Chapter One

Tonight was one I would remember for the rest of my life. I will tell you how the world as I knew it changed. I’ll tell you how I came to know secrets of a second world and how that world became more precious to me than the one I had known my entire life.

There was a crescent moon that stuck out like a fingernail clipping in the starry night sky. It was the middle of May and the night air was slightly warm. I was enjoying all of the beauty of the night; up until about twenty minutes ago anyway.

I was now running for my life through a deep, dark forest. I had been attacked by a couple of drunken perverts on my way back home from the store. God forbid I lead them back to my house. As I ran, I could hear them shouting behind me but I didn't dare to look back.

"Get back here! We haven't had our fun yet!"

One of them yelled at me. My blue, v-neck t-shirt had gotten ripped in the struggle. Part of my sleeve was gone and my breasts were pretty much spilling out of my bra for the world to see. I was wearing a blue jean skirt that had silk layers going down to mid thigh. I had been wearing sandals at some point but I have no idea what happened to them.

I was extremely fatigued and could barely catch my breath. I was pretty sure I would pass out before I could lose my attackers. In the depth of the trees I could see houses. The porch lights were on at two of the five houses. I headed towards the house that was the closest. There were driveways sloping down towards a dirt road. A red Kia Sportage was parked in the driveway of the first house. There were two other cars in front of it but I wasn't sure what kind of models they were.

I ran up to the porch and started frantically banging on the door. The door appeared to be brand new cherry wood; I knew my hands would be bruised in the morning. Suddenly the door flung open and I stumbled back, nearly falling backwards down the stairs. A man about six feet tall, probably a little taller stood in the doorway staring down at me. His eyes were a rich auburn; I'd never seen anyone with eyes like that before. His hair was cut short and fanned to the left in pale, blonde, wisps. He was shirtless so I could see that he took great pride in his workouts. He looked Caucasian but as I looked closer, his skin tone was a nice golden brown.

I assumed that he either tanned a lot or he was biracial. He was shirtless and his only article of clothing was a pair of half-buttoned blue jeans; which I assumed he put on in a rush to answer the door. The expression on his face wasn't pleasant. I was betting he was sleeping soundly before I came along.

"Please! Help me! I'm being chased by these guys-"

"Just come inside, come on now!"

He said cutting me off. He didn't sound angry like I'd have been if I were him, Kudos to him. The auburn eyed man stepped into the house and I ran in behind him. He closed the door and locked it before I heard the click of a light switch. Three hallway lights cut on to reveal a long hallway and a staircase to my right. A small black ottoman was against the wall next to the stairs so I took a seat there. I looked up at my hero almost reluctantly. I was feeling guilty about disturbing him. He walked up to me. His face was neutral, non-threatening. I slowly looked up at him and fought the urge not to let my eyes wander down his muscular form.

"What's your name?" He asked. His deep, raspy voice didn't quite match his modelesque face; but I was thankful he hadn't slammed the door in my face and went back to bed.

"Astraia Ilithyia."

Please don't ask me what the hell my mother was thinking when she named me. I chalked it up to the pain meds. The man slowly started to smile. I thought he was going to start laughing, but to my surprise he didn't.

"That's a doozy. My name is Baltasar; it literally means 'protect the king'".

I felt a sense of relief when he told me his name; it was almost as bad as mine. My first name is of Greek origin. Astraia was a goddess of justice. My last name is of Greek origin also.

Ilithyia was the goddess of childbirth. I guess my mom was hoping I'd become a lawyer and give her a ton of grandchildren. Boy was she going to be disappointed.

"Ba'al, who is it?"

A woman's voice came from the staircase behind me. I turned around, looking up at the person that spoke; I wished I hadn't. The woman was wearing nothing but a banana yellow thong; the caramel tone of her flawless skin made the yellow of the thong seem even brighter. She was petite and had a very athletic build. Her hair was short and curly, the color of it wasn't natural I was certain. It must have been some trick of the light because it looked like a dark, earthly green. The curls stopped just below her ears, loose and bouncy at the same time. As she stepped down one of the steps, I noticed that her toenails were neatly painted the same color as her thong. I wondered what her wardrobe looked like.

Her lips were full and pouty, sort of like Betty Boop's if you remember her. If you don’t remember, you’re too young to be listening to this tale.

Her breasts sat up perfectly on her chest, she was probably a small 'B'. Big breasts won't sit up like that without the right bra. I looked away from her nervously, when she smiled at me with her Colgate white teeth.

"Oh, this is our little noise maker huh?" She said with a little chime to her voice.

The seductive light pitch of her voice made me want to put her age at around maybe thirty-years-old. Baltasar sighed as if he was suddenly tired and looked at the curly haired girl on the steps.

"Kyra, we have a guest so I suggest you make yourself look decent." He said this while looking up and down the length of her body.

She laughed bitterly as she came down the last steps to stand in front of him. I couldn’t resist the urge to look over at them.

Kyra pressed the front of her body against the front of his. Her bare breasts pressed against his chest.

He stared down at her completely still, as if moving would provoke more provocative actions. Kyra smiled wide, an unusually toothy grin. She placed her perfectly painted fingernail against his square chin, tilting her head to the side as she taunted him.

I could see her face clearly now and she was pretty. No, beautiful. She had that rounded young face like a teenager but I knew she wasn't that young. Her eyes were a dark magenta color, no joke. They shined like candies in the light of the room.

"You know better than to order me around like that Ba'al, it gets me all...Hot." She whispered the last word onto his lips before slowly licking his jaw line.

Baltasar suddenly had a death grip on her wrist and I hadn't seen him move. Kyra's face was twisted in pain and what looked like pleasure. My jaw was just about on the floor before I realized my mouth was gaped open in shock.

"I'm not in the fucking mood Kyra. Go and get Vasilios. Now."

He released her arm so quickly she almost fell. Kyra shot him a dark look over her shoulder as she disappeared down the hallway. Baltasar shook his head, sighing heavily.

He took a seat on the floor near the steps without another word. He wasn't going to talk about what just happened so I didn't bother to ask him about it. I looked down at my legs which were covered in small scratches and cuts. I heard a door open down the hall, and then the sounds of someone going downstairs. I started to touch the wounds on my foot but pulled back, thinking twice. Less than ten minutes passed before I heard more footsteps.

This time it sounded like more than one person.

Kyra was the first to walk into the room, wearing a light pink robe this time. I was glad to see she had listened to Baltasar. A man with shoulder length, jet black curly hair pulled back into a ponytail walked in behind her. He was shirtless and barefoot like Baltasar but he was mercifully wearing some dark gray sweatpants. His shoulders were very broad and muscular like a wrestler's, minus the appearance of working out excessively or steroid abuse. When he faced me I could see his almond shaped eyes were silver, like shiny new quarters. My breath caught in my throat involuntarily and I gasped. It was safe to assume he always got this reaction from women, because he flashed me a smile that revealed deep dimples in his cheeks.

I couldn't look him in the eyes again, it was too much. I settled for staring down at the sandy brown carpet.

"Kyra, Baltasar, you two go take a look outside. Bring whoever you need. I'll need to talk to our guest for a moment." He said in a deep, rich voice that felt as if it caressed my skin. Without protest, Kyra and Baltasar went upstairs; I assumed they were going to put on some clothes.

It was just the two of us for the moment, and I was suddenly more nervous than I had been the entire time I sat alone with Baltasar. I kept my eyes on the floor but I could hear him walking towards me. I saw his feet and then his legs as he knelt in front of me. I turned my head towards the closet door near the stairway before I could see his face fully.

Kyra, Baltasar, and two others came downstairs dressed in plain clothes. Solid colored shirts and jeans. One of the two new faces was a red headed boy with eyes the color of pink rose petals. He had a medium build; non-threatening. He also had a gold nose piercing in his left nostril and a spray of freckles across his cheeks. The second of the two was a long haired brunette boy who looked to be in his teens. I couldn't get a good look at him before the four of them went out of the door. Kyra was the last one out so she closed the door behind them. I heard the man in front of me sigh but I didn't turn to look at him.

"You must be Astraia, I'm Vasilios." He said in that cautious tone you would use to calm someone traumatized.

I felt his very warm hand touch one of my battered legs delicately and I flinched. The cuts were stinging and sore; it didn't matter how gentle he was. I turned my head slowly meeting his eyes again. There was a sympathetic look in those silver eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see how badly you were injured. I'll be right back." He got up and left me alone for a moment but shortly returned with a first aid kit.

I ran my fingers through my tangled mess of sandy brown hair. It had grown past my elbows within the last year and it started showing chocolate brown streaks. My hair was neither straight nor curly. It sort of held wisps of curls in each strand as if my hair couldn't decide whether it wanted to curl or not. Vasilios started tending to my wounds and I let him.

Looking down at my legs again I could see that my feet were slightly swollen. I didn't know how I'd be going to work tomorrow in this state.

"Tell me what happened and how you found us." He said without looking up at me.

He seemed to be completely absorbed in cleaning the cuts on my legs and feet. I wasn't really sure where to start, but I did my best.

"I was on my way back home from Aunt Cherry's corner store when these two drunk perverts started following me. I have a car but the store is so close to my house I could just walk there in less than ten minutes. Anyway, they were shouting all kinds of vulgar things at me so I started running in the opposite direction from my house, but they caught up to me..."

When I didn't elaborate Vasilios looked up at me with curious eyes.

"What happened next?" He asked before looking back down at my injuries. He opened a tube of Neosporin and started putting some on each cut carefully.

"Well, they forced me into an alley and tried to take my clothes off. I did my best to fight them off but they were so strong I… all I could do was scream hoping someone would hear me. A car driving by finally stopped and opened the driver side door. A man got out of the car to help which made the two guys hesitate. I took the chance of kicking one below the belt and stomping on the other guy's foot. By that time, the stranger that stopped to help started fighting with the guys and I managed to run away again. This time I headed towards the main highway and into the woods. They somehow caught up with me again, and eventually I found this house." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

Vasilios looked up at me then, smiling.

"I'm sorry you've had such a rough night."

He sounded sincere and that made me feel a little bit better.

His gleaming silver eyes trailed down my face, to my chest, then back to my legs, like he was studying me. I stayed silent but I was very curious as to what he was thinking. He sighed and his warm breath tickled my legs, making me shift on the ottoman slightly.

"What is it?" I finally asked.

"You have no idea how lucky you are to be alive. I'll take you home. I think my presence will ensure your safety. If only for tonight."

He sounded not only concerned but scared for me I think.

I couldn't help but feel like he was talking about something more; I wisely did not pry. I didn't know these people from Adam; they could be more dangerous than those drunken idiots that were chasing me. Since they helped me I had to cast aside my suspicions.

The front door opened again and the four people that had gone to search for my ‘boogie-men’ came back inside. They all stood at the door looking at Vasilios waiting for him to speak it seemed.

"Well? What did you find?" He asked them.

"We picked up their trail but they've left the woods now." This from the red-headed man who looked to be in his early twenties like myself.

"I'm going to take Astraia home. Baltasar, can you go and start my car for me please?"

Baltasar gave Vasilios a nod before he grabbed a set of keys off of a glass table next to the door. He went outside without a word. The way that they obeyed him amazed me. I was puzzled as to why they were being so compliant.

Vasilios stood up with the first aid kit packed up in his right hand.

"You three stay awake until I get back; we need to discuss your findings."

He left the room once again and the trio by the door went upstairs, sparing me glances of intrigue.

I started thinking...Do I want him to know where I live? Could I trust him? With my feet swelling up like balloons I didn't have much of a choice.

About fifteen minutes passed before Vasilios came back into the room. He'd put on a large gray and white hooded sweatshirt with a pair of clean, white Nike Airs. I felt myself starting to stare and averted my eyes. I couldn't help being attracted to him; he was a flame and I was the moth in that moment. He walked up to me and I stared up at him curiously. His tall form towered over me and I suddenly felt so small.

"Do you think you can stand?" He asked, holding his hand out to me.

I nodded and took his hand. When I stood up, my legs felt the weight of my body and the cuts began to sting even more. I winced at the sharp sensations. I knew the cuts had to be deeper than I thought they were. Vasilios bent down and picked me up, holding me securely against his firm chest. I felt heat creeping up my face and I was glad that my skin tone was dark enough to hide my blush. Our eyes met and I wanted to say something to make things feel less awkward, but I only stared into those strange silver eyes of his.

"We'll get to the car a lot faster if I carry you."

He said, smiling down at me.

When we came outside, the Kia Sportage I saw earlier had been started up just as he’d asked. Baltasar was sitting in the backseat. He climbed over the front seats and opened the passenger side door for us before sitting back down. Vasilios placed me on the leather seat and then leaned over me to put my seatbelt on. Once he heard the click, he closed the door. He then went around to the driver's side and got in to repeat his safety measures.

"Just tell me where to go when we hit the main road..." He said putting the car in reverse and backing out of the driveway. He shifted into drive again, turning onto the dirt road.