The Defender (The Elkavians Book 1)

by S. H. Magillian

  She got in Adam’s car and left the Dawsons. Her heart was beating fast. Her hands were shaking. She pulled over. She couldn’t keep driving like that. Even though she believed the most important information was from whom Ethan was protecting her and why he had any interest in keeping her safe, the fact that he had asked her if she knew who she was bothered her. "I'm a high school student," she said to herself. That was all. Nothing else. She was a mediocre athlete, a girl with no special talents; she sucked at pretty much everything. She got back to the road. If there were someone who didn’t know who she was, that was definitely him. She couldn’t stop thinking about it though. Who did he think she was? Maybe he had mistaken her for someone else. No maybes. That was it. She would clarify that the next day.

  She was relieved to arrive at Adam's a little bit before 1 p.m. She didn’t want her mother to know that Adam was letting her drive around town all by herself. She feared Anna would intervene. She went to Adam’s office to talk to him before her mom arrived.

  “Excuse me,” she said walking into his office. Apparently, his door was always open.

  “Al! So, did you like it?” he asked curiously.

  “I loved it. It is perfect. I would like to go back tomorrow to plan where we can place the stage, chairs, tents, you know,” she said trying to conceal her anxiety.

  “Oh, of course. I’ll call Mrs. Willow and I’ll let her know you’ll be there tomorrow. Same time?” Adam was relieved to know that Alexis would spend most of her time at the Dawsons.

  “I think I should arrive earlier, so I have time to plan…," her heart was racing; she feared that her words would sell her out, "...carefully," she smiled nervously. "Ten?”

  “I’ll ask her. Is everything okay?” he asked, Alexis seemed nervous, and Adam worried she might be hiding something.

  “Yes. I’m just super excited and anxious to organize everything. That’s all.” Alexis tried to sound as convincing as possible. Adam could not suspect that there was something going on. “I’ll be here around 7:30. Do you want me to spend some time with Denise before I go to the Dawsons?” Alexis hoped Adam would say yes. She was dying to tell Denise about Ethan.

  “Yes, that would be great. She is going to stay here until she finds a place for her. Would you like to help her with that?” Adam wanted to keep Alexis out of the house as much as possible.

  “I’d love to,” she rejoiced.

  “Great. I’ll let her know. See you tomorrow morning, Al.” Adam didn’t want it to be true, but he was pretty sure that Alexis had lied to him. He smiled. He didn’t want her to notice that he hadn’t believed her.

  “See you,” she beamed. She left the house and sat on the porch. Her mother was about to be late. Alexis couldn’t wait to get home and have lunch. She was starving. She hoped Anna wouldn't want to talk, so she could have lunch, go to her bedroom and decide which questions she would ask Ethan. Just the thought of him made her blood run cold. Remembering that he was following her, she looked around. Perhaps, he was watching her at that moment. She felt a slight discomfort. If Ethan was evil, no one around her was safe. She saw Anna’s car. Agony was all she felt. What if someone tried to hurt her mom to get to her? She couldn’t let that happen. She wished she could talk to Ethan that day. There had to be a way.

  Anna stopped the car right in front of the house. “Let’s go, Al!” she shouted. Mia was with her. They both seemed excited. Alexis was sure she could end all that excitement simply by telling them she had met Ethan. She wouldn’t do that though. It was good to see them happy. Alexis opened the back door and got into the car. “Let’s have lunch,” said Anna smiling.

  “Hey, Al,” said Mia animatedly.

  “Hi, Mia. How’s school?” asked Alexis curiously. What she really wanted to know was if people had talked about what had happened to her.

  “Total boredom. I miss you, please go back to classes,” pleaded Mia.

  “I will. Next week. I can’t say that I’m eager to go back though,” Alexis murmured.

  “I heard you,” said Anna jokingly. “You’re going to school next week, Al,” she tried to keep things as light as possible. A few moments without any major concerns would do them all good. She didn’t want to think about the attacker or Morgan. She tried to focus on that moment with Alexis and Mia.

  “Tell me you’re that pumped for a good reason,” said Alexis challengingly.

  “We’re going somewhere nice for lunch.” Mia was thrilled to be doing something different for a change.

  “Where?” asked Alexis intrigued. Mia and Anna chuckled, but they didn’t answer. Alexis looked out the window. She wondered if Ethan was following them. She looked back. There wasn’t another car on the road. They were alone. She could relax. “Are we leaving town?” Still no answer. She stiffened. “Is it safe?” She saw the smile on Anna’s and Mia’s face disappear.

  Anna slowed down. Alexis was possibly right. Anna didn’t want to do anything she could regret later, but they were already halfway to the restaurant. She thought it was unlikely that anyone would attack them in a public place, so she continued driving. “We’ll be fine,” she said reassuringly. “We’re almost there. Fifteen more minutes.”

  “Are we going to Outback?” Alexis felt her mouth water. “Thanks, mom,” she smiled.

  “My pleasure. It really is. I can’t wait to eat their French fries. I spent my entire morning dreaming about them.”

  “Oh, me too,” said Mia.

  “So, you two planned this.” Alexis was pleased.

  “Just a little bit,” said Mia smiling.

  Alexis had a lot of fun during lunch. They talked about random things; they laughed seizing the moment as if nothing bad had ever happened to them. For two hours, Alexis didn’t think of Ethan; Mia didn’t fear being attacked; Anna didn’t feel overwhelmed. They all needed that time, that break from reality. Anna hoped that they could have more days like that. “What about going to the movies on Saturday?” she asked. “We can come to Outback again.”

  “I’m not saying no to that,” said Mia vigorously.

  “Sure, mom.” Alexis knew what Anna was doing. She had done the same thing when Alexis’s father died. She got them a thousand things to do. Keeping busy was for Anna a way to avoid feeling fear, sorrow, pain, anxiety. Even though Alexis preferred to be alone and go deep into each of her feelings, she knew the importance that having an escape had for her mother and because of that she would do anything Anna felt like doing.

  It was almost four o’clock when they got back to Grasslin. They dropped Mia at her house and went home. Alexis couldn't wait to be alone, so when they arrived, she gave Anna a kiss and went to her room. If she were going to talk to Ethan the next morning, she wouldn’t have time to plan the fundraising event. However, Adam would expect her to have something planned after having spent some time at the Dawsons. She’d better have it done then. Alexis turned her computer on. She would also start looking for an apartment for Denise. As her desk was by the window, she searched the woods behind her house for a few minutes. She expected to see Ethan somewhere out there, but it was evident that he didn’t want her to see him again before the time they had arranged to meet. She closed the curtains. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t see him outside. She knew he was there, and that was enough for her.

  Around seven, she had a draft of the organization of the event, and she had already found two nice apartments and a house for Denise. She was glad about her productivity. She went down to see if Anna wanted to eat something. The house was silent; her mom was reading a book on the couch.

  “What are you reading?” Alexis asked.

  “Eh… ah…My diary,” said Anna shyly.

  “I didn’t know you had one.” Alexis was surprised. She had never seen her mother writing or carrying a diary around the house.

  “It’s old. I used to write in it during high school and a little bit at college. I stopped writing when I married your father.”

  Alexis couldn’t help noticing some so
rrow in Anna’s voice. “Why?”

  “It…made me think of things I wanted to forget.” Anna gave a long pause. Alexis patiently waited for her to continue. “I wanted to give your father the best of me, but I couldn’t do that reliving my past on a daily basis. So, I hid the diary and never put my hands on it again until today.”

  Alexis sat beside her mother. “Why today?”

  “Because of Morgan.” Anna considered not telling Alexis any of what had happened, but she didn’t want secrets between them. They only had each other and life was so fragile that it was impossible to know how much longer they would still have one another.

  “I don’t get it, mom.” Alexis was confused. They never had any kind of relationship with Morgan. Alexis didn’t even consider him one of their parents’ friends.

  “We dated for some time during high school.” Alexis wanted to put her astonishment into words, but she feared that Anna would stop talking if she did. So, she remained quiet. “See, I was never popular, and he was the most popular boy at school. Every single girl at school wanted to date him, so I got a lot of hate when we started going out. They couldn’t understand what he had seen in me. And the truth is that neither could I.” She hesitated. No secrets, she told herself. “I loved him deeply. And for few months, I thought he felt the same.” Tears came to her eyes. "Unfortunately, he didn’t.”

  It was obvious to Alexis that her mother still had feelings for Morgan. They seemed so intense that her hostility toward him became understandable to Alexis. “Is that why he came here?”

  “I don’t know. He said he wants to talk.”

  “Talk to him, mom. How much longer are you going to suppress your feelings for him? You’ll never be fully happy if you don’t reach closure. You need to solve this.” Alexis had never fallen in love with anyone like that. She had a school crush when she was younger, but that was all. She couldn’t imagine how painful it was to love someone, feel the happiness of having that person only to find out that he didn’t love you back. And the worst of all, never get over him. Alexis didn’t doubt that Anna had loved Scott, but not like she seemed to have loved and probably still love Morgan. She wondered if her father ever knew that a part of her never let Morgan go.

  “I loved your father,” Anna murmured. She didn’t want Alexis to think otherwise. “One day you’ll see that we love different people in different ways. It’s never the same. Well, maybe you’ll never go through that. Maybe you’ll love someone and stay with that person until the end of your days.”

  “That doesn’t happen often, mom. So, I honestly don’t expect it to happen to me. Anyway, you don’t need to explain your feelings to me. They are what they are. You don’t have to apologize or feel bad for them. You have my full support to talk to Morgan and find out what he wants and what you want. Maybe your desires are in accordance, and you can try again.”

  Anna felt a beam of hope which she immediately tried to suffocate. She didn’t want to have any expectations. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “Do it tomorrow. I’ll see if I can go to Mia’s house for a sleepover. Now, let’s eat. I’m hungry,” she smiled sweetly.

  Anna was grateful that Alexis had been so understanding. She had no obligation to be like that. Anna hugged her. “Thanks,” she whispered.

  “I love you, mom. You’ll always have my support. Your happiness means the world to me.” She kissed her mother. “Now, food, please,” she said jokingly.

  They went to the kitchen and Anna prepared some pasta. They talked about how their day had been. Alexis told her mother about Denise and about everything else that had happened on her day. Well, almost everything. She left out both Ethan and the fact that she had gone to the Dawsons by herself. After dinner, Alexis kissed Anna good night and went to her bedroom. It was early, but she had a lot to think about. She put her headphones on, selected a playlist and closed her eyes. Listening to Ghost seemed quite appropriate for the moment. After about an hour, she got her phone and changed the playlist. Alex and Sierra, Take me. She closed her eyes again. It was easy to see Ethan in her mind. The song along with her mental image of him made her desire him a little bit more than she probably should. The beginning of the song gave her an idea; I’ve been trying to find you, in the dark in the dark; Middle of the night… She took one of the headphones off and waited for Anna to go to her room. Alexis checked the time; it was almost eleven. Fifteen minutes had passed when she heard her mom going up the stairs. Her heart was beating fast. She would wait about thirty minutes, which was probably plenty of time for Anna to fall asleep, before putting her plan into action.

  Alexis let Take me play over and over again before leaving her bed. She went to the window, opened the curtains and turned her lamp on. If he were outside, she wanted him to know that she was awake. She got her phone. The thirty minutes were over. Alexis turned the lights off and slowly opened her bedroom door. She couldn’t make any noise, so she went down the stairs on tiptoe. She could feel the adrenaline rush; tension was taking control of her; her muscles stiffened; it became hard to walk. She didn't stop though. When she got to the kitchen, she had second thoughts. If her mother got her secretly leaving the house late at night, she would be extremely disappointed at her. Even though she didn’t want that, she didn’t want to wait until 10 a.m. to talk to Ethan either. She opened the kitchen door which led to their backyard.

  She looked back into the house. There was complete silence, complete darkness. The same was true to the yard in front of her. She stepped on the grass. The night was freezing cold. Well, one thing was for sure: if she didn’t find Ethan, she would certainly find pneumonia. She stood still for a minute or two. Nothing happened, so she started walking to the woods. She stopped abruptly. Her legs didn’t want to continue. She feared being attacked by another lunatic. An uncontrollable urge to run back to the house pervaded her. What if Ethan was not there to protect her? Her behavior was imprudent, she knew it. She was also aware that she was stubborn. She made an effort and gave a step forward. She wouldn’t go back without talking to him. The woods were so dark that she could barely see an inch before her eyes. Her blood ran cold; someone was watching her.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, upset.

  Alexis was relieved to recognize Ethan’s voice. “We need to talk,” she said firmly.

  He walked to her. She could only see his eyes that seemed to have a light of their own. “We are doing that tomorrow morning, Alexis. Not here, not now," he said seriously.

  “Follow me.” She turned around and started walking back to the house. She didn’t feel him walking along though. “If you don’t come with me, Ethan, I will stay here feeling cold the whole night.” She heard him sigh. When she got to the kitchen door, he was so close that she could smell him. She carefully opened it. Although she knew she didn’t have to ask him to be quiet, she did it anyway. “Shh.” He raised his eyebrows. Realizing that she was allowing a murderer to go inside her house, she shivered.

  He knew why she was hesitating. A part of her wanted to talk some sense into her impulsiveness. The same was happening to him, but for very different reasons. He could get her in his arms and kiss her at that moment if that was not completely reckless. He gave a step in her direction leaving just an inch between them. He could feel the heat of her body burn his skin. By the look in her eyes, she could feel it too.

  “We’re not going down that road,” she said coldly. She couldn’t allow herself to lose control of the situation just because he was incredibly hot. She turned around and started walking toward the stairs. Anna would kill her if she saw her take a stranger to her room, especially one that had taken a man’s head off with a sword. When they got to the second floor, Alexis pointed to her bedroom. He walked in. She went to Anna’s bedroom door, no noise. Her mother was sleeping. She went to her room, her legs trembling. Ethan was waiting for her by the window. She closed the door and was about to turn the lights on when he stopped her.

  “Leave them off,” he whispered. He close
d the curtains, turned the bathroom lights on and left the bathroom door half open. He walked to her closet and stood by its door. “Now we can talk,” he murmured.

  “You’ve mistaken me for someone else,” she whispered as she got close to him.

  “Excuse me?” he asked confusedly.

  “I’m not the person you are after. It has to be someone else.” Her eyes were fixed on his. She didn’t want her words to sound like a plea, but they were.

  “I’m sorry, Al. You are the one mistaken here. I can understand why you are reluctant to accept that this is happening to you. It is not a blessing, but you are the one I am after.” He made a move to touch her hair and comfort her, but she quickly stepped back. “Is that all you wanted to say?” he asked sharply. Her refusal to accept his touch had enraged him

  “No,” she rejoined. “Why was that man after me? Why are you here to protect me? What are you protecting me from? Who are you? Why me? I can go on, but I don’t have to because you know what I want to know. Just tell me, Ethan,” she demanded.

  He knew she deserved to get the answers to her questions, but he didn’t know how to start. He had to be careful not to say too much. She was not ready yet. “Have you ever heard of Elkavians?”

  “You’re not answering my questions with another question, are you? Tell me that’s not what you’re doing.” Her patience was hanging by a thread.

  “I’ll take that as a no. The Elkavians are… uh… special creatures in charge of protecting the Anwar amulet,” he said calmly.

  “Oh, that explains everything,” she said sarcastically.

  “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Al. I’m not the enemy.”

  “Don’t call me Al. I’m not your friend. You haven’t told me anything,” she was furious. He seemed to be playing her. “You said you would tell me everything, but there you are pondering every single word that comes out of your mouth.” She raised her voice a little.

  Ethan didn’t say anything. She was right. They both heard a noise. Anna had woken up. Alexis opened her closet and pushed Ethan in a second before her mom walked in.