Burn It and Move On

Part 4: Spring 1350 - Grimsby

The summer heat still hadn't broken, despite the sun sinking below the horizon over an hour ago. Johannes and I sat at the top of the hill and looked down at the fire burning down in the pit of the field. From this distance, we could pretend the fire was just for warmth, though we knew it wasn't.

Johannes was silent. His older sister was down in the flames and we watched the sparks carry her ashes up toward the first pale stars of the night.

He chewed on a bit of barley bread and tried to suppress the cough rising up in his throat. "It's just a piece of grain," he would tell me if I asked. "I just need to drink."

London, 1212. The smell of screams. 3,000 lives that won't make it across the bridge. The city lit up once again.

I ran my thumb over the small bottle of hand sanitizer I shouldn't have, tucked away in the hem of my skirt. Contraband. Inexistent. An object that wouldn't even be invented for another 688 years and which Demi would beat me for having.

I couldn't share it with Johannes, even though he needed it. He was going to die of the stupid Black Death, much sooner than he wanted to.

His mother had died already, as had one of his older sisters. He had three dead younger siblings too, but they had died in child birth so they didn't count. I'm surprised more hadn't died already, considering I saw one of his little brothers playing with a rat earlier.

Johannes was smart enough on his own. He probably would've been brilliant if he was ever taught to read, but he was too dumb to wash his hands and I couldn't tell him why he needed to.

But Johannes was charming. He was sweet and would pick me flowers on the way back from working in the field. When you don't feel loved by anyone for hundreds of years, with only three siblings to keep you company, a few flowers could really steal your heart.

I laid back and looked up at the sky. The smell of death did not reach into the long grass and the reprieve let me breathe.

Vienna, 1583. Her screams echo through the roar of fire and the cheers of the blood-hungry crowd. Elisabeth's ribbon, a gift from her before things went wrong in her life, was wrapped so tightly around my hand that it nearly cut off my circulation. Her kiss still lingered on my lips, tasting of bitter regret. I did not love her and I was not what she deserved.

"Katherine?"

"Yes, Johannes?"

I turned to him and he reached out to tenderly stroke my cheek. His fingertips gently caressed across my face and moved a loose curl back behind my ear. In response, I brushed away a leaf that had become caught on the collar of his shirt, letting my fingers tease along the skin of his collarbone.

"The stars are beautiful tonight."

He withdrew his hand and laid back again to stare up at the sky.

It had darkened in the mere moments I had looked away. What little trace of the setting sun was gone now.