 
Finding Elizabeth

By Taylor Fenner

If we are to perish tonight I want the world to know the truth about us. To know that we are more than mere lovers, that we are real-time husband and wife, that we are real life Romeo and Juliet; and most of all that our love will last for all eternity.

Also by Taylor Fenner:

The Haunting Love

*

Out of Darkness (Eternals Trilogy, Book One)

*

Coming Soon

Into the Light (Eternals Trilogy, Book Two)

Finding Elizabeth

Finding Elizabeth

Ebook Edition

Copyright © 2015 by Taylor Fenner

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

First Publication September 2015

Cover Photo by Zulfiska/iStockphoto

To all those that are prone to vivid realistic dreams who

wonder if perhaps they're memories from another

place and time; this is for you.
Part One

Nate

France 1792

"We loved with a love that would last for all eternity."

# Prologue

5 September, 1792

During the Reign of Terror, it didn't matter who you were; the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker; too many lives met the fate of the guillotine. My Elizabeth was one of the first, during the first days of the September Massacre of 1792. And I will never, for the rest of my life, however long that may be, forgive myself for losing her.

But first, I must return to the beginning. To where it all began so you can truly understand our extraordinary love...because I meant what I said, our love will last for all eternity.

#  Chapter One

Three Weeks Earlier

"Why can't you just stop spending like crazy? Do you want us all to be killed?" I can hear my mother shrieking at my father all the way from my hiding space in the attic.

"Will you stop worrying, woman? Nothing is going to happen to any of us." My father answers sternly in his gravelly tone. My father, Sir William Meritan, was a Lord of the Royal Court of France. Considering this day and age, that's not exactly something that you'd like to admit to anyone.

Here we are smack dab in the middle of the French Revolution; something my father always said would never happen. Even after the Bastille fell three years ago my father still claimed that it would "blow over" any day now. Yet with every new day, and each one of my father's new purchases my mother's naturally worried persona turns even more so to paranoia. She was so sure that any day now the sans-culottes were going to take us away to prison. That is something I hope will never happen.

I'm the only child my parents were able to have. Growing up I was in awe of my family farm. We were well off back then and able to keep hundreds of servants to tend the fields. When the Revolution broke out our servants abandoned us and my father found it beneath him to tend the fields so the task fell to me.

I snuck downstairs as my parents still fought on the main floor. All I wanted was to make it outside to the fields without my mother setting her worried eyes on me. It was August, almost time for the fall harvest, yet I still had to pull the weeds and water the crops. Even if the Revolution didn't blow over soon we'd have enough food to keep us fed over the harsh, cold winter.

I stepped down onto the bottom step. It groaned beneath my weight and shouted me out to my parents.

"Nate, is that you?" My mother asked.

"No, it's one of the sans-culottes come to drag us off." My father joked dryly.

"That's not even funny," I could practically hear the scowl in my mother's voice.

"Yes, mother it's me. I'm just going out to tend the crops." I explained as I walked past the drawing room in which both of my parents were sitting. I studied my parents for a moment. My mother, the lady to my father's lordship, had let worry overcome her. She was sickly thin and the black hair that I inherited from her frayed out at the ends. And she just looked so tired, which made her look older than her thirty-three years.

My father, on the other hand, was still keeping up the façade that we had money to burn. He was tall and stocky and his green eyes were just barely visible beneath the ridiculous feathered hat he wore upon his head. He wore rings with the finest jewels on each finger that matched the buckles on his wooden shoes, imported from the finest cobbler in Holland.

I get my looks from both of my parents equally. I have my mother's black hair and thin stature, yet I'm muscular like my father and my green eyes are all him. As for my personality, the only trait I get from either of my parents is my close bond to my family. I'm a hard worker unlike my father, and I have the calloused hands to prove it.

My dream is to break away from all of this and find happiness for the first time in my life. But for now I have to keep my family together. If it's the last thing I do.

"Be careful out there," My mother warns; snapping me out of my thoughts. I just nod at her emphatically.

"And if any of those blasted revolutionaries try to take you away remind them that you are the son of a lord of the court and the king will have his head for even trying it." My father says ridiculously.

"You and I both know that the king has no standing anymore, telling them that will get him killed! Don't tell him to do that." My mother argues.

"Actually mom I can think for myself," I tell deaf ears. They're back to bickering again.

# Chapter Two

I've come to enjoy working in the fields. It's quiet out here. It's the only place I can come to escape my parents constant arguing. My mother is going mad. It's passed just being paranoid. I can't even describe it.

I've just started on the first row of corn needing to be weeded when I see a shadow running between the trees at the other end of the property. I freeze and watch the figure dart in and out of the trees. What if my mother's greatest fear isn't unfounded? The figure darts out of the trees again.

I almost laugh at my absurd fear. The small figure is a woman or rather a girl; probably only a few years younger than me. I sneak closer to get a better look, thankful that the tall corn hides me from view.

The girl is short with a medium build. Her dress, which at one point must have been a beautiful dress, is torn, tattered, and dirty; and her long dark brown hair blows wildly as she skitters from one tree's cover to the next. Even as messy as she appears I doubt I've seen a more beautiful girl.

I'm right behind her now. I could so easily reach out and grab her arm. Without thinking further, that's exactly what I do. She screams but I put my hand over her mouth to silence her.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," I tell her as she looks at me with huge, scared eyes.

"Who are you?" The girl asks in a shaky voice once I remove my hand from her mouth. "My name is Nate Meritan, what's yours?"

"I'm Elizabeth, Elizabeth Rousseau." The girl says as I release her from my grip, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trespass on your land. I just needed to get away."

"Get away from what?" I ask her.

"The royal court," she says. "I was a lady-in-waiting for the Queen."

"What a coincidence, my father is a Lord," I tell her as she scans the land, presumably to find an escape route. "Don't worry," I say, "the revolutionaries haven't come for us so far. You're safe here."

I see the girl, Elizabeth, breathe a sigh of relief. "I knew that I had to get out of there, things are only going to get worse." She murmurs quietly.

"Try telling that to my father," I attempt to joke. Elizabeth's lips quirk up in a half smile as she squints up at me in the blazing sunlight. "How old are you anyway?" I ask as I study her closer, "You seem a bit young to be a lady-in-waiting."

"I'm sixteen, what about you?"

"Eighteen," I tell her. She nods and says, "I should get going, I have to find shelter before dark falls."

"Wait!" I blurt. She turns back to me and stares curiously. "You can stay here like I said, it's safe. And we have plenty of food and a nice place for you to stay."

She looks at me skeptically for a few minutes before agreeing. I walk with her back up to the main house. She tells me about her family; about her mother, the tea empire heiress, who sent her to court to wait on the Queen and find a husband with a title. And her father, who was too wrapped up in his wife to see that his daughter was unhappy. Both had been taken away and imprisoned.

"I'm sorry about your parents," I tell her.

Elizabeth scrunches up her nose and says, "Don't be, they didn't care about me anyway. I just don't want to end up like them; so stiff, so boring, so full of themselves."

"I know what you mean," I murmur almost to myself as I pull open the door to our estate. My mother is pacing as I gesture Elizabeth to go in ahead of me.

"Oh! Nate! There you are; I was getting worried." My mother shrieks as she throws her arms around my shoulders. Then she spots Elizabeth and the worry floods her face again. "Who is she?" My mother demands.

"Mother, this is Elizabeth Rousseau. She needs a safe place to stay."

"No! Absolutely not! She's probably a revolutionary spy come to take us off to prison!" My mother grabs her face in hysteria.

"Calm yourself Julianne!" My father warns sternly, "If she were a revolutionary I'd have let her take you by now. I am so sick and tired of your hysteria!"

"Maybe I should just leave," Elizabeth backs up to the door.

"No, don't! I promise they're not always like this," I insist. I turn to my parents and beg, "Please, she's a lady-in-waiting to the queen. She just needs someplace safe to stay so she isn't taken off to prison."

"I still don't like the idea, but I suppose it is alright with me," My mother replies as my father throws up his hands and walks back into the drawing room; mumbling the entire way about letting the revolutionaries have Mother.

"We have plenty of bedrooms, my dear." My mother says as she takes Elizabeth's hand and leads her up the creaky rotting staircase to the second floor. Elizabeth peers back down at me and I nod to her in encouragement. "How about we draw you a bath and find you a clean dress?" My mother adds.

Ten minutes later my mother re-joins my father and I in the drawing room. "I've set out a new dress for the girl," She informs me.

"Let's just hope she doesn't walk off with the fine silverware." My father grunts from where he is arranging his belt buckles. I glare in his general direction.

"She's not like that father," I mutter.

My father looks up at me strangely, "how do you know that son? You've known her what? Five minutes?"

"I can just tell," I can feel my voice rising. I almost never talk back to my father.

"Oh, I get it." My father's face contorts into a smug smile. "You like her, don't you? Well don't get too attached. She won't stay."

Elizabeth walks meekly into the room a minute later. I glare at my father once more and hope in vain that she didn't just hear that. I'm not interested in her; I just don't think my father should treat her like she's some kind of criminal. Now that she's bathed Elizabeth is even more beautiful. She's twisted her long brown hair into a braid that ends in the middle of her back. The dress my mother has laid out for her is a little large and she struggles to keep the sleeves on her shoulders. Her walk is awkward and timid as she goes to sit down in an empty chair.

"Did you have an enjoyable bath?" My mother asks nicely.

Elizabeth nods and says, "I haven't had much time to bathe after I left Versailles. My main concern was to find safety."

"Well once we get some warm food into you and you have a good night's sleep you'll be all better. You're welcome to stay as long as you desire." My mother pats her hand as she gets up to begin preparing dinner. My father balks at the idea of my mother cooking. When we were better off we had a cook to prepare our meals, but these days my mother struggles to make meals for the three of us.

Tonight's dinner turns out to be bisque; a thick creamy soup that usually involves some kind of shellfish but tonight it's just the creamy base. My mother sets down a loaf of crusty French bread to go with it and we eat silently.

I'm trying not to study Elizabeth as she eats, but she eats so delicately. My father takes big gulps of his bisque and my mother stares down at her bowl, turning her spoon this way and that but not taking so much as a sip. I wonder what Elizabeth thinks of my parents.

After dinner my father goes into his study and my mother goes upstairs to turn in early leaving me alone with Elizabeth once more. She follows me into the drawing room and we sit on opposite sides of the room.

"Your parents seem nice," Elizabeth says; she even sounds sincere.

I shrug and reply, "Maybe you bring out the best in them." Elizabeth smiles wryly in response.

"So did you ever find him?" I ask, surprising even me.

"Find who?" Elizabeth asks in confusion of my sudden topic change.

"You said your parents sent you to court to find a suitable husband with a title. Did you ever find one?"

"Believe me, making my parents happy was what I wanted the most; but no, I didn't find anyone that I'd even consider marrying. Most of the men at court are only interested in finding a mistress, and I refuse to sink to that level." Elizabeth wasn't looking at me; she was staring out the window that overlooked the fields. After sitting like that for a few moments of complete silence she finally said, "I think I'm going to turn in as well. I have a long journey ahead of me in the morning."

"Do you have to leave so soon?" I ask as she gets up and begins to go upstairs.

She smiles as she looks down at me. Instead of answering my question she says, "your father was right, you do like me don't you?"

Too shocked to say anything else I silently watch as she disappears upstairs. As I sit there a while longer I can't help but notice how my thoughts keep fading back to her. How can I feel so strongly about someone I've just met? I glance out the window as the sky fades from pink to purple and then finally to black. By now my parents are both asleep in their separate bedchambers. Maybe it's time for me to turn in.

On my way to my own bedchamber I walk past the room my mother has loaned to Elizabeth. It had once been my sister's room. She had died in infancy, so for my mother to have given Elizabeth the room must mean that she liked her; even if it's only a little bit.

The moonlight shone through the open window and cast light across Elizabeth's sleeping form. I stood in the doorway watching her chest rise and fall as she slept. She looked so peaceful, and as I watched her I could almost swear I saw a smile spread across her lips.

# Chapter Three

I practically had to drag myself out of bed this morning. I slept poorly and each time I dreamed Elizabeth's face kept butting into my dreams. I stumbled to my armoire and pulled on the first thing I pulled out of its cherry wood drawers. From somewhere below I could hear my parents arguing again. It was becoming an everyday thing.

I wasn't hungry enough to brave the kitchen for breakfast so I escaped through the back door and walked around the house out to the fields. As I walked under the kitchen window I heard my mother shriek.

"Dammit woman! It's only Nate. No wonder the boy tries to avoid you at all costs." My father scolded my mother. I just shook my head in frustration and pushed on until I got to the field.

Just as I began to tend the crops I heard a feminine voice behind me ask, "Can I help with something?" Elizabeth stood behind me with her arms limply set at her sides.

I shook my head, "it's not woman's work."

Elizabeth's eyes widened in disbelief, "so you're just like them huh? One of those men who believe that a woman's job is to wait on a man hand and foot, tend to the house, and raise the kids; but keep their hands clean? Is that how you feel?"

"What? No! It's just its hard work is all..." I trailed off. Anything I said at any time could make her leave. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, I wasn't ready for her to go.

"So raising your children and cleaning your dirty clothes and keeping you well fed isn't hard work?" Elizabeth shook her head angrily.

"I don't expect you to do any of that for me. You don't even seem to like me so why would I ask you to cook for me?" I tried to say in defense.

"But all men are just like you. They expect a woman to slave away for them but when it comes to "man's work" we're told to keep out of it. No wonder I could never find anyone acceptable at Versailles." Elizabeth muttered as she waved her hands in the air in annoyance. The she turned and began to walk away.

"Wait! Look I didn't mean it like that. You can help if you really want to." I yelled after her, or that's what I would have said if I had allowed for breaths between my words.

Elizabeth turned and smiled, "so what do you need me to do?"

******

Several hours later after Elizabeth and I had tended to all of the crops we dragged ourselves back into the drawing room. I collapsed into my father's favorite armchair and Elizabeth sat down at my mother's easel. My mother didn't paint, or draw, so it was merely there for show. A few sheets of blank parchment sat in scrolls on the floor next to the easel.

"Do you mind if I draw you?" Elizabeth asked as she unrolled one of the scrolls.

I shrugged, "sure, go ahead."

A piece of charcoal had been sitting collecting dust on the easel's shelf and I watched as Elizabeth picked it up and began sketching me. Her eyes rarely left mine as her intense gaze bore into mine. Now and then she would glance down at her sketch and make little changes.

After nearly an hour of sitting still I felt my limbs begin to go numb, and my fingers began to tingle as they fell asleep. Finally Elizabeth put the charcoal down and motioned for me to join her at the easel. I stood behind her at the easel and gazed down at the parchment. I didn't say anything at first, but I could hear myself suck in a deep breath. I rarely looked in the mirror, but even so I knew what I looked like. And never before had someone portrayed me in such a handsome light. She had captured me in the accidental moment when I turned to glance out the window. My profile was clean and crisp.

"Who taught you to draw like this?" I finally managed.

Elizabeth shrugged, "Nobody really; I've always been passionate about drawing."

"You really do have a talent for it," I told her honestly.

"You really think so?" Elizabeth looked up at me skeptically, "I once sketched a portrait of Marie Antoinette but she didn't like it so she threw the finished sketch into the fire."

"I would never do such a thing. It's amazing, I just find it hard to believe I look so good," I joked with her before turning serious. "I will cherish it forever."

Elizabeth smiled up at me, then turned back to the easel and signed her name in the corner of the sketch. As she handed it to me she said, "So you will always remember me."

I smiled back at her and told her, "I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to."

She stood up and we looked at each other for a long moment. And then it was as if we were magnets. I found myself inching towards her, I couldn't control it, couldn't stop it. The second that our lips met it was like a spark lit up between us. It was like nothing I had felt before, yet I didn't want it to end. Then I heard someone clearing their throat on the other side of the room. As Elizabeth and I sprang apart I saw my mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and an amused grin on her face.

"I see you've found a use for my old easel." My mother joked. It was the first time in a long time that I had seen a true smile on her face. I rubbed the back of my neck searching for something to say that would make sense but as I glanced over at Elizabeth I saw that her face had turned a deep scarlet. My mother continued on, "don't worry. I do not disapprove. Elizabeth knows she can stay as long as she wants; no matter her reason for it." With that she uncrossed her arms and glided out of the room.

"I'm sorry your mother walked in on us," Elizabeth murmured after my mother was out of earshot.

"Do you regret the kiss?" I had to know.

"Not at all."

***********

That night I propped Elizabeth's sketch against the mirror on the inside of my armoire. A strong summer storm was tearing through the countryside outside my window that night. As the thunder and lightning shook our fragile manor I heard light sobbing coming from down the hall. I lit a candle and made my way down the hall to check on Elizabeth. Her door was open and I could see her curled up in bed with the sheets bundled up around her.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, unsure if she was awake or asleep.

"I don't like storms," I heard her whisper weakly in return.

"Would you like me to stay with you for a while?" I asked as I crept towards the bed in the center of the room.

She looked up at me with such fear in her eyes. Finally she replied, "yes, but only if you don't mind."

I put the candle down on the table next to the side of the bed she was currently occupying. "We'll keep this lit so you won't be scared." I told her soothingly as I went around the other side of the bed. I climbed into the bed and arranged myself next to her before taking her into my arms. I lay there for a while, telling her that it was just a storm and that everything would be okay, all while running my fingers through her wild hair. After a while I could feel her drifting off to sleep beside me. I didn't want her to wake up again and be afraid so I stayed there beside her until I too felt myself drifting off to sleep.

I dreamed that Elizabeth and I were far away from France, in a place where we didn't have to worry about what was going on around us. Not the storm, nor the fear of the revolutionaries. If such a place even existed; for the place in my dreams felt far too much like Heaven. But I could see Elizabeth being happy there. I could see myself there beside her, and it was in that dream that I subconsciously realized that I cared deeply for Elizabeth.

# Chapter Four

I soon found myself spending every free minute with Elizabeth. I couldn't bear to be away from her for long. With each passing day I cared for her more and more. My father scoffed at the idea of us together at first but eventually he came around.

The summer storms continued so I spent a few more nights in Elizabeth's bedchamber calming her down. Summer was coming to an end, I could feel it, and the air was changing. Each night as the storm shook the house and caused destruction in the outside world I talked to Elizabeth until she fell asleep. She was so peaceful in her dreaming.

One night as we sat up in bed talking Elizabeth said, "You know, even if we wanted to get married we probably couldn't find a priest in all of France to marry us."

"Last time I heard they had all gone into hiding." I sighed in agreement. Then a thought hit me.

"Wait here a moment," I told her as I hopped off of the bed. I ran to my bedchamber and sifted through the contents of my nightstand until I found what I was looking for.

"Where did you run off to?" Elizabeth asked when I reentered her room.

"I went to get this," I said as I held out the antique ring to her. "Elizabeth, will you be my wife?" I asked as she took the ring into her smaller hands.

"Yes." She answered simply as I slid the ring onto her ring finger.

That night it was if our two souls became one. We spent a few blissful days together, oblivious to the happenings in the world around us. If only I could remain with Elizabeth in that ignorant bubble forever; but like all good things it came to an end far too quickly with the sound of three raps upon the front door.

*************

It was early on the morning of August twenty-seventh. Elizabeth and I woke to the sound of commotion coming from the main floor. I dressed quickly and told Elizabeth to remain where she was. As I crept to the landing I saw five sans-culottes with weapons hauling away my blubbering mother and my outraged father.

As if on cue, just as I was peering over the railing one of the sans-culottes glanced up and spotted me.

"Wait! There are more of them hiding upstairs!" He shouted to the others. My mother shrieked as the three free sans-culottes stormed up the stairs.

I tried to run but they quickly overpowered me. They demanded that I tell them if there was anyone else in the house but I refused to answer. My efforts did not save Elizabeth though. They searched all of the rooms and eventually found her; but not before she swung a candlestick at the sans-culotte who grabbed her. I could see the goose egg forming on his forehead as he dragged her out of what had become our bedchamber.

*************

We were taken to L'Abbaye Prison in Paris. My mother wept the entire ride over, but Elizabeth stayed strong. She gave me a weak smile before they split us up at the prison. Elizabeth and my mother were taken away to the holding room for women, and my father and I were taken to the men's.

Three days passed and I wasn't allowed to see Elizabeth. The guards merely laughed at my requests. I was trapped for two more days with my father, who was slowly going mad.

On the night of September 1st I found a bit of parchment. I had to get a note out to Elizabeth since there was talk that the revolutionaries were going to start executing the prisoners of L'Abbaye Prison tonight. I wasn't sure if my note would get to Elizabeth but I had to try.

The problem was that I had nothing to write with. Then I spotted a rusty nail coming out of the wall. I worked the nail further out of the wall until it fell out into my palm.

I took a deep breath before I used the nail to slice open my arm. I bit back a curse as I began using the nail as a make-shift quill. I dipped it into my pooling blood and then applied it to the parchment to begin my letter to Elizabeth.

My Dearest Elizabeth,

If we are to perish tonight I want the world to know the truth about us. To know that we are more than mere lovers, that we are real-time husband and wife, that we are real life Romeo and Juliet; and most of all that our love will last for all eternity.

Yours forever, Nate

I folded the note and slid it between the vent in the wall between the men and women's quarters. It was decided by the revolutionaries that the executions would begin the next morning; September 2, 1792.

**************

I wasn't sure if Elizabeth got my note until the next morning when we were both dragged into the prison office for our sham of a "trial". They showed us the note I had written in my blood.

"What do you have to say in your defense?" The leader asked us both.

"Please," I begged, "she had nothing to do with it. Do what you want with me but spare her. She's innocent."

The leader smirked cruelly, "Oh I don't think so. I think you are both guilty." He motioned for our executioners. "Let's see how much this man can take."

The thugs grinned as they dragged us outside. Elizabeth gasped at the sight that greeted us. There in front of us was a huge guillotine. I had never seen a real one before, just a toy that I had had as a child.

They began to drag Elizabeth toward it and I could see the tears dripping down her beautiful face. I began to beg and plead for her life but my cries were silenced by the gathering crowd's cheering for the imminent violence.

The thugs holding me grasped me tighter as they positioned Elizabeth's neck beneath the blade. The cheering got louder and in one swift moment she was taken from me. I realized later that the deafening scream heard above the applause was my cry of anguish. After that I was resigned to my fate. They could do what they wanted with me. Little did I know what was in store for me.
Part Two

Brookfield, WI

2008

"Do all that you can to keep the nightmares bearable, that's all you can do." - Anonymous

# Chapter Five

Nate

It's been two hundred and sixteen years since I lost Elizabeth. Of course I haven't been alive for all of those two hundred sixteen years, I was brought back into this new world eighteen years ago in the year 1990, but I've retained all the memories of my previous life. I know why I'm back. It's plain and simple; I need to find Elizabeth and make things right.

After Elizabeth was murdered in front of me I was dragged back to the holding area. Unlike most of the rest of the prisoners I was never taken back to the guillotine. They had a different fate for me. They stopped feeding me all together and within days I succumbed to starvation and gangrene that was caused by an infection I got from the rusty nail I'd cut myself with.

It's a horrible feeling; knowing that your organs are shutting down one by one. The only thing that lifted my spirits in those final days was the knowledge that soon I'd be with my Elizabeth again. But it would not be. I have not seen her since the day she was taken from me. I don't even know how to begin searching for her.

I feel like I'm some kind of robot, just going through the motions of life. Get up in the morning, go to school, come home, and go back to sleep. Most nights I lay awake and stare up at the ceiling. My parents work long hours so I'm home alone most nights.

My mother is a lawyer who enjoys her eighty hour weeks and my father runs an upscale hotel in downtown Milwaukee.

I'm not an outcast, in any sense of the word. My friends are always begging me to come to one party or another so I can help them meet girls. The girls hit on me and I notice them long enough to determine that they aren't Elizabeth. Then I nudge them in my friends' direction.

I have no interest in going out and partying every night. It gets boring after a short amount of time. I don't even think Elizabeth is in the Milwaukee area, or even in Wisconsin for that matter. What if she's not even in the States? How will I ever find her? All I know is constant partying is so far not helping. I hear my phone ringing somewhere in the distance, then the machine clicks in.

"Hey man, it's me," I hear my best friend Jake say to the machine. "I just wanted to remind you that we're meeting Darcy and her friends at The Cheesecake Factory tonight at seven. Don't screw this up for me, 'k? I really want this one."

Jake has been trying to get me to introduce him to Darcy, the hottest girl in the junior class, since he found out that I've known her since elementary school. I keep trying to tell him that it's not a good idea but he doesn't get it. Darcy may be hot but she's so shallow. But maybe Jake is too and I've just never noticed. I'm so over high school.

Ugh. Speaking of school I have just enough time to grab a bagel and cram for my Trig test. My mother says that I have to be good at math if I'm going to get into law school. But what if I don't want to go to law school? Oh well, at least I know I'll pass my French test today.

I shove my notes into one of my books, grab the bagel out of the toaster, and I'm out of there. The last thing I want to do after school is hang out with Jake and Darcy at The Cheesecake Factory.

# Chapter Six

Elizabeth

And he wrote to me that night and told me, "If we are to perish tonight I want the world to know the truth about us. To know that we are more than mere lovers, that we are real time husband and wife, that we are real life Romeo and Juliet; and most of all that our love will last for all eternity.

Somewhere in the distance my alarm rang, pulling me out of the all-too-real dream. I pulled my head off of the pillow and spotted a small puddle of drool on my pillow. I never drooled. Before the sleep cleared from my eyes I saw a set of bright green eyes framed by black shaggy hair in my mind's eye. I instantly knew he was the guy I had just dreamed about.

I didn't have any time to think more about it as I dragged myself into a way too cold shower before dressing in record time. I made it out the front door just as my best friend Luciana skidded to a halt outside my house.

"Morning," I greeted her absently as I climbed into the passenger seat of her black Honda Element.

"God, you look like hell this morning," Luciana teased as she glanced over at me. She tore away from the curb and almost hit my mailbox in the process.

"And you look like death warmed up," I replied. Her outfit was way too much Goth for me to handle this early in the morning.

"Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Luciana, the eternal morning person, asks brightly.

"I had this really realistic dream last night." I muttered as I dug through my purse for my favorite green eyeliner. Finding it, I pulled down the visor and opened the mirror compartment.

"Ooooh!" Luciana whooped. I glared at her with my eyeliner mere inches from my eye. Finally she calmed down and said, "Ok, so do you want to talk about it?"

So I did. By the time I was finished telling her about the creepy prison and the note written in blood we were pulling into the school parking lot. "And the note was signed with the name Nate." I finished.

"Maybe it was a memory?" Luciana suggested.

"But I don't know anybody named Nate. Plus I've never been in prison and I was dressed like it was 300 years ago." I told her.

"True but maybe he's someone you knew in a past life. That could be why you were dressed strangely." Luciana tugged her black notebook and her tattered copy of Romeo and Juliet from under a pile of CDs in her car's backseat.

I look at her skeptically. "You know I don't believe in Wicca, right?"

"It's not Wicca, it's reincarnation. They're totally different." Luciana insists as we reach the building. "Just think about it okay?"

"Sure." I nod in agreement.

Luciana smiles, "so do you need a ride to work after school?"

I nodded and she told me to meet her at her locker after the last bell. Since Luciana is a senior she took off down one hallway while I, a lowly junior, stalked off in the opposite direction.

It was really hard for me to concentrate in class all day. My mind kept floating back to the dream and what Luciana had said. Could she be right or am I just going crazy? Then my thoughts drifted to why my mom hadn't come home last night. She's a bartender in a local hangout spot for the students at UW-Milwaukee and Marquette University.

My father, the breadwinner, is a curator at the Milwaukee Public Museum. He left early in the morning and came home late at night.

Before I knew it the final bell snapped me out of my thoughts. I had made it through a whole day without being called on once. It was a miracle. If I wasn't five chapters ahead of everyone else I might be worried that I had missed something while I was tuned out.

*************

I found Luciana staring blankly at her locker. "Have you ever had a day where you have no idea what you just did?" She asked without tearing her eyes away from her locker.

"Every day; so how did your French test go?"

"Don't ask," Luciana groaned. "How come it's so easy for you?"

"I'm just lucky I guess." I tried to joke.

She smiled weakly at me, clearly missing my lame attempt at humor. "Let's get out of here."

************

Ten minutes later I walked into work and immediately headed to change into my uniform. I just got a job working at my favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. Somehow I managed to prove to the managers that I could wait tables and carry trays without dropping anything.

I hated the uniform though. White pants, white dress shirt, and a black tie. Needless to say it didn't look good on my short, plus-sized frame. Then again who does look good in all white?

I clocked in a few minutes before my shift began so I went to go say hi to my friend Hilary who worked as a hostess. She was standing at the hostess counter rearranging menus.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey, how was school?" Hilary asked in return.

"It was boring as usual," I rolled my eyes just as a group of people came in to eat.

It was pretty busy and I spent so much time running from one section to the other that I didn't see my former friend Darcy come in with her friends and a senior guy from our school, and a second guy I didn't recognize.

Darcy and I had been friends since middle school but our friendship abruptly ended when she accused me of stealing her boyfriend; which I didn't by the way. Too bad she doesn't see it that way. Now she lives to make my life miserable. Seriously, it's like her life goal or something.

I was so caught up in my tables that I didn't see Darcy push her coffee drink off of the table and into my path. I of course slipped and fell right in front of her table. One of the guys started to laugh and point at me and soon the entire table was joining in. I looked up briefly and noticed the other guy in their group didn't look amused.

As the frozen coffee drink spread across the cold marble flooring a devious smile spread across Darcy's face as she fixed her gaze on me and said, "Oops," without a shred of remorse in her icy tone.

To further my humiliation my manager came over and screeched, "Clean this up!"

I grabbed the rag she was reaching to me as Darcy and her friends got up to leave. They all took off so the manager wouldn't find out what really happened. But the guy that hadn't laughed lingered for a moment.

He grabbed a napkin off of the table and bent down, "here, let me help." His voice was a rich tone that would make any normal girl melt but it was having an extra effect on me.

"It's okay," I told him as I looked him at him directly for the first time. He had a gorgeous face with blazing green eyes and black hair that fell into his eyes as he looked down at me. His eyes widened as he studied me.

"Elizabeth?" He asked in shock as he dropped the napkins he'd been holding. I nodded in confusion as he stood and backed away.

"I...uh...gotta go." He stammered before racing off.

I'd never seen him before, but why did he look so familiar? Then it hit me, he looked eerily similar to the guy from my dream last night.

After my shift ended I hopped on the bus downtown. I knew I should go home but I had to talk to Luciana first. Hopefully I could catch her at work since it was an hour before her closing time. Luciana worked at a Wicca supply store down by Marquette University. Ironic if you think about it, a Wicca shop just down the street from a private Catholic university.

Just as I suspected I found Luciana standing behind the counter flipping through a new issue of Witches and Pagans magazine. Every time I came into the shop I always noticed how well Luciana fit in here. Aside from the various bookstores I frequented this was my favorite place to be. I'm not into Wicca, but I felt at home here. The tall bookcases that double as store shelves were stocked with herbs and candles and other things that somehow came together as ingredients for the people that shopped there. On the opposite wall were more bookcases, but these actually contained books. Spell books would be my guess as to their contents.

"Hey," Luciana greeted me cheerfully when she finally looked up from her magazine.

"I just had the weirdest day at work," I said in reply as I slid onto the barstool in front of the counter.

"Did they have a cheesecake meltdown or something?" Luciana joked.

"Oh yeah, the whole restaurant was covered in sticky melted cheesecake," I laughed. "No seriously, it started with Darcy and her bimbo squad."

"What did she do to you this time?"

"She dumped her coffee drink on the floor in front of me and I slipped. Apparently it was really funny." I relayed bitterly.

"Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself did you?"

I shook my head, no, "nothing hurt but my pride. But that wasn't the weird part. There was this guy with her. I can't explain it, but it was like he knew me or something."

"Is it someone from school?" Luciana asked

"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "He didn't laugh when all the others saw me fall and then he tried to help me clean up the mess. When I looked up at him it was like this instant connection. I think he felt it too because he said my name. It was like he was surprised to see me or something. But I don't know how he knew my name."

"Don't you wear a name tag?"

"No, they don't have those there."

"Hmm..." Luciana tapped the counter with her nails thoughtfully. "Well if you do see him at school or something point him out to me. I know like, everybody."

"Ok," I replied as I inspected a rainbow moonstone necklace laying in the display case next to the register.

"So do you want to hang out until closing and I can give you a ride home?" Luciana asked as she put the magazine she'd been reading under the counter. I agreed and we started to close the store up for the night. I hated riding the bus at night anyway.

As we were leaving Luciana placed the moonstone necklace in my palm. "What's this for?" I ask.

"You might need it someday," Luciana shrugs and replies vaguely.

# Chapter Seven

Nate

I can't believe I found her. And then like an idiot I ran away. So now here I am, pacing back and forth in my room, unsure what my next move should be. Should I go back tomorrow and try to talk to her? What would I say anyway? "Um hey, I'm your long lost soul mate from several centuries ago"? Yeah, that would go over so well. Not.

It's close to eleven o'clock and I'm about to turn in for the night when my cell phone rings. I check the I.D. and its Jake. I should ignore it; just pretend I came straight home and went to bed. Instead I flip open my phone and hit send.

"Yeah?" I try to sound tired, but I'm not. I'm wired.

"Dude! Did you see that girl wipe out tonight? Totally hilarious!" Jake laughs on the other end like it just happened.

"Not really. Seriously? She could have gotten really hurt." I reply already knowing what Jake's response will be.

"Come on, lighten up. She's just some random loser."

"Whatever man." I tell him. I'm not in the mood to hear him talk about Elizabeth like that. It makes me want to hit him or something. I can practically hear Jake shaking his head on the other end as he makes up some excuse to hang up.

For the second time today I'm left wondering why I'm even friends with him anymore. I need silent time to think about what I'm going to do. I need a plan. First I'm going to turn off my cell, and maybe try to get a little sleep. Maybe things will be clearer in the morning.

***********

Somehow I must have managed to drift off to sleep. It was a lot easier than I expected. I've decided to let fate do its job. If I'm meant to see Elizabeth again soon then I'm going to let fate decide when that should be. With that decision out of the way I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend trying to figure out what I should do about Jake and my other friends. Maybe I need new ones?

Anyway, I've been reading about this new exhibit at the art museum downtown so maybe I'll go check it out. And then I need to go get a haircut. My hair has always looked best with the whole shaggy-disheveled look but now it's getting too long.

Here we go, two days without thinking about Elizabeth, my friends, or their stupid games. Should be easy right?

# Chapter Eight

Elizabeth

It's Monday morning again and I feel like I didn't even have a weekend. I worked all day Saturday and spent Sunday hiding out in a bookstore. The whole weekend, no matter what I did, I couldn't get the mysterious guy from Friday night out of my head. Would I ever see him again?

Luciana went out of town for the weekend to visit her boyfriend and as far as I can tell got into a huge fight with him so I figured it would be better if I didn't ask her for a ride to school. I just keep telling myself that the exercise will do me good. Luciana still managed to catch up with me at my locker before classes started though.

"Morning," I tell her, trying to gauge her mood.

Luciana smiles bleakly, "well at least you didn't say it was a good morning."

"The fight was that bad?" I ask as I pull out my AP French book. Luciana just shrugs and replies, "I guess. I just hate the breaking up part, they're always so hostile."

"Trust me, I know hostile exes." I say thinking of my own crazy ex, Anton. Luckily I haven't heard from him much lately. He goes to a different high school, one in Milwaukee, whereas I go to Brookfield Central. I scan the hallways, not really in search of anything, but then my gaze locks down on someone eerily familiar. "That's him!" I point discreetly down the hall to where he's standing.

"Who's who?" Luciana asks in confusion looking around wildly.

"The guy from work the other night; the one that knew my name!" I exclaim.

"Where?" She asks again.

"Over there," I shake my finger, "how can you not see him? Tall? Dark haired? Wearing the black t-shirt? Do you see him?"

Luciana finally sees the guy I'm talking about and turns back to me wide-eyed. "Do you mean Nate Levine?"

"Who?"

"The guy you're pointing to, his name is Nate. He's a senior who's ridiculously cute and popular. Seriously, Nate is the guy every girl wants, but he shows no interest in anyone. There've always been rumors floating around that he's gay because lots of girls give him their numbers but he never asks anyone out. He always goes to dances and school stuff alone. He'd be a total outcast if he weren't so smoldering. Well that and the fact that his mom's a hot shot attorney and his dad owns some fancy hotel downtown."

"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you describe any guy as attractive." I tease her. She really hasn't. She tells me a guy's flaws then somehow ends up dating them. It's kind of funny.

"He is though, it's probably normal that you had a dream about him."

"Even if I'd never seen him before Friday night? And I had woken up from that dream Friday morning?" I ask skeptically.

Luciana thinks for a second then says, "True. That doesn't make any sense. Fair enough, maybe he is a long lost love from your past. But I'm so jealous."

I laugh and shake my head, "I still don't really believe in any of that."

Before Luciana can launch a comeback the bell rings and we have to rush off in our separate ways. Today I don't have work after school since I have to go to my French club meeting, so I probably won't see Luciana again today unless I stop by the store before I go home again. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea anyway; my parents have been arguing a lot lately. I came home last night at dinner time and I could hear my parents yelling before I even opened up the door but when I got into the dining room they both sat down in silence and glared at each other.

The second bell pulls me out of my thoughts and I walk into French class. I'm not even sure why I take French, I speak it fluently. I guess it's just another easy grade. My father is French; he and my mom met while he worked as a guide at the Louvre. They fell in love and my mom brought him back to Wisconsin, where she had been born; which is why I'm stuck here today. My dad never spoke to me in French when I was little but somehow I picked it up on my own. My dad told me once that when I was little I'd just started rambling in French one day and I've never stopped speaking it.

I spent the rest of the day zoning out in my classes again. I wondered about the guy Luciana told me about. Maybe he was just shy? But that still didn't explain how he knew my name.

At lunchtime I push away my tray of empty food wrappers and pull out my sketchpad. High school lunchtime is kind of like feeding time at the zoo, I always see the most interesting sights. So that's why I sketch at lunch.

Today's subject is some freshman girl prancing alongside a table of senior guys like she's on a runway. In my sketchpad I draw it out as an actual runway and set the guys around the edges with their chairs and lunch trays.

I draw serious pictures too, but at lunchtime comical drawings are more fun. It passes the hour and helps me forget that I always sit alone.

At the end of the lunch period they make us line up like we're cattle or something. It's a tight, cramped wait until the principal comes to unlock the door to the main area of the school. Someone behind me is goofing off and pushing each other around. Somehow in the process I get pushed too.

"Watch it!" I snap as I hold my now throbbing head. I slammed it pretty hard against the wall thanks to the idiots behind me.

"Oops," is the sickeningly all-too-familiar voice's reply. It's Darcy, and I'm positive she pushed someone into me on purpose. Will she ever get the message and leave me alone?

I glare back at her just as the doors are unlocked. People start flooding through the narrow doorframe, everyone is getting shoved now. I get pushed through with the sea of people and head off to my next class, forcing myself to ignore Darcy.

***********

After the final bell rings I head back to the French classroom. I pass Luciana on my way and stop to talk for a minute.

"Hey, I might stop by to see you before I go home if you don't mind me just hanging out," I tell her as I hoist my bag further onto my shoulder.

"Just trying to prolong going home too early?" Luciana raises her eyebrows along with the question.

I shrug, "my mom is going to work early tonight, even before my dad gets home so it'll just be the two of us."

"That's not so bad then," she nods in agreement.

"Yeah," I reply, "he's working on a new exhibit so he's only vaguely aware that I'm there most of the time."

Luciana smiles sympathetically before waving goodbye and saying, "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, see ya." I check the clock on the wall and hurry the rest of the way to the French classroom.

I get there just as the French teacher and club advisor, Mr. Timlore, is shutting the door.

He gives me a mock-stern look and announces rather loudly, "I'm glad you could grace us with your presence Miss Danton."

I flush, my skin turning bright red as I murmur an apology, and take a seat in the back.

There are fourteen of us in the French Club, mostly freshmen and sophomores, but there are a handful of juniors and seniors too. I look around the room as Mr. Timlore talks about the date our final payments are due for the trip.

I know that's why most of the people in this room joined the French club in the first place. Every two years the club takes a two week trip to Paris. This time the trip is during the first two weeks of February. That's just what I need; to be in the city of love on Valentine's Day with all the happy couples while I'm painfully single. Maybe I'll go back there someday on Valentine's Day when I'm married. If I ever even get married I mean.

On the trip we'll be touring the Louvre, the palace of Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, as well as visiting the Place de la Concorde, and some other art and history museums in the area. Most of the girls going on the trip were most interested in the shopping opportunities but I've always been increasingly drawn to the palace of Versailles. It's probably because I've always been fascinated by the French Revolution. It always held my attention in history better than the American Revolution. Some people are lucky enough to take this trip twice during high school depending on when you joined and when the trip years fell. I, for instance would only get to go once because I joined my sophomore year at Mr. Timlore's suggestion. The trip years just happened to fall on my freshman and junior years.

I snap back to what's going on around me as I realize that Mr. Timlore is listing out who still needs to pay and how much of the eighteen hundred dollar fee remains to be paid.

"Miss Danton, your balance is down to twenty dollars." Mr. Timlore looks up from his record book and glances at me. He's never actually said it but I think I'm one of his favorite students. He's always praising my ability to speak French so fluently.

"I can have it by Friday," I reply to his comment and he goes on with his list. I've been paying for the trip from my paycheck and my tips every week since September when I found out I could go.

Suddenly I feel someone staring at me. I look around and our eyes lock again. It's the mysterious Nate, and he's looking at me with the same startled expression.

After the club meeting ends he catches me on the way to the bus stop.

"Hey," he murmurs softly.

I glance up at him, "hi, um it's Nate, right?"

"You remember?" He gasps in shock.

"Remember what?" I ask in confusion, "my friend Luciana told me your name. You seem to know mine so I asked her about you. Do you know me from somewhere? I mean I know I saw you the other day when I was working but how did you know my name?"

He looks pained for a second, and then he quickly shakes it off with a shake of the head and changes the subject, "so are you excited about the trip? Only two more months to go now."

I smile and say, "Yeah, I've always wanted to go to France. My dad grew up there, and it's where my parents met."

"Really? That's really cool. You must have been speaking the language your whole life then, huh?"

"Yeah, but I just kind of picked it up as a kid, my dad didn't teach me or anything. He was always kind of busy," I'm flooded now with thoughts of my childhood.

"My parents aren't around a lot either. But hey, do you need a ride somewhere?" It's probably safer than the bus." I see this expectant look in his eyes. He wants me to say yes.

It breaks my heart knowing he'll be crushed when I say no but I still say, "I don't know, I barely know you."

"I don't bite or anything," he jokes. There's still a bit of hope in his voice.

"Maybe next time," I promise as the bus downtown pulls up to the stop, "I'll see you around." I wave goodbye and when I find a seat by the window I see him, and he's still standing there looking so sad.

**********

"Are you sure you've never met this guy before?" Luciana asks me as soon as I finish telling her about the bizarre conversation that I've just had with Nate.

"I swear I've never seen him before that night at work." I reply.

Luciana paces behind the counter, rubbing her chin as she asks, "But he asked you if you remembered?"

"Yep."

"Remember what?" She asks herself more than me.

"That's what I said!" I exclaim, "But he looked so sad when I said it."

Luciana shakes her head, "I still say he's a past love of yours."

Later, after Luciana drops me off at home I finish my homework and try to go to sleep. I lay there for the longest time. I feel like I've been lying awake for hours but in actuality it's only been about twenty minutes. Finally I drift off and fall asleep.

Hours later, towards morning I'm lying on my back staring up at the ceiling. A horrible feeling of dread comes over me. I'm dying, I realize.

Nate is standing beside my bed, stroking my hand. "Don't be afraid," he says, "all you have to do is close your eyes and it will all be over."

I try to do what he says but I can't keep my eyes closed. There are other people in my room, standing in the shadows so I don't see their faces. Nate keeps stroking my hand, repeating his mantra over and over again.

Finally I pull away and climb out of bed. I walk down the hall to the second floor bathroom and turn on the cold water. I wait for a few seconds, for the water to get cold. I grab a glass from the counter and pour myself a glass.

When I take a long gulp I finally wake up. It was all just another weird dream. What's happening to me? And why?

I stumble back to my empty room and flip my laptop on. When the internet comes on I type "reincarnation" into the search box. It's as good a spot to start as any.

# Chapter Nine

Nate

It's Tuesday night and Darcy asked me out for dinner to talk about something. I would've said no but I know that somehow she knows Elizabeth and I can pump her for information.

Darcy told me to meet her at this burger joint, Meteor, over on the south side of town; but she's about twenty minutes late. Finally she saunters in the door and clomps over to my table. Her high-heeled shoes make an annoying click-clack noise against the tiled linoleum flooring.

"Sorry I'm late, my manicure appointment took a little longer that I expected it to." She wags her fingernails in front of my face like I'm supposed to be impressed or something. I'm a guy so they just look like colored fingernails to me.

"It's okay, I'm only slightly starving," I joke as I wave my menu at her. She smiles, getting the hint, and opens her menu.

What is it with girls and their total inability to eat in front of guys? Darcy flips back and forth through the menu for ten more minutes before finally settling on a salad with a side of non-fat dressing. I can't help rolling my eyes as I order a deluxe burger and an order of fries. We're meeting at a burger joint and all she's ordering is a salad? Come to think of it that's all I've ever seen her eat.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I ask when the waiter disappears back into the kitchen.

She gets right down to the point, "I just wanted to warn you about that girl

Elizabeth, you know, the waitress from the other night?" Darcy picks up her discarded napkin holder and begins to tear it into tiny pieces.

"Warn me about what? She seemed nice, a little clumsy, but nice." I take the napkin holder out of her hands and make her look me in the eye. I saw her dump her coffee drink in front of Elizabeth the other night, and I know that for some reason she likes to torment her.

"She's not nice at all. She's a home-wrecking bitch! She just loves to steal my boyfriends from me. She's way too much of a loser to find her own, so she takes mine. I just figured since we're such good friends," She puts her hand over mine, "that I'd warn you about her."

I slide my hand away from hers in disgust. Does she really think I'm interested in her? "Darcy, I think you're getting the wrong idea about you and me. I think of you more like a sister. I'm really sorry."

"But-t-t we've always been so close," she stammers in shock.

"We've been friends forever," I say, unsure what I've done to make her think it was more than that.

"Just friends?!" She makes a sound that's somewhere between a gasp and a screech. I nod slowly; she scoffs at my response, and angrily begins to gather her things.

"I don't understand why you're so upset. I thought you knew that friendship was all I ever wanted from you." I attempt to explain as the waiter arrives with the food.

"Are you gay? Is that it? Are the rumors true?" Darcy yells to the whole restaurant. I feel my face turning bright red.

"Of course not," I reply, "it's just that you're not really my type. I'm sorry if I offended you."

"I'm the hottest girl in the junior class and you're telling me that I'm not your type? Are you crazy?!" She screams as she turns on her heel and begins to walk away. She stops and delivers one final blow as she says, "You'll pay for this!" And just like that she storms off.

Unsure of what to do I smile apologetically at the waiter, grab my coat, and toss a couple tens onto the table.

"Should I wrap up the burger?" the waiter asks knowingly.

I nod and in seconds he's back with a white paper bag filled with my meal. I throw an extra five on the table and say, "keep the rest. And thanks." I motion to the bag he's just handed me.

On my way out to my car my cell phone rings. I check the caller I.D. and see that it's my dad calling.

"Yeah?" I say after flipping the phone open.

"Hey champ, I just wanted to tell you that your mother and I both have to work late tonight. Can you manage by yourself?" My dad's voice is an annoying boxy sound.

"I always do," I reply.

"Good," he says and hangs up.

I lean back in my seat. Now what should I do? I silently wonder. I am in dire need of a strong cup of coffee. I couldn't face the restaurant again so I put the car into drive. There's only like two thousand coffee shops on my way home.

Of course I had to go and choose the one coffee shop location that didn't have a drive-thru. Oh well, I think bitterly. I park my car in the last open spot in the lot and head inside. As I'm waiting for my coffee I look around the crowded shop. People-watching has always been a hobby of mine.

"Nate?" A feminine voice calls from the back of the shop. I turn around after the barista hands me my drink and see Elizabeth waving me over. She's sitting at a table toward the back. The entire surface of the table is filled with books and a laptop.

I smile and head over, "hey," I murmur when I reach her. "I didn't see you at first."

"Yeah, I'm just doing a little research," she motions to her books and the computer before brushing a strand of unruly hair out of her eyes.

"Mind if I join you?" I pull back the closest chair. "I'm not interested in going home to an empty house right now."

"I'm guessing your parents are working late tonight too?" Elizabeth asks knowingly as I start looking through her books. They're all thick psychology books.

"They work late every night." I roll my eyes for effect.

"Mine too. Well my mom at least. My dad is home but I needed some privacy." She sighs as she shuts her computer.

"Why? What are you researching?"

She shrugs, not meeting my gaze. Then she changes the subject. "I'm sorry I didn't let you give me a ride the other night, I just wasn't sure, you know?"

I brush it off with the wave of my hand. "It's okay; I guess I was kind of coming on a little too strong." I tell her, then quietly add, "I didn't know finding you would be that easy."

"What?" Elizabeth asks, and I realize that maybe I was a bit louder than I meant to be.

"Nothing," I assure her.

"I just don't need any more problems from Darcy right now, okay? Plus you were coming on a bit strong." Elizabeth shuts a few of her books and jams them into her backpack.

"Sorry," I say honestly. "Besides, Darcy and I aren't together. She seemed to think we were though. I think I made it clear to her earlier than she's not my type; especially after what she did to you last week."

"I'm used to it," she shrugs it off.

"Is this all seriously about some guy?" I ask.

"Yeah, pretty much. Darcy thinks that no guy should like me because I don't look like a super model. But her ex-boyfriend Anton did. They had broken up by the time he and I went out but she accused me of stealing him away from her. It's really immature, but hey, that's Darcy for you."

"So are you and this Anton guy still together?" I ask hoping that I sound casual.

"No, he's a creep; we broke up after a couple months." Elizabeth says as she studies me. "You know, you remind me of someone I used to know?"

I look into her eyes. Does she remember? "Who?" I dare to ask.

"I don't know someone from the past." Elizabeth shrugs.

"Oh," I reply then I grab one of the books she left sitting on the table. "So are you interested in becoming a psychologist?"

"Not really, I've just been having these really strange dreams lately." Elizabeth says as she takes the book back from me and flips to the page she was looking at before I got there. "I'm just trying to see how crazy I am." She laughs but somehow it looks like she's afraid that she really is.

"Well you can't be that crazy; you wouldn't be questioning your sanity if you were."

"Yeah, I guess most people who are insane just believe that whatever they think is going on is real." She nods slightly.

"So what are you interested in becoming?" I ask.

"That's the million dollar question I guess. I really don't know yet." She shakes her head which loosens a thick chunk of dark hair from behind her ear. It falls into her face and sits idly in front of her left eye until she brushes it back once more.

"At least you have another year to figure it out; my parents forced me to apply to Marquette. My mom wants me to become an attorney like her."

"But you're not feeling it?" Elizabeth guesses.

"Not really; so what do your parents do?" Suddenly it feels like we're playing twenty questions. Or I'm interrogating her.

"My mother works at a college bar down by Marquette and my dad works at the Milwaukee Public Museum. He's a curator there."

"That's cool." My phone vibrates in my pocket but I'm relieved to find out it's only my alarm going off telling me that I've just missed my curfew.

"Something you have to deal with?" Elizabeth asks as she nods at the phone in my hand.

I laugh, "no it's just an alarm I have set telling me when my curfew is."

"What? Do you turn into a pumpkin after 8 p.m.?" She jokes as she points to a clock on the wall above us.

"Nope, it's just an excuse I use to get out of going to parties with my friend Jake." I explain.

"Do you not like parties or just hate spending time with your friends?" I can tell she's teasing me by the slight smirk on her face.

"Both," I say honestly.

"I don't get invited to a lot of parties. People think I'm weird, I guess." Elizabeth admits sadly.

"You could come to my family's annual Christmas party. It's kind of boring, but it might be fun if you came." I hold my breath, knowing she'll probably reject me. I know she still thinks I'm a bit strange.

She looks at me skeptically. I prepare myself for a "no" but instead she asks, "Do you really want me to come or are you just asking because you feel sorry for me?"

I smile and say, "I'd really love for you to come. It's on Saturday night; if you're not busy you should stop by." I grab one of her notebooks and write down my address, the date, and the time as clearly as I can.

She takes the piece of paper, smiles, and says, "I'll see if I can drop by for a little while."

# Chapter Ten

Elizabeth

"What am I going to wear?" I repeat for the tenth time. I've flipped through my closet a million times since Nate invited me to his family's party. So far I haven't found anything acceptable.

"Why don't you just wear the black dress I pointed out before?" Luciana asks from her perch on my bed.

"It's just so plain," I scrunch up my nose as I examine the dress again. "His parents will think I have no sense of style."

"And you care about what Nate's parents think because?" Luciana raises her eyebrows in suspicion.

"I don't know," I mutter. Why do I care? It's just some stupid party. Why am I even going?

"If you ask me I think it's because you like him. If you would stop denying it for a minute you might realize that I'm right."

"I don't like him though!" I protest. I hesitate for a minute then say, "well he is kind of cute."

"Well then let's get you ready for the ball, Cinderella." Luciana teases as she pushes past me to the closet.

An hour later she drops me off at Nate's house, a large white colonial style house with cream colored pillars around the whole house. I still feel like I don't belong but Luciana urges me out of the car.

"It'll be okay. Have fun!" She says supportively. I give her one last nervous smile as I get out of the car and slam the door behind me.

Luciana rolls down the window and says, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" I laugh weakly as she rolls the window up and pulls out of the long winding driveway.

I walk up to the front door feeling inadequate in my black cocktail dress and my mom's "borrowed" black stilettos.

Luciana did my hair and make-up before dropping me off. My dark brown hair is pulled into a half-up ponytail and my eyes are done up in a subtle smoky gray color.

When I ring the doorbell a man in a black and white uniformed suit answers and insists on taking my coat. I can hear the sounds of laughter coming from down the hall.

As I enter what under normal circumstances must be a living room, I notice that the room has been completely redone for the occasion. I can't help feeling a sense of familiarity gnawing at me as I study the room. In a flash I see an old parlor and a girl that looks a lot like me sitting at an easel. She's drawing a young man who looks a lot like Nate. In another instant the sight before me is gone and the party comes back into focus. What was that?

Nate sees me standing in the doorway and comes over to greet me. "You came," he breathes, sounding relieved.

"Yeah," I feel myself smiling too, "I figured I'd stop by for a while."

"I'm glad," Nate replies as he slides his hand into mine. He guides me into the room and I feel more at ease with him beside me; less nervous even.

"How do you know all of these people?" I ask looking around at all the glamorous people dressed in clothing that probably costs more than I make in a month.

"They're mostly friends of my parents." He nods towards a couple talking to a group of people across the room. "And of course some of them are family."

A waiter passes with a tray of hors d'oeuvres and Nate grabs a couple. He hands me one and I'm mid-bite when I spot Darcy and Nate's friend Jake over by the fireplace.

Darcy scowls, then tugs on Jake's sleeve and points to where Nate and I are standing. Nate's talking to me but I'm not listening, I'm preoccupied by trying to figure out Darcy's next move. I can see the wicked grin she exchanges with Jake as they begin to weave through the crowd.

"Nate!" Jake exclaims when they're about two feet away from us. Nate snaps his head up to find the source of the interruption. When his eyes land on Jake and Darcy he looks less than pleased. "Jake. Darcy." He says through gritted teeth.

"Nate! I didn't see you over here talking to Eleanor until Darcy pointed you out." Jake gushes in fake cheeriness.

"It's Elizabeth actually," I correct him.

"Hi Nate," Darcy says flirtatiously. Then she turns to me. She's clearly up to something. I can see the ugly gleam in her eyes.

"Isn't it so nice of Nate's family to hire your mom on as a bartender for the party?" She asks gleefully.

"What are you talking about?" I ask in my most unfriendly tone.

Darcy points over to the temporary bar and sure enough my mom is serving up drinks. "I guess you're the Levine family's newest charity case." She sneers loudly. "But I wouldn't worry; soon they'll see you for the trash that you really are."

"That's enough, Darcy" Nate says angrily. But it's already too late. The room is dead quiet and everyone is staring at us. The damage is done.

I'm embarrassed and I can feel that my face is bright red. I have to get out of this room and out of this house before I begin to cry. I turn on my heel and run out of the room, through the foyer, and past the doorman. I hear Nate calling after me but I don't stop. I also hear the roar of laughter over the humiliation Darcy brought on me. I race out the front door not even bothering to get my coat.

How could I have fallen for that? Nate's just like all the rest of them. No, I think sadly, he's worse. Darcy and Jake know they're jerks and they don't pretend to be anything else, but Nate fooled me. He actually had me believing that he was a good guy. I walked down the block a bit and start a text asking Luciana to come get me.

"Elizabeth," I hear Nate say tentatively behind me.

"Leave me alone!" I sniffle, not turning around to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. "You've had your laugh for the night. You don't need me anymore. Go back to your friends."

"Elizabeth, I had no part in what they did to you. I am so sorry that they did that to you. I swear I'm done with them for good after that." He murmurs.

I'm not falling for that again. I turn to face him. "Go to Hell!" I say harshly as I brush past him.

"I've been there," he says quietly. "Every second away from you is Hell for me."

I roll my eyes then begin to turn away. Nate grabs my shoulders and makes me face him again. "How do you explain it then?" He asks; his green-eyed stare boring into me. "How do you explain our connection to each other despite the fact that we've only known each other a short time? How do you explain your weird dreams? Or what about my crystal clear memory of things that happened two hundred years ago? Because I know that it was us back then; that we were in love. Elizabeth, losing you destroyed me."

"You're crazy..." I begin.

"Then look me in the eye and tell me that you don't believe. Tell me that you don't love me. Because I meant what I said; our love will last for all eternity.

That struck a nerve with me. "Where did you hear that?" I ask quietly.

"I'm trying to tell you, Lizzie, I'm not making this up." He replies.

I try to take in this new information. I don't want to believe him, and yet I've been doing a lot of research and all the signs point to old memories from a past life resurfacing. Out of the corner of my eye I see Luciana pulling to the curb.

"I need some time to process this." I say as I back toward Luciana's car.

Nate nods, "call me anytime, day or night. I'll pick up no matter what time it is. Just call okay?" He pleads.

After I climb into Luciana's car I feel better, but all it takes is one look at my tear stained face and Luciana knows something is wrong.

"What happened?" She asks kindly.

"Darcy." I mutter as I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand.

"Don't worry, she'll get what's coming to her soon enough." Luciana confidently assures me.

After Luciana drops me at home I drag myself up to my room. I clean myself up a little bit; then climb into bed. Sleep doesn't come. I watch as each hour ticks away on the digital clock on my radio. I can't turn my brain off and Nate's words bounce around my head.

Around three a.m. I grab my phone and send Nate a text. I check it over for spelling errors and then hit send.

MEET ME AT THE CORNER

OF Brady AND Astor AT NOON. BE ON

TIME.

# Chapter Eleven

Nate

"So where are we?" I ask as I walk up to Elizabeth. I was relieved when she texted me last night at three a.m. and told me to meet her at noon, but I'm unsure why she wanted to meet here.

"The Italian district, of course," Elizabeth replies as if it's common knowledge. I've never actually been to this part of town so I had to ask.

"Oh, cool." I say, "I thought you were French though."

"My dad's French, my mom's Italian, and I'm both." She shrugs her explanation.

"I hope I didn't make things bad for you with your mom after last night. I really had no idea that Jake and Darcy would pull something like that."

"It's okay." She scuffs her shoe against the cement sidewalk. "My mom yelled at me for "embarrassing" her, but it's no big deal."

"I'm sorry," I say as I reach out to hold her but she moves away.

"It's not your fault," she assures me. "Anyway, I figured we could talk over lunch, unless you don't like Chinese food I mean."

"Sounds good to me," I reply as she leads me to a restaurant sandwiched between an Italian grocery store and a bar. When we walk into the dimly lit restaurant a cozy, intimate feeling washes over me.

"Welcome to the Emperor of China," The hostess smiles warmly and ushers us to a table near the window. She lays the gold embossed menus down on the table and tells us that our waitress with be right over to take our orders.

I flip open my menu and scan the restaurant's specialties, but my gaze keeps going to Elizabeth as she looks through her menu. I can't help thinking this is the coolest thing I've done in a long time. Here I am about to have lunch at a Chinese restaurant smack dab in the middle of the Italian district.

The waitress comes and Elizabeth orders something called a "happy family". I read the description on the menu, then say, "That sounds great, I'll have the same." The waitress nods and takes the order back to the kitchen.

"So have you ever eaten here before?" I ask, studying her. She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear. She does that a lot, could it be a nervous thing?

"Yeah, they have the best Chinese food in the entire Milwaukee area." Elizabeth says with a smile.

"Really? Well I'm just glad that you eat like a normal person. Most of the girls I know would pretend they weren't hungry or something." I tell her.

She blushes then says, "It's in my genetics, I like to eat."

"It's not a bad thing," I assure her, "it's just comforting to know there are still normal girls."

"Um, thanks." She replies uncertainly.

"So how much of the past do you remember?" I ask, changing the subject.

"I remember a letter written in blood. And then there was this really strange dream I had. I felt like I was dying, and you were there standing beside my bed."

"The letter was a memory, and I'm sorry about the other one. I didn't mean to freak you out." I blush a little bit.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asks me.

"A long time ago I found this website online that showed me how to transpose myself into someone else's dreams. I figured when I found you, my Elizabeth, that I could help you remember the past. The memories you're having are coming back naturally, but then after I found you I...I don't know I wanted to make sure you were alright. So I created that dream." I explain. I still can't believe I did that. I had no idea that it would scare her.

"So you did what exactly? Stepped into my dream? How did you learn to do that?" She asks, clearly interested instead of upset.

"Do you know what astral projection is?" I ask, recalling the website I found. It had taken me a few tries before I got it right, but I had finally managed it.

"Yeah, it's kind of like when your spirit travels outside of your body; while your body is in a meditative state." Elizabeth says, nodding.

"Exactly, so I guess it's a form of that. Instead of just having an out of body experience I more or less invaded your private thoughts. I'm really sorry that I did." I apologize.

"Don't worry; I think it's kind of cool." She dismisses my apology with a wave of her hand. "My best friend Luciana is a Wiccan so I'm used to hearing about this kind of stuff."

"I'm not, well whatever that is." I shake my head.

"You probably didn't intentionally mean to do what you did, but astral projection can be associated with Wicca; which is a nature based religion that witches practice." She sounds as if she's given this speech before. It almost feels like she's reading from a pamphlet. Almost as if she can sense me staring blankly at her she blushes and explains, "I spend a lot of time hanging out with Luciana while she's at work. And since she works at an occult supply store there are a ton of books around on the subject."

"That's cool," I murmur. "Luciana is a really unusual name."

"It's her Wiccan name," Elizabeth says as she takes a sip of her drink. "She was born Sharon Braun but then when she got into Wicca she changed it to Luciana."

"Are you into Wicca?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "nope. Anyway, so you were telling me about our past."

"I guess you could say you meant a lot to me." I admit.

"I never would have guessed," Elizabeth teases sarcastically.

"Okay so I haven't exactly hidden my attraction to you, but I can't help it. We were married after all."

Elizabeth spits out her drink in shock, "we were what?"

"Married," I repeat wryly, "not legally of course. By the time we found each other every priest in France was either in hiding or in prison. Either way we decided not to live without each other. So we got 'married'."

"France? You mean we were alive during the revolution?" Elizabeth asks excitedly.

I don't share her happiness over that period of time. The Reign of Terror took away the most important person in my life. "Yeah, we both died in 1792. You were sixteen and I was eighteen; much like we are today." I say, studying Elizabeth's kind green eyes.

"Why did we die so young?" I swallow hard, thinking of the best way to tell her; but before I can answer she guesses the truth, "Something bad happened didn't it?"

"Yes, something horrible happened." I say quietly. She silently reaches across the table and takes my hand in hers. She waits for me to tell the whole story. "We both came from aristocratic families. My parents were Lord and Lady to the royal court, and your parents came from long lines of predominant families. During that time being wealthy was a really bad thing, because the common people were starving. So they took out their anger by rebelling against the wealthy. During the Reign of Terror they imprisoned and eventually executed almost anyone who was royalty, wealthy, or had any connections to people of power."

"And that included us, didn't it?" Elizabeth guessed.

"Yeah, it definitely did. They found us at my parent's house. By that time my father was in extreme denial and my mother had let paranoia take control of her life. All I wanted was to protect you. They hauled us to a prison in Paris and separated us. I knew something bad was going to happen. That's why I wrote the note in blood. The day after I wrote the note they condemned us both to death. They executed you right in front of me. They even held me in place so I couldn't get to you." I gulp down my soda trying to get the memories out of my head.

"What happened to you?" Elizabeth asks.

I take another deep breath and tell her the rest of the story, "about a week after you were murdered I finally died of starvation and gangrene. I was happy, when I knew I was dying because I thought I would be reunited with you in the next life. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. I never saw you again. I was born to this world again eighteen years ago and for as long as I can remember I knew about our past and I knew I had to find you. I've been searching ever since."

"Wow," Elizabeth breathes quietly.

"Yeah I know, you probably think I'm crazy right?"

"No," She replies shaking her head, "it's just...you've had these memories your whole life?"

"Yeah," I nod.

"That must have been rough when you were younger." Elizabeth murmurs sympathetically.

"I survived," I say bitterly. "So do you still like to draw?" Elizabeth furrows her brow in confusion, so I explain, "you were an amazing artist in your past life."

"Really?" She asks then mutters something to herself that vaguely sounds like, "That would explain a few things."

"Like what?"

"Last night at your party when I walked into the room I had this weird second-sight type thing. It was like the room around me disappeared and this other room replaced it. There was a girl sitting at an easel drawing a guy."

"I almost forgot about that," I tell her, smiling. "A couple days after you came to hide out with my family you asked if you could draw me. The easel was my mother's but she never used it. It was more of a decoration. You gave me the drawing so I would always remember you."

"I wonder what happened to it, or if it was destroyed." Elizabeth muses.

"I don't know; I wish I could find out." I think for a second then say, "I really missed you Lizzie."

"So are you done with your Christmas shopping?" Lizzie asks as the waitress brings out our food.

"I haven't even begun my shopping yet," I admit.

Lizzie smiles and says teasingly, "guys always have to wait until the last minute."

I smile and can't help but think about how right she is, "How about you? Are you done with your shopping?"

"Definitely," she sighed in relief, "I do my shopping early before the usual holiday shopping insanity begins."

"So what did you get me?" I tease.

Lizzie looks thoughtful for a moment, "okay so maybe I'm not totally done shopping."

"Don't worry, you just being here with me is gift enough." I assure her.

"Don't say that," she warns, "or I'll hold you to your word and not get you anything."

"Okay, how about instead of some impersonal material item, you just make me happy by being my girlfriend." I suggest hoping I'm not being too forward again.

"Okay, but then I'll be obligated to get you a gift." Lizzie points out as she takes a bite of her lunch.

"True," I reply jokingly. "No seriously, you don't have to get me anything."

"Okay," Lizzie says happily.

We finish our lunch with comfortable conversation and easy silence. After we pay the bill Elizabeth walks me back to my car.

"Do you want a ride home?" I ask her when we reach the car.

"I told Luciana that I'd go hang out with her this afternoon and I can walk from here." She shakes her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, relax, I'll be okay." She says as she pats my shoulder reassuringly.

"Okay," I smile, "I'll call you later okay?"

"Okay," Lizzie nods then reaches up and kisses me on the cheek. It feels like being hit with a bolt of lightning whenever we touch. "I'll talk to you later." She murmurs as she turns and heads down a side street.

# Chapter Twelve

Elizabeth

I think I just agreed to be Nate's girlfriend. I don't know how to feel. It's like I saw a whole new side to him today. He was less creepy, and less arrogant. He was real.

It's starting to get dark as I walk to Luciana's store. If I hadn't promised her that I'd stop by after my lunch with Nate I would have gotten a ride home from Nate.

I was now walking down by Marquette University, something they tell you not to do alone or at night. It was a safety precaution. But here I was walking alone in the dark by the university. Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me. I quickened my pace but the footsteps got closer. Then I felt a hand clamp down over my mouth and I heard an all-too-familiar voice say, "thought you could get rid of me that easy, did ya? Well guess again."

My scream was muffled behind Anton's grip. I could smell the familiar scent of his aftershave as he pulled me close to him. There was nobody around to help. Nobody to hear me scream.

"Who was your friend earlier?" Anton asked pointedly.

"Were you spying on me? I asked instead as soon as he moved his hand away from my mouth.

"Answer the question bitch!" Anton yanks on a lock of my hair to show he isn't kidding around.

"It's none of your business," I reply coolly.

"You're forgetting bitch, I own you. You're mine." Anton sneers.

"Nobody owns me, least of all you." I glare at him.

"Think again," he leans in and mutters in my ear, then nips lightly on my earlobe. I try to pull away but his grip on me is strong.

I sense a set of headlights shining on us then a set of tires squealing to a stop. A second later a car door slams and a voice says, "Leave her alone!" It's Nate.

"This doesn't concern you pretty boy," Anton tells him as he tries to pull me along with him. I look at Nate helplessly.

"I think it does," Nate crosses his arms trying to look menacing.

"Oh yeah?" Anton shoves me away and rolls up his sleeves preparing to fight.

Nate turns to me, "go get in my car, lock the doors, quick." I run to the car and do as he tells me.

Anton circles Nate a few times like a predator circling its prey. Nate looks at him with a bored expression on his face. His arms remain crossed across his chest until Anton begins to get closer. Anton says something to Nate that he doesn't seem to like then he tries to take a swing at Nate. Nate is quicker and he knocks Anton's fist out of the way before hitting him square in the jaw.

Anton hits the ground hard and Nate hops back into the car immediately after I unlock the door. Nate re-locks the door and speeds off as Anton yells, "this isn't over!"

Once we're a few blocks away I ask, "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that," Nate looks over at me. I can see the worry in his deep green eyes. He weaves the fingers of his right hand through mine and asks, "So is that him? Your ex-boyfriend, I mean?"

"Unfortunately," I mutter.

"Did he hurt you?" Nate asks as he studies me for signs of bruises.

I shake my head, "he scared me more than anything."

"Now can I take you home? It will make me feel better knowing that you got home safe."

"Okay," I agree.

"Okay, so where am I headed?" Nate asks.

"325 Westmoor Drive." I tell him.

**********

After Nate drops me off I go up to my room and open my sketchpad. Christmas is three days away and I want to do something for Nate.

I'm still only starting to get to know him but he talked about the drawing I had done of him all those years ago.

Was what he said true? Could my drawing ability be a leftover gift from the past? I've always been able to make my drawings look real, like a photograph.

I grab my favorite piece of charcoal and begin drawing from memory. It's strange, I've only known Nate a short amount of time but I can clearly picture his face in my mind. He feels like a part of me already, then again, maybe he always has been.

A while later my cell phone rings. My drawing is really coming along; the details are just flowing out of me. I check my phone's I.D. figuring that it's Nate but I see that it's Luciana instead. I completely forgot about visiting her after my ordeal with Anton.

"Hey, where were you?" Luciana asks when I pick up the phone.

"Anton cornered me on the street when I was on my way over to see you." I explain as I change the line of Nate's jaw in my drawing.

"Are you okay?" Luciana asks in concern.

"Yeah," I tell her, "Nate showed up and punched Anton, and then he drove me home."

"Seriously? That's so cool! So are you and Nate talking again?"

"Yeah, I actually think that I became his girlfriend this afternoon." I bite the inside of my cheek.

"Lucky!" Luciana exclaims on the other end. "How come you get all of the hot guys and I get stuck with losers like Surewood?"

Surewood was Luciana's most recent boyfriend. I thought they had broken up when she went down to Illinois to see him, but they had managed to patch things up. He had been a long time customer at her shop and finally one day he had asked her out. I've never met him but Luciana always describes him as tall, oxy, and greasy. I'm not even sure if Surewood is the name he was born with or a Wiccan name like Luciana.

"May I point out that Anton isn't that hot and he's a total psycho?" I remind her of my only other boyfriend so far.

"True, but he had that whole bad boy thing going for him." Luciana says lustily. I try to stop myself from rolling my eyes at that.

"Well then you can have him. He really scared me today." I shiver at the memory.

"No, that's okay," Luciana says, "I'm trying to work it out with Surewood. I'm just glad you're ok. I was really worried."

"Thanks," I say and disconnect the call. I glanced at my sketch, and then set it aside for a moment.

**********

The days came and went, Christmas passed almost unnoticeably in my house. My mom took an extra shift at the bar and my dad tried his best to appear happy.

Nate came over later in the evening to give me the gift he had gotten me. "It's a guidebook of Paris," he explains as I unwrap the book. "It has a lot of places that are more 'off-the-beaten-path' listed in it. I figured that since we'll probably have a lot of free time on the trip that maybe we could check some of them out." He shrugs as his face turns pink.

"I love it," I tell him as I clutch the book to my chest.

"Really?" Nate looks at me in happy surprise.

I nod; then go to grab his present. I framed the drawing I had done of him. When he unwraps the drawing he looks at it, then up at me, then back down at the drawing.

"You don't like it," I guess.

"No, it's just; wow it's like living that memory - the one of you drawing me - all over again. The drawing is amazing." Nate smiles honestly, then leans in and kisses me. Hesitantly at first, then when he realizes that I'm kissing him back instead of pushing him away he deepens the kiss.

"I'm glad you like it," I say shakily as I try to regain normal breathing after the kiss ends.

"So why aren't you busy spending Christmas with your family?" Nate asks as he plops down onto my bed.

"My mom had to go to work and my dad is busy working on the new exhibit for the museum. He's in the kitchen." I explain.

"Where's the kitchen?"

"It's in the basement. Why?" I ask. A devilish grin spreads across Nate's face and I know exactly what he's thinking. I feel my eyes widening as I say, "We are not doing that."

"That? Whatever could you possibly mean? Can you elaborate a little?" Nate replies teasingly.

I roll my eyes. "You don't do coy well." I tell him as I cross my arms over my chest.

"It's not like we've never done it before," he insists.

"Not in this life and I don't really remember the last time." I remind him.

"Have you ever done it?" Nate asks quietly as he leans against my pillows "In this life I mean, with your ex or someone else?"

"Nope," I say. "Have you?"

"Slept with your ex-boyfriend? Definitely not," Nate jokes.

I sit down next to him and hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Seriously though, have you?"

Nate shakes his head, "I don't want to with anyone other than you."

"What if I'm not ready?" I ask as I look into his eyes.

"I'll wait however long it takes."

I swallow hard at Nate's intensity, I need to change the subject; fast. "So why aren't you celebrating with your family?"

Now it's Nate's turn to roll his eyes, "my house is so jam packed with relatives, and when I say relatives I mean immediate family, extended family, and all of my parents partners and employees; that they won't notices I'm gone for years to come."

I laugh, trying to picture it, and then mentally remind myself to sketch it out for real later.

"I'd rather be here anyway," Nate says as he turns to study me further. Suddenly I get another weird flashback thing. My room fades away, replaced by another. I can't see much of the room, but I know that I'm lying on a bed. Nate's hovering above me, and all around us a violent storm is raging. Suddenly it's like everything we were just talking about, all the things I couldn't remember, are coming back to me at rapid speed.

My bedroom comes back into focus and I shake my head a bit to clear the new found memories away. Nate notices and says, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I try to smile, "just more memories."

He still doesn't look convinced. He pulls away a little, "do you want to talk about it?" He asks.

"It was just about what we were talking about before; the memories resurfaced. I think it was the way you were looking down on me, it reminded me of that."

"So now you remember everything?" Nate asks hopefully.

"Just from that night," I shake my head.

"And what do you feel about that memory?"

"I'm not sure," I tell him, "I mean I hate the feeling I get when the memories begin. It's like the rug is being ripped out from under me. As for the memories themselves, it's a relief to know what my past was like."

"I meant how did you feel about that specific memory?" Nate hovers over me, so much like he had in the memory.

"I think it's going to take a little bit more than just four days and a memory resurfacing before I sleep with you." I say firmly as I push a strand of black hair out of his eyes.

Nate flops back onto his back and sighs, "okay."

"What's your hurry? You've waited two hundred-sixteen years, what's another month or two."

"You're right," Nate sighs again, "I know I'm being a jerk. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I rationalize, "you're just overeager."

Nate laughs, "You make me sound like a puppy."

"Well, you're cute, you have big, sad eyes, and you beg to be held. You definitely have puppy potential." I joke as Nate groans loudly.

Just then my bedroom door swings open and my dad strides in with a book in his hand. He blinks and takes in the scene; Nate and I are sprawled across my bed in the dim light from my desk lamp. "What's going on in here?" My dad raises his eyebrows suspiciously.

"Um dad, I didn't hear you coming. This is, um this is Nate. M-m-my boyfriend," I stammer as Nate scrambles to his feet and offers my dad his hand in an effort for a normal introduction.

My dad looks at Nate's outstretched hand for a second then turns to me and says, "What happened to that nice boy you dated, Anton? He was such a nice boy, so respectful."

"We broke up two months ago." I remind him as Nate shoves his hands into his pockets.

"What a shame." My dad replies as he looks at Nate in annoyance. "It's Christmas day; don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Yes sir." Nate blushes, embarrassed. He leans over to kiss me goodbye but my dad stops him.

"I think you've done enough of that for one night." Nate nods grimly and leaves. I lay back against my pillows, wondering if it's possible to die of embarrassment.

# Chapter Thirteen

Nate

Elizabeth's father hates me. He'd rather see her with that leech Anton than me. I'm guessing that he never caught Anton making out with Elizabeth on her bed. Thinking about Anton touching her at all makes me sick. Defeated, I head for home.

I managed to grab the drawing that Elizabeth did of me before I left. It was almost a perfect replica of the drawing she did of me all those years ago. I wonder if she was working from current memory or past memory. Either way, it's truly amazing.

When I get home my family is still all gathered in the living room. I stop in for a moment and pretend that I just went up to my room for a minute. I look around and everything is as I left it. My father is deep in conversation with one of his hotel's desk clerks, my mother is trying to get people to eat her inedible Christmas cookies, and my four-year-old cousin wants me to put together her new dollhouse.

The night never seems to end. It starts getting late and then it's my responsibility to stand by my parents and say goodbye to everyone. I'd much rather text Elizabeth and tell her I'm sorry about making her dad angry.

By the time everyone leaves it's already past midnight. It's too late to text or call Elizabeth. I drag myself up to my room and look around. My Christmas presents from my parents are under my dresser but the drawing from Elizabeth is propped against my pillow. I fish a nail out of my desk drawer and quietly tap it into the wall above my bed.

After I hang the drawing up I stand back and admire it. It's funny how a gift, like Elizabeth's artistic ability, can pass from one lifetime to another. I was never very talented at anything. I used to think that I was good at looking out for the people I love, but I even failed at that the last time.

Even if it's too late to call Elizabeth I need to contact her somehow. I lay down flat on my bed and close my eyes. Once I enter a deep meditative state I begin to weave a dream for Elizabeth, one that hopefully won't scare her.

I envision a place in my subconscious that I visit often. It was a dream I had once. There was a lake that froze over for seven years, and then lay untouched and unfrozen for the next seven years. I loved repeating that dream because I could sit on the banks without a care in the world.

I finished weaving the dream and felt my soul leave my body as I entered Elizabeth's dream. She was sitting on the embankment in jeans and a sweatshirt. She was looking out at the frozen water, her head propped up by her left hand. She didn't even notice me walking up to her.

"So what do you think?" I asked quietly.

"It's beautiful," Elizabeth murmured.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked. Elizabeth shook her head as I sat down behind her. I reach over to her and pull her into my arms. We sit quietly like that for a while as I tell her about the water. I want her to feel at ease, not pressured like earlier.

I never want this dream I've created to end, but I can feel Elizabeth fading away. She's waking up at her place. After she's fully gone I pull myself out of my dreamlike state. I glance at my clock, it's already 5 a.m.

My phone rings and I pick it up on the first ring already knowing that it's Elizabeth. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm great. Thanks for the dream; I was afraid that my dad scared you off last night." Elizabeth says quietly on the other end but I can hear loud shouting in the background.

"Of course not, we're destined after all," I tease, then ask, "what's that noise?"

Elizabeth sighs, "My parents are fighting again. It woke me up this time."

"Why are they fighting?" I ask as I pull myself upright in bed.

"No clue," she replies, "they don't want me to know that they're fighting."

"That sucks," I don't know what else to say. My parents never fight.

"So do you wanna hang out today?" I ask, stifling a yawn.

"I can't," Elizabeth replies distantly. "I have to go to work at noon. Do you want to meet for breakfast instead?"

"At five a.m.?" I actually do yawn.

"Well we could go back to sleep for a few more hours and meet at say, nine-thirty?" She suggests.

"Okay, where do you want to meet?"

"What about the pancake place on Bluemound?"

"Sounds great, I'll see you then." I hang up, bury my head under the pillow, and fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

**********

Four and a half hours later I enter the small house-turned-restaurant and find Elizabeth sitting at a table in the back. Her hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail and she's dressed casually in jeans and a concert t-shirt. I love how even though she's dressed down she looks amazing.

"So what's good here?" I ask, picking up a menu.

"Everything," Lizzie mutters as she drains a cup of coffee.

"So what do you recommend?" I ask, trying again to get a smile out of her.

Lizzie softens a bit, "my favorites are the chocolate chip pancakes or the eggs Benedict; or maybe both."

"Both?" I raise my eyebrows.

"What happened to "I like a girl with an appetite"?" Lizzie retorts.

"Nothing, I'm just not sure about the combination. I think I'd get sick."

The waitress comes over and we order. Elizabeth looks really tired, like she didn't get enough sleep. I don't want to make her talk about her parents so I say instead, "how do you like working at The Cheesecake Factory."

Elizabeth shrugs, "it's alright. It was my favorite restaurant before I started working there, but now I'm not so sure."

"Why not?" I take a small sip of my own coffee, and then look down at the cup. The coffee is delicious.

"My manager is really mean. I knew I didn't like her the day we met. She met with me for five minutes, then told me she needed me immediately because she'd just had to fire one of her incompetent servers. Next thing I knew I was in all white and she was barking orders at me."

"So why don't you quit?"

Elizabeth looks at me sadly, "not all of us have parents who are rich. I need to pay my own way to Paris. And I'll also need to start saving for college."

I swallow, thinking about how different our lives are. I want to tell her that just because my parents give me whatever I want that it doesn't mean they care about me.

Elizabeth sees my discomfort and says, "Luciana is going to this New Year's party with her boyfriend on New Year's Eve. She invited me to go with them and I was wondering if you have plans that night."

"Can we kiss at midnight?" I find myself asking mischievously. What is it with me lately? All I seem to think about is sleeping with Elizabeth. It must be years of hormones kicking in.

"Possibly," Elizabeth says smiling that devilish smile she uses to tease me with.

The waitress places the platters of food in front of us and Elizabeth blushes in embarrassment over the thoughts that were just running through our heads.

We spend the rest of breakfast discussing the Paris trip. We both agree that we have to sit next to each other on the plane. Elizabeth jokes that if she gets stuck next to some bouncy freshman she'll completely freak out.

By the time we finish breakfast it's almost time for Elizabeth's shift to start. I drive her over to the restaurant and we end up kissing in my car for a while. I love this, I love her, and I don't want to let her go.

# Chapter Fourteen

Elizabeth

"I thought we were going to a club," Nate says after I tell him to park in front of Witch's Brew, the shop Luciana works in.

"We are, but we have to pick Luciana and Surewood up first." I tell him as I climb out of the car. Nate hesitates outside the storefront and looks at me skeptically.

"Maybe I'll wait outside," he says as he peers through the window.

I roll my eyes and say, "you have no problem invading other people's dreams but you're scared to go into a Wicca shop?"

"I've just never been into a place like that before," Nate crosses his arms over his chest.

"It's where I spend most of my free time," I tell him; "I mean other than the hours I spend at B&N."

Before Nate can reply Luciana comes stumbling out the door with Surewood right behind her, holding her up.

"Hey you guysh! Lesh par-tay!" Luciana slurs when she sees Nate and I.

"It looks like you've already started partying," I tell her, giving her my sternest look.

"Are you guys sure you still want to go to the club? We could go back to my place and watch movies or something." Surewood suggests as he struggles to keep Luciana upright.

"You knowsh what your problem ish?" Luciana swings her arm in Surewood's general direction. "Your problem ish that you're so boring!"

Luciana comes toward me and links her arm through mine. I try my best to lead her to the car as Nate rushes to unlock the door. Surewood reluctantly follows behind us.

Ten minutes later we arrive at the Lady Bug Club. Luciana and I have gone here a few times before so the bouncer just waves us through when he sees us.

Inside the bass is thumping away, making the room feel like its vibrating. Luciana pulls Nate and I out onto the dance floor as Surewood heads to the bar. Since Surewood is twenty-one he's old enough to drink; and he definitely looks like he needs one.

Nate grabs onto me so he doesn't lose me on the crowded dance floor. I notice Luciana wander away in her drunken stupor. I should follow her, but I stay where I am, dancing against Nate as the New Year's timer counts down.

After two up-tempo songs and a slow song I tell Nate that I'm going to go find Luciana.

"I'll find Surewood and meet you back at the bar," Nate yells over the music.

I nod and disappear into the crowd. I start to head towards the bathroom since I know that Luciana definitely can't keep her liquor. When I was a few feet away from the bathroom a hand reaches out and grabs me. I turn, expecting it to be Luciana and come face to face with Anton.

"Let go!" I yell as I try to pull free of his grip.

"Well look who it is, and on New Year's Eve too. This must be fate." Anton says ignoring my demands.

"Don't you get it? I don't want you! Leave me alone!" I say hoping I get through to him this time.

"Oh I think you do, you just don't want to admit it." Anton smiles creepily at me before kissing me roughly. I push him away as soon as I can; although I have to admit I let myself get carried away for a second. I forgot how good of a kisser Anton is. Not that Nate's a bad kisser, but Anton has skills. But I love Nate; I'm supposed to be with Nate.

"If you ever come near me again you'll regret it." I sneer as I push Anton out of my way so I can head towards the bar.

"What's gonna happen? Are you gonna sic your new love interest on me? Or maybe you'll just put a spell on me. Maybe that's more your style. I told you bitch, you can't get rid of me." Anton looks at me with a wild look in his eyes. I've seen that look before; it's a look that scares the life out of me.

I push my way through the crowded club in search of Nate. Luciana can come find us later when she decides that she wants to be found. I glance at the New Year's timer as I near the bar; it's ten minutes until midnight.

I see Nate standing next to Surewood at the bar looking down at his phone. "I couldn't find Luciana, so I guess we'll just have to wait until she surfaces." I say as I reach out to grab Nate's arm.

He pulls his arm back angrily and spats, "can you explain this?"

He thrusts his phone into my hand and I gasp at the screen. It's a picture of Anton kissing me; but in the picture it looks like I'm kissing him back. There's a message attached to the picture that reads: I guess Elizabeth really isn't that into you bro. Maybe it has something to do with her father forbidding her from being with you. Too bad for you. - Jake

"Nate it's not what it looks like. Anton-" I try to say but Nate cuts me off.

"I don't want to hear it Elizabeth. I don't know what kind of game you thought you were playing with me but it's done. You're not the girl you used to be, I've just got to face that." Nate turns and begins to storm off but I grab him and try to pull him back.

"He kissed me, and what your informant didn't catch was me shoving Anton off of me and telling him to get lost. I don't want him, I want you! Why do I have to keep explaining that to everyone?" I yell at Nate in a way-too-angry tone. Nearby at the bar Surewood is looking at Nate and me with a spark of interest as he downs his scotch.

"Then what's the part about your father forbidding us from being together?" Nate asks, calming down a little, but I can tell he's still really angry.

I take a step back, "I didn't know how to tell you. My dad told me he didn't want me seeing you after what happened on Christmas night. But I don't care what my dad says, he can't tell me who I can and can't be with."

"You know," Surewood interrupts, "this sounds a lot like the plot of Romeo and Juliet."

"Yeah, except nobody here is going to commit suicide." I glare at Surewood for bringing that up.

"Romeo and Juliet commit suicide?" Surewood asks in drunken confusion.

"Yes, at the end. Didn't you read the play?" I ask slowly.

Surewood snorts, "No. Why would I?"

I roll my eyes at Nate who's impatient to continue our own conversation. "Possibly because it's like required reading in high school." I say to Surewood as if it's the most obvious thing ever.

"You still should have told me the truth," Nate interrupts as he slides his phone back into his pocket.

"I'm sorry," I tell him as Luciana magically appears out of nowhere. She's tripping over her feet and bumping into every person she passes.

Nate sighs and grabs Surewood's elbow, "I think we should get them out of here. They're both really drunk." I nod in agreement and start guiding Luciana towards the exit. Once we're outside in the brittle winter air Nate digs through his pockets for his car keys.

As we're waiting Luciana exclaims, "Lizzie, isn't that your mom?"

I look over to where Luciana is pointing and nearly scream at the sight. My mother is making out with some really young guy against the brick wall on the side of the building. "What the -"

"Language!" Luciana mutters weakly as she bumps into me. She hates it when people swear.

I can't take my eyes off of my mom. She's just going at it with this guy in front of the very public venue like there's no tomorrow. Finally Nate nudges me and says, "Let's get out of here."

"I don't wanna go home," I protest.

"It's okay; we can go back to my place instead. It's not like I can drop these two at their houses in the state of drunkenness they're in." Nate motions to Luciana and Surewood.

We help Luciana and Surewood, who insists he's not drunk, into the back of Nate's car and we ride to Nate's in silence. My mom is cheating on my dad. That's the only thing going through my mind at this point. My mom is cheating on my dad, with a guy who looks barely older than me. I should have confronted her, screamed at her; done something. Instead I just stood there, frozen in shock.

"Are your parents home right now?" I ask Nate when he parks in front of his house.

Nate shakes his head, "they're at some party and probably won't be home until morning."

Luciana passed out on the way over so Surewood carries her to the front door. "Where should I put her down?" he asks when Nate unlocks the door.

"There are a bunch of guestrooms upstairs; otherwise you can sleep on the pull-out couch in the living room." Nate points the way to Surewood who heads in the direction of the living room with a now snoring Luciana.

"Follow me," Nate murmurs as he takes my hand in his and starts up the stairs. I've never been in Nate's room before, and I find out that it's your typical guy's bedroom. CDs, clothes, and various other things are covering the floor; and his bed looks like he just rolled out of it. Nate looks at me sheepishly, "I'm sorry. I wasn't really expecting company."

I smile, "it's okay. I can sleep in one of the guest rooms if you want."

Nate frowns and quickly straightens out his bedding. "You just found out that your mom is cheating on your dad. Are you sure you want to be alone?"

"Not really," I admit.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go change. You probably don't want to sleep in those clothes so you can borrow something of mine." Nate goes to his dresser and pulls out a shirt that will probably end up going to my knees.

"Thanks," I tell him. He nods sympathetically and backs out of the room. The second he's gone I change into the shirt he handed me and climb into the messily made bed.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know its morning and the sun is streaming through Nate's custom curtained windows. Nate is sleeping beside me and his arm is draped over me. As I look at his sleeping form I feel more memories from the past trying to break through to the surface. I push them back down and slide out from his grasp.

I pad quietly down the stairs to the living room to check on Luciana. When I enter the room it's empty. Nothing is out of place and it seems like nobody had been there at all. I sink down on the couch in annoyance and wonder where Luciana and Surewood could have gone.

"What is this? An airport terminal?" A shrill female voice mutters behind me.

I turn and see a thin brunette woman standing in the hallway with her arms folded angrily across her chest. I stand up quickly, "I'm sorry; I just got up before Nate and wanted to find my friend. I didn't mean to -" Well I'm not really sure what I did wrong so I let the sentence drop.

"You think that just because my nephew brought you home for the night that it means you can act like you own the place?" The woman spats in disdain. "Trust me, you will never be good enough for my nephew, so why don't you get your clothes and get the hell out."

I rush past her as the tears begin to well up in my eyes. As I race for the stairs I see a blurry figure to my right; it's Nate's mom. She reaches out to me and softly says,

"Elizabeth?"

I run up to Nate's room and grab my clothes before he can wake up. I duck into the bathroom across the hall and once the door is closed my legs give out. I fall to the floor and let the sobs rack my body. The words "you're never going to be good enough for my nephew" run through my head on a loop.

"Elizabeth?" Nate's mom taps lightly at the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," I whimper.

Nate's mom enters the small, brightly lit bathroom and kneels down next to me. "I'm so sorry dear, and I want you to know that in no way is what she said how I feel. I know that you've always been very dear to my son. You are all he's talked about since he was able to talk."

"So you know about the past?" I ask suspiciously.

Nate's mom nods, "I'm just glad I get to be his mother in this life. I know that I'm not around much now that he's older but I was always there for him when he was a child."

"Are you sure you're okay with me dating Nate?" I ask.

"Absolutely, his father and I are happy that he's finally found you," she pats my arm and gets up to leave the room.

"Thanks," I call to her retreating form. I shut the door quietly and change back into my clothes.

After I'm dressed I go back to Nate's room and jump nearly a foot in the air when I notice that Nate's awake and waiting for me. "I thought maybe you'd left without saying goodbye."

I shake my head, "no, I just went to check on Luciana and Surewood but they already left. I should get going though; my dad is probably worried sick."

"I'll drive you home," Nate agrees as he hops out of bed and starts throwing clothes on.

**********

I slowly open the front door so it doesn't squeak, cursing silently when it shuts behind me with a thud. My mother comes out of the kitchen and crosses her arms. "Where the hell have you been all night?" She yells as I try to brush past her.

"Like you care," I mutter and start up the stairs.

"Of course I care! I was worried sick!"

"You'll get over it," I turn to tell her.

"What did you just say?" My mother looks at me with a venomous glare.

"You heard me." I say and just as I'm about to climb another step she reaches up and grabs me by the hair and roughly pulls me towards her.

"You will not talk to me in such a manner!" She spats as she gets up in my face.

I glare angrily back at her, "what are you gonna do? Go tell your little boyfriend? Seriously mom, how old is he anyway? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

She stumbles back as if I slapped her, "how did you find out about him?"

"I saw you two kissing outside of the Lady Bug Club last night." I sneer, "Is that why you and dad are always fighting?"

"Well I guess the cat's out of the bag, Aimee," My dad growls. He's standing at the top of the stairs with his arms folded angrily. "I told you a thousand times; Elizabeth is a very bright child. It wouldn't take her long to figure it out."

"That still doesn't excuse you being out all night." My mother informs me, still gripping tightly to my hair.

"Last night was New Year's Eve. She was probably just out with Luciana, right sweetheart?" My dad asks me.

I nod, "yes; there was a New Year's party at the Lady Bug Club last night. I went with Luciana and Surewood. Then I stayed the night at Luciana's house."

"Well then, there you have it Aimee. Our daughter was at her best friend's house. If you can even remember who that is anymore." My dad tells my mother as he leans against the banister.

"Speaking of which, Luciana was a bit under the weather this morning. I told her I'd come back to check on her after I showered and changed this morning. So is that okay?" I quickly form a lie so that my dad doesn't find out I'm heading back out to see Nate.

"Had a little too much fun last night, did we?" My dad laughs warmly. "Go ahead, have fun with you friends."

"Thanks!" I beam and tear out of my mother's grip. The second I lock myself into the bathroom I hear their arguing begin again. I turn on the fan to drown out the sound.

# Chapter Fifteen

Nate

"Can I ask you a question?" I ask when I find Elizabeth sitting on the floor with a stack of books in the middle of B&N.

"You just did," she smiles, not looking up from the book she's examining.

"You know what I mean," I roll my eyes as I sit down in front of her and lean gently against the bookshelf behind me.

She puts the book down on top of her pile of books and nods, "anything."

I hesitate for a second then ask, "What's the real story with Anton?"

Lizzie nervously picks at her shoe, "what do you mean?"

"You always describe him as a psycho; why?" I figure that if I can get the real story out of her as to why they broke up then maybe I can get Anton to leave her alone.

Lizzie sighs then says, "It's not that he's psycho. Well not technically anyway, he's just crazy dangerous. He always used to mysteriously disappear at strange times. Like we'd be out at a movie and he'd get a text and just take off. At first I thought he was involved with someone else, so one night I followed him. He was going to a warehouse down by the lakefront. You know the ones down by the ore docks? I still can't believe what I saw him do that night." She shakes her head hoping to clear the memory.

"What happened?" I ask quietly.

"He - he just - killed someone; with absolutely no remorse." Lizzie shudders and accidentally knocks over her books.

"What do you mean he killed someone?" I ask seriously.

"I found out later that his father is a member of a small mob cell based out of Milwaukee. His father was breeding him to enter into their "club". The killing was a sick form of initiation. When he found out that I had seen it he was furious."

"He didn't hurt you did he?" I clench my fists at the thought.

Lizzie looks down at her feet sadly. "He punched me hard. His fist connected with my left eye and for a moment I saw stars. I could barely see but somehow I made it to Luciana's shop. She took me to the back of the store and her boss put some herbs in a little sachet and put it over my eye."

"How long ago was that?"

"A little over two months ago; I broke up with him right after it happened." Lizzie smiles weakly. "If a guy hits me, he only does it once. I refuse to let anyone treat me like that."

"Well that's good. At least you had enough sense to end it." I reach out and pat her knee. "So, where do your parents think you are right now?" I wonder aloud.

"At Luciana's house," Lizzie sighs. "I confronted my mother about her boyfriend and we got into a huge fight. As it turns out my father already knew. So I just told him that Luciana wasn't feeling good and that I wanted to go check on her. He didn't have any objections."

"I hate having to sneak around like this." I sigh.

Lizzie looks at me sympathetically, "I know. Your mom's so great about the whole thing. This morning when your aunt told me I'd never be good enough for you I was really upset, and your mom made me feel better."

I sit up quickly, "my aunt said what?"

Lizzie dismisses it with the wave of her hand, "don't worry about it. Your mother already took care of it."

"I can't believe my aunt would say something like that." I say more to myself than to Lizzie. Then a thought hits me, "Lizzie, does your father know what Anton did to you?"

She shakes her head, "no. I never told him and by the time I got home any evidence that I'd been hit had vanished. Why?"

"I was just thinking that maybe if your father knew what Anton did to you he wouldn't hate me so much." I suggest quietly.

"Aww Nate sweetie, he doesn't hate you. He doesn't even know you." She tries to reassure me.

"It really felt like he hated me on Christmas day." I mutter.

"Well how would you react if you went into your sixteen-year-old daughter's room and found some strange guy you'd never met all over her?" Lizzie smirks.

"Okay, I see his point, but still I'm nothing like Anton."

Lizzie's smirk turns into a full blown smile, "I know. That's why we're together now."

I decide to change the subject, "so do you feel like catching a movie or something?"

"Okay, let me just go buy these books." Lizzie pulls herself off the ground and grabs the pile of books.

"Are you sure you can pay for all of those?" I ask eyeing her stack of mostly hardcover books. Each one must cost about sixteen or seventeen bucks; if not more.

Lizzie rolls her eyes, "I always have money put away to buy books with."

"Seriously?" I laugh.

"What can I say; I have to feed my addiction." Lizzie jokes and we head to the front of the store. When we get to the counter I watch as Lizzie shells out nearly $150 for her books.

"So have you been having any more memories?" I ask as we walk through the mall to the movie theater.

"Yeah, it's just so frustrating; I mean I am Elizabeth. Her memories are my memories. Her feelings and emotions are mine too; but at the same time, I'm not her. I'm not that Elizabeth; I'm my own separate individual. I'm Elizabeth Danton, not Elizabeth Rousseau. Daughter of Wayde and Aimee, best friend of Luciana, enemy of Darcy-Louise-"

"Wait a minute," I interrupt, "are you telling me that Darcy's middle name is Louise?" I laugh.

Lizzie rolls her eyes, "no actually its part of her first name. It's hyphenated, Darcy-Louise."

"Nice," I smirk.

"Anyway, but most of all I'm the girlfriend of Nate Levine, not Nate Meritan." Lizzie finishes her speech.

"My girlfriend," I love the way it sounds.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Lizzie asks jokingly.

"Not at all, I've just never had one before in this life." I reluctantly explain.

I watch as Lizzie's eyes go wide, "are you serious?"

I rub the back of my neck as the heat rises to my face and neck. "All I've wanted is you. Nobody else ever meant enough to me."

"So before me you'd never kissed anyone or done anything?" Lizzie asks incredulously.

"Of course I've kissed girls before. I kissed plenty of girls. I was a spin-the-bottle champ way back in junior high." I defend myself, but this only makes Lizzie roar with laughter.

"It's a shame then that we'll have to keep things quiet. At least until my dad comes around." Lizzie sighs.

"Hopefully that'll be sooner rather than later." I mutter.

**********

We really did have to keep things quiet. We were, after all forbidden from being together. At school we avoided each other and I watched day after day as Elizabeth sat alone at lunch and poured over her sketchbook. I wanted to go to her, to keep her company, and act like a normal couple.

After school on days when we didn't have the excuse of French Club to see each other I'd find myself sitting in a small booth at The Cheesecake Factory. It seemed like the only time we had alone over the next month was when Lizzie was on break at work and we could talk for a few minutes. Then there were the rare times Lizzie went downtown to see

Luciana at the shop she worked in and I'd drive her there and then drop her about a block from her house later.

Luckily February, and the trip to Paris, were only a few days away. There we didn't have to hide our relationship from the prying eyes of Darcy, Elizabeth's father, and my now ex-best friend Jake. I had made a few new friends who knew my history with Lizzie. Surprisingly I was actually finding out that Luciana and her boyfriend Surewood were good people. But in Paris nobody outside of our school group would know us. It will be perfect.

**********

The night before I was to leave for the trip I felt like dropping by my dad's hotel to hang out for a while. It had been a while since I'd spent time just with my dad. I figured I'd find him in his office off of the lobby on the second floor.

"Ahh, oooh," I heard a weird moaning coming from my dad's office just as I was about to knock. Great, my dad's watching "videos" in his office. I roll my eyes and push the door open.

"Busted," I joke as walk in, and then back up in horror at the sight before me. I see my father struggling to cover himself while Melinda, the night desk clerk pulls her skirt down. "What the hell?" I yell.

"Nate! Son! I had no idea you were coming over." My dad says as he puts his hair back into place.

"And what if you had known? Would you have made sure you and your girlfriend were done before I walked in the door?" I ask furiously.

"It's not what it looks like," my dad tries to say.

"It never is." I mutter and stalk out of the office. When I get to my car I punch in the number to Lizzie's cell phone without thinking.

She answers on the third ring, "hey," she says brightly.

"Can we hang out somewhere tonight?" I ask.

Sensing the tension in my voice she says, "Sure. What's going on?"

"I just...I walked in on my dad with a desk clerk." I lean my head against the headrest.

"Oh Nate, that must have been horrible." Lizzie murmurs. "I'm just over by Luciana's; do you want to meet me down in the park by McKinley Marina?"

"I'll come pick you up," I tell her as I tear out of the hotel's parking structure. The vein in my neck feels like it's going to explode at any second. I try to even out my breathing as I pass some of the college hangouts near the university. Lizzie is leaning against the shop window when I arrive a few minutes later.

"Are you alright?" Lizzie asks before taking a look at me. Then she sighs and says, "Of course you're not; don't answer that."

"It's okay. I know you're just concerned, I think I just have to cool down a bit." I reply. I pull onto the winding road leading into the park and pull into a space as close to the water as I can get. I turn off the ignition, unhook the safety belt and hop out of the car. As I head for the water Lizzie struggles to keep up with my longer, faster steps. I can't actually go into the lake unless I want to hop over the railing and free fall about fifteen feet. As I lean over the rail I turn to Lizzie and ask, "How did you get over your mom cheating on your dad?"

"I didn't really," Lizzie admits. "It was like one day she was there, fighting with my dad; and the next she was moving in with her boyfriend. His name is Jason, he's nineteen and he's majoring in sports medicine at UWM. He's young enough to be my brother."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to bring all that up for you again." I put my hand over hers.

"It's okay. Things are getting better at home. It seems that now that my parents are divorcing my dad is a lot happier. He probably saw it coming for a while." Lizzie looks up into my eyes.

"I can't picture my mom knowing that my dad's cheating. I doubt she'd put up with it. I don't know what's going to happen. It feels like in that one single second my whole life fell apart and everything I knew became a lie."

"I know how that feels," Lizzie murmurs as she burrows her face into the crook of my neck; "but we have each other. I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

I turn and kiss the top of her head and just hold her for a while. I hope she's right.

# Chapter Sixteen

Elizabeth

Someone in a book I once read described Paris as a dream. I am in total agreement with that as I watch the city getting bigger as our plane makes its descent toward Charles de Gaulle Airport. Nate is sitting beside me on the plane, as he promised he would be. He, of course failed to mention he'd sleep for thirteen of the fourteen hour flight.

I didn't want to sleep during the flight; I'd been having a slew of memories taking over my dreams in the past month. And not all of them were good.

"Wake up, Mr. Sleepy!" I say cheerfully as I nudge Nate awake.

"I told you I don't want snails!" Nate snarls, but opens his eyes.

"They're not nearly as bad as they sound," I joke as Nate's sight focuses in on my face.

He takes a deep breath and asks, "Where are we?"

I smile teasingly, "well since you were asleep they decided to turn the plane around and fly back home."

"Ha-ha very funny. Seriously, how long until we get to Paris?" Nate brushes the crusty bits of sleep out of his eyes.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts for our descent onto the tarmac. Thank you for flying Air France and enjoy your stay in Paris." The pilot's heavily accented voice comes over the p.a. system.

"Does that answer your question?" I ask wryly.

"Yeah," Nate says as he clears his throat, "so I really slept for the whole flight?"

"Pretty much," I tell him, then smile and add, "I never knew you talked in your sleep."

Nate groans, "oh god, what did I say?"

I smile devilishly, "well first you said that you were going to come explore the catacombs with me, and then we'd go have a nice lunch of escargot."

Nate looks at me in horror. "No way am I going down into the catacombs. With all of those dead bodies just stacked up? I get goose bumps just thinking about it. Plus I've heard they're really haunted."

"Are you scared?" I joke.

"No, I just don't think that's a place anyone should go." Nate argues.

"Oh please, Luciana and I spent the night at the old Brumder Mansion on Samhain and nothing happened. And that place is supposed to be really haunted. I'm kind of into the whole paranormal thing." I tell him, trying to talk him into it.

"Two things: first, what's the Brumder Mansion? And second, what's Sow-een?" Nate asks.

I roll my eyes, "the Brumder Mansion was this boarding house-slash-activity center for the Lutheran church build in 1910 by a rich guy named George Brumder. Now it's a bed and breakfast on Wisconsin Avenue. Luciana and I read up about this room called "the gold room" which is supposed to be like the most haunted of all; so of course we had to stay in that specific room. We heard all these reports of cold spots, feelings of not being alone, sightings of a woman, stuff like that; but sadly Luciana and I never saw or felt anything. It was a total bummer. Anyway, Samhain is a Wiccan holiday falling on October 31. It's a good day to remember the dead, plus for people who aren't Wiccan, it's also Halloween. And I love Halloween."

"I'm starting to think Luciana is a bad influence on you." Nate jokes as people start filing out of the now grounded plane.

"Very funny," I reply as Mr. Timlore waves our group to the baggage claiming area.

**********

We arrive at our hotel located in the center of Paris; just a short walk from the Pont Neuf. Mr. Timlore goes to speak with the desk clerk and quickly returns with seven room keys.

"Ok students, the arrangements will go like this; there are eight young ladies and six young men. There will be two rooms of three girls each and one with two. And each of the boys will stay two boys to a room. There are only a couple rules: there will be no members of the opposite sex allowed in the rooms, and lights out is at ten o'clock each night." Mr. Timlore continues to rant on as he assigns rooms. To my dismay I get an annoying freshman for a roommate.

When I push ahead of the girl into the room I immediately claim the bed closest to the window and push open the doors to the balcony. I look out at the view of the city from my window, unaware of the person standing on the neighboring balcony.

"Beautiful view," Nate remarks as I jump a foot in the air.

"Ohmigod, you just scared me half to death," I grip my chest, trying to regulate my breathing.

"Sorry," Nate blushes.

"It's okay," I smile, "so we're neighbors, huh?" I say as I examine the six inch gap between my balcony and his.

"Yeah, I guess so." Nate grins, "What do you think of that?"

"I think you must have done something so we could be so close together," I grin.

"Maybe," Nate smirks. "Back up a little," he says as he swings one of his long legs over onto my balcony. I back up as he pulls the other leg over.

"Hey there," Nate says as he pulls me into a hug. "I've missed you."

"We've only been apart for like ten minutes." I remind him.

"Which is way too long," Nate murmurs.

"I thought we weren't supposed to have boys in our rooms!" My roommate whines. I think her name is Brianna or Brittany, or Betsy...I don't know but I'm pretty sure it's something starting with a "b".

"Technically, I'm out on the balcony." Nate smirks.

"It's still not fair!" B girl whines.

"Maybe not, but you're not going to tell Mr. Timlore now are you?" Nate gives her his best attempt at a charming smile. I try not to roll my eyes.

"That depends," B girl crosses her arms, "who is your roommate?"

"I don't know," Nate blinks. "He's some sophomore; I think his name is Shawn or something."

B girl smiles, "if you promise to introduce me to him I'll not only not tell Mr. Timlore that you were in our room, I'll make myself scarce anytime you two want to be alone."

I raise my eyebrows in suspicion, "and all Nate has to do is introduce you to his roommate?"

"Yep," B girl claps her hands together and jumps up and down. Before anyone can say anything else there comes three raps on the door. Nate's eyes widen and he disappears back over to his balcony and through the double doors.

I rush past B girl to open the door. I crack the door open and see Mr. Timlore's enthusiastic grin. "Elizabeth! Belinda! I just wanted to come by and make sure you were settling in alright. Since it's our first night here I thought I'd let you kids have a free night to do a little exploring of your own; but remember your curfew is ten pm."

"Cool! Shopping trip!" Belinda squeals and runs to grab her purse. I smile weakly at Mr. Timlore and say goodnight. Once I shut the door B girl, or I guess her name is really Belinda, says, "okay so once Mr. Timlore is gone we go over to the guys' room, I get introduced to Shawn, then you and Nate are free to do what you want. Does that sound okay?"

I shrug, "it's okay with me." I walk over to the bed I threw my suitcases on and pull my vintage designer purse from the bottom of the heap.

We wait a few minutes to make sure Mr. Timlore isn't still talking to the guys before we climb over onto their balcony and come in through the double doors. When we walk in the younger guy, who I can only guess is Shawn looks a bit shocked.

"You just came in the patio!" He points at us in shock. I notice Nate over by the door rolling his eyes.

"Technically we came in off the balcony, but close enough." I reply as I smirk slightly at Nate.

"Shawn, this is my girlfriend Elizabeth and her roommate Belinda." Nate walks over to where we're standing and introduces us.

"Yo!" Shawn exclaims as he shakes Belinda's hand. "I know you! You're in my French club right?"

Belinda giggles and says, "Yeah that's me."

"Dude, we're all in French club; that's why we're in France." Nate mutters under his breath.

I look at Shawn, taking in his baggy jeans and wanna-be gangster stance and can't help but think Belinda could do better. It's none of my business though, and I really don't know either one of them.

I clear my throat and say, "well now you've officially met. Do you mind if Nate and I leave?"

Belinda beams at Nate and I and replies dreamily, "of course not. You guys go and have fun!"

Nate grabs my arm and practically drags me out of the room and into the elevator. As the doors shut behind us he pulls me close and kisses my neck tenderly.

All I can think about is my life-long fear of elevators. The fear is not about being claustrophobic but of the cables letting loose and falling four stories to my death. Everyone is constantly telling me that there are emergency brakes and such, but it doesn't help. The only ones that don't freak me out are the kind in malls; the open glass enclosed ones.

Nate doesn't seem to notice my discomfort and as soon as the elevator hits the ground floor he asks, "Baby, where do you want to go?"

I close my eyes and think of the stories my dad told me about his childhood in Paris. "Since we're doing all the touristy stuff for school do you want to go get a croissant and a cup of coffee? Then maybe we could explore some of the little shops."

"That sounds great." Nate agrees as we head out of the lobby. The hotel doorman hails us a cab and we head to the heart of town.

We find a little hole-in-the-wall café and sit down for a midafternoon snack. My stomach growls at the sight of the display case. It's full of mini petit fours, croissants, éclairs, and other assorted French pastries.

I take a bite of my croissant as Nate sips his coffee quietly. "Have you ever noticed that we spend most of our time hanging out in restaurants?" Nate asks.

"We could become restaurant critics," I suggest as I take another bite of my croissant. I can taste the butter in every flaky piece.

"If all the food here is this good I'll probably weigh a ton by the time we leave." Nate jokes.

After the last bite of croissant is eaten and the last sip of coffee sipped we head back onto the street. Nate pauses in front of a small gift shop boutique. "Do you mind if I stop in here for a minute? My mom's birthday is coming up and I should get her a gift; especially with everything that's been going on."

"Of course, go right ahead." I reply. Nate told me about his parent's marriage falling apart right before we left. I understand what Nate's going through. It's like his life is being turned upside down. I leave Nate in front of the boutique and head down the sidewalk. I see a used bookstore up the block a bit and feel the familiar pull I get every time I'm near a bookstore.

I walk into the familiarity of my comfort zone and breathe in the scent of the dusty old books that are stacked haphazardly all over the small, dimly lit shop.

"Bonjour!" The young cashier barely looks up from his book as he calls out his greeting.

"Bonjour," I reply as I head to a floor to ceiling cherry oak bookcase against the back wall. I begin sifting through the titles etched into the book spines in French. I pull out a threadbare copy of Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. Nate once told me that Hemingway is his favorite author, so the book would be perfect for him. As I examine the book I glance up and see a smaller, thinner book hidden flat against the shelf.

I unbury it, noticing there's no writing anywhere on the outside of the book. I open the cover and read the handwritten inscription. The Journal of Elizabeth Rousseau, 1792.

**********

Hours later I sit by the open balcony doors with a book perched in my lap. Nate snores lightly in the bed by the door. When we came back from our outing Belinda's stuff was in Nate's room and Nate's was in mine. Hopefully Mr. Timlore won't find out about our change of roommates.

I stare back down at the open book in front of me; my previous incarnation's diary. I haven't shown it to Nate yet, but I will. I flip to the first passage and begin reading.

14 July, 1792

Something bad is coming. I can feel it; everyone in the palace is drowning in their individual fears. Marie A. talks of sending her ladies-in-waiting to safety. It's the first kind thing I've seen her do since her beloved lover went away. I see a man in my future, a man who is not much out of boyhood himself. I see him clearly in that second sight my mother always discouraged me from talking of. I see happiness with this man; true, unblemished happiness for a split second; then a smear of red ruins it and all goes to darkness. I must escape before it's too late. – Elizabeth

# Chapter Seventeen

Nate

Beep! Beep! Beep! I wake up to the sound of a rather loud alarm ringing. I lift my head out of the crater in my too-plush pillow and turn the clock's alarm off.

I'd been dreaming of the day Elizabeth had been executed. There was a terrified glimmer in her eyes that I hadn't noticed before. As the last of the memory faded from my eyes I glance over at Elizabeth's bed. Not only was it empty, it was still made.

She was sitting in a lounge chair by the open double doors leading to the balcony. I hopped, or rather fell out of bed and stumbled to where she sat. As I drew closer I noticed that all she was wearing was my black, baggy Nirvana t-shirt. A handwritten book was open in her lap and her eyes were red from crying.

"Nice pajamas," I rasp as I kneel beside her.

She looked down at my shirt and shrugged, "I don't wear pajamas."

I swallow hard as I study her carefully, "what do you wear to bed then?"

Elizabeth shrugs then teasingly says, "I like your shirt. It smells like you; but if it's not okay I'll take it off."

I smile happily, "have you been up all night?" I ask looking at her book briefly.

"Yes," Elizabeth nods as she bites her lower lip nervously.

All I say is, "it must be a good book."

"She knew they would die," Elizabeth blurts out impatiently.

"What?" I ask in confusion, "who?"

"The former me; I found her... my... old diary in the used bookstore on the Rue Bucherie yesterday."

"Are you sure?" I ask, wide-eyed. She shows me the inside cover inscribed The Journal of Elizabeth Rousseau, 1792. It's her old handwriting. "Read me something?" I request weakly. I never knew she kept a journal.

24 August, 1792

It is all as I foresaw it. My love for the man named Nate grows deeper by the day. Our future is uncertain for my sight is split in two; influenced by my heart's desire. On one hand I see Nate and I by the ocean, happy and in love. I am with child; I know this part to be true. On the other side I see us imprisoned; I am to be executed for being a sorciere and a counter-revolutionary. I must not tell Nate, he'll try to save us but I fear resistance is futile.

\- Elizabeth

I take a shaky breath. "We were going to have a child? I-I never knew. They killed my child, our child." I drop my face into my open palms. Elizabeth gives me a sympathetic half hug from her chair. Then something hits me, "what's a sorciere?"

"It's French for witch," she whispers. "Earlier in the journal I mentioned having a second sight. It's true, I was a witch."

I pull Elizabeth from the chair and hold her to me tightly. We sit like that, mourning our life cut far too short until Mr. Timlore knocks on the door and calls a "friendly reminder" that our tours of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower are today and the group is to leave in twenty minutes.

**********

Mr. Timlore ushers our group into the Louvre and I really don't feel like being here.

All that keeps running through my head is my total ignorance. How did I miss Elizabeth's pregnancy? And why didn't she tell me?

I look over at my modern day Elizabeth, whose eyes, like mine are red from crying. I put my hand around hers as a guide walks up to our group.

"Okay students, as some of you upperclassmen know I require all the freshmen and sophomores to go on the tour with the guide but if the juniors and seniors wish to forge their own paths they may; as long as there isn't any trouble!" Mr. Timlore warns before he dismisses us.

Elizabeth and I wander down the hall past the famous Mona Lisa painting in awkward silence. Neither of us knows what to say after what she's discovered. A tall red haired man comes towards us with a big grin on his face. When he reaches us he kisses Elizabeth on both cheeks then pulls back. I glare at him as he says, "Elizabeta! I was afraid I'd miss your group!" he glances at me, and noticing my glare says, "So this must be the new boyfriend! It's so nice to meet you!"

Elizabeth laughs weakly, then turns to me and says, "Nate this is Rafe, my unofficial cousin."

Rafe's grin broadens, "Not to worry I won't tell Mr. Danton that you're together. It's very romantic, having a secret love."

I shrug my shoulders as Elizabeth thanks Rafe for keeping our secret.

"So what are we doing tonight?" Rafe asks hopefully.

"Tonight?" I ask.

"Yes tonight! I must take you two to dinner or a club maybe? It's only fair since I can't come to the States to celebrate Lizzie's birthday. I have to leave on official Louvre business to Austria tomorrow."

"Dinner might be nice," Elizabeth murmurs silently asking my opinion.

I force a smile, "sure. We could get to know each other better."

Rafe claps his hands together and smiles gleefully. "This will be great! Now I must get back to work, enjoy the Louvre!"

"He's very...enthusiastic." I comment once Rafe is out of earshot.

Elizabeth nods, "I know but he's a great guy. Our dads were best friends. Half the time he's like an over-protective brother and the rest of the time he's just my happy-go-lucky unofficial cousin."

"So he mentioned your birthday is coming up. Is it soon?" I ask as we stop in front of a sculpture of a naked man.

"It's February twenty-eighth, I'll be turning seventeen. It's my favorite time of the year because I was born during Mardi Gras that year." She replies and smiles her first genuine smile of the day. Lizzie turns and cocks her head to the side and as she studies the sculpture before us.

"Are you checking out the naked guy statue?" I ask half teasingly, half accusingly.

Lizzie gives me that teasing smile again and says, "Maybe."

"Nice." I roll my eyes then say, "my birthday was in October."

"Cool, when?"

I blush, "I was um, a Halloween baby."

Lizzie's face lights up as she says, "that's so cool!"

"It was until the year I turned twelve. Jake played this awful prank on me. We were in the elevator at my dad's hotel and he and our friend Tobias thought it would be funny if Tobias pulled the fire alarm in the hallway. The elevator stopped with just me and Jake in it. I didn't think we'd ever be found. It was the scariest moment I've had in this life. I've hated Halloween ever since.

Lizzie gives me a quick hug. "I'm sorry," she murmurs against my chest. "If it makes you feel any better I'm terrified of elevators.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yep, ever since I was a kid." Lizzie replies.

**********

After the mind numbing tour of the Louvre Mr. Timlore herds us to the Eiffel Tower. Belinda makes us take turns with her and Shawn doing the whole cheesy couple pictures in front of the tower, which Belinda posts online with her smartphone no more than ten seconds later.

Lizzie and I climb all the way to the top and as we're looking down Lizzie turns pale sea-green. She stays that nauseous green color until we get back to the ground where she kisses the dirty French sidewalk.

# Chapter Eighteen

Elizabeth

"I am so stuffed," I say as I lie on my lumpy hotel bed and rub my tender, overfilled stomach.

"You probably should have skipped dessert," Nate teasingly pokes my side from his perch on a nearby chair.

I groan, "You're the one who inhaled a dozen cream puffs!"

"Don't remind me," he winces as he rubs his own stomach. "But your cousin seems really nice. And his friend was really cool."

"Miguel is Rafe's partner; he's a model from Barcelona." I say, recalling Miguel's warm chocolate eyes and his mass of black curls. Tonight he'd looked dinner casual in a navy blue button down shirt and black trousers.

"By partner you mean...?" Nate doesn't finish the sentence but I know what he means.

"Yes Nate, Rafe is gay." I roll my eyes,

"CRASH!" A loud clap of thunder just beyond our open balcony doors roars. I jump up with a start as the rain begins to pound down onto the balcony. Lightning illuminates the dark, starless sky as I pull the doors shut and flip the locks down.

"I thought you liked thunderstorms now," Nate chuckles as he pulls me into a hug.

"I don't mind them, it just startled me." I reply.

Nate nods and suggests we get ready to go to bed. I pull on Nate's oversized Nirvana t-shirt and climb into my bed. I didn't bring any pajamas with me because I never wear them at home. Besides, Nate's shirt smells like him and I love his clean masculine scent with undercurrents of sandalwood and bonfire smoke.

A few seconds later Nate hops into bed next to me. "What are you doing?" I ask as I squint at him in the dim light.

"I was going to hold you during the storm, so you don't get scared." Nate says as if it's the most rational thing ever and I just don't understand the gesture.

"I've made it through the past nearly seventeen years without you. I think I'll be fine." I point out.

"I'm saying now you don't have to." Nate says as he nuzzles my neck.

I reach behind me, grab my pillow, and plop it onto the center of Nate's chest. Then I hit it a few times to get it nice and fluffed up.

Nate stifles a laugh and asks, "now what are you doing?"

"While you're here you might as well be useful." I reply in mock seriousness.

Nate laughs, "Fine whatever you want."

I fall asleep quickly despite the raging storm that lights the room in shades of black and silvery gray and the thunder that shakes the building to its core. I wake up around one; my pillow is now flat on the mattress and Nate's muscular arms are wrapped tightly around my torso. I look around the room and as my eyes adjust to the dark I notice the red flashing light on my cellphone. I hit the "select" button and realize someone is trying to call me.

"Hello," I answer sleepily.

"Lizzie? My goodness you sound awful!" My dad chirps on the other end of the line.

"Dad, its one o'clock in the morning in Paris; I was asleep." I remind him. Nate stirs beside me at sound of the word "dad".

"I know sweetie, I lived there for the first twenty-three years of my life. And it's only six in the evening here. I wanted to tell you that I just had the most charming talk with Nathan's mother. Why didn't you tell me that he's the son of Julianna and Richard Levine?" He asks excitedly.

I try to process his question but my brain is still sleeping. "Would it have mattered?" I ask.

"Why of course! The Levines are on the board at the MPM; such lovely people," my dad gushes. "Here I've been thinking this whole time that you'd picked up some hooligan."

"Interesting," I murmur as I struggle to stay awake.

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that if you want to date this Nate boy I approve. You have my blessing."

"Thanks dad," I reply.

"You're welcome sweetie. I'll see you when you get back; and Elizabeth? Get some sleep!" My dad hangs up and I set the phone onto the nightstand.

"So that was your dad," Nate prompts as he props himself up against a pillow.

"Yeah, apparently your mother went to talk with my dad and now he approves of us being together." I say with a smile.

"Seriously, just like that? Wow, what did my mom do to him to change his mind?" Nate asks suspiciously.

"I don't know. I guess your parents are on the board of directors at the Milwaukee Public Museum and that makes you different than the "hooligan" my dad had you pegged as." I sigh.

"He actually called me a hooligan?" Nate asks sounding wounded.

"Yes, but look at it this way, we can go public as a couple!" I beam at him in the darkness.

"Good," Nate murmurs, "then come here."

**********

"Morning," I whisper in Nate's ear the next morning.

Nate yawns and says, "I could get used to waking up like this every morning."

I laugh as he brushes the hair out of my eyes. "My dad gave us his permission to date, not move in together."

Nate sighs dramatically, "I guess I'll have to wait until we're married then."

"When did I agree to that?" I ask teasingly.

"Probably around three a.m.; you were talking in your sleep. But hey, it's only a matter of time anyway." Nate smiles devilishly.

I roll my eyes, "I say we wait until after college at least."

"I'll wear you down way before that, but if you insist," Nate murmurs while he kisses my collarbone.

Twenty minutes later we meet Belinda and Shawn in the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

Belinda smiles when she sees us. "You're glowing! Did you two have a long night last night?"

"It's not what you're thinking," I explain, "my dad called and gave us his blessing. We can officially say we're dating now."

"That's so great! We should all have chocolate soufflé to celebrate!" Belinda gushes.

"Chocolate? For breakfast? Awesome!" Shawn agrees enthusiastically. Nate and I laugh happily and follow them to a roomy booth. What a difference twenty-four hours can make.

After breakfast we meet the rest of the group in the lobby and Mr. Timlore leads us onto the bus for that day's outing. It's Versailles today, so I'm kind of excited to be going back "home". I lived there from the day I turned twelve until the day I escaped and met Nate.

From the moment we enter the grounds I feel like I'm finally coming home. Everyone follows the guide as we pass through the rooms ornately decorated with gold and gilt. I wish I could stay forever in Louis XVI's library with its crisp white walls and gold embellishments. The walls are lined with ancient texts in slim paneled bookshelves built right into the wall. When we enter the grand royal chapel all I see is as it was: the priest standing at the altar before several rows of chairs that all present at the royal court had to sit on for endless masses on a daily basis. When I blink the vision fades and the room is empty again.

With each room we enter the memories come and go. I remember the grand parties and lavish dinners; and long days sitting in one of Marie Antoinette's drawing rooms scribbling on bits of parchment. As we make our way down corridors I can see chambermaids scuttling to their various chores, so vivid and real that if I reached out I swear I could touch them. I even remember the day that a nobleman, swaying with overconsumption had gotten too close and I whacked him over the head with my favorite gold and pink fan.

When our group enters the hall of mirrors Nate pulls me aside. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm just remembering so much." I reply as Nate slides his hands around my waist.

"I came here once; my father brought me to court with him. I think I was about fourteen at the time. I probably walked right past you and never knew that one day we'd be together." Nate whispers as we admire the view of the gardens just beyond the window. I find myself blushing as Nate continues on, "So you'll have to tell me, since you spent your childhood here, was Count Fersen really Marie Antoinette's lover? Or what about the Duchesse de Polignac, I hear they were very close." Nate says the last part suggestively.

I smile wryly, "I couldn't say, I had my own problems at court without worrying about who the Queen was or wasn't sleeping with."

"Do tell," Nate smirks down at me.

"Let's just say I was very well liked among the noblemen, not that I ever paid any attention to them." I add hastily.

"Well you have always been beautiful," Nate smiles thoughtfully as he too gets wrapped up in memories.

"When do we get to the gift shop?" I hear a sophomore girl whine. Belinda turns back to where Nate and I are standing and rolls her eyes in annoyance.

"Students, aren't you enjoying Versailles beauty?" Mr. Timlore asks sadly.

"Some of us are," Nate replies in reassurance.

After a tour of the gardens, the Grand Trianon, and Marie Antoinette's estate the whining sophomore finally gets her wish when we arrive at the gift shop. I wait outside but Nate starts following the group inside.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"Maybe I want to buy you something," Nate grins.

"You don't have to buy me anything," I respond. Nate shakes his head and goes inside. He comes back out a few minutes later with a medium sized white bag in his hands. "What did you get?" I ask.

"Na-uh, you said you didn't want me to buy you anything so you have to wait until later to see it." Nate teases.

By the time we get back to the hotel its late afternoon and the sun is just setting over the city. When Nate and I return to our room we make our way out onto the balcony. The Eiffel Tower was visible in the distance; it looked black in contrast to the pink sky in the background.

"I wish I could sketch this before the sun sets completely," I sigh contently.

Nate smiles and waves the bag he's been carrying around since we left Versailles in front of my face. "Do you want your gift now?" He asks teasingly.

"Absolutely!" I laugh as I grab the bag. I sit down on the lounge chair just inside the door and reach into the bag. I pull out the object wrapped in gold tissue paper. I slowly unwrap the tissue paper slowly revealing a white ceramic Venetian mask. The mask is painted with gold floral accents and decorated with gold glitter. On either side two gold ribbons are strung through the mask to attach to the face. I gasp in happy surprise, "Nate, it's so beautiful!"

Nate bites his lower lip, "so do you like it?"

"Of course I do! I love it!" I reply as I stand up and kiss his cheek.

"Good," Nate replies and we watch the sun set before heading back into the main area of our room.

**********

Two days later we finally get our freedom from daily tours and Nate, Belinda, Shawn, and I plan to do some sight-seeing on our own.

"I liked the Dali museum though!" Belinda argues with Shawn as we head to breakfast.

"But everything looked so weird; it was all crooked and really crazy looking." Shawn argues stupidly.

"That's the whole point of surrealism! It's surreal!" Belinda exclaims.

"What's surrealism?" Shawn asks.

Belinda looks as if she's going to explode, Nate rolls his eyes, and I laugh as I dig through my purse looking for my phone that's ringer is driving me crazy.

I glance at the I.D. and notice that it's Luciana so I push the send button. "Hey," I greet her as Nate and the others head into the dining room.

"Hey, how is Paris?" She asks sleepily.

I laugh, "You called me at three a.m. Wisconsin time to ask me how my trip was going?"

"Well yeah, I hadn't heard from you so I figured I had to call to see how things were." Luciana shuffles something around in the background.

"Things are good; my dad called the other night and gave Nate and me his blessing. Other than that we've been to the Louvre, Versailles, The Eiffel Tower, and the Dali museum." I reply.

"Your dad what?!?" Luciana asks excitedly then scolds me by saying, "and I wasn't the first person you called to tell?"

"Sorry, but he called at one a.m. Paris time and I just figured that I'd tell you when I got home." I explain.

"Is Nate happy that you guys can go public now?" Luciana asks.

"Yeah, we really needed the good news after my old journal resurfaced."

"What old journal?" Luciana asks as I hear more shuffling, then a muffled crash followed by someone saying "ow!"

"My old incarnation; I found her journal from 1792 in a used bookstore shoved behind some other books. When I read it I found out that she was pregnant when she died. Is it she? Or should I say I was? I don't know..."

"What? Aw sweetie that's awful!" Luciana sounds sympathetic, but also a little bit distracted. I hear another crash followed by Luciana laughing quietly then whispering "shhh!"

"Luciana? Is everything okay?" I ask in concern.

"What? Oh yeah that, Surewood's over and he just fell off of the bed." Luciana giggles. Luciana is not the kind of girl that giggles.

I smile knowingly, "what are you two doing that he fell off the bed?"

"Nothing...." I can feel Luciana smiling on the other end of the line.

"Well I'll let you get back to that; we can talk more about this when I get back okay?"

"No! Text me later, preferably at a decent hour, okay?" Luciana insists.

"Okay, I'll talk to you then." I say and hang up.

When I enter the dining room Nate's anxiously waiting for me at our table. Belinda and Shawn are still bickering. "Who was that?" Nate asks when I rejoin them.

"Luciana." I reply as I slide into my seat.

"Is that the girl who runs Witch's Brew?" Belinda asks when she picks up on our conversation.

"Yeah, she's my best friend." I nod.

"Cool, I love Witch's Brew! It's been my favorite store since I became Wiccan.

And Luciana is so nice." Belinda gushes. "So are you Wiccan too?"

"Not exactly," I say, "but Luciana has been there for me through a lot."

"Cool! Anyway, so what are we doing today?" She asks brightly.

Nate and I shrug, "we haven't really decided," Nate replies.

"I think Elizabeth and I should go shopping and you and Shawn can go hang out or something. What do you think?" Belinda suggests.

I raise my eyebrows questioningly at Nate, "if it's okay with Nate; it's okay with me." I say as Nate nods in agreement.

Fifteen minutes later Belinda and I enter an airy clothing boutique a few blocks from the hotel. I can't help noticing that even the mannequins look anorexic. "I don't think I'm going to find anything in my size here." I roll my eyes as I examine a paper thin t-shirt I couldn't even get over my head.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Belinda urges; "besides, it's only a week until Valentine's day. Don't you want to find something to wear out with Nate?" She goes over to a rack of dresses and pulls out a short black dress.

"I can't wear that," I murmur as Belinda shoves it into my hands. She pulls out a lacy pink dress for herself and continues to the back of the store.

"So how long have you and Nate been secretly dating?" Belinda asks as she flips through the lingerie department.

"We haven't been together that long this time around." I say without thinking.

"This time around?" Belinda asks as she raises her eyebrows.

I sigh, "You're going to think I'm crazy."

"You and Nate are reincarnated aren't you?" Belinda asks nonchalantly.

"Yeah, how did you know?" I begin to ask, "never mind I forgot; you're Wiccan."

Belinda grins, "So tell me, did you and Nate have some kind of epic love the last time around?"

I laugh, "Nope, nothing like that. We were just two people who fell in love. There wasn't anything "epic" about it."

"Aw come on, you're leaving out all the good stuff." Belinda pouts. I blush lightly as Belinda pushes more clothes into my arms and drags me to the fitting room

Surprisingly when I slip the silky black dress on I find that somehow it fits and flatters me well. It's as if the dress were made just for me. I glance at my reflection in the full length mirrors as Belinda taps lightly on my fitting room door.

"You have to check this dress out, it's totally amazing. How did yours work out?"

I open the door and before I can say anything Belinda squeals and says, "OMG you are definitely getting that one!"

"You really think it looks okay?" I ask self-consciously.

"Okay? Lizzie, when Nate sees you in this he won't be able to take his eyes off of you!"

Shopping with Belinda takes me back to one of the million times I was present while Marie Antoinette "oohed" and "ahhed" over fancy silks and muslins that the royal dressmakers brought to court for her approval. Except of course, Belinda was nowhere near as self-centered as Marie.

# Chapter Nineteen

Anton

"Well where the hell is she?" I yell, punching the wall behind Darcy's head. The drywall makes a crunching noise as my fist leaves an indent. Darcy was supposed to be keeping tabs on Elizabeth for me and now I'm finding out that she has no idea where Elizabeth is.

"It's a possibility that she's in France with the French club; and Nate." Darcy replies as she tries to calm me down by stroking my cheek lightly.

"Not now Darcy," I growl as I grab her wrist in my hand and give it the slightest twist. "My girlfriend is in France with that tool Nate and YOU just let them go! Two weeks alone together in a foreign country; do you know what they're probably doing? They're probably hooking up at this very moment!"

Darcy grits her teeth angrily and I know I've struck the nerve I was aiming for. "What do you expect me to do?" She asks as she throws her hands up angrily.

"I expect you to do whatever it takes to get her back on American soil! Even if that means you have to go over there. And then you're going to contact me the minute her flight lands! Do we understand each other?" I snarl impatiently. Darcy nods in fear before I stalk away leaving her cowering in fear in the dark alleyway that I demanded she meet me in.

Elizabeth is my girlfriend; and no relationship is over until I say it's over. When I found out she was seeing that rich pretty boy I thought I'd explode from anger. I own her, she's mine. And I'll torture that loser until his dying breath for touching her.

I continue thinking my dark, twisted thoughts as I head down to the docks. My father's associates are waiting for me when I arrive. It's time for me to get back to work. I'm one of the hired muscles for my father's "imported pharmaceuticals" business. It's my job to make sure lowlifes cough up the cash they owe the organization.

I also oversee the deliveries. It's an ingenious set up really; drugs being smuggled in on big ore ships. My father has been grooming me to take over the business since I was thirteen. Lizzie came to find me on the night of my initiation. I'll never forget the look in her eyes as I stood over the body of my father's rival, a .45 in my hand and blood staining my clothes.

It pained me to see the fear and betrayal in her eyes but at least she found out the truth about me. Lizzie couldn't handle it though, she told me it was over, but I know I'll win her back. I know that loser Nate can't keep her happy the way I can.

I tried to go back about my business but I kept thinking of that dirtbag having her all to himself 3000 miles away in France. It sure made it a lot easier to break some legs.

# Chapter Twenty

Nate

"This place is creepy; why are we down here again?" I groan as I gaze upon rows upon rows of skeletal remains piled as high as the ceilings in the dimly lit tunnel.

"I thought it would be fun; did you know that there are like six million people buried down here? During the revolution they used to just throw people in here after they were executed." Lizzie informs me as she walks up to a plaque.

"So does that mean we're down here somewhere too?" I feel myself turning green.

Lizzie turns to me and the grim look on her face answers the question before she does. "It's a high probability, and we're probably not together if we are."

I wrap my arms around her waist from behind, holding her close. I understand now, the importance. She wanted to feel this place for herself; it's a part of our past, our history.

"Go to the house that lies between here and Versailles, you'll know when you've found it. It holds a memory long forgotten. You must search long and hard but if you open up your hearts you will find what you are looking for." A soft female voice says from behind us in perfect French.

Lizzie turns around and shrieks. My eyes widen in surprise as I look at the source of the voice. There, standing before us is Elizabeth, or what's become of the Elizabeth I knew so well. She smiles sadly at me; her thin skeletal hand reaches out to touch my cheek. I grimace as she says, "I know you did everything to save me back then. But you both need to put the past behind you and love each other in this time, not in the past."

She turns to the new version of herself, the Elizabeth who is in some ways just like the old, but in others so uniquely different. She smiles at her knowingly; "be careful. And take care of Nate. He's a special one." And then she's gone.

"We have to find the house she was talking about. I think it's the house I grew up in." I say as I make up my mind. "And I'm not letting you out of my sight. I don't know what she meant when she told you to be careful; but her...your... premonitions were always accurate.

"What do you think is there?" Lizzie asks. I notice the goosebumps on her arms; she's scared.

"I don't know, but we can rent a car and check it out tomorrow. Let's get out of here," I suggest.

Lizzie didn't hesitate or protest that we should stay any longer, she just hugged the jacket she was wearing closer to her and we found our way back out onto the streets.

The next day we rent a small car and make our way back toward Versailles. Lizzie tests out her second sight to see if she can visualize the house we're searching for. After driving around in circles for an hour Lizzie jerks her head to the side and her eyes go blank. "Take a left there," she orders in automaton. I turn where she points and she further orders me to take another left and a right. Finally she tells me to stop and her eyes go back to normal as I pull up to a very old abandoned house. It looks as if it hasn't been lived in for over a hundred years. Vines of ivy cover most of the house, the windows are nonexistent, and there's a beam fallen from the ceiling of the first floor blocking the front door. This is it, I know for sure because even though the house is in such a decrepit state there was no mistaking that this was the house I spent my first lifetime in.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Lizzie asks as she glances up at the house.

"Probably not, maybe I should go in alone." I mutter as I too look up at the house. The memories of how it once looked flood back to my mind. All of the land surrounding it was once our farmland and now been transformed into house built upon house. If you reached out your bedroom window you could probably reach right into the bedroom of the house next to you.

"I'm going with you," Lizzie says firmly. I open my mouth to protest but quickly shut it. The look on Lizzie's face tells me that she's coming with me no matter what I say. We slowly get out of the rental car together. I take Lizzie's small, smooth hand in mine as we walk toward the house. I help her over the beam and we enter what was once the foyer as cautiously as possible. At any moment the floor or ceiling could cave in.

We search the house, not really knowing what we're looking for so Lizzie once again tries to see if she can sense anything. Her gift seems to be strengthening since our encounter with her previous self. She blankly looks up at the ceiling and says, "What we're looking for is up there; under the floorboards."

"We can't go up there, the house is over two hundred years old, and it could cave in any second!" I argue.

Lizzie rolls her eyes, "you could always reach up and see if you can find something."

"Oh, yeah that might work." I reply sarcastically as I look up at the ceiling. I reach up as high as I can and find that the ceiling panel above me is loose. I tap it with my fingertips and slowly push it off to one side. When the opening is big enough I reach around inside and find a small box. Dust and dirt fall down on us as I gently lift it down. I dust off its cover and hand it to Lizzie.

"What do you think is in it?" Lizzie asks before she opens it.

"I'm not sure, open it and find out."

Inside the box we find the original drawing Elizabeth did all those years ago and the ring I gave her. When Lizzie touches the ring her eyes go all foggy again. "She put them under the floorboards when she saw the revolutionaries coming. I can't believe it survived in there all this time."

I reach out to touch the drawing but Lizzie stops me, "that piece of paper is over two hundred years old; if you touch it, it will disintegrate in your hands.

I look into her eyes and find myself smiling. The trip out here and the risk was definitely worth it.

# Chapter Twenty-One

Elizabeth

Two days later, we had an eventful day touring Notre Dame Cathedral, during which a guy who was a junior asked why we didn't get to see the hunchback who lived in the cathedral. Mr. Timlore looked at him in confusion until Belinda sarcastically replied, "This isn't a Disney movie; get real." Mr. Timlore turned red with annoyance and ushered us out of the church. As we filed back to the day tour bus I couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching me.

When Nate and I got back to the room I grabbed my toiletries and went for a shower. Nate had made reservations for us at a swanky restaurant downtown, telling me nothing except that he wanted everything to be perfect. I stood in the steamy bathroom after I climbed out of the shower and let the silky material of my new dress slide through my fingers. Something was off, I could feel it, so I wanted to make the most of this night.

I slipped into my new dress, carefully lined my eyes in black, and dabbed my favorite perfume behind each ear before stepping back into the main area of our hotel room. As Belinda had predicted when Nate saw me he was speechless. When he was able to speak he pulled me into his arms and said, "You look amazing."

A cab picks us up in front of the hotel and whisks us away to the restaurant. We arrive a few minutes later at a restaurant that's located on the first floor of a fancy hotel. The way the dining room was decorated reminded me of Versailles, which I suppose was its intent. The room was dimly lit and Nate and I enjoyed the romantic dinner he'd been hoping for.

After dinner and several glasses of wine we decided to walk back to the hotel. The moon was just a sliver in a sky of stars as Nate and I held hands and talked about how things were going to be when we went back home. Despite the nice dinner I still couldn't shake the feeling that someone or something was watching us.

Back at the hotel I decided to show Nate what else I had bought at the boutique with Belinda.

**********

The next morning I wake up in Nate's arms to the sound of someone banging on the door.

"Mmmph, don't get up, I'll die if you do." Nate murmurs into my hair.

I smile and say, "I'm just going to see who's at the door." I slide out of the bed and pull on Nate's discarded dress shirt and a faded pair of jeans and shuffle to the door. Without thinking I open the door wide.

Mr. Timlore is standing in the hallway. "I had an anonymous tip that there was a little change in the room assignments. Do you mind if I come in?"

I stumble to think up a lie, "Um, well Belinda is in the shower right now, Mr. Timlore." I say it loud enough hoping that Nate will hear and climb out the balcony so we're not found out.

Mr. Timlore brushes past me and catches Nate attempting to get out onto the balcony with just his boxers on. He glances back and forth between Nate and me before finally settling his gaze on me. I can feel the disappointment steaming off of him in waves as he says, "I can only assume I'll find Miss Belinda in the room next door? I'll give the two of you five minutes to make yourselves decent and come down to the café as I would like to have a word with you; and with Belinda and Shawn."

He leaves the room and I look at Nate miserably. "Well it was fun while it lasted."

Nate and I dress quickly in silence then head down to the café off the lobby and wait for the others. When Mr. Timlore shows up followed by Belinda and Shawn he tells us to sit down.

"Do you understand why the rule of no boys and girls sharing rooms was made?" He asks as he steeples his fingers. We all nod and he goes on, "You all should know that I have zero tolerance for such blatant disregard for my rules. They were developed for your safety and I could clearly see this had not just been a one-night sleepover and for that reason I must send you all home on the next flight. You are dismissed to collect your belongings."

**********

The four of us somberly return to our rooms and stuff everything back into our suitcases. When we return downstairs Mr. Timlore has a cab waiting. We pack into it and watch as the city disappears before our eyes and we make our way to the airport.

"Who do you think told on us?" Nate asks.

"I don't know but my parents are going to kill me." Belinda groans and she leans her head against Shawn's shoulder.

"I can't go home," I add. "I can't face my dad after this."

"We'll think of something." Nate assures me as we reach the airport.

# Chapter Twenty-Two

Nate

"Are you sure it's okay if I stay with you?" Lizzie asks as I set our bags down in the entryway. Mr. Timlore had sent us back to Wisconsin as he threatened but told us it was up to us to explain our early arrivals to our parents. We dropped Belinda and Shawn off at their houses before coming back to my mom's place. Lizzie and I had agreed that it was better if she stayed with me until we were supposed to be back from the trip.

Belinda had made us promise to call immediately if we needed anything. I doubted she'd be able to come over though, as I'm sure her parents would ground her when they found out why she was sent home.

I roll my eyes, "I could move fifty people in and my mom wouldn't notice. I don't think she's been coming home all that often since I've been away and my dad moved out. Besides, even if she did find out my mom loves you, so don't worry."

"I'm sure she's been lonely in this big old house while you were gone." Lizzie says quietly as she looks around.

I nod in agreement. "Hey, no more depressing thoughts though. Let's go upstairs and get settled in." I suggest as I pick our bags up and lead her up the stairs. It shouldn't surprise me when I see Lizzie follow me into my room but it does.

I smile and pull her into my arms, "you're not sick of staying with me are you?" I ask teasingly.

"Nope," she smiles too, "I mean I could stay in a guest room if you want me to..."

"Here is fine."

"I thought so," Lizzie says as she pulls out of my embrace and heads out into the hall. She freezes in front of the window at the end of the wall. I call tell that something is wrong by the tense look of her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" I ask coming up behind her.

"Someone is watching us." Lizzie replies cryptically.

"What do you mean?" I ask as I scan the street below, not seeing anything.

"I can feel them out there watching us. There are two of them; a guy and a girl. I can sense the darkness steaming off of them." Lizzie explains.

"It's impossible," I argue. "Nobody knows we're here, and even if they did why would they be watching us?"

Lizzie shrugs and follows me back to my room. We settle in and collapse together onto my bed. We're so comfortable together now it's like we've been this way our entire lives. Lizzie cuddles up against me and rests her chin on my chest as she smiles up at me. "So what were you and Shawn talking about when you dropped him off? It looked like you were fighting." She asks as she rubs my chest gently.

I think back to Shawn's parting words to me, "I can't believe we got sent home early." He whined in the voice I'd come to find annoying on the long flight home. "This is all Belinda's fault. She's just so energetic that I just figured she'd be an easy lay; but now she's acting like we're a couple or something." Shawn muttered to me as he threw his duffel bag down on his front porch.

I didn't say anything. I personally have always thought guys who were only after girls for sex were tools. But then again I'm the guy who'd been searching for his lost love from the day he'd been born. Not that that night in Paris with Lizzie hadn't been amazing, it totally was; but I hadn't hooked up with a million different girls leading up to it. I loved Lizzie, and I'd never use her like that.

I heard the car door slam shut in time to turn and see Belinda walking up to us. Shawn stopped what he was saying as Belinda joined us.

"What?" Belinda asks suspiciously as she looks back and forth at Shawn and me.

"Nothing," Shawn replies giving me a hard look that screams repeat what I said to anyone and you die.

Belinda and Shawn had said their goodbyes while I got back into the car; then I drove Belinda home.

"I don't think Shawn and Belinda are going to work out." I say as I come back to the present and answer Lizzie's question.

"What makes you say that?" Lizzie asks sounding confused.

"He's an asshat." I reply before filling her in on what Shawn told me.

Lizzie's face turns stony, "I should stomp on his grapes."

I laugh, "Stomp on his what?"

"His grapes," Lizzie repeats as a dirty grin spreads on her face. "You know; his cojones."

My body shakes from laughing so hard and soon Lizzie is joining in. When I catch my breath I say, "I can't believe you just said that."

"Why not?" Lizzie wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

I shrug and Lizzie coughs and asks, "Do you think there's anything cold to drink in the refrigerator? I'm thirsty from laughing so hard."

"Yeah probably, my mom is a caffeine junkie so there's probably some kind of soda in there. Do you want me to go down, check it out, and bring something back for you?"

"Nah it's okay; I know where the kitchen is." Lizzie replies as she stands up and stretches. I get distracted for a minute as her shirt raises a bit over her stomach.

"How?" I ask in confusion as I tear my gaze away from her bare skin.

"Um, hello? New Years?" Lizzie laughs as she pulls her shirt back down.

"Oh yeah!" I smack myself in the head. How could I forget that?

A few minutes later I hear a terrified scream coming from the direction of the kitchen; I'm up and running before I know it.

When I reach the kitchen Lizzie's standing in front of the window looking as pale as a ghost.

"Baby what's wrong?" I ask.

"There – There was someone standing outside the window looking in!" She cries hysterically.

"Are you sure?" I ask as I look out the window she's pointing to.

"Positive, he or she was wearing all black and had a hood over their head so I couldn't see their face." Lizzie sinks down to the floor and leans against one of the cabinets.

"Will you be alright here for a minute? I'm going to go see if they're still out there." The second I step out onto the front porch a black car screeches away from the curb and speeds off.

I don't recognize the car but it looks like someone really is watching us. But the question is, why?

**********

"I don't know anybody with a car that looks like that," Belinda replies helplessly as we all sit on the kitchen floor. Lizzie called her after I got back inside and explained what I had seen. Belinda had told us that she'd be right over; as soon as she snuck out of her house.

"Exactly what kind of car did it look like?" Lizzie asks patiently. She's still so pale even after I wrapped my arms around her and held her.

"I'm not sure, a Camaro maybe? It was sports car, old, black, and in fairly good condition." I scratch my chin.

Lizzie grimaces. "Oh hell."

"What? Is it someone you know?" I ask worriedly as I look down at her.

"It's Anton's car." She mutters.

"How would he even know we're here?" I ask in confusion.

Lizzie groans, "It all makes sense now, the 'anonymous tip' that Mr. Timlore got? Anton had to have had something to do with it!"

"But how would he have known we were sharing a room together in France when he was back here in Wisconsin?" I ask, not believing that he'd go that far to get Lizzie back.

"Don't you get it? He was spying on us!" She cries, then seeing me roll my eyes adds, "You don't know what he'd do. He's crazy, and if he himself wasn't in Paris, he sent someone to watch us. I could feel someone watching us on that last day. From the time we left Notre Dame, and even when we were on our way home from dinner. Something felt... off."

I sigh in frustration, "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Lizzie shrugs, "I thought I was imagining things."

"Who is this Anton guy anyway?" Belinda asks. I'd forgotten that she really didn't know much of Lizzie or my backstory.

"He's my psycho ex-boyfriend." Lizzie shudders. "I saw him kill someone right in front of me."

"Seriously?" Belinda's eyes widen.

"Yes. Do you know who Aleksandros Petrov is?" Lizzie asks.

"Isn't he that mobster guy that the cops can never arrest for anything?" Belinda asks like she can't quite remember where she's heard the name before.

"Yes. And Anton is his son." Lizzie replies.

"Oh shit." Belinda's eyes are so wide I'm not sure how they haven't popped right out of her head. "So he's not only crazy; he's crazy dangerous."

"Exactly." Lizzie mutters.

I shake my head. "So what's this supposed to mean. Is he trying to scare us? Is this some sort of prank? Because I don't think he'd do anything to hurt you if he wanted you back so bad."

"No. But he'd hurt you to get to me." Lizzie says cryptically. "I need to call Luciana and tell her we're back."

# Chapter Twenty-Three

Elizabeth

"So what's this supposed to do again?" Nate asks as he glances warily at Luciana.

"It's a witch's jar. It's for protection." Luciana explains as she adds herbs, nails, and blood into a glass mason jar. "You bury it in your front yard and it'll protect the house and everyone in it."

"Don't worry, it's totally safe." Belinda assures Nate. I nod as well, since I read all about witch jars in a book once.

"I'm still skeptical." Nate sighs. I called Luciana and told her everything. About being followed in Paris, the anonymous tip, the hooded figure looking in Nate's kitchen window, and seeing Anton's car speeding away. She and Surewood raced over with a boxful of charms and items to protect us. Although I'm not sure what she means us to be protected from. A witch's jar won't protect us from a bullet shattering the window and hurting one of us.

"All you have to do is believe." Luciana pats Nate on the shoulder.

*********

Later that night Nate and I get ready for bed and I try to tell myself that everything is going to go back to normal. Anton wouldn't be crazy enough to do anything to hurt us, even if he's being a jealous moron. I yawn as I lay my head on Nate's chest after he turns off the lights.

I fall asleep quickly and fall into an intense dream. I'm running, running down a dark corridor. I know the house I'm in, I've dreamed of it before. It's a sprawling two story mansion on a hill overlooking a lake. I turn around and see an old woman wearing an old fashioned maid's uniform carrying a candle. The look in her eyes is lethal as I trip over the long white nightgown I didn't realize I was wearing. I crawl backwards and try to get away from her but suddenly she's standing over me. I hear her say, "This is for hurting my son," before she brings the brass candelabra down onto my head hard. I can actually feel my skull shatter as I fade away.

I wake up with a start and am relieved that I'm back in Nate's bedroom. I look over to Nate's now open bedroom door and jump at the sight of a woman's shadow hovering in the doorway. I can clearly see her arms crossed over her chest and her hair is pulled back into a severe bun. I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and she's gone.

"Baby what are you doing up? It's really late; are you alright?" Nate asks as he sits up beside me.

"Just a bad dream I think," I murmur softly. But I can't help thinking, what fresh hell have we stumbled upon now? And how did Nate's door get open when we closed it before we went to sleep so his mother wouldn't catch us.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nate asks as he strokes my cheek.

"Not really. I was just in this big creepy house and this old woman was chasing me. I think she wanted to kill me. I've been having that dream since I was a little girl." I shudder remembering the look on the old woman's face.

"Are you sure it isn't a memory of some sort?"

"I honestly don't know. All I know is that it's not a memory of any recent stretch of time." I reply as he pulls me into his arms.

"What do you mean?" Nate asks quietly.

"The old woman, the style of her clothing is at least one hundred years old, and the house doesn't have any electricity." I murmur into his chest. I can see the dream like a movie playing in my head.

"Maybe you, Luciana, and Belinda can do some research tomorrow," Nate suggests as he pulls me closer. We lie around for a while and I feel him fall back to sleep. I'm wired and every time I try to close my eyes and fall back to sleep I swear I hear something out in the hallway. Finally I get up and quietly shut the door, and then I crawl back into Nate's arms, close my eyes, and hope for sleep to come.

# Chapter Twenty-Four

Anton

I pace around my bedroom in annoyance; I need to get my Lizzie away from that loser. Obviously trying to scare her wouldn't work, I needed to get her alone. At least she was back in the country; but she's living in his house!

The stack of books on my desk was offending me so I slammed them to the ground with a loud "thump". It's a good thing I have my own apartment or one of my father's men would be in here by now, guns blazing.

My father never understood my need to have just Lizzie, or any one woman for that matter. He had all kinds of them stashed away all over the place; but Lizzie was mine. And if I can't have her then nobody is going to.

"That's a good thought-wave" An old raspy voice murmured lazily from behind me. I grasped my berretta and spun around. There in front of me stood a woman who looked vaguely familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.

"I don't know how you got in here lady, but you're not welcome," I snarled as I aimed the gun at her.

"Go ahead shoot me," she laughed dryly with no hint of humor. "It won't do any good."

"Oh really," I say in askance as I remove the safety, "and why is that?"

"Because you can't kill a ghost, boy," the woman smirks as she dematerializes before reappearing right in front of me.

"How did you do that?" I ask, my hand shaking a little.

"I told you boy, I'm a ghost." She shakes her head in disgust. "Damn boy, you were always a dense one."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I ask as I regain a bit of my composure. I can't believe I'm arguing with a figment of my imagination.

"You want that girl back? Well I'll show you how. It serves her right for what she did to you in your last life." Before I can ask what she means she grabs me by the shirt and seems to... eat me almost. I feel my eyes roll back into my head involuntarily before I black out.

When I open my eyes I see her; Lizzie. Her clothes are funny though, old fashioned. Then I look down and see that my clothes are just as old looking. I scramble after her, hoping she can tell me what's going on. The old woman and my berretta are nowhere to be found. Lizzie hurries down a corridor, checking over her shoulder ever few seconds. She doesn't seem to see me as I follow her. She stops in front of a door but doesn't knock. A few seconds later the door opens and an arm pulls her inside as she stifles a giggle. Not wanting to get caught I reach the door and open it a crack, just in time to catch Nate unlacing the back of her dress. Before I can call out to her I'm back in my room again.

"That little harlot was your fiancée." The old woman tells me as she circles me like a shark circling its prey.

"What was that?" I ask, not letting the comment sink in.

"That was your past, boy. A hundred years ago, you lived in the city of New Orleans, and that girl was your fiancée. You were my son, and the three of us all worked for a wealthy family in the Garden District. You had met her on your first day and unfortunately fallen in love with her. Before I could stop you the two of you were engaged.

But then he came home from university; the prodigal son's return. And your girl was attracted to him like a moth to a flame. She wanted him, and he took her. Right. From. Under. Your. Naïve. Nose. They made a fool out of you boy, so I being the devoted mother that I was had to take care of things.

She wouldn't leave him, so she became a casualty. You disappointed me that night, you sniveling little snot. I needed you to help me bury the body but you turned pale as a ghost and fainted, you little sissy. I had to send you away, so I could tell the master of the house that you and that little harlot you love so much had eloped.

I'll always relish the look on the son's face. He was heartbroken. But he had forgotten that he was also to marry another. On their wedding day he blew his brains out right in front of his blushing bride. It was glorious. And when they buried him in the backyard they never knew that he'd been buried right beside the reason for his suicide."

"You killed Lizzie?" I ask in outrage as I glare at this woman claiming that in some past life or parallel universe or whatever that she'd been my mother.

"Oh, don't be so mad, she had it coming." The woman dismissed my anger with a wave of her hand. "The question is are you ready to set things to rights and take back what's rightfully yours?"

Nothing she was saying was making sense. But could she help me get Lizzie back? I'd do anything to get her back, but so far I hadn't had any useable ideas. "What do you have in mind?"

Her smile turned into a hard evil smirk and I hoped I wouldn't regret asking for her help.

# Chapter Twenty-Five

Elizabeth

Luciana and Belinda's way of helping me "research" my dream was to do a past life regression ritual. Nate's mother hadn't gotten in until nearly one the night before so we knew we had enough time to do the ritual without getting caught.

Nate watched skeptically from the corner of his living room after he and Surewood had moved all of the furniture away to make room for the circle Belinda and Luciana had outlined with river rocks. I was told to sit in the center of the circle as they surrounded me with four purple pillar candles, one on each side of me. A large mirror was propped in front of me.

"Ok, I think we're ready." Luciana clapped her hands together as Belinda laid a stick of incense between the mirror and the candle. "Let's cast the circle."

Luciana, Belinda, and Surewood entered the circle and clasped hands. They recited the ritual they read to me ahead of time, and then Belinda turned to me and said, "Now you know what to do, stare into the mirror until your reflection changes. Don't pull away or we'll have to start over."

I stared into the mirror until I found myself zoning out. My eyes begin playing tricks on me as my appearance begins to shift slightly. The style of the top of my clothing is different but my facial features seem close to my current looks, just maybe a few years older.

Before I can comment on what I'm seeing I feel myself being pulled closer to the mirror as if some invisible force is yanking me in. And then there I am, looking from the inside out. I turn quickly but the room I'm in is familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.

I look down at my clothing and find myself wearing something similar to what the "Rose" character might have worn in that movie "Titanic", if not even a little more conservative. I always hated that movie, since it's really depressing. I mean she finds this great guy and falls in love with him and then he dies. What kind of love story is that? I mean I know the whole point of the movie is the ship sinking, but still, if that's the story you wanted to tell why not just stick to a biographical film?

But then I realize if I'm dressed in that fashion I must be back in the early 1900s. I stand up and open the door to the small bedroom I've been dropped into only to be pulled forward and consumed by memories.

Nate and I are kissing in a dark corridor; I keep glancing over my shoulder hoping not to get caught. I keep telling him we should stop, that it's not right. We both have fiancés and I' m only the hired help. Nate is telling me we should run away together; and that we don't need his family's money, all we need is each other.

The vision shifts and I'm running down the same darkened corridor in my white silk nightgown given to me by Nate after he remarked that he hated seeing me in rags. Someone is chasing me. An older woman with steel gray hair pulled severely back in a bun. She chases me down the hall as I trip over my own feet. I scream at her as I hold my arms out to shield the blow but it's no use. I feel the candlestick she wields connect with my skull with a sickening crunch.

My head hurts so much as the vision once again shifts. Now I'm watching from above as the old woman yells at a young man; her son I assume. He's digging a grave to dump my limp body into. She's criticizing him, telling him that if he hadn't been such a wimp I wouldn't have had to go looking elsewhere. When he looks up at her from the shallow grave he's digging I gasp in shock. None other than Anton is staring up at the old woman with tears streaking down his dirty face. He climbs out of the hole and after glancing at my vacant eyes looking back at him loses the contents of his stomach and falls to his knees sobbing and begging for forgiveness; as his mother pushes my body into the hole.

This life has one last memory to show me, the most gruesome of all. When the vision shifts I find myself in a church. Nate is standing in front of a mirror, but I know I cannot get any closer because I will fall right through him. He stares at his reflection sadly, and then the old woman walks into the room. She hands him a note and disappears. He opens it anxiously hoping it's a note from me. As I read the letter over his shoulder I see that the note has been forged in my handwriting telling him that I've finally come to my senses and that I've eloped. The letter ends by saying that I never want to see him again.

I watch helplessly as the note falls from Nate's hands. He balls up his fists and punches the full length mirror in front of him. With the hand that's not bleeding he pats something in his pocket as if to reassure himself of something. He marches out into the main part of the church. Time fast-forwards and now his bride is smiling up at him. When the preacher asks if he'll take her to be his wife he pulls out what he's been hiding in his pocket and swiftly takes his life.

Catholics think suicide is a sin, so he cannot be buried on consecrated ground and Nate is buried under a tree in the family's backyard. Coincidentally my body's been dumped mere inches from his. I scream silently as I feel myself falling back into the present time.

# Chapter Twenty-Six

Nate

I've been watching in horror at the ritual Luciana, Surewood, and Belinda are doing with Lizzie. Lizzie has been rocking back and forth with this awful blank look on her face for the past 45 minutes and it's starting to scare me.

Suddenly Lizzie falls backward and begins screaming. She looks wildly around the room searching for something. When her wild stare falls on me she shoots to her feet and launches herself into my arms.

I hold her tight as I "shhh" her and tell her "everything is going to be alright," over and over again.

"What did you do to her?" I ask sharply as the others gather around us.

"Nothing," Luciana assures me, although she doesn't sound very convincing.

Surewood rubs her back soothingly as he asks, "What did you see?"

"It was awful," Lizzie moans as she clutches my t-shirt and begins to cry harder.

"Maybe we should go," Belinda suggests as she looks at the others.

Luciana looks at Lizzie guiltily before swallowing hard and saying, "Nate, why don't you take her to lie down. We'll put everything away down here before we go. She should eat something when she calms down enough."

I nod briefly as I scoop Lizzie into my arms and head for the stairs. When we get to my room I cover her gently as she shivers. I lie down next to her and hold her against me. Twenty minutes later I hear Belinda, Surewood, and Luciana drive away and let out a sigh of relief.

"What happened, baby?" I ask gently.

A tear falls from her eye and I quickly wipe it away as she tells me about what she's seen. As her story progresses I can see the memories blooming in the back of my mind. It was 1908 in New Orleans, Louisiana; yet another city I've always felt drawn to. My family lived in the wealthy Garden District.

I had just returned home from my final year at Tulane University when I met Elizabeth. She was a maid for my family and engaged to another one of the staff; who I now learned reincarnated into Anton. I was engaged too, to a girl from society whom my family loved. But when I saw Lizzie something clicked in me and I had to have her. We began seeing each other in secret and I thought I had convinced her to run away with me. But then she'd disappeared, and I got this weird note. And things once again ended in tragedy.

That was not going to happen this time. I rocked Lizzie until she fell asleep while assuring her that we were going to live to be old and gray. I told her that we were going to get married one month after she graduated college and we were going to have a houseful of children. She'd smiled at that and finally drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later I still lay awake wondering what Anton knew and if that's why he was so adamant to tear us apart. More so I tried to figure out what he was planning. I know Lizzie said his father was with the mob, but he wouldn't really go that far. Would he? I needed to find out.

Just as I was settling in to try and get some sleep I heard my mother arrive home from work. I just hoped that Surewood and the others had been able to put the living room furniture back in its original floor plan so my mother wouldn't suspect anything. Lizzie and I had been good about cleaning up after ourselves and keeping quiet so far and I wanted to keep it that way. Before I knew it I was drifting off into a hopefully dreamless sleep. I was too tired to project myself into anyone's dreams tonight.

**********

The remainder of the days we had left before the French club returned from Paris passed in a blur. Luckily we had no further contact from Anton. I know it put Lizzie at ease a bit but to me things seemed a little too quiet.

Valentine's Day came and went and we both decided it would be best to celebrate it quietly. I expected my mother to sit at home and sulk that evening since my dad was gone, but she had gotten all dressed up and went out around seven; I just hoped she wasn't going out somewhere to meet my dad. Lizzie and I snuck downstairs and watched one of my mom's cheesy romantic comedies and ate leftovers from some restaurant my mother had gone to earlier in the week. My mother didn't arrive home until long after Lizzie and I had snuck back up to my room and turned off the lights.

February fifteenth, the day the French club arrived back in Milwaukee Lizzie called her father pretending to be at the airport and told him that I was bringing her home so he didn't need to worry about picking her up.

I'd gotten so used to her being around me day and night that it was hard to kiss her goodbye and drive away. I'd called her immediately after I'd gotten home and we'd talked until we'd both fallen asleep. I still can't believe that we got away with being home early without her father or my mother finding out; but then again we'd scarcely seen sight of either since we'd been back.

Now it was Monday morning and we all had to go back to school. I'd told Lizzie that I would give her a ride to school. She finally appeared fifteen minutes after I pulled into her driveway; walking out the front door of her house looking like all the caffeine in the world wouldn't wake her up.

"Tired?" I asked cheerfully as she slid into the passenger seat next to me.

Lizzie tipped her sunglasses down onto the bridge of her nose and glared at me as she set her disposable coffee cup into my cup holder. "Are you always this cheery this early in the morning?"

"Only when I haven't seen you in thirteen and a half hours," I smiled as I took in her appearance. Her black winter coat was unzipped and she was wearing a gray Marquette University sweatshirt underneath it. Her faded blue jeans were so ripped up they left little to the imagination as images of her pale skin beneath her clothes filled my mind.

"That's sweet," Lizzie murmured, as she leans over and kisses me lightly. It took me a minute to realize she was talking about what I had said as opposed to what I'd been thinking.

When we get to school ten minutes later Luciana is waiting for us in front of Lizzie's locker. "How are you guys doing?" She asks. I'm still angry with her about the ritual she and the others did to Lizzie even though she's explained to me that Luciana didn't really do anything wrong. And I can tell that Luciana still feels bad about what happened that night.

"Well, other than being sleep and caffeine deprived I'm fine," Lizzie replies.

When I don't respond Luciana asks, "And you guys haven't heard any more from Anton?"

"No," I tell her frowning, "but something isn't right. It's almost too quiet; like he's disappeared or something."

"I agree, before Anton seemed to be going out of his way to be wherever you guys were in order to cause trouble between you two and now he's just dropped off the face of the earth? Come on," Luciana looks at both of us back and forth. "He's got to be planning something."

Before Lizzie or I can say anything else we all hear a crash and turn just in time to see Belinda's shoe make contact with a locker just inches to the right of Shawn's head.

"You slimy, lying, no-good jerk; how dare you?" She screeches as she shoves him in the shoulder.

Shawn rolls his eyes, "get over yourself, you didn't honestly think we were going to be together for real when we got back here did you? I have a reputation to uphold."

"Uphold this!" Belinda roars as she thrusts a textbook into Shawn's abdomen, causing him to sink to the floor in pain. All other activity in the hall has come to a standstill then someone at the far end of the hall snickers. Soon everyone is laughing as Shawn slithers off in the opposite direction.

"What was that about?" Luciana asks as Belinda joins us.

"Apparently Shawn only saw me as a 'vacation fling'," Belinda replies angrily.

"Forget him," Lizzie pats Belinda on the shoulder, "You can do so much better."

"And if all else fails we'll go back to Nate's place with four pints of chocolate chunk ice cream and watch slasher movies." Luciana smiles reassuringly.

"Why should we go to my place?" I ask, confused.

"Because you have the best place," Luciana replies as if the answer is obvious.

Belinda smiles, but then remembering something sighs, "I can't. I'm still grounded. My parents said I should be lucky they're allowing me out of the house to go to school."

"That's insane," Luciana shakes her head.

"Tell me about it," Belinda rolls her eyes. The bells rings and we all reluctantly head off in our separate ways.

The day passes quickly as we all seem to fall into a new routine. We've blended ourselves together into a new group, Belinda, Luciana, Lizzie and I, all gathered around a new table during the lunch hour. I can feel the confused gazes of my former friends boring into my back. Even if I weren't still mad at Jake about what he did to Lizzie at my family's Christmas party, I'd still be sitting over here with Lizzie and our new friends. I couldn't get enough of her.

After school I go to meet Lizzie by my car because I promised her I'd take her to work. When I reach the driver's side door I notice something stuck under my windshield wipers. I pull it out gently in case it's frozen to the windshield. It's a single white sheet of printer paper folded it half. Thinking it's a flyer for a business or a party someone is throwing I unfold it, only to see "STAY AWAY FROM HER! SHE IS MINE!" scrawled in big threatening red letters.

"What's that?" Lizzie asks coming around the other side of the car.

"Nothing," I reply as I crumple the note into a ball and shove it into my pocket.

Lizzie looks at me skeptically for a moment then shakes it off and asks, "Well are you going to unlock the doors or are we going to stand out here in the cold all afternoon? I think it's barely gotten above zero today."

I quickly unlock the doors and rush around the side of the car to help Lizzie into the car. "Aren't you being chivalrous today?" Lizzie teases.

I smile as I shut the door and walk around to my side, "You just looked really cold," I tell her as I slide in beside her.

# Chapter Twenty-Seven

Elizabeth

Nate's been acting weird ever since I caught him looking at a piece of paper that had been jammed under his windshield. He seemed really distracted when he went to drop me off at work and he insisted on sitting at a small table in the corner of the restaurant while I worked. The few times I had a moment to go and check on him he'd made silly comments about how cute he thought I looked in my uniform. Now that I was home, he insisted on walking me to the front door.

"Do you want to come in for a few minutes?" I asked as I looked up at him expectantly.

"Yeah, that would be great." He smiled before looking around cautiously.

I opened the door and called out to see if my father was home. He made a half-hearted reply from the direction of his office and I told him I was going up to my room. Nate and I crept soundlessly up to my room and I closed the door behind us.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?" I asked as I shrugged out of my coat and dropped my book bag onto my desk.

"Nothing's wrong," Nate replied evasively. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Um, you've been really distracted since this afternoon. Ever since you found that note under your windshield, really," I tell him, letting him know that I saw what he was trying to cover up.

"You saw that?" Nate asks as his face turns pale.

"Yeah, so spill, what was it?" I ask.

"Just some stupid note from Anton, I think. I didn't want you to worry." Nate says as he pulls the crumpled note out of his pants pocket.

I stare at the warning written in red marker. This looks exactly like the kind of stunt that Anton would pull. Is that the reason he was standing outside Nate's house? To see if that's where I had gone when we arrived back from Paris?

"Look," I say, trying to calm Nate down, "like you said the day we caught him looking in the windows at your house; he won't hurt me. There's nothing to worry about. He's just trying to scare us."

"I just want to make sure you're okay." Nate whispers as he wraps his arms around me. "I did some research on Anton's dad last night and he's a messed up guy."

"I'll be okay; besides weren't you supposed to have dinner with your mother tonight?" I asked, remembering that Nate had told our group this morning that his mother was coming home early to have a sort of family dinner with him now that he was "home".

"Yeah, I guess I should get going," Nate replied as he checked the time on the digital clock I kept on my nightstand. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? You know how much my mother likes you."

"That's okay," I tell him as I reach up and kiss his cheek, "you and your mom should spend this time alone together, especially after your dad left."

"I guess you're right," Nate looks disappointed but he's trying to hide it.

"Call me later, okay?" I smile as I kiss him reassuringly.

Nate deepens the kiss, but groans as I pull away. "Are you sure I have to go?" He asks hopefully as he glances longingly over at my bed.

I laugh and kiss him again, "yes I'm sure; my dad's home anyway."

Nate groans again, this time jokingly as he smiles and turns my doorknob to leave. "I'll call you before I go to bed."

**********

A few hours later I've finally gotten through most of my homework and I've decided to take a break as I pull out my sketchbook. I had planned to get some drawing in while we were in Paris but I never got the chance. All those dreams I had of sitting in a little café drawing the locals that came and went had disappeared the day I remembered my past with Nate.

A thought came to me and I began sketching the catacombs. I was going to put down the memories of seeing my former incarnation. Just as I began to outline the wall of skeletons I heard a tiny plinking against my window. I smiled and headed over to the window thinking it was Nate coming back after his dinner with his mom, but when I reached the window and looked out my smile faded.

Standing in the snow was Anton, looking up at me expectantly. I shoved my window up quickly and stuck my head out. "What are you doing here?" I demanded coldly.

"I need to talk to you." Anton whispered back.

"Why, so you can make more threats against my boyfriend?" I sneered down at him.

"I want to talk to you about New Orleans."

How could he possibly know about that? Instead of taking the bait I replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I could see Anton's icy smile easily in the darkness. "I think you do. Are you going to let me in or do I have to crawl up the side of your house? I can you know, unless you've forgotten all of those nights I used to sneak into your bedroom while your parents were asleep."

"I'm not interest in talking to you about anything; past or present." I called down to him as I began to lower my window. Once it was down I flipped the lock and closed the shades. About the time I made myself comfortable on my bed again the window shot upwards and Anton came crashing through my shades.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I jumped to my feet.

"I told you, I need to talk to you." Anton rolled his eyes as if I were being a moron for asking.

"How did you get in? I locked the window." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You lock is broken, dummy." Anton smirked as he poked my forehead. "Don't you remember? It's been broken since we started dating."

I thought back and remembered how one night I had let Anton crawl in my window and my father nearly caught us. He had just crawled out the window and I was fumbling with the lock when my father opened my door. I had broken the lever off of the lock in the process.

"Fine, so what do you want?" I asked as I felt myself getting irritated. Why was I even wasting time talking to him? I should just call out for my dad and get him to kick Anton out. But then I remember that my dad left to go work on his mysterious exhibit an hour earlier. I'm all alone.

"I know about New Orleans," Anton says as he studies me longingly.

"What about it? It's a city, in Louisiana, built below sea level. Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005 and it took forever for them to rebuild, some people still aren't back to the way they were before the hurricane..." I start rambling as I pretend not to know what he's talking about.

"I'm talking about our past, in New Orleans," Anton snaps.

"What past?" I ask still feigning ignorance.

"You know what I'm talking about Lizzie, you have that nutty friend who's into witchcraft so don't pretend to not know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how Nate stole you away from me back then and he's doing it again now. But I'm not going to let him! I know you still love me; I can see it in your eyes!" Anton was practically shouting as his face turned red in anger.

"What you see in my eyes is disgust, not love." I roll my eyes, "you're clearly delusional."

"I'll prove it," Anton replies as he pulls me to him with his viselike grip. I try to shove him away but he lowers his lips to mine, kissing me hard. His grip loosens as his hands slide down to my waist, giving me the opportunity to bring my knee up and knee him in a sensitive place as hard as I can.

"Ahh," he cries as he falls to the ground. He looks up at me bewildered, "why did you do that?"

"You're crazy, get out!" I yell as I point angrily to the window he entered through.

"Lizzie, let's just talk about this okay? I love you so much," he pleads as he gets to his feet.

"What we had is long over," I tell him, "It ended the night that you killed that man. I'm with Nate now; he's who I'm supposed to be with. I love him, not you." I shove him towards the window. "Please leave me alone. Stay out of my life and stop interfering in my relationship." I push him halfway through the window as he looks at me dumbfounded.

"I'll make you see the truth; you'll see that I'm the one for you." Anton vows as he begins slipping out the window. "And Nate will be sorry he ever tried to break us apart."

Once he's gone I slam the window down and struggle to pull a bookshelf in front of the window so Anton won't be able to get into my room that way again. My hands are shaking from the argument we've just had as I pull my phone out of my pocket.

I dial Nate's number automatically. He picks up after three rings, "hey baby, do you miss me?" He sounds so relaxed while I feel like a bundle of nerves.

"Anton was just here, he crawled in my window," I blurt out.

"What? Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Nate asks, the carefree tone in his voice changing to one of fear and concern.

"I'm alright," I assure him, "but my dad went to work and I really don't want to be alone. Can I come over?"

"Of course, do you want me to come get you?" Nate asks. I can hear shuffling in the background as I picture him sorting through his dirty clothes for his car keys.

"That would be great, that way if my dad comes home he won't be suspicious if my car isn't here." I sigh in relief.

"I'm on my way," Nate tells me quickly, "keep the doors locked until I get there and don't open the door until you make sure it's me."

"Okay," I reply numbly. My shaking has stopped and now I feel like I'm going to be sick.

# Chapter Twenty-Eight

Nate

When I get my hands on Anton I am going to beat him senseless. That's the thought that kept running over and over in my head on the ride over to pick Lizzie up. If he had hurt her I would never forgive myself for leaving her alone earlier.

When I pulled into Lizzie's driveway the front porch light was lit, its yellow glow tinting the front lawn an eerie color. I raced to the door and rang the doorbell. Lizzie flung the door open looking frazzled. I pulled her towards me inhaling her familiar scent. To me she always smelled like a combination of incense and the pomegranate body wash she always used.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I looked into her eyes.

"I am now," she replied as she buried her face in my chest.

"Let's get you over to my house. When is your dad going to be home?" I asked as I noticed Lizzie had her backpack and a duffel bag sitting on the floor beside her.

"I'm not sure, when he gets into an exhibit he can be at it all night." Lizzie looks down.

"My mom won't mind if you stay the night, but there's something we should talk about when we get back to my place." I tell her, thinking about the bomb my mom let drop over dinner.

"Okay." Lizzie murmurs as I gather up her bags and lead her out to my car.

On the way home I kept glancing over at Lizzie but she had her head resting against the cold passenger side window.

"So what happened?" I ask as I pull into my driveway.

Lizzie turns to me, thoughtfully. "He said he knew about New Orleans."

"What?" My brows furrow in confusion. "Are you talking about the past life you glimpsed that night when Belinda and Luciana came over?"

"Yeah, I couldn't understand it either," Lizzie replies as I turn off the engine. "I kept thinking how could he know about it? But he was so adamant. He said that you took me away from him back then but he wasn't going to let you do it again."

"He didn't do anything to you did he?" I asked as I brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"No, he just tried to..." Lizzie started but then seemed to think better of it.

"He tried to do what?"

Lizzie looks at me as if she was wondering whether to continue or not. Finally making up her mind she says, "He tried to kiss me."

"WHAT?" I yell, glad that I've turned the car off. If I'd still been driving I would have slammed on the brakes.

"I pushed him away though," Lizzie tries to calm me down.

"Why did you let him get that close to you? Why did you let him in at all?" I ask as my temper boils under the surface.

"What do you mean why did I let him in? I didn't let him in! He broke in my window!" Lizzie shouts at me. Her hazel eyes are wide with disbelief.

I narrow my eyes, "Are you sure you didn't invite him over?"

"Definitely not; why are you acting like this? You know I love you!" Lizzie begins to shake with anger and hurt.

"I just can't figure it out," I let out a long sigh.

"Yeah, well neither can I." Lizzie glares at me, "and I don't need you treating me like you don't trust me at a time like this."

I open my mouth to apologize but the words die on my lips as I look up and see my mother standing in front of my car in her bathrobe. I can tell she's annoyed because she's giving me that look that all mothers seem to give their children at some point or another. Her hands are perched angrily atop her hips, another dead giveaway that we're going to get yelled at.

"Are you going to sit out here all night in the cold or are you going to come inside before I get frostbite?" My mother demands. "It is still February, in case you two haven't noticed."

Lizzie and I scramble out of the car and I go around to the trunk to get Lizzie's bags. When Lizzie walks around the hood of the car my mother's face softens and she pulls her into a hug. "I heard you had a difficult night; come on inside." She leads Lizzie into the house as I slam the trunk and run to catch up.

"Do you want some tea or hot chocolate or something?" My mother asks Lizzie as she urges her to sit on one of the couches in the living room.

"No, thank you for offering though," Lizzie replies as she stifles a yawn.

"Why don't you go up and get some sleep? We can talk in the morning."

Lizzie nods and starts for the stairs. I follow her assuming she'll head to my room where she's slept all of the other times that she's stayed at my house. She surprises me by turning to the other side of the hall where the guest rooms are located.

"Where are you going?" I ask in confusion.

"I'll sleep in one of the guest rooms tonight." Lizzie tells me in a flat voice. She doesn't even turn around as she opens the first door, looks inside and takes her jacket off. "Just leave my bags by the door and I'll get them in a minute."

"What are you doing? You know you can sleep in my room," I try to get her to look at me as I lean against the wall beside the doorframe.

"I wouldn't want you to sleep next to anyone you don't trust." Lizzie says bitterly as she tugs the bags out of my grip, goes into the room and slams the door.

I try to open the door at the same time I hear the lock click into place. "Come on sweetie, don't be like this!" I yell as I pound on the door. "I never said I didn't trust you, I just didn't understand why he would come over to your house. All the times before he's harassed you in public; on the street, at that club; you know what I mean! I was scared for you and I just jumped to conclusions; that's all."

I wait for her response but I hear no sound from the other side of the door. I feel someone standing beside me and turn and see my mother staring at me with her arms crossed over her chest. "Let her get some rest. She's had a rough night and you hurt her feelings. I'm sure she'll feel better after a good night's sleep."

"I didn't mean to say what I did; it just seemed to pop out of my mouth before I had a chance to think over what I was saying." I look at the door miserably.

"Just give her a chance to cool down," my mother suggests as she steers me towards my own room. I shut the door and collapse onto my bed. I sit there, staring at the wall. I should go try to apologize to Lizzie again, but I'm not sure if she'll open the door or even bother listening to me. It's going to be a long night and I know I won't be getting much sleep.

# Chapter Twenty-Nine

Elizabeth

I had trouble sleeping in Nate's mother's guest bedroom. I could almost pick up on the vibrations of people who had slept in the room before me; and the room's décor wasn't helping any. The walls were a pale yellow, reminding me of warm butter; but the furniture was a nightmare. Everything was dark oak and oppressive. I wonder if Nate's mother's decorator had been having a bipolar episode while he worked on this room.

When I finally did sleep, it was fretful; I tossed and turned for hours. It seemed that every time I closed my eyes I was assaulted with memories from my newly discovered past life. I could see Anton and the relationship I had had with him back then. A part of me had truly loved him, but my love for Nate was just... greater. And then I saw, or rather felt, somebody watching me. Was it Anton's former incarnation's mother? In the vision and dreams of my previous life her face had terrified me. She looked at me with such disdain that her image stayed imprinted in my thoughts even in my waking hours.

Around four in the morning I gave up on sleeping and stumbled into the guest bathroom for a nice hot shower. Once I was showered and dressed I crept down to the kitchen to scrounge up an early breakfast.

"Do you want me to make some coffee?" I heard Nate's mom ask from behind me, causing me to jump nearly out of my skin. I turned slowly and saw that she was already dressed in a navy blue business suit. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay; I'm just a bit jumpy lately. I'm sorry I'm up so early, I just couldn't sleep." I admit sheepishly. I shouldn't be helping myself to Nate's mom's refrigerator; after all I don't live here. It had just become a habit when I was staying here earlier in the month.

"I understand. I wanted to ask you, has this ex-boyfriend of yours been bothering you often?" Nate's mother asks with genuine concern.

"Not lately, obviously since we've been in France, but a few times over the past few months. It wasn't all the time, but sometimes he'd just show up at places when I was hanging out with friends or walking down the street." I admit as I look down at my hands.

"Has he made any threats towards you?" Nate's mother lays her hand over mine.

"Not threats to hurt me, he just says things like he's going to get me back or that I should be with him. It's more annoying than anything else."

"Do you think it's bad enough that you feel the need to get a restraining order against him?" Nate's mother purses her lips. I shrug, unsure if I should or not. Anton is obsessive and jealous, and I know he's killed before; but his threats have always seemed to have just been empty threats. He's never really done anything to try to get back at me except trying to mess up my relationship with Nate. Sure, he had gotten into a fist fight with Nate, but he'd backed off pretty quick.

"If you think you might need to go that route please let me know, I can help you." Nate's mother looks at me intently until I nod. Seemingly accepting of my response she changes the subject, "did you and Nate get the chance to talk about the conversation he and I had last night over dinner?" She asks as she picks at the placemat in front of her.

I shake my head, "no."

She looks nervous for a minute then gathers her courage and says, "While you kids were in Paris your father and I spent quite a bit of time together. I ran into him one day when I was going through the museum on my lunch hour and we went out for coffee. As I'm sure Nate has told you his father and I recently separated and I know that your mother has recently moved out and well... your father and I have started dating. Before you freak out I don't want you to think in any way that our relationship will in any way prevent you and Nate from being together. Your father and I have already discussed it and above all we want both you and Nate to be happy and if you're not okay with this we'll stop seeing each other. I just want you to know I really do care for your father."

"I'm happy for you, I really am," I assure her. And I'm telling the truth. My dad has been really depressed since my mom left and I know Nate's mom has been having a hard time too, so if they make each other happy that's all that matters.

Nate's mother sighs in relief. "Thank you. I'll admit that I was a bit afraid of your reaction. Nate was really angry when I told him. I think he thought that this would stop you from being able to be together, but that's not what this means at all."

"I think the thing with Anton has been bothering him a lot, so I wouldn't think that he's not happy for you, I'm sure he is, but we've been having a lot of stress lately." I tell her, hoping I'm right.

"I'm sure your right," Nate's mother smiles. "Will you be alright? I have to head into work early this morning. I have a client coming in at eight that I still have to finish some paperwork on."

"I'm fine," I smile and wave her off. She grabs a thermos full of the coffee I hadn't noticed her making and picks her briefcase off the floor and is out the door.

Once her car pulls out of the driveway I pour a cup for myself and head up to Nate's room to wait for him to wake up. I find Nate sprawled out face down on his bed, sheets and blankets all over the floor. I guess he'd had as bad of a night as I had. I watch him for about an hour before he starts to wake up. First he lifts his head off the pillow, his dark hair hanging in his eyes before looking around his room darkly. Finally his gaze rests on me and softens.

"Hey," He croaks, his voice still laced with sleep. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"A little over an hour," I reply as I take a sip from my coffee mug.

"Why didn't you wake me?" He asks as he sits up and starts sifting through stuff on his bedside table looking for his clock.

"Because it's barely five-thirty, I thought I'd let you sleep in a little while." I smirk at him.

"What are you doing up so early?" Nate asks in confusion. He knows I'm not a morning person.

"I had some trouble sleeping," I admit.

"I'm sorry about last night," he tells me as he scoots closer to where I'm sitting.

"It's okay, I overreacted too."

"Are we okay now?" Nate asks as he leans in to kiss me. I nod as his lips cover mine.

A little while later as we're lying together under Nate's blankets I tell him about the conversation I had earlier with his mother.

Nate runs his fingers through my tangled hair. "It's not that I'm not happy for them, I just thought it was weird. I mean, my mom is dating my girlfriend's father, it was a lot to take in."

I frown, "you're mom thinks you're angry."

Nate sighs, "Okay, so I admit, I overreacted about a lot of things yesterday."

I smile and bop him over the head with one of his pillows. "Come on, we should get ready for school, otherwise we'll be late."

Nate frowns as he glances at the clock, "Do we really have to go?"

"Yes," I laugh.

**********

"I think we should have a party for your birthday, Lizzie," Belinda suggests as she shovels a spoonful of Greek yogurt into her mouth. Its lunchtime and Nate made the mistake of asking what I wanted to do for my birthday coming up at the end of the month.

"Now who would we invite to this party?" I tease. None of us have a lot of friends, so a party would be pointless.

"I don't know, but come on, it'll be fun!" Belinda insists.

I glance over at Luciana and raise my eyebrow. She raises her hands as if to say, "don't look at me".

Nate isn't much better. He shrugs and says, "We could get my mom to plan something. You know how she like to plan parties."

"We'll see," I reply noncommittally.

"You know who hasn't bothered us lately?" Luciana asks as she bites into her turkey sandwich.

"Who?" I ask, thinking about my latest run-in with Anton the night before. Sensing my discomfort Nate squeezes my hand under the lunch table.

"Darcy; I haven't even seen her around school lately." Luciana squints and looks around the cafeteria.

"Don't say that too loud, or she'll be back causing us trouble before you know it," I mutter.

"What do you mean?" Belinda asks.

"Haven't you even noticed that the moment you mention that you haven't heard from so-and-so in a certain amount of time that that's when that person resurfaces and starts bugging you again?" I explain a theory I've had for years.

"Ah, I see, it's like when someone says their ears are ringing so somewhere somebody is talking about them," Belinda nods.

"Exactly."

"That sounds like Wiccan logic to me," Luciana smiles innocently. She knows how hard I try to keep my life separate from her Wiccan one. It's become harder now that my past lives with Nate have surfaced.

I smile at her darkly and rest my head on Nate's shoulder for the rest of the lunch hour.

# Chapter Thirty

Nate

On Friday night my mother suggests we go out to dinner, someplace nice, over on the east side. When we pull up in front of the Italian restaurant my mother has chosen I see Lizzie and her father standing next to the door shivering in the cold. My eyes widen and I look at my mother in disbelief. Doesn't she understand how weird it's going to be to have dinner with my girlfriend, the love of my existence, while at the same time knowing that my mother is dating her father?

"Come on, it's just one dinner," my mother smiles making me wonder if she's spontaneously turned into a mind reader.

I reluctantly climb out of my mom's SUV and join Lizzie and her father. "Hey sweetie," I murmur as I kiss her cheek. Her father shifts from one foot to the other but says nothing.

"Are we going to stand out here all night or are we going inside?" My mother asks brightly.

Lizzie's dad smiles for the first time since I've known him, "I wasn't sure if we should go inside and grab a table or wait for you."

"Nothing like standing outside in seven degree weather in the middle of February for fifteen minutes," Lizzie teases her dad as she wraps her gloveless hand around my bicep.

We follow our parents into the restaurant where my mother asks for a table for four. The hostess smiles sweetly and leads us through the dimly lit restaurant. I can tell she thinks we're one big happy family; mother, father, son, and daughter. I can't believe my mother sprung this on me without any way of getting out of it.

Once the hostess takes our drink order my mother turns to Lizzie, "so your father tells me that your birthday is coming up next Thursday; do you have anything planned?"

Lizzie shifts in her seat uncomfortably. I remember the way she reacted when Belinda mentioned a party earlier in the week and how she mentioned later that she didn't want a big party for her birthday. "Not really," she shrugs, "Maybe Nate and I will do something but that's about it."

"You mean you're not even going to have a party?" My mother asks incredulously as if she can't fathom why anyone wouldn't want to have a party.

"I'm not all that into people making me the center of attention," Lizzie admits, "and I don't have that many friends."

"Aww sweetie, surely that can't be true." My mother pats Lizzie's hand.

"Elizabeth has always been really shy," her father smiles over his glass of red wine.

"But you should have some kind of celebration!" My mother insists, not letting the subject drop. "I could plan it and everything..."

"No really, that's okay," Lizzie interrupts my mother before she can go into full event planner mode. My mother pouts but Lizzie's father smoothly changes the subject before she can continue to argue her case. One of the main reasons my mother is such a good attorney is because she never lets the opposing side have the last word; ever.

As the conversation continued around me I find myself thinking about my plans for the future. It had always been the plan for me to go to law school and follow in my mother's footsteps; but now I wasn't sure that that is what I wanted anymore. I wasn't really good at anything in particular so what could I do with my life?

Finally I snap out of my thoughts to find Lizzie staring at me and trying hard not to laugh. My mother is smiling at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry, I zoned out, what did you say?" I ask as my face turns red with embarrassment.

"I asked if you wanted dessert," my mother laughs, "but you were so focused on finishing your chicken marsala that you must not have heard me."

"Oh no, nothing for me," I respond quickly as my gaze falls back to my plate.

My mother laughs again and says, "That's my Nate, he's always been a very conscientious eater. He always ate his vegetables, cleaned his plate, and never asked for a second piece of dessert."

Lizzie laughs quietly then asks, "Since I'm not having dessert either do you mind if Nate and I go for a short walk? We'll stay on this block I promise."

My mother looks at Lizzie's father and they have one of those silent conversations my mother used to have with my father before they both got caught up with their separate lives. Finally Lizzie's dad nods and says, "It's alright if you guys stay nearby. The city isn't a safe place on your own after dark."

Lizzie smiles brightly and kisses her dad on the cheek as she pulls her coat off the back of her chair. I grab mine and the two of us head to the front door. There's an outer set of doors and an inner set before you get into the restaurant. Since that enclosed space is heated we decide to just hang out there.

"So what do you really want to do for your birthday?" I ask as I pull her close and tuck my thumbs into the belt loops at the back of her jeans. Her hands slide under the back of my sweatshirt seeking heat as we hold onto each other.

Lizzie looks thoughtful for a moment as lines form between her eyebrows. "We could go book shopping," She suggests.

I find myself raising my eyebrows, "book shopping?"

"What? I happen to like books." Lizzie blushes adorably.

"You're such a nerd," I tease as I kiss the curve of her neck. "You really can't think of anything special you want to do for your birthday?"

Lizzie shivers and shakes her head. "No," It comes out sounding more like a plea as I continue to kiss up the side of her neck.

"We could go to dinner somewhere, or we could find somewhere that we could hang out on our own," I waggle my eyebrows suggestively.

"Mmm," is Lizzie's only reply as I seal my lips over hers; I take that as an affirmation as I begin making plans in my head.

A few minutes later our parents come strolling out the doors laughing easily about something. I walk Lizzie to her dad's car and reluctantly let her ride away. As I turn to get into my mother's car I see someone down the block. At first I think he's watching me from under his hooded coat as he puffs on a cigarette, but a minute later he turns the opposite direction and calls out to a guy and two girls heading towards him. I shake my head and slide into the SUV feeling like a paranoid nut.

"So did you have a little fun tonight? My mother asks hopefully as she buckles her seatbelt.

I smile in the semi-darkness, "Yeah, it wasn't so bad."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that," my mother beams as she pulls me into a surprisingly tight side hug. Maybe things are going to turn out alright after all.

# Chapter Thirty-One

Anton

It's been so hard to keep my distance all week. Having Lizzie so close I can almost taste her but being unable to alert her to my presence has been killing me. Earlier tonight I had found myself standing outside an Italian restaurant for close to two hours. Luckily for me I'm of Russian descent so the cold February air had no effect on me.

I'd stared into the restaurant's front window with the long-range lens of a camera one of my father's henchmen had left lying around. I wonder how Lizzie's boy-toy Nate was handling the fact that his mother was dating Lizzie's father. I would have loved to have seen the look on his face when he found that tidbit out. I had stumbled across it one day while Lizzie was still in Paris. I had stopped by the museum her father worked at and saw them kissing against a wall in a restricted area.

I should have taken pictures and sent them anonymously to Nate. That would have been awesome, but sadly it was too late now.

Finally Lizzie had gotten up from the table. My breath had caught in my throat as I saw how beautiful she looked in the candlelight and I regretted for the millionth time since our breakup that I hadn't been able to get her to go to bed with me.

To make matters worse I had to watch Nate grope her for fifteen minutes before their parents came out of the restaurant. I wanted more than anything to march in there and rip her out of his arms, but I had to stick to the plan.

The old ghost, who I refuse to think of as my mother, and I had devised a fool-proof plan for me to get Lizzie back; all I had to do was eliminate Nate as a threat and reclaim Lizzie as mine. The cycle would be broken as then she and Nate would never be able to reunite again no matter how many times they reincarnated.

I still wasn't sold on the idea of reincarnation, but if it meant that Lizzie would be mine and mine alone then I'd just have to grin and bear it.

I'd gotten sloppy tonight. Nate had almost seen me as he was helping Lizzie into her father's car. Thankfully I'd remembered to pull my hood up or my white blonde hair would have given me away like a neon arrow lit up on the top of my head.

I'd turned away before Nate had a chance to get a better look and ran into Vlad, the son of one of my father's associates. We were somewhat friends so I called out to him and admired the two girls he had his arms around. They were undoubtedly his hired companions for the night. They were attractive, but they didn't compare to Lizzie.

By the time I turned back around Nate had already gotten into his mother's car which was nowhere in sight.

# Chapter Thirty-Two

Elizabeth

"I don't get it, why is everyone so obsessed with my birthday all of a sudden?" I ask Luciana over the phone while swiping black nail polish over my toenails distractedly.

Luciana laughs, "It's your first birthday with a serious boyfriend; enjoy it. Once you've been with someone for a few years you're lucky if you get a 'happy birthday' on your actual birthday."

"Surewood can't be that bad."

"Last year he wished me a happy birthday in April." Luciana replies bitterly.

"But, your birthday is in September; April isn't even close to September in spelling or in the order of the months." I scrunch my eyebrows down in confusion.

"I know that," she sighs in exasperation. "Now I could even see it if my birthday was in August, in which case he just probably screwed up his "A" months, but come on! September begins with an "S"!"

"I'm sorry," I tell her as I try not to laugh.

"S'alright," she mumbles, "so what did you tell Nate that you wanted to do for your birthday?"

"I told him I didn't really care, and he suggested we go out to a nice dinner or something." I reply as I accidentally paint my comforter with the black nail polish.

"Or something, huh?" Luciana teases.

"Cute, real cute," I laugh.

"Oh, hey! I almost forgot to tell you who I saw downtown earlier tonight." I hear Luciana snapping her fingers in the background as she remembers.

"Who?" I ask.

"Darcy; and boy she looked like hell." Luciana whistles lowly.

I pause as I re-cap the bottle of nail polish. "Are you sure it was her? Darcy refuses to leave the house until she's model ready if my memory serves me right."

"I'm positive it was her, but her hair was a mess and she was in these grungy clothes. She walked right past the store while I was working." Luciana insists before taking a loud slurp of what can only be her favorite herbal tea.

"Wow," I reply, "that's so unlike her."

Luciana and I talk for a while longer about school and weekend plans before we finally hung up. I glanced down at my toes and realized they were a mess. Multitasking has never been a skill of mine.

After I clean the smeared polish off of my toes I pull out my sketchpad. I've started sketching out the memories from my most recent past life. The first drawing I did was of the old woman bearing down over me with her candlestick. I shiver at the woman's cold, calculating eyes glaring at me.

On the next page is a drawing of Anton as he used to look as he dug a grave for me. I see similarities between the old him and the new him but at the same time he's completely different. The old Anton was somehow softer, less threatening looking than the one I've known more recently.

The third page in this section is a drawing I don't remember drawing at all. It's Nate and I, in a dark alcove kissing. In the corner of the drawing is the silhouette of a young man, making the "shhh"ing symbol with his hand. As I lean in to see if I can make out any of the silhouetted man's features the ink seems to fade right off of the page. First the silhouette fades, and then Nate and I kissing evaporate from the page, before finally the alcove is gone as well. I rub the page in confusion, but the page is dry. There aren't any traces of ink, or of the image ever being there at all. Then before my eyes a sentence begins to appear on the page in a messy scrawl: Be careful. The darkness is coming.

I throw the sketchpad to the floor in shock only for the pages to begin flipping back and forth wildly on their own. The lights in my room begin to flicker seconds later.

"Stop!" I yell to thin air, hoping whatever is happening comes to an end.

The second the word leaves my mouth the lights go back to normal and the sketchpad goes still as if it had never moved in the first place. I'm breathing heavy as I clutch a pillow to my chest for protection.

"What the hell was that?" I ask aloud; but there's nobody there to respond.

I leave the light on all night because I'm afraid of what will happen if I dare to turn them off.

**********

"Are you alright?" Nate asks worriedly as we walk into Denny's the next morning. I had called him when I woke up and asked him if he could meet me for breakfast. He was only too happy to agree.

I stop and look up into his bright green eyes, "something weird happened to me last night; and I'm not even sure how to explain it."

"Let's get a table and you can tell me all about it," He murmurs as he rests his hand on my lower back and motions for the hostess.

Once we're seated at a table in the back and the waitress sets our menus down I struggle to explain my possessed sketchpad to Nate. I begin three times before I can force the words out.

"I was looking through my sketchpad last night and I saw this drawing I don't remember doing," I begin.

"What do you mean you don't remember doing it?" Nate's eyebrows knit in confusion.

"Just what I said, I don't remember drawing it; it just sort of appeared in my sketchpad. But then as I took a closer look it started disappearing from the page. It just vanished like it was never there." I run my hands nervously over my menu.

"Vanished?" Nate echoes skeptically.

"Yes, I even ran my hand over the page but it was bone dry, like nothing had ever been drawn on the page before. And then it changed again." I meet his concerned gaze evenly.

"What appeared on the page?"

"Words; two sentences really," I reply.

"What did it say?" Nate asks as he reaches for my hand.

"Be careful. The darkness is coming," I repeat what the page had spelled out the night before.

"What does that mean?" Nate raises his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure, but remember what my previous incarnation said back in the catacombs in Paris? She warned me to be careful too! And there's more; after the words appeared on the page I threw the pad to the floor and it began to flip open on its own. The lights in my room flickered too." I explain quickly.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming this?" Nate sounds skeptical again.

"I'm not making this up!" I tell him firmly.

"How could a sketchpad move all on its own Lizzie? That's not possible. Maybe there was a breeze in your room. Did you check to make sure you didn't leave a window open? And the lights, maybe there was a power surge or something." Nate tries to rationalize.

"After all of the weird stuff that's happened to us you honestly think I'm imagining things?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying there has to be a logical explanation for what happened last night." Nate rubs the back of my hand reassuringly.

I shake my head at him and mutter, "I knew I should have called Belinda and Luciana."

"Baby, it's not that I don't believe you, I wasn't there so I don't know what you saw." Nate says quietly.

Before I can respond the waitress comes and takes our order. We eat in silence, our eyes never straying far from each other's. I can see the hurt and fear from my eyes echoed in his.

# Chapter Thirty-Three

Nate

I know I hurt Lizzie's feelings at breakfast, but I didn't mean to. I was just as freaked out about what she had told me as she was; but she thought I thought that she was making it up and now she was out to prove me wrong. She'd always been stubborn, it was one of the things I had loved most about her from the beginning, and when she got an idea in her head she wouldn't let it die.

By the time we arrived back at her house Belinda, Surewood, and Luciana were sitting parked in Lizzie's driveway. For all our sakes I hope that what Lizzie saw could be easily explained away. I couldn't handle much more weirdness.

Lizzie led us up to her bedroom after making sure that her father wasn't home. Luciana made herself at home in Lizzie's desk chair as Belinda and Surewood looked around.

"Cool room," Surewood told her as he sat down on the floor beside Luciana.

"Thanks," Lizzie replied as she sat cross-legged on her bed. I sat down beside her as Belinda leaned against the wall next to her door and slid to the floor.

"So what's going on?" Luciana asked as she leaned forward in her chair.

Lizzie quickly explained what she had seen the night before. While Lizzie explained Surewood and Luciana began exchanging looks, first they looked doubtful but as Lizzie went on they began to look more and more panicked.

"You're saying the picture just vanished from the page?" Luciana asked as she tapped her bottom lip.

Lizzie nodded as she stood up and reached for the discarded sketchpad. "Yeah, it was on this page." She flipped to a blank page as a series of drawings flew before my eyes. The last few drawings were of a darker variety.

"What was the original drawing of?" Surewood asked as he reached forward and took the pad out of Lizzie's hands.

"It was of Nate and me, during the past life I discovered when we got back from Paris." Lizzie blushed as she added, "the drawing was of us kissing but there was someone else in the drawing too."

"Who was it? Was it Anton?" Belinda asked as she came to sit beside Surewood on the floor.

"I'm not sure; it was just a silhouette of a man." Lizzie shrugged. "When I went to examine it closer the picture began to fade."

"What was the man in the drawing doing?" Luciana asked.

"He was making a "shh"ing motion, like this," Lizzie demonstrated the universal symbol of holding her index finger up to her lips indicating someone should be quiet.

"And the message specifically told you to be careful?" Surewood asked.

"Please tell me this was just some kind of weird dream or vision or something," I interrupted.

"I don't think so," Surewood replied thoughtfully. He glanced at Luciana for confirmation. She nodded and he continued, "I think someone was trying to send Lizzie a message. Lizzie, you said you had a run in with your former self in Paris and she told you to be careful too?"

Lizzie nodded, "Yes, she did."

"This whole thing with Anton has been weird." Luciana mused, "I mean in the beginning he just acted like a jealous, jilted ex-boyfriend; but something shifted the night that he crawled in your window and told you that he knew about your past life together. How would he have known that all of a sudden? You had just barely learned about it. You said his mother killed you back then right?"

"Yes."

"What if she's come back too? What if she's helping him?" Luciana asked rhetorically. At least I think she meant it to be rhetorical.

"Then we're in a lot of trouble," Lizzie replied darkly as she glanced over at me.

"I think whoever did that with your sketchpad was trying to warn you, not scare you. I also think it has something to do with the silhouette in the drawing. Whoever that person was is also someone from the past; but I don't think its Anton. Could it have been a family member? Did you have a brother back then? Or a close male friend?" Surewood rested his hand on Lizzie's arm and stared at her intently.

"I don't think so," Lizzie replied as she searched through her newly acquired memories.

"So what does this mean for now?" I asked as I came up behind Lizzie and wrapped my arms around her.

"It means that you both should lie low until we can figure out what's going on," Luciana looked at both of us seriously. Lizzie and I nodded solemnly.

Luciana, Surewood, and Belinda left a little while later. On her way out Belinda asked Lizzie if she wanted to go stay with her for the rest of the weekend since Anton wouldn't even know to look for Lizzie there; but Lizzie politely declined.

"I can't drag you guys into this any more than you already are," Lizzie explained.

"I'll stay with her," I told them as Lizzie and I walked them to the front door.

"Call us if you need anything, anything at all," Luciana insisted before she shut the door behind her.

**********

"So something bad really is happening," I say as Lizzie and I stand at the kitchen counter figuring out what we want for dinner that night.

"Do you believe now?" Lizzie leans against the counter and smiles up at me sadly.

"Maybe we should leave town," I suggest.

Lizzie snorts, "And where exactly would we go? A drawing magically appears and then disappears from my sketchpad only to warn me that something bad is coming; we're not exactly talking about a flesh and blood threat here. Whatever this is could follow us anywhere."

"I'm sorry," I murmur helplessly as I weave my fingers through her thick curly hair.

"I'm scared," Lizzie admits.

"I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, I swear." I pull Lizzie into my arms and hold her. I couldn't save her the last time around but this time I'd do anything in my power to keep her safe. Anton I could handle, it was the magical side of things that were a bit hard to understand, but we had Luciana and our other friends to help us with that.

"Are you hungry?" I ask trying to change the subject.

"Not really," Lizzie shakes her head slowly.

I grab a bag of popcorn and walk over to the microwave, "Want to watch a movie?"

Lizzie shrugs, "Sure that would be okay."

"Why don't you go pick something out and I'll make us some popcorn." I smile down at her, hoping to give us both a sense of normalcy.

I walk into the living room a few minutes later just as Lizzie is sliding a movie called "The Fog" into the DVD player.

"What's 'The Fog'?" I ask as we settle onto the small leather loveseat in front of the television.

"It's a horror movie," Lizzie explains as she grabs a handful of popcorn, "it's one of my favorites actually."

"Do girls actually have favorite horror movies?" I ask teasingly.

"I don't know about other girls, but I love horror movies," Lizzie smiles up at me before she rests her head on my chest.

"What's this one about then?" I ask as she hits the menu button to skip ahead of the previews.

"It's about a small island in Oregon and a ship that was sunk off the coast in like, the 1800s, and the ghosts from the ship come back for revenge on the descendants of the four men that murdered them. And then at the end you find out that the main female character was reincarnated from the wife of the leader of the people who were killed." Lizzie explains.

"They really worked reincarnation into the plot?" I ask.

"Yeah, at least that's always been my interpretation of the ending."

"Wait... did you just tell me how the movie ends?" I ask incredulously.

"Oops," Lizzie looks apologetic, "but there's more to it than that, I didn't give away the whole ending."

I throw a piece of popcorn at her and rest my chin on the top of her head as I focus on the movie.

Before we're even halfway into the movie I feel Lizzie drift off to sleep against me. I run my fingers through her hair soothingly and find myself falling asleep soon after.

# Chapter Thirty-Four

Elizabeth

I'm starting to really wonder about my father's parenting skills. He didn't come home at all on Saturday night. If he had he would have noticed Nate and I passed out on the couch while watching a movie. He claimed he was busy working on some sort of exhibit, as usual, but I got the feeling that maybe he was out with Nate's mother instead.

In fact, he'd been out late every night this week; and now it was my birthday. By the time I woke up to get ready for school I could already hear him puttering around the kitchen. I hadn't slept well the night before. I'd tossed and turned with nervousness over my birthday before finally falling asleep. When a dream finally developed in my subconscious it had been a nightmare. At least I hope that's all it was, because if it was a premonition I was going to lose it.

I was lying in the street, or maybe on the sidewalk cradling Nate in my arms. His eyes were vacant, devoid, and so very, very blank. A big red circle began spreading across the front of his black jacket as I screamed in agony. I had woken up clutching the blankets to my chest with sweat dripping down my face as my chest heaved as I tried hard to regain normal breathing.

I threw on an old faded pair of jeans and my favorite gold and white striped V-neck sweater and headed down to grab something for breakfast as I tried to shake away the remnants of the dream. It didn't help that every time I closed my eyes I saw Nate's vacant gaze staring back at me. He'd be here soon enough, to pick me up for school, and then I'd see that he was alright.

My father turned when he heard me come into the kitchen, "Happy birthday sweetie," he beamed down at me as he kissed the top of my head.

"Thanks Dad," I smiled as I reached around him to grab a cup of coffee, trying to act normal.

"Are you and Nate going out tonight?" He asks as he stares at me over the rim of his own coffee cup.

"Yeah, he's picking me up tonight around seven." I reply nonchalantly.

"Then you should take this with you," my dad smiles as he pulls a small wrapped box out of one of the kitchen cabinets. "Open it," He tells me as he places it in my hands.

I rip the paper open revealing the box of my new IPhone and shriek happily as I wrap my arms around my father's shoulders. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I exclaim, forgetting my earlier distress over my nightmare.

My dad smiles, "I know you've wanted one for a long time since that blueberry thing you've been using hasn't been working right."

I smirk, "Blackberry dad, not blueberry."

"Tomato, tomahto," My dad waves it off, "do you like it?"

"I love it," I tell him as I slide open the box and pick up my new phone. I turn it on and the familiar logo glows on the screen as it boots up.

"I had the phone company transfer all of your contacts and you'll still have the same number so you don't have to worry about giving everyone a new number. Oh, and I charged it for you so you should be good to go." My dad explains as I start pushing buttons on the screen.

"Thank you Dad," I say sincerely as I kiss his cheek.

"You're welcome sweetie," He pats my shoulder. Nate honks his horn from the driveway signaling his arrival. "You better get going; I don't want you to be late for school. Have a good time with Nate tonight if I don't see you in between. And be safe."

I blush, understanding his meaning. "I will, Dad."

"Have a good day," He waves me off as I head out the front door.

When I reach the car Nate's leaning against the passenger side door smiling at me through his dark aviator sunglasses. "Happy birthday baby," he murmurs as he kisses me thoroughly.

"Thank you," I beam up at him in the brisk morning light. Nate pulls the passenger side door open and motions for me to get in. "I get door service this morning?" I ask happily.

"Of course, it's your birthday and you should be treated special," Nate smiles as he closes the door and walks around the hood of the car to the driver's side.

"I could get used to this," I tell him as he pulls out of the driveway.

**********

School was its usual soul-sucking self but I managed to get through it with Nate, Luciana, and Belinda's help. Nate insisted on carrying my books around for me, which made me notice for the first time that he never carried around any of his own. "It's all up here," He told me as he pointed to his head when I brought it up.

Luciana had brought cupcakes with skulls on them for lunch. When Nate asked her why she put skulls on the cupcakes we reminded him of the time she and I had gone to the haunted bed and breakfast. Belinda cracked up at the look on Nate's face as I re-told the story. As great as the day had been I couldn't wipe away a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that had been bothering me all day.

Now I was getting ready to go out with Nate. I wasn't sure exactly what to wear because I didn't know what kind of restaurant he wanted to take me to. After staring at my closet for twenty minutes I finally decided on a pair of dark wash designer jeans that I had gotten on a deep discount, a black tank top Nate had once mentioned he had liked how I look in, and a soft grey sweater so I didn't get cold.

I was just lacing up my favorite black wedge boots when Nate rang the doorbell. "Hey babe," I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him in greeting.

He pulled back and smiled as he assessed my outfit. "You look amazing," He breathed out heavily.

I laughed at his reaction as I glanced down at my outfit, "thanks. I wasn't sure where we were going so I wasn't sure what to wear."

Nate reached for my coat off the hook next to the door and held it out for me. "I thought we could go to this pizza place down in the Third Ward; the food is great and I think you'll enjoy it. Then we can just go from there and see what happens."

I pulled my hair out of the back of my coat and let Nate wrap his arms around my waist. "That sounds great."

We talked about random things on the way downtown and I tried to get comfortable but the feeling of unease had only grown since we pulled out of my driveway. Luckily Nate didn't seem to pick up on my bad vibes.

The restaurant was packed, even for a Thursday night and we had to park down the block a ways. I was relieved that the restaurant was mostly casual as the friendly hostess led us to a table that overlooked the lakefront.

"What looks good to you?" Nate asked as he scanned the menu.

"I don't know," I bit my lower lip, "everything looks delicious."

"I know," Nate agreed as the waitress arrived to take our order.

I finally decided on the three cheese ravioli while Nate ordered a humongous pizza burger.

"You came to a pizza place to order a burger?" I teased him after the waitress went to go put the order in.

"The burgers are amazing, so yes." Nate reaches across the table and intertwines his fingers with mine.

Less than ten minutes later the waitress sets our dinner in front of us and I take a bite of my ravioli. It melts in my mouth as I savor the deliciousness.

"It's good right?" Nate smiles knowingly as he bites into his burger.

"It's more than good," I reply searching for the right descriptive word, "it's... sinful." I laugh as I take another bite.

"I love it here," Nate sighs happily as he gazes out the window. The days are getting longer now, so the sun has just set making the sky still a light gray.

After we finish eating and neither of us can eat another bite Nate pulls a small box out of his jacket pocket. "Time for your birthday present," He slides the box over excitedly.

The box is small and black, a jewelry box I realize quickly. I open it slowly and find the most beautiful antique looking amethyst drop necklace staring back at me. I'm stunned by how beautiful it is.

"Do you like it?" Nate asks nervously, "I found it in a little shop in Paris."

"It's the most beautiful gift anyone has ever given to me," I assure him as wetness springs to the corner of my eyes.

Nate quickly gets up from his seat to help me fasten the necklace around my neck. "I love you more than anything and I wanted to give you something to show you how much you mean to me," He murmured as he kissed the side of my neck.

"I love it Nate, and I love you too; forever." I pull him down to kiss me.

After Nate pays for dinner he tells me there's somewhere special he wants to take me. We start for the car in the semi-darkness. When we had parked there earlier there had been other cars around, but now the stretch is completely deserted except for Nate's car.

As we approached the car, still so wrapped up in each other, we finally notice something wrong with the scene in front of us. All of Nate's tires are slashed with huge gashes.

"What the hell?" Nate exclaims as he kneels down next to his car to inspect the gashes. Suddenly the feeling of dread I've been having all day returns and slams against my insides.

I turn just as Anton saunters out of the shadows. "Looks like you're not going anywhere anytime soon," He smirks as he swings something on a chain at his side.

"What the hell is your problem man?" Nate asks as he comes to stand beside me.

"My problem is that you keep stealing my girl away," Anton stops about fifteen feet away from Nate and I. "But that ends tonight."

Nate shoves me behind him, and presses me against the car as he steps forward to confront Anton. Before he even makes it three steps Anton pulls out the gun I saw him use to kill that man all those months ago; aims at Nate's chest, and pulls the trigger. I scream an ear-splitting scream as Nate crumples to the ground in front of me.

I rush forward to catch him before his head hits the ground but he's heavy and we both sink fast. He stares up at me helplessly as I scream in agony. My nightmare from the night before is happening before my eyes as I fumbled through my pockets for my cell phone.

"Come away from him baby, he won't keep us apart anymore," Anton pulls me to my feet and drags me away from Nate.

"No, no, no, no, no" I cry as I try to break away and return to Nate's side but Anton's grip is too strong. "Please," I beg him, "he's going to die."

"Good," replies Anton coldly.

"Hahahahaha," An evil voice from my past rings in my ears as Anton's crazy mother from our last life together appears suddenly in front of us.

"You've done good boy," She sneers at him. "Now it's time to finish Elizabeth off once and for all."

"What are you talking about, I got what I wanted, Lizzie will be mine now," Anton shakes his head in confusion ignoring my pleas to let me go back to Nate.

"Change of plans you little git; we have to get rid of the girl too or they'll just keep coming back." The old woman glares at me.

"That's not the agreement we made," Anton argues with her.

"You always were a fool," The woman looks at Anton hatefully. "Give me the gun," she beckons him forward.

"No," Anton replies firmly.

"Thankfully I can overrule you by doing this," The old woman's sneer grows bigger as she raises her finger and the gun flies out of Anton's hand and into her suddenly solidified one.

"I'd say I'll see you in the next life you little harlot, but I don't think I will," She points the gun at me and pulls the trigger.

In a split second I come to terms with the fact that I'm about to die but at the last second Anton jumps in front of me yelling, "Nooooooo."

He's been shot; I can feel it as he falls back onto me. Then the sickening realization hits me that the bullet went right through him and lodged itself in me. We both fall to the ground as the old woman barrels over to us. I try to push Anton off of me and slide away but she looms over me.

"You're not getting away that easy," She snarls as she shoots a ball of red light down at me.

Without thinking I throw up my hands in defense but something inside me shifts and surges as a light blue light shoots out of my fingertips. My light fights against the red, pushing it away until it reaches the woman. It envelops her and she screams as if it's burning her. I feel myself getting weaker and weaker but the blue light continues to shoot out of my fingers until there's nothing left of the old woman.

My head falls back as my eyes feel heavy. I'm so tired and the blackness is taking over my consciousness. I let myself fade away as I hear someone calling out my name faintly.

# Chapter Thirty-Five

Elizabeth

The next time I open my eyes I wake up in a brightly lit hospital room. I blink a few times as I scan the room.

"Mom?" I ask in confusion as I see her slumped in a chair in the corner. Why was she here?

She jerks up as if she had been sleeping and rubs her eyes. "Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?"

I assess myself a little, "I think I'm okay."

My mom sighs in relief. "The doctor said you would be alright but he wasn't sure how long it would take you to open your eyes. I'm just so glad you're alright!"

A few minutes later the doctor comes in and checks my vitals. After he checks my chart he says, "Ah, I'm glad to see you're awake. You hit your head pretty hard when you hit the ground. The good news is that the bullet went right through without hitting any major organs, you were very lucky because only a few more inches to the right and it would have gotten you straight through your heart."

"Oh thank god," My mother crosses herself. If it were any other situation I would have thought that was funny as my parents have never been very religious.

"You'll probably need some physical therapy for your arm but we should be able to release you tomorrow. We just want to keep you overnight to make sure you don't have a concussion." The doctor smiles and shakes both my mother's and my hand.

Before he leaves I hesitantly ask the doctor the thing that's been on my mind since the first second I woke up, "My boyfriend, Nate, is he okay?"

The doctor turns and looks at me sympathetically. "I'm sorry, doctor-patient confidentiality prohibits me from sharing the condition of patients to anyone that is not family.

I sigh dramatically as he leaves the room. My mom glances at the door before turning back to me, "Do you want me to go find out how he's doing? I think I saw his mother in the waiting room earlier. Your dad is with her right now, but I'll send him up in a few minutes."

"That would be great." I reply. As she gets up to leave I add, "And Mom, thanks. For being here when I woke up."

She smiles and nods.

When I'm alone my thoughts float back to the night before; has it only been since last night? Or have I been unconscious longer than that? I can't help wondering what the blue light was that shot out of my fingers. Before I can dwell on it further I fall into another forgotten memory. Anton had a brother and although his name eludes me I remember being close to him. He was like the brother I had never had in that life. The pieces click into place and I finally know who tried to warn me of the impending danger. He must be back in the here and now too.

I hear a knock at the door breaking into my thoughts. When I look up I see Jason, my mom's boyfriend. Knowing what I know now I immediately recognize him from Nate and my most recent past life with Anton in New Orleans. He's his brother; the good child. His former name jabs at me from the dark recesses of my mind. Macon.

He looks at me in shock, and I realize that I've said the name out loud. "Nobody has called me that in a very long time." He says ruefully.

"I'm sorry," I blurt.

"It's okay; I guess we all know the names of the players in this game by now." He shrugs as he sits by my bedside. "I'm sorry for what my mother did to you all those years ago. Deep down I know that Anton wouldn't have blamed you for leaving him, but mother became obsessed. We're just lucky that you managed to destroy her last night. It's unfortunate that Anton had to die in the process, though. He was a good brother and a good person the last time around, he was just a little misguided."

"You were there last night?" I ask in shock.

He nods, "I was the one who called out to you. I called 911 and waited with you until the ambulance came."

"Thank you," I tell him sincerely.

"Don't mention it," He waves off my thanks. "You were always a good friend back then and I hope we can be friends again now."

We fall into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before I ask, "You tried to warn me didn't you; with the drawing in my sketchbook? It was you sketched into the corner, wasn't it?"

Jason smiles, "It took a lot of energy to do that. I slept for nearly a day and a half afterward."

"You scared me half to death," I laugh in relief.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I needed to get your attention." Jason looks apologetic as he ruffles my hair affectionately.

My mother returns a few minutes later and closes the door behind her.

I sit up painfully, "is Nate okay?" I ask eagerly.

She sits down at the edge of my bed and takes my hand. "He'll be okay. He was shot in the center of his chest. He lost a lot of blood and the doctors had to give him a transfusion but they think he'll be as good as new."

I sighed in relief. "I want to see him as soon as I can." I look back and forth between Jason and my mom, daring them to argue with me.

My mother gets up to readjust the pillow behind me. "He's unconscious right now, and as the doctor said earlier he wants to keep you overnight for observation, but if the doctors say it's alright tomorrow we'll take you up to see him. He's recovering in the ICU but they should move him out of there once he wakes up."

"Okay," I smile gratefully and then stifle a yawn.

"I'd tell you to get some sleep but you're not supposed to sleep if you've had a concussion." My mother laughs tiredly. She has dark circles under her eyes and I can tell that the past couple days have taken their toll on her.

Jason flips on the television and manages to find some crappy old reality show on one of the cable channels. We sit quietly watching the show for a few minutes. After a while my mother says, "I just realized that I never got to wish you a happy birthday, and I'm not sure now is the appropriate time after everything that has happened."

"It's okay mom, I understand." I tell her.

My mother gently grabs my chin and turns me so I'm facing her, "No, it's really not. I'm sorry I let our relationship get so strained after your father and I separated. I never wanted you to think I didn't love you, because I do. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

**********

The next day the doctor clears me to go home. My mother brought me some fresh clothes from home since the hospital had to cut the ones I was wearing off so they could assess my injuries. The news was calling the incident an attempted burglary by a known mob member. Anton's death was played off as a Good Samaritan shooting him in self-defense when he came to Nate and my aid. Jason had smirked ironically at that.

"This is pretty, is it new?" My mother asked as she held up the amethyst Nate had given me for my birthday.

"Yeah, Nate gave it to me for my birthday," I tell her as she helps me put it on.

"It looks good on you," she says, admiring it.

"Thanks," I smile sadly as I look down at it. My night with Nate had been amazing until Anton stepped in and ruined everything. "Can I go up and see him?" I ask, biting my lip.

"He's awake now; Julianna said I should bring you up as soon as you were released." My mother smiled at me reassuringly. She had accepted that dad was seeing Nate's mom, and both of them had been in and out of my room all night.

My mother, Jason, and I took the elevator to the sixth floor ICU. Nate and I had both been taken to Froedtert Hospital, the biggest hospital in Milwaukee, and the closest to where we had been shot. It was easy to get lost in the sprawling hospital given its size.

My dad was waiting for us when we got off of the elevator. He gave me a big hug and said, "I'm glad you get to come home today, I've been so worried about you."

I blinked rapidly to stop myself from crying as he led us down the hall to Nate's room. When I walked in I nearly started crying again as I saw all of the machines Nate was hooked up to.

"Don't cry baby, I'm going to be alright," Nate's voice comes out in a low, hoarse whisper.

I wipe at my eyes and sit down on the edge of his hospital bed. "How are you feeling?" I ask as I entwine my fingers with his.

"It hurts a little when I try to laugh or move around a lot but I'll be okay," He assures me.

"Why don't we give the kids a little time alone," Nate's mother suggests as she herds my parents and Jason towards the door. "I hear they make a mean chocolate cake down in the cafeteria."

Once we're alone I start to cry again. Nate reaches up and strokes my cheek comfortingly. "We're alright, we survived and we have each other; that is what is most important now." Nate whispers to me soothingly.

I choke back a sob and laugh harshly instead, "I should be comforting you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I ever knew Anton or that he was able to hurt you. I feel like this is entirely my fault."

"Don't beat yourself up; it's not your fault. We made it through this, and we're both going to live long, long lives together." Nate leans forward and runs his fingers through my hair.

"I love you," I murmur as I lean in to kiss him gently.

"I love you too," Nate replies, "for the rest of my existence."
Part Three

Elizabeth

Four Years Later...

"And now we rebuild, and hold onto one another. We focus on what's really important and forget everything else."

# Epilogue

Elizabeth

Four years had passed since Nate and I were shot and Anton died because of the ghost of his crazy mother. Nate graduated high school that spring second in his class. He got into Marquette University, his top choice college but he decided on an English major instead of going pre-law. He thinks he might want to write a book about us one day.

I finished high school the year after and ended up in the drawing program at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. I love it here and I wouldn't change my decision for one second.

Nate and I share an apartment downtown overlooking the lakefront centrally located between our two schools. Belinda, Luciana, and Surewood come over every weekend and relax. Luciana lives in Illinois with Surewood now where she's finishing up her final year at Northwestern and Belinda is in her first year at UW-Milwaukee.

I had had the hardest time coming to terms with the fact that I was a witch, who could do things as Belinda liked to teasingly say. The blue ball of light that shot out of my fingers and destroyed the ghost had opened up a whole new life I was still getting used to. Who knew I'd had so much power bottled up inside of me waiting to be unleashed? I mean sure it was so much easier to have magically clean dishes with the snap of my fingers but it was still shocking to see...

"Baby what are you doing?" Nate asks, interrupting my train of thought as he kisses my shoulder blade.

"Just writing a blog," I reply as I shut my laptop screen.

"A blog about what?" Nate asks as he sprawls out on the bed beside me.

"College life mostly," I crawl into his arms and kiss his chest through his black fitted t-shirt. He would always have a scar from the bullet wound he received that night four years earlier.

"We have to get ready soon; Luciana and company will be here in a few minutes. I can't wait to tell them our good news." Nate looks down at me lovingly as he rubs the ring finger on my left hand. He proposed on Valentine's Day with the sweetest proposal I'd ever heard. He told me that he didn't care what he did with his life as long as I was by his side for the rest of it and that he'd make sure that I never have an unhappy day ever again. He'd even be happy doing costumed tours of Versailles as long as we were together. So of course I had accepted.

"I suppose you're right," I stand and stretch just as the buzzer rings. Nate and I make our way slowly to the door.

I don't care where life takes us. Maybe I'll become a famous artist with my drawings on display at the Louvre, or maybe Nate will write the next 'Great American Novel'; who really knows? I don't care if we end up rich and living in a Park Avenue apartment in New York or as poor Louvre tour guides living in a crummy apartment in a bad part of Paris as long as we have each other.

What I do know is that I will love Nate for the rest of this life; and any others that may come along.

# Author's Note

While Elizabeth and Nate's story is completely made up from my imagination I did incorporate some real historical events and people as I set the stage for their love story in part one.

Elizabeth was a lady-in-waiting for Marie Antoinette; the infamous Queen of France who lived like a rock star and met her untimely death at the guillotine on October 16, 1793. I wanted Elizabeth's stance on Marie Antoinette to be neither favorable nor unfavorable. As a lady-in-waiting who would have been at Versailles for four years Elizabeth would have been Marie Antoinette's companion and sometimes confidant since she was very young. I thought it was important that even though her lifetime as Marie Antoinette's lady-in-waiting was long over she still kept the Queen's secrets to herself when asked by Nate if the rumors about the Queen's lovers were true.

The September Massacre of 1792 which took Elizabeth away from Nate was a wave of killings that claimed the lives of around 1,500 people although at the time many believed that tens of thousands had been slaughtered.

As for part two I incorporated a mixture of fictional places and real locations. For the French club's trip to Paris I scoured the internet doing virtual tours of the Louvre and Versailles to get the feel right.

The bookstore that Elizabeth finds her old journal in is based on an English-language bookstore called Shakespeare and Company in the 5th arrondissement named in honor of another bookstore of the same name that was frequented by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The original Shakespeare and Company was in the 6th arrondissement and closed in 1940 during the German occupation of France in World War II and never reopened.

Some of the scenes set in Brookfield and Milwaukee, Wisconsin are real where others are fictional. Sadly Witches Brew, the store that Luciana works in, is not real. It was meant to be ironic to have a Wiccan supply store just a stone's throw from Marquette University, a (real) private Catholic university in Milwaukee.

The Emperor of China and Brady Street are both real places on the eastside of Milwaukee. At one point the Emperor of China, a Chinese restaurant, was next door to an Italian grocery store called Glorioso's; which has since relocated across the street.

The Brumder Mansion, which Lizzie tells Nate about, is a bed and breakfast on Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee. I discovered the Brumder Mansion by accident when I was researching haunted locations in Wisconsin. The Brumder Mansion was built in 1910 by George Brumder Sr.; who made his fortune publishing German language newspapers, reading material, and sheet music. Unfortunately George died before the house was completed but his family lived in the mansion for ten years before the house was eventually sold to the Lutheran Church and turned into an activity center before being sold again and turned into a bed and breakfast in 1998. The bed and breakfast is still in operation today and there are numerous accounts of paranormal activity.

I had a lot of fun writing Finding Elizabeth and I learned a lot about places that are well known to most of the world as well as other places that are more obscure and may be only known to a small group of people. Sometimes when you do a little looking you can find out the most amazing things about places or people that you never would have known. Who knows, maybe that old decrepit house on the corner of your block has a rich history waiting to be told. You never know until you dive in and do some digging.

# About the Author

Taylor Fenner grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. She's been an avid reader with a vivid imagination since she was very young. Most of her childhood can be described as having her nose stuck in one book or another. She's a strong believer in ghosts and the paranormal, which led to her interest in writing paranormal romance.

When she's not busy writing you can find her reading and adding to her extensive book collection, working on photomanipulations on her computer as a hobby, taking photographs, cooking as often as possible, and fighting with her cross-eyed cat, Tiger.

Taylor still currently lives in Wisconsin, not far from where her debut novel The Haunting Love is set. Taylor is the author of The Haunting Love, Finding Elizabeth, and the first book in her Eternals Trilogy, Out of Darkness.

You can connect with Taylor online on Facebook: www.facebook.com/taylorfennerwrites, on Twitter: www.twitter.com/taylorfenner, or on her website: www.taylorfenner.com.

Turn the page for an excerpt from Taylor Fenner's debut novel, The Haunting Love, now available in ebook and paperback from Whiskey Creek Press!

# Prologue

Izabella

The light was getting brighter and brighter, it was unrelenting. They tell you not to go towards the light, because the light signifies the end of life. In my case it was unavoidable, gone was the sound of blaring music from my car speakers and the pain from the crash. I felt numb and my body felt weightless as I traveled towards the light like a moth to a streetlight. I'm getting ahead of myself, ahead of my story. To truly see how I got here I have to start from the beginning...

# Chapter 1

Izabella

"I like you, Johnny," I said; my voice as shaky as my hands. Johnny smiled and opened his mouth to reply, but his only reply was a loud, "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!"

I sat up in bed, realizing it had only been a dream. It felt so real though, I thought as I ran my fingers through my hair. I would never tell Johnny my true feelings in real life. He'd probably laugh in my face at the very idea of me, Izabella De Luca, the chubby girl, liking him. I hit the "off" button on my alarm and brushed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Iza are you up?" Quinn, my annoying nineteen-year-old brother, asked, barging into the room. Quinn still lives with our parents while he goes to college nearby.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I replied burying my face in my pillow and silently wishing I could sleep a few more hours. Quinn nodded, acknowledging that he saw me awake and left the room so I could get dressed. I climbed out of bed and stumbled my way to the closet so I could find something to wear.

I have a huge walk-in closet full of clothes, but I only really wear about half of them. I sifted through the racks of clothes before finally deciding on wearing my favorite blue t-shirt and an old pair of faded jeans. I started pulling on the clothes I was most comfortable in, even though my best friend Cecilia keeps telling me that if I dressed a little nicer Johnny might like me back. I've liked Johnny Becker since the first moment I saw him on the first day of freshman year. I've never really talked to him other than when I'm ordering food at the fast food chain he works at, but I've sometimes caught him looking at me and it always makes me wonder if maybe he likes me back.

I really don't think changing the way I dress would make him like me any different than the way he feels about me now.

Yeah, whatever way that is. He probably doesn't even know I exist other than as a customer at the place he works at.

"Iza hurry up before you're late for school!" my mother yelled from downstairs, breaking into my thoughts.

"I'll be down in like, five minutes!" I replied while I closed the door to the closet and hurried down the hall to the bathroom I share with Quinn. I stood in front of the mirror as I brushed my teeth. As I finished up I glanced up at my reflection in the mirror. With long red hair and hazel eyes I'm not too bad-looking. It's the rest of me that always makes me frown. I've never been thin, some days I really didn't care what people think about me, but on days like today I start thinking that no guy will ever like me because I'm curvier than most of the other girls.

I pulled my hair up roughly, secured it in a ponytail with a hair tie and rushed to finish up in the bathroom. A couple minutes later I raced into the kitchen to grab my lunch from my mom and an energy bar I could eat on the way to school.

"Morning mom, dad," I said to my parents. My mom stood at the stove flipping pancakes for my dad and Quinn, who didn't have a class until noon. My dad was reading his newspaper at the kitchen table like he did every morning.

"Good morning kiddo!" he exclaimed looking up from his paper and taking in my rushed attitude, "Your first day of Junior year, are you excited?"

"Totally," I said barely masking my sarcasm. I can't believe summer's over already, "Well I have to get going or I'm going to be late," I said as I kissed them good-bye and took off out the door.

I walked out to my old blue Corsica. It had been my dad's first car and when I passed my driver's test last year my father gave it to me. I backed out of the narrow driveway onto the street and sped off to school. I noticed I was wicked late as I glanced at the clock on the dash. I had to be to school in five minutes but luckily my family only lived down the street from the high school.

I pulled into a parking spot in the back lot and gathered my bags to take in. I had a messenger style bag for most of my notebooks and a separate brown paper bag for my lunch.

"There you are!" Cecilia yelled racing over to me from the entrance to the building, "I've been looking all over for you."

"I overslept," I explained as we walked back towards the door Cecilia had come out of.

"You sleep too much," Cecilia teased, scanning my outfit. A look of disgust came across her face as she looked back up at my face. "Okay, what are you wearing?"

"Jeans and a t-shirt," I replied smoothing down the bottom of the t-shirt.

Cecilia sighed. "Iza we went shopping all last week and what do you wear? A ratty old pair of jeans and a t-shirt."

I just shrugged at her, I really didn't need her to tell me what to wear. "So what class do you have first period?" I asked changing the subject.

"I have Geometry, what about you?" Cecilia asked.

I scanned my schedule, "I have Chemistry," I said frowning. I hate science, I always have because it's so boring. The bell rang and I told Cecilia that I'd meet up with her at lunch, the one class period we discovered we had together. I dropped off my bag at my locker, pulled out a notebook and went to go find the Chemistry classroom.

I walked into class and realized I didn't have any close friends in class with me, so I picked a lab table in the back of class.

"Yo Johnny, over here man!" I snapped my head up just in time to see Johnny enter the room and slide into a seat next to his best friend Cameo. The two guys were as different as day and night. Johnny was taller with blondish brown hair, and he had amazing green eyes that I love to look into. Cameo was good-looking too, but in a different sort of way. He was shorter than Johnny by a few inches, with dark brown hair and gray eyes.

Briefly for a minute as I was studying him, Johnny turned around and smiled at me. I blushed and looked down at my notebook.

The Chemistry teacher, Mr. Vance, walked into class a few minutes later and strode up to his desk. "It was so nice of you to choose your own partners, but I've made a seating arrangement of my own." He said in a big booming voice. He walked up to the first desk and started listing off names. "Marissa Andoli your partner will be Aaron Bates," he said pointing to a girl in the front row and a guy sitting at the table next to me. With a groan they reluctantly moved to their new seats. He pointed to the table behind them. "Jonathan Becker your partner is...Izabella De Luca."

My face turned pale white as I got up from the seat I had been sitting in and walked up to the desk Mr. Vance was pointing to. I couldn't believe I got Johnny as a lab partner. That meant I'd have to talk to him every day for the rest of the year.

God what if I say something stupid? I silently asked myself.

Mr. Vance went on assigning seats as Johnny joined me at the lab table.

"You can call me Johnny, everyone else does," Johnny said, looking at me with a cocky grin.

"I know," I reply, trying my best to look past him. I swear if I looked in his eyes I'd be lost.

"Oh, yeah, anyway, so just to warn you now, I'm not any good at this stuff," Johnny said pointing around the room. "There's a very good chance I'll blow something up within a week."

I laughed and said, "Its okay, I hate science anyway, just give me a little notice before something blows up."

We managed to get through class without blowing anything up and I actually managed to have a real conversation with Johnny. It was definite progress even if we just ended up being friends. The bell rang way too soon and I pulled out my schedule to see what class I had next period.

Great I have Algebra next, I inwardly groan.

I soon realized that I had all the classes I hated that morning and didn't have anything fun until after lunch.

By the time I got to lunchroom I'd had enough of my new teachers, who seemed insanely strict and mean. I met Cecilia at the same table we'd been eating at for the past couple years.

"I hate school!" I exclaimed dropping into the seat next to Cecilia.

Cecilia laughed. "But it's only the first day."

"So? It still sucks, I swear I got stuck with the strictest teachers this school has!" I said, tearing into my turkey sandwich.

"Who do you have?" Cecilia asked taking out her schedule.

"I have Chemistry with Vance, Algebra with Monty, Civics with Thornton, and Gym with Spencer so far," I replied, reading off the list of teachers on my schedule.

"Wow Iza, you're right, you do have the worst. But it'll get better; who do you have this afternoon?" Cecilia replied digging around for popcorn in her microwave bag.

"I have Art with Higgins, English with McDowell, Study Hall, and then Psychology with Valentine," I said crunching on a carrot.

"Well at least you have good teachers in the afternoon. I have the hard ones," Cecilia said gathering her garbage just as the bell rang.

The rest of the day was a blur. I soon found out that I had English, Study Hall and Psychology with Johnny. At the end of our last class together Johnny walked over to my desk and said, "We have four classes together, is that fate or what?"

"I never pegged you for someone who would be into Psych class," I told him as I gathered my notebooks and tried my best not to look up at him.

"There's a lot more to me than you think Izabella," Johnny says so quietly that I barely heard him.

"Iza," I say correcting him.

"What?"

"Everybody calls me Iza." I explained as I walked out of class.

Turn the page for an exciting excerpt from the first book in Taylor Fenner's brand new Eternals Trilogy,

Out of Darkness!

# Chapter One

Rumors

My parents told me not to go into the woods; the woods that surrounded the house on all sides and went on for miles had been rumored to have been haunted since the 1790s.

It had been my great-great something-or-other uncle whose family disappeared all those years ago. My great-uncle Jacob, his wife, and their four children's bodies have never been found. All that was found were bloody petticoats belonging to Jacob's wife Lydia and strange symbols etched into a few trees in a clearing two miles from their small secluded farm house.

Not long after the mysterious disappearance Jacob's much younger brother Andrew moved onto the property with his new bride. People from the nearby Chocolay Township speculated that Andrew killed his brother's family so he could take over the land. Another rumor said that Jacob had built his house on Indian land and the neighboring tribe had killed him and his sons; then taken the women into their tribe as revenge. Yet the most popular rumor of all surrounded the mysterious etchings. The townsfolk insisted Jacob and his family had been cohorts with the Devil and he had simply dragged them back to hell.

I had heard all these rumors and more throughout my childhood. Every time I had come home from school crying after one of my peers had called me a dirty name my parents would laugh it off. My entire family are Wiccans, a Pagan nature-based religion; something very uncommon in the Marquette area of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Even after Marquette was incorporated and it grew into the college town it is today its people were still unaccepting of people who were the least bit different; especially our family; the Weatherlys. Yet even though my parents told me to ignore the other kids I felt as if they were hiding something from me. They were oddly overprotective of me. My father demanded to drive me the three miles out of the woods to the main road and always wanted to know who I was with. If my parents didn't know them I wasn't allowed near them. On the other hand, my 20-year-old brother Sam could go and do anything he wished. I didn't have any real friends, so most of the time my only companion was my old, worn out deck of tarot cards.

Another boring Friday night, I thought solemnly to myself. But this hadn't been just any Friday night; it was the night of my high school's homecoming game. Angelo Desanti; star quarterback , most popular guy in the senior class, and boyfriend of my arch enemy Julie Bryant; had asked me to come watch him play during our latest super-secret coffee date. I desperately wanted to go but my father had said no.

It was now nearly midnight and the game was long over. My parents slept soundly down the hall as I looked blankly out my bedroom window. I looked out at the dark gloomy forest that I had always been so afraid of. I felt the familiar tug of rebellion rising as my heart asked, "why not sneak out?"

I smirked as I pulled on an old NMU sweatshirt over my flannel pajamas. I'd just take a short walk and be home before my parents even knew I was gone. As I poked my head out my bedroom door to make sure the hall was clear I flipped the light off and grabbed my running shoes. I waited until I was safely down the creaky staircase before slipping on my shoes and slipping out into the night.

There was a 100 foot square clearing in which our house sat. At times I felt as if I was living in a prison. I was trapped in a place where the sun never, ever shone because of the tall trees that had grown up and over the clearing. One couldn't even tell if the moon was out because you couldn't see the sky above. It didn't take long for me to disappear into the woods unnoticed.

Luckily I had remembered a flashlight because the forest was pitch-black and the ground was littered with fallen trees and branches. I wove in and out of the trees in a zigzag pattern, stopping occasionally to grab onto a tree for support when I nearly lost my footing. On and on I walked, unaware if seconds, minutes, or hours had passed until I saw a strange glowing light up ahead.

What could it be? I wondered silently. There wasn't another house for many miles. Some of my classmates used to joke about the "freaky things" my family was undoubtedly doing so far back in seclusion. As I came closer I saw the light was the orange glow of a bonfire. I took in the sight of the clearing and suddenly knew exactly where I was. My path hadn't been random; it had led me to the supposedly haunted clearing where shrill screams had been rumored to have been heard late at night. Then I saw them; seven cloaked figures gathered around the bonfire.
