Chapter 6

The soft light of dawn timidly illuminated the cave. At first it took me a while to realize where I was, but the weight of Klaus's arm on my body made me remember what happened the day before. He was still sound asleep, his expression was calm, his soft lids covered his icy eyes and ended in long black lashes. Black like the color of his hair; at that moment I noticed the gray hairs scattered among his mop of dark hair. I tried to guess his age, but after a few seconds it seemed silly, he had existed for more than two centuries, the exact number of his age lost any importance.

I got up quietly, careful not to wake him, and took the book. This one was full of notes, diagrams, and symbols. Many texts were in Latin and others were in English, but all seemed to be written with the same slanted and tight handwriting. I came to the page where the spell was titled simply: HYMNUS KRONUS.

There were no other indications that could instruct me further. I was tempted to chant the incantation out loud and beg for it to work, but the memory of Klaus's embrace stopped me. I mentally kicked myself for being unable to escape at that very moment and realized that the Hessian had caught me with a tether much stronger than its rope.

I kept looking through the book until I reached the last page where an illustration, the only one done in color, made me open my eyes in surprise.

Drawn there with a detailed design was the dagger that I had found in Klaus's sack the day before, the green eyes of the serpent stared back at me and I noticed the tiny engraving on the blade.

H . E. K. A. T. E.

My mind was working thousand miles an hour trying to remember the information Klaus had shared last night.

- "What does it mean to be a servant of Hekate?" - I remembered perfectly having asked him.

- "I don't know ..." - Liar.

I automatically started searching Klaus's sack until I found it; the lacquered box, I carefully took the dagger and this time I looked at it carefully. The first time, due to the low light in the room, I hadn't noticed the small letters etched into the gleaming blade of the dagger. I felt my face burn with anger and humiliation. The Hessian knew much more than what he had told me and all that, his crying, his false sympathy, his stupid kisses… It was all a trap, a trick to keep me close to him.

I remembered the note written next to the enchantment: Only a servant of Hekate can use its power at will. He just wanted to keep me around and use me. Moron. I am a complete moron.

I glared at the sleeping man and left the cave. Daredevil was still standing right next to the entrance waiting for his master. When he saw me he snorted and tapped the ground with his hooves.

- "I'm not happy to see you either. Beasts always get along each other. " - I whispered through my teeth giving him a look of rage as I walked away.

The woods were absolutely silent and after walking for a few minutes I stopped in a clearing. I was ready. Kneeling down, I opened the book and taking the stone in one hand and the dagger in the other I took a deep breath. My brittle voice drowned out the resentment that burned in my chest.

-" Somnium chimaeram visum est hominis. Qui mortuus est.."

The sudden noise of several boots on the snow stopped me immediately. Several muskets were pointed at my face, soldiers dressed in blue uniforms approached at a rapid pace and I did not have time to get up.

- "Name and intentions!" - Shouted the highest ranking soldier as he snatched the book from my hands. It took a single glance to order his men to take me. - "Witchcraft."

They tied my hands and dragged me to a cart, throwing me next to the pigs. At the same time that the men were preparing to continue the way, I saw how the older soldier began to tear the book apart, tearing one page after another. Suddenly a dark and swift shadow came out of nowhere. The soldiers did not have time to shoot; blood stained the white snow and decapitated bodies fell with a thud. Klaus's tall figure moved with astonishing speed, wielding his sword and ax with such skill that it almost seemed like a dance. Some soldiers managed to escape into the forest, the sound of their boots moving away and losing themselves in the distance. Klaus came to me and untied the ropes.

- "Alice! Have they hurt you? "

I didn't stop to look at him, I pushed him and jumped off the wagon running to where the book was half buried in the snow and with most of its pages still attached. I looked for the spell in fear, thinking it was lost, but there it was still intact. I let out a sigh and hugged the book in relief.

I heard Klaus's slow footsteps behind me and I looked at the ground, seeing the dagger glistening in the sunlight. I took it and turned to Klaus pointing it at him.

-"Get back!" - I yelled. - "What do you want from me, Hessian? The stone? Do you want to use me? Power, that's what you wanted all along, right? "

Klaus opened his mouth in surprise when he saw me brandishing the dagger and even more when he realized the stone that I kept inside my fist.

"Du hast mich angelogen ..." - He said while his stunned expression was turning into one of anger. He squinted his eyes staring at me, his pointed teeth almost gnashing and the color drained from his face, leaving him even paler than he normally was. He advanced towards me without hesitation and with a slap of his hand he took the dagger from me, throwing it aside. He took my face tightly and pulled it violently towards his, whispering harshly:

-"A snake. That's all you are, a slithering, venomous serpent only thinking of yourself. "

In that instant and knowing that perhaps I could be signing my death sentence, I spat in his face. Klaus released me and I took the opportunity to punch him in the face. He fell to his knees putting his hands to his nose as I started to run. I didn't take more than three steps when Klaus's gloved hand grabbed my ankle and knocked me flat on my face in the snow. I tried to kick him, but he managed to hold me with one hand while with the other he tried to stop the bleeding that began to flow from his nose.

- "Hör auf, Idiot! STOP!"

Finally he let go of me and put a hand in the air in surrender as he continued to control the blood that was already beginning to drip onto his armor. His breathing was ragged, he looked down at his hand examining the bright blood that contrasted against his black leather gauntlets. I was stunned to hear him chuckling.

- "You are insane." - I said.

"Look at me, I'm bleeding! I haven't experienced pain in a long time, Alice. "

I looked at him with disgust and only managed to say:

- "You are insane. You are a sick psychopath. "

I turned and wanted to walk away, but then I remembered the dagger that had fallen to the ground. I approached it, but when I was crouching down to pick it up I heard the clang of Klaus's sword being drawn. He stood in front of me lowering his sword.

- "I will not let you go." - He said as he took the dagger. - "You want it, don't you? Well, I want the stone and the book, and I want the person who has the power to control both. "

- "Control?" - I laughed at him sarcastically. - "If I could control something in my fucking life I wouldn't be here right now! I wouldn't be in the middle of a fucking forest surrounded by corpses! I wouldn't be sleeping next to a fucking butcher! "

My screams began to mix with sobs. I fell to my knees defeated and threw the stone at Klaus.

- "Take it and leave me alone!"

Klaus knelt in front of me and offered me the dagger.

- "It's yours." - He said in a low voice. - "But this time I'm not going to let your tears convince me, Alice. Not your tears or your fake kisses. "

He got up taking the stone and put it in his pocket.

- "No more lies Alice." - He said as he took a handful of snow and used it to wipe the dried blood that had remained on his face.

I didn't believe what I was hearing. Did he call me a liar? He?!

- "You dare to say that I lie?" - I snapped. "Who has lied about the dagger? Who? Who has been seducing me to convince me to help him? "

Klaus snorted a laugh and turned his gaze to me.

- "Seduce you? What kind of fantasies you have in your head! You were the one who kissed me back there in the cave. "

I immediately felt the blood rush to my cheeks and burn my skin. Idiot, I wanted the earth to swallow me at that moment. Klaus noticed my frustration and walked over to me.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let you fuck with my brain anymore. Hope you at least understand the risk I took by coming to save your ass. If any of those Americans were agile enough… "- Klaus made the gesture of cutting his neck with a finger. "It would all be over for me."

I gulped thinking he was right. If it hadn't been for him, I'd be waiting my turn to be hanged as a witch in Sleepy Hollow´s square right now.

- "It would be over for me too, Klaus." - I said crestfallen. - "I didn't want to lie to you, but I couldn't trust you completely. Then I saw the drawing of the dagger in the book ... "

- "I do not know what it means." - He said interrupting me. - "I don't know what use that weapon have, but as far as I can understand, it has no function in this enchantment. Excuse me if at that time I did not want to delve into that matter, but I preferred to be as practical and concise as possible. "

His voice was dry and direct, with a bit of sarcasm sprinkling there and there.

- "Practical and concise?" - I asked acidly. - "You had enough time to tell me that you wanted to fly to Frankfurt on a plane. You could have saved those details and mentioned the dagger! "

It was Klaus's turn to blush.

- "You are right." - He said simply.

It is impossible to argue with someone like him. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

- "As you wish… Okay, Klaus, do you really want to go to the future? Come on, give me the stone and let's get this over with. "

Klaus threw his head back and crossed his arms.

- "Regarding that .. I also forgot to mention that the spell only works at night."

I covered my face with my hands and let out an impatient breath.

- "Anything else I should know?"

-"Yes. Never go away from me again, Alice. "- He said as he walked towards his horse that was waiting patiently for him.

-"Where are you going?" - I asked, standing up.

- "We are going back to the cave. I don't want to be here another minute with that troop of soldiers hanging around. "

- "I can't go back there. I'm hungry. Why don't we go back to the tavern? "

- "Because today at noon a battle will break out in Sleepy Hollow. That tavern is attended by many officers of the British Army. Most of the women there will be killed."

- "Were you there when it happened?

- "I lost all my men there. That day was the first time I had to flee from a battle ... "

Klaus was gently stroking Daredevil's mane with a blank stare. I stood next to him and tried to bring my hand to the neck of the steed, but he reacted with a shake of the head and an angry whinny. Klaus came out of his reverie and smiling slightly he took my hand and placed it on Daredevil's forehead while whispering in his ear:

- "Sie ist nett, Ich mag sie gern. Sei geduldig mit ihr bitte. "

When he pulled his hand away I thought the horse was going to protest, but he stayed still and allowed me to pet him. I couldn't help but smile.

- "What did you tell him? - I asked with interest.

- "To be patient with you for a few more hours, soon we will get rid of you."

- "And I of you." - I replied while scratching Daredevil behind the ears.

- "Why don't you go look in the cart and see if you find something to eat?

I nodded and headed towards the abandoned wagon. The pigs were still there, feeding on the contents of large sacks full of corn and flour. I was walking carefully avoiding stepping on the bloodstains on the floor and slipping a bit when out of the corner of my eye I could see a childish face peering at me from behind a tree. The figure disappeared in just a second, I blinked several times and convinced myself that I had imagined it. It didn't take long for me to find a few apples, dried meat, bread, and a bottle of wine. I proudly walked towards Klaus who was watching me from a distance.

- "You can no longer complain." - He told me. - "Let's go."

. . .

If I closed his eyes and listened carefully I was able to hear the aftermath of the battle: the sound of distant gunshots, the screams of dying men, women cries...

Little by little the sky was falling overcast and darkness was taking over the cave. The tart taste of the wine still lingered in my mouth. I had spent most of the afternoon sipping from the bottle and avoiding to cross any word with Klaus.

He was sitting chewing on a piece of bread and also taking big gulps from the nearly empty bottle. He looked thoughtful and concerned.

I felt restless, self-aware of my every move, anxiety had taken hold of me, the idea of having to share that small space with Klaus made me desperate, I trembled every time I felt his frozen gaze on me, I wanted to be away from him but at the same time I couldn't help but want to feel his touch, hear his voice ... I was going crazy counting the minutes until the sun finally set on the horizon.

- "Alice."

I shuddered a bit when I heard Klaus's husky voice. I turned my eyes to him slowly trying to hide the pleasure I felt at hearing my name being spoken by him.

- "Hmm?"

- "I understand that once we go back to 2017, you will never want to see me again. I understand that you hate me. I tend to have that effect on people. "

- "I don't hate you, Klaus ... I'm not afraid of you either ..." - I swallowed hard and the next words I spoke escaped from my chest. - "What happened yesterday ... I didn't lie ... That kiss was real ..."

Klaus's dumbfounded look was enough to make me want to sink my head between my legs in shame. He approached me piercing me with his eyes.

- "Don't play with me, Alice"

God, why was it so hard for him to believe me? Am I sending the right signals? Didn't he realize how difficult it was for me to accept that… accept that…

"It is true…"

The flame in my heart was already so strong that it was burning me inside. It burned my throat, it came out through the pores of my skin, and it burned my face, but then Klaus's hands caressed my cheeks and it was as if a balm calmed that uncontrollable desire. He brought his wet lips to mine and kissed me in an eager, deep and hungry way. His tongue against mine seemed to claim the long, dark years into which his existence had sunk. I brought a hand to the back of his neck and tangled my fingers in his hair, he moved his mouth kissing my face, slowly moving down to my neck. My stomach churned with desire as I felt Klaus's sharp teeth brush almost imperceptibly against my skin and I felt the world I knew completely melt away as I felt Klaus's warm breath whisper in my ear:

- "To hell with time travel. I would burn that book and Sleepy Hollow with it if I could stay with you always. "

I let myself be carried away by my impulses, I let him sit me on his lap and I wrapped my legs around his waist, totally absorbed in his kiss, enjoying the taste of the wine that was still in his mouth ...

I saw her ... I saw her again, that blonde figure wrapped in a puffy pink dress was looking at us from the cave entrance.

- "Wait, Klaus. Klaus! "

Klaus turned his face to where I was staring with wild eyes. The sudden realization of what was coming hit him with the force of a high-speed train. He stood petrified watching the unmistakable form of a squad of armed soldiers being guided by the little girl's signs in the distance.

- "Come on, run, RUN!" - I screamed while pulling him trying to make him react.

I took the book and the dagger and ran after Klaus. As I mounted with him on Daredevil, I glanced at the girl who was giving us an expression of deep hatred, thirsty of revenge. I was very surprised to see so much resentment in a child who seemed to be no more than 8 years old. "I remembered that little girl and the dry snap of a branch breaking" It is her, it is the same girl that Klaus had mentioned, everything was happening again!

I closed my eyes, praying that we could escape into the gathering darkness of the approaching twilight, but then I heard it, "the shot that killed Daredevil." My legs were trapped under the steed's heavy body as he was contorting in pain. Klaus helped me out from under him and with wet eyes he whispered:

- "Wir werden uns im Jenseits sehen, mein Freund"

Klaus took my hand and together we ran into the trees, but then a sharp pain in my shoulder made me cry out and drop to my knees. I could intensely feel the hot blood staining my gray shirt, Klaus's distressed eyes as he realized I was shot. The pain was unbearable but I manage to stagger to my feet, trying to dodge the bullets fired by the soldiers, but I was not fast enough, those seconds were enough for the Americans to reach us.

- "Run away." - It was the only thing that Klaus managed to say before he launched into battle with a war cry.

One after another, young soldiers faced the Hessian demon who at that moment was fighting unstoppably, knowing perhaps that there was no choice but to surrender to an inescapable fate. No. I wasn't going to be able to see how Klaus was executed. I looked beside me at a headless body that was still holding a sword in its hand. I didn't hesitate, I didn't think, I didn't even care about the stabbing pain in my shoulder as I raised the sword, I couldn't let him be killed. I couldn't condemn him to that again.

I raised the sword and pounced on a soldier who was attacking Klaus at that moment, I buried with all my strength the weight of the blade in the neck of that thin man, my hands were shaking and I realized that I had started to cry. His blood splattered my face and then in the midst of all that alienation I could see with horror where the soldier I had just killed had driven his sword.

- "GOD NO!

"I remembered the pain of a sword stuck between my ribs ... the taste of blood in my mouth ... "

- "No, no, Klaus, please, please ..." - I knelt in front of him, begging him to live, I was not able to discern what was happening around me, I was only able to cry, my voice turned into an unintelligible screech. Klaus was breathing heavily, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, drowning in his own blood. Trembling, he brought his hand to mine and took it weakly, leaving the yellow stone in it.

- "Go back home, Alice. Ich versuchte es. Vergib mir. "

I lived that moment second by second as if it were in slow motion, the flash of Klaus's sword falling violently on his pale neck, his blood scattered on the ground ...

"It was hellish to see my own decapitated body lying on the ground and feel for a few seconds the icy blow that my head gave against the snow."

I reacted immediately, stopped his head before it touched the ground and held it in my hands, I could not get Klaus's words out of my mind, if I could not prevent his death, at least I would not allow him to have to suffer that icy blow during his last moments of awareness. His cold eyes were still fixed on mine and I could see how life slipped away second by second.

-"Forgive me." - I sobbed. - "Forgive me, Klaus."

The soldiers looked at me in shock, perhaps frightened to see such a scene, a screaming woman, covered in blood, holding the Hessian's head. They looked at each other, undecided as to what actions to take. They finally decided to tie me up and put me aside while they excavated the grave that would be Klaus's. The death of the Hessian Commander Herr Schaffer would not go unnoticed by his superiors and they needed a reminder to demonstrate their might against foreign troops invading their lands.

My tears dried little by little at the same time that the earth was covering the corpse of the Horseman, in my fist I still held the stone that had caused so much pain. I squeezed it hard, wounding my hand, but neither that pain nor the pain in my shoulder were enough to appease that wound I felt in my soul.

Among the trees that girl was approaching, I looked at her with hatred as I saw her stooping to pick up something from the ground, I immediately recognized the shine of the dagger. The wicked smile she gave me made my blood run cold.

- "Hey little brat, this is not place for you! They've already paid you, get out! "

The soldier turned and sat down on a rock next to me as he was in charge of watching over me. He let out a bored sigh as he watched his companions throw dirt at the grave.

- "I've never seen someone cry like that before." - He said in a low voice without looking at me.

I looked at him a little taken aback by his sudden statement. I noticed that he was just a teenager, no more than 15 years old. I gulped thinking that surely this boy was recruited against his will. One more pawn in a war of empires. Perhaps the man I had killed was also being forced to lend his life in exchange for a few coins to support his family.

- "Your mother will cry the same the day you die in battle." - I told.

The boy finally met his gaze with mine, a round and childish face showing a certain curiosity in knowing what a woman dressed in men's clothes was doing in the middle of the woods, accompanying the late Hessian commander.

I didn't have much time left, once the men finished their work burying Klaus, I would be taken to the gallows. Night was falling and I had to do something to be able to flee.

-"What is your name?"

- "Jonathan."

- "Do you want to see something incredible Jonathan? Do you see that book? Bring it."

The soldier barely raised an indecisive eyebrow, but got up and brought the book to me anyway.

- "They have said that you are a witch." - He said while looking at the book that at this point was in very bad condition. - "I have seen witches being executed, but they always seemed to be ordinary women to me."

Seeing the images in the book Jonathan handed it to me with trembling hands and his voice whispered sheepishly :

- "I don't believe in magic."

- "I don't believe in magic either, Jonathan." - I said as I tried to turn the pages as fast as my tied hands allowed me.

There they were, glittering words that almost seemed to glow in the dark.

"Go back home, Alice."

I didn't want to go back to the 21st century if he wasn't with me. All I wanted was to see him again, I didn't care how or when. I just wanted to be with him again. Get to know him, share my life with him.

...

Somnium chimaeram visum est hominis. Qui mortuus est sicut somnus iumentorum. Tantum tempus desideria cognoscit et somniorum. Patrem tuum, tempus et vita in manibus habentur.

I closed my eyes tightly, remembering Klaus's face, his teasing smile, his defiant attitude ...

Slowly I opened my eyes, everything was still the same. Young Jonathan was watching me expectantly. The soldiers had finished burying the Horseman and were hammering his sword into the ground as a marker. I turned my head looking around me, feeling desperation starting to take hold of me, but then a familiar sound began to buzz in my ears.

Tick, tock.

The darkness fell like a heavy blanket over the forest, the lanterns of the soldiers were going out and the last thing I saw were the huge black eyes of young Jonathan staring at me in terror.

Translations:

Du hast mich angelogen : You lied to me.

Hör auf, Idiot! : Stop you idiot!

Sie ist nett, Ich mag sie gern. Sei geduldig mit ihr bitte : She is nice, I like her a lot. Please be patient with her.

Wir werden uns im Jenseits sehen, mein Freund : We will see each other in the afterlife, my friend.

Ich versuchte es. Vergib mir : I tried. Forgive me.