“Bickering over who gets to save her, mostly,” Vito says in disgust.
“Sounds about right,” Lincoln mutters. “It is difficult to get her on her own, but I should get some time with her later,” he adds.
Vito nods at him and then exits quickly. Lincoln takes a more sedate pace, so it doesn’t look like they were together.
He bumps into Sebastian striding purposefully towards him.
“What have you been up to?” Sebastian barks at him.
“Nothing,” Lincoln says innocently. “Just taking a breather.”
“Were you with Vito?” he asks.
“Vito? No, I didn’t know he was here,” Lincoln lies, looking Sebastian straight in the eye.
“Remember, Wolf, if you do anything to fuck this up, you are dead. And I don’t mean by killing you, got it?”
“Got it,” Lincoln says brusquely, resisting the urge to Wolf out and take a bite out of his neck.
“Aeval!” Sebastian shouts out suddenly and Lincoln turns to see her drifting past them in a daze. “Aeval?” Sebastian goes after her with Lincoln close behind him. Sebastian catches up to her and tugs on her arm. She turns around and they both gasp at the blank look on her face. Her eyes are dead, and her mouth is hanging open slightly.
“Aeval,” Sebastian whispers to her. “Come back to me.”
Lincoln growls at him and pushes him out of the way. “Aefre,” he says to her, taking her by the shoulders and trying to look her in the eye. They are now moving quickly from side to side and she looks like she is starting to panic.
“Let go of me,” she hisses and pulls herself from his grip.
And then she puffports herself out of the Entrance Hall.
“Damn you,” Lincoln snarls at Sebastian. “This is all your fucking fault.”
“No!” Sebastian says heatedly. “It is harmless.”
“Harmless?” Lincoln asks incredulously. “Harmless? She has lost her mind!”
“I will find her and get her back,” Sebastian says and stalks off, leaving Lincoln to curse at his retreating back. Vito catches his eye again and shakes his head sorrowfully.
This is a disaster. A fucking nightmare and he has to get her back. He just has to.
Ponte, Italy, October 2014 - Aefre
I don’t know who I am. I don’t know where I am. All I know is that I had to get away from all of those strangers. It was terrifying.
I look around, trying to find something familiar, something to remind me of who I am. I am drawing a complete blank and I make a keening noise as I drop to my knees on the hard, cold, stone floor.
What is this? Where am I? Who am I?
I stay curled up in a ball on the cold floor, the tears that I want to shed remaining locked in my eyes. I can barely breathe, I can barely think, I can barely move.
I see the sun go higher in the sky, bathing me in light through the stained-glass windows set high up the wall near the ceiling. It gets me to my knees. I want to go out into the sunlight.
I crawl along the floor and reach the heavy double doors, dragging myself up by the handles and turning them to let in the light and air. I wi
nce as the bright sun hurts my eyes, but I see a beautiful garden bathed in sunlight and I want to see more of it.
As I stumble over the gardens, panting with the effort, I fall onto a stone bench and stare out at the spectacular view from up here.
I don’t know where I am, but I want to stay here. I feel safe here. I draw comfort from that, knowing this place must mean something to me. I am a real person. I just don’t know who.