November 13th, 2099

Leah woke to familiar hands touching her face. She kept her eyes closed, but sighed with annoyance. "Yes? Can I help you?"

 

The hands pulled back from her face, and a pressure was felt at the end of the bed. "I figured you would punch me in the face if I tried waking you, so I had them do it."

 

Leah opened her eyes, and rolled them when she didn't see him sitting on the bed. "You can show yourself any time now."

 

"What if I don't want to?"

 

"Then I'm going back to sleep."

 

"Fine then I'll just be a creep and sit here til you wake up."

 

Leah shrugged. "Makes no difference to me." She yawned, and rolled back over. A heavy sigh was heared, and moments later, the body the young man belonged to took form on the bed. Leah rolled back over to face him, and sat up in bed. Evan's younger brother, Eli, held a small bag out to her.

 

"Here, Evan wanted you to have this. He didn't say what it was, but-"

 

"Thanks, deary," Leah interrupted, snatching the bag out of his hand. "How is Mary doing?"

 

Eli winced. "Eh...well...not so good. Rye still has a hold of her subconscious, which is making it very difficult for her to get past certain parts of her training. So it's been less than sucessful to say the least."

 

Leah nodded. A few minutes went by, and she spoke up. "You should be getting back to Evan, unless you want to stay for breakfast."

 

"No, I'm alright. But I am planning on bugging you next time what was in the bag."

 

Leah held in a breath for a moment, but then spoke. "Ask Evan when you get back to him." She paused. "Though I'm sure you'll wish you hadn't asked."

 

Eli quirked an eyebrow at her. "Doubtful. Anyway, I'm heading back now. See ya."

 

A few moments later, Eli and his two gaurdians dissapeared into the tiny shadow in the room, and Leah rolled over to resume her interrupted sleep. A little while later, her sleep was interrupted again by seeing a glimpse of Marianna's head poking out from under her bed. Her entire body was distorted looking, and her face was winced in pain. She dug her way out from under the bed, and twitched across the floor on her belly. Black wires followed behind, and wrapped around her legs, and began pulling her across the floor towards the bed. Her nails dug into the rug, ripping it up as they dragged her. Until Evan appeared before her, and knelt in front of her.

 

"You need to accept your gaurdians, otherwise they'll never come."

 

"No!" Marianna winced, and was yanked under the bed.

 

Evan looked up briefly at Leah, showed a half smile, and then followed Marianna under the bed as part of the beds shadow. The shock in Leah's body caused her to pass back out, and not wake up until almost nine hours later, when Aiden came in and woke her.

 

"Hey, wake up Leah."

 

Leah found herself swatting at him briefly, until she saw who it was. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were-"

 

"Me?" Evan's voice came from the hallway. "No, I decided to let Aiden have the fun of getting swatted at."

 

Aiden looked over, shocked that Evan was already back. "Where's my sister?"

 

"Back in the training temple-"

 

"What-"

 

"Sleeping." Evan smiled. "You really have no idea how to wait your turn, do you?"

 

Leah cleared her throat. "I think that's enough for now, boys."

 

Aiden eyed Evan. "You should go back and make sure Mary's gonna be okay to come back home today."

 

"Oh no, she won't be coming home for at least another week. She needs to train with her gaurdians now," Evan explained.

 

Leah looked around. "Speaking of, where are yours?"

 

Evan smiled. "Oh we've discovered a trick recently." A moment later, a young boy and girl in black and white aproached him. Their eyes gave them away, as Leah looked over at them. They were such a light shade of grey they were nearly white. "We've learned to take shape in the day. It takes much effort and energy, but they regain energy walking in my shadow. Your home made nice resting ground for them."

 

Leah's jaw dropped. "I never thought I would say this, but I'm very impressed. We were told-"

 

"I know what we were told. It's impossible for our gaurdians to assist us in the day. But we've been together so long that we can finally accomplish that."

 

Aiden looked genuinely confused, but tossed up his arms, and walked by Evan to the kitchen, leaving Leah and Evan alone with his gaurdians. He walked over, and sat down on the bed. Each gaurdian found a chair and sat down, watching the two of them talk.

 

Evan went to sit a little closer to Leah, but was stopped when Leah scooted over to him. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

 

Leah nodded. "Of course, deary. It's much too dangerous to have an infant right now."

 

Evan nodded, but sighed. "Can't you just let me keep her?"

 

"It isn't any safer where you are, unless..."

 

"That was my plan, Leah. Keep her in the temple nursery, that way even if times haven't changed by the time she is full term, she can live in the temple with the others."

 

Leah looked away for a moment. Before she could say anything, she was cut off by Evan.

 

"You're a little over two months along, Leah. Which means-"

 

"It's not mine-" Aiden interrupted, now standing in the doorway.

 

Without looking up, Evan spoke up. "And also means nothing happened the night the two of you got drunk and had your little fiasco."

 

"But if it's not mine, then..."

 

"Then she is nothing more than a creation of shadows. A guardian. Which also means Leah needs to stay in the temple until she is full term. It's the only place she can mentally prepare for what she is going to give birth to."

 

Aiden crossed his arms, but was pushed past by Leilani, who spoke up.

 

"If Leah is going, then so am I. It's obvious she's fertile mertil over here."

 

Leah smiled, but shook her head. "Actually, love...I'm quite the oposite. It takes a lot to get one of us pregnant. And you were kept inside Marianna's womb because I couldn't keep you in mine."

 

For a brief moment, Leilani looked like she was going to be sick, but then held up her hands. "Okay okay enough of that nasty crap. I still need to eat sometime today.

 

Aiden thought for a minute. "Actually, that's what we were coming up to talk to you about. I found a store nearby we can grab some food at."

 

Leah looked up. "Don't you think that's a bit risky?"

 

Aiden shook his head. "Nah. Those meatheads have already done their scan over the town, so it's fine." He looked over at Nate, whom was walking up with two totes. "Right, almost forgot. We need to do a bit of a chop shop here."

 

Nate set the totes down next to the nightstand. "There's clothes for all of you in one of the totes, the other has the appearal supplies. There's a bag full of money cards, along with how much is on each. This town is very strict about neatness and decency, so I suggest you not just glance over the booklets." He thought for a minute. "You should be all set to take care of everything. Just fill in Marianna when she gets back."

 

"Sounds good."

 

Before Nate stepped out, he turned to Leah. "Before you announce your little basket of joy, put a ring on that finger of yours. If anyone finds out otherwise, you'll be in a load of trouble."

 

Leah looked over at Evan, then to Nate. "That's very sweet, but I won't be needing to. I have somewhere else to stay."

 

Aiden became very taken back at the statement, while Evan kept a more stoic expression. For a moment, Nate eyed both of them, but then Evan spoke up.

 

"She's going to be in safe hands. In fact I was going to offer for my temple to be home to everyone." He glanced at Aiden. "That is, if everyone is on the same page."

 

Aiden eyed Evan, even after Nate left. "Everyone, huh?"

 

Evan nodded. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

 

Leilani spoke up before anyone could say anything. "I suggest if we go anywhere, we go now. It's going to be in the negatives tonight."

 

Aiden nodded. "I heard that, too. I'll go-"

 

"No. I'll bring Leah," Evan interrupted. "As much research as you've done on this town, you should know better than to go by yourself. In case we're discovered, they forgive pregnant women for not being fully adjusted right away."

 

Aiden went to say something, but froze. "Fine."

 

A moment later, Leilani spoke up. "Alright boys, I think my mum needs some privacy, so..." She waved her hand towards the door. "The door is right there."

 

Aiden kept an eye on Leah for a moment, but then headed downstairs to the livingroom, where Evan followed behind with his guardians. As soon as they were standing in the same room, Aiden sat down on the couch, and refused to look at Evan.

 

"I have nothing to say to you," Aiden said, staring at the wall.

 

Evan shrugged, but remained complacent. "You're going to have to trust me one way or other. And Aiden...I don't think you could handle her child."

 

Aiden turned his head to look at Evan. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

 

"You know exactly what that means. You may be able to read body language and sense what a person is thinking and feeling, but it takes-"

 

"What? Disgusting charm to handle a child?"

 

Evan went to say something, but was interrupted, first, by hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, but then by seeing Leah walking down them, and stopping at the bottom to wait for Leilani. When she smiled at him, his heart skip a beat.

 

"Are you boys  behaving down here?" She asked, walking over to the couch to grab her Jacket. She wore a black, knee-high dress that pulled in at the waist, and hugged her body very snugly, and a tall pair of her winter boots, and a thick pair of stockings to keep her legs warm. As she pulled her jacket on, Evan spoke up.

 

"We should head out before it starts snowing."

 

Leah nodded, and while Evan waited for her outside, Aiden grabbed her hand, and pulled her into another room, shutting the door behind them. "We need to talk."

 

"What about, dear?"

 

"Him. Who is he, and how do you even know him?" Before Leah could even begin to speak, Aiden interrupted. "Better yet, how do you know you can trust him?"

 

Leah stared at him, deeply offended by his question. "What kind of question is that? First off, his name is Evan, and I trust him with my life. How can you, after all these years, not trust my judgment? If this is a spew of jealousy, I refuse to have it. You told me the day after our night together, that it was a one time slip up, and that it didn't mean anything-"

 

"That was before-"

 

"-and yes, I was hurt, but I've gotten over it, because I know how to move on." She stood, and started walking towards the door. "For your sake, I hope you can, too." She sighed, and left the room, leaving Aiden, for the first time in his life, completely speechless.

 

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Evan was waiting fo her. "Are you alright, Leah?"

 

Leah nodded. "I'm fine, dear."

 

Evan nodded, and walked over to the door to hold it open for her. Once they were outside, he also opened the car door for her. As he started the car up, he turned to her and said, "The temple is going to be good for you, Leah."

 

"I know...but...I'm not sure I want to go through with this..."

 

Evan pondered for a moment. "You're going to be fine...the temple is going to help you to better understand yourself, and the child. You're going to have the first born guardian. She is going to be loved, and respected by all."

 

Leah looked at him. "I know, dear."

 

Evan pulled a small ring from his pocket, and placed it in Leah's hand. "We don't want to be discovered, do we?"

 

Leah's hand trembled a little as she looked down at the ring. "Did you make this, dear?"

"Yes, I did." He smiled.

 

Leah smiled, and hugged him. "It's absolutely beautiful, love." She pulled back, and slid the ring on her finger. "I know it's only for appearance, but it's very nice."