Dragon's Fire
New Breed
Danielle Kazemi
Copyright 2011 Danielle Kazemi
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Dragon's Fire
New Breed
Danielle Kazemi
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 1
“What kind of loser calls his girlfriend an hour before they go out – just to break up?” Annabel Wells asked over her cell phone. She couldn't believe her boyfriend was doing this. They dated for eight months. The least he could’ve done was show up in person to deliver the news.
She paced her room, dressed for the evening they planned since the beginning of the week. Her high heels clacked against the ground with every step she took. This was excellent – exactly what she needed.
“Yeah, well, why don't you do the whole world a favor and die?” Annabel yelled into the phone, clicking the call end button vehemently. She threw the phone on her bed, disgusted from the conversation. She made a face at it and turned away.
She walked to her mirror and examined her face. Even though it felt good having him out her life, it still hurt being dumped. Especially by someone like him. She splashed cool water on her face in an attempt to get the red out her eyes. It didn't work. The best option she had was to put on makeup and act cheerful. She gave a fake, halfhearted smile to herself which dropped off abruptly. She didn't want this. She wanted to cover herself in her blankets and sleep until she couldn’t remember what Greg looked like.
She walked into the living room but remained standing in an attempt to make sense of everything before letting herself get comfortable. June, her roommate, sat on the couch and stared at the television. Annabel knew June heard the entire conversation. June never watched reality shows and the one playing on television wasn’t an exception. “So that was fun,” Annabel said, opening the conversation. She plopped herself on the couch next to her friend.
“It sounded pretty rough,” June stated, looking at Annabel. She had a pity smile on her face.
“You'd think after eight months he'd at least have the decency to break up with me face to face. I heard music in the background. I wouldn't put it past him to have his friends listening in or his entire building in on it.” The more she thought about him, the angrier she became. At this point, she wanted to slam his head into something. She never would, she was too nice, but the thought did cross her mind.
“I never knew what you saw in him. He didn't seem like your type.”
Annabel rolled her eyes. June was right. In the last two months, Annabel thought about dumping Greg multiple times but never got around to doing it. She was the one dumped instead. Her ego was bruised. “I need a drink,” she said, standing and heading into the kitchen.
“I don't think there's anything in there.”
“Ugh,” Annabel said in frustration. Attempting to be an adult was hard when she needed to constantly remind herself to pick up food if she wanted to eat. She grabbed a glass instead and turned on the faucet for water. She wanted something, anything. If it had to be the cheap city water, so be it. Swigging it, she slammed the glass down forcefully and hung her head.
“You want to go out right now? We can get to the club early and you can start getting good and drunk,” June suggested from the living room over the sound of the television.
Both girls laughed. That wasn’t the best thing to do in the current situation. Besides, if anyone got drunk, it’d be June. She was more outgoing than Annabel and seemed to have trouble mingling with the crowds.
“I don't think getting me drunk is the best thing right now. But a few drinks would be great. I need them,” Annabel said, her attention drifting to the clock on the wall. The time she spent on the phone slipped her attention. It was an entire hour since he began pushing her away; an hour of her life struck out for no good reason.
“We'll find you a cute guy so tomorrow you’ll ask, ‘Greg who?’” June grabbed her keys from the holder. Receipts fluttered to the ground but the girls chose to ignore them.
“My definition of cute: I don't want any guy who has more piercings than me. And no tattoos of his dead dog. That was just creepy.”
“Your definition of cute guy really limits your options.”
“I'm serious. I'm tired of meeting a guy only to find out he's a complete loser who still lives with his mother. I want someone who’s adventurous, someone deep,” Annabel let the conversation hang in the air for a minute, “and yeah, cute.”
“You made an oxymoron. More for me then.” June headed to her car, smiling.
“That's harsh,” Annabel said as she followed on automatic. It wasn't being picky. Dating the same type of guys was getting old. It ended the same way every time. If this cycle didn't end soon, she’d give up on ever finding her perfect man and join a convent. She wouldn't. Maybe she’d become a cat lady instead. Cats always loved their owners.
June drove to their favorite hangout, a small club located on the east side of town. It was more a bar then a club, created on the location of a former chain restaurant with the drive thru still intact. The owner of the bar allowed local artists to hang their drawings and come perform which made it one of the trendier spots in town.
Annabel threw her head against the backrest of her seat. She groaned, “I don't want to go to Dancing Aces.”
“What's wrong with Dancing Aces?”
“Let's try something else tonight. I don't want to go where people know me and then I'll have to answer the question, 'So where's Greg?' with 'Oh he dumped me claiming I was stuck up,” Annabel complained. She had a feeling Greg might show up wanting to rub in their broken relationship. He knew it was her favorite place to hang out and he wanted to ruin whatever fun she might have.
June didn’t argue. The one who was dumped picked the place she wanted to go. That was the rule.
“Where are you thinking of?”
“Um,” Annabel said, lazily looking out the window, “There.” A grungy looking place, it was the last spot she expected to see someone like Greg. He couldn't walk through the door without being intimidated. Him and all his artsy buddies were too busy discussing Rembrandt or some other well-known artist, laughing when she asked questions. She grew angry again.
“The Jungle? Seriously?” It wasn't the most welcoming club in the city.
“Why not?”
“It just doesn't seem like a place you'd go.”
“I'm not me tonight. So let's go somewhere people don't know who I am so I can cut loose and have fun.” She planned on drinking until tomorrow. It didn't matter much where they arrived. Anywhere was a welcomed change.
June nodded in agreement. “Let's see how the new Annabel Wells behaves on her first night out. Your debut of the new you.”
The night didn't go quite as well
as Annabel wanted. Instead of finding her perfect man, June instead found a whole group of guys exactly like her last boyfriend. The drinks kept coming and before long, empty glasses surrounded Annabel. She wasn't sure which ones were hers and it didn’t help her depression at all.
“I'm gonna...home,” Annabel told June. It was around two or three in the morning. She wished she had her phone with her to know what time it was exactly. She had left it on her bed at home.
June waved at her friend while remaining conjoined with one of the guys she found earlier. At that moment, Annabel could’ve changed into a giant frog and June would’ve never noticed. This was typical June behavior, especially when it came to guys.
At least this place was near the house. It might’ve only been two blocks away. Maybe five blocks away. Seven? She knew, when she saw the red building, to turn left. Those were good enough directions for her.
“Oh, so I'm not good enough for you? You know what Greg, you were lucky to be even seen with me,” she repeated out loud to herself. She really wished she had her phone with her. She wanted to call Greg and tell him how it was the best thing ever they weren't together anymore.
As she walked down the street, she heard something move behind her. It was a harsh rustling but she couldn't figure out what it was coming from. She turned around, expecting to see June coming behind her or even a cat. There was nothing. “I must be drunk,” Annabel said. She began feeling uneasy.
The noise happened again. It was the same rustling sound. This time she knew she heard it. She turned around again only to see nothing. “June?” she asked. If her friend was there, she wasn't responding. Annabel hoped it was an animal. She could deal with an animal.
Annabel heard the noise once more, this time much closer to her and on her right side. She turned to her right hesitantly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see what was close to her. But her curiosity was too great.
There was a dark shape appearing next to her. She couldn't make out any discernible features. It appeared to just be a clump of darkness growing. She turned and started running towards her house. Her best option was to get home as quickly as possible and hopefully stop the thing from coming after her. Or alert someone to stop it. That’s what the cops were for.
Instead, the darkness continued chasing her with every turn she made down the nearly abandoned alleyways. It came to the edges of her heels and was gaining speed. She felt a slight breeze emanating from it as it sped towards her.
Annabel ran fast. Her foot tripped over one of the raised edges of the sidewalk and she fell, hard. The dark shape hovered over her, bearing upon her.
“Who are you?” she asked as she stared at the dark creature. She wanted to know who this person or thing was. It had to be someone or something she could reason with. She closed her eyes tight. Maybe when she opened them, it would all be a dream.
She opened her eyes. The figure was still in front of her, as menacing as before.
The darkness grew taller and more intense. A large dark spike formed, hanging directly over her body. Just as it started curving at the top, as if to drop upon her, a stream of fire came from behind her. She wasn't sure what was happening and who she was more afraid of.
Chapter 2
New Breed (#1) (Dragon’s Fire) Page 1