Samael made his way over to the guards out front. The guards were on edge because they could not see Stella's face. As he got within seven feet of them, he slowly set Stella down. After she was fully laying on the ground he turned her head so the guards could see who she was. When the guards saw it was Stella they wasted no time and started moving over to help her.
"Emergency we have the young miss at the front gate unconscious!" The guard yelled into the radio as they ran over to check on Stella. As the guards got to her she began to wake up due to the noise,and she turned her head to look for Samael.
She could hardly make out his figure moving away before her head was turned to look at the guard. Stella was too tired to fully understand what the guard was telling her. But it did not take long for the guards to get her inside the building and up into her bed.
As the guards had run over to Stella, Samale had moved back silently. He moved out of the direct line of sight from the guards. But he maintained a line of sight on Stella so he could ensure they took her into the property, without prompting them to come over and talk to him. After she was inside the gate safely he moved back to the hidden entrance and left The Heights. He would move back into the alleyways, moving back into the darkness and blending into the masses of homeless.
It would take several hours before Stella would wake up from her sleep. She had pushed her body extremely hard and the rest was needed. She opened her eyes and saw the light brown of her ceiling. Stella looked around, still a little confused as to where she was.
Her room was a nice calming brown that had decorative copper trimmings along the wall. A large wooden desk was tucked into a corner and had three slim black monitors on it. Across the room was a wall of bookshelves filled with a wide array of colorful books. The large window was covered by a black copper trimmed curtains that blocked out all the light.
After looking around Stella pushed the covers off feeling the pain from where she had been hit. She slowly walked over to the bathroom door but stopped before going inside, because she saw a dirty brown coat hanging on the door that led out of the room. It was the coat Samael had given her. She thought about him as she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
She went over the conversation they had and thought about his reasoning for saving her. Was that really the only reason? The question echoed in her mind till she got out of the shower. She put on a light blue dress before leaving her room. Stella had formulated what she needed to do and made her way to her fathers office.
"So this is the list of new guards?" Mr. Godwin said from inside his office. Stella could hear him due to the door being cracked. She did not open the door right away, anxiety had set in. "What if he says no, What if he will not listen to me, What am I going to do?" The thoughts held her outside the door, almost petrified.
"Stella?" Ms. Godwin said as she placed her hand on Stella's shoulder.
"Mom." Stella said as she turned around. Stella and her mother could easily be mistaken for sisters for they looked almost identical. Her mother had on a dark gray dress and matching high heels.
"What is wrong?" Ms. Godwin said as she brushed Stella's hair so it was not in her face.
"Mom, Do you think Dad will listen to me if I ask for a specific bodyguard?" Stella asked.
"He loves you almost as much as I do, He will listen." Ms. Godwin said, giving her a soft hug.
"Thanks mom." Stella said as her mother let go of her.
"Let's go, I will back you up." Ms Godwin said as she helped Stella in her fathers office.
"Stella. I am so glad to see you up and about." Mr. Godwin said when he saw the two of them enter the room. His Office was clean and organized. It had a large glass desk at one end of the room with two black sofas in front of it for guests to use. Ms. Godwin did not let Stella walk out of the room and helped move her till she was sitting on one of the sofas.
"Dear. Stella has something she would like to talk to you about." Ms Godwin said, sitting next to Stella on the sofa.
"Dad. I know you are looking at the next set of guards for me. I would like you to consider Samael Ward. He is the man that saved my life and he has proven to be more than capable." Stella asked, dreading the answer.
"You said his name was Samael Ward?" Mr. Godwin asked, as he entered something onto his computer.
"Yes, He fought in the Continental War. That is where I first met him. When I was doing the war aid program in my first year of collage" Stella said, as her father looked at something on his computer. The room was silent for a moment, before Mr. Godwin's assistant walked into the room and over next to the desk.
"Sir I have heard back from the police about the men that attacked the young Miss. To add the name you had me look for does not exist in any of the official registry" The assistant said, waiting to hear a response.
"Interesting, What did the police say about the men that attacked Stella?" Mr. Godwin asked as he looked over more information on the computer.
"There were 6 dead, all killed with surgical precision. The furthest man had his neck and spinal cord severed with a clean cut avoiding all vertebrae. The next man had his arm nearly cut off and stabbed in the lung and heart. Third man was killed by blunt force trauma to the neck, breaking it and crushing the spinal cord. Fourth man was stabbed in the neck, again severing the spinal cord. Fifth man was stabbed between the chin and neck. The blade entered the brain and was twisted, separating the brain in half. The man was brain dead but had bled out. The last man had his spinal cord cut rendering his lower body unresponsive, But he was killed by a broken neck." The assistant said, almost as if he was reading it from a script.
"So this man is well trained and has no identity?" Mr. Godwin asked.
"Yes sir. The police described him as well trained and extremely lethal." The assistant answered.
"Stella I am sorry, This is too much of a risk. This man is easily capable of killing well trained men and has no means of tracking him or knowing what his background is." Mr. Godwin said as he turned off his monitor.
"The list of candidates for the guard position are ready for you to look over young Miss." The assistant said as he tried to hand her the papers.
"I have made my selection already." Stella said as she stood up and walked out of the room. Her Father had tried to say something to her but she did not pay any mind to it and left the room.
She was expecting the answer from her father and did not know why it upset her as much as it did. But her mind was made up on this matter. She was done watching all of her guards die protecting her. Samael was the only one to not only save her but also show he is more than capable of keeping her safe. Stella was mad and lost in thought and she did not hear her father as he caught up to her.
"Stella!" Mr. Godwin said, as she put his hand onto her shoulder to stop her from walking away.
"Dad. I made up my mind already. I don't want more guards to die protecting me!" Stella yelled, as tears formed in her eyes.
"Don't cry." Mr. Godwin said as he gave Stella a hug. "You have to understand where I am coming from with this. You want me to give this phantom permission to guard you.This is a man I can't find anything about or even know what he looks like. How can I do that as your father? It is too dangerous to let this man be responsible for your safety."
"You may not know him, but I do. He has saved my life not one time today but three. I understand what you are talking about dad. But it is my life and I believe that I will be safe with him." Stella said, as her dad stopped hugging her.
"Stella," Mr. Godwin tried to speak but was stopped when he saw the determination in Stella's eye's. "Ok fine if you can get me more information about him I will consider it."
"Dad, why can't you just trust me. You always do this! You never take my word for anything and will just do whatever you want" Stella yelled pushing her father away.
"Stella! I am trying to work with you here." Mr. Godwin yelled back.
"No! You just want me to give in and do what you want. But not this time." Stella yelled, getting more angry and balling her fists up.
"So are you just going to go around without a guard? What would have happened today if you did not have the guards?" Mr. Godwin said.
"The guards are dead! Dead! If it was not for Samael I would have been killed as well, or god forbid they took me and did what they wanted with me!" Stella yelled as tears started to stream from her eyes.
"And you think having that man guard you will have changed things? He is a killer! There is no way that having a man like that around will be good for you." Mr. Godwin said, trying to get closer to Stella. But she would back up when he would try and get closer.
"The guards we have are all killers dad! They fought in the war, they killed people. But you let them guard us." Stella said.
"The guards here have documents and service records! They are heroes that fought for this country in the war!" Mr. Godwin yelled, getting closer to Stella.
"And so did Samael!" Stella yelled back.
"Then where is the service record? Where are his documents saying he is a citizen? You want him to keep you safe. How do you know he will not kill you in your sleep?" Mr. Godwin asked her.
"All you trust is paperwork! You never listen to what anyone says to you." Stella yelled but was cut off by her father slapping her. Stella did not do anything after getting slapped except look at her father for a moment. It looked like her father was going to say something, but she turned and walked down the hallway.
Stella was walking fast down the hallways, she was done with her father right now. She returned to her room and flopped onto her bed. She buried her face into her pillow wanting to scream. She did not leave her room for dinner and eat in her room. It took her a long time to get to sleep, and she did not sleep well. She kept having nightmares about the attempt on her life and what could have happened.
She had stopped checking the clock after waking up the third time. The morning had come and light was peeking through the blinds. Stella did not get out of bed when her staff walked into the room to drop off her breakfast. She did not want to get out of bed and only got up when her stomach started to hurt.
The breakfast was a sausage and cheese omelet with hash browns. She took her time eating and thinking about how to get her father to listen to her. She had to convince him before she went back to school, her break would end soon and she was one semester from graduation.
She sat at her desk and spun around in circles thinking how to get this problem solved.
Ask mom for help, no. Find information on Samael, no. make a chart of the benefits, no. all her ideas had problems that just would not work. She stopped thinking and just looked up at the ceiling and spun around for some time.
An idea formed in her mind and she smiled. If my father would not hire him, I will. This plan would work because her father does not have a choice in the matter. This was her best option, and with her plan in mind she jumped out of her chair. She put on a nice black blouse and skirt before leaving her room.
"Lets see what you think of this dad, '' Stella said out loud as she walked in the direction of her fathers office.