He would probably never forgive her, and she’d only wish she’d had a chance to explain it all, to say goodbye properly. But in her current emotional state, she couldn’t trust herself to talk to him.
Boys were too hard for her, too confusing. They overwhelmed her emotions, made it hard for her to think clearly. They always seemed to distract her. She had a mission to fulfill, and she’d have to focus. Being on her own would make it much simpler.
Caitlin also felt sad at leaving Rose behind, but before she left, she felt how strong Rose’s connection was with Jade. She was in good hands with him. The two of them were clearly meant for each other, and at least it would keep Caitlin connected to Caleb in some small way.
Caitlin cleared a mountain range, and as she lowered, she saw before her, in the distance, a startling site: the massive, sprawling city of Florence.
She dove further, and found herself circling it. It was magnificent, unlike any city she had ever seen. Nestled in a valley, surrounded in the distance by a small mountain range, Florence was flanked by rivers, over which spanned small, beautiful arched bridges. The last light of sunset lingered in the air, and it was just enough to afford Caitlin a magnificent, bird’s eye view.
Everywhere were red, shingled rooftops, sloping gently downward, making it look like the city was aglow in red and orange. The buildings were low, most of them not more than a few stories high, and the skyline was punctuated with a plethora of church steeples. Some churches had domes, others, square towers. The grandest church of all towered over everything else, its massive orange, tiled dome seeming to rise up from the center of the city itself.
As she flew close to the city center, she saw huge mansions and palaces, the massive buildings towering over the smaller ones around them. Amidst the buildings, every several blocks, were open squares. She could already see that the city was not nearly as crowded as Venice. Thankfully, there seemed to be plenty of breathing room down below.
Caitlin circled the city a third time, taking it all in. The architecture was beautiful, so clean, so ancient. There were statues in all the squares, and people strolled leisurely, at ease, while others rode on horses. The rivers surrounding the city were aglow in red from the sky, and people casually crossed the many footbridges.
Caitlin had no idea where to begin her search. She had never been to Florence, and the city was so spread out. As she flew, she hoped for some hidden sense to kick in, some intuition, a message, perhaps, from her father. But nothing came.
She decided to approach the city from the outside, to get the experience of entering it for the first time. She also thought it wiser not to land right inside the city, in case she was detected.
She crossed over the river, just as it was getting dark, and landed in the woods on the other side.
Caitlin walked down a dusty dirt road, heading towards the river bank. Her immediate concern was finding shelter, and food. She was hungry. Not for food, but for blood. Being in the forest, and in the thick woods, stirred up her hunger. She could smell deer close by.
Caitlin heard a rustling in the branches, and she turned and saw a family of deer standing there, not more than 30 feet away, staring.
She jumped into action, choosing one, and chasing it down.
As it bounded left, then right, she stayed close on its trail. She remembered her time with Caleb, in Salem, his teaching her how to hunt.
He taught her well: moments later she found herself leaping onto a small deer and sinking her fangs into its neck. It was a direct hit. The deer went down, Caitlin on top of it. It kicked for a few seconds, but then it stopped, as Caitlin sucked the blood from its body.
As she drank, Caitlin slowly felt her life’s force returning.
And then she suddenly heard a click behind her—a loud, distinctive click.
She immediately recognized it as the click of a rifle.
She froze, and slowly turned.
There, standing over her, was a hunter, elegantly dressed, holding a rifle, aimed right at her.
“Don’t you move,” he said to her, threateningly.
Caitlin heard more rustling, and saw that he was accompanied by a group of about 30 humans, all pointing crossbows at her. She was completely surrounded.
She didn’t know what to do. She could kill the humans easily enough, but she really didn’t want to harm them. She didn’t want to have to spend her time here on the run, rushed out of the city before she could find what she needed.
She slowly turned, raising her hands.
“Get up,” he said. “On your feet.”
She slowly stood, hands held high, debating a course of action. The hunters behind him all seemed itching to fire. The arrows and bullets might not kill her, but they would surely hurt.
“I mean you no harm,” she said.
“We know what you are,” he grunted. “A vampire. Your kind bring nothing but evil. I killed one of yours just yesterday. Apparently, I didn’t kill enough.”
The man clicked back the action on his rifle, and raised it higher, right for Caitlin’s head.
She realized that he was about to fire.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the woods, and the entire group spun and looked. A vampire had dropped him from the sky, had landed behind all of them.
Caitlin was shocked to see that it was Blake.
It was the distraction Caitlin needed. Before they could turn back her way, she sprang into action, grabbing the hunter’s rifle and tearing it from his hands just as he fired. She had managed to raise it just high enough, so that the bullet missed her head by an inch.
She yanked the gun from him, spun it around, and cracked him across the jaw with the butt of the rifle, sending him down.
Blake had sprung into action, too, knocking three of them down with a single blow.
The other archers turned back to Caitlin and fired, but she was faster than them, and had already leapt into the air. She came down fast and hard, kicking them all in the face. She swung the butt of the rifle wildly, knocking several others over. It would have been easier to kill them, but it was not what she wanted.
Blake was also in a frenzy, punching, kicking, elbowing, knocking them all out.
Of the entire group, only one managed to get off a shot. The arrow pierced Blake’s arm, as he let out a scream.
Caitlin spun, identified the hunter, and kicked him so hard, with both her feet on his chest, that he went flying back at super speed, into a tree. To his bad fortune, he went flying right into a sharp, protruding branch, and it punctured his throat. He was pinned to the tree, dead.
All the other humans were knocked out cold, unconscious.
Caitlin turned to Blake, running over to him, feeling responsible for his wound. He stood there, clutching it, the arrow still stuck in his arm.
“Break it off,” he said through gritted teeth.
Caitlin hesitated, then snapped the arrow. He screamed as she did.
“Now pull,” he said.
She looked at him, unsure, but he nodded, locking his jaw.
In one strong motion, she yanked the arrow as hard as she could. Blake screeched, as it went entirely through his arm. Blood poured everywhere, and Caitlin stopped it with her hands.
Blake reached down, tore a strip of fabric off of his shirt with his teeth, and handed it to Caitlin.
She took it, and wrapped it tightly around the wound.