In Another Lifetime

Prologue

The sun peeked through the horizon as Ellie decided to go to sleep. It was another long night of finishing up research papers and investigatory projects. It's the last week of college and graduation is close. She tossed and turned but she just couldn't sleep. She decided to get out of bed and take a long hot bath to relax her body to sleep. An hour later she was woken up by a knock on her door.

'Eri-chan, are you awake?' Her sister Emika called out from outside her room.

'Shit' Ellie mumbled to herself. She got out of the tub and dried off. Wrapping herself in a towel, she made her way to her door and open it. 'Ane-san, sorry I fell asleep while taking a bath. Come in.' Ellie stepped aside to let her sister in her room and closed the door.

'Otosan, is coming home in two days, can you pick him up from the airport? That's my duty day and I can't get out of it.' Emika sat on Elli's desk and browsed through the cluttered paper. 'You're still not done with these?' She asked.

'I need a day or two more to finalize it then I'm ready to turn them in.' Elli walked towards her closet and started to get dressed.

'Are you excited to finally graduate?' Emika smiled at her sister.

'Yeah. Because I can finally move back to Lake Crescent and start living my dreams.' Ellie laughed.

'You know, you can always join the Navy.' Emika laughed.

'No... I want to live a normal life, away from the chaos of the military.' Ellie sighed.

'I know, imouto. Well, go sleep some more or do whatever. Or do you want to go into town with me?' Emika got up from where she was sitting and grinned.

A year later, Ellie finally moved back to Lake Crescent where she grew up. She was ablate get a job at the local book cafe that she worked at when she was in high school.

'Ellie, are you sure you're going to be alright closing up on your own tonight?' Mrs. Lee said as she put the last bit of the tea delivery in the cafe's kitchen.

'Mrs. Lee, you go home and spend time with Mr. Lee. You don't need to worry about me.' Ellie smiled and helped with putting the other deliveries away.

'Thank you, Ellie.' Mrs. Lee smiled.

'Now, go home and I'll call you if there's anything that needs your attention.' Ellie smiled.

Mrs. Lee lives on the third floor of the same building where the cafe is at.

Closing time Ellie thought to herself as she looked at the clock that says 2 am. Once she was done putting the books away and cleaning the main room, she locked the front door and made her way to the back and did some inventory check before leaving. She locked up and went out the back door. It was only a ten minutes walk to her house. It was a Friday night so the small bars are still open with men drinking and laughing. She ignored them and kept walking but as she approached the end of the road, a man suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her.

'Excuse me sir, please let go of me.' Ellie said as she tried to stay calm.

'Oh, come on sweetheart, I just want to have a little fun.' The man smiled, showing his yellow teeth.

'Please let go of me.' She said once again with a shake voice this time.

The man pulled her closed to him and tried to kiss her as he dragged her towards the part of the dirt road that had no lights. Ellie started screaming for help and the man tried to cover her mouth. Once he was successful, he tried taking Ellie's clothes off. It seemed like forever but before the man can do anything, someone from behind pulled the man off from her. Ellie just sat on the ground tugging her shirt to cover her torso. She watched the tall guy punch the man who tried to harm her.