by N. A. Hydes
“Johan, my son.” It was Jormungant.
“Yes, Father,” Johan answered.
“Did you find the girl?” Jormungant asked.
Johan thought about lying, but somehow Jormungant always knew the truth. “Yes.”
“And is she?” Jormungant didn’t have to finish the question. Johan knew what he was asking.
He hesitated. Jormungant knew he was a Nose, someone who could smell dragons. And Johan had that gift not from eating a dragon part, but as a birthright, something he had inherited from Jormungant. Johan had obtained long life, not from Jormungant, but only by consuming a dragon heart.
Johan’s hesitation didn’t last. It was always possible that Father would allow him an indulgence this one time. “Yes,” he answered.
“I take it she is beautiful?” Jormungant asked.
“Yes.” Johan was truthful.
“I would expect no less,” Jormungant responded. “I take it you want her for your own?”
Johan gritted his teeth. Gregor, his older brother, had fallen for a brunette-haired German dragon. Father had told him no. The Family killed Gregor when he was defending her. She died a few weeks later.
The Family was a group of trained descendants of Jormungant that went through a specialized school, currently located at Wing-It Laboratories. Jormungant insisted on being called Father, though he was Johan’s grandfather. And Gregor was Johan’s cousin. Or was it uncle? He couldn’t keep actual relationships straight. He had to refer to him as ‘brother.’
“She is attractive, but I will follow orders,” Johan answered and meant every word.
“Good.” Jormungant paused before continuing. “She is not to be killed. She is to be brought to me, willingly if possible.”
Johan was shocked and stood with his mouth agape, his eyes blindly on the sky, unsure what to say.
“Stay with her, Johan. You may try to have the dragon choose you. If she does, you can have her. But she is not to be harmed. She is one of us. Do you understand me?” Jormungant demanded.
Elated, all Johan could answer was, “Yes, sir.”
“You are to treat her with respect. I expect weekly reports on how she is. I also want pictures.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Finally, Johan, my plan is coming together. She is one of the first of my descendants to turn into a dragon—so much planning. And now…” Jormungant hung up the phone.
Jormungant, known to his current friends as Tom, stood on his balcony in Bermuda. The breeze from the sea whisked some of his loose white-blond hair around his face. He looked at the time on his Rolex watch as he pushed back his hair. He was meeting Melissa in the lobby in an hour.
Tom went into the condo and looked at himself in the mirror to make sure his appearance was perfect. Except for the old, white, faded scar on his right cheek, there wasn’t a flaw. Blue eyes, so cool in color they almost looked silver. He made sure he coordinated his clothes, wearing a dark silver suit with a silk shirt of light blue-silver sheen underneath. He was perfect in appearance; he looked like a living Japanese anime.
He started walking towards the entrance to the condo. A beautiful woman in her early sixties walked into the room. She looked at his outfit by starting at his head and finishing at his feet. “You look nice,” she said with a Hispanic accent.
“Thank you, Camille, and what have you been doing today?” Tom asked as he tugged on his sleeves. He didn’t look at the woman standing in the doorway.
“You’re leaving again.” It wasn’t a question. “Why don’t you stay home with me?” Camille grabbed Jormungant around the neck and kissed gently.
“Yes,” Jormungant responded. “I have a date.”
She let go of his neck and stepped back. “Her! I am your wife, and yet you go tromping and tramping around town with the whore!”
Tom pulled down on his jacket to straighten it. “Really. Most interesting.” He looked Camille in the eyes. “Camille, that is what Stella called you… the tramp, the hussy. She had all kinds of colorful terms.”
“Your last wife?” Camille growled. “You are comparing me with your ex-wife.”
“Camille, Stella was a lovely woman. Just as lovely as you were at one time.” Jormungant looked her up and down. “Not that you’re not still lovely. You are, but we’ve had our fun. We have a lovely son together, and well…” He looked her over again. Tom went to put his hands on her face and pulled her closer to him. “I tell you what, if you’re still awake when I come home, I promise to make it up to you.” He ran his hands down her back until he reached her bottom and squeezed.
Camille slapped him across the face. Jormungant let her go and touched where she had hit him. A grin crossed his lips.
“I am going to make you pay for the way you have treated me. I will own your pharmaceutical company. I will own all your millions,” Camille threatened.
Tom didn’t turn around to look at Camille. “Feel free to try. You knew who I was when you married me. If you’re not here when I get back, I wish you a good rest of your life.” He walked over to the entrance and paused. “I’m late. Goodbye, Camille,” he said as he shut the door.
Tom walked down to the elevator. His thoughts were on the girl in North Carolina, whom he was sure was his descendant.
32
Saturday
“Man, Jennifer, you thrashed all night. You fell out of bed at one point and landed on the nightstand. Or at least I think that was what the loud bang was,” Belinda announced.
Rubbing her throbbing jaw, Jennifer looked around the room. “My jaw hurts,” Jennifer said, continuing to put pressure on it. “Does it look funny?”
“No, it looks fine. Must have been some kind of a dream.”
“It wasn’t a bad dream; I was in Ireland. A woman named Aine Dalzie Agan.”
“That is a little strange. Did you dream in Gaelic? Sometimes I dream in French. I understand every word in my dream, but I can’t remember a word of it when I wake up. I think it is from studying French too hard and too much.”
“It was the early eighteen hundreds. It was a mixture of English and Gaelic. The weird thing was, the man she married looked like my brother. It was unnerving.”
“What did you eat for dinner?” Belinda asked.
Jennifer paused, trying to remember last night, long enough for Belinda to stare at her like something was wrong. The memory was there; it was just hard to recall. When she had it, she said, “Matt cooked T-Bone steaks on the grill. I ate mine almost raw if you can believe that.”
“You! You ate red meat without turning it into a black carbon mess?” Belinda accused.
“I know.”
“Definitely shouldn’t eat raw meat again. It messed with your dreams.”
“Maybe, but I tried a new type of sleeping pill last night. I think that caused more problems than it helped.”
“Could be. I don’t think your body likes sleeping pills.” Belinda changed the subject. “You’ve been out almost every night this week with Matt. So, what’s new? You milked that cow yet?”
Jennifer blushed, thinking that the information was too personal but seemed to be something she had shared in the past. Jennifer couldn’t remember a time when she was that intimate with a man. “I’m still a virgin,” she replied after a delay.
“Well, I envy your fortitude.” Belinda stood. “However, I can tell you, you are missing out. I met this guy last night at the Pi fraternity party; oh my gosh–was he incredible in the sack!” She looked around her side of the room. “There it is,” she said as she picked up a card.
“What are you doing?” Jennifer asked.
“Seeing if I still have his number or name. I think I will call him Dick.”
“Dick?” Jennifer asked.
“Oh, my, his was nice, so yes, Dick,” Belinda confirmed.
Jennifer swallowed, not sure how to change the subject.
“Rats,” Belinda said. “I have his friend’s name, not his. Oh, well, maybe he will call again. Man,
he was good. Had me screaming.”
“Aren’t you concerned about what other people are going to think of you? This is the South, after all.”
“Nah, everyone is doing it,” Belinda answered. “Are you and Matt going out today?”
It puzzled Jennifer. She couldn’t remember, but she didn’t think so. “No.”
“Good.” Belinda changed from pajamas to yoga pants and a tee-shirt that was off one shoulder. “I call an eighties movie marathon. Want to go with me to the rec room downstairs? I just have to convince whoever is downstairs to watch movies with us.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jennifer responded.
“Hey, do me a favor,” Belinda said as Jennifer dressed. When Jennifer looked at Belinda, she continued, “No more sleeping pills.”
Jennifer agreed.
33
Library
Finding a parking spot at the library was difficult. Then Matt fought a crowd of people walking into the book sanctuary. Matt wondered if this was a trend; there were only a few more days in the semester, and perhaps everyone was trying to wrap up this year before heading home for winter break.
Jennifer, for some reason, liked to study in this building. He wasn’t sure why. To Matt, there were too many people, too many distractions. But, if he was going to spend time with his girlfriend and he was going to date a nerd, he might as well meet her in the place she felt comfortable.
Jennifer enjoyed sitting on the second floor, on a couch in the center of the room, near the table where she laid out her books, and close to the librarian’s desk.
But as he stood in front of the green couch, she was missing. Her book bag was at least on the table.
He placed his books on the table and went searching for his girlfriend.
Matt hadn’t been looking long before seeing someone with similar hair length and color sitting behind one of the computers. He wasn’t entirely sure he had found Jennifer, because his girlfriend was meticulous with her appearance, most of the time. The only exception he could remember was the day after Thanksgiving. This person hadn’t brushed their hair today.
Matt wasn’t trying to be quiet, but the person on the computer didn’t turn. He looked over the person’s shoulder to see what they were looking at so intently. It looked like a med-clinic article on brain tumors.
“Jennifer?” Matt asked.
He saw the person’s shoulders tense, and they stopped typing.
He asked again, “Jennifer?”
Jennifer turned around and looked at him, at first puzzled, then she smiled.
“Matt.” She seemed pleased with herself, or maybe at seeing him.
“Do you have a paper due on medical stuff?” Matt asked.
Jennifer looked around the room like she was looking for someone listening to their conversation.
“No,” Jennifer answered. She stood and took his hand, moving her finger in front of her mouth to indicate quiet. She took him over to the couch.
“The sleeping pills started making me sick,” Jennifer whispered. “I still have vivid dreams.” She looked around the room. “I think there is something wrong,” she whispered. She put her finger to her lips again. “Shh.”
“Jennifer.” Matt brushed her hair with his fingers. “Many people have realistic dreams.”
“Shh,” she whispered. “No, Matt, these seem real. I dreamed I was a man last night. I know what it is like to pee standing.”
Matt looked at her for a second. “Don’t you stand up when we go camping? You don’t sit on the ground, do you?” he asked.
“Well, no. I stand.” Jennifer looked puzzled.
“Jennifer, you are fine. Stop acting funny.” He pecked her lips with his. “You are adorable, but I came here to study. Come on.” He led her to the table. She opened her books and appeared to be studying.
34
Crazy
Stretching after waking, Jennifer knocked the notepad sitting on the nightstand to the ground. Her heart raced, not knowing why the barn she had fallen asleep in had changed so much. The sounds bothered her the most. Where were all the animals? The dresser night-light was on, lighting up the area. She grabbed the paper that had crashed to the ground and read.
Seamus knew he couldn’t read, so when the words made sense, he was surprised. The paper said he was a woman, Jennifer Wright, but that made little sense to Seamus. He touched his face and found it smooth.
You, it continued, are a college student in the United States.
Well, Seamus, this is the strangest situation you have gotten yourself into, Jennifer thought to herself and continued reading.
You have a class this morning. There are clothes on a coat hanger in the closet.
Seamus looked towards the closet.
Get dressed. Brush your hair. The hairbrush is on the counter. I put a mint in your bag. Take it. The bathroom is down the hall. Wash your hands. Use the path below to get to your first class.
The page contained pictures from Google maps. Seamus wasn’t sure where this would lead him, but it felt right.
Outside of the dorm, everything felt familiar. Using the notebook’s directions, Seamus nervously walked into the classroom and sat near the back.
Jennifer spent most of the class trying to remember her past and missed the lecture. She found the notes left on her nightstand useful, and they became the primary way she navigated to her other courses. More than once, she was thankful for the watch she wore on her wrist that told her the time. It allowed Jennifer to appear normal.
Near the middle of the day, the notes took her towards the cafeteria. She ordered the pizza; she seemed to remember she enjoyed the flavor. It was wonderful, and before she knew it, Jennifer consumed the entire pizza. She made a note in the notebook to order it tomorrow for lunch.
It was during lunch Jennifer felt a tingling, prickly sensation of being watched. Jennifer looked around the room but didn’t notice that anyone was paying her any attention. She wondered if her paranoia was part of her going crazy.
Near the end of the day, Jennifer felt like herself. The memory of Seamus seemed distant. She sighed and headed to the library. At the library, she made it a point to register for her classes for the next semester. Next year’s schedule looked horrible, in her opinion. On Tuesday and Thursday, she had lectures in the early morning (nine-fifteen to eleven a.m.) and more in the afternoon (five-thirty p.m. - eight p.m.). Then there was no rest on Monday/Wednesday/Friday when she had classes almost straight from nine a.m. to twelve p.m. The only real point of luck, in her opinion, was being able to take Dr. Smith’s Introduction to Archeology with an emphasis on Anthropology course.
Jennifer wasn’t sure how long going crazy took or when she would completely lose her mind. She tried not to cry in front of the other students in the library. They wouldn’t understand. She typed in Google maps and started putting together her schedule for tomorrow.
In her dorm room, she was thankful Belinda wasn’t home. Jennifer dialed her parents’ phone number, her hand shaking slightly. Tomorrow, she might not remember them. She made it a point to tell her parents she loved them.
Next, she took a shower and laid out her clothes for tomorrow.
When it was time for bed, she put the notebook on top of the alarm clock and set the alarm clock for two hours before she would usually wake up. The method had worked this morning; perhaps it would do tomorrow. Going crazy wasn’t fun.
35
Coffee Shop
Johan stood outside Jennifer’s dorm, looking at her window. It was ten p.m., about time for her light to go out. He had a lit cigarette in his hand, absentmindedly smoking. It turned out to be easy to get into her courses. The classes she scheduled still had openings. He signed up for one of her general education courses—something every college student would take. He made sure he was only in one of Jennifer’s classes. Johan didn’t want to be too obvious. The course allowed him to interact with her all week long. If he made a few friends in her dorm, he could legitimately stand
outside her apartment and watch for his best opportunities.
A cute redhead came out to join him.
“May I have a cigarette?” she asked.
Johan pulled one out of the pack.
“I’m Amy,” she greeted him. She took his cigarette out of his mouth and used the tip to light hers. She lightly touched his lips to put the cigarette back in his mouth. It was almost seductive.
“Johan,” he responded.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” Amy asked.
“I’m not from around here.”
“Me either.” Amy looped a curl around a spare finger. “Listen, would you like to grab some coffee?”
Johan looked up to Jennifer’s window as her light went off like clockwork. Amy followed his eyes towards the window. “Are you interested in Belinda or Jennifer?” she asked.
“Who’s Belinda?” Johan wondered.
“Oh, so you are interested in Jennifer.” Amy looked back towards Jennifer’s window. “It seems like every guy has a crush on her. But she has a boyfriend.”
“I’m better than her boyfriend. She will be mine.”
“Possessive, aren’t we?” Amy commented, raising her eyebrows and taking a drag. “Let’s go get some coffee. If you drive, I will buy. Better yet, let’s walk; you can keep me company.”
Amy looked back at Jennifer’s room.
Johan shrugged his shoulders. Amy, at barely 5’2”, he would guess, posed no physical threat.
“Jennifer,” Amy started saying as they walked away from the dorm, “is not all there.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve caught her talking to herself,” Amy commented.
Johan had seen the evidence himself. Family required training, and one class was on the transition from human to dragon. The first process after an Awakening was dreaming of past ancestors. The dreams would last until the human reached their dragon ancestor. In Jennifer’s case, if Father was correct, that would be Jormungant. Not the living Jormungant, but a figment of her imagination. A memory of who Jormungant was when Jennifer’s ancestor was conceived. This figment, or imaginary friend, would help Jennifer understand what it meant to be Family. Dragon 101 called this mythical ancestor a Samarbied.