Protector

by Messenger, Tressa

  “Damn foul creatures!” Marquis shouts, and then looks down at her through narrow eyes. “How far did he go, Anna-Marie?”

  “Not very far, I don’t think. Like I said, I was asleep when it started, but he seemed to have stopped abruptly right before two other Rogues came barging in.”

  She takes a deep slow breath before continuing.

  “He started saying all these crazy things about my blood being tainted already. I was delirious from the lack of food and torture, so I couldn’t get a grasp on reality to process what he was talking about.

  “One of the Rogues that burst in after the assault came over to me and started asking me ludicrous questions about me being a vampire. I was baffled. Then he licked my wound and jumped back just as quickly as the first one did.”

  She finally takes her eyes from the statue and looks back at Marquis. “He said I was a mix.”

  Alessandro looks at his father, waiting for some kind of a reaction to show just how grave this situation really is, but Marquis just stares at her in silence as he takes in the news.

  After a few long minutes, he silently looks away from her and leans back in the pew.

  “Father, what does this mean?”

  “Well, there have been a few females born, but it is very rare. I can’t honestly say that I have seen one in a very long time.”

  “So, do you think he was telling the truth then?” Anna-Marie asks.

  “Understand, the Rogue are not to be trusted by any means, but the fact that you are still alive speaks volumes. Is there anything about you and your life that makes you stand apart from normal people?”

  “Well, Alessandro and I had talked about the Mixed Breeds before, but even when he was describing them, I never saw any similarities with myself and them, if that’s what you mean.”

  Marquis seems to be happy with that answer.

  “But, I was adopted as an infant,” she continues. “I never knew my birth parents. I always thought that was the reason I felt like an outsider. My parents love me very much, this I will never doubt, so I never felt like I was missing out on anything. In high school and college I was a track star, so it kept me in all of the in-crowds even though I never felt like I belonged to them. Because I was a runner, I was always in top shape, so I always thought that was why I never got sick. But like I said, I was adopted so it could just be good genes as well.”

  “Hmm . . . very interesting,” Marquis says. “We will have to test your blood to make sure. That is, if that is alright with you.”

  Anna-Marie looks from Alessandro to Marquis, terror radiating off her.

  “Oh no, child, I assure you, it will be far more humane than what that animal did to you.”

  “Oh . . . okay.”

  “Alessandro, will you please take her to the medical ward so Jesse can test her blood?”

  Alessandro stands up and reaches out his hand to her.

  She gladly accepts it and stands up.

  Outside of the chapel, Alessandro stops walking and pulls her into a hug. “We’ll figure this out no matter what the results are, okay?”

  Anna-Marie begins to tremble as reality sets in. “Okay,” is all she can manage to get out through her quivering lips.

  He kisses the top of her head. “I love you, Bella.”

  He lets her go and grabs her hand once again.

  As they enter the medical ward, Anna-Marie is lost in awe once again. The ward is far more sophisticated than any medical facility she has ever seen. There are tables lining the walls, with all types of equipment necessary to make a diagnosis of any kind. Straight down the center of the room is a hallway leading to patient rooms. There are two desks as soon as you walk in. Only one is being occupied at the moment by a huge man in a white lab coat. He doesn’t appear to notice them.

  “Well, hello Alessandro! Did you forget something?” asks the big man sitting behind the desk without even looking up at him. Instead he continues to stare down at whatever has caught his attention. As soon as he is done, he looks up at Anna-Marie, noticing her for the first time and quickly stands up. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, Jesse. This is Anna-Marie.”

  It’s no surprise Jesse is as big as he is. All of the men she has seen here so far have been very tall and well-built. Another similarity, they are all unbelievably beautiful. Case in point, Jesse. He has short chocolate wavy hair and dark squinty eyes framed in copper rimed glasses. All of his features are perfectly symmetrical. He would be any girl’s dream come true.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Anna-Marie. I’ve heard so much about you,” Jesse says as he holds out his hand to her. She snaps out of her own thoughts and smiles as she accepts his warm gesture.

  “Jesse, we need a blood test drawn up from Anna-Marie.”

  “Oh!” he says as he looks from Alessandro back to Anna-Marie. “And what is it exactly that I’m supposed to be looking for?”

  “Mixed Breed cells,” Alessandro says grimly.

  “Oh!” he says once again. “Okay umm, Anna-Marie, sit right here for me and I will get my stuff,” he says pointing to his chair behind the desk before he flutters off towards one of the long tables on the far left wall.

  Anna-Marie chews on her lower lip and slowly makes her way around the desk to do as she was told.

  “Here we are, dear. This won’t hurt at all,” Jesse says as he wipes the area with alcohol and sticks the needle into her vein. She only flinches for a moment as he finds a plump vein, but he is right, it doesn’t really hurt at all.

  Once a vial is drawn, he walks back over to the far left table and smears some of the blood on a glass slide and places it under the microscope. Anna-Marie and Alessandro both watch him in silence as he does his job, neither of them able to breathe. It doesn’t take long before his bent head comes back up.

  “This is spectacular!” Jesse says and turns his attention back to Alessandro and Anna-Marie. “Do you guys want to see?”

  Anna-Marie is the first to make a move and Alessandro follows.

  He reaches over to the little countertop refrigerator and pulls out a vial of blood and smears some on a fresh slide.

  “Here, look at this. These are the cells of a normal human,” he says once the microscope is in focus.

  Anna-Marie bends her head over the little hole and closes her left eye to see better. She remembers some biology from high school, but that was so long ago. She knows she is looking at blood cells, but there’s really nothing about them that stands out.

  She lifts her head back up and looks at Jesse. “Okay, what am I supposed to be looking for exactly?”

  “I just wanted to show you what a normal human’s blood looks like under a microscope. Now I’ll show you yours so you can see the difference,” he says with a smile and puts her slide back in its place.

  She bends her head back over the equipment and at first she doesn’t see much of a difference, but the more she looks, the more she sees it. Her white cells are bigger and there seems to be so much more of them compared to the other blood sample.

  “Wow, it’s no wonder I never get sick! My white cell count is insane,” she says as she looks back up at Jesse.

  Jesse is still smiling as if he is about to burst from excitement. You can tell he loves science and all of its mysteries.

  “Yes, you have a very large amount. Now, this is Alessandro’s blood.”

  Alessandro quickly looks at Jesse and then the slide he is holding in his hand.

  “Why so surprised, Alessandro? I have a supply of all of the Brotherhood and Protectors’ blood.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “You never know when anyone is going to need it,” he says matter-of-factly, then turns his attention back to Anna-Marie. “Okay, dear, now look at his and tell me what you think.”

  Anna-Marie does what she is told. It only takes her a few seconds to see what she is supposed to be looking for.

  “They are the same,” she says as she slowly looks back up at Jesse
’s beaming face.

  “Yes, they are. In all my one hundred years I have never encountered a female Mixed Breed before. It is an honor to have the opportunity to do so now,” he says as he takes her hand and kisses it gently with respect.

  “So, what does this mean for her?” Alessandro asks.

  “I’m really not sure. I suppose the same as you. All we can really do is watch and wait,” Jesse says with a shrug

  “Okay, thank you, Jesse. I will report back to my father and let him know your findings.”

  “Sounds good.” He turns his attention away from Alessandro and back to Anna-Marie, “Once again, Anna-Marie, it was my pleasure to meet you.”

  “Same to you, Jesse.”

  Once back in the hall Alessandro turns to Anna-Marie. “Are you okay?”

  “I really don’t know how to answer that. A few weeks ago I never would have imagined any of this was real. I think it will take a little while to set in.”

  “I’m sure it will, and you know if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Well, I do have a few questions, but not for you.”

  Alessandro looks at her, confused.

  “I have to go home,” she said solemnly.

  “Yeah, I figured you’d want to go back and pick up some stuff.”

  “No, Alessandro, home as in to Pamlico. I need to talk to my mom.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I have a feeling she may know something about my birth parents. I remember when I found out about the adoption, I was such a stubborn twelve year old. I had no desire to talk about it whatsoever. I knew who my parents were, so there was no point in talking about it. That other woman would never be my mother, but my mom kept trying to push it for a little while. I think she knew my birth mother. Now I just want to know what happened.”

  “I can understand that. When do you want to leave?”

  “I think I want to relax for a couple of days and get my strength back. So maybe this weekend I can go.”

  “Okay, that’ll be a good time. I will double check with my father, but I’m sure he will understand.”

  “No, Alessandro, I need to do this alone.”

  “But I can’t protect you if I’m not there.”

  “Don’t you see? I don’t need it now. Not there especially.”

  Alessandro frowns and looks down.

  Anna-Marie notices his sadness. “Will you still train me?” she asks.

  “Of course, I will.”

  “You know, Alessandro, just because I don’t need the extra protection now doesn’t mean I don’t still want you. I think wanting rather than needing means more.”

  Alessandro looks back up at her and smiles.

  She looks down at herself. “I would still like to go to my apartment for some stuff though, if you don’t mind accompanying me. I only packed enough clothes for a couple of days.”

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  She throws her arms high around his neck and smiles. “By the way, I love you, too.”

  21

  As soon as Anna-Marie’s body sinks into Alessandro’s make shift cloud, or what he calls his bed, she is unable to force her eyes to stay open. She is lying on her side facing Alessandro, trying hard to keep her focus on his face, fearing if her eyes close for good she may awake to find herself back in the warehouse and this has all been just a dream. He is lying on his back beside her, staring up at the ceiling. With every blink her eyes get heavier and heavier. Her body has been sore all night from all it has been through, but now she no longer feels the aches. As her breathing gets heavier, she falls fast asleep. She is completely drained. They both are, emotionally, as well as physically. It has been a long day for them both.

  They sleep well into the late afternoon. The next day neither of them wants to get up, but they know they have to. Today is the day they have decided to go to Anna-Marie’s apartment for some of her things. The idea of going back there is both comforting and nerve wracking. That is her home, but remembering what happened only a few blocks from it makes her skin crawl. The fear will always be there. She has been a target on more than one occasion. Today though her fierce protector will be by her side and if that isn’t enough to ward off the evil creatures, the sun light will.

  Alessandro is the first one to wake up. He rolls onto his side and pushes a strand of messy chocolate hair out of Anna-Marie’s face. Sensing his stare, her eyes open.

  “Good morning, Bella.”

  She yawns and stretches. “Good morning,” she says smiling.

  “What are you so smiley about this morning?”

  “Because, despite my utter tiredness, I was so afraid to close my eyes fearing this has all been a dream and for the first time in a long time, I woke up feeling good. Not just good, but really good. I can’t make up my mind why, though.”

  He looks at her confused. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s either you,” she pauses for effect, “or this bed.”

  He laughs and wraps his arms around her and pulls her close to him. “I’ll take that.”

  After a few minutes they are interrupted by Anna-Marie’s stomach as it growls loudly on queue.

  “We better feed that thing before it eats you alive.”

  She laughs and playfully pushes his arm.

  Their lunch isn’t as grand as the feast they had for dinner the night before, although they did do choose a few leftovers from it. Anna-Marie has found a whole new appreciation for food these days. Being fed nothing but soup and one sandwich for four straight days, although she still swears it felt more like weeks, would do that to anyone.

  The ride to her apartment is done in silence. It’s not a strange or awkward silence, but rather a comfortable one. Anna-Marie looks out the side window in quiet anticipation while she watches familiar settings pass. She has been worried about this moment all day, but it is something that has to be done.

  Once they arrive at her apartment, Anna-Marie doesn’t make a move to get out of the car. She only stares up at the three story brick building, as if seeing it for the first time. For the first time in seven years, the outside of her building looks foreign to her. It seems like another lifetime ago since she has been here, a lifetime that gave her so many great memories as well as many painful ones. Now, both are in the past. She is no longer the same person she was almost a week ago. It’s odd how so much can change in such a short time.

  “Are you okay?” Alessandro asks her.

  She turns from the window to look at Alessandro, he always looks so concerned.

  She puts on a forced smile for him. “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  She turns away from Alessandro to look back out the window again.

  “It seems weird how your whole world can change in an instant once you find out the truth about yourself and the world around you. The veil has been lifted, Alessandro,” she says turning to him. “There’s no going back. Turns out the world I once thought was normal and safe, really isn’t. Instead it is full of creatures I’ve only seen in movies and to top it all off, I’m a part of that world as well, whether I like it or not.” She frowns and looks back out her window.

  “I’m sure it does feel like that. That’s definitely not something I can relate with. I knew who I was from the very start. If you ask me, I think you got a raw deal.”

  She looks back at him and frowns again. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “One thing I do know is you can’t dwell on it. It is what it is and there’s nothing you can do to change it. Might as well learn to accept it or it’ll drive you crazy.”

  He grabs her hand and gives it a squeeze for reassurance. “Come on. Let’s go get your things so we can get back to the manor before nightfall.”

  They get out of the car and go inside.

  Once inside she notices the building feels even more eerie than it did from the car. It’s so quiet, she thinks to herself.

  She doesn’t seem to
breathe until she crosses the threshold of her apartment. She stops abruptly as soon as she walks into the living room.

  “Something is different,” she says as goose bumps flare up on her skin.

  Alessandro stops walking as well and turns to look at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know what it is exactly. It’s like the air in here has changed, it feels colder maybe.”

  “Maybe it is what you were saying about perceiving everything differently now.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  She walks around her cozy apartment that she has called home for so long now. It will be a sad day when she leaves this place for good. She goes from room to room seeing if anything is out of place to cause this paranoia. After a few minutes she is satisfied and goes back out to the living room where Alessandro is waiting.

  “Well, everything seems to be in place. I’d like to take a shower here. I kind of miss the comfortableness of it. That is, if you don’t mind.”

  “You know you can always come back here.”

  “Yeah I know, but I’m sure it’s going to be a while.”

  “Okay, I’ll sit out here and keep an eye on things,” he says as he throws himself down on the couch in an odd position.

  She laughs and grabs his hand to pull him back up.

  “I’m not done with you yet. I’m curious. I’ve heard you call me Bella a couple of times. Why is that?”

  He strokes the side of her cheek with the palm of his hand, “It means beautiful in Italian.”

  She smiles wide. “Oh.”

  “And when I say amore mio, I’m calling you my love. And when I say ti amo, I’m telling you I love you and I do.”

  She wraps her arms around his neck. “Have I thanked you yet for everything you have done for me?”

  “Hmm . . . let me think,” Alessandro says and he squints up his face seriously as if he is thinking hard. “Nope, I don’t think you have.”

  She smiles big at him and pulls his face down at her level for a kiss. “Well, thank you then,” she whispers into his lips.