Protector Page 8

  “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 refused 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 loss.”

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

  Alessandro talked to his father briefly earlier in the week to let him know what he was planning 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 than 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.”

  “Damn, 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 wanna 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.

  At least once a month the club even hosts live bands. They bring in a mix of local and established metal bands on those nights. Those nights are insane here, but in Alessandro’s world the crazier the better is his idea of a good time.

  “Ahh . . . dude, there she is,” Michael says once they make a lap around the club and he spots his conquest from the night before. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Alright, Michael, be gentle,” Alessandro says and laughs as they each go into their own direction.

  Protectors are inhumanly beautiful people. That, too, is a trait they gladly inherited from their unearthly vampire side. Sometimes it makes it far too easy for them though. Alessandro has no problem taking any girl he so chooses into a dark coroner and have his way with her. But for Alessandro, it has become a bore. Even looking around this club, he could have his choice of any woman here. They are all the same though. None of them have enough substance to hold his attention for more than a few minutes.

  Alessandro takes his beer and sits at a table in the back and just watches the crowd as he waits for
a fight or a girl to catch his attention. Whichever comes first is fine with him.

  With what seems like eternity, Alessandro finally finishes his first beer and makes his way back to the bar for another drink. In this place there are no waitresses, so if you want something you have to get it yourself, which suits him fine. He tends to get antsy staying in one place for too long anyway.

  Alessandro got a head start with the beer so he orders something stronger this time. Top shelf Crown Royal and Coke goes down with a kick to the gut, but tastes so good.

  Alessandro turns to face the crowd while he waits for his drink. In one moment he is bored and in an instant he is on high alert as he catches the sight of the back of a woman who is a stranger yet, all too familiar.

  Alessandro watches the woman as she talks to a group of people. This was the last place he’d expect to see her, especially after their conversation earlier today.

  He sees a man in her group grab her by the wrist and pulls her close to dance. Anger rises in him at the very sight of the couple groping and swaying too close for comfort to the intense music. Instantly his dark eyes grow darker with rage.

  Had she been acting today? Was her grief and innocence just a front? He thinks to himself as he glares at her.

  He had actually enjoyed their time together earlier and began to feel something other than Annoyance for her, even a hint of respect.

  The more he stares at her now, the more the rage builds. She made a fool of him today. She lied and made him feel sorry for her. He doesn’t know why he even cares, but it’s obvious that he does.

  Leaving his fresh drink on the counter, he walks away from the bar with a force he doesn’t understand, nor can he control. He walks up behind her, close enough to smell her sweet perfume. She doesn’t smell like sweet coconut like she did at the coffee shop, but sweet all the same. When the man she is dancing with looks up and freezes at the sight of him she slowly she turns around to face him. With bile rising in his throat, he turns and walks away.

  It isn’t her.

  Alessandro doesn’t head back toward his table, but for the door. He has to get the hell out of here. The walls feel like they are closing in on him and his breathing is coming deep and heavy.

  Once outside where he can breathe, he bends over and puts his hands on his knees as he lets out a loud curse, “Dammit!”

  He stands up straight again and begins to pace. “What the hell was that?” He scolds himself. “Why do you even care who she’s with? You don’t even know her.”

  Alessandro takes a deep breath to calm himself down and begins to walk with a need to calm his restless spirit. “Ales, you gotta get your shit together, man.”

  Alessandro sets off walking down the sidewalk outside of the club, not really caring where he is going. All he knows is he has to go somewhere and fast, as far as he can get from that place. He doesn’t know what happened back there. Anger was spilling over in him at the very thought of her there being groped by a man and seeming to enjoy it. It seemed wrong after their conversation today.

  “Dammit!” he curses, trying once again to get the image out of his head.

  He often wanders the streets at night alone, desperately hoping to find a distraction from the memories and guilt that has haunted him for so many years. Tonight is no different.

  He has always refused to voice the events that had changed his world profoundly. The members of his order know what the end result was, but no one, not even his father or best friend, Michael, knows why his mother was there that day or what happened earlier that day before he stormed away. At the time he was in no shape to explain. Eventually, the questions stopped, so Alessandro kept it to himself.

  ***

  That tragic day when his mother was killed was the worst day of his life. It will no doubt haunt him until the day he, too, finally dies. It was him she was out there looking for, away from the confines of protection. They had gotten into another fight about the lifestyle he had chosen. She wanted so desperately for her only son to be a normal boy, with a normal life. She gave up so much of herself and chose a shortened life to give him that, but he was acting too much like a spoiled rebellious teenager to even listen.

  She could have easily let her beloved Marquis turn her into a vampire so she could be with him forever. But Alessandro was a mortal and watching him grow old while she stayed young and vibrant was too much for her to bear. So she decided to stay human so she could grow old naturally with him.

  Alessandro insisted on becoming a Protector though. It was his destiny and nothing she said or did could ever change his mind and the more she pushed, the harder he fought.

  He will never forget that day or the look on her angelic face. It has been branded in his brain ever since and it doesn’t matter if his eyes are opened or closed. He stormed out, leaving her crying in the foyer of their manor in Seattle, Washington. He said some really harsh things to her, things he desperately wishes he could take back.

  He told her he would never live the life of a weak worthless human, and he’d rather be struck down by a Rogue than to ever become so pathetic. Cruel or not that is how he felt and he knew he was justified to feel that way. Just like he told Anna-Marie, a person should never apologize for their feelings, although it still doesn’t excuse him for intentionally hurting the one person he loved most by voicing them.

  A few hours later the bartender from the local bar he frequented, who like him was a Protector, called the house to have someone pick him up because he was drunk and trying to pick fights with other patrons. She was the only person available to go, so she went to go find her son and bring him home.

  He was a good foot or so taller than she was, so it made it difficult for her to bear his weight even though she turned down help from the bartender. She tried desperately to walk him to the car, when out of nowhere someone hit her from behind. She fell on the hard cement sidewalk with a drunk and barely conscious Alessandro beside her.

  His eyes couldn’t focus on what was happening and his limbs felt paralyzed. All he knew was something was happening and his mother was there. The last thing he remembers before the darkness of unconsciousness consumed him completely was the terror in his mother’s eyes as a hulking Mixed Breed towered over her. As much as he tried to get his body to move, there was nothing Alessandro could do to help her.

  They searched for her for days to no avail. Her body was dumped at the gated entrance to their mansion three days later after they were done playing with her. She was almost unrecognizable from countless rounds of beatings, and hollowed out from lack of blood. Three whole days of torture must have been unimaginable. There wasn’t a spot on her once angelic body that wasn’t defiled by the creatures. After that, the order ruthlessly killed every Rogue and Mixed Breed they could find in the area, but it was never enough.

  Alessandro and Marquis’ lives have never been the same since. Marquis could easily have blamed Alessandro for what happened to her but he never did, or at least never showed it, even if he did. Alessandro took on that punishment all on his own.

  ***

  Talking with Anna-Marie today made the pain and guilt of that day rise to the surface once again. Thinking about Anna-Marie, Alessandro realizes that they aren’t much different after all. Her life has been torn to pieces so unnecessarily, just like his. He has seen many families destroyed by the callousness of the Rogue, so he knows the look when he sees it, although he has never interacted with the victims’ families before. Anna-Marie appears to be one of the strongest and selfless women he has met in a long time, although she wouldn’t think so. He knows her grief cuts deep to the core, that part is evident. It takes someone special to put on a brave face, no matter what they are going through, in order to help someone else facing the same situation. She didn’t feel the need to put all of the focus on herself today as they talked, unlike what most people would tend to do. Life can be cruel, and more often than not, it tends to be painful. Unfortunately, we don’t get any guarantees in this life.
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  “That’s it! Tomorrow I’m going to find her and watch over her,” he vows to himself with a sense of satisfaction. “She needs someone to protect her.”

  9

  Friday has finally arrived. It has been two very long weeks for Alessandro. He has been restless ever since that night at Styx when he saw the girl he thought was Anna-Marie. He felt like he could burst any minute ever since.

  He has been sitting on the fire escape across the street from her apartment watching over her every day, just like he told himself he was going to do. She really doesn’t have much of an active lifestyle, made it easy for him and it gives him a sense of satisfaction.

  He watches her go to work in the morning by seven and leaves work by five to go straight home in the evening, except for the few times she stops by the coffee shop. Even then she makes it a quick stop. On Mondays after work, she goes to the grocery store. On Fridays, like the first time he spoke to her, she goes to the cemetery. She doesn’t live far from work, maybe about ten miles. He is happy to see she drives the short distance to work instead of relying on public transportation. Once she is home, that’s it for the night. Occasionally, he sees a few lights turn on and off in unknown rooms, but mostly the windows only stay lit by the flickering light of the TV. By ten all is silent.

  He tells himself he must continue his watch over her to make sure she stays out of trouble; however, after two weeks of watching her go through the same routine day after day, he isn’t so convinced that’s the real reason he is still here.

  There seems to be a force of nature at work here. It started with the incident at the club, when he saw the girl he thought was her, maybe even before that with their other chance coincidental encounters. Whatever it is, it’s clear that the universe is speaking, and boy, does it have a funny sense of humor.

  Since she is so predictable, being as its Friday, she will be here at the cemetery today.