suddenly sat up in bed, fear tearing her eyes open.  She shook the man lying next to her.  She could feel her skin crawling, the hairs on her arms standing up one by one. 

“Dante, wake up.  They’re drawing near,” she gasped.

He shook himself from his semi-slumber and looked at her, unable to comprehend for a second. 

“Hmmm?  Who draws near?”  He held her arm gently to stop her from escaping, as she began to tremble.

“The wraiths.” 

He needed no more explanation.

Inside their room a blur of movement exploded, as she grabbed items and began stuffing them into a bag.  Dante followed her, pulling on clothes unevenly and looking for his sword.

“Are you sure they are coming?  How much time do we have?”  His outer demeanour was calm, if somewhat hurried, but his stomach was tied in knots.  He relished the feeling.  He had been a soldier a long time, and battles brought him a thrill like nothing else.

“Not long, a week, two at best.” she replied.  “I’m not getting a strong feeling, so they cannot be too close yet,”

She grabbed a few last items of clothing from the wardrobe, totally out of style with the current fashion, and some completely unrecognisable to him.  Dante didn’t question her as she began shoving items into her small bag.  She had told him enough during their time together to know anything she might tell him would probably only confuse him more.  He had long ago decided to accept the beautiful, somewhat enigmatic woman at her word, and enjoy the time he had with her.


Her bag now packed, she shook him from his reverie with a brief, hard kiss to the lips.  No, she was definitely not like other women. 

A thought suddenly struck him “What are you doing?”  He asked cautiously, spying her pack.

She looked guilty, but determined.  “I’m leaving Dante, I’m sorry,”

They were the last words he expected to hear from her, and he was momentarily shocked.  “Leaving?  Where?  Why?”

“I’m sorry…….I should have left a long time ago, but I let myself get too comfortable.  Now I fear I may have lingered too long, it may already be too late,” she could barely look at him.

“Too late, for what?  And you still haven’t told me where you are going.”  He stood before her and lifted her head to his.  He towered over her, but then again at over 6 feet tall, he towered over most people.

She sighed.  “I can’t tell you…..I’m sorry.  But I shouldn’t be here, and if I don’t go now, I may destroy all we are trying to save.  I may already have.”  She picked up her bag.  “You are a great warrior Dante, and a brilliant man.  Call your brethren, and they will fight with you,”

“I know that Angeline, I don’t doubt the bravery of my kin.”  He stood staunchly in front of her.  “But why must you leave me now, when our need is greatest?”

She looked at him, her green eyes meeting his ice blue eyes, and he saw her conflict.  “Your need will be far greater in the future.”

“How do you know this?”  He demanded, half pleadingly.  “The wraiths are on our doorstep now, and I have to deal with them now!”  For once, he was losing patience with her, with the way she never quite told him everything.

A tear slid down her cheek, surprising him.  “I’m sorry, if I didn’t have to leave I would not,” she sat down on the end of their bed.  “You must understand Dante, this is only the beginning.  At the moment the wraiths are weak, it takes so much of their energy to take physical form that they will be easily bested.  But the reason they are taking such a risk is because they suspect I am here.” 

He looked at her quizzically, “But Angeline, what difference does it make if you are here?  You are no threat to them,”

“I am much more of a threat to them than you realise.  I can’t explain it, you wouldn’t understand –“

“Stop speaking in such riddles and half truths!!”  He suddenly roared, his eyes flashing deep red for a second.  He took a breath and knelt down before her.  “I’m sorry;”

“It’s alright,” she spoke softly.  “One day I will tell you everything, I swear it.  Just know this:  I am not from this time, and it will be a long time before we meet again for more than a few brief moments.  I know this already and it kills me; if you do not believe me you will learn it over the next 600 years.  There are forces at work greater than both of us, but if we are to defeat the wraiths and save the humans, and ourselves, I cannot stay,”

“You never said you would have to leave me,” he protested.

“If I had told you the truth from the start, what would you have done?  Refused me altogether?”

He held her hands in his, and lifted them up to his lips.  “I don’t think I could ever refuse you, even if I wished it,”

She pulled her hands gently from him, and stroked his cheek, savouring the feeling of his cool skin under her fingers.  “You will survive, believe me.  And I will need you to, I will need you and your strength too many times until we finish this……if we can finish this,” she suddenly felt old, drained.

“But how can the wraiths be so dangerous?  They are nothing, the scraps of evil lingering where they do not belong, hiding in shadows,”

“I should have told you more,” she said, still looking weary, but somehow distracted. “Then again, have I told you too much already…..oh, it’s so confusing!!”  She paused, concentrating on his face again.  “Look, the wraiths are easy to defeat, and no great trouble now.  But in the future, they will find a way to possess humans, to use their flesh instead of destroying themselves creating a physical presence.  They think I hold the key, that I know how they are doing this, that is why they are searching for me.”

Understanding suddenly dawned on his face.  “This is why you travel through time, to find out how they do it and to stop them,”

“Yes,” she replied.  “I try not to linger in any time too long, so they do not know I am there.  They are cunning beyond your imagination.”

She looked around the room one more time, then opened a small drawer in her bedside dresser and took a key from within.  He watched as she strode over to the cabinet on the other side of their room, and opened a panel he had never before noticed.  Within was a small device, round and with many small dials and gears.  It was no bigger than the palm of his hand.  He had seen it once before, not long after he met Angeline, but she had refused to tell him much of its purpose, save that it was vital to her studies.  She had warned him never to mention its’ existence to anyone.  She held it tightly in her hands and turned to him.

“This is the key to our future,” she said gravely.  “And our past. We will meet again a long time from now, and you must convince me to find it.  It’s known as the Antikythera Key.  Without it I can do nothing, and none of this will come to pass.  It is the device which takes me where I need to go,”

He nodded, and walked over to her.  “You have my word.  Must you leave now?”  He was already feeling the despair of missing her.

“Almost.  There are two things you must do for me before I go,”

“Anything, you know I can never say no to you.” His blue eyes sparkled as he moved toward her.

She tried not to show how much he was affecting her.  It was already making her ache to know she had to leave.

“First, and possibly hardest.”  She took a deep breath.  “You need to promise me you will make contact with Bale,”

Dante’s head snapped up, and he glared at her.  “Never!  I would not breathe the same air as that filthy creature,” his fangs were clearly visible as he began to pace, hissing at the thought.

“Dante!”  She chided, and he turned towards her, eyes still blazing.  “I wouldn’t ask you this unless it was vital.  I know the history, I know you are mortal, or immortal, enemies.  But why?  You feud over a wrong committed by others over a hundred years ago.  You need to make peace.  For the sake of all of us you need to get him on your side,”

“It is not as simple as you make it sound,” he growled.  “They hunted us!!  We were nearly wiped from existence because of their savagery, their animal bloodlust.  They are animals, and nothing will change that,”

She stood in front of him, for once fully defiant, not willing to let him go without his promise.  “Damn it Dante!!!  I don’t have much time, and neither do you.  The wraiths will be on your doorstep before you know it.  Without the werewolves help, you will not survive this battle!” She began to feel the urgency, she could sense the wraiths closeness, it was like the smell of death, cloying, trying to penetrate everything surrounding her.

“I know what the werewolves did to your kind, to you…..but believe me, without the strength of both your tribes, neither of you will survive this, let alone what is to come.  I said the wraiths could be defeated, and they can, but you need to work together.  Bale hates you as much as you hate him, but you both need to get past your petty anger.  He may be their leader now, but he did not commit the crimes against your family, and he has kept the word of the truce struck.  As have you….”  She looked at him meaningfully.  She knew of his secret, and at once he felt shame, a rare event for him. 

“The wraiths will be at the castle before you know it.  You need to seek Bale out and make your peace, whatever it takes.  And you need to find him immediately.  If not, all is lost….”

He took a deep breath and nodded curtly.  “I will try.  For no other reason than I trust you.”  If he had his way he would have wiped the beasts from existence, but he was bound by the covenant.  And she knew it. “Now, I believe there was another request you need to make of me?”

She stood up straight and looked him in the eye.  “I need you to make me yours,”

He gasped.  He had never once thought of turning her, she was too pure, too full of life.  To do such a thing would be to destroy unmatched beauty, and he didn’t think he could summon the strength.

“Angeline, I couldn’t.”

She had prepared her plea a long time ago.  “You must, it is the only way.  If there is a way to defeat the wraiths it will take too long to figure it out, so much is hidden from me.  I cannot pass the knowledge on to someone else, it would never work.  And I need strength, much more than I naturally possess.” She held out her hands.  “I don’t know what dangers I will face, but I know there will be many, and if I don’t have supernatural strength, I won’t survive.  You are a warrior, you know how hard they hit, how much devastation they can wreak.  I will be searching for a long time.  But I need you to do what you can to hold them off, delay them, and give me that time to find the answers.”

His gaze had fallen from hers, but she put her hand to his chin and lifted his head gently, so he could not avoid her eyes.

“Make me one of you.  I need your strength, your support.  We will be so much stronger than the sum of our parts, and there is no other way to defeat them,”

“I couldn’t,” he repeated.  “In any case, there is not enough time.  I would need to feed from you two times, and allow you to recover from that, before I could complete your transition,”

It was Angeline’s turn to look uncomfortable.  “You already have, it’s only the last bite that is required,”

“No, I most definitely have not,” he could not hide the bewilderment from his face.

“Yes, you did it for me before I left my time, your future,” she had no idea how he was going to react.  She knew his opinion would change with time, but for the moment, his regret at what he saw as his weakness still tore at him.

“Then I was a fool,” he looked at her as if she had betrayed him.

In the recesses of her mind, little by little Angeline could feel her unease grow as the wraiths drew steadily closer.  She could not allow him to back out on her now, it was vital she complete her transformation.

“No, the Dante who did this for me was six hundred years older, and wiser, and knew what had to be done to help me,”

“I would not do this to someone I love,” he protested.

“Then you will never see me again.  I will die before we find out the truth, and the wraiths will win, and turn the world to darkness!” 

She was growing more agitated.  She had always feared she wouldn’t take the final step when the time came.  Now it wasn’t her that was afraid to complete the change, it was Dante. “You did it because you love me, and because you know what I’m going to go through to try stop the wraiths.  If I remain human I may as well throw myself from the nearest tower now,”

Dante closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to sort out the conflicting thoughts running through his head.  He understood her argument, but he had sworn long ago he would never be responsible for turning anyone else.  Then again, he’d broken more than one promise during his life.

“Dante, I don’t have time.  We need to do this now,”

He opened his eyes.  She stood before him, her heart beating in her throat, waiting for his answer.

“I wish you did not have to do this, but if you must, I will do it for you,” he stroked the side of her face.

Leaning down, he kissed her softly.  She slid her arms around him, her fingers tracing their way under his open shirt, feeling his cool skin tense at her touch.  He walked forward, his lips still locked to hers, moving her across the room.  She paused as she felt the end of the bed press again her legs.  He kept leaning, and she had little choice but to allow him to push her back onto the bed, feeling no apprehension as he followed half a second later, quicker than humanly possible, his face stopping inches from hers.  He looked deep into her eyes, still troubled.

“Are you sure there is no other choice?” He asked quietly.  She shook her head softly, and pulled him down to kiss her once more.

He couldn’t deny the passion she inflamed in him, and returned her kiss with ardour.  Her hands slipped further under his shirt, working their way up his back gently, feeling each bump of his muscled back.  When she reached as far as his neck, she suddenly flexed her fingers and scraped her nails sharply down his back.  He arched himself away from her, hissing in surprise and pleasure, before smiling wickedly at her, and baring his fangs.

It had taken Dante a long time to feel comfortable with what he had become.  As a soldier, he had chosen life over death to continue serving his king, unaware of what was truly presented to him.  He still struggled at times, and did not relish the lifestyle as so many of his coven did, although it definitely had some benefits.  He could not help but feel incomplete for many long years as the weight of his decision sat on his shoulders, gnawing at him.

Angeline had changed his whole world, in ways he could never have foreseen.  As soon as they met, it was she who hunted him, playfully taunting him and daring him to let his guard down.  It was not long before she had him spellbound, and for the first time, there was not only the desire to be with her, but a desire to protect her.  He did not want to break the trust she placed in him by being so close to him, but at times he could not understand how she could be so carefree about her constant proximity to him.  It put him under great stress at times to restrain himself, but she found this all the more amusing.  For someone who had for so many years been the master of all he surveyed and touched, being held captive by her beauty and mind was like a release.  She was an equal in a way no one else had ever been. 

And now she was asking him to make her more, to be truly equal.  Fangs still bared, and back still searing from her exquisite touch, he pulled a small, razor sharp knife from his boot, and looked down at her.  There was no fear in her eyes, if anything there was a hunger, and she drew in her breath in anticipation.  With a barely visible flicker, he sliced the knife down her bodice, neatly cutting the fabric in two, and exposing her down to the waist.  His eyes now left hers, and he marvelled again at her perfection, her creamy white skin as he traced a finger down her stomach. 

“I’m sure we don’t have to do this,” he drawled, but even as he said it, he felt himself letting go, allowing his thirst to take over.

He leant down and kissed her soft stomach, savouring the sweet smell of her skin.  She threaded her fingers through his hair, sending thrills down his spine, and he began to work his way up her body, leaving lingering kisses along the way.  Despite her resolve she felt her mouth go dry, knowing what was to come.  He bypassed her neck entirely, and kissed her lips softly instead.

“Be gentle,” was all she could manage to say; she knew if she hesitated any longer she would change her mind.  Her mouth was dry, and she could feel her heartbeat begin to race.

“Always,”

He kissed his way across to her ear, nibbling softly on her lobe, drawing a trembling sigh from her lips.  He moved down, nuzzled gently into her neck, then brushed away the last of her hair so she was totally exposed.  He held half her cut bodice in each hand, and pressed her down into the bed.  Even if she had wanted to, there was no way to escape now, his iron grip held her fast.

She felt his teeth sink into her neck, and despite the first sting that accompanied it, there was almost no pain, just a vague ache.  His mouth locked around the wound, and while the teeth remained in place he began to suck her lifeblood.  She felt a strange calm, a numbness, as he drained nearly every drop from her body.  As he drank, one of his hands moved to her chest, feeling her heart slow as he drank, until it was almost completely stopped.  This was where control was essential.  If she was totally drained, and her heart stopped completely, it would be almost impossible to complete the change.  He waited for the moment, the second where her life hung on a knife edge, then released his grip on her neck.

He sat up quickly, then lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit down.  By this stage, her brain wasn’t functioning well enough to realise what was going on, it was as if she was floating away.  She could have died without any hesitation at that point, she would have accepted whatever happened without question, her mind was already trying to separate itself from her physical being.

Then there was pressure against her lips, and something warm trickled on to her tongue.  Within a split second, her senses began flowing back to her, and her eyes opened widely, pupils dilated.  She sucked greedily at the source for more.  Life came back to her, but as it did, she felt every sense heightening with its recovery.  What colours, tastes and touch she noticed as she drank were more intense, more real than they had ever been.  Everything shimmered with potential.

Suddenly, Dante pulled his wrist from her mouth and sat back, breathing heavily.  She sat up, and looked at him with a predatory glare.

“More,” she panted, feeling her teeth stretching in her mouth of their own accord.  She had never felt a thirst so intense, her whole body ached for more.

He raised an eyebrow, and smiled as he shook his head.  “Not from me, my sweet.  I have no more to give,”

It was as if a switch was flicked, and her eyes dulled a fraction. “Dante, I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened,” she looked around her, still taking in her new surroundings.

“I do, and you will have to learn to control it if you want to go unnoticed,” he moved over to her slowly, and kissed the marks on her neck.  “Do you feel a bit different?”  He asked, smiling.

“Different is hardly the word,” she had to stop herself jumping up to touch everything, it all looked so new.

She was suddenly pushed back onto the bed, and Dante was above her, a low growl in the back of his throat and a very seductive smile on his face.  “Want to know what else is different?”

If Angeline had thought, in her few brief moments since her conversion, that the world was somehow suddenly more vibrant, thrilling and alluring than it had been before, when she looked into Dante’s eyes she knew it was only a brief taste of what lay ahead.  He leant down and kissed her, imparting the full force and passion within him, and she suddenly realised how much he had been holding back before.  While she had always thought he was an intense and wild lover, she now realised there was a whole other dimension to what they could experience together.  She almost regretted not getting him to turn her sooner, as she would have to depart so soon, barely able to sample the delights he offered.

For Dante, kissing Angeline now was like meeting her for the first time all over again.  Only this time, he could feel the electricity tingling over his skin, not just burning through his mind.  He had bedded his own kind before, but there had been no feeling, no love.  It was like a battle, aggressive and all too brief, and he had tired of them quickly.  They had circled like territorial animals, unwilling to show any weakness, and what could have been explosive was merely a show of mutual strength.  Although they had always both achieved what they desired, there had been nothing binding them together, no afterglow.  It was a conquest on both their parts, simply because neither was willing to back down and enjoy the experience on an emotional level, to allow themselves to lower their carefully constructed walls.  Sleeping with human women was infinitely more satisfying, as they craved the emotion as much as the physical pleasure.  They were much more willing to submit to his touch.

His lips still locked to hers, he tore the remnants of her bodice from her, pulling the pieces from her arms and throwing them away.  He started to make his way down her body, gently nipping and kissing at her, slowly moving down until he reached her breasts.  She drew in a sharp breath as he slowly, softly began kissing her breasts, circling her nipples one at a time with his tongue.  She could feel the power radiating from him, matching her own, and it made her crave his touch more than ever.

His mouth enveloped her nipple entirely, and his hand slid from hers, all the way along her arm.  Involuntarily she lifted it, allowing him more access to her skin, and breathed loudly as he began to skim down the side of her body.  She could feel the trail where he had been, it was like a livewire running through her. 

She was just beginning to strip the shirt from his back, teasing him with her newly longer canine teeth on his shoulder, when there was a knock at the door.  Angeline cried out in frustration, and felt an unfamiliar surge of venom course through her.  She hissed, and was about to leap from the bed in a rage, when Dante held her down, looking at her calmly. 

“Control yourself.” he commanded, and stood up.

She was almost ashamed of herself.  It felt as if a new persona had suddenly sprung up inside her, and it took her by surprise.  Still, she allowed her self a disappointed sigh, and sat back, pulling a sheet up to cover herself.  Dante noted, pleased, that she had not lost all her human quaintness in the past few minutes.

He opened the door, and there stood Rhane, his closest friend.  A much older vampire than Dante, he took far more pride in what he was, and was just as influential as Dante within both their coven, and the larger community of vampires.  While he would never be as physically strong as Dante, his wit, speed and agility served him just as well. 

His mouth opened for a droll assessment of the situation he had encountered, his eyes sparkling with barely contained laughter at Dante’s state of semi-undress.  Then his eyes cast over to Angeline.  He looked at her face for a split second, and his mouth gaped.  He stared at her, sitting indignantly, visibly fuming, and all humour escaped him.

“Dante…….what…..” he stammered, for once lost for words.

“Nothing,” Dante answered quickly, his eyes flashing a warning not to proceed with any questioning. 

“Nothing…..” Rhane stared vacantly for a few more seconds, until his head snapped back to Dante’s iron glare.  “A rider has been seen,” he said gravely.

Dante cursed.  “A rider,” he sighed. “Where was it seen?”

“About 6 days north of us.” Rhane answered.  “They are pulling all their tricks out for this assault,” he looked eager at the thought.

“This is more than I was expecting,” Dante turned to Angeline.  “Did you know this?” he demanded.

She shook her head, looking worried.  “I can only feel their presence, not what form they take.  I told you it was urgent,”

He raised an eyebrow, and began to walk through the room, gathering his things once more.  “True.  And if you were right with all that you said, I suppose I must make haste to Brasov immediately, and sacrifice my dignity,”

Rhane looked confused, and Angeline chuckled darkly.  “Dante, your dignity will remain intact.  This is the best thing you can do, for all involved,”

“I will meet you downstairs Rhane, arrange some horses for us.  Make sure they have speed.” 

As Rhane turned to leave, Dante grabbed him by the arm to stop him.  “Arrange a meal for me as well,” he said quietly in his ear. 

Rhane nodded, and turned slowly to leave, casting a final glance over his shoulder at Angeline, who tried to stare defiantly back at him.

Dante finished tightening his belt, and buttoned his shirt back up.  Looking at her with a mixture of desire and sadness, he crawled over the bed to where Angeline sat, kissing her briefly.  “I suppose this is goodbye then,” he said heavily.

“For now, yes,” she tucked his black hair behind his ear.  “We will meet again my love, but I honestly don’t know if we will ever be together again like this,”

“I will wait for you until the end of time, if only to gaze upon you,” he held her hand and kissed it.  “Although I don’t know if this was the best way to spend our last evening together,”

“With how I feel now, I should have made you turn me a lot earlier.  Then again, I should really have left a long time ago anyway……..3 years has passed too quickly,” she smiled sadly.

“For me, it seems no time at all, yet I’ve experienced more with you than a lifetime would allow,” 

“Well, we will both have more lifetimes to try and be together again,” she tried to be positive, in spite of a swiftly descending cloud of depression.

He looked at her, and instinctively knew what was happening.  “Try to keep your emotions in check, Angeline.  It is the hardest thing we must conquer, because it can lead to our undoing, in so many ways,”

A tear slid down her cheek, and she nodded.  “I thought I felt passion before, I haven’t even left the room and everything has paled in comparison…….how do you cope with this!” 

He stood up and walked swiftly across the room, then turned to her, his face showing disgust.  “You have no choice, you stupid harlot – you made me do this, have I not told you enough times the pain I have endured because of what I am?!” his voice was raw with pain.  “Yet you still made me do this!”

She felt a sudden rush of anger, and leapt off the bed at him, snarling.  She had never before felt so insulted or angry.  More than that, she was totally bewildered at his unexpected attack, but her anger dictated her movements now.  She felt rage enough to tear his limbs off, and had every intention of doing so.

He never let her get that far, but cut her off halfway across the room and spun her around, his arms securely around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides.

“Do you understand now what I mean?” he asked softly, his breath tickling her ear.  “Your emotions and strength are now your greatest ally, but also your greatest weakness.  If you cannot control them, you will not survive,”

She could not believe he had done this to teach her a lesson, but as he held her, unmoving, it slowly dawned on her the truth of the situation.  Before this, if he had said anything like that to her, she would have laughed it off as a joke, or at least given him a similarly insulting retort.  Now she was taking it at face value, and her new perceptions magnified things beyond anything she had known before.  If she could get so angry from a single barb, she could easily give herself away, and cause untold destruction in the process.

She relaxed her tensed muscles, and slowly he released his grip on her.  She turned to him with a sad smile on her face. 

“You aren’t who you once were, Angeline, but you will become something great, of that I am certain,” he kissed her forehead. 

Now that he had his point across, Dante knew he couldn’t waste time, as much as he wanted to.  As much as it galled him, knowing there were riders, and that Bale and his pack were the only answer to all their salvation, gave him a greater sense of urgency than he would allow her to see.

“Just remember, it is a learned skill, and the key to your survival.  There are not many ways for us to die, but believe me, learning how to control all your new powers and senses is the only thing that will keep you alive.  If I could, I would stay with you and help guide you.  But it looks as if we are both destined to be on different paths for now,” The warrior in him was emerging again, he was already planning his attack, defence and victory.  Angeline had definitely been right though, Bale and his brethren had powers he could not possess, their skills could be crucial to everything.

She nodded and took a deep breath.  Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she walked purposefully to her packed bag, and pulled out clothes, totally different to what she wore now.  Dante noted a long plain pair of pants, and tunic style top, both a faded greyish brown colour. 

“Where are you going dressed in that?”  He asked curiously.

“Somewhere hot, and dusty, to do a little bit of investigation,” she said with a cryptic smile.  “There are some people I hope to find, who might be able to point me in the right direction,”

They looked at each other for a long moment, neither wanting to be the first to leave.  Eventually, Dante walked to her and held her tight to him.  She breathed in his scent, wishing the moment could last forever, until he gently broke the embrace.

“Wherever our paths will now take us my love, we both know we will meet again,” 

Angeline held back the tears threatening to spill forth.  It was the hardest thing she had ever done, especially now.  It was taking every ounce of her control to stop herself from screaming out loud, from giving up before she had even begun.  Drawing in a shaky breath, she nodded.  She had known this day would come; when they had first been together Dante told her they were destined to be held apart more often than not.  It still didn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.

Dante leaned forward one more time, and softly kissed her lips.  “I will hold you in my heart until we meet again,” he turned and walked out of the room, unable to look back. 

Angeline picked up her bag and looked around their room, making sure there was nothing she had forgotten.  Satisfied, she picked up the Antikythera and held it before her.  Reaching into the small pouch at the front of her bag, she pulled out an almost identical gadget.  She studied both of them for a moment, fiddling with a few parts, then pressed them together in a deliberate way, and twisted.  She closed her eyes and took a brief, deep breath.  Within seconds, the room began to blur and waver, disappearing before her eyes.  Then she was gone.