Finding Grace: The Guardian Chronicles Book One

Chapter 5. My Ride Home*

Chapter 5. She's My Ride Home by Blue October

Evan was still trying to gather her wits. She had never been so frightened in her life, but at the same time, she had not gotten a sense from that man...Emil...that he wanted to do her harm. He looked like a lost soul, from what she could tell, but he hadn't come out of the shadows long enough for her to get a great look at his face.

She rushed around her bedroom gathering clothes after being sure to lock her door. Then she took a perfunctory shower, something she had mastered during residency. Evan dressed in clean scrubs, needing to get ready for her next shift that was to start in a little over an hour. She smeared the condensation from the mirror with a towel, and pulled her long hair back into a low bun. She ran down the stairs, expecting to see Emil waiting in her sitting room. She was not surprised when she didn't find him inside. She threw on her coat in order to go outside, but as she shrugged her arms into its warm depths, she noticed the black car still parked out in front under a street lamp. Evan opened the door and came face to face with Emil Drozdan. His face was in the shadows, so she reached in and flipped on the porch light to see him better. He stepped back from the door at the same time, so the only part of him she was able to assess better was his height, which towered over her by at least 4 inches. Stepping out on the stoop, the frigid wind stole the breath from her lungs as she tried to speak. She drew back inside; it was too cold to stand outside.

"Come in before you get a chill," she said to the lonely soul standing on the walk in front of her home. She stood back and held the door open expectantly. She did not miss the low laugh he emitted when she invited him in. She figured he was thinking she was crazy inviting him in after she had all but kicked him out.

Emil moved silently and gracefully past her into the warm, inviting foyer for the second time that day. He stood looking around the small space, and she could see melancholy seem to wash over him.

She threw her coat over the back of an overstuffed chair after fighting the front door shut. Although she loved the ten-foot tall doors original to her home, they desperately needed some attention. If it was humid out, she could barely budge them, fortunately it was freezing outside, and it didn't take as much effort. Once she had shouldered the solid wood door in order to latch the lock, she leaned against it and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry..." he started to say.

"I'm sorry..."Evan said at the same time.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I should have left as soon as I was sure you were safely in your bed," Emil continued. He turned at the base of the stairs and lifted one hand to caress the banister. "By the way, you need to get that door fixed. It still sticks."

"True. But I remember you came to me wanting to talk, and I rudely tried to put you off," Evan said, not catching the end of Emil's last statement in her anxiousness to get ready for work and yet still wanting to figure out what Emil wanted from her. As she walked past him she asked, "Do you still want to talk?"

"Yes, but I don't know where to start."

"Well, we can start by me introducing myself. I'm Evan Whitman. I know your name. Please, go ahead and call me Evan," she said, trying to ease the situation. She held out her hand expectantly, but when he did not shake it as expected, she let her arm fall awkwardly to her side.

"Evan...A beautiful name, unusual for a woman. Thank you for being so gracious," he said as he continued stroking the ornately carved wood supporting the stair railing, avoiding her eyes.

"Thanks and no problem. Well, at least come and sit down for a minute. I hate to say this, but I have to get to work soon, so we can't talk long. I need to catch the bus, since it's so cold." She was backing through the living room, trying not to trip over the coffee table. She patted the sofa in invitation.