Releasing the Dragon

by Evangeline Anderson

  Except I’m not doing a very good job of controlling it now, am I? he asked himself angrily. But he couldn’t help it. Seeing the female he had been Dream-Sharing with for the past three solar months leave to go be with another male—a male all his senses told him was not to be trusted—was almost more than either he or his Drake could bear.

  Abruptly, Dru knew he had to go—he had to leave before he lost control of his darker half completely and shifted here and now into the Drake. It was that close to the surface—so close he could almost taste the fire in his throat and feel its wings beating the air. If it came out here and now, in this crowded building, innocent people were going to die horrible deaths—all because he couldn’t control the Drake’s jealous rage.

  Turning, he left quickly, exiting through the red and orange lighted doorway he had come in by. He had to get control of himself—control of his Drake—before he did something he would regret forever.

  Seven

  Annie saw him leave from the corner of her eye just as she settled herself on a stool beside Christian.

  Good, she thought defiantly. Go on and leave—nobody asked you to come in the first place. Or to invade my dreams for that matter. Now maybe I can do what I came here for. But she couldn’t help the twinge of unease she felt when she saw Dru’s large figure exit through the festively-lighted doorway. What if he’d somehow been right about Christian? What if—?

  “Hey, I was wondering if you were ever going to show up,” Christian said in her ear. His breath was heavy with scotch fumes but he seemed to be talking clearly enough. Maybe he’d had just enough to loosen up which was why he’d approached her in the first place.

  “Sorry about that.” Annie turned to him with an apologetic smile. “It just took me a while to extricate myself.”

  “Trouble in paradise?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that guy your husband or—”

  “No, no—nothing like that,” Annie hastened to assure him. “I actually just met him in person tonight for the first time and he kind of…followed me here.”

  “Oh, on-line date?” Christian asked.

  Annie thought of the strange dreams where Dru had huge, dark wings sprouting from his back and the deep, inhuman voice that growled, “Mine!”

  “Um, something like that.” She laughed weakly. “So anyway, how have you been? I haven’t seen you since graduation.”

  “Likewise, pretty Annie. Here, come into the light so I can see you better.” Christian drew her into a puddle of light that was beaming down from a dim bulb placed over one corner of the bar and Annie let him. “Wow,” he murmured, looking her over. “Amy told me you were different but I didn’t believe her—you’ve changed so much. You’re gorgeous now!”

  It was exactly the kind of thing Annie had imagined him saying to her but somehow she couldn’t seem to take much pleasure in it. For one thing his words implied that she hadn’t been gorgeous before—which was technically true—but it seemed kind of rude to point it out. And for the second, the scotch fumes on his breath were really strong and he was getting too close—it made her want to wince away from him. She held her ground uneasily, afraid she might offend him.

  “You’ve changed too,” she said and it certainly wasn’t a lie. In the slightly stronger light, she could see that Christian’s hair was no longer the gold of melted honey. Or if it was, it was really hard to tell because there was less of it—a lot less. Clearly male pattern baldness ran in his family which was kind of too bad—his hair had always been one of his best features. Also, he had a definite beer gut straining the buttons of the cheap white shirt he was wearing.

  Then Annie realized what she was doing—judging someone solely by their appearance, just like Michelle Prouty.

  I’m not like that—I’m not that person, she told herself firmly. Christian was always nice to me in high school when almost no one else was. He didn’t judge me by my appearance then so I’m not going to judge him by his now. He’s a beautiful person on the inside—right?

  Plus, his eyes were as sky-blue as ever, even if they did have bags under them now. Wow, he looked like he hadn’t been getting enough sleep for a long time. Annie wondered if he was all right.

  “So what do you do for work?” she asked as casually as she could, trying to keep the conversation going.

  “Me? Oh you know…” He waved vaguely. “I’m in management. Fast food management, actually.”

  Fast food management? What does that mean? Does he run a Burger King or something? But she didn’t like to ask out loud—it might hurt Christian’s feelings.

  “Oh, that sounds very…rewarding,” she said instead.

  “Yeah, right.” Christian snorted. “How about you, pretty Annie? What do you do now? Are you a writer? You certainly were good at that in high school.” He nudged her and grinned. “Mrs. Hampstead our English teacher sure thought so, right? All those papers you helped me with…”

  Actually, she’d written every paper line for line but Annie wasn’t going to quibble about details.

  “I’m not exactly a writer—although my job does involve some creative writing. I’m a game designer for Oculus Chasm.” She couldn’t keep the pride and excitement out of her voice.

  “Oh yeah?” Christian asked. “What’s that—the, uh, virtual reality thingy you put on your head?”

  “Right.” She nodded. “Right now I’m working on a new game that’s specifically targeted at women. Did you know that forty-eight percent of on-line gamers are women but there are almost no games aimed at them? It’s ridiculous, really—the same way Hollywood aims so many movies at men in the 18-29 age group and doesn’t even consider that women spend money on movies too.”

  Christian made a face.

  “Christ, don’t tell me you went and became a feminist. That would be a damn shame, sweetheart. Especially now you’re finally thin enough to be fuckable.”

  “What?” Annie felt as though he’d slapped her. It was the same kind of thing her last Love Match date had said when she revealed what she did for a living. But at least he hadn’t referenced her weight and said she was “fuckable” while he was at it!

  Christian seemed to realize he had upset her because he made a soothing gesture with his hands.

  “Hey—sorry about that. Too much scotch, you know? I’m not drunk but my mouth is getting ahead of my brain a little. Forgive me, okay pretty Annie?”

  “Um, sure.” Annie tried to smile at him but she couldn’t help thinking her first meeting with Christian since graduation wasn’t exactly going as she had envisioned it. In fact, her fantasy was getting further and further from reality.

  “Can I buy you a drink?” Christian gave her the old, charming smile she’d loved so much in high school. “I feel like I owe you one after all the help you gave me back in the day. I never would have gotten through English Lit without you.”

  “Oh…okay.” Annie nodded. “I’d like a strawberry daiquiri please—a virgin one,” she added, thinking that she didn’t need any alcohol clouding her judgment right now.

  “A virgin daiquiri? That’s no fun!” Christian complained. “I’m going to have another double scotch—why don’t you join me?”

  “No, a virgin daiquiri will be fine, thank you,” Annie said firmly. “I have to work tomorrow,” she added, which wasn’t exactly true. She had just finished a project and the new one she was working on was still in the conceptual phase. As soon as she finished writing up the story script she would seek approval from the managing designer but in the interim, she was on her own working from home. So she didn’t technically have to work on the weekends although she often did, just because she loved her job. It was a good excuse though.

  “All right, all right. Hey you—another double scotch on the rocks and a virgin strawberry for the pretty lady here,” Christian shouted too loudly at the bartender who was in the middle of serving another couple.

  Annie winced in embarrassment as the bartender turned a baleful eye on Christian and gave a short, s
harp nod to indicate he’d heard.

  “You know, he seems pretty busy and I’m not really that thirsty…” she began but Christian shook his head emphatically.

  “Hey, don’t worry—he can make the drinks. Lazy bastard just doesn’t move fast enough to keep up with this crowd.” He leaned forward, blowing scotch fumes in Annie’s face again. “Remember how fast I used to move on the football field? I tell you, the old alma matter doesn’t have anything like me on their team these days. They didn’t even make it to the State playoffs this year—did you know that? Sorry bunch of slowpoke assholes.”

  “That’s a shame,” Annie murmured, not knowing what else to say.

  “It sure as hell is! Did you know…” Christian began rambling on about his own high school football career and his excellent statistics and Annie had to just sit there and try to look interested when actually football was about as interesting to her as watching paint dry.

  Shifting on her stool, she realized she was getting more and more uncomfortable. No longer did she fantasize about luring Christian into her bed. Now she was starting to wonder how she could get away from him gracefully without causing a scene.

  Just then the bartender slid the two drinks Christian had ordered across to them and Annie reached for hers, grateful to have something to do with her hands. But Christian stopped her.

  “Hey, where’s the whipped cream?” he demanded loudly. “Y’can’t have a daiquiri without whipped cream!”

  “Oh, that’s okay!” Annie protested quickly. “Really, I don’t like whipped cream.”

  “Of course you do—everybody likes whipped cream. Here…” Christian lifted her drink and turned away from her, gesturing at the bartender who was already helping another couple. “I said give my lady some fucking whipped cream, damn it!”

  With quick, angry gestures, the bartender turned aside for a moment and squirted a generous dollop of whipped cream on the top of Annie’s tall daiquiri glass. Then he turned back to the other couple and Annie was certain she heard the word, “asshole” being muttered—no doubt in reference to Christian.

  She hoped he wouldn’t get upset and start some kind of a fight but luckily he seemed not to have heard. He was busy swirling the whipped cream with the long pink straw the bartender had thrust into it, mixing the cream into the daiquiri. When it was apparently mixed to his satisfaction, he turned back to Annie and presented it with a flourish.

  “Ta-da!”

  “Oh, thank you,” Annie said weakly, taking the tall, cold glass from him.

  “Well go on—drink it!” Christian exclaimed. “Went through enough trouble to get the damn thing for you.”

  Annie didn’t really want to put her mouth on the straw he’d just had his fingers all over while he stirred up her drink. Carefully, she took a ladylike sip from the side of the glass and tried not to make a face.

  Ugh—salty!

  Had the bartender used the wrong mix? There was the cloying sweetness of a daiquiri with no real fruit in it but under it was a definite salty undertone as well as a hint of bitterness that didn’t taste good at all. She set the drink back down on the bar and tried to smile at Christian.

  “Mmm—delicious.”

  “If it’s so delicious why aren’t you drinking it?” he demanded belligerently. “You know how much that cunt Michelle Pretty has them charging for drinks at this place? Goddamned highway robbery. I buy you a drink, you oughta drink it, sweetheart.”

  Since he was being so insistent, Annie took another sip but the salty bitter taste was stronger than ever. It seemed to coat her tongue and made her feel slightly sick to her stomach. She wished she had eaten something before she came to the reunion but she’d been too excited.

  Excited over seeing Christian again, she thought dismally. What a joke!

  “Will you excuse me?” she said politely, putting the drink back on the bar. “I really need to visit the ladies room.” She stood up from the stool and surprised herself by swaying dizzily. What was wrong with her? She felt as though she’d had a lot too much to drink but the daiquiri was supposed to be a virgin one and she’d only had two sips.

  “Whoa, pretty Annie—better let me help you.”

  Christian was up at once and he seemed to be moving pretty well for someone who had drunk enough scotch to smell like a refinery. He took Annie by the elbow and started steering her towards the restrooms…or was he?

  It had been fifteen years but she was pretty certain the girls’ bathroom and changing room was in the far right corner of the gym. Christian seemed to be steering her towards the other corner where the side exit was located. She remembered it because that was the door they’d used for fire drills the few times they’d had them in gym class.

  “Hey,” she protested. “Where…where’re we goin’?” For some reason her tongue felt thick in her mouth and her words came out sounding slurred. What was wrong with her?

  “Seems like you could use a little fresh air,” Christian said smoothly. “So I thought we could go outside.”

  For some reason this seemed like a bad idea but Annie couldn’t quite think why. Before she could protest again, he was pushing open the side exit door and they were out on the short green lawn surrounding the back of the gymnasium.

  Annie looked around dizzily. It was eerily silent here, after the echoing gym filled with retro music and talk. There was absolutely nobody around—not even any cars driving by since the gym building abutted the main wall of the school here, forming a kind of secluded nook.

  “Nice out tonight,” Christian remarked, herding her further into the corner formed by the gym and the school. “I hate it when Halloween is too hot but there’s even a little nip in the air tonight.”

  Annie had to agree with him—her arms were suddenly covered in goosebumps but she wasn’t sure if that was because of the weather…or the sudden sense of danger she felt.

  “Chris…ian I wan…I need…to go,” she managed to get out. “Not…feeling ver’ good.”

  “I imagine not—I used my best stuff on you, pretty Annie.” He grinned at her, an expression she’d found charming in high school but which now looked more than a little wolfish.

  “I…what are you…” Annie made a big effort to talk correctly. “What are you…talking about?”

  “You’ll see in a minute.” He continued to push her further into the dark nook-like corner and she stumbled over the grassy ground. “You know, I wanted Michelle Prouty or one of her crew, but they all came with dates or husbands. You, on the other hand, only had that date from the Internet and I believe he left—right?”

  Annie felt a surge of fear. “He could be…still aroun’,” she slurred.

  “Oh, I don’t think so. He looked pretty angry when you blew him off.” Christian shrugged. He wasn’t slurring his words or acting drunk at all now, Annie noticed, feeling cold inside. Had it all been an act? And what was the “best stuff” he’d talked about that he had given her?

  “Wh—what do you want frm me?” she managed to get out. “You were al’ways so…so nice back in…in school.”

  “Yes, I was, wasn’t I?” Christian mused in a cold voice. “It was an act I had to use—a mask I was forced to wear. High school is all about looking normal—fitting in with the right crowd. If you do it right, no one will ever suspect you.”

  Annie was getting more and more frightened. What was he talking about? What awful things did he do that he didn’t want anyone suspecting him of? She wanted to fight—to struggle—but her limbs didn’t want to obey her. It was all she could do to keep upright as Christian dragged her along, deeper and deeper into the shadows.

  Suddenly a new thought occurred to her—this was Halloween, after all. Maybe Michelle Prouty had put him up to some kind of prank—ha-ha- horror or something like that. Maybe she was just playing a mean trick on Annie—the way she had that time she’d left a bloody tampon hanging out of her locker. Or the time she’d raised her hand and told their Physics teacher that she smelled something
funny and she thought maybe Annie had stepped in dog crap and that was where the smell was coming from. Or the time she’d put an open ketchup packet on Annie’s chair and then told everyone that Annie had started her period or the time she’d poured honey through the vent and coated all Annie’s papers and books or…really there were too many incidents to name. So maybe this was just one more, for old time’s sake, so to speak.

  The idea made her feel minimally better but she was still scared.

  “Chris…tian,” she slurred, trying to make her voice clearer. “Y’don…don’t have t’ do this. M’chelle put you…put you up to it…din’ she?”

  “Michelle Prouty?” Christian made a disgusted face. “That little whore. She has nothing to do with this. She always wondered, you know, why I wouldn’t screw her, like everyone else on the football team. She didn’t understand that isn’t what I desire from a woman.”

  They had gotten to the darkest corner of the outer wall now and Annie was certain they couldn’t be seen from any of the windows—not that the gym had many—and nobody was in the school either since the reunion was being kept to the gymnasium.

  “Wha…” Annie licked her suddenly dry lips. “What do you wan’ from a woman?” she whispered, hardly slurring at all this time.

  Christian turned to her and his eyes gleamed in the darkness. There was a strange, flat look in them—a coldness in their sky-blue depths she’d never seen before.

  In his hand he held a knife.

  “Her screams,” he purred in a low, frightening voice. “Tonight, pretty Annie, I want to hear you scream.”

  Annie gasped. Oh God, he wasn’t kidding! This wasn’t just some awful prank Michelle Prouty had put him up to. Christian was for real and he was going to cut her—maybe even kill her. What was she going to do? Her self-defense classes were useless in this situation—she’d been drugged and she could barely move. She couldn’t even get to the pepper spray in her little black bag—her fingers were too numb!