Gabriel lay on the cold, hard bed the abbey had provided for him.
Gabriel, he snorted. The only one who knew about that name besides him was Carl and he had been sworn to secrecy. Gabriel didn't want any misunderstandings.
He shifted his position, sighing. He closed his eyes, than opened them quickly. He was avoiding sleep, he knew, but what lie in waiting for him kept him awake. Or half awake, the ride home had been so long, he was so tired. His head began to nod, his eyes to droop, and was sent reluctantly into the embrace of slumber.
He was standing in the middle of a villa courtyard. He wore a Roman soldiers uniform. A pack was slung over his shoulder. He could tell his hair was clipped shorter, but he still needed a shave as usual. He was standing on a path that led inside the spacious home. It didn't feel like home, it felt like any other place. He walked inside, though it wasn't really of his choosing he just followed along with what was happening.
Inside, the roof opened up to make an atrium, a fountain stood in the center of it all. Beyond that the rest of the house waited, he knew. He started forward, but stopped as he spotted her. Sunlight poured down on her, setting of the golden highlights in her copper hair. Her hair was in patrician curls, piled atop her head. She wore a white toga with the upper class purple border. Her feet were bare, but gold bangles adorned her ankles. Her creamy skin was scattered with freckles. Her arms were bare, and femininely muscular, the arms of a swordswoman.
He stepped forward, scuffing his boot. The woman's head bolted up like a frightened deer's. His breath was taken away, her eyes…such a vibrant green, and flecked with gold. They were beautiful. A scar ran across her left cheek, small but still slightly noticeable. She narrowed her eyes searching his face, and then her lips parted in a whispered "Gabriel?"
The next thing he knew he'd dropped his pack, and she was in his arms. "Oh Gabriel!" she cried into his shoulder "You have been gone for so long! I've missed you so much!" She took his face in her hands, her beautiful eyes looking into his brown ones, piercing his soul. He grinned, he didn't even know this woman, but he still felt as if he had also missed her. He was kissing her now, he could feel it, and he felt something else. It was like, a piece of home? Perhaps this was home? No it couldn't be, but maybe she was a part of the something he called home.
He held her, her head pressed to his shoulder. He could feel it he was saying her name. But he couldn't hear his voice. And he couldn't see, it was dark. He was frustrated, "What is her name!" He wanted to shout to the darkness.
He heard something, a rushing of wings. He knew this sound. It was Dracula. He ran, as fast as he had ever run, and he could hear the monster pursuing. He turned his head trying to see him.
He ran smack into something, something small. He looked down, and almost shouted. It was Anna. Her pretty brown curls, and those eyes…those chestnut eyes were unseeing. He looked down at the syringe in his side. He stepped back, his breath rattling in his chest. He was reliving it. He was reliving the horror. He stepped back and hit someone, he turned expecting Carl or at least Dracula.
What he saw scared him more than Dracula ever could. It was dark, and faceless. All his senses told him this thing was pure evil. He backed away and tripped, he was falling, head first into the darkness. The faceless thing followed him on fallen wings. He reached out, for something, anything.
What he got was an arm. A yelp awoke him from his nightmare. "Let go of me!" he heard the disgruntled friar whisper. Gabriel held him with a vice like grip. He gasped for breath, saying in a hoarse voice "Carl?"
"Who in bloody hell did you think it was?" Carl peeled Gabriel's fingers from his arm. "You don't want to know…" Gabriel massaged his sore neck "What are you doing?" he asked as he heard Carl rummaging through something. Carl ignored his question, "You'd better get dressed, the Cardinal wants you out of here by dawn." Gabriel grunted, "I don't even know where I'm going" He shielded his eyes as Carl lit a lamp and brought it close to his face. The friar's face was beaming "To Ireland!"