Chapter 61 - Lilith

Lilith

I FELT IT SINCE I CAN REMEMBER. I just never paid attention to it until the day Blanca showed up at school with guards. Something was different about certain people in our town. It was something in their energy that was different. Almost as if their auras were a different colour or their energy was on a different frequency.

I never said anything about it to Blanca. She was my best friend. If I was honest with myself, it never bothered me, until the day we had dinner at their home. The feeling was almost stifling there. There was something different about them, and it never bothered me, until now.

“Hi,” I stared into the eyes of the man I thought I would never see again.

“Hi, what are you doing here?” I felt uneasy. Almost sick to my stomach. Ezra had appeared out of nowhere.

“I was actually looking for you. I need your help. I’ve recently bought a new house and …” He scratched the back of his head. “Well, I have furniture, I just don’t have any bedding or pillows or even towels. I thought … If you want to, we could go shopping and you could help me figure out what I like.” I burst out laughing. How could he not know what he liked? I found myself nodding and took his hand.

As we walked through the store, I could see and feel him growing nervous and I wondered why. We passed shelf after shelf and he didn’t take anything. He hardly looked at any of the stuff. It was weird. Who didn’t know what they liked?

“What’s your favourite colour?” I studied him as he seemed to think about it and then he shrugged.

“I’ve never actually had one specific favourite colour.” We turned the corner to the next shelf. I found that very funny.

“That can’t be. Everyone has a favourite colour.” I laughed and he stopped walking and turned to look at me.

“Well, I don’t.” His eyes were filled with amusement as he studied me. “What’s yours?”

“Blue. I know it’s a boy's colour, but it’s always made me feel calm. It reminds me of the ocean.” He smiled and started walking.

“That’s a good colour.” He sounded happy as we kept walking. “I guess I would have to say green is my favourite then. I love the forest. It is filled with all sorts of different greens. It always smells so clean.” That was a strange comment to make, but at least it gave me some idea of what he might like.

“Okay, let’s start with towels.” Finding the right towels was pretty easy, and Ezra almost seemed as though he was excited as we put them in his trolley. He chose white and green bedding and I had to smile when I noted the leafy pattern. It was almost as if he was choosing this kind of thing for the very first time. He got some pillows and we paid.

When we were done, he told me that he needed a couple of other things. It didn’t feel strange when he took my hand. I only noticed the brooding men when Ezra handed them the bags. I had never seen them around town before. Ezra put his arm around my shoulders, effectively blocking my view, and I smiled at him.

Ezra bought toothpaste, and a toothbrush, and when he had to choose deodorant, he let me pick for him. It was as though he had never had any of these things. It was strange. Who didn’t have any of these things with them?! As we left the store, I started to feel as though I was going to hyperventilate. I didn’t want to leave him and I couldn’t understand why.

“Would you like to grab something to eat?” Ezra didn’t want to seem to leave me either and I eagerly nodded. He again handed his bags to the strange men and we crossed the street to the restaurant. As we sat down, I noticed for the first time that Ezra seemed uncomfortable.

“Ezra, what is going on? First you tell me that things won’t work out between us before we even start dating. Then you disappear and when you reappear …” I breathed deeply. “When you reappear, it is almost as if you are in the witness protection program!” I actually wasn’t joking, but he burst out laughing and it seemed to have broken the tension there was before.

“Almost. Let’s just say that my life has completely changed recently. I would love to get to know you better if you agree.” It seemed as though he wanted to say something, but the waiter arrived and we ordered. After the waiter left us alone, the tension was back.

“So? What happened to you Ezra?” I sat back and studied the man in front of me. He looked strong, and there was something dangerous about him. Did I really want to know? Did I really want to get involved? It took me only a second to figure out the answer. I did. I wanted to get to know him. Blanca told me that nothing happened between the two of them. They only dated for a very short time.

“Well, I used to live on the streets. My uncle recently passed away and left me a fortune. I never even knew I had an uncle. That’s about it.” He shrugged and I was stunned into complete silence. “What about you? What are your plans now that you’ve finished school?” He seemed more interested in me than he did in talking about himself and I didn’t want to push the subject.

“I don’t know. I thought of becoming a professional dancer, but there aren’t that many opportunities in a small town like this. Blanca has always wanted to further her studies, but I’ve never been like that. I’ve never just known exactly what it was that I wanted to do. She’s been my north star since we were little.” I laughed. It was the truth. Blanca kept me focused. She was like my sister.