Free Protector by Tressa Messenger Page A

article.  She stops every so often to write down a few notes on a note pad before moving on to another article with the same contents screaming at him off of the screen.
    “ Dammit all to hell!” He mumbles to himself and gets up from his chair, throws the spilled cup into the trash can and storms out of the coffee shop.  He paces back and forth close to the entrance, but far enough away so she won’t see him.
    “Why the hell is she looking up that stuff? ”  Alessandro stops pacing remembering those last two nights he had seen her.
    “Jesus Christ!  She knows too much !  Dammit!  She is going to get herself killed.”
    Alessandro thinks for a minute trying to figure out what he can do.
    “I have to talk to my father about this.  He is not going to be happy that things have gotten this bad.  The Rogue is starting to get way too much attention.”
    Night is coming soon so Alessandro heads back to his car hoping to catch his father before he goes out for the night.  He drives his little car fast down the back roads along the coast, heading towards the manor where the Brotherhood lives for the time being.  This can’t wait; he needs to speak to his father now. 
            As he is driving to the manor he thinks back on the very first time he remembers seeing her , this mysterious pain in the butt Anna-Marie.   The memory of the sight of her that night still sends chills down his spine.
     
    On that night he was walking around the cemetery hoping for some action to calm his restless mind.  He stumbled across a sleeping beauty lying on a blanket beside a grave.  He stood over her, stunned and saddened for her.  He thought she was dead at first until he heard her mumbling something from her dream.  He was shocked and confused to see her asleep beside a grave.  He figured she must have known the young man whom the grave belonged to.  He remembers feeling a ting of jealousy that this woman felt so compelled to come out so late at night to a cemetery to visit this man and feel comfortable enough to fall asleep.  It could only be love, or insanity, and from what he has seen of her so far, it was probably insanity. 
    He was so caught up in the moment; he almost missed the foul scent.  There was a Rogue there lurking in the dark close by.  He didn’t know where though.  However, he figured it knew she was there, or would soon, so he had to step back from this sleeping beauty and wait for him to show himself. 
     
    Lost in his memory , the drive goes by in a flash before pulling up to the manor’s iron gate.  The manor is a very beautiful old mansion that sits on the Neuse River in Wilmington, North Carolina.  Its appearance is very much the style of old southern wealth, with an immense lazy porch and wide stately white columns flanking the entrance.  It was once a plantation before the Brotherhood bought it.  It has been a part of the Brotherhood Order for about one hundred years. 
    They have many houses all over the country that they rotate their time in every so often.  Being immortal has many perks, other than the obvious of living forever.  Over time, the Brotherhood has collected a mass of wealth and priceless antiques which have all helped with their survival.  Since the very beginning, when the Brotherhood was founded, there has always been seven Brotherhood in a group, as well as seven Protectors, all living together in one house.
    They ha d come back to Wilmington about six months ago, once word got out that there has been some escalating trouble with Rogue in the area.  They have worked towards eliminating the problem for centuries, but they seem to keep repopulating, sometimes faster than others.
    Alessandro pulls up to the expanse estate as the sun is setting and parks his car in their massive garage built off the side of the main house.  The garage houses up to seven cars at a time as well as five motorcycles, but it’s usually not full due to all the coming and goings of all