Guardians of the Light (Book 1: Rebirth)

Chapter 3

As soon as Sara got Lillian through the door the questions started, there was a long pause before she opened her mouth, "So... Who's the hot man candy?" a playful wink and smirk in Lillian's direction. Lillian felt her cheeks grow hot, something that was not normal for her at all, she shrugged it off with a chuckle, and "He's no one really. Okay fine his name is Ronin that is all I know about him. He helped me after my crash offered me a ride home and was taking my bike in for repairs because he knows a guy who does good work". Other than that, she did not know anything else about the mysterious man who had helped her.

Only a name, that name haunted her dreams. That night she dreamt of him, for someone she did not know before and had only met today, she had this feeling deep inside that there was something oddly familiar about him. His deep blue eyes had been what had drawn her to him. Lillian drifted into dream after dream unaware that these dreams were actually events of her past and Ronin was far from being a stranger she had just met today.

The morning rays of the sun peeked through her bedroom windows, shining right over her face, causing her hand to move over her eyes to block out the blinding light. With a groan she sat up lightly still sore from last night's crash, she was careful as she moved out of bed. All thoughts of Ronin and the events from last night had all been eased from her mind until she spotted Ronin's leather jacket laying on her stand where she had left it last night before going to bed. There was something familiar about that jacket as she ran her hand over the smooth material, she could not quite put her finger on why she was having this feeling but it was there in the back of her mind.

She ignored the feeling, pulling a housecoat over herself and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen where she could smell something was being cooked. As she entered, she spotted Sara at the stove flipping eggs in a frying pan but Sara had not heard her approach until Lillian was a few meters away from the girl. Sara turned around quickly and nearly lost the pan full of eggs on the floor, "Holy cow Lillian you scared the crap out of me. It's not funny!", she spoke setting the frying pan down before putting her hands on her hips as Lillian couldn't help but laugh at the look Sara was giving her right now.

All jokes aside, Sara turned off the stove and added the eggs between the two plates on the counter. Lillian sat down on one of the bar stools as she watched Sara prepare the rest of their breakfast, when Sara walked over with plates in hand setting one down in front of Lillian, "So how are you feeling after last night? Do you think Ronin will be back for his jacket?" she asked as she sat down as well. Lillian stayed silent, picking up her fork and playing with the eggs, "I don't know if he's coming back or not but I do know that I am still hurting from last night". Sara nodded her head taking a bite of her food sitting in silence as they ate.

Lillian offered to wash the dishes so Sara could get ready for school, every morning Lillian drove Sara to school making sure the young girl arrived there safely. Ever since Lillian had met Sara, there was this drive inside of her to protect Sara, from what Lillian did not know but it was there just like the feeling she had about Ronin. She could not explain the feelings they were just there.

The over whelming desire to help Sara had started the first day she had met the young girl. Sara had put an ad online looking for a roommate to share a large house Sara had been left after grandparents had passed. Sara had once told Lillian the story of how Sara had survived the crash but her parents had not been so lucky, Lillian had told her that maybe she had a guardian angel watching over her that night. By all accounts, Sara should have died that night along with her parents but something had kept her alive and safe. Lillian took over the older sister and mother figure for Sara after she had heard the young girl's story. They had been living together since and always had each other's backs no matter what.

When Sara came back, downstairs ready to leave Lillian dried her hands on the dishtowel and grabbed her bag heading out the front door making sure to lock it behind them. The drive to New Haven College was not that far away from their house and besides Lillian loved to drive for her it was calming and relaxing in a sense. The car pulled up in front of the College Sara climbed out and waved to Lillian as she entered the building disappearing into the mass of students heading to their classes. Sara was studying to become a nurse, a passion of hers ever since Lillian had known her, the young girls drive to help others came from not being able to save her own parents.

Lillian knew that Sara thought she could make it up to her parents by helping others in need. Lillian was just about to pull out and head towards her work when she spotted a figure hiding in the shadows besides the building. The tall-unknown stranger just stood there and it sent chills up Lillian's spine it was almost as if the figure was staring right at her. Lillian slammed on the brakes hard, threw the car into park and flung the driver side door open. She raced towards the figure she had spotted moments ago, a sense of danger hit her as she ran; she had to protect Sara that over whelming feeling washed over her again. Nevertheless, when she arrived at the spot the figure had been standing nothing was there. She was sure she had seen the figure and it was not just her mind playing tricks on her or perhaps it was her mind, the night before she had not gotten much sleep due to her dreams of him.

Lillian took one last look around the building when she was satisfied that there was no one anymore she returned to her car and drove away heading in the direction of her work place. When Lillian settled in New Haven after travelling all over the world trying to find a place to belong she had picked up odd jobs here and there in order to make do with what she had, she always carried light because she was never in the same place for very long. New Haven had been the longest stay Lillian had had in one place and she did not plan to go anywhere soon.

She made a promise to Sara that she would stick with the young girl no matter what happened. Lillian wasn't about to run away from someone who needed her, for the first time in a very long time she felt like she belonged somewhere and had a purpose for staying in New Haven. She had been able to find work at one of the local bars located within the heart of downtown New Haven. Terry the current owner of the bar had been kind enough to offer Lillian a job. She had little experience working as a bartender but Terry had been patient enough with her to show Lillian how things worked around the bar. It had not been an easy few months learning everything from scratch but she pushed through and made it to where she was now. Tonight was not busy at all which was normal for a weekday; it was just the regular guys that came in after their shift at the New Haven Oil Factory.

Lillian was just finishing up pouring a drink for a customer when she heard the sound of a metal bar stool being pulled out from the counter, the metal scrapping against the hard wood floor of the room. This sound caused her to lookup right into the face of a stranger, suddenly a chill came over her and she stood there frozen.