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When Caitlin and Caleb woke, it was night They lay on the beach together, on the sand, on the warht of an enormous full moon

They still had the beach to the waves was all around them They both lay there, awake, undressed, in each other&039;s ar their coats as a makeshift blanket Rose lay beside theed people

They stared into each other&039;s eyes They rolled over and kissed each other again, slowly

Their relationship had changed forever She had changed forever And nothing er two randoether by the saether

Caitlin only hoped that it would last forever

There were soto ask Like, what now? He had crossed a line, forbidden for his race What if they found him? Would they kill him? Had he risked it all for her? Was she really worth it?

And now that he had, would he leave her? Was there any way for theether, to make it last?

What could their future possibly look like?

She was overco what he had sacrificed for her

"I&039;m afraid," she finally said, softly

"Of what?" he asked

"Of us," she said "Of dying You will live forever But I" She struggled to think how to phrase it "I won&039;t," she said "I want to be with you I want to be like you I want to be immortal," she said

His expression turned somber He slowly reached over, dressed himself, and stood

He stared off at the ocean

She dressed, too, grateful for the war it to make sure her journal and the scroll were still safe inside She stood beside him

"I want to be with you, too," he said "But trust me, you do not want to be iain, clean, fresh, in another lifetime, another place, another time, another body To not have to remember To let the life cycle take its course Our kindwe are unnatural"

He turned and looked at her

"There is nothingwith me forever is not worth the pain of i his hand "It&039;s what I want Turninto his eyes "Turn me so that I can be a true vampire So that I can be with you forever"

He stared back at her, and his eyes welled up

"As much as I love you, that I could never do," he said "You would be stuck in limbo forever You would never be able to procreate I could never inflict that on you Even for selfish reasons And if I were to turn you without permission, my punishment would be severe"

Her heart fell Maybe it was not meant to be, after all

Caleb took her hand silently

"If we are going to spend the night here, we should find some shelter, build a fire," he said

He led her as they walked along the cliffs, in silence

"I thought I saw so," he said "A cave," he added "There," he said, pointing

There was indeed a small cave, set back into the cliff It was not that deep or wide, but it was enough to provide shelter

The cave&039;s floor was comprised of the same fine sand as the beach, and it was lit up by the fullin its center Clearly, others had used this spot before It was probably a popular spot for bonfires, ht

Caleb reached down and rubbed his hands with lightning speed, as he had done once before, and within seconds, the fireas lit and burning Soon, a roaring fire illuminated the cave Rose ca beside Caleb and wrapping one ar the warmth of the fire

They both sat down and looked up at the cave, at the ceiling, at the graffiti on its walls It was shaped in an arch, and the light reflected off it in a o fro about the sword But she was also asking about them

"I don&039;t know," he said "We seem to have come to a dead-end"