When she awoke she could feel her entire body aching. Her neck was sore from sleeping in the car and her body badly bruised by the night before. She looked out of the car and looked around she was in the outskirts of a forest and could hear the ocean. She looked at the house. It was old with wooden siding, but it had clearly been repaired recently. The driveway was rubble and there seemed to be a garden behind the house, but she couldn't fully see it from the current angle. She stepped out of the car and took in a deep breath of fresh air. She was tired and weary. She had not come to New York to be stalked and nearly killed. John came out of the front door of the house and walked towards her with a bright smile on his face.
"I'm sorry if I kept you waiting. You were sleeping so peacefully, after last night I figured you needed it."
"I did, thank you. Is this were I will be staying?"
"Yes at least until a better arrangement is found." He answered at he opened the trunk of the car and lifted out her bags and she joined him.
"Let me take your bags for you."
"I am quite capable of carrying my own luggage." She smiled.
"No I insist." He said eagerly and carried them towards the door. She couldn't help, but smile and thanked him for his kindness. He opened the door and showed her into the room first, where they were greeted by Liz and Red. Moran's eye widened a little, but closed her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts and then greeted both of them with a handshake. Red and Liz where amazed. And Red gave her a curious looked as she offered him her hand.
"Are you sure that's a good idea. I could easily crush it." Red gave a smirk expecting her to pull her hand away.
"Then I will have to trust you not to." She winked and shook his large rock hand.
"I'm Elizabeth Sherman, but call me Liz and this is Red." Liz now taking her hand.
"A pleasure to meet both of you and thank you for letting me stay here." She smiled.
"You are welcome. I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch." Liz almost apologized.
"The couch is fine, thank you."
"You aren't easily scared, kid. And you sound British." Red smiled.
"Not in general, but if you are referring to your appearance, agent Meyers told me who I would be staying with before we arrived. Besides after what I saw last night I imagine it would take a bit to surprise me. As for the accent I'm a foreign exchange student." She explained politely. She had to admit she was a little anxious. Not about them, but she didn't want to offend them and she had a feeling that could possibly be a hairline.
"Tell me, Meyers, is there anyone you haven't told about us?"
"Just her, I promise. I'll better get going. Here are your bags miss Moran and I'll contact you in a few days." He smiled and handed her the bags.
"Thank you for all your kindness."
"Not at all. See you guys." John smiled as he went out the door.
"Come on, kid. Let us give you the grand tour. To the right is the kitchen and straight forward is the living room, where you will be sleeping. Upstairs are Liz's and my bedroom and the kid's room. And to the left is Abe's room." Red explained as he gestured to the different places in the house. No sooner had he said it before the twins came down the stairs and jumped into their father's arms. Moran had to smile seeing how much the children loved him. He turned around with a child on each arm.
"Who is this, daddy?" Trevor asked.
"This is Louise Moran, she will be staying with us for awhile." Red answered his son.
"And I want you all on your best behaviour while she is here. That goes for you to Red." Liz said warningly.
"Me? What did I do?"
Liz didn't respond with other than a determined glare that the children knew all too well as they started giggling.
"So kids, how about some breakfast? I'm starving."
He put the children down and went towards the kitchen, his children right behind him. As he opened the refrigerator door ten cats appeared from upstairs and ran down into the kitchen mewling.
"I hope you don't mind cats." Red asked as he started feeding them.
"Not at all. I'm fond of animals in general. I was thinking, do you have a place where I can put my laptop and books?" Louise smiled and looked as Liz.
"You can put them in Abe's room, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. You can just walk in there now and I'll better help in the kitchen to make sure that other than the cats gets fed." Liz smiled lightly and walked to the kitchen area. Louise picked up her laptop and the bag with her books and walked to the library door. She knocked on the door, but no one answered as she heard classical music coming from inside the room.
"Oh, he probably can't hear you. Just go in." Liz encouraged as she was trying to wiggle her way past Red, children and cats. Louise had to suppress a giggle at the sight. She opened the door and went into the room. They sure had a lot of books for a regular household, then again these weren't regular people. She saw the large fishtank in corner where you could see out into the forest. She walked to the tank and put down the bag as she looked out into the forest. Suddenly Abe appeared right in front of her. She was startled and as she jumped slightly backwards, she fell over the bag and landed on her back. Almost as soon as she landed she started laughing loudly and covering her face with her hands as it turned slightly red.
"I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Abe asked concerned.
"Depends, does a wounded pride count?" She said laughingly still covering her face with her hands. She felt completely mortified. Abe quickly got out of the tank and down the stairs. She was trying to control her laughter as he walked towards her.
"I didn't mean to startle you." He explained.
"That's alright, I guess I am a little skittish at the moment." She tried to get up, but felt the pain in her back.
"You are hurt." Abe stated as he put his hand forward to help her up.
"Yes, but it happened last night, so no need to worry. The paramedics looked at it and said I just needed rest." She explained as she took his hand and was pulled up. As he took her hand Abe gained the most basic knowledge about her, as well as her fears, doubts and worries. What became apparent at first though, was her kindness and generosity. He was used to learning about people quickly, but for some reason all the information he was gaining about her seemed overwhelming to the point of confusion. When he let go of her hand he needed a moment to gather his thoughts.
"I'm Louise Moran. Sorry for the intrusion, but Liz assured me it was alright."
"No no, by all means, you are to stay with us for a while. My name is Abraham Sapien."
She smiled at him and her face was still flushed from the embarrassment of falling.
"I wondered if I could put my..."
"Your books and computer in here. You can place them over at the desk. You can work in here when you need to. The children only come in here for their lessons."
She looked a little surprised, but figured that John must have said something earlier. She thanked him and went to the desk to unpack her books. Her clothes were torn from last night and the torn skirt revealing the upper part of her legs that became exposed as she kneeled down, showing the bruises she had received. Abe couldn't help, but feel sorry for her after all she had been through the past few months. He felt an urge to know more about her and put forward his hand as she had her back turned. Her thoughts kept drifting back to what had happened and even as she put on a brave face she was shaken to her core. The emotions overwhelming him he put down his hand and decided that it might be wise to change the subject.
"The idea for you thesis of combining sensors with artificial intelligence, to make an innovative learning experience is very interesting." He said as he came closer. She turned and looked very surprised.
"It is, but it has other applications as well. How did you know?"
"I have a unique frontal lope that gives me physic abilities. I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable."
"Oh, I see. You didn't make me uncomfortable I was just... surprised. It must be a difficult gift." She mused.
"How so?" He looked at her with a curious expression.
"Well, I sometimes find it difficult dealing with other people's emotions, by simply relating to their pain. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to actually feel it. Not to mention all the things that you must find out, you would rather do without." She cringed though slightly smiling trying to keep the conversation friendly.
"It can be a challenge, but I'm use to it." Though he was taken aback by her insight, he merely shrugged as he replied.
"May I?" He asked as he pointed to the books she had put on the table.
"Of course."
He looked through them and they were all related to her study. Books on programming, engineering parts and electronics. There was not a single one that had a personal touch or was simply fiction of any kind.
"I can see you haven't got any fictional literature. Feel free to read any books that are in here." He suggested kindly.
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary. I don't read much, that's not related to my study at least." She smiled as she put the last books on the table. Abe was surprised since that was not what he had expected from her.
"But you seem to have such a livid imagination. You really don't enjoy reading?"
"Well, that is the problem. I want to read, but every time I do my imagination goes into overdrive and instead of paying attention to the words on the page I start creating my own story. It takes ages for me to finish a book." She giggled and though he didn't seem to be able to express it, it felt as if he was smiling.
"Ah, I see. When are you to turn in your paper?"
"I have a midterm exam this Christmas and I am to hand in the fished paper in the spring."
Abe cleared a shelf for her books and helped her put them there as Sarah came into the room.
"Abe, daddy says breakfast is ready." Said the little red girl with long black hair and golden eyes.
"Thank you, Sarah. We will be right there." Abe replied with a friendly tone.
"Wait, Sarah would you show me to the bathroom please? I need to change into some clothes without holes in it." Louise smiled. The little girl nodded a little shyly as Louise followed her out the room.
- OOO -
They all sat around the table as Louise came back and had changed into a pair of black trousers and black shirt with quarter length sleeves. She smiled as she saw the children almost jumping from chair to chair and even more when she saw how quickly they sat down from a mere scowl from their mother. There were six chairs around the table and the one between Liz and Abraham was vacant.
"Sit down and have some breakfast, kiddo. You must have had quite a night." Red said muffling with food in his mouth.
"Red, don't speak with food in your mouth." Liz warned.
"Bah... Sit down and dig in." Red shrugged.
Louise smiled and took the vacant seat. Abe handed her a cup and much to her surprise it was already full.
"Tea, no milk, no sugar." He offered and she was momentarily surprised that he knew how she liked it. As she reached for it however her hand started shaking. Liz took her hand and held it until she stopped shaking and Abe placed the cup in front of her.
"Sorry... Thank you." She said in a low voice.
"Don't be. You have been through a lot. Get something to eat and we can talk later if you want." Liz offered and Louise thanked her. The children were quickly done eating and were eager to start playing. After being excused they ran to their room.
"So mind telling us what happened?" Red asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.
"Surely it can wait until she is feeling better." Abe interjected.
"No, it's alright. You have been kind enough to offer me a place to stay, you have a right to know. John told you about a man named Darren Connor I take it?"
"Yes, he is the leader of the cult searching for you." Liz replied.
"Apparently so. As I told you earlier I am a foreign exchange student and I arrived in New York about six months ago. I was planning on finishing my P.H.D. in engineering and artificial intelligence there. When I arrived I knew no one so I spend a lot of time at the university and on campus in general. A few weeks later I met Darren. He was this charming, handsome and funny person that many of my fellow students swooned over. We talked and I got to know him a little better over the following months. Then about three months ago it became more obvious that he wanted a more... physical relationship, but I was not interested in him. He was furious and told me that he was going to get me whether I liked it or not. Then he started intercepting me when I went between lectures and when I walked home. He started to grab me and I had to wiggle free."
"That is when you got the restraining order." Liz stated.
"Yes. The stupid thing is that I don't think he liked me so much, I just wounded his pride. I didn't know about the cult, but in hindsight I should have known something else was going on." Louise sighed.
"What makes you say that?" Abe asked.
"Well he was studying paranormal phenomenon's and ancient occult societies. That in itself wasn't so strange. After you guys became known many have started studying it, but the way he talked about was almost disturbing. He would talk about blood rituals that could prolong life and such. I thought he was just fascinated and passionate at the time. It never actually occurred to me that it was beyond scientific research. And then last night the way he touched me and now knowing he killed that poor girl." She started to shiver.
"Creepy son of a bitch." Red mumbled.
"And the B.P.R.D. didn't find any of this useful?" Abe continued.
"No, they said that the descriptions were too vague and that it happened to long ago. And I didn't know him all that long."
"Figures, Manning never could do anything right." Red grumbled as he stretched himself. Louise was still shivering at the memory of last night. It was strange because she didn't have any trouble handling it earlier, but now that she had a moment to rest the reality of the situation seemed to be crashing down on her. Abe gently placed his hand on her lower arm as he calmly reassured her.
"It's going to be alright. You are safe here."
Louise merely nodded and smiled a little in response, but after dealing with the things they had seen over the years they understood how people in shock acted.
"Will you be able to do your studies?" Liz asked.
"Yes, I don't have to attend the university and since I am merely designing a program I just have to turn in my papers at midterm... Do you mind if I take a walk? I could use some air."
"Of course not. The door in the back leads out to the garden and you will find some stairs that leads down to the beach." Liz explained and Louise smiled in returned and walked out the door. When she left Liz continued.
"I can't believe Manning didn't find her worth protecting."
"Manning's an idiot. It is a wonder they get anything done without us." Red grumbled.
"She seems very nice though and surprisingly calm around us."
"Yeah, go figure. What do you say Abe, buddy? Got anything useful on her?"
"Well, she is kind, intelligent and open minded, but she is very frightened. She seems to feel safe enough around us, so hopefully this will all be over soon and she can go home."
The others agreed with Abe, but he barely heard them as he was distracted by his own emotions. He was curious about her and didn't want her to go before he knew a little more about her.