Destined Read Free

and screamed: “Vampire! Vampire!”
    As he did, the church bells rang out.
    Caitlin saw torches appear on all sides of her. People were coming out of the woodwork in every direction, as the watchman kept screaming, and as the bells tolled. It was a witch-hunt, and they all seemed to be heading directly for her.
    Caitlin increased her speed, running so hard that her ribs hurt. Gasping for breath, she reached the oak doors of the church just in time. She yanked one of them open, then wheeled and slammed it behind her with a bang.
    Inside, she looked frantically around, and spotted a shepherd’s staff. She grabbed it and slid it across the double doors, barring them.
    The second she did, she heard a tremendous crash at the door, as dozens of hands pounded on it. The doors shook, but did not give way. The staff was holding—at least for now.
    Caitlin quickly surveyed the room. The church, thankfully, was empty. It was huge, its arched ceilings soaring hundreds of feet high. It was a cold, empty place, hundreds of pews on a marble floor; on the far side, above the altar, hung several burning candles.
    As she looked, she could have sworn she saw movement at the far end of the room.
    The pounding grew more intense, and the door began to shake. Caitlin burst into action, running down the aisle, towards the altar. As she reached it, she saw she had been right: there was someone there.
    Kneeling quietly, with his back to her, was a priest.

    Caitlin wondered how he could ignore all this, ignore her presence, how he could be so deeply immersed in prayer in a time like this. She hoped he wouldn’t turn her over to her mob.
    “Hello?” Caitlin said.
    He didn’t turn.
    Caitlin hurried over to the other side, facing him. He was an older man, with white hair, clean shaven, and light blue eyes that seem to stare into space as he knelt in prayer. He didn’t bother looking up at her. There was something else, too, that she sensed about him. Even in her current state, she could tell that there was something different about him. She knew that he was of her kind.
    A vampire.
    The pounding grew louder, and one of the hinges broke, and Caitlin looked back in fear. This mob seemed determined, and she didn’t know where else to go.
    “Help me, please!” Caitlin urged.
    He continued his prayer for several moments. Finally, without looking at her, he said: “How can they kill what’s already dead?”
    There was a splintering of wood.
    “ Please ,” she urged. “Don’t turn me over to them.”
    He rose slowly, quiet and composed, and pointed to the altar. “In there,” he said. “Behind the curtain. There’s a trap door. Go!”
    She followed his finger, but saw only a large podium, covered in a satin cloth. She ran over to it, pulled back the cloth, and saw the trap door. She opened it, and squeezed her body into the small space.
    Tucked in, she peered out through the tiny crack. She watched the priest hurry over to a side door, and kick it open with surprising force.

    Just as he did, the main front doors were kicked in by the mob, and they came tearing down the aisle.
    Caitlin quickly slid back the curtain all the way. She hoped they hadn’t spotted her. She watched through a crack in the wood, and saw just enough to see the mob racing down the aisle, seemingly right for her.
    “That way!” screamed the priest. “The vampire fled that way!”
    He pointed out the side door, and the mob rushed right past him, and back into the night.
    After several seconds, the never-ending stream of bodies fled from the church, and all was finally silent.
    The priest closed the door, locking it behind them.
    She could hear his footsteps, walking towards her, and Caitlin, shaking with fear, with cold, slowly opened the trap door.
    He slid back the curtain and looked down at her.
    He extended a gentle hand.
    “Caitlin,” he said, and smiled. “We’ve been waiting a very long time for you.”

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