The search parties were scouring everywhere looking for the lost archaeologist. It had only been a week so hopes were high yet the areas close to the main dig revealed nothing. Xander and his assistant quietly discussed this strange turn of events as they searched away from the others. Typically inappropriate, the sky was clear of cloud and the sun shone happily. Edging closer to the river as they walked, something caught Xander's eye. Was that… a boot? He rushed forward raising the alarm.

"Over here, we’ve got something! Phillip go, quickly. Get help."

As Philip ran off, Xander waded into the cold waters dragging what appeared to be two bodies into the shallows. One was a women. His heart skipped a beat and, holding his breathe, he desperately felt for a pulse on her cold, clammy neck…

***

He sat when he realised that pacing was not helping, and watched for any sign of improvement. Her friends were exhausted and had been convinced to go and get some sleep so he was alone. As he watched, her eyes fluttered and rolled in her head as she tried to look around the room. She looked so pale and the livid bruises on her wrists and face hurt him for some reason. Made him angry. What happened to her, how could anyone…? She murmured something and half opened her eyes again. When they alighted on him, she half smiled then frowned in confusion.

"Robert?"

Xander couldn't take his eyes off her, but gently shook his head.

"Serenity Neville? I'm Xander Montford. I’m an expert in Norman archaeology that was brought in before…” he cleared his throat. “I found you. You've been missing a week and unconscious four days. How are you?"

She nodded. Suddenly her head snapped up and she focused intently on his face.

"The man I found you with-” Robert continued but trailed off as a smile lighting up her face. When he saw it, that was it. Words trailing off, his chest tightened, it almost felt like his heart would never beat again, and his eyes widened in wonder.

“Montford? That’s an uncommon name…” Serenity didn’t even blink.

Xander gave a stilted nod. “Old family...”

...

...

...

“Your colleague, the man found with you, didn’t survive. I’m sorry.”

Serenity didn’t say anything, just stared at him quietly and Xander wasn’t sure if it was shock or that she just didn’t care. He’d heard this Wick had become a problem. All appearances suggest he had been fixated on Serenity for some time. Goodness knows what had happened.

“Is the dig site safe?”

Xander nodded with a smile. “After everything you’ve been through, that’s what your worried about?” Serenity just shrugged, wincing as she aggravated her wounds. He understood she had cracked ribs, likely from a fall and her shoulder had been dislocated. “The site is fine. They’ve uncovered the foundations of a previously unknown Norman castle and, most exciting, there is a beautiful shrine completely intact. Quite exquisite.”

“No mass graves?” Serenity asked.

What an odd question. As far as Xander was aware, there was no record of mass graves in this eared or from this era. “No, no mass graves. There are no records of plagues or battles near her, were too far North I think.”

A comfortable silence descended where they just watch each other, never blinking. Suddenly, she smiled at him again and his heart thumped making it difficult to swallow.

***

How odd the world is, how strange it's workings. Were they related? When she looked at his face and saw the look in his eyes, she recognised it and, oddly, the memory didn't bring her pain as she thought it would. It brought her hope. Wick was gone and Rober-. No Rober was long gone. This was Xander and he was here. In the present. She remembered resting in the Sanctuary but not how she got back here. Being in the present felt comfortable, a relief like a weight had been lifted off her chest. It was time to live in the present... at least for a while.

“When I’m released from here, would you take me on a tour of the site?”

Xander smiled back at her. “I’d be delighted. I’ve waited a long time to work with you Professor Neville.”

“Please, call me Serenity.”

“Serenity”.

***

Tuesday 28th August 2144

Okay. I’m writing it down, with the good old fashioned pen to paper. I’ve gotten used to it by now. In part so maybe I can stop thinking about it so persistently and it won’t drive me crazy anymore. I’ve done a lot of healing, but there’s still a ways to go and I’ll never forget it. Af first I wasn’t sure I’d ever use it again, it’s taken a toll on me and the effects, I suspect, will be with me for years.

If I hadn’t lived through it myself, I’d say it had the makings of a novel or movie, but I did live it. It was real, is real, and I don’t want to lose it. Because I had a family there, Osgar, Robert, Aelfwine and Evelyn, Gwain, Henry... I'm afraid I'll wake up one day it will all fade into a dream. No matter how painful it was, how much of a struggle we had, I don’t want it to fade. I don’t want to forget.

I was never equipped to deal with this. I’m not a kick-ass heroine or a superhero and neither am I a damsel in distress or shrinking violet. I am an archaeologist, just like my Dad. I’m organised, love history, and I don’t mind hard work and ending the day caked in mud but I managed to learn a bit from my mum too. She is amazing with people, so kind hearted and caring. Not afraid of tough love but you can’t help but love her back. I swear, you put anyone in a room with her for five minutes and they’ll come out as best friends. My point is that, from the start, I was just an ordinary person like any other. My parents are loving and supportive, they have grown into some of my closest friends. I have lived my life in amazing places, with good friends, and I enjoy it. Yes, until recently, I was afraid. I was afraid of the things that came out of the half-light of dawn, through the misty fields and rolling hills of middle England. I was afraid of the shadows and what they meant. But not anymore.

Now I understand a little better and I want to keep learning. You see, the other reason I’m writing this, dear read, is for you. Because I was not the first, but I had no one to help me. No one to explain, to teach me the rules and outline the consequences. And I won’t be the last. More of you will be like me, and I don’t want you to create your own shadows. I found the Sanctuary and learned so much. So, please, have a read, because this is what I learned...