LOVE BEYOND TIME

CHAPTER 5

EMILY FOSTER

We are very close now, and I hear the knife dropping from my hand as he presses his body closer against mine.

“You’re crazy! You can’t keep me here; I need to leave now. Stop with this talk about vampires and wolves!”, I murmur, and he looks at me with more anger.

“They exist! They’re real!”, he says softly, and I shake my head.

“Then prove it to me!”

“You had your proof when you were almost killed in the forest. I was willing to believe you and let you go, but after you tried to kill me, I think you’re involved with the vampires and the king.”

I furrow my brow, looking at him closely, before asking:

“King?”

Axel nods, and I remain silent, at this moment, my gaze shifts to the other side of the cabin, where I see swords and types of weapons that haven’t been used in centuries.

This just keeps getting worse.

I keep looking around, noticing that they don’t have electric lights; they use fire. There’s nothing electric or modern here, and I glance at the wooden floor of the cabin.

I look at Axel standing in front of me, noticing that he’s not wearing normal clothes like a modern man, either. My mind is racing with impossible possibilities, and I don’t want to believe them.

Vampires don’t exist in the modern world.

I blink, remembering when Axel used an ancient, unknown language to talk about the stone, I didn’t understand it at the time, but now I do, and everything is clear to me.

I feel tears in my eyes streaming down my face before looking at Axel again.

“Axel, what year are we in?”, I ask in a low voice, and he looks at me confused.

“You are the craziest human girl I’ve ever seen. You talk about strange things, wear strange clothes, and wear pants like a man. Many might think you’re a witch.”

I hold myself back from screaming this time.

I’m right.

“Tell me what day it is, please…”, I ask, afraid of his answer.

“Today is October 6th, 1645.”

I widen my eyes, hoping he’s joking with me, but he’s looking at me with a serious expression, and I shake my head, feeling the tears wetting my face.

“Don’t joke with me; this isn’t possible…”, I whisper, struggling against his body, before looking at the necklace around my neck.

“No, please. I need to go home. I need to go back.”

Axel continues holding me with his strong arms. I don’t know how this is possible, but I’m no longer in the year 2024; somehow, the power of this necklace brought me to the year 1645.

I’m 379 years in the past.

Panic begins to take over me, and I close my eyes tightly, trying to wake up from this nightmare. Maybe I fell asleep at my work desk and I am dreaming about this necklace.

“Emily!”

“Oh my God! No, no,no! This can’t be happening to me!”, I cry, and I blink when Axel holds me tighter against the wall and his body.

I fix my gaze on his golden pupils, remembering the skull I found in the forest.

His voice.

It’s him.

I’m in the same place as the laboratory, but 379 years earlier.

“It was you, it was always you. It was you on that road after the car accident; it was you calling me; it was you in the lab!”, I say with wide eyes.

It was always him.

He was trying to communicate with me somehow, and when I touched the necklace at that moment, I traveled through time.

“Dammit!”, I say, seeing him irritated with my swearing in front of me.

“Don’t speak like a harlot, Emily!”, he reprimands me.

“Axel, I need to leave, I need to return to my time. I’m not a threat; I’m not a spy for the vampires, I swear, please.”

I try to break free, but he continues holding me, alert after I try to kill him with the knife.

“I think you hit your head very hard when you fell. I don’t understand a single word that’s coming out of your mouth.”

I sigh, frustrated and irritated at the same time, and I remember that if I’m in 1645, then it means he doesn’t speak the same way I do, and there are things he can’t understand.

“I’m not crazy, I’m not from this time, and that explains my strange clothes and the way I talk. I don’t belong at this time, Axel!”, I shout, feeling my tears wetting my face.

“What are you talking about?”, he asks, and I blink before deciding to tell the truth, or I know he’ll never let me go.

“I was born in 2000, I was working in the year 2024, and this necklace somehow brought me to this time. I’m from the future!”, I say, and he widens his eyes, looking at me as if I’m crazy once again.

“Please, you need to believe me…”

“You want me to believe that you were born many centuries in the future and somehow traveled through time and can’t return to your home?”, he asks, and I nod quickly, but he shakes his head.

I sigh when he lets me go, and I turn my head, seeing a man with golden eyes entering the cabin to say something important to Axel.

“Axel, we need to talk about the vampires now. We’re waiting for you in the meeting cabin.”

“Tie the human girl up again and make sure she doesn’t try to escape this time!” he orders, and I scream, hitting him hard against his body.

“Axel! No, please! Don’t do this; I need to go home, please…”, I beg, and he looks at me with a serious expression on his face.

“Your home in 2024? I think that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard a human say…”

“I hate you! You can’t do this to me!”, I scream, seeing him looking irritated with my words.

I keep screaming as the other wolf ties me up again, handing me a cup of water, so I don’t die of thirst, but I look at him angrily, feeling my face wet with tears.

“You are the foulest-mouthed human I’ve ever seen in my entire life. We don’t allow humans here, so if you want to stay alive, I suggest you don’t anger Axel. He’s a man with a good heart, but he doesn’t tolerate this kind of human behavior.”

I look at the man angrily before sighing and closing my eyes tightly.

I’m still confused about everything that has happened, and I still don’t know how this stone did this to me, but I can’t stay in a time from the past when wolves and vampires existed in the world.

I don’t know how much time has passed since I’ve been sitting and tied up in this place, but I feel exhausted. I can feel the tears wetting my face as I close my eyes.

The situation I’m in now is beyond horrible; I’m in the past, in a place where nothing I know truly exists.

I’m trapped in a time where supernatural creatures exist in a way I never thought possible.

I sigh, trying to relax my body. My clothes are still wet, but the cabin is warm with the fireplace.

I look at my hands before looking at the ropes around my wrist. Axel seemed to be going to do something very important, and the other wolf didn’t tie me up as tightly as before.

The knife is still on the floor, and I look toward the cabin entrance, not seeing anyone.

The other man left, and I looked at the knife with hope, but my hands couldn’t reach it.

I bite my lips before stretching my legs and trying to bring the knife closer to me. I hear voices, but no one enters, and I sigh.

I don’t know these people, and I don’t know what they can do to me if I stay here. I need to find a way to return to my time and to the future.

I manage to grab the knife, and with quick movements, I begin to cut the ropes. I can feel my heart pounding inside my chest at this moment.

When I'm finally free, I stand up, gripping the knife tightly, before looking at the entrance of the cabin. There are a few people on the other side, and I don't hesitate to run in the opposite direction, where no one is watching.

I groan, feeling the pain in my leg intensify, but I can't stop. I see the tall trees around me as I keep running.

I glance back, hearing loud voices, and my eyes widen when I realize the wolves are searching for me.

I run again, seeing the men tirelessly searching for me.

I keep running between the trees, feeling my heart pound hard in my chest.

I can't stay here. I need to find a way to get back to the future and return to my normal life.

This isn't my place, and I feel tears in my eyes as I keep running, the pain in my leg overwhelming me more and more.

I don't know exactly where I'm running, but I turn my head, trying to get as far away from the wolves as possible.

They keep pursuing me, and I feel the desperation growing inside me.

I feel the adrenaline pulsing through my veins as I run as fast as I can. I know the wolves won't let me go because they think I'm lying about everything that happened to me.

I hold back a scream when I nearly fall to the ground in the forest. I look back, seeing the wolves close to me. My eyes widen as I run, turning my head back.

I stop running, breathing heavily, when I see some kind of lake in front of me. I blink my eyes, seeing Axel slowly turning around, and seconds later, his golden eyes are fixed on me.

My eyes travel down his naked body. He's still in the water, and I see his chest and hair wet. I realized he was bathing, and I ran in his direction without knowing.

Oh my God.

I see my chance to escape quickly slipping away.

I look to the other side, trying to run again, but I stop and scream when I feel a hand grabbing my arm tightly.

Seconds later, I fall to the ground, and Axel is on top of me. I stop breathing, feeling his hands holding my arms above my head.

“Where did you think you were going, human?”, he asks in a low voice, looking at me intently.

“Get off of me!”, I glare at him angrily.

He looks at me with irritation, and I can feel his wet body against mine at this moment. My heart continues to pound in my chest, and I get confused when I look at his lips.

“You could never escape from me...”, he whispers, and I try to hit him, but he keeps holding me down, staying between my body.

“Get off me now...”, I whisper, and he smiles at me.

“Or what?”, he moves his face closer to mine, and I blink my eyes, hearing quick footsteps.

I turn my head, seeing the men who were chasing me staring at us in shock. I push Axel's body away from me.

He quickly covers his body, and I glare at the people in anger.

“I told you to make sure she wouldn’t try to escape!”

“I know, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again, Axel.”

I groan as one of the men lifts me up and ties my wrists again. I glare at Axel angrily.

He keeps drying his wet body, and I realize I ruined my only chance to get back to the future.

“Take her back again.”

Axel looks at me, and I groan louder as one of the men forces me to walk. I stop, feeling the pain in my leg, and I see Axel approaching.

“Don’t touch me!”, I glare at him as I feel his fingers slowly lifting my pants.