by E. J. Krause
Chapter 3
Andi walked into this new house and yelled out, "I'm home!" even if it didn't feel like home yet.
"In the kitchen," her mom called. "Come in and tell me about your day."
As she breezed through the short entry hall, a strange scent hit her. It was mostly cleaning disinfectant, but something she couldn't place lay underneath. Something that hadn't been there this morning. Something yucky. It faded as she passed through the living room, which still had boxes stacked against the bare walls. Mom must've tackled other parts of the house today.
She pushed into the kitchen and found her mom pulling plates out of the dishwasher and stacking them in one of the cabinets above the sink. When she saw Andi, Mom stopped and turned towards her.
"How was your first day?"
"Same as any first day, I guess."
"Meet any nice people?"
Andi shrugged, and though she tried her hardest not to, her face flushed. "There was this one guy."
Her mom had started stocking the cabinet again, but that statement froze her. Only her amazing dexterity kept her from dropping a plate. "Doesn't sound like a normal first day to me."
"Whatever. Not like it matters. Even if I liked him and started going out, it wouldn't mean anything. We'll still have to leave in a couple of years."
"What's wrong with having fun until then? Be a teenager."
She wanted to. For some reason, she really liked Ben, even though she didn't know anything about him. Sure, he looked good, with his playfully unkempt brown hair and understated fashion sense of a plain t-shirt and simple jeans that actually fit right, unlike how many boys wore them nowadays. Aside from his looks, though, there was something different about him, something she'd never noticed in any of the other boys she'd ever met. She felt it from that first second they locked eyes at break. And what about that shock when she'd touched his arm after lunch? That was definitely a first.
"I guess," she said. "Do we have any venison jerky left?"
"Sorry, your dad polished it off. We'll get more this weekend." Mom turned to the mostly empty fridge. "We do have bacon. I can heat it up, if you'd like."
"That's okay. I like it cold." Andi opened the package, pealed a strip off, and took a bite.
Mom took a seat in one of the chairs opposite her. "So, tell me about this boy. His name wasn't Ben, was it?"
Andi stared at her mom. "How did you know?"
Mom had a hard time hiding a smile. "That poor boy had an interesting morning. I told him to say hi if he saw you."
"Wait. What's going on?"
"We had a couple of, uh, strange visitors this morning, and poor Ben got caught in the middle on his way to school."
Andi got up and crossed to the refrigerator. "Did you buy any soda yet?"
"Wouldn't you rather have milk?"
"Not after I found out my mother's trying to set me up with boys. So what do you mean by strange visitors and him being caught in the middle?" She found a can of generic caffeine-free soda and popped it open.
"A couple of walking corpses paid us a visit, and Ben was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Poor kid thought they were after him for a minute. Your father pulled him into the house, and I sent him in here while we dispatched them in the hallway."
Andi wrinkled her nose. "I knew I smelled something gross in there."
"Yeah, I'm sure you and your father will gag over it for a few days. It's times like these that I'm glad I don't have your sense of smell."
Andi picked up her bacon slice and continued nibbling. "There doesn't seem to be any disturbance out there, so the neighbors must not have noticed."
"We're guessing whoever sent them put a spell on the neighborhood, imploring everyone to stay inside for a few minutes."
"Who did it?" She finished the first piece of bacon and pulled off a second.
"Don't know. We've stayed out of the supernatural spotlight since you were born, so neither of us can figure it out. Might have been a random attack. Someone lost control of their zombies and they were drawn to our magic. We'll have to wait and see if anything comes of it."
"Why didn't Ben mention any of this when we talked?" Andi asked. "It would have made a pretty big impression on my day, and I know this stuff exists."
"Maybe he convinced himself it didn't happen. Though I don't know how he can believe it was a hallucination after I drove him to school."
"You what? You drove him to school? Jeez, Mother, you really are trying to set me up."
"I swear I'm not. I didn't want him to be late on top of everything else." She paused and gave Andi a piercing stare. "Though I did feel something special about him."
"I did, too." Andi squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "No, no, no. I can't feel anything for him. I've purposely avoided this every time I'm at a new school because it'll end in heartbreak."
"Not necessarily," her mom said, almost too low to hear.
"What do you mean? He's going to grow up, and I'm going to look exactly the same."
Her mother stood and returned to the dishwasher. "Eat your snack and think about it. Do you have any idea what I am?"
She started to say, "Of course," but didn't have anything to add after that. She took a sip of soda and concentrated on the bubbles running down her throat. Mom wasn't a dragon, not like her and Dad, but other than that, she never gave it much thought. Mom aged at the same rate, roughly one dragon year for every fifty human years, but besides her almost superhuman dexterity, she seemed normal.
"Well?"
"I don't know. You're my mom. Other than having a dragon age, you're human."
"I am human," Mom said as she put a few more plates into their new home. "Or at least I was. Now I'm a Dragon Guard, your father's bound mate."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I'm your father's one and only. We share a bond stronger than any other. Only dragons and their guards have it. I always know where he is and what he's feeling, and when he's in his true form, we can communicate without speaking, but you already know that. Plus so much more."
"Wait, what are you saying? You think Ben is this to me?" She jumped out of her chair. "No, he can't be my one true love or any of that sappy Disney princess stuff. I just met him."
"Like I said, I felt something about him this morning, but I mostly ignored it. We never told you any of this because fate almost always waits until the dragon and her guard are in their late teens, dragon-year-wise, before introducing them. That way both are physically and mentally able to handle it all. They never meet earlier unless …" Mom's eyes went wide, and this time she did drop a plate, though it was a cheap plastic one that didn't break.
"Unless what?"
Mom took a deep breath and headed out of the kitchen. "Finish up, Andi, and then hit the books. I need to talk to your father."
When Andi was alone, she said, "Okay, that was weird." When did Mom ever care if she did her homework? She sealed the bacon up with the zip top packaging, placed it back in the fridge, and headed out to find her parents. If she was quiet enough, they'd have no idea she was listening. She'd done it before.
A quick glance around showed them out in the backyard. If the window upstairs in the extra bedroom, which was right above the patio, was open, she'd have no problem hearing the conversation. Luck was on her side. Though Mom didn't look to have worked in here, the window was up. She snuck over as quiet as she could and listened.
"She's too young," her father said. "She's barely 750 years old. The earliest her mate should come is at 900, and I'd much prefer 1000."
"I know, I know," Mom said. "And it's not just about her. The boy is far too young at 15. He looked like a deer in headlights this morning. But we're not in charge of choosing, no matter how much you believe it to be true. It's fate's decision, and there's nothing we can do to change that."
Dad grunted. "It doesn't matter anyway. She's a teenaged girl. She has a crush. I don't like that, either, but it's not a big deal."
With
the tone of her voice, Andi guessed Mom had rolled her eyes. "She's the equivalent of a fifteen year old girl. I'm assuming she's had crushes before, but has she ever brought one up? No. And you can't deny you sensed something in that boy. I felt it, too. Don't be stubborn, admit it."
Her father didn't say anything for a minute, and when he spoke again, it was in a low voice, almost a whisper. "Being bound, married, at 15 might have been fine in the past, but it's not appropriate for this day and age."
"Fair enough, but you know as well as I that dragon laws can't always fit into human society. Do you think it coincidence that the boy showed up at our doorstep this morning? We haven't been troubled by anything supernatural since Andi was born. His being here means something big is on the horizon, and whatever powers he possesses are there to keep her safe. If you refuse to acknowledge that, you do nothing but needlessly endanger both of their lives."
Andi could almost hear her father's teeth grind. She might have done the same if she wasn't being ultra-careful to stay silent. All of this sounded big, too big. She'd just met Ben. He couldn't be her mate, her husband, or whatever it was they were talking about. Dad was right; they were too young. If danger was coming, what could Ben possibly do about it? Having said all that, though, why in the world couldn't she get him out of her mind?
"Fine," her father said. "Since you're so big on fate, we'll let it make the next move. If it points to the boy again, we'll give them a minor binding. That will give him enough power to get through this. Whatever is coming will be directed at us, not them."
Her mother let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't argue with you when you're being pigheaded for the sake of it. There's too much to do inside." The sliding glass door opened and closed with exaggerated gentleness.
Andi snuck back to her room so her mom wouldn't catch her eavesdropping. As she went, she heard her father mutter, "Why can't fate ever make any of this easy?"
Chapter 4
"You didn't," Andi said, her hand pressed to her mouth. They'd walked home together and were almost to her house.
"Yeah. He all but asked for it by being an ass. Randy and Vince filled a lunch sack with dog doo, and Jay borrowed one of his dad's lighters. I rang the doorbell as soon as Jay had the bag lit, and we ran like hell. We couldn't see from our hiding spot, but by the way he cursed, we knew he stamped it out. Hopefully with his indoor slippers."
"Oh no," Andi said, this time not successfully holding back the laughter. "I've made friends with a hooligan. Not doing homework yesterday, and telling me about lighting dog poop on fire today."
He winked at her. "Yeah, you better watch out. I'm dangerous."
She lost it even more and gave him a half-hug to keep from toppling over as she laughed. Ben took a deep breath and held it, but he didn't think she noticed. Good.
They walked a little ways further, and she wiped away some tears that had spilled out. By the time she regained control, they were in front of her house. "Thanks for walking me home," she said. "It's nice to have company."
"Glad to. You're fun to be around." And nice to look at, he thought, but didn't dare say it aloud. She dressed like most girls at school, with jeans and a tight white shirt, but he had to admit he liked the way she looked in the clothes better than any other girl.
"I don't know about that." She nudged his arm. "I've never even thought about leaving a flaming bag of poop on a doorstep."
He nudged her back. "I'm guessing you have some secrets you haven't told me yet."
"Maybe. You'll have to wait and see if I share."
Had she hesitated and looked nervous before she said that? No, he was being silly and reading too much into everything. "I can be patient," he said.
"We'll see." She turned towards her house, but before she moved, she looked back at him. "Hey, since you walk this way anyway, would you mind if I joined you on the way to school?"
His breath caught in his throat, but he managed to nod and choke out, "I'd like that."
"Me too." She moved her face close to his, then stopped, blushed, and hurried up to her house. Whoa, she almost kissed him. Too bad she stopped. That would have been cool.
He started towards home, not sure his feet were even touching the ground. He hadn't felt this good the time he and Melissa had made out, and Andi's lips hadn't even touched his. Weird. Plus she was so easy to talk to. He always ran out of stuff to say to Melissa, but with Andi he felt like he could talk for hours without repeating anything. Even better was that they could be silly together. Melissa didn't tolerate that. They spent half of lunch today coming up with new ways to shorten different names after she said she went by Andi because no one expected Alexandria to be shortened like that. Everyone, predictably, tried to call her Alex.
Before he lost himself in more thoughts, he spun back towards her house. That strange tingling sensation assaulted his neck again, just like yesterday morning. No, that was impossible. All of that seemed like such a dream. How could the zombies be back now?
There were four shuffling around the house. Like people, each had different features and such, but all shared the same limping stride and pale bluish-green skin tone like the two yesterday. This group moved around the front porch and pushed through the side gate to the backyard. Ben dropped his backpack on the lawn and followed at a safe distance. He'd see what they were up to and then ring the doorbell to warn Andi.
A quick peek into the backyard showed Andi and her parents already waiting for the zombies. Her mom had the same two short swords she used yesterday morning, but neither Andi nor her dad had any weapons at all. As the zombies lumbered forward, none of the Thomas's looked frightened, but that was okay, as Ben's heart beat fast enough for everyone put together.
Without warning, Mrs. Thomas leapt, skewering a zombie's torso with one sword, while decapitating it with the other. In the same motion, she lunged at a second. While that was going on, something happened to Andi and her father. Their necks stretched, his about ten feet, hers not quite as long, and their heads morphed into some sort of blue reptile. No way. He was hallucinating again. But that wasn't true, and he knew it.
As her mother decimated the second zombie, Andi and her father each bit the remaining two in half. When all four lay in still wiggling pieces, Andi and her dad reverted back to normal. Ben blinked hard to see if all of this had really just happened.
"Andi, the lighter fluid is in the garage," her dad said. "It's next to the box marked BBQ. Go grab it before they start to regenerate."
"Wait," Mrs. Thomas said. She looked towards Ben, and Andi and her dad tensed, ready to jump back into action. Ben pulled his head back and hoped she hadn't seen him. He thought about running, but before he moved, she said, "It's okay, Ben. Come on out."
When he did, Mr. Thomas frowned, looking every bit as menacing as he had yesterday morning. "You again? Are you spying on us?"
Ben shook his head and tried to say he'd come to warn them, but he couldn't get the words out. He glanced at Andi. Her face held an expression that was both horrified and embarrassed, and he couldn't blame her. If he was some sort of monster and she found out, he'd feel the same way. But she didn't need to. For reasons he couldn't figure out, he didn't care. He still felt the same about her as when she almost kissed him a few minutes ago. How in the world was he not more freaked out about this? About any of this?
"You know darn well he's not spying on us, Lee," Mrs. Thomas said. "And you know why he's here, too. Even if he doesn't." She flashed a warm smile his way which made him feel a lot better.
"Fine," Mr. Thomas said. He growled something under his breath, and then barked, "Andi, lighter fluid. The damn things are moving closer."
As he said, they were. The body parts had been strewn across the backyard in heaps, but now looked like they'd been carefully placed for future reattachment. Ben guessed burning them was the only way to kill them. Had Mr. Thomas torched the ones from yesterday?
Andi came out with the lighter fluid, but wouldn't meet Ben's eyes. Did she think
he wouldn't like her after what he saw? Or did she not like him anymore? He wanted to say something, but didn't dare in front of her parents, especially her dad. They were all silent until the zombies were well on their way to becoming ash.
Mr. Thomas spoke first, his voice calmer than Ben had yet heard. "Zombies burn easily. It's one of the few ways to ultimately stop them." Ben realized it was directed at him, so he nodded to show he understood. In fact, even though he had no business knowing, he could have told them that, and he didn't think that knowledge came from watching zombie movies and playing video games.
"Since you haven't run off," Mrs. Thomas said, "you're obviously who we think you are."
He glanced over to Andi, saw her blush, and then back to Mrs. Thomas. "What do you mean? Who am I?"
"Let's discuss it in the house where it's not as smelly." She wrinkled her nose and looked at the burning bodies to emphasize her point. "I know Andi and Lee will agree with that."
Once inside, everyone sat around the kitchen table. Ben sat next to Andi and across from her mother's chair, while she sat opposite her dad. Mrs. Thomas placed a basket of potato chips in the middle. "What would you like to drink, Ben? I'm afraid all we have is soda, milk, and tap water. I haven't had much of a chance to grocery shop yet."
"Doesn't matter. I'll have what Andi's having." He cringed inside when he said it and wished he'd just made a decision. Mrs. Thomas hid a smile, Andi blushed and again refused to meet his eyes, while Mr. Thomas frowned.
She pulled four cans of soda out of the refrigerator and set them down in front of everyone. They each popped the tops and took sips, no one saying anything for a few beats. Mrs. Thomas broke the silence. "There's no need to hide anything, Ben, but I'm curious as to what you think you saw."