As the demon’s voice fell silent the swirling stilled and the world gradually coalesced around the stunned vampire. He was given no time to wonder if he really was on Earth or not, for immediately he was almost hit by a speeding car. He’d materialized in the middle of a road. Fortunately it was also the middle of the night and few cars were about. He quickly got off the street and looked around.

He was in a city. Buildings towered above him, though none of them were really skyscrapers. I wonder where exactly I’m at? Deciding to look for landmarks he took to the air. It only took him minutes to spot one. Just a few blocks from where he’d arrived was a huge granite building. Six spires, the highest crowned with a golden figure blowing a trumpet, topped it. The temple, he thought. I’m in Salt Lake City. Well, at least I’m somewhere familiar. If I’d landed in New York I’d be totally lost.

So, now what? I need some time to think, that’s what. He surveyed the city below. He needed a place where he wouldn’t be bothered. For a moment he thought about landing on top of the temple. Nobody would see him up there. But even though he wasn’t one of the Mormons, it felt vaguely sacrilegious to just sit on top of their holy place. So he perched on top of the neighboring office building instead. Sitting on the rooftop and surveying the city below he sighed heavily.

What a mess. Last time I was stuck here it took more than a year to find a portal, and that was without having to worry about demon spells. I can hope Asmodeus was lying, but I doubt it. I can’t let him win though. That creep at the head of an army of demons isn’t something I ever want to see. He’d wreck Mysteria and probably move on to other worlds, like Earth. No way. So I guess if taking off the torc is out, the only other option is hoping that Flame will come looking for me. I wonder if I could send a message home? Hmmm… that’s a thought. Even if I can’t go through a portal myself, I could throw something through. Yes. It’s not much of a plan, but it’s all I can think of for the moment.

In the meantime… guess I’ll just stay here. I know my way around the city, it doesn’t seem to have changed. Now there’s a thought. How long has it been? Time flows differently here, that’s for sure. I first left here in… what, 1999? And for me that was, hmm… wow, just shy of twenty years ago. I’m getting old. But there’s no way this is 2020. The city would be more changed than it is. So, first order of business, find a newspaper and get the date.

Feeling somehow better now that he’d reached some sort of decision and had something that felt useful to do he set off in search of a newspaper. It didn’t take him long to find one. A coin-operated box just a block away dispensed them. He didn’t have any money, but he didn’t really want the paper, just the date, which was easily visible. The date was March 15, 2003. Wow, he thought, two decades for me and less than four years here. Guess that’s good. If it had been twenty years here I’d feel like Rip Van Winkle. Looks like I missed the millennial bash and the Olympics. What a shame.

The next order of business was obviously finding somewhere to stay. There was no way Aidan could get some kind of apartment. No money, and no ID so no way to get a job. Not to mention the fact that he looked like a freak. Not many job openings around here for flying vampires, he thought with a grin. But for someone with wings who wasn’t bothered by the cold there were plenty of other options. All kinds of rooftop locations had snug little corners where nobody ever visited. Aidan scouted out half a dozen likely spots on the first night. He picked the best of these and soon was settled in comfortably in a little nook that was half covered and half open to the sky.

He lay there, looking up at the stars. After all these years he’d grown accustomed to the stars of Mysteria. Seeing again the old familiar stars of Earth was odd. He identified the few ordinary constellations he knew and then renewed his acquaintance with his personal constellations. There was the Unicorn, and the Greater and Lesser Dragons. There the Archer and his arrow, there the Running Man, eternally trying to stop the Archer’s shot. There was the Crown of Light, and the opposing Crown of Darkness, the Great Fountain, and the Hero’s Sword. He recalled spending hours making up the mythology to go with the pictures he found. His sky had its own tale, a great epic of battle between good and evil.

He remembered how hard he’d wished that the sky stories could be true and that he could go there, to that land, and become a hero. He’d wanted to escape his ordinary lonely life. And I got my wish, he thought. Even if I never go back at least I had that much. I had so much more than most people. All my greatest dreams and wishes came true.