Chapter 19: 19. Last Stop

After one more bend in the road our destination suddenly came into view. I couldn't help glance at Marianne as I asked, "Are you sure this is the right place?"

We'd been following a dirt road that twisted and zig-zagged as it descended towards the sea. Now I could see the road pretty much just ended alongside about a dozen buildings next to the water. There was no city or town here, it was barely even a village.

We were pretty much at the eastern edge of Crete, we'd spent the afternoon driving south from Sitia, where we stayed the last two nights. At least Sitia was a town, and it had things to see and do. We visited another Venetian fortress, and we saw the Minoan site of Petras.

"I'm quite sure Lexi," my girlfriend replied with a smile. "This is Kato Zakros. There is an hotel on the beach, I've already booked us a room for another two nights."

Another two nights had been pretty much the theme most of our road trip. Two nights in Rethymnos, two nights in Chaina. We only spent one night at Kissamos, then one night at that place near the Samaria Gorge. Then it was a couple nights at Phaistos before we finished up our tour of the western half of Crete.

From there we finally made our way back to Heraklion, where we spent a couple more nights in a fancy hotel before setting out again on the eastern half of the trek. We had two nights at Malia, a couple nights at Sitia, and now we were going to be here for another two nights.

I glanced at her again as I navigated the car towards the building with the hotel signage. "Do you really think there's enough here to keep us busy the rest of today and all day tomorrow? Is there anything here at all?"

She just gave me a knowing smile. I knew there were more Minoan ruins someplace nearby, we might have even driven past as we arrived. On the other hand there definitely weren't any museums or other cultural spots here. No nightclubs either, unless there was one in the hotel. Not that I was big into clubbing, the novelty had worn off after the first week or so.

Less than a minute later we were there so I left the rest of my questions and observations until later. I found us a spot to park the car then we got our packs out of the back and went to check in. That was a relatively quick and painless process, and not long after that the two of us were in yet another hotel room.

It was a smaller room, but I had to admit the view from the balcony was fantastic. The beach and the little bay were very pretty, and we'd been blessed with near-perfect weather for almost the whole time we'd been on Crete.

"This is good," I commented as I flopped back on the large bed. "This bit right here, the laying down part."

My girlfriend sat next to me and teased, "It hasn't been so bad has it? We were only in the car less than an hour today."

I shook my head, "No you're right. It's not that bad. I'm actually almost getting used to the constant packing and unpacking, stopping and going."

"If it's any consolation," Eva said as she appeared sitting crosslegged on the bed next to me, "This should be our last stop I think? On Crete that is."

Our demon looked to Marianne and asked, "Zakros was the final archaeological site you wanted to visit, yes?"

"That's right," my girlfriend nodded. "When we leave here on Sunday we'll head straight back to Heraklion. That will be a longer drive, doing it all in one go, but even that should only take few hours."

Eva added, "We can stay there a day or two in another five-star hotel while we make arrangements for the next leg of our trip. From Heraklion we'll go directly to Naples. And that may well be the end of our search. My lover will know where our child is."

I still hadn't moved, I was laying stretched across the bed in between my two friends as I smiled "Sounds good Eva. So what are we going to do to pass the time here in Zakros?"

It turned out that Marianne already figured out something of an itinerary for our stay at this tiny seaside village.

As soon as I was ready to move again the three of us left the hotel and went to explore the nearby ruins, which were less than two hundred meters from where we parked the car. In fact I'd driven right past without noticing, but in my defence I'd been distracted by the buildings that were still intact rather than looking for the ones that weren't.

It was another Minoan palace, and while it wasn't anywhere near as big or as well-preserved as places like Knossos or even Akrotiri, it was still a lot better than Phylakopi had been. We managed to spend the rest of the afternoon touring and exploring, with Marianne taking lots of pictures and notes as usual.

That evening while we were enjoying a nice dinner in the restaurant next to the hotel I commented, "I'm surprised there's enough people coming here to support the hotel and restaurant. Are that many people interested in touring Minoan ruins?"

My girlfriend smiled, "There's also a lovely beach here Lexi, and it's very quiet and peaceful. In fact this is a popular romantic retreat? I read that it's highly rated as a couples' destination."

"And you know," she added as she placed her hand on my knee, "Today is our six-week anniversary, from when we first met at the cafe in Russel Square Gardens."

"Oh," I bit my lower lip. I hadn't been paying that close attention to the dates, but finding out she did left a little flutter in my belly.

At that point Eva decided to excuse herself, she gave the two of us a knowing smile as she bid us both a good night. Then she vanished, and moments later I felt her presence fade inside me.

From that point on it really was a romantic getaway for my girlfriend and I. After dinner we enjoyed some quiet time cuddling on our balcony as we listened to the gentle sound of waves on the beach, before heading to bed to celebrate six full weeks together.

Marianne's plans for Saturday started out ok, we had a nice breakfast then spent the morning hiking along a nearby gorge. Although the name 'Gorge of the Dead' was pretty unromantic it was still a nice scenic walk together. We spent about ninety minutes hiking up along the dry riverbed before we turned around and made our way back to the hotel for lunch.

Then in the afternoon things got much more intense, for me at least. All we had left on our little itinerary was to spend the afternoon at the beach. Which meant I was finally going to get into a bikini.

I'd bought it way back near the start of our travels, after me and Marianne first had that talk on Santorini. But so far I'd managed to avoid actually wearing it. Conveniently we spent most of our time in museums, or at ruins, or on walking tours, or hiking. Now there was nothing else, no other diversions, no more excuses.

And I knew it still probably seemed silly to her, my body was cisnormative and I definitely had the looks to rock a bikini. But it was still a big moment for me, to finally step out of our hotel room and into public view with the thing on. I felt completely exposed, practically naked, and I knew people were checking me out.

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Marianne was there with me though, wearing her own skimpy swim-wear as she held my hand. The two of us walked to the beach with our towels and some sun-screen, and she helped me get comfortable. Over the first hour or so my anxiety and tension gave way to euphoria and joy. The two of us even ventured into the water and I swam, for the first time in ages.

It turned out to be a fantastic afternoon, I had a lot of fun, and I almost felt silly for putting it off for so long. When it came time for dinner I was almost reluctant to leave the beach, though by that time I'd definitely had enough sun for the day.

That evening my girlfriend and I had another romantic dinner followed by a very pleasant evening together. And I had to admit, I was happy we'd stopped at Zakros after all. And happy Marianne booked us two days there. I almost wanted to stay on another day, but I knew Eva was probably getting bored. I definitely appreciated her leaving the two of us alone for the weekend though.

Sunday morning we were up a little earlier than usual, since we knew the drive back would take a while. Marianne and I had a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant before returning to our room to pack.

Our demon appeared at that point and greeted us, "Good morning Lexi, Marianne. I have two requests to make of you, if you don't mind?"

"Hi Eva," I responded. "What would you like?"

She asked, "For our return drive to Heraklion, rather than retracing our path north then east, I'd like to take an alternate route, along the south coast of the island. That will take us through Ierapetra, Viannos, then north past Arkalochori. It's still very much a long-shot but that will allow me to check for any demonic signs as we drive through those parts of the island? In case my child is here after all."

"It will add a little time to our drive but not too much I think," she added.

Neither Marianne or myself had a problem with that. My girlfriend said, "I'll have a look at the map but it sounds like you've already figured out the route for us?"

Eva smiled, "I spent some time looking it over last night while you were both asleep."

"What was the other request?" I asked. "You said there were two?"

This time she grimaced slightly, "I know I originally said we could spend a couple more days in Heraklion, but I was wondering if we could cut that to a single night? Rather than wait another day or two, I'd like us to fly to Naples tomorrow."

It wasn't hard to guess that she was eager to move on. We'd basically been on Crete an entire month by that point, and the past couple weeks were mostly for Marianne's benefit. Granted Eva was doing her magic searching, but she said herself it was all a long-shot. And if we hadn't kept stopping to visit ruins and do touristy things we probably could have driven around the entire island in a single week.

"I don't have a problem with that," I responded, as I glanced at my girlfriend.

Marianne agreed, "One night in Heraklion is fine. As soon as we get to the hotel Lexi and I can start working out the arrangements for tomorrow. We'll book a flight, accommodations, and we'll probably need to rent a car too I think?"

"Thank you," Eva smiled.

With our new plans set, the three of us headed out to the car and got moving. Marianne was navigating from the passenger seat again, I was behind the wheel, and Eva in the back seat where she could watch and do her magic scanning stuff.

The drive was a little longer than I'd been expecting, but once again the scenery was great. We drove through or past a bunch of towns right on the coast, like Lefki, Koutsouras, and Ierapetra. Then we started heading inland, past Viannos and Arkalochori, before at long last returning to Heraklion.

We were probably on the road for nearly four hours, and by the time we'd gone through the process of returning the rental car it was already late afternoon. And even though I'd been sitting down the whole time in the car I was weary from the drive, so all I really wanted to do at that point was chill out for a while.

And happily I got my wish. It was Sunday after all, so as soon as we were checked into our hotel Marianne got herself a drink then pulled out her phone to make her routine call home.

It was kind of funny in a way, but the only sure-fire way to know what day it was without looking at my phone was by keeping track of my girlfriend's phone calls with her mom. They happened every Sunday like clockwork, and without them I'd probably have no sense of time whatsoever.

She was curled up at one end of the sofa, so Eva and I sat together on the big comfy bed. We still liked to give Marianne some privacy, but we didn't always leave the room anymore. Instead we just gave her some space and talked quietly so as not to disturb her.

"You're looking forward to Naples I guess?" I asked softly.

My demon friend nodded, "I am. I know my lover will be there. That place has been her home for ages, long before I even knew her. She's almost eight thousand years old now, and three thousand years ago she'd already lived there nearly five millennia. There's simply no way she'd leave it and live somplace else."

Before I could respond she clarified, "She may have moved her actual residence, but she won't have gone far. I'm confident we'll find her in or around the city."

"I hope so Eva," I smiled. "I'm looking forward to meeting her."

She smiled back, but after that the two of us were quiet again for a while.

Marianne's call with her mom lasted about thirty or forty minutes, then the three of us got to work on our plans for Monday. We booked some first-class plane tickets, arranged for a week in a five-star hotel in the city, and a rental car would be waiting for us at the airport.

And since I'd done all the driving here on Crete, Marianne agreed to do the driving while we were in Naples.

With the next leg of our travel arrangements made the three of us set out on foot to get some dinner, but we all agreed it would be an early night tonight.