CADDIE's POV:

We were swallowed by the black vortex. That was all I had registered before my mind short circuited. I didn't know what happened when the darkness closed around us, I didn't even know if we would survive.

When the amulet first touched my palm, I did know that there was something wrong with it. But never in my mind did I think a magical spell, so powerful it knocked me out- would be hidden within the ruby. Aunt Heidi never taught me that spell. It wasn't even mentioned in any of her scrolls or books- and the scrolls were dated back to the beginning of magic. There were so many questions circling around in my mind when black mist wrapped around our bodies. Many of them were centered around Aleksander. The power inside of the amulet was always there, but it only came to life when we were both touching the ruby.

Why?

What could that ruby possibly have to do with the two of us?

Pictures danced inside my mind. Portraits of beautiful women and men were hanging on a wall. The longer I stared at a portrait, I noticed, the more distorted the visual became. Glancing at every picture on the wall, I tried to see if all of them would fade out of focus. Every single picture did- except for one. I recognized her face right away. It was Aleksander's ancestor, Adeline.

Her face was completely emotionless, like every other ruler on the wall, but her eyes held enough sadness for the world. I wanted to reach out and hug her, but that was silly. She was a painting, after all.

"What made you feel such pain," I whispered.

My fingers ran across the floral engravings in her picture frame. She looked eerily similar to Aleksander, with her light brown curls, sparkling blue eyes. All Volkov's had an unearthly beauty. Gazing into the visceral eyes of Adeline Volkov, I was reminded of something Aleksander said to me one night when we found some time alone.

We were lying on the roof of his stable, our eyes were glued to the stars. He held my hand tightly in his, almost too tightly, but I didn't bother to mention that. Anxiety wrapping around his heart with a vice-like grip. Instead of pumping blood through his veins, it was pumping fear. I waited patiently, knowing soon enough he would tell me what was plaguing his mind.

"Do you ever worry that you'll end up like your mother?" He asked out of the blue.

I didn't get offended by his statement. If it were someone else asking, I would have turned them into a newt. But Aleksander was worrying about me, I could feel it, he was worrying about himself.

"All the time," I said.

He tore his gaze away from the stars and stared at him. I looked at him, knowing that in these rare occasions he needed my companionship- to remember that his times alone were over.

"I do too," he admitted, "I mean- I fear that I will become like my father."

I rested my head against his shoulder and kissed his jaw-line. "We are not our parents, Alek. I've told you this before, we are capable of creating our own destinies."

He placed a chaste kiss on my lips before turning back to the sky. I mentally rolled my eyes, knowing that he wasn't done worrying about that subject. The bond we shared, always kept us in sync. Being empaths we always knew how one felt but we never knew where the emotion stemmed from. But the bond, gave us an intuitive feeling with one another. I didn't just know how he felt, but I knew of his insecurities and strengths. I even knew how he felt when we were a million miles apart. He was a constant presence in the back of my mind.

"I know you worry, Aleksander." I said, "But there is no need to. Once you stop worrying about this, you can be a lot happier."

"Don't you think I haven't tried," he snapped. "Every time I hold you, I don't want to remember how every Volkov before me was robbed of their happy ending. You know people think that we have everything. But wealth, power and good-looks mean nothing if you can't have the right person to share it with."

The image of Aleksander's tortured blue eyes were replaced by Adeline's.

"Was your happily ending taken away too?" I asked.

I didn't expect for her to reply, she was a picture after all. So, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a feminine voice calling my name. Was it the ghost of Adeline Volkov?

"Caddie..."

"Caddie!"

The wall of pictures began to shake. Pictures fell to the ground, as the wall came crumbling down. I was surrounded by darkness, Adeline's picture was suspended in the air. Was there something I was supposed to see?

My eyes opened before I could find out.

Blurry faces leaned over me, their worried voices created a buzz in the background. I wanted the voices to disappear completely, so I could go back and figure out what was so special about Adeline's picture. Why did she speak to me so profoundly? Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to revisit the dream but it was gone. Locked away in bowels of my memory.

"Caddie please wake up. Come on girl, don't look into the light. You're too young to die- I'm too young to die!"

My eyes snapped open when the sound of my hysterical best friend became clear and concise. Tears shined in her emerald eyes but it was very possible she was crying over the loss of her life, rather than mine. That didn't stop me from loving her. I expected nothing less from Alix Slade.

"I am not dead Alix," I pushed her away when she began to pucker her lips for CPR.

Alix wiped away a fake bead of sweat, "Oh thank god. I was so worried."

For me or for you? I decided it would be best for my friendship if I did not vocalize my question. Jaxon and Aleksander sat beside Alix, their faces reflected their emotions of relief and mild disgust. I could have been wrong but I believed they relieved I was alive and disgusted that Alix almost kissed me.

Jaxon nodded in my peripheral vision.

"I am so glad you can feel my emotions right now. Words could not possibly describe how relieved I feel," Aleksander's Russian accent thickened as worry laced his his tone.

The addictive sparks, I only felt with him elicited as he wrapped his arm and around my waist and pulled me into his lap. Borrowing my face into the crease of his neck, I inhaled his intoxicating male musk and played with hair on the back of his neck. Damn our bond, I mentally cursed. I should have been freaking out. I blacked out for goodness sake and yet all I could do was play with the fringe of his hair.

"What happened," I murmured hesitantly, not wanting to break the spell of peace.

"I don't know," Aleksander replied honestly. His words only increased the knotting of my stomach. "I only remember the necklace breaking, nothing else."

"I still have the scroll," Alix said.

Peeling my eyes away from Aleksander's hair, I stared at the small document as if it were cursed. I wanted nothing to do with it. It was just a certificate of death for those I loved.

"Caddie-" Jaxon started but I cut him off.

He could disagree with my thoughts all he wanted but that didn't change my memory. Every time I chose to go on an adventure somebody else paid for the trip. No more casualties.

"I don't have to do it," I hissed, "Someone else can play superhero. I'm sure I'm not the only witch with good morals."

"Relax," Aleksander whispered.

My shoulders immediately sagged and the hostility was drained from my stare- but I was hardly finished. I didn't want to be calm. I wanted to be free from my spell of bad luck.

"Guys?" Alix asked.

I ignored her.

"I can't relax Aleksander and I don't want to. It's not fair that I have to go save everyone's ass and they don't even thank me. A simple, 'thanks for saving the world', would suffice."

"Uh, guys?" Alix tried again.

"Most of them don't even care that Dmitri and Cam are rotting in their graves. Two years ago they were all classmates, some were even friends with them, and now it's like they never existed. That's not fair!"

"Guys!"

I snapped my head to the side and groweld, "What Alix?"

Her eyes were haunted, terrified of the scene in front of her. I looked around her frizzy shroud of red hair and swallowed nervously at the building that loomed in the background. It was Nox Haven, but the completely rebuilt version.

"Something's wrong," Alix said, "Where's all the people?"

I agreed wholeheartedly. Seconds before the swirling black mist wrapped around our bodies, a horde of people had been standing beside Nox Haven's rubble. That was gone now and so were the people. I couldn't see a single person in sight. To make matters stranger, it wasn't raining. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping- it was like nothing bad had ever happened to the place.

"There's a girl," Jaxon pointed.

Sitting on the front steps of the school, with an apple in her hand and book balanced on her knees was pint-sized young woman. Her large skirt  was sprawled across the steps. Even though the heat was stagnant, similar to the summers in Virginia, she wore a long sleeved turtle-neck and boots. She looked like a woman from a Jane Eyre novel.

"I'm not sure I want to speak with her," Alix said ominously.

"Why not?" Aleksander asked. "We need to know what happened?"

Alix nodded hesitantly but said, "I'm afraid this will lead to more questions."

"Did you see something?"

"No," She responded quickly, "That's why I don't want to speak to her. I have no idea how the conversation will go."

That unsettled me. Alix's power wasn't an exact science but it was still extremely helpful. Even the slightest insight would have eased my fears. I stood up and Aleksander grabbed my arm before I could run away. Alix and I shared an uneasy look as the boys walked confidently to the girl.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Aleksander began.

The girl looked up from her book, her face flushed as she stared admiringly at Aleksander. I bit my lip in annoyance. Women would always be attracted to him. Old and young, beautiful and ugly, dumb and smart. There were probably even a few nuns who had the hots for him.

"Y-yes?" She stuttered and shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Aleksander smirked, causing my fingers to twitch. My boyfriend, who I cared for deeply, was a cocky asshole. The amount of arrogance he felt was unhealthy for a person.

"Would you be kind enough to tell me and my friends what the date is today?" He practically purred.

The girl snapped out of her lustful haze when the word friends touched her ears. Glancing our way, she took the time to scrutinize every one of us- paying special attention to the clothes that we wore. Her emotions turned weary when she looked back at Aleksander.

"It is the third of September," she said," 1816."

I blinked.

The year was 1816. As in two- hundred years ago!

**This is late and unedited. I'm sooo sorry. Right now I have been of busy, the start of the new school year is right around the corner (unfortunately) and I have a lot to still do. Isn't summer work so much fun? Help me please. Anyway, I  hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for the love and support!! I want to make the update wait shorter but with school coming up it is definitely not guaranteed. Hope you guys are having a great summer!
XOXO,
Ro.**