Night and Day (Stevens Book 11)

Chapter 23

Katherine had been shooting most of the day, and she was exhausted. Not surprisingly, she hadn't slept well as she tossed and turned, wondering what had suddenly changed with Alistair. She had so much hope since she arrived, but it all disappeared instantly when she asked about his uncle.

The weather had gotten much colder overnight, and she was wearing the same thing she had the previous evening for continuity, which meant that she had spent most of the day shivering between takes. She needed a walk to clear her head and warm up, so when they stopped filming to grab some lunch, Katherine wandered off toward a stand of trees in the distance that looked peaceful.

She was halfway across the clearing when Alistair caught up with her, grabbing her arm to stop her.

"Let me go. Alistair." It was softly spoken, and she meant that he should let go of more than just her arm. He should let her go. It was evident that it would never work between them. A brief meet-up every year or so with no complications or commitment seemed the best they could hope for moving forward.

"No, Katherine. I will never let you go. I can't." He understood her point but disagreed with her.

"Fine, then let's go back to what we used to be. A few meetings a year, where we enjoy each other's company and then go about our lives." Katherine looked up at him with pleading eyes. "This isn't going to work any other way, and last night proves it. Whenever we finally fall on the same page and let our guard down, one of us freaks out and hurts the other, and I can't keep going through that."

She wrenched her arm away from his and took off, walking briskly until she reached the trees.

"Katherine, stop!" he called, and she did for a moment to turn toward him.

"I love you, Alistair. I love you, not your money or title or family. You're the only one for me, but it won't work for us in a traditional sense, so we have to figure out what will work and what we had will because it worked for over nine years."

"No, Katherine, that won't work for me. I want you there when I have a bad day. I want you there when, like last night, my cousin drops the bomb that she's married without telling everyone. I want you to travel with me and have children with me. I need a partner. I want us to always be together in every sense of the word, and I believe it can work in a traditional sense and agree that we only have to figure out what we need to do to make it work."

"It's too hard. We shouldn't have to work on having a relationship! It should come naturally, and ours doesn't." She shook her head and started walking again.

He grabbed her and pulled her close. "Katherine, from the moment I looked at you, I wanted you, and it was the same for you. That has never waned, which is the most natural thing in the world. All the other stuff is my ego and your emotional baggage getting in the way. Neither one of us is perfect, but up until this last year, we've only had perfect moments together. That confuses things. All relationships take work, and we must ask ourselves if we are worth the work, and I know we are."

Katherine looked at Alistair and thought about having him in her life forever, then she reached out and touched his cheek right before there was a sudden creaking, and the ground below her gave way. She tried to reach for Alistair, but suddenly he wasn't there, and she was surrounded by darkness as her world spun. After a moment, the air whooshed back into her lungs with a sharp pain that made her cry out. She closed her eyes and steadied her breath while she tried to reach for her phone in her skirt pocket. When she felt it, she shook it, and the flashlight turned on, which made her feel marginally better.

She heard a groan next to her and jerked her head to look, which caused her to wince in pain. What caused her more pain was seeing Alistair lying next to her with blood oozing from his head.

"Alistair!" she called and slowly moved her arm, which also caused her great pain, to try and shake him awake, but all she got was a groan. 'Please let him be all right,' she thought as her shaky fingers attempted to dial the phone.

The only person she could think to call was Beth.

"Hey, girl, what's up?" Beth said with a smile on her face. "I've been watching the shoot covertly from the shadows, and it appears to be going well. You look amazing." 

"Beth," she croaked.

"Katherine! What's wrong? Where are you!" Beth's happy voice suddenly turned urgent as she heard the pain and distress in Katherine's.

"It's Alistair; he's been hurt," Katherine couldn't hold back the tears as she turned her head to look at his unconscious form.

"You too, by the sound of it. Where are you?" Katherine could hear her walking and opening doors. "I'm putting you on speaker. Tell us what's going on."

"I don't know where we are, it's dark, and I can't see anything." Katherine shook her head and winced again. "We were walking and taking, and then the ground gave way, and we both fell." Katherine felt tears rolling down her cheeks. "Alistair is unconscious, and I can't get him to wake up."

"Where were you walking, Katherine?" Bryce's voice asked. Beth had joined some of the other Stevens, but Katherine couldn't see was the SOS text going out to the family and how they were quickly filling up the study to find out what was happening.

"I saw a stand of trees and wanted to get away," Katherine said, suddenly feeling tired.

"Which direction, Katherine!" Bryce demanded.

"I don't remember, but it only took me a few minutes to walk to where we are. I'm very tired." She said, her eyes starting to droop.

"Stay awake, Katherine!" Rainer said. "Don't fall asleep. We'll be there soon."

"Mmmm," she muttered before she fell unconscious.

Beth ended the call and tried calling her back, but she didn't answer. Then she tried Alistair's phone with little result.

"What are we going to do?" Beth asked as she looked around at all the worried Stevens' faces.

"We're going to find them," Rainer said as he looked at Bryce.

"I can help," Isaac said, stepping forward. "I have some experience in search and rescue."

"Thank you, Isaac. That would be greatly appreciated." Bryce nodded as he gave Grace a quick hug while Rainer grabbed a map of the grounds and laid it out on the table. 

"Do you know of any old wells or subterranean caverns?" Isaac asked as he approached the map. "Does anyone know the last place she was seen?"

The conversation continued for a few moments, with everyone getting more and more concerned by the minute. It wasn't going to be as easy as they thought, not unless their fall had left a great gaping hole in the ground, which wouldn't be the case if it was dark where they were.

"We'll start here and fan out." Isaac pointed to a place on the map closest to where Katherine had last been seen. "Beth, you keep calling their phones to see if you can get them to answer and let us know if you have any success. Poppy, can you call the local officials and get additional help here? The more people we have looking, the faster we'll find them and get medical help too. They'll need attention as soon as possible if they're both unconscious."

"I'll tell Katherine's crew," Grace said as she squeezed Bryce's hand before she left the room.

Poppy looked at her husband, her face pale. "Please find them," she begged, fighting tears, and his only response was to nod, his expression devoid of emotion. If the others thought the interaction was odd, no one said anything.

Everyone was happy to have Isaac take over and were eager to start searching because it was better than waiting around.