The Night Guardians

Prologue

Cincinnati, Ohio May 23, 2000

"Daddy, they sound funny," Amanda said as the two men walked away.

William leaned down, patted his daughter on the head, and smiled. "Well sweetheart, these gentlemen are not from here, so they have what is called in accent."

"So is that why they look like lizards?" Johnny frowned.

"Sweetie, we don't talk about the way people look, it's rude," Joanna scolded her son.

However, William froze in place. He had felt an odd sense of discomfort when he was around the two men, but thought it was just pre-house selling jitters. However, they were built rather odd; one was near seven feet tall with a wavered shoulder and a large scar that ran from his right temple to his lip, the other, was short with extremely wide span shoulders and massive burns on his left hand. They both claimed that their scars had come from war, but there seemed to be more to it than that.

William knelt down in front of his seven-year-old son and placed his hands on both of his shoulders. "They look like lizards to you?" He asked.

Johnny's face lit up in excitement. "Yeah; with claws and everything!" He exclaimed but scrunched his face up when he added, "But they still have regular skin sometimes, it's weird."

William shushed him and stood up warily. He looked at his wife, who looked befuddled and took her hand. "Take the kids to the car, now." He whispered. William held a finger to his lips when she opened them to protest. "Joanna, trust me. Take the kids." He waited until compliance flashed across her face before he bent down to brush his lips against hers.

William loved Joanna more than anything. He had left his own people to be with her and start a family. Oh! The turmoil it had been, when my mother received word that her soldier son was not coming home, William thought. He was done with the war as soon as he first stepped foot in that all-night diner and saw her. A twenty-two year old waitress with long brown hair tied in a loose bun, big brown eyes laced with specks of gray, and a smile to die for. William didn't think that anything was more important than to keep that smile forever. He had kept that vow for the last eleven years and he didn't want to stop then.

Joanna took their children out through the glass doors of the realty building and away into the early night. William turned his back on his family and walked down the narrow corridor toward the men, feigning an air of normalcy with a smile. They immediately stopped talking once William was in earshot.

"My apologies gentlemen, but my wife has gone ill and my children are restless. Can we continue our meeting at a later date?" William inquired.

The shorter of the two, Mr. Oliver, smiled charmingly at William. His teeth seemed unnaturally white. "Well, of course. Is tomorrow at three a good time for you?"

"Absolutely," William nodded. "It's a pleasure doing business with you gentlemen."

"As with you," Mr. Slade said and held his hand out for William to shake.

William hesitated, but obliged. On contact, William's hand began to burn and he faked a smile and shook Mr. Oliver's hand as well. "Until tomorrow gentlemen," he said as he walked back down the hallway and out of the doors. He practically ran to the little blue car across the street from the building where his family was. William got in, turned the car on without a word to his family, and just drove. It had started to rain, but that didn't slow him down. He sped at every chance to get his family home safe.

"William, what's happening?" Joanna screamed as William sped the car around another corner and rushed down a steep hill.

William looked at his wife, full of sadness. "Do you remember when I told you that I left the service of my country and that there would come a day when some very bad people would find me?"