《Lost in Time》 Prologue 9368 B.C. Atlantis The fire burning in her chest was overwhelmingas Astrid tried to regain control. Her body was fighting to change everything around her again, but this time, Godric could not pull her away from the edge. The water around the city was crashing around them. Godric grabbed her by the arms and pulled her close to him, trying to stifle the screaming and fear surounding them in the city. "Leave me..." he whispered in her ear, they were both trembling, clothes clinging to them. "I c-cant leave you here to rot, Godric" Astrid''s teeth were chattering as she spoke. Pulling away briefly to look at her with his eyes forlorn, "I''ve lived for centuries, I can make it through this. But you dont have the energy to take us both back right now. You need to leave before its too late." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.She looked up at her most trusted friend, her heart breaking at the ''what-ifs'' but feeling the fabric of time crumbling inside of her. Tears formed in her eyes " You had better be right." Standing back from him, her hand reaching for his and clasping onto it tightly before reluctantly letting go, his eyes tortured while looking back at her, seeing the light illuminate behind her eyes, he nodded his head to her and gave a familiar crooked grin. And with that, Astrid let the fire inside of her consume everything around her and slam her back into present day with a force that made her nauseous. Gasping for air, she fell to her knees, using one hand to clutch her chest and the other to keep her balanced. Remembrance Opening her eyes seemed like an impossible feat, but somehow she managed. Looking aorund the sanctuary known as the Crimson Requiem, Astrid recalled the first time she had come here. She had been running away from her past... leaning back, her mind wandered to the things that had happened leading to the current moment. ~~~~~ Astrid had always been alone, its all she could remember. Her mother abandoned her with the prostitutes at Slag Row almost immedietly after she was born from what she had been told. It might not have been the best decision in hindsight, but it wasnt like that monster of a woman cared. With black hair that shined in an almost blue tint when the sun hit it and soft grey eyes, the women at Slag Row pretended to love her only to prepare her for the coming years after puberty, they hoped to make a profit off of her. At the age of sixteen and standing at five foot eight, Astrid had her first client, a man they called "The Cutter". He wasnt kind in the least, his name was given for a reason. When he was younger, his father had taught him that only the strong survived and that people will always listen to someone they are afraid of... He took this to an extreme when he began torturing women. Cutting his initials into them every time he saw them for a little... Adulterous fun. He would cut into them until he was bored of them, then he would eat their flesh. Astrid had only seen him once before he became her client, it was when she was 6 years old. Wandering down the halls of Slag house where she saw him in the bathroom cleaning his pale skin off. Looking over to her, Astrid felt fear flood through her, his pale blue eyes that glowed in contrast to the blood, making ice run through her veins. He was beautiful in a demonic way... Walking past her, he went to the woman who owned the house and whispered something Astrid would hear for the rest of her life every time she closed her eyes; "She''s mine when the time comes." When that time came, the other women threw her in the room with him like a piece of meat. Her screams only made the man smile, his teeth looking like pearly white razor blades, his breath smelling of blood... His touch as cold as marble in the winter snow. His dark hair was slicked back and even though she saw no blood on him yet, she knew it was only a matter of time. He took her as his own. Every touch precise and cold. Though she had been told about ''first times'' causing a small amount of discomfort, she was not prepared for this. But this was far from an ordinary first encounter with sex. When he was done mutilating her flesh and ripping her innocence away forever, he let her go. She ran back to the prostitutes demanding to know an explanation, demanding to know why they would do something so cruel, She had thought they loved her. They cackling that ensued rang in her ears as they told her she wasnt any better than the rest of them and she had better get used to him, this went on for a year... Meeting The Cutter every friday, the nights when he used her body, rubbing knives down her legs and torso... Until one night when she got tired of the abuse. He had told Astrid that she would always be his and that he would find a way to her if she tried to run. This set the next course of action into play. In the dead of night, while everyone was sleeping, she set fire to Slag Row and watched it burn to the ground, tears in her eyes for the death of her old self, but not for those women. Never again would she bother herself with what they may think or how they might be. Soot on her face, she smiled causing her tears to over flow and leave clean streaks down her cheeks. She wasnt even thinking about the pain in her legs and torso as she walked away to start a new life. Years went by, as did many mistakes. She couldnt get The Cutter out of her mind, his face in everyone of her dreams. While alone on the street at the age of twenty-four, a stranger with pale, clammy skin approached her and told her about something to ease the pain of her past... He told her it would help her forget all those years of lying and torment. The man told her about heroin and how it would make her feel numb... It seemed like a proper reason to try it if it only meant to get those hands off of her body, even if those hands were only in her dreams. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Looking into the dealers eyes, she couldnt see that there were some things he had not told her about the drug. He never told her about withdrawls, having only ever smoked pot, she didnt think about the reprucussions. He never told her there would be nights where she was aching, hungry and shivering... The nightmares would get stronger, her emotions would be horrible and she lashed out at those around her if she didnt return to him and pay him for just a little bit more. The only way to get rid of the vivid nightmares was to buy more of it. Everytime she went back to him, her arms sore from the injection site, he raised his prices... Of coure he would, this drug was the kind you would kill your own family for. But the only way to get money was to do the one thing she turned away from... Astrid did everything she could to get a job that didnt involve selling her body... Tried everything, but all her money was going to her addiction... she was desperate, losing sleep and weight. After looking everywhere and trying to get money to score another bit of heroin, she leaned against a wall and fell to the ground, her hair covering her face and her body in pain, her track marks throbbing for a little more poison in her veins. The Cutter appeared to be everywhere now while she was going through withdrawls. He was breathing in her ear, telling her the things he would do to her once he found her. Raking his knives across her skin all over again. Taking what he wanted from her and giving nothing in return... Astrid could barely move to get up and had wondered whether or not she would make it through the night with how much her body was aching for another dose of her drug... A woman with animalistic eyes shook her awake from her hallucinations and Astrid weakly looked up at her, tears had formed in her eyes and she was scared. The woman had blonde hair that was worn up in a neat ponytail and barely wore a stitch of clothing which, at first reminded her of Slag Row women... But this woman looked kind but more worried than anything else. Astrid watched her move, the street lights illuminating her face. She took her off the street and took her home with her. She made her fight through the withdrawls, made her eat and held her when her body was having spasms. Once the process was over, Astrid decided to never touch a drug again... It wasnt worth the pain even if that was the one thing to get that barbaric man out of her memory... It turns out the womans name was Vivica, though she had secrets, she was the closest thing to family that Astrid ever had. She protected her and gave her what she had always wanted, a home. Vivica brought her to The Crimson Requiem. The Requiem Looking around the room, the dark wallpaper and high ceilings, the antique portraits depicting nature as a beautiful, yet terrifying scene full of mystery... Astrid thought about how this place was always meant to be what it is now. A sanctuary. Vivica had told her about how she lost her brother to a coven of vampires that once lived here. Not in the "He became a vampire" lost or even "He died". They turned him into a blood doll. The venom in their fangs was addictive and damaging, more so than any other drug. He''s only a shell of what he once was. Still looks the same, but a slave. Hollow with no thoughts of his own. If Vivica and Godric hadn''t appeared in her life when they did, who knows what could have happened to her? Pushing herself off the ground and the memories out of her head, Astrid looked down and the pelpos that still clung to her skin, the smell of salt water and panic, she could hear the screams around her still while also feeling the ground quake as her vision blurred. Wrapping her arms around her torso, she waited for Godric to walk through the door. He should be here. Did he not survive? Astrid''s thoughts were racing as she thought out every scenario. Maybe he got trapped under the rubble. Scrambling to her feet, Astrid rushed upstairs to his room. Everything looked the same. Untouched, like he could come back at any point in time. Time.... He had wanted to go back in time to investigate something. Where did she come from? Why was she like she was? Being a vampire made it impossible for him to die from drowning. The only way he could die is if his heart was somehow pierced or his head was torn from his body. The only way to find him right now would be to get one of his progenies tofeelfor him. The bond between them is virtually unbreakable. It was one of the perks of being a vampire. Astrid grabbed her phone off the coffee table and texted Vivica. It didn''t take long for Vi to appear, her wild red hair and icy grey eyes made her look like a porcelain goddess. Her stance demanded respect despite her innocent face. " Whats going on? Are you ok?" She walked up to her, her marble cold hands gently gripping onto Astrid''s arms in an effort to comfort her. Shaking her head, Astrid almost cried when she spoke. "Vi..." Shuddering her legs gave out and she collapsed onto her friend. "Godric is missing. And I thought he would be o-ok." She sobbed. "He told me to leave him behind. Can you please help me?" Vi looked at her and at first Astrid thought that anger was about to erupt. But she was surprised when Vi pulled her closer, and stroked her hair. "It''s ok, my dear. We will find him." She pulled away. and looked over the pelpos she was wearing. "Where were the two of you again?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After she had recounted everything to her, Vivica sat back speechless. "Atlantis....?" Astrid nodded. "And you... You can travel through time?" Another nod. "If he''s in this time period, I should be able to feel him, but if he perished somehow..." Vivica couldn''t finish the sentence. Closing her eyes, Vi remained motionless. Her eyes closed and posture determined. Minutes felt like days. When she opened her eyes again, she looked dsitraught and lost. " I... I can''t feel anything." They stared at one another and thought the unspeakable. ~~~~~~~~Godric~~~~~~~~ Darkness and crushing water thundering around him, thundering like a raging storm in his ears. Pressure and so much of it curshing and ripping through muscled and crushing bones. Skin rippling and tearing as the waters strength built up and he sunk further into the abyss. He opened his dull red eyes before they were bombarded by the burning of the darkness. He gasped, the saltwater setting fire to his lungs, acid filling every inch of him. He blacked out, and in the blink of an eye, he was standing back on the precipice of the end of the city that was once known as Atlantis. The land crumbling around him. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itHe tugged on Astrid''s blood, calling out to her. A last resort. Searching through time and failing. "Time... I can buy some time." He ran to the cliff, the last thing to fall in this hell. He kept pulling at their bond, hoping that she would somehow feel him "You can do this, Astrid. You can feel me." The earth fell around him until he was drowning again. Godric knew he was destined for hell, but this was far worse than anything he could have dreamt up. He had ''died'' one-hundred and sixty-two times here, all in different forms. Sometimes he would be lucky enough to just drown. Other times he would be pinned between the rubble only to feel the weight of the ocean crush him slowly. But this time he swore he could hear Astrid calling out to him. No, it was impossible. He had somehow been cursed to relive this day forever. Without any reprieve. And this was no exception. But hope hadn''t left him yet. He opened his eyes and swam, pushing the corpses he had grown used to aside. Searching for her. He pulled at the blood insde of him to justsenseher. It was faint, but it really was hers. Using the ring on his middle finger, he sliced the palm of his hand. If there was any hope of her finding her or vice versa, he would need to use everything he had. Grabbing a fistful of pebbles, he thought for a moment. He would need to flash to her. He might not be able to push through all of the people fast enough, but this... This he could do in the blink of an eye. He threw one pebble and concentrated before flashing to the pebble. Another. And another. Nothing He was about to give up when he heard her scream from above the water. She was falling deep into the earth. Quickly, he threw pebble after pebble to at least try and get to her faster. He was so close before the ground collapsed around her, seeming to bury her completely He took in a deep breath to try and call her name, the water filling him before he blacked out and was once again standing in Atlantis before the fall. ~~~~~~~~Astrid~~~~~~~~ "Listen, I know you''re worried. But we will find him." Vi had said, brushing a strand of hair out of Astrid''s face before resting her hand on her cheek. They may have only known each other a few years, but she was the closest Astrid had ever had to a sister. "Take a bath, my dear. And tomorrow, we will start the search. I''ll stay in one of the spare rooms, ok?" Nodding in agreement, she walked upstairs to Godric''s room. She looked around and sighed. They would find him. Walking over to his bed numbly, Astrid fell into it like it was a cloud. Closing her eyes, Astrid found herself asleep in an instant. Drifting down into the depths of the sea could almost be relaxing. All thoughts slowed to a stop for a few brief moments as a sense of euphoria filled her due to the lack of oxygen. "Astrid" It was a faint whisper. Sounding so familiar. Almost like home to her. She opened her eyes and realized she needed to climb to shore. She looked around and saw she wasn''t far from the town square. She was so worried, even her dreams brought her back to torture her. The guilt was overwhelming, but at least in her dreams she could see him to give herself some peace until the next morning. She swam to the land and searched the crowd for him. It didn''t take long for the ground to start shaking. Astrid ran, pushing past the screaming crowds of people. It didn''t take long for the land to give underneath her. She couldn''t stop the scream that came out of her. The ocean surrounded her and so did the debris. She reached around her, running out of breath but determined to at least find him in her dreams. She must''ve touched twenty dead bodies before feeling something familiar. His ring!! Before she could pull him to her, something flashed in her mind, almost like a memory. With a scream, she woke up. Drenched with salt water again. Knowing Godric was alive and suffering.