Midnight Angel [Jenlisa FF]

~'~'~ Chapter 1 ~'~'~

The death of her stepmother had changed her life in more ways than one. Lisa thought of her sister then, as she stared out at the lapping waves of the ocean. Roseanne, or Rosé as she liked to be called, had been left motherless and broken hearted. With nowhere else for the fourteen-year-old girl to go, their father had brought her to Los Angeles, rented an apartment, and enrolled Rosé in school. The three of them had lived there together, though her father still continued to travel, leaving Rosé in Lisa's care. She hadn't minded overmuch. Lisa loved her sister. It was that simple.

Only a year later, they'd faced death again, finding themselves having only each other after their father was killed in a car accident while on a lecture tour in New York. They'd cried and grieved on each other shoulders and, in the end, picked themselves and done what had to be done: gone on with life.

After four years in college, and once Rosé was eighteen and starting college herself, Lisa had taken after her father and travelled the world as part of her job. London, Paris, Venice, jungles in Africa, the Amazon, one forgettable week in Antarctica, and everywhere in between. She'd seen them all. And after five years of being a nomad, much as her father had been, Lisa found it didn't suit her. She wanted a house, somewhere to return to each night, somewhere to, hopefully, one day raise a family.

So, Lisa quit her job working for National Geographic and bought a house in the small town of Cambria, California. Her sister thought she was nuts. Maybe she was. She hadn't really taken time to consider the decision; she'd just done it. So far she hadn't regretted it. So far. Of course, she'd just started moving into the house today, so she hadn't really yet had time to have second thoughts.

Standing, Lisa walked a few feet away from the house and turned to gaze up at it. No, she didn't have any regrets. This was what she wanted.

Lisa watched Rosé walk out of the house and come stand beside her. Her arms crossed and lips pursed as she, too, looked at the old Victorian. "Well, it's certainly your fixer-upper," she said at length.

Lisa shrugged, unoffended. "It just needs some work. No one's lived in it for a while."

"I still don't see why you wouldn't stay in LA until the work is done on it," she replied, quirking an eyebrow at Lisa.

Rolling her eyes, Lisa stifled a sigh. They'd been around this argument enough times already. She knew Rosé was just unhappy that she hadn't chosen to settle in LA near her. "The lease on my apartment was up." The same apartment she'd barely ever stayed in, and which had only the meagerest of furnishings.

"I told you that you could have stayed with me."

"I know." Lisa wrapped an arm around Rosé's shoulders in conciliation. "But I want to get settled, and Mr. Kim was ready for me to start my new job right away."

"I know. Sorry I'm being a pest," Rosé apologized, leaning her head on her chest.

"It's okay." Lisa gave her shoulder a squeeze. "And it's closer than me being in Europe or Africa."

"True," Rosé conceded, then stretched her back. "Ugh. I'm glad you didn't have a house full of junk to move in. The stuff you did have was a big enough pain to move."

"There are still all those boxes of Dad's in storage," Lisa reminded her, referring to all the historical artifacts their father had collected throughout her career.

Rosé cast an eye up at her. "You're hiring movers for those. There's no way I'm lugging all those crates around."

Lisa laughed and looked down at her sister. As she occasionally was, she was struck by the dissimilarity in their appearances. While she had taken after their father with her tall, dark brown hair and eyes, Rosé had followed after her mother's petite form and narrow face. The only trait they shared was hair colour, and even then, hers was a few shades lighter than Lisa's.

"Though why you'd want to put some of that stuff out is beyond me," Rosé went on. "Are you really going to put that old skull out for everyone to see?"

"This coming from someone who considered going pre-med?" Lisa teased her. Rosé was a whiz with science and medicine, but she'd never picked up on their father's interest in old bones or displaying them.

"There's a difference between medicine and putting a bunch of bones on a shelf," she stated primly, laughter in her eyes at the old joke.

The two lapsed into silence as Lisa went back to studying her house. It was a good place. Yes, it needed a bit of work, but when it was done, it would be perfect. Classic Victorian lines, two stories with a large attic space, and her favorite aspect, a widow's walk. She was anxious to see the repairs begin and then completed. Most of what needed to be done was some structural work and refinishing. Otherwise, the house was sound. Lisa looked forward to seeing it completed so she could furnish it and turn it from a house into a home.

"Tell ya what," Lisa finally said. "I'll spring for a pizza for dinner."

Rosé rolled her eyes. "So generous of you."

"Just for that," she answered back, tugged on her ear. "I'm getting black olives on it."

"Not on my half, buster!" Rosé elbowed her lightly in the ribs. "You can have them on your half, but not mine."

Lisa's eyes twinkled before she laughed. She knew very well how much her sister hated black olives. She had ever since Lisa told her they were lizard eyes once when they were kids and she had been visiting her in Texas. Who knew a seven-year-old would take to such a lie?

"How about pepperoni?" Lisa offered in exchange.

"That's works. I'll go try to wash off some of this dirt while you order."

An hour and a half later, after having devoured a pizza and soft drinks, Lisa and Rosé were once again back on the front porch of the house. "Are sure you don't want to stay tonight?" she asked, worrying slightly about her sister driving home in the dark.

"Yeah. I have class tomorrow and I can't miss it." Rosé wished she had a few days to stay with Lisa, but she was coming up on her last finals ever and she couldn't even consider skipping class. "Are you sure you'll be okay here?" Doubtfully, she studied the old house.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry so much."

"I'll try not to, but you have to promise to call me if you need anything," Rosé ordered, turning to face her big sis.

"Deal." Lisa gave her a hug before walking with her toward her car. "Drive carefully."

"I will." She climbed into her car, rolled down her window. "I'll call you tomorrow."

Lisa stood and watched her sister drive away, feeling a pang of loneliness as her car rounded the bend and left her sight. She rolled her tired shoulders and turned to stare out over the ocean. The water had a different look at night with the moon reflecting off it. She'd have to take some pictures once she was a bit more settled in. But right now, she was exhausted, and she still had to put sheets on her bed.

Lisa gazed out over the water and sandy beach for a minute longer before shifting to head inside, never noticing the small, pale figure that slipped out of the woods and onto the jetty a hundred feet away.