Chapter 1, An unexpected meeting

I entered the house via the back door as I usually did when I came home from school. Throwing my backpack in the corner of the grand hallway and tossing my coat over the chesterfield that was right next to it. "Mom, I'm home. Have you heard from Jake? He hasn't called me back yet, I want to make sure the interview is still happening" I screamed towards the living room as I made my way into the kitchen.

When we bought the house using the money I had made off my first album I knew my mom would finally get to see her biggest dream come true. The house or mansion, depending on one's interpretation had one of those old farm like kitchens. A large stove, cupboards, loads of space and all off those antique finishes.

When viewing the house I knew my mom was sold the moment she stepped into the space and saw the kitchen, the garden was only a plus and the rest, well I chalked it up to history as it didn't matter anymore. A month later we were the proud inhabitants of Lake manor, the old grand mansion in the middle of a small town called Lakeview.

Pulling the fridge door I found my favorite smoothie without even looking for it, while shaking the bottle I walked towards the living room. "Mom you want me to do some grocery shopping tomorrow, we are low on…" I dropped the bottle.

In the corner, by the window stood a man, tall and muscular cloaked in black. His three piece suit accentuated his slender yet strong body, his back broad and hair black as night. The stranger turned around upon hearing me enter the room while my mom was sitting on the chesterfield couch opposite of the fireplace.

I leaped towards her completely ignoring the spilled juice on the carpet. "Get the hell away from my mom!" I screamed towards the man, my voice resembled exactly what I felt inside, anger laced with fear.

This man's face had two long scars running from his right eyebrow just above his eye, this impossible emerald green set of eyes, pulling further across his nose to the side of his upper lip. He already looked like a deadly hunter in his sharp suit but his face, god his face frightened me of what he was capable of.

His facial expression shifted from shocked to one of pure curiosity, cocking his head slightly to the left as if it would help him decipher what I was thinking.

Somewhere during this stare down between us my mom had jumped to her feet and was now trying to pull me around so that I would face her. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" I yelled at the stranger still sheltering my mom behind my body. He took a step forward towards me which made me pull out my pocket knife in a reflex motion.

"Liliana will you stop this at once! I invited Erik, he is my guest!" my mom yelled from somewhere behind me. Huh? I turned around slightly just enough to see my mom from the corner of my eye, while still keeping sight on the stranger. My mom was looking at me with a look of anger and despair as if she was disappointed in the person that I had just turned into. Shocked I glanced back and forth between him and my mom, contemplating what to do next.

My mom grabbed my hands "Liliana it's alright, I'm fine, Erik is not a threat to us. He is quite the opposite" she smiled into his direction. I glared at him and then back to my mom, oh no she didn't, no oh hell no! Erik was still standing in the same corner by the window, a half smile on his lips, still staring at me with those curious green eyes.

Sighing my mom told me: "I hired Erik, for you. I want you to be safe Liliana" I wasn't sure if I wanted to clip my pocket knife so soon, I told her so many times, no puppy dog following me, I did not want to hear anything about it! "Mom…" I took a deep breath, don't get worked up Liliana, keep calm, don't lose it while he is watching.

"Mom I do not have a need for protection, I told you so many times I…" and that was when he spoke "I do believe your mother has a valid point in keeping you safe Liliana" His voice soft, warm, with this lingering predator sound underneath. I sucked in a breath, that voice, I knew that voice….. "Liliana, Erik will be with you from now on, for your own protection, for as long as necessary" somewhere far away my mom was telling me something, but I was still focusing on Erik, did I know him, had we met before? I couldn't let go of this feeling, maybe I was going crazy from all the stress….. And what exactly did mom just say? He is staying with me?! Oh no, hell to the no, no way!

Erik was still watching me closely, trying to figure out what I was thinking. While my mom was now practically yanking my arms to get my attention, that's when it hit me, like lightening hitting my brain. Like someone stabbing me above my right eye, I grabbed the couch to keep myself from toppling over. "Liliana are you alright? Liliana?" Somewhere from miles away my mom was yelling to me, I saw Erik walking towards me, the pain intensifying with every second passing.

I tried to walk towards the door. "I'm fine mom, just need some water or air….." I murmured while clutching the door, the room was too bright, too many colors, they were hurting my eyes. I saw the floor coming closer quickly and I knew I was falling. Bracing myself for impact the last thing going through my mind was don't let the fop catch me in his arms, don't he dare try to be a hero I will personally punch him… and then nothing, darkness, covering me like a blanket.

Seeing her after all these years….. he had never felt like this before or well he had but he had never told her, nor had he ever even spoken about it. She was still, no… even more beautiful than he could remember, her thick caramel brown hair flowing from her shoulders, framing her pale yet rosy face. Blue fierce eyes, piercing your soul, searching for your thoughts, trying to dissect you piece by piece. She was still wearing jeans with a blouse and a sweater, just like eight years ago.

She hadn't changed a bit, which made his heart flare up even more, how he wanted to tell her that it was him, he was here and she didn't have to worry about a thing. But her reaction to seeing him had shocked him, he had frightened her, something he had never done before, something he had never wanted to do.

Yet somehow he did understand her reaction, her mother had told him over the phone why she wanted to hire him as Liliana's personal bodyguard. She had explained what had been happening, the threats, the stalking and the weird gifts. How protective Liliana had been towards her over the last couple of weeks as the frequency of the events increased.

Her health was affected by it, as he had witnessed right in front of his eyes. As she did when they were younger she would try and make it look like it was nothing but she had gasped for air, trying to stay upright muttering that she was fine. Staggering away as to not alarm everyone in the room, but that was just the thing, she was not fine the accident had done its damage and he knew, he knew the damage it had done and he hated it.

It had taken her far away, to foreign countries, private hospitals and special treatments. She had fully recovered from all her wounds, but the damage it had done to her brain was permanent. Stress, nerves and her well not short, but easily flared temper had created a push and pull rhythm. As she would stress out her head would cry out for a break through breathtaking headaches and fainting spells.

The scene played before him had only shown that the accident still lingered around her, she was just too stubborn to accept help while enduring it. She had glared at him angrily when he tried to come close to help her, but she could not stop him from catching her. As he saw her grasp the door and miss he jumped forward, like a large cat catching his prey he had gripped her body tight with his arms and stopped her from crashing into the ground, pulling her close to him.

As though he wanted to pull her in, merge with her. Her body slumped against his, her head lying in the nape of his neck, her arm dangling in the air. He felt her soft, warm breath against his neck, that alone sent ripples through his skin. Her hair still smelled of the rose shampoo she used, it brought back so many memories. "You saved her, thank goodness….. you don't want to know how many bruises she gets from falling".

I snapped back to reality, Anna was standing next to me, "Follow me, I will call Raoul to check her" dumbstruck I followed her out of the room "Who is Raoul Mrs Daemon?" I held onto Liliana like she was made from glass, while we started ascending the main grand staircase. "Raoul is Liliana's personal trainer and her personal well you could say doctor." Anna smiled at me, why would Liliana need a personal trainer? She has never been anything but fit.

Anna opened one of the many doors that aligned the hallway of the main upstairs hallway. I could not see much, but I heard her telling someone that he was needed immediately. Next thing I know a tall, blond, muscular guy steps out of the room following Anna. "Ey mate, sorry to meet under these circumstances. I'm Raoul" I looked at him in a pained and puzzled way, could Liliana be….. with him? Where they together? I simply nodded, the sound of a phone interrupted the awkward silence between us.

"That must be Jake, Raoul can you…" Anna said while taking out her phone. "I am sorry Erik but I must discuss some important performance criteria with Liliana's manager" She gave me a sheepish smile and turned around and started walking towards the other end of the hallway. A manager? What was I missing? First this trainer guy and now a manager? What had happened in this family?

Liliana sighed against my chest, moving her head slightly. My head shot down to check if she had regained consciousness but she was still out, looking so peaceful, like she was sleeping and nothing had happened at all. "Trust me mate, lately it takes her a good 15 minutes to come back again" Raoul turned around and gestured for me to follow "We'll take her to her room, she can use some sleep if you ask me, if only she would listen and actually took some sometime" he was shaking his head.

"I am sorry for asking, but why does she have you? And this managers, I must have missed something but what exactly is happening here?" My curiosity had taken over, I tried to piece together the information that I had but nothing made sense, Liliana was just a student, she has no need for all this.

Raoul turned around in a split second, he looked at me as if I had just missed the biggest clue for a murder investigation. "Mate….. what exactly do you know about her? I mean they must have told you that, in here" he gestured me to enter as he swung open the last door of the long hallway.

The door opened a portal into another world, a world made of books, a grand piano, candles, a cozy fireplace and heaps of pillows on two chesterfields. A large desk stood in one corner, while mahogany book cases covered the walls from floor to ceiling, the back side of the room was almost completely made of glass, showing a large patio and garden. A large round bed with satin blankets stood directly in front of the glass with one side covered in books, which still left heaps of room for a person to sleep.

The room practically breathed Liliana, from the choice of books, to the fireplace, the massive desk and the large round bed. I approached the bed and slowly lowered her down on the covers, Raoul approached with what looked like a doctors bag and began with taking her pulse. I could only stare at her features, wondering what mystery was surrounding her I started up the conversation again with Raoul.

"So…. You were about to tell me something about her" I hinted towards Raoul. "Oh yeah mate, give me a sec. Her vitals look and sound alright to me" He shoved his stethoscope into his bag. Moving towards the bookcase closest to the bed he tugged on one of the books, to my surprise it set in motion a movement within the book cases, pulling in two rows which both moved to the side to show a hollow space behind them.

Why does she have secret compartments in her room? Raoul looked at me awaiting my reaction, "Oh mate they really kept you in the dark didn't they…" He motioned for me to look inside the bookcases. Bright lights reflected something sparkly within the bookcases, like a hidden treasure had just been unearthed and was now soaking up its first sun rays in years. Within the hollow space jewels, so many jewels sparkled brightly, illuminating the small place with specs of color. But when my eyes got hold of the four masks that were displayed in the middle my jaw dropped to the floor. "Oh yes mate does are them, the real ones…. she is….."

But he could not finish his sentence as a voice shot out from beside them: "Raoul NO!"

I recognized my own bed sheets, the smell of my many books and my rose perfume lingering in the air of my room. My head was still pounding like crazy and I remembered what had happened, so this Erik guy was here to stay… I sighed, "click" my mind shot to the here and now. I could recognize that sound from miles away, it came from the unlocking of my secret bookcase, panic shot through my body, who was looking into my stuff! "Oh yes mate, does are them, the real ones…" Raoul! who was Raoul talking to? It better not be that Erik guy, or he was guaranteed dead meat.

I pushed myself up with my elbows, I almost fainted at the sight of them staring into the secret compartment. Raoul was mid-sentence revealing who I was, but that's when I shouted as loud as I could: "Raoul NO" Both of them turned as if bitten by snakes, Erik was looking at me as if I had a deadly decease. I knew right away, He knew, he had seen them, he had made the connection. I fell back on the mattress, this had created a whole other level of problems…

She was, my lord she…. He could not believe it. The whole world was talking about her, the most popular, fastest rising star that was around nowadays. Even I knew about her, her identity was the biggest mystery nowadays and was all over the news, the media platforms, lord everybody was trying to figure out who she was. There were conspiracy theories dedicated to her, people all over the world made it their life's work to figure out who this mysterious person was.

And she was right here, his little Liliana… Dumbfounded he was still staring at the masks. Christine Daemon was Liliana, it didn't make sense. Liliana was Christine… He could not fathom the fact that shy little Liliana was the world's biggest superstar, it was simply not possible.

"Raoul….. when I get out of this bed I am going to kick your ass so hard." It was not more than a whisper but it was the sort of short tempered humor only one person on this planet could have. Although she was still trying to get up she was glaring at him, while simultaneously shooting daggers at Raoul.

He tore himself loose from the sparkling masks and moved away from his position in front of the bookcase and walked over to the bed where he bent down to on one knee and offered Liliana his hand. She did not take it at first, glaring up at him with a mixture of anxiety and anger. Then she huffed an accepted his hand putting her tiny porcelain colored hand in his. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed she wanted to stand up, but she did it too quickly.

Slumping against him, she reached for his arm with both hands to prevent herself from falling. But he was quicker, his arms shot out to envelope her, keeping her up straight, closing the space between them. Shocked her head shot up looking up to him, his eyes stared into her starry blue one's, counting each eyelash, all the lights that got reflected by her eyes. "Thanks" she whispered softly, without breaking their eye contact. He saw a flicker of curiosity in her eyes, but it disappeared, and a concerned yet angry look took over.

"We need to talk" she said with a stern, yet still unsteady voice. "Raoul!" She freed herself of my arms, and I quickly let them fall, in that short moment Raoul had fled the room escaping Liliana's anger. Somewhere down the hall I heard him laugh "Your mom hired him, so better give him a head start!" Liliana huffed again, I however was dumb struck once more, It had not yet really reached me but he had a point, I was going to protect not only Liliana, I was going to protect the biggest star that was currently walking the earth.

Although she didn't look anything like it at the moment with her caramel hair fuzzy from the sheets, a slight patch of color returning to her cheeks making her look less ghost like. "You know staring is not very polite" her voice rang through the room while she moved over to the fireplace and started poking up the fire.

In my daydreaming I had mindlessly stared at her, still not accepting the fact that she was, well… who she was. "So you… you are famous" Great observation Erik, you idiot. I wanted to smack myself in the face. She got up and turned to face me. "Yeah, I guess you could say that" She gave me a faint half smile while taking a seat on one of the couches, motioning for me to take a seat. I moved over quickly and unbuttoned my jacket, she was still pale but looking alert as if she was weighing out all the options that she had.

"I need to get this out of the way" she said with a sigh "Did you sign a confidentiality agreement when my mom hired you?" She looked anxious while saying this, afraid even. I replied her curtly "Yes, I did. But please believe me in this, you can trust me, I would never tell anyone, anything" She relaxed a little upon hearing this, her shoulders slumped a little. "I do believe I owe you an apology, an explanation and a thank you" she said while sighing.

I looked at her funnily, she had nothing to apologize for… She just had to remember me… "Thank you for not letting me crash into the floor" she chuckled "it is hard to cover up bruises all the time" she gave another little chuckle, then turning more serious "And I am sorry for the way I reacted, It has been… well… rather difficult lately" She looked down at her folded hands.

"I understand, you do not need to apologize" I spoke softly. Her blue eyes looked up from under her eyelashes, she looked so small, so fragile that way. "I am still against you staying here, my mom, I mean Anne, she apparently believes that I need protection against these threats. I believe that it is nothing and it will be over soon." She looked towards the window, as if she could escape through it towards another world. One without all these problems.

"I understand" I truly did, she didn't want someone around her all the time, invading her privacy, she had always been that way. She could survive on her own, besides she had always been fine with being alone. Her head shot back to look at me, she gave me a puzzled look. "I don't think you could understand Erik"

My name rolling of her lips was something I had missed way too much, but it hurt when she said it like that, when she could not remember me, treating me like any other stranger. "But that doesn't matter now" she wiped away the topic. "What are you supposed to do as my… well how would one call your function, a personal bodyguard? Besides the obvious of course. What is expected of me? Are there things I should know or look out for?" I could tell that she really was not happy with me being around.

"I will be like your shadow" It was the standard answer I had given to most of my clients. "I do hope my shadow does not intend to follow me exactly everywhere" She was smiling now, she is joking with me! I felt my face turn red. "No off course not. I will be close enough to protect you from any threats that is all" She nodded, "I will make sure Jake sends you a list of the people that we work with, the locations and that you are granted access to the schedule that is set up for Christine" It was funny the way she spoke, serious and straightforward, yet still you could hear how young she was and her third person use for Christine sounded like she was talking about her twin sister the pop star.

She was staring at me know. "Is something wrong?" As though I caught her red handed she turned her head towards the fire, blushing slightly. Raising herself from the couch she walked over to stand in front of it, staring into the flames as though they would give her the answers that she needed. "I just have this feeling…" she turned towards me again "Have we ever met, before you… well before this encounter" she looked at me intimately. Should I, I want you to remember me, so, so badly…should I tell you… no… no, I shouldn't mingle with her mind… if she does not remember… "No, I do not believe so" I said with an ache piercing my heart.

She looked at her feet again "I must be going mad" she whispered to herself, probably thinking I could not hear her.

I simply could not shake the feeling that we had met before, staring at him trying to decipher where and when I could have seen him he suddenly stood up. "Shall I leave you for now? You probably would like to take a rest, I can probably make myself useful somewhere else" he said while looking at me. "No!" Dumbstruck by my own reaction I looked at him. Why had I just said no? Liliana what are you doing?

"I think it only fair as a repayment of your kindness that I should show you around the house, and we should assign you to a room, get you set up." I muttered partly to him and myself, trying to cover up the mistake of shouting no just know. "Alright, I accept" he said, nodding his head as if he gave a slight bow to me. "Well I guess it is obvious that this is my room" I smirked, as we exited my room and stood in the hallway.

"The door right next to mine is another bedroom it is connected to my, well, the shared bathroom of both rooms, it were the former connected bedrooms of the Lord and Lady of the house" I told Erik as I walked passed the door. I chuckled inside, he truly was behaving like my shadow walking one pace behind me to my left. Moving when I was moving, and stopping when I stopped.

While looking at him I had to admit to myself that he was handsome despite the scars that covered his face. And his choice of clothes, or rather designer could be complemented as well, his clothes where tailor made fitting him perfectly.

"I believe that the house must be old then, with architecture such as this" breaking up my thoughts, his voice rang up beside me. I turned slightly, "Yes, you are right" my voice betraying the interest that I had for the topic. "The house was build circa the late 1750, but the first occupants where not the Rose family though. A wealthy doctor took residence before them, he moved in right after the completion of the mansion. Funnily he never changed anything about the whole house, he even kept his wife's and the rooms of the children the same after they died, not even moved the furniture. When he died in 1821, Edmund Rose took residence here with his wife, that's where the whole rose theme that you can find back in different pieces of the house comes from. Apparently they were obsessed with how the house should reflect the family emblem. "

I shut my mouth shut, Rambling again Liliana, you idiot, he doesn't care about all this. "I'm sorry, I start rambling when I talk about topics that I have great interests for" I looked at my shoes as my cheeks turned red. "It's fascinating" My head shot up, Erik was looking at one of the portraits of the Rose family. When we had moved in I had asked my mom if she would mind if the portraits stayed exactly where they were, they were true pieces of art and I would have rather died than see them go.

"I'm sorry?" I blurted in surprise, as I didn't understand what he meant. He turned away from the portrait and looked at me "The house" he said "It's fascinating" I cocked my head, was he mocking me? "The architecture, the tiny details, like these portraits, the roses engraved in the ceiling and the fixtures. They are everywhere, yet so delicate that they do not take over the room"

You could have heard my jaw drop on the floor. "You.. you are interested in architecture and… and history?" I stammered. He gave me a faint smile "I am not just a human shield if that's what you mean" he took a few steps to stand beside me. I swallowed "No! No that is not what I meant" I stammered looking up at him "It is just, well… Normally people don't really listen to me when, well they don't share you know my interest in… I'm usually ignored when talking about this sort of stuff" I practically swallowed the last words, I didn't know where to look, god how embarrassing…

"I was joking Liliana…" he laughed softly, a low but tinkling laugh that lingered in the air. My eyes shot up to his face, trying to size him up. He was… joking…? He was joking with me, it was a joke. "I am sorry" he looked at me "I did not mean to offend you in any way" he was trying to see if I was upset. "Oh" I muttered "ha… haha…hahaha" I couldn't stop laughing. Now he was staring at me "I'm sorry that's hilarious, of course you are not just a human shield" I was still hiccupping and snorting with laughter. "Well I am glad I managed to make laugh" he said. He probably thinks I am a total nut head… I took a deep breath and pulled myself together, I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed so much.

Maybe this Erik guy wasn't such a pain in the neck, I thought to myself…