FROM ONE DARKNESS TO ANOTHER The night candles indicated that it was about 6:30 in the morning. Catherine felt as if she had hardly slept at all. All night she had dreamed of Vincent calling for her but every time she turned around, he was just out of sight. She felt he was in mortal danger, but with the morning, the feeling became nightmarish and puzzling. After all, they had just buried him yesterday; yet it left an uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
Part II
by Joan StephensQuickly dressing, she went in search of Father and found him where he spent most of his time, in his chamber seated behind his map-covered desk.
“Good morning, Father.”
“Ah, Catherine, I hope you slept well?” He looked as if he hadn’t slept all night. Deep lines of grief that hadn’t been there a week ago, surrounded his mouth and eyes. Almost aimlessly he pulled a map from the bottom of the pile, opened it, and spread it across the desktop.
Shaking her head, she replied, “No, I didn’t. I kept dreaming of Vincent calling for me, but I couldn’t find him. Father, the pain is almost unbearable.” She sat next to his desk and randomly pushed some of the maps around. The wounded look in her eyes tore at his heart strings.
“I know, but you must not resist the pain or it will overwhelm and destroy you. I know this kind of pain. It will get better, I promise.” He placed a kindly hand on her arm as he encircled her with his other arm.
Catherine sighed as she leaned her head against his shoulder. “Life is hard, isn’t it, Father? Sometimes impossible.”
“Yes, but it is life and we must live it,” he replied, hugging her gently.
“Father, Catherine,” Pascal greeted them as he entered followed by Olivia and William.
“Come in, all of you.” He sat at the head of the table, motioning the council members to take a seat around the table.
“You’re having a council meeting. I’ll leave you to it,” Catherine said, rising to leave.
“No, no Catherine, please stay. We’re just meeting to discuss our safety and protection. With Vincent gone . . . We depended on him to protect us, and although I denied it, it was so. Now we have only ourselves.” He motioned her back to her chair. “Please, sit with us.”
Olivia leaned over to her, “Forgive me for not speaking to you sooner, but I had to deal with my own grief first. I hope you understand.”
“Of course, I do.” Catherine smiled at her. “I know what you’re feeling. Thank you.”
The meeting didn’t last long since none of them were really ready to tackle the problems Vincent’s death had created for them--it was too soon. Finally, Father said, “Let’s end this. None of us are ready yet.”
“I know I’m not,” Pascal said.
“Me, neither,” William added.
Father adjourned the meeting after Olivia nodded her head in agreement.
Alone, Catherine and Father resumed talking.
“How long do you think you’ll stay?” Father asked.
Catherine gazed thoughtfully at him over the rim of her teacup. “I’m not sure. It disturbs me to think of leaving and returning Above. Once, I loved it. Then I met Vincent and the world Above became only something that I wanted desperately to share with him. I wanted him to experience all of life and all of my world that he could. Now that he’s not here to share it with me, life Above holds no further appeal for me.”
Father helped himself to a muffin from the plate Mary had brought for his breakfast early that morning. She had found herself unable to sleep also, and as was her custom when deeply troubled, had invaded William’s tidy kitchen and busied herself baking a batch of raisin bran muffins. Offering one to the woman he now considered his daughter, he said, “Stay as long as you wish. It comforts me to have you here.” With tears in her eyes, Catherine reached over and rested her hand on his. Being with him, soothed her ragged emotions. They sat together in companiable silence as they finished their tea and muffins.
****************
Vincent slipped noiselessly into the tunnel where Paracelsus’ men waited to ambush him. His supernormal vision enabled him to move in the darkness, whereas the men he trailed needed light to move through the tunnels, betraying their positions.
His senses, as sharp as they were, were being honed to a finer edge. The darkness was straining to take over, and this was exactly what Paracelsus wanted--for him to lose himself. Without Catherine near it was a much greater struggle. He kept a tight hold on the tenuous bond he felt with her. In moments of despair, his soul cried out to her, hoping she would hear him. He needed her quiet belief in him.
Gliding up behind a short, stocky man, with one deft move he snapped the man’s neck and quickly hid the body in the darkness of the tunnel.
“Hey, Ralph, whatcha doing? Didja fall asleep?” A tall, thin man came to investigate. He was disposed of in a heartbeat and hidden like Ralph. Now there were only four of them. As he crept forward, the remaining toughs launched an attack from all sides. Slashing, ripping, roaring, Vincent retaliated and before long all were lying dead on the floor. He backed away aghast at the carnage he saw. Sliding down the wall, he sat on the floor with his head resting on his knees sickened by what he had done. The darkness was getting stronger. Even now, he didn’t remember all that he had just done. He wondered, What will I be like when I get to Paracelsus? Suddenly, he was afraid. Oh, Catherine, what will become of me?
****************
“Vincent!” The scream hung in the air. He was in terrible danger. She must go to him. Then reality sank in and she fell back onto the bed sobbing. There would be no sleep for the rest of the night. She lay in the midst of Vincent’s large bed, arms wrapped tightly about herself. Could their bond have returned so strong that it transcended death? Was she losing her mind, or was it her inability to accept the fact that Vincent was gone and she was alone? She had never felt so alone in her life and was beginning to understand his aloneness. It was as if she had lost the center of her life. Maybe a session or two with Dr. Grafton would help. These dreams had a meaning and she needed to find out what they meant.
Catherine spent most of the next week wandering through the tunnels. Wherever she went, wherever she looked she heard his voice, saw him standing in front of her, walking beside her, holding her. She remembered all they had said and done. How she missed him. How could she go on without him? She heard him say the words he had said to her when he first brought her here. “You have the strength, Catherine. You do. I know you.”
The catacombs were the last place she visited. Hesitantly, she went down the stairs to Vincent’s tomb. She placed two roses--one red and one white--on his tomb. “Vincent,” she whispered. Tears standing brightly in the corners of her eyes, she clutched the edge of the tomb. “Why did you go without me? Didn’t you know I would follow you anywhere? Send me your strength from wherever you are. Today, I go back Above, my love, to see if I can pick up the threads of the rest of my life without you. You have changed me forever. I may not fit up there anymore. I will live my life as you taught me . . . I will return . . . You are and always will be my life and my love. Wait for me . . . I will come soon.”
She turned to go and found Narcissa standing behind her. “Remember, child, when you have no place to go, come to me.”
“But why?” Catherine asked.
“You will know when the time comes,” and she melted into the shadows.
Father said she was a crazy old woman, but Vincent trusted her. He felt that she truly understood him. Catherine tucked her statement away in the back of her mind and wearily climbed the stairs.
****************
Father was reading in his study when Catherine entered.
“Ah, Catherine, you look like you’re ready to go back Above,” he commented as he closed his book.
She had changed from her tunnel clothes into the coral sweater and black slacks that she had worn the day she went into the dark cave, hoping to save Vincent. “Yes, I guess it’s time to return.”
“Sit down for a minute, I want to talk with you,” he said as he guided her into the chair beside his desk.
“What is it, Father?”
He took Catherine’s hand and gazed intently into her eyes. “Catherine, I’m going to ask you to do something that you won’t want to do. Return to your world and live the life that Vincent wanted for you.”
As the tears rolled down her cheeks, she bowed her head, her hair falling forward to hide her expression. The gesture pierced his heart, reminding him of his lost son. In a small, sad voice, she answered, “I don’t know if I can.”
Intently leaning forward, he squeezed her hands. “You must. Do it for Vincent if not for yourself.”
She raised haunted eyes to his intense gaze. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”
“Believe me, my dear, I do know. Will you . . . at least, try?”
Sighing with defeat, she nodded once. “I’ll try.”
“And don’t worry about us, Catherine, we will be fine. We will survive. We will learn to depend on each other, not Vincent.” His voice cracked on Vincent’s name.
“But don’t expect me to stay away from my family. I can’t. I need this place. You’ll see a lot of me. If you ever need anything, you must promise me, Father, that you will contact me.”
“I will, of course. Let me walk back with you,” he said, rising painfully from his chair.
“Are you sure, Father? It looks like your hip is bothering you.”
“It is, but I want to prolong my time with you as long as I can.”
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “Thank you, Father. I’ll be back this weekend unless you need me before then.”
She tucked her hand under his arm. Slowly they walked to the threshold of her apartment. She stared at the entrance, not willing yet to leave the comfort of the tunnels but knowing she must take that first step to the rest of her life without Vincent. Father squeezed her hand, “Good bye, Catherine.” She disappeared into the shaft of light that hid the door to her apartment building. He watched her until she was gone. With a heavy sigh, he turned back to the tunnels, to all the people who needed him.