Protector

by Messenger, Tressa

  She can barely get out of the car before they barrel her over.

  “Hey, mama.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m so glad you’re here,” her mom says with a big hug.

  Anna-Marie pulls back and looks at her mom for the first in what seems like months and is shocked to see how old she looks. Her once stoic posture is more slanted over her thin frame and her once dark hair is flanked with gray, and wrinkles have started to crease in her skin.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” Anna-Marie says and hugs her mom again, knowing it is because of her that her mom has aged so much in such a short amount of time.

  “Well, you’re here now.”

  Her mom reluctantly lets go of her. Next is her father’s turn.

  “Hey, Anna-Banana! How have you been?”

  “I’ve been doing really well actually,” she says and smiles as if to prove it. She knows a lot of her newfound happiness is greatly due to her new relationship with Alessandro. She is sure they would be happy for her to hear about it, but she decides to keep that conversation to herself, for a little while anyway. It seems too soon. Only a couple of weeks ago, her mom was scraping her off her couch.

  “We’re so happy to have you home. Come on, we were just talking about making breakfast.”

  “Great, I’m starved.”

  After a huge breakfast, Anna-Marie and her mom take their cups of coffee and head for the garden out back. Her and her mom created this garden as a way of bonding during those turbulent teenage years. It was a good way to keep them both grounded and sane. It started out little more than a flower bed with just a couple of rows of assorted wild flowers, but now it covers most of the back yard. Anna-Marie’s vision for the garden was mirrored by none other than the plantation garden. Who knew all these years later it would become so much a part of Anna-Marie.

  “Wow, mom! This is amazing.”

  “Yeah, I think I’ve gotten a little carried away,” Anna laughs.

  “No, it’s beautiful.”

  “Well, thank you. I don’t have much else to do now since I retired.” Anna had started in the public school system the year after Anna-Marie was born. First, she was a teacher, then she became vice principal and then a principal until she finally retired last year after Dylan’s death.

  Her mom stops and turns to her, “Anna-Marie, what is really going on?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You haven’t been staying at your apartment, you actually left Wilmington, and by God, you truly do look happy. You aren’t the same girl I saw a month ago.”

  “Well, let’s just say I’ve seen the light.”

  “Does the light come in the shape of a man?”

  “Well, actually it does.”

  “Ahh . . . that’s what I thought. Who is he?”

  “His name is Alessandro, but that’s really not why I came here.”

  “Are you seriously trying to change the subject after telling me you met someone?”

  “Yes, I am, but only because it’s so new and I am so out of practice with all this. I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

  She squints at her. “So why is it that you came then?”

  “I’m ready to know.”

  “Ready to know what?”

  “About my adoption. It struck me the other day that when I found out, you seemed like you wanted to talk about it, as if you knew something. So I’m asking you now, what do you know?”

  “Oh, honey, that was so long ago. Why do you want to disrupt those old ghosts now?”

  “Mom, please. I need to know.”

  “Come on, let’s go sit out on the pier.”

  They walk down the pier through the marsh until they come to a stop at the end. Summer is coming to an end but the weather is still warm, sadly though for some reason there are no boats cruising down the waterway that feeds into the Neuse River.

  Anna-Marie stares across the water at the brown cottage that is home to so many of her childhood memories. The Williams’ cottage was her second home since the day Dylan’s family moved into it when they were in third grade. Even now she can picture herself rowing her small wooden boat across the creek to his house when they were kids. She closes her eyes to savor the memories.

  The calmness of the water is so serene. When Anna-Marie was younger, she would sit out here for hours, either with a book or lying on the bench with her eyes closed listening to the water as it sloshed and slurped against anything that dare stand in its way. There’s something about the water that has always captivated Anna-Marie. Whether it be the breeze through the marsh causing the marsh grass and cattails to sway and hum as they rubbed together, or the sound of the water as it crashed against the wooden pier.

  Her mom sits on the bench first while Anne-Marie opens her eyes and continues to stare off at the water. Anna has always thought the water had healing powers. Powers her daughter has needed for some time now. It’s a big reason she has been trying to get her back home this past year.

  Anna-Marie breaks her meditation and turns to sit beside her mother.

  “Okay, mama, spill. What is it that you know?”

  Her mom stares off at the water, seemingly lost in her own mediation. “I knew your birth mom.”

  “You did?” This is news Anna-Marie didn’t expect.

  “Yep, we grew up together right here on this creek. Her name was Marie.”

  “Marie? But that is my name.”

  “Yes, I named you after both of your mamas.”

  “Wow, I had no clue.”

  “Honey, she wasn’t a bad person. What happened to her should never happen to a person, especially not someone like her.”

  Anna-Marie tries to swallow through the grit in her throat. “What happened to her?”

  “Our whole lives we had been best friends. It was just me and her. Once I started dating your father, we swore we would never let a boy come between us. The three of us were inseparable. We even went to college together at Washington State University. We wanted to completely change our lives and live free and we traveled across the country to do it. I think the only reason any of our parents let us go was because the three of us were all going to be there together. Nonetheless, my father put a lot of pressure on your father to look after us. After our college graduation the three of us took off for the big city of Seattle for our first time to celebrate before returning back here.

  “We spent a fun-filled week there and on our last night there the three of us went to a dance club. Things were so much more innocent and proper back then. Sure it was 1979, but to us, coming from here we still lived like we were in the 1960’s. Marie was always a finicky little thing.” She turns to her daughter for the first time and smiles, “Which is where you get it from.

  “She refused to settle for just anybody, but she spotted a man that she fancied, so when he asked her for her hand to dance she accepted.

  “I can’t honestly tell you what happened next. To this day I have felt guilty for that. Your father and I got so caught up in the heat of the moment we lost track of her. We just figured she went off somewhere to talk to the stranger she was dancing with. None of us ever thought about rapist or kidnappers. It was just unheard of to us coming from this secluded little creek.

  “It wasn’t until a few hours later when we found out we were very wrong. On our way out of the club we started down the sidewalk in the direction of the hotel. I heard crying coming from an alley. Me, being the southern busy body that I am, had to see what was wrong.

  “For the rest of my life I will never forget what I saw. Marie was lying on the ground. Her pretty dress was dirty and torn. Her body was beaten and bloody. Anna-Marie, I almost didn’t even recognize her.”

  Anna-Marie puts her hand over her mouth. “That’s so horrible, mama.”

  Anna-Marie no longer hears the rhythmic sloshing of the water. The only sound she hears is her mother’s voice and the ache that still remains in her heart.

  “Yes, it was. Marie said he w
as some kind of an animal, that he wasn’t human at all. One minute he was a handsome charming man and in the next she said he had razor sharp teeth and dead eyes. She was talking crazy, no doubt in shock and delirious from the attack. She was so terrified she refused to call the police, no matter how much we protested.”

  Oh, my God! Razor sharp teeth and dead eyes? The Rogue! Wait! Didn’t Alessandro say the Brotherhood was in Washington during that time, when his mom was killed? The coincidence makes her skin crawl.

  “She was never the same after that,” Anna continues. “My once radiant best friend turned into a recluse after that. There was nothing I could do to bring her back. A few months later she found out she was pregnant. She withdrew even further with the knowledge of having that monster’s seed growing inside of her.”

  Anna tries to catch her words as they come out, but it’s too late. She grabs Anna-Marie’s hand, “Honey, she knew it wasn’t your fault, please don’t think badly of her.”

  Anna-Marie didn’t realize until then that she had been crying. She doesn’t know how long the salty tears have been flowing.

  “I don’t think badly of her. She was a victim. The fact that she carried me for nine whole months with the knowledge of how I was created is unimaginable.”

  “Yes, it is, but she couldn’t abort you. She saw you as a victim as well, even if the thought of you brought the nightmare of that night back to her over and over again. She made me promise to take you when you were born. Of course I would have done anything for her, so the day you were born, she signed you over to me and your dad. She refused to see you, not even once. I figured she would change her mind as soon as she saw your beautiful pink face and emerald green eyes, the same face as her own and not of that monster.”

  “So what happened? Why didn’t she change her mind?” Anna-Marie asks sadly.

  “Marie committed suicide that night. She was so haunted. She thought that was the only way to make it go away. Honey, she was a good person. Nobody deserves that fate. I’m sorry you never got to meet her. I’ve missed her every day, but you remind me so much of her, it’s like she’s still here.”

  “Thank you for telling me, mama. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

  “No, it wasn’t, but it’s something you deserved to know. “

  Anna-Marie stares off at the water trying to get a hold of her speeding thoughts.

  “Mama, is that why you have been so worried about me? You know, because of what she did.”

  “Yes. Like I said, you remind me so much of her. Watching you mourn so deeply this past year has taken me back to those days.”

  “Oh, mama! I’m so sorry to put you through that.”

  “It’s a mother’s job, baby girl. Well, sweetie, I am spent now. I’m going to go back up to the house and lay down for a little while.”

  “Okay, mama.”

  Anna gets up to leave and Anna-Marie begins to cry harder, “Hey mama, thank you for loving me despite the monster that created me and who took your best friend away.”

  Her mom pulls her up off the bench and envelops her in a big hug. “Oh, honey, it was never your fault.” She pulls away to look at her beautiful daughter. “How could I not love you?”

  23

  Anna-Marie decides to go back to Wilmington the following day. She had intended to stay longer, but she is so emotionally drained from this trip. She is glad she went home for a visit, but Pamlico County is no longer her home. Once upon a time it was, but that was so long ago. Those were easier times when everything was new and wondrous, a time of innocence, when she quickly fell in love with her best friend.

  The story her mother told her about her birth has plagued her every thought. She knew before hand how the Rogues are. Alessandro had told her they rape and kill with no remorse. It didn’t hit her until it became a part of her life how awful they really are.

  This whole trip has made her so sad. Not just for her birth mother and the nightmare she had endured, but also for Dylan and what he must be going through. She can never imagine him as the monster everyone has described the Rogue to be.

  She told Alessandro she was going to be staying in Pamlico for a few days and truthfully she isn’t even sure she meant it when she said it. She needs time away by herself to figure things out. Too much has been happening lately and she feels as if her head could explode at any moment.

  Tonight she will stay at a hotel close to Wilmington so Alessandro doesn’t find out she is back in town. It is an absurd thought to her that she has to hide her whereabouts from him. He isn’t her husband and he doesn’t own her, but she knows how protective he is of her. He would be seriously livid if he found out she was putting herself in unnecessary danger.

  She wants to go to the cemetery one last time. She isn’t quite sure how she is going to do that though, without Alessandro finding out. She knows Alessandro goes back to the manor right before sundown to update his father on any occurrences that may have happened that day. After that, is all up to him. He told her before that he used to go out with Michael to club Styx regularly, but it doesn’t seem like they have been on very good speaking terms lately. She’ll just have to take her chances.

  At nightfall, Anna-Marie parks her car a little further down than in her usual spot. If the past has taught her anything, it should be to never go out at night alone. So much has changed in the past week though. The saying “knowledge is power” is very true. Ever since she was first told the truth about whom and what she really is, her whole outlook has changed.

  She no longer fears the night and the creatures that stalk it. It’s the part of her she is embracing the most. She knows her blood is no good to vampires and she was born with extra strength she never before knew she had. To top it off Dylan appears to be a pretty big member of the Rogue world around here. To have orchestrated her kidnapping and have control over the nest back at the warehouse took power. There is no doubt in her mind that Dylan would never hurt her. It may be wishful thinking, but she has to hold onto hope that he will do the right thing.

  She takes a deep breath and then gets out of the car to slowly walk the half of a mile to Dylan’s empty grave.

  It has been a long time since she has been here at this time of day. All seems to be at peace during this hour, the hour between night and day when everything and everyone is making their transitions.

  She comes to a stop in front of the grave that had been her godsend for almost a year. A place in fact that once upon a time was the only thing that gave her solace. She is aware of how silly it is to even be here now, knowing that Dylan isn’t really here, yet it is so familiar and comforting to be here. She vows to herself, no matter the comfort, this will be her last time.

  She sits down in front of the grave and silently stares at the inscription on the stone for a long time. There’s nothing poetic or witty about it, just simply his name and birth-death dates.

  “Oh, Dylan, why? Why did all of this happen to us? It doesn’t seem fair. We were both cheated out of so much,” she says to the grave.

  She puts her head between her knees and begins to cry.

  “Yes, we were.”

  She jerks her head up at the sound of the voice behind her but doesn’t see anyone. She whips her head around wildly looking for him.

  “Dylan? Where are you?”

  Out of nowhere a huge man jumps down out of the grand live oak tree that has shaded her on many days, a man who is both familiar yet a stranger.

  “Dylan?” At that moment the whole world melts away, leaving only her and her best friend.

  Every emotion ever felt is running through her at this very moment, not just sad feelings but anger as well. She doesn’t know what she should to do. Had he come back a few weeks ago, before she knew what she knows now, she would without a doubt throw herself into his arms and cry happy tears for his return.

  She knows too much now. She knows he isn’t the same as he used to be, even looking at him now, it is apparent.

  It is only a li
ttle after seven o’clock, so it is still light enough for her to clearly study his new features for the very first time. He appears taller and more built than he was before. He was of average height his whole life, but now he is pushing well over six feet tall and his shaggy chocolate hair is falling into his face covering most of it, but his brilliant sea-green eyes are still shining through, even if they have lost their luster and threatening to turn to a cold black. It’s hard to imagine anything taking away the beauty of his eyes.

  “Hello, Anna-Marie,” he says, looking very insecure.

  “Oh, Dylan.” She looks at him sadly and begins to cry again.

  He flinches. “Please don’t,” he begs.

  She bits down on her lower lip to stop it from quivering. “I can’t help it. I’ve missed you so much.”

  Forgetting everything, she runs up to him and throws her arms around his waist and cries even harder like she does in all the dreams she has had of him, the good ones anyway. In her dreams she would cling to him with all of her being, never wanting the moment to end. He would stroke her head and whisper reassuring words into her ear.

  This is no dream.

  “No!” he says and pushes her away roughly. “I don’t want you to see me this way,” he says and bends his head to avoid eye contact.

  Anna-Marie is so shocked by this she gasps and her tears dry up as anger boils up inside of her once again.

  “How could I not? You kidnapped me! Didn’t you think I’d see you eventually?” she yells. “You could have just stayed dead and I would never have known!”

  “I know. Believe me, I tried.”

  “Why did you do that by the way?”

  Dylan lifts his head up and looks down into her green eyes.

  He shrugs his shoulders. “I wanted to be close to you.”

  “Why didn’t you just come to me and tell me you’re still alive. We could have figured it all out and it would have been easier than torturing me.”