19th Century
I walk swiftly into my tent, Kian following closely behind. Fortunately, William and his underlings are nowhere to be found, leaving enough time for Kian and I to come up with a plan.
"So… What happened after William murdered me?" Kian asked curiously, watching me intently.
Freezing slightly, catching my breath as I have flashbacks to what happened after William got rid of Kian. Snapping back to reality, I shake the thought from my mind, throwing my journal on the bed.
"Um, well. I tried to find out what happened to you, but the other side ambushed us, starting the fight much earlier than we had anticipated. Adding more fuel to the already lit fire, after William took my memories away, he decided to be just a little dramatic and make a fucking showcase out of everyone that was in this damn camp." I say, taking in a deep shaky breath as he watches me, confused.
"He murdered everyone and put them in a huge bloody pile in the center of the camp before I got back…." His eyes widen as he looks at me in disbelief.
"He… He did what? And he didn't even once think to mention any of this to me? I'm honestly surprised. He usually loves to rub shit like this in my face anytime he gets the chance." Kian's anger grows as he storms out of the tent. I chase after him, trying to stop him before he sees what William had done.
"Kian, wait! Please, walk back to the tent with me. I-"
"Oh my god…" Is all he could manage to say as he walks through to the middle of camp, looking at all the bodies, suddenly halting as he sees his own lifeless body at the top of the pile.
"He really had to throw me on top?" He says, bewildered.
"Yeah… This is what he left behind for me to find." I say, looking down towards the ground. I notice a glow coming from my fingertips, bringing them closer to my face, the light diminishing until it's gone. Completely ignoring what just happened, I look up at Kian who is still distraught by the pile.
"Something feels off here. First of all, we need to figure out how we got here. Then we need to figure out how the hell we're going to get back into our timeline." Kian ponders, turning around and walking towards me.
"It has to have something to do with that bright ass light that keeps coming from you." He says, inspecting my body as he walks in a circle around me.
"Well, you definitely don't have to look at me like that. I'm sure we'll figure out whatever it is." I say in an effort to get him to stop walking around me.
"You're right, I'm sorry. It's just the faster that we can figure this out, the faster we can get the hell out of here. So far, the only thing we have is you." I roll my eyes at his words.
"Maybe, but it can't all be about me. Something bigger than me had to have an impact on things. We just need to figure out what." I huff, turning around and walking back to the tent.
"Wait, where are you going?" Kian asks, watching me as I walk away.
"My tent. I need to go over a few things. You're welcome to join me if you'd like, or you can stare at yourself some more." I smirk, hearing faint footsteps behind me.
***
Opening the journal to the page with his sketch, I hold it up to his face as he hastily swats it away.
"Yes, I drew it, no need to hold it so close." I huff, turning the page to his note. Peeking around the book, I raise an eyebrow at him, watching him intently.
"Uh, that's.. Um, well you see. This note was written be-"
"I know when it was written, but why write it and then not tell me about it? I didn't find this until after William had killed me."
"I figured things would've gone differently." Kian shrugged.
"Well, we need to figure out where to start. Something is missing and I can't quite put my finger on it." I say as I start to pace, my fingers rubbing my chin.
"Maybe we should start with the place where this all began." Kian suggests.
"And where might that be?" I ask, following him as he walks out of the tent.
***
Entering the clearing to the creek, glancing at my lifeless body still lying there as I turn to look at Kian.
"Why are we here?" I ask, confused.
"This is the spot we appeared at after the blast, so I figured this spot must have some type of importance. Especially with this version of you over there." He says, pointing towards my lifeless body laying in the grass.
"I guess, you're not wrong. Do you think the pain I felt was what happened to me in this past life when he was stabbing her? Did we blast here as I died?" I ask, watching as Kian looks towards the creek.
"Maybe, but I'm not completely sure. This place seems very familiar and has a comforting feeling… peaceful even." Kian said, lingering.
"Yeah, I found this place shortly after you had died. Would've been a great place to show you.." I say, slowly walking over to him, resting my hand on his lower back, "but I'm glad we're here now, together." Kian slowly turns around to face me, a soft smile spreading across his face as he looks down at me.
"Yeah, me too.." Kian says, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on my forehead, "but enough of this. We need to figure out how to make it back home. Something about this place is important, but what and why?" I scrunch my eyebrows together, trying to think when I feel my fingers start to tingle.
***
Marius pov
"Liviana! Where did you go?! You know I don't know the woods as well as you do!" I push past some broken tree branches, stepping into a clearing.
"Whoa…" I say, looking around in amazement. I gaze at the small waterfall running into the creek, noticing a blanket in the thick grass a few feet away.
"Surprise!" Liviana jumps out from behind a tree, scaring me half to death as she giggles.
"You know. You're really gonna kill me one day if you're not careful. I bet you wouldn't be laughing then." I smirk, as she glides over to me, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, get over it! I had to do something to balance out my sweetness." Liv gestures towards the blanket behind her, "Care for a little picnic? How does that sound?" She says, slowly retreating. She starts to take food out of the basket that blended ever so perfectly into the blanket.
"When did you find this place? It's absolutely stunning." I say, taking a seat beside her as I watch the sun slowly setting over the trees.
"Peaceful, isn't it? I like to stroll in the woods when I'm thinking and a few days ago, I stumbled across this place and wanted to surprise you with it. Do you like it?" She smiles.
"I love it, Liv, but why did you wait so long to bring me here? Unless there's something else going on?" I suggest, raising my eyebrow.
"Uhhh, what do you know?" She says, squinting her eyes at me.
"I was honestly just guessing, but now you have me intrigued." I smile smugly. Liviana rolls her eyes, plopping down a plate of cheese, meat, cucumbers, and carrots. Sighing, she moves the plate to the other side of the blanket, pulling out two jars of wine.
"One for you," she says, holding out the jar to me as I reluctantly grab it and set it down next to me, "and one for me." a big smile spreads across her face as she tosses the lid and chugs the wine from her jar.
"Liv, maybe you should slow down a bit." She cracks one eye open, looking at me from the corner of her eye as she continues to take a few more gulps before setting the jar down.
"Ahh, this one turned out great." She looks at the plate of food in between us, picking up a cucumber, watching me as she shoves the slice in her mouth, causing me to shake my head and smile.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that? She says, squinting her eyes at me.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just realizing that this is one of the reasons why no other guy is interested in you." I chuckle as her mouth drops open in disbelief. Quickly composing herself, she swats my arm as she laughs with me.