Protector

by Messenger, Tressa

  He is certain she is home, probably asleep though.

  “Hmm . . . I wonder if she is a light sleeper,” he asks himself, hoping to be able to wake her.

  The miles go by quickly at this hour, although it feels much longer to him. He comes to a halt in front of her building and quickly races out of the car and up the stairs into her building. She lives on the third floor so he skips the elevator and takes the stairs two at a time.

  Once in front of her door he takes a deep breath then knocks on her door, praying she will hear him.

  All is silent on the other side of the door so he knocks again a little harder this time, “Anna-Marie,” he says in a soft audible voice as to not alert her neighbors.

  This time he hears footsteps from inside.

  “Anna-Marie, it’s Alessandro. I need to speak to you.”

  “Alessandro?” He hears her ask as she begins to unlock the door and cracks it open.

  “What are you doing here this late?”

  “There’s trouble. I need to speak with you.”

  Instantly she remembers the phone call he got earlier from Michael and opens the door wide to let him by.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Anna-Marie, what Michael found today was a nest and from what we have seen it’s a big one. We don’t know how many there are all together. My father and I staked the place out tonight and saw five so far.”

  “Oh, my goodness, Alessandro! What does that mean?”

  “In my experience, they usually only group for one thing, and that’s to fight.”

  Her eyes get wide and she covers her mouth and whispers as if someone could hear her, “What do you think they want?”

  “We aren’t sure yet, but it can’t be good. They are well aware we are in the area by now. Anna-Marie, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I need you to get some things and come with me now.”

  “Where?” Please God, don’t say back to the house of horrors, she silently prays to herself.

  “Back to the manor.”

  Dammit! she curses to herself then sits down on the couch trying to wrap her mind around it. “Alessandro, I don’t know if I can.”

  “Please, Anna-Marie, you have to trust me. I promise you will be completely safe. If I have to stand guard in front of you the whole time you are there to make you feel at ease, I will. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you there.”

  Anna-Marie begins to pace back and forth in the small space of the living room, then sits down on the couch as she tries to figure out what to do.

  “I can’t believe this is happening to me. My life was so normal a year ago.”

  She looks up at Alessandro and studies his ever so dark almond eyes. She has come to care very deeply for him. She doesn’t know how or when it happened. She sure as hell never expected it, but there is no denying it. This beautiful angel has come into her life when she needed him the most. She knows she can trust him. She feels it in her deepest core.

  “Okay, Alessandro, I will come with you.”

  “Thank you, goddess.” he says, the relief pouring off of him. He pulls Anna-Marie off the couch into a monstrous hug.

  “On one condition.”

  He pushes her to arm length and looks into her eyes. “Anything, just name it.”

  “I want you to train me.”

  He lets go of her and turns away. “Anna-Marie, you can’t fight these creatures.”

  “I may not be able to beat them, but I would like to have some kind of a chance if another one comes after me. What if you’re not there to save me next time? I need this Alessandro. Please.”

  “If I say yes, will you come?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay then fine, I’ll train you. Now come on, we need to get back.”

  Anna-Marie throws her arms around his neck and gives him a quick deep kiss before running into her room to get dressed and throws some clothes and other necessities into a bag. Within minutes she is breezing back into the living room ready to go.

  Alessandro smiles immediately as soon as she walks into the room. He could love this beautiful creature forever. Caught up in a vision of all the things he would love to do to her at this very moment, he almost misses the smell.

  Instantly, he runs to the cracked living room window that faces the street and looks around wildly.

  “Alessandro, what is it?”

  Ignoring her, he continues to search. He sees a blur jumping from the fire escape across the road. The same spot where he himself had watched over her on many nights.

  “Dammit! He must have followed me here!” he growls.

  “Who? Dammit, Alessandro! Stop pacing and please tell me what’s going on.”

  “Rogue! We have to go, now!”

  “Oh, my God!”

  He grabs her hand and they begin running as fast as they can down the steps and into the quiet street where Alessandro’s car is waiting.

  Without looking back Alessandro peels out of the spot and back onto Market Street. There still isn’t any traffic out now, which is odd for a town like this on a Saturday night.

  “Alessandro, why did a Rogue follow you?”

  “I told you, my father and I were patrolling the area Michael told us about. We saw a couple of them walking around. We had no clue we were seen. That is the only way he could know where I was.”

  “And it followed you to my apartment? What does that mean? Could it all be a coincidence?”

  “Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of you, okay?”

  Anna-Marie looks away from him and out the window at the passing night. She remembers what he had said earlier that day about why most of them don’t take partners and get married. It makes them too vulnerable. Love is a weakness they can’t afford. Now she understands what he was talking about.

  Out of nowhere the car comes to a complete halt in the middle of the deserted road as Alessandro slams on the brakes, which makes her head slam forward toward the dashboard then back against the seat.

  “Shit!”

  “Alessandro, what’s wrong?” She looks around to see what could be happening. That’s when she sees him.

  A tower of a man is standing in the street a few yards in front of them and he doesn’t look like he is going to move. Instead he is staring straight at them with cold calculating eyes and a condescending smile.

  Alessandro turns around to look through the back glass to start in reverse when he sees another Rogue a few yards behind them.

  “Dammit!”

  Anna-Marie turns around, too, to see what is wrong.

  “They have us surrounded.”

  “Oh, my God, Alessandro! What can we do?”

  “Hold on tight. There’s only one way through and that’s over him,” he says, staring straight ahead at the Rogue in front of them.

  Alessandro revs up the engine and bolts forward, jerking her head back again. The Rogue just continues to stand there with pure amusement on his face, flashing his sharp yellow teeth. Alessandro smiles back hoping he doesn’t move so he can run the son of a bitch over.

  No such luck. The Rogue moves out of the way at the last minute almost causing the car to lose control.

  “Anna-Marie, grab my phone out of the console and call Michael for me, will you? We’re going to need back up and fast.”

  Anna-Marie searches around in the center console until she finds the phone. The tiny little silver contraption is beautiful and sleek, unlike anything she has ever seen before. She looks at it for a minute, lost in awe.

  “Anna-Marie, now!” He looks in the rear view mirror and sees both Rogues running behind them. It’s a good thing he brought his car. The little Porsche isn’t a total match for the fast pace of a vampire, but she can hold her own for a little while.

  “Hey, Ales, what’s up?”

  “No, Michael, umm . . . it’s Anna-Marie.”

  “Where’s Alessandro?” Michael asks. His senses are on high alert now.

  “He’s driving but umm . . . he’s
busy right now. He told me to call you because we need help.”

  Anna-Marie can’t fight it any longer. She starts crying, which leads to near hyperventilation with pure fear running through her. Her voice cracks and she can no longer speak due to the ache in her throat from the pent up tears.

  “Anna-Marie, I need you to put Alessandro on the phone, now!”

  Anna-Marie holds out the shaky phone to him.

  “Man, I can’t talk much,” Alessandro says into the phone.

  “Ales, what’s going on?”

  “A couple of Rogues followed me to Anna-Marie’s apartment. They had us surrounded and now they are chasing us.”

  “Dammit! Where are you?”

  “I’m on Market Street. I just crossed Lexington, going south. Man, I can’t take a chance at leading them back to the manor. My little car is holding her own, but I don’t know for how much longer.”

  “We are on our way. Hey, Ales, try not to get your ass killed, will ya?”

  “I’m trying.”

  Alessandro lets the phone fall to the seat, not even worrying about closing it. A few seconds later he feels something smash into the car.

  “What the hell!”

  “Oh no! Alessandro, watch out!” Anna-Marie screams when she sees the dark form of a Rogue’s face peering into his side window.

  With a loud crash an arm smashes through the driver side window and tries desperately to grab and claw at Alessandro.

  Alessandro looks at Anna-Marie. She is staring at him with wide tear-ridden eyes. He knows he is fighting a losing battle, but he also knows he can’t give up. She is depending on him. You guys better hurry the hell up! he thinks to himself.

  “Anna-Marie, do you trust me?”

  She is still unable to speak, but manages to nod her head “yes.”

  “I need you to hold on as tight as you can. Can you do that for me?”

  She stares at him through her tears and grabs a hold of the door handle then closes her eyes.

  With another loud crash he rams his beloved car into a light pole on the side of the road. The impact throws Anna-Marie through the windshield and almost knocks Alessandro unconscious.

  “Come here, little puppy,” says the Rogue that was on top of the car as he snatches Alessandro from the wreckage.

  Alessandro squints in the dark through crimson blood at the Rogue towering over him. His head is pounding from the impact and is swimming with fogginess. He knows he has to get it together and hold on to consciousness or he has no chance, and neither will Anna-Marie.

  The Rogue hoists him up by his collar about a foot off the ground, which isn’t an easy task considering their almost the same size, but the Rogue is much stronger and it takes him little effort.

  Alessandro rolls his head to the side and sees Anna-Marie lying on the ground unconscious. The other Rogue is looming over her. A very familiar vision from his deepest nightmares invades his sight. One of his terrified mother lying on the sidewalk as a Mixed Breed stands over her.

  No! Alessandro’s head screams. I have to snap out of it.

  The Rogue has him by the collar with both hands so the monster’s hands are preoccupied at the moment. But for how much longer? He has to act quickly.

  He uses all of his strength and brings his knee up, driving it deep into the Rogue’s crotch, taking the Rogue by surprise. The Rogue loosens the grip he has on his collar. Alessandro makes his next move and his fist explodes into the Rogue’s face with a thunderous crack.

  The Rogue lets go completely this time and takes a few steps back to hold his broken nose, as his vile tainted blood pours out of it.

  “God damn mutt! I will kill you for that and your little bitch, too,” the Rogue yells.

  Alessandro takes his chance, as little as it may be. He has to do something to help her, and fast.

  He is still weak from the accident and stumbles as he tries to run to her. “Anna-Marie! Dammit, Anna-Marie, get up!” She doesn’t move.

  The Rogue is seriously infuriated now and charges forward to grab Alessandro again.

  “Screw you scum!” Alessandro yells back.

  They collide once again, but this time the Rogue gets his massive hands around Alessandro’s throat. Alessandro swings out of his grip and rocks the Rogue with another right hook to the nose. Blood pours out even harder. It’s a damn shame they heal so fast, it makes it hard to enjoy it.

  The Rogue charges again, this time not as off guard by the blow the second time around and gets a hold of Alessandro’s neck once again. This time Alessandro can’t escape. He throws a few more punches and makes a couple connect, but what little strength he has is dwindling along with the air in his lungs. They are screaming for air.

  He fears he will die here in the street at the hands of such a worthless life form. The worst part is he promised Anna-Marie he would protect her, but now she will most likely die as well, and it will be all his fault. Had he not fallen in love with her and been around her so publicly, none of this would have happened.

  He takes what little strength he has left and turns his head to look past the filth that is about to kill him, to look at her beautiful still face one last time.

  Before he closes his eyes, a single tear runs down his cheek. The first tear he’s shed since his mother’s body was found. She isn’t there and neither is the other Rogue. He knows if they have her, she won’t be alive for much longer. He will gladly take his place and die right here.

  14

  Alessandro regains awareness to sounds all around him. There is something going on, but he can’t seem to open his eyes to see what it is.

  Dear God, I’m dead, he says to himself, not as a question, but merely an acknowledgement of his current state.

  “Alessandro! Alessandro, man, wake up!”

  He hears someone calling his name and feels jolts to his body. Still he is unable to open his eyes.

  Does a ghost feel? Shouldn’t I be looking down on my limp body waiting for judgment on my soul to be placed, like you see in the movies?

  “Alessandro!”

  Hmm . . . this angel sounds like Michael, he says to himself and laughs at the thought. Yeah right, my brother is far from an angel.

  “Marquis, I can’t wake him!”

  Father? Wait! What the hell is going on?

  Marquis places his huge hands on his beloved son’s broken body. “Alessandro, my boy, you have to wake up now.” He pauses and takes a deep breath, “It may not be too late for her yet.”

  Marquis doesn’t believe what he is saying, not for a second, but he knows his son. He knows the guilt he has carried since his mother was taken, so if he thinks there is any hope at finding Anna-Marie, he will fight his way through this.

  Her? Anna-Marie? Oh, my goddess, Anna-Marie.

  He pushes through the thick fog to open his eyes, but they are too swollen, so he tries to swallow through the razor sharp grit in his throat to speak. “Father.” Alessandro manages to get out in barely a whisper.

  “I’m here, son.”

  “Anna-Marie?”

  “She’s gone.”

  “They have her.”

  “I know, son.”

  Dread consumes him once again like a kick in the gut. He had hoped it had all just been a bad dream, that Anna-Marie is really home sleeping soundly in her bed. No such luck. Instead he is faced with the reality that his worst nightmare has come true. He knows that because of him, she will surely die.

  Alessandro doesn’t try to speak again. He has no will. They have her and there is nothing he can do about it. He promised her he would protect her and he has failed.

  Marquis doesn’t push any further because he knows this as well. History has taught them that.

  “Come, Michael. Let’s get him in the car and back to the manor. We’ll send someone back for his car.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  They gently and easily pick up Alessandro’s limp body and carry him to the car.

  ***

  Alessandro
squints his eyes open, just barely. The swelling in his face has mostly gone down, but his eye lids are still tight. He turns his achy head to the left and jumps up with a growl as he latches on to the figure in the dark room sitting close to him.

  Instantly, he has the intruder by the throat wanting so badly to rip his head off.

  The creature swings out of his still weakened grip and jumps behind him and grabs both of his arms and pulls them tight behind his back.

  “God dammit, Ales! What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Alessandro stops squirming at the sound of the familiar voice.

  “Michael?”

  “Yeah, man.”

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Alessandro looks around the dark room. “Where the hell is here exactly?”

  “Man, you’re in the med ward.”

  Alessandro looks around again, still not able to focus in the dark.

  “Shit, does this place have any lights or is it a cave?”

  Michael lets go of his friend’s arms to turn on the overhead light. Alessandro is blinded instantly as the burning light penetrates his retinas.

  “Ahh . . . shit! Cut it off! Cut it off!” he yells.

  When the lights go off, Alessandro feels for the bed and lies back down. Protectors heal quickly, but because they are part human, it isn’t as quick as they’d like and until he does, the pain remains.

  “Why am I in here?”

  “Because, man, you were pretty beat up from your accident and that Rogue really messed you up. You were practically dead when we got to you. I kicked that bastard’s skull in.” Michael smiles to himself at the memory. There’s not much greater in his world than killing Rogue or their bastard spawns.

  Michael looks back at Alessandro, this time with a serious expression. “You’ve been unconscious for two days.”

  Alessandro opens his eyes as wide as he can despite the swelling, “I’ve been out of it for two whole days?” Dammit! There is no hope for her now, he says to himself.

  “Ales, what the hell happened out there?”

  Alessandro closes his eyes again as the pictures of the night’s events flash into his memory like a horror movie from his worst nightmares.