Sergei suddenly raced off, darting down the aisle of the church.
Kyle scurried to his feet and raced after him, and out the front door.
As they ran past her, Samantha regained consciousness, and in one quick motion, she grabbed a hold of the unconscious Sam, hoisted him over her shoulder, and bounded off after them.
The church was now empty, save for Caitlin and Caleb. And Rose, lying off to the side, whimpering, bleeding.
“Caitlin!” Caleb cried, as he held her shoulders. He leaned over her, caressing her face, and could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks.
He had been too shocked by seeing her hurt to even think of the sword. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that the others had left the building, were getting away, that they had the sword. The sword he had spent his whole life sworn to protect.
But now, seeing her lying there, bleeding, dying, it was all he cared about. Caitlin.
As she lay on her back on the church floor, Caitlin felt the world get so cold. She felt tremendous pain gnawing away at her back and stomach, felt the blood leaving her body quickly, and, dimly, felt Caleb’s hands on her face, holding her head.
She looked up and saw the church ceiling. And Caleb. She saw his beautiful face, looking down.
She knew she was dying. But despite everything, despite all the pain, she didn’t feel much sadness for herself. Instead, she felt sadness at the idea of not being with him.
“Caitlin,” Caleb said, sobbing. “Please. Don’t go. Don’t leave me!”
He cried as he rocked her.
Caitlin looked up into his large eyes, now a shade of black, and tried to focus on them.
Don’t go.
But she couldn’t.
“Caitlin,” he said, between tears. “I want you to know. I see it. I know who we were together. In our past lives. Now I can see it all,” he said.
Caitlin tried to speak, tried to find the words, but her vocal cords were closing up. Her throat was so dry, and the blood was garbling everything. She tried, but it came out in barely a whisper.
“What?” Caleb asked, leaning over close. “Say it again.”
He leaned all the way over, putting his ear to her mouth.
“Turn…me,” she said.
He stared at her in horror, not sure if he’d heard correctly.
With her last ounce of strength, Caitlin reached up and grabbed his shirt, pulled him as close to her as she could.
“Turn me!” she commanded.
It was the very last bit of strength she had.
As her eyes closed on her, she felt the world slipping out from under her.
And the last thing she saw was Caleb, getting closer, closer, his two front teeth protruding, longer, and longer, as he leaned.
And then she felt the exquisite pain in her neck, as his two teeth punctured her skin.
And then her world was blackness.