the sword from his heart, but he grunted out in pain, and she knew to let it be.
She cradled his head in her hands, and knelt over him, crying.
“I want you to know,” he said with effort, blood dripping from his mouth, “that I never betrayed you.”
“I know,” Caitlin said through tears. “Blake, I’m so sorry.”
He nodded, then smiled at her weakly, blood on his lips.
“I love you,” he said. “And I always will.”
He put his hand into hers, thrusting something into her palm, and then closed his eyes, dead.
She looked down, and saw that it was a piece of sea glass. The piece from Pollepel.
Caitlin leaned back and wailed, a horrible wail of grief. She had never felt so torn apart. She would have given anything for that sword to have struck her instead.
The crowd, at first shocked, now erupted into a roar of approval.
“CAITLIN! CAITLIN!” they chanted. Their screams and stamping shook the entire stadium.
It was clearly not the reaction that Kyle and the judges had hoped for.
They both got up and stormed away from their balcony, shutting down the games for the day.
Caitlin ran. She was in a field of flowers, up to her waist, the flowers a brilliant medley of colors.
It was a bright day, the sun directly overhead, and in the distance, her father waited.
But as she ran, the flowers turned into a field of swords, all plunged into the earth, their tips sticking up and shaking in the wind. She ran through them, cutting a path, heading for her father.
This time, there was nothing between the two of them. As she ran and ran, he got closer. She ran for all she had, and soon, she was in his arms.
She could not believe it, but she was really in his arms.
He hugged her, and she could feel his strength coursing through her body. It was the hug of a father who loved her, the father she’d always longed to have. She wanted to crane back her head, to look up at his face, but she was too happy to just be in his arms.
“I’m so proud of you,” he said over her shoulder. “You are your father’s daughter.”
She smiled, feeling totally encased in warmth.
“When will I see you?” she asked.
“Tomorrow,” he said, firmly.
He pulled her back, and looked down at her intently. The fierceness of his eyes burned through her. They were like two burning suns, staring right at her, and she almost had to look away from the intensity of it.
“Tomorrow. We will be together, forever.”
Caitlin sat upright, breathing hard.
She looked all about herself, and realized that it was just a dream. She was back in her cell.
It had felt so real, felt as if her father had been with her, right there in the room. As she rubbed her arms and shoulders, she could still feel his warmth.
What had the dream meant? It was so different than the others. She had never had one like it before.
She thought back to the day before, to the fierce fighting. She stood and stretched her limbs slowly, and felt an ache in all of them. She was covered with cuts and scratches and bruises, wounds which, for a vampire, should have healed more quickly. But these were deep wounds: sword slashes, buckler punctures, lion bites. She was rusty. It ached for her just to walk across the room. She had no idea how she could survive another day of fighting.
More than anything, she pained to think of Blake. She remembered his last gruesome moments, as he was killed by those vampires. His dying in her arms. His final words. She felt like dying herself.
She had been so wrong about him. She should have run to his defense sooner. She blamed herself. And she wished the sword blow had been for her.
Caitlin looked up, as several vampire guards suddenly appeared, the silver shackles at the ready.
They opened her silver cell door, and she knew that within a matter of moments, she would be back out there for round two.
She thought of her father, of how they would be together soon. At least, that was some solace.
Perhaps, soon, this would all be over.
Standing at the entrance tunnel, Caitlin was unshackled by the guards, and she walked freely out into the Coliseum’s floor. She needed no prodding this time. She was eager to meet the day, to fight again, to finally meet her destiny. She was tired, deeply tired. Everyone she had loved, she had lost.
Sam. Caleb. Blake. Her father. Rose. Jade….There seemed to be no end to the loss.
She was tired of trying to hold onto everything. If today was going to be her last day—and she felt that it was—then she was prepared. She would go down in style. She would give all these ghoulish vampires the spectacle they wanted, and fight with more ferocity than she’d ever had.
As she walked out onto the Coliseum, thousands of vampires rose their feet, chanting her name:
“CAITLIN! CAITLIN!”
Caitlin looked up and saw the judge stand in his booth, Kyle at his side. They both scowled down at her.
“And now,” yelled the judge, “the elephants!”
A huge roar rose up. On the far side of the Coliseum, an enormous door opened.
Caitlin couldn’t believe it. Charging right at her, single file, was a herd of elephants. She counted six of them. The ground shook with each step they took.
They raised back their heads and roared. The roar alone nearly split her ears.
The crowd, thrilled, cheered them on.
On top of each elephant rode a vicious vampire. These vampires were different—bigger than the others, covered in a slick black armor from head to toe, with grotesque masks covering their faces. They carried long swords, javelins, crossbows, and all sort of weaponry.
Caitlin looked down at her puny sword and shield, and realized she was terribly outmatched. It wouldn’t even be a fair battle.
She closed her eyes and breathed deep. She tried to enter another realm, to enter a state where fighting meant not fighting. She tried to remember everything that Aiden taught her.
Caitlin tried to block out all the noise, all the action around her. She forced herself to focus on the closest elephant, charging right for her.
The vampire riding it leaned back and aimed his spear at her.
She pretended not to notice, as moments later, he hurled it.
At the last second, she rolled out of the way, let the spear plunge into the ground beside her.
It was a close call, and the crowd gasped in disappointment.
She rolled over, extracted the spear from the ground, and knelt down low. The elephant was only feet away, and as it lifted its huge foot, about to stomp her, Caitlin lodged the base of the spear into the ground, its tip pointing up, and got out of the way.
The horrific screech of the elephant filled the air, as it stepped down on the spear tip. The screech shook the entire stadium, as the spear lodged its way into the elephant’s foot.
The elephant collapsed to its knees with a tremendous crash, and its rider went flying off, headfirst into the ground. As the animal collapsed, belly first, it crushed its rider beneath it.
The other elephants, right behind it, couldn’t stop in time. They all tripped over their compatriot, and they all went crashing to the ground, rolling every which way. All of their riders went flying off.
The crowd roared.
Caitlin took advantage of the chaos. She grabbed a spear and threw it, piercing one vampire right through the
