Chapter 2

Just as she believed, Sarah had a time of her life on the trip.

London was just as she imagined. London Eye, Tower, British museum, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Notting Hill, Buckingham Palace, The Queen’s guards… oh those cute guards!

Sarah knew she acted like a typical tourist. She was overly excited and taking photos of everything she could. She was sightseeing and visiting various places during the day and evening and nights she would use to visit pubs and restaurants that tourists rarely visited, but only the locals. That way, she ate and drank what locals did and got an insight into the real London life, the one that most of the tourists never had a chance to experience.

Her stay in England lasted for 10 days and it included organized tours in London, experiencing the city on her own, and an English village tour. Oh, how she loved that one. Riding the bus with the guide and all elderly couples, enjoying everything about those cozy, lively places, local cuisines, sights, B&Bs where the group stayed during the tour.

What gave Sarah a source of entertainment were the hushed comments and side glances she got from the rest of the passengers. How would she not when she was the only one in the group younger than 70. But after a couple of days, they all warmed up to her and started showing her pictures of their grandchildren, treating her lunches and souvenirs and such, and at the end of the tour, she was sad to say goodbye to them.

Her next stop was Paris, and there, too, she spent a week. The city of light took her breath away. Everything about Paris fascinated Sarah to no end. Two days she spent in Louvre Museum. One day simply couldn’t be enough to see everything and enjoy it properly. Eiffel Tower and the view from it was something one can never forget. Notre Dame, all those castles and their history… satisfied Sarah’s cravings for knowledge and beauty.

Just as she promised, every night Sarah would call her parents and give them a complete report of what she did that day. It’s not like Adaline and Richard haven’t seen these places before, but either way, they listened to her excited blabbering.

Maybe they were right, maybe she shouldn’t have embarked on this journey alone. Maybe she should have called one of her friends from college to go with her or accepted her parents’ request to join her… even though she was constantly surrounded by people, she would feel alone at night. But that feeling would disappear as soon as the new day would come and present her with a chance to discover some new wonders.

Whole her life, Sarah had a feeling of not belonging no matter where she was. Not while she lived with those that gave birth to her, oh, especially not with them! not when she lived at the boarding school, not when she stayed with Michael and Anna, even though it was a short period… it was better with Adaline and Richard. She considered them her family, her parents, but no matter what, Sarah always felt like she was missing something. Like some part of her soul was misplaced, and she had to find it to feel complete. That and the immense pull she felt towards everything European made her embark on this journey alone.

Now, when she was on the move, experiencing everything she just read about in books, she felt like that hole in her was filling itself. She was getting to where she was supposed to be, she could feel it.

Sarah took the train from Paris to Rome rather than an airplane. Instead of a night ride, she boarded on the first-morning departure, so she could watch all the beautiful landscapes she was passing by. They were extraordinary, very different from what she was used to seeing in the USA. Almost all the time of the ride, Sarah spent standing next to the window, careful not to miss something.

After whole 11 hours on the train, Eternal city was Sarah’s to explore. A taxi she got in front of the main train station took her to the hotel she will stay in. It was a cute, small hotel, and judging by the younger guy that took her bags and the older lady that worked at the reception, and the two of them looked so much alike it was obvious they were related… Sarah could easily conclude that it was a family-owned business, and she was even happier for choosing it as her base in Rome.

Her hosts were kind and welcoming, and they recommended her some places to visit and foods to try. Now that she was getting down a bit from her buzz caused by constantly moving around, she decided to take it slow and spend some more time talking with the locals and getting to know their customs and traditions.

Rome indeed felt different from the rest of the cities she has visited so far. Sarah felt some spirit she was yet to fully experience, but ever since she arrived she felt good, she felt like now that she’s here everything will be ok.

Tired from the whole day trip, Sarah grabbed pizza in the restaurant across the street from her hotel and headed to sleep. She had a feeling tomorrow will be one hell of a day with everything she planned to do.

~ ~ ~

It was late afternoon when Luke couldn’t take it anymore. He dismissed the board of directors he was having a meeting with and without another word headed home.

For two weeks now, he was feeling like he was going mad. The itching underneath his skin was reaching unbearable levels. He had a constant feeling of something like a thousand ants crawling up and down his body, and it was driving him crazy. He was irritable, ill-tempered, and he was snapping at his subordinates easier than ever. If they were not afraid of him before, now they definitely were.

No matter how hard he was trying to deny it and suppress it, his instincts, those most basic and primordial once were not letting him even breathe in peace! She was now that close that he could probably just close his eyes and walk to her, only following his instincts.

He needed to see her, and that had to be soon. Luke was perfectly aware of that. Now that she was here, he won’t be able to hold himself back.

As soon as he entered through the front gate, Luke headed straight to his home office where his cabinet with the most expensive liquors was. He found the bottle of his favorite rum and after a deep breath that he took, inhaling the scent that brought back the memories of times when he was cruising the seas under the Jolly Roger flag, Luke took a mouthful of liquid and swallowed it fast.

One thing he was sure of, he hated her. He hated her for over 600 years for not being there, for not existing, for not loving him.

Unfortunately, he was sure of yet another thing. He won’t be able to resist the call. It was already too strong. He had no choice but to face her, or at least see her because he was no coward that would run away, and running away was the only other option.

With another big gulp, Luke bottomed up his drink and grabbed his jacket heading out. I’m coming, mate.