“It is a place of miracles. You are in the church of Saint Francis of Assisi. This is also his resting place. It is a very holy place in our religion. People—humans and vampires alike—pilgrimage here, from thousands of miles away, just to be in this spot. Francis was the saint of animals, and he was also the saint of all living creatures outside of the human race—including our kind. It is said that miracles happen here. We are protected here by his energy.

“You did not land here by accident,” he continued. “This place is a portal for you. It is a launching pad for you to begin your journey, your pilgrimage.”

He turned and faced her.

“What you still fail to see,” he said, “is that you are on a journey. And some pilgrimages take years, and many, many miles.”

Caitlin thought. It was all overwhelming to her. She did not want to be on a journey. She wanted to be back home, with Caleb, safe and secure, in the 21st century, this whole nightmare behind her.

She was tired of traveling, of always being on the run, of always searching. She just wanted a normal life again, the life of a teenage girl.

But she stopped herself from that way of thinking. It wasn’t helpful, she knew. Things had changed—permanently—and they would never be the same again. She reminded herself that change was the new normal. She was no longer the same old, average, human Caitlin. She was older now.

Wiser. And whether she liked it or not, she was on a special mission. She just had to accept it.

“But what is my pilgrimage?” Caitlin asked. “What is my destination? Where is it exactly that I’m going?”

He led her to the end of the final corridor, and they stopped before a large, elaborate tomb.

Caitlin could feel the energy coming off of the tomb, and she knew right away that this was the tomb of Saint Francis. She felt recharged just standing near it, felt herself growing stronger, coming back into her own. She wondered again if she had come back as a human or as a vampire. She missed her powers dearly.