Protector (11 page)

“Let’s see, I had known him all my life.  We grew up together in a small town about two hours north from here called Oriental.  We were best friends since elementary school and we started dating when we were sixteen.”

Anna
-Marie stops to remember those days of innocence.  She has reflected on them many times in the past nine months, but she has never talked about it to anyone, until now.

“Wow, that’s a long time to date someone.  You’re what, twenty-two?”

Anna-Marie laughs, “No, I’m actually thirty.”

“Seriously?  That’s even longer then I thought.”

“Well, with Dylan it was easy.  He always had a way of pulling you in and making you never want to leave.  We moved here after high school to go to college.”

“Oh, so you both went to the University of Wilmington?”

“Yep, it was my dream since I was a child.  I was a track star in high school and received a scholarship to run track for Wilmington, as well as a few other colleges.  When I got the notice it was like fate telling me for sure, that is where I was supposed to go.   I think Dylan only agreed to go there too to make me happy.”

“Well, that was very cool of him.”

“Yeah, he was always good like that.”

Anna
-Marie now wishes that they wouldn’t have come here.  She could have just as easily continued to waitress at the marina and gone to Pamlico Community College for her two-year degree, then transfer somewhere local for her Bachelors degree.  At least then Dylan would still be here.  But she has loved Wilmington since she was a kid, when her parents took her to Wrightsville Beach for the first time and continued to take her, and even Dylan sometimes, every summer since.  The city has always been fascinating and comforting all at once, but not anymore. 

There are memories of Dylan all over.  Most of them being good, like the glistening downtown waterfront where they would take walks on warm humid nights.  Some nights they would even drive to the other side of the river to the park and play a few games of basketball.  Every Sunday they would walk downtown and buy fresh produce and ice cream from the street vendors.  The bubbling fountain along the waterfront houses hundreds, if not thousands
, of their coins.  There’s not a time since they were children that they have ever passed it and not made a wish. 

But since that horrible night when her world fell apart
, this place is no longer comforting, only lonely and sad. The memories of that night trump all of the magical ones.

She has thought about moving away a few times.  She knows a fresh start would do her good
, but she can’t imagine leaving Dylan behind right now; maybe one day, just not now.  The thought of even going away for an extended amount of time, like a weekend, is unfathomable. 

They sit quietly sipping their tea
, both seeming lost in their own thoughts. 

“So
, Anna-Marie, what is it that you do?”  Alessandro finally asks.

“I am a columnist for the Coastal Sun newspaper.”

Dammit!
Alessandro thinks to himself.  He was not expecting that.

“So umm, what kind of columns do you write?”

“Pretty much anything really.  I’ve been there since I was an intern in college so my boss seems to think I’m competent enough to write a good column about whatever subject I so choose.  Sometimes I’m not so sure, but it doesn’t hurt that she is my best friend as well,” she says with a smile.  “But, I absolutely hate politics, so I refuse to even broach the subject and religion is too controversial for me.  I find myself arguing with it more than anything.”

“That’s pretty awesome that you have free range of your choosing.”

“Yeah, it is.  How about you?”

“I work in security.”

“Oh, really?  Where do you work?”

“I own my own business downtown.  I have a couple of guys that work for me.  We get contracted out.”

“Oh, that is cool.  I bet that is interesting work.”

“Yeah, it can definitely be a challenge.”

Alessandro glances out the window. 
Dammit!  It’s starting to get dark out.  I have to get back to the manor before the others go out,
Alessandro thinks to himself.

“Well
, Anna-Marie, I hate to do it but it is starting to get late and I have a meeting to get to.  It was very nice to meet you.”  Surprisingly, he really meant it.  She has been nothing but a pain in the butt and he was convinced she was absolutely insane, until now. 

Anna
-Marie looks out the window for the first time as well, “Wow, yeah it is.  I didn’t even notice it was getting dark out.” 

Anna
-Marie avoids being outside at night as much as possible since the night in the alley.  She chews her lower lip as fear rises in her because they had left his car at the cemetery to drive here together.

Alessandro sees the distress on her face
and knows exactly what the problem is.  She’s afraid.

“Hey, if you want, I can take a cab back to get my car so you don’t have to drive back
to the cemetery if it is out of your way.”

“No!”
Anna-Marie blurts out quickly.

Startled, Alessandro looks at her,

“I mean, no, that’s okay.  I can drive you.  You really shouldn’t be outside at night by yourself, especially in a cemetery.  It can be really scary, and dangerous.”

Ahh
. . .
Alessandro gets it now.  She is afraid something will happen to him rather than herself because of her experiences.  That’s pretty smart, but then again she doesn’t know who he really is.

He smiles inside at the thought of her being concerned for his safety.  His safety
, of all people, is totally secure, although she doesn’t know that.

Back at the manor Alessandro looks for his father, hoping he hasn’t missed him for his evening patrol.  He wants to update him on his progress with Anna-Marie.

Marquis is usually in the upper level once night falls, but not tonight.  Tonight Alessandro finds him in the built in chapel down below on the second level of the underground. 
The chapel is used for ceremonies and honoring their goddess, the latter mostly.  Alessandro waits by the door for his father to finish praying before he speaks.

Once
Alessandro sees his bent head come up he speaks, “Excuse me, father, I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“No
, Alessandro, you are fine.  I was just speaking to your mother before I go out tonight.”

Shocked at this
, Alessandro asks, “You still speak to her?”

“Yes, almost every night these days.  You’ll see one day.  One
day you may find yourself a partner and it will be inevitable that you will outlive her.”  He pauses and looks Alessandro up and down.  “Although at your rate, you may be too old by that point to worry about that once you finally do settle down.”

Alessandro has never told anyone this before, but that is the exact reason why he has always re
fused to even think about dating or getting serious with anyone.  He has his fun, but that’s all he wants.  For now anyway.  He may change is mind one day, but the thought isn’t even a blimp on his radar.  He has witnessed firsthand fellow Protectors and Brotherhood grieve their lost mates.  It is a part of their life.  They all know the consequences of falling in love.  His father is prime example.  Alessandro had been told a long time ago how Marquis was one of the most feared members of the Brotherhood before he met Gemma. After that day he became soft, although still respected as a ruthless warrior and the top leader of their group.  But when Alessandro’s mother died, something inside of Marquis broke.  Love makes you weak and the pain of losing your love is powerful enough to completely destroy you.

“I wanted to inform you that I have made progress today with
Anna-Marie.”

Marquis looks at his son and smiles.

“Anna-Marie?”

“Yes
, Anna-Marie.  She is the lady I told you about.  I have made contact with her today.  Hopefully, I will have answers soon.”

“That will be good.  I pray she doesn’t know too much
already.”

“Well, it turns out her boyfriend was a victim of the supposed animal attacks that have been going on.  Obviously, we know it was no animal.  But because of that, I think she has gotten curious after she heard about other reports of the same attacks.  She seems to be pretty smart, but lonely.  I think if she has a distraction she will calm down with all her curiousness.”

“Hmmm . . . that may work.  What do you plan to do?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure yet.  So far we are becoming friends because of our common los
s.”

“So
, she bought the story, I assume?”

Alessandro talked to his father briefly earlier in the week to let him know what he was pl
anning to do.

“Yes, I think she wanted someone she could relate to
, so this should be pretty simple.”

“Well done
, my boy.”  Marquis stands to leave, and then turns back to Alessandro.  “Alessandro, spend some time with this girl.  Of course, to do your job, but also so you can be around a human.  You haven’t been able to really experience your human side, even though your mother tried so hard to make you.”

“Father
, really, I never had a desire to.”

“I know you say that, but one thing I have learned from meeting your mother is that there is far more to this life th
an being a warrior.”

“But dad, mom isn’t even here anymore.  I see you grieve
for her, even still.  Can you honestly say the decades of grief are worth it?”

“Son, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  She will always my jewel.”
Marquis smiles.  “Her parents had it right by naming her Gemma, meaning jewel in Italian.”

Marquis slaps his son on the shoulder and walks out of the chapel.  Alessandro watches his father leave then turns to stare at the statue of their goddess
, Ameretat, the goddess of immortality, in the front of the chapel. 

It seems like an insane notion to want to endure such pain and torment for the rest of his damned life,
or for god only knows how long, before he had the good grace to finally die. 

“No
, thank you,” Alessandro says to the statue and gets up and leaves the chapel, as well.  As he walks through the door, he runs into Michael.

“Hey
, Ales!  What have you been up to all day?” 

“Hey
, Michael.  I’ve been out working on my new project.”

“Da
mn, I never see you around anymore.  Dude, you missed it.  I scored a fine hottie last night at Styx.” 

They had been frequent visitors at
Club Styx since they moved back here a few months ago.  It is a shady, but hot club to go to in downtown Wilmington, which is perfect for them.

“I’m supposed to be meeting up with her later tonight if you w
anna come.”

“You don’t have to ask twice.”

“Awesome, I’ll meet you upstairs in a couple hours, okay?”

“Alright
, man.”

8

The line into Styx is long as usual.  For a seedy spot
, the place is well known and always packed.  They walk to the head of the line past all of the patiently waiting people.  The door man notices the cut and puts his hand up to stop them. 

“Sorry
, boys, you gotta wait your turn like everyone else.”

Alessandro looks
at Michael and smiles slyly then looks at the hulk of a man in the eyes as his own eyes darken even further, changing from brown to black as if his pupils expanded to cover his entire eye, “No, you will let us by, now.”

With a little help of the power of persuasion, which they inherited from their
fathers, Alessandro compels the door man to do what he wants and he waves them by. 

Michael laughs and slaps Alessandro on the back as they walk past the door man
who is none the wiser.

The inside is even more packed than you would think from the outside, with hot sweaty bodies melting together with the loud thumping music of heavy metal.  That’s a big reason they love this place so much.  It’s the only club in the area that caters to this genre of music.  There is no other music compared to the loud
, sexy and angry belching of heavy metal.  The loud screaming music speaks to the pit of Alessandro’s heart in every way.