Ell came home to an empty house.  She sighed and her shoulders drooped as she wiggled the key in the lock and let herself in.  Over the years, Ell had gotten use to being alone.  Flinging down her backpack near the counter, Ell made her way into the living room to see what mess her mother had left for her to clean up today.  Bottles littered the floor and a glass had spilled who knows what all over the chipped and eroded coffee table.  At least none of her mother's "friends" were still asleep on the sofa. 

After the mess was put away, Ell moved back into the kitchen to make a quick dinner.  As she got out bread and meat to make sandwiches, Ell remembered the road that had led to this life style.  Dad had never been great when he was around.  He and mom married right out of high school, and within a year he had taken her spirit and given her a squealing baby girl in return.  For ten more years, they toiled under Dad's violent rule, until he finally messed up enough to get himself hauled off to prison.  Shaking her head, Ell stood up from her food and placed the second sandwich in the fridge for her mom, hoping that this simple act of kindness would remind her of herself and bring her back to Ell.

Ell refused to mimic her mother's unhappy life.  In just one more year she would be able to leave and never have to come back to this house that held so many terrible memories. She could go to college, get a degree, land a high paying job. She left no room in her schedule for love. Love did not exist as far as Ell was concerned. Love just caused drama and pain. The man always left. And the woman was always hurt.

Ell stumbled to her room and tried to concentrate on her homework. She had to do well in high school if she ever wanted to succeed. After two hours of hard studying, Ell gave up and decided to get ready for bed.

After her shower, she was exhausted. Ell staggered to her bedroom, and quickly finished her Latin.  Then, she walked to her window and kneeled down. "Dear Lord, I am so sorry for my behavior and I ask you to forgive me. I promise to try to be a better person." She looked towards the sky as she said her only request, "Please Lord send me a savior. Send me an angel to take me from this place. Amen." Every night since she was ten, Ell had asked the same thing. One day she hoped it would come true.

As she fell asleep, Ell swore she heard a voice say, "He is on his way."

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"School is hell," Ell thought as she pretended to listen to Nicky's constant chatter. Ell once thought of school as a safe place where no one could hurt her physically. She had never considered someone affecting her mentally. That was until Luke happened. It seemed as if no matter where she went or where she hid, he always appeared.

He was in all of her morning classes. And he was brilliant. He knew everything. In AP Lit, he recited the opening lines of "Canterbury Tales" perfectly. In AP Bio, Luke had dissected the cat with a doctor's precision and labeled all of the shoulder muscles without even glancing at the textbook. In AP Art, he painted "Starry Nights" better that Van Gogh himself.  It's like he was torturing her.   Every time he answered a question correctly or moved with his perfect, cat-like grace, she could feel his smirk and self-importance.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted as Nicky shouted in her ear. "Geeze Nicks. There is no reason the blow out my ear drum!"

Nicky shrugged, "You had that look on your face. You know the one where you are pretending to listen to me but not?"

"Sorry. I've got too much on my mind."

"Finally. You admit it!"

Ell glanced at Nicky with a "what the heck?" look on her face.

Immediately Nicky burst out in song, "Ellie and Luke sittin in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes lo..." Ell practically leapt over the table and dragged a laughing Nicky to the ground. Nicky got lucky when the bell to signal the end of lunch rung.

"This isn't over," Ell said as she walked towards the door on her way to class.

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"Finally," Ell sighed as she walked into Latin. Latin was her favorite class. Magistra Purcell made it so much fun. Ell took her seat and pulled out her textbook. She looked around the room and sighed in relief when she noticed an absence of one particular student. Magistra Purcell walked into the room and said, "Salve! Discipuli et Discipulae! (Hello! male and female students!)"

"Salve Magistra," the class grudgingly replied.

"Quid agustas hodie? (How are you today?)"

"Bene. Etu? (Good. And you?)"

Just as Mrs. Purcell was going to reply, another student walked into the room. It was none other than the infamous Luke. "Sorry I am late," he apologized, "I got lost."

Mrs. Purcell just smiled and replied, "Ut est teres. Operor vos narro Latin? (That is fine. Do you speak Latin?)"

"Facunde. (Fluently)."

This took Ell by surprise. No one spoke Latin fluently. It was a dead language! Most scholars still disagreed on basic pronunciation. He must be lying. She wanted to believe this, but something told her that he was not lying. He was telling the truth. But Latin took years of hard studying, and he looked twenty at the oldest. Suddenly Ell had the crazy idea that maybe Luke was not like the rest of her classmates. Maybe Luke was... different.

Ell shook off the thought when Magistra told Luke to take the seat next to her. Ell decided that since Luke was in all of her classes and she would have to talk to him eventually, she might as well start now. When the devil himself sat down, Ell turned to him and said, "I am sorry for my behavior yesterday. I feel awful about it. I was wondering if we could start all over?" When he nodded, she continued, "I am Elizabeth Wylkerson, but everyone calls me Ell. Now it's your turn."

Before he could answer, Magistra Purcell called his name, "Luke, in this class everyone has an authentic Roman or Greek name. Everyone in the room will say their name and then I will tell you what your name will be." Magistra gestured for Faith to begin, "Hi, I'm Cleopatra." Slowly we worked our way around the room.

"My name is Hecuba"

"I am Caligula."

"Cato."

"Hephaestus is my name."

"Echo."

"Arion."

On and on it went. Finally it got to Ell. She turned to Luke, "I am Persephone." Then Magistra Purcell announced Luke's name, "OK then Luke. Your name will be," she quickly wrote a name in her grade book, "Hades. God of the Underworld. God of Death and of the dead. Ruler of the Darkness of Night." The way Magistra said this caused a stir in Ell bringing up her earlier thoughts, but again she shook them away.

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Ell went to the library after school.  It was always best to minimize time at home, just in case her mom came home early.  Followed her routine, Ell walked directly to the romance section, but she avoided the romance novels that interested many of the girls in her school.  Instead, Ell picked up two of her favorites- Pride and Prejudice and Emma, weighing them in her hands.  Ultimately, Ell settled down with Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth.  She had always had certain affinity for Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's boldness.  But senior year refused to follow the easy flow of her previous three years at Houston High School.  Ell was confused when the door to the library opened.  Never in three years had anyone else joined her in the library.

To her surprise, Luke peaked his head around the door and shuffled into the library.   At first he didn't look like himself because he wasn't moving with his usual litheness, and Ell soon understood why.  Luke hauled in a massive stack of books, piling higher than his head, and the little old librarian, Mrs.  Canady tottered in behind him.  "Just over here, son.  Thank you so much for your help.  I don't know what I would have done without you!"  As Luke lowered the books onto her desk, he seemed to realize that they were not alone and his eyes flashed over to Ell.  A quick smile appeared on his face, and Luke ambled over to her table.  "Hey, stranger," he called out.  Although at first amazed by his friendliness, Ell soon pulled herself together and smiled back, "Hey yourself.  What brings you to my secret heaven?" 

"Heaven, huh?  Not quite how I imagined it.  Some of us are actually serving our detentions." Luke responded with a pointed look.  Ell blushed.  She did feel bad about that first day and replied slightly flustered, "Oh yeah. Um, Principal Knight called me back and told me that since I had such a clean record, he didn't see the need to tarnish it now."  She smiled, trying to soften the blow.

Luke merely whistled.  "Too bad I don't have your record. I-"

Mrs. Canady toddled back into the room pushing an overflowing cart of books, "Mr.  Williams,  I have a faculty meeting.  While I'm gone, I'll trust you to shelve these."

Soon, the librarian was gone and Luke and Ell found themselves alone.  "I'll help you put them up if you want. I feel bad that you're serving detention for something that I started."

Luke smiled and accepted her help.  As they moved through the library, working quietly and methodically, Luke suddenly broke the silence, "What are you doing here after school?"

Immediately, Ell was on the defensive.  She didn't want anyone knowing about her home life.  "Oh, just reading.  Avoiding the real world."  Luke passed her table and plucked the Jane Austen novel off her table. 

"Pride and Prejudice.  Let me guess, you have a crush on the insufferably kind and sweet Mr. Bingley."

"Of course not.  Mr. Bingley is a fool who can't make up his own mind and allows others to keep him from love."  Ell turned her back on Luke, trying in vain to conceal her flushed face. 

Silently, Luke stalked closer to the lady, "Ohhh.  Then you must be a Darcy fan.  Dark, brooding Mr. Darcy.  Do you love the bad boys, Ellie?"  Ell whipped around, incensed at being called that name, and almost staggered back when she found Luke's face mere inches from her own.  Luke's hands raced out to steady her, and keep her from moving away.  "Love's a lie," was her only reply.  Not expecting her answer, Luke furrowed his eyebrows and lowered his head.  As he began to move away from her, Ell made another unexpected comment, hoping to distract from her earlier down poor of too much information.  "Do you dye your hair?" 

Luke laughed, breaking the tension, "No.  Why do you ask?"

"Well, your eyes are just so dark and your hair seems to have gotten darker since we first met.  Why is that?"

Luke didn't answer at first, amazed that she had noticed so much about him.  "Its just something that runs in the family."

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Ell was finally ready for sleep. She had dealt with her mother, finished her homework, and said her nightly prayers. Now, as she was falling asleep, her past thoughts about Luke bubbled to the surface. The more she thought about it, she noticed more strange behaviors in Luke. He walked with cat like grace and his black eyes looked like those of a trained warrior.

Ell had a sudden thought, "Maybe Luke would be the one to save her." She quickly denied the hope. She was ready to give up hope. No one was ever going to save her. She was alone. Just as she closed her eyes to sleep, the same voice that had spoken to her yesterday spoke. It recited the one verse in the bible that could combat her thoughts, "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails ..."

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