“Will you quit joking around?” Stacey demanded.
“Sure,” Dennis nodded. “I guess I should probably apologize for yesterday as well right.”
Stacey blinked.
“Well, I’m sorry, babe. Rest assured, it won’t happen again.”
Funnily enough, Stacey wasn’t sure she believed him.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Jasmine arrived within about half an hour. Before then, conversation with Dennis and his cousin was awkward at best, but at least neither of them seemed overly aggressive towards Stacey. As far as she could tell, he’d given up pursuing her as his girlfriend. At least for now.
Stacey was relieved when her friend finally showed. Jasmine looked a bit more tired and apprehensive than her usual outgoing self – consolidating Stacey with a gentle hug and then directly asking if Dennis had been on his best behavior.
“He seems okay at the moment,” Stacey answered.
“You see, sis, I told ya she’d forgive me,” Dennis said.
“Did he apologize?” Jasmine asked Stacey.
“Of course I apologized!”
Stacey nodded.
“Alright,” Jasmine smiled. “How are you going, Matt?”
“Can’t complain,” Matt said.
“So what’s the plan now?” Stacey asked.
“Just hang out here, for a bit,” Jasmine said. “But…”
“But what?”
She flopped onto the sofa next to Matt. She leaned over to Stacey.
“You’re going to have to come clean sooner or later.”
Stacey sighed. “I’m supposed to be released. That was … part of the deal…”
“What deal?”
“I don’t know,” Stacey murmured. “I mean I do, it’s just –”
“You can tell us,” Jasmine assured her.
Dennis stared on intently.
“Zane sacrificed himself for me,” Stacey said finally. “I was supposed to be free, but I accidently killed this woman –”
“What?” Matt barked.
“It was self defense. She was trying to kill me. But because of that, this guy wanted to kill Zane and I was really lucky to escape the Island as I did.”
“That sounds like some fucked up shit,” Dennis remarked. “You should stay away from that loser.”
“Ignore him,” Jasmine said. “So anyway, what you’re saying is…”
“If the cops get me, they’ll send me back to the Island. If I go back to the Island, they’ll kill me. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless Zane is still alive.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Was Zane still alive? Oh how Stacey wished he was.
The afternoon was dying. They’d been at Matthew’s place for nearly two and half hours. Dennis was surprisingly relaxed. He made no move to come onto her. Didn’t say anything all that inappropriate. For him at least – he was still a dickhead generally. Unfortunately that hadn’t stopped Stacey falling for him in the first place. What a lost child Dennis seemed now, compared with her courageous new man.
Zane.
She didn’t want to think the name.
Zane.
All around the lounge room as they drank vodka and lime from premixed cans, throughout the clouds of marijuana smoke Dennis and Matthew were puffing on, she saw his dragon flying amongst them. She saw herself too, riding on his back. So happy. So alive. She knew she loved him when they were together, but now that they weren’t, that love seemed all the more powerful.
His eyes. His nose. His lips.
His face was everywhere.
Meanwhile, Dennis was reminiscing.
“Remember that time, we were staying at one of your friend’s places – I can’t think of her name – Natalie – Natasha –”
“Teresa,” Stacey answered him.
“Was that Teresa’s place? Before you moved in together?”
“Yes,” Stacey said.
“Yeah – remember how we got drunk that night, and we were making out on her table tennis table?”
Stacey remembered.
“And I didn’t even want to,” Dennis was laughing. “You’re like, come over, fuck me here. I’m like, ‘Nah, nah, let’s go to bed or something.’”
Stacey took a sip from her can.
“So Stacey drags me onto this table and – it’s like really hard. My back is getting all fucked up. And she starts taking my pants off and I realize there’s something underneath me.”
“What was it?” Matt asked.
“I’ll tell you in a second,” Dennis giggled. “I know this thing is under there, but Stacey’s like … well … it’s sex time. And you know I can’t refuse a lady –”
“Shit, Dennis, you’re embarrassing her,” Jasmine interrupted.
“I’m sorry,” Dennis muttered. “Am I embarrassing you, Stacey?”
She blinked.
He was annoying her, not embarrassing her.
“No.”
“Right,” Dennis continued, “so there we are going at it –”
“Oh don’t tell me you’re sitting on a dog or something,” Matt said.
“No, no, no,” Dennis protested. “It was only the ball and two of the bats.”
“Oh.”
“But anyway, halfway through the fuck, the whole fucking table makes this gigantic snap and the thing breaks in half with the two of us falling in the wreckage.”
“You’ve told this story before,” Matt said. “I think…”
“Anyway, we passed out and Natalie comes in –”
“Teresa,” Jasmine corrected.
“Teresa comes in and sees us there, in her broken table and what does she say – Stacey – what did she say?”
Stacey breathed in and out.
“If I knew you guys were going to fuck my table, I wouldn’t have bothered making up the extra bed.”
Dennis and Matt laughed uproariously.
Jasmine looked at Stacey with a disturbed look on her face. “How the fuck is that funny?”
“You had to be there,” Dennis chuckled.
“No, you didn’t,” Matt laughed.
Dennis got up and gave him a high five.
“Come on, Stacey,” Jasmine said, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Dennis said. “Where are you going?”
“Just for a walk,” Jasmine said.
“Can you get us some more drinks while you’re there?” Matt asked.
“If you got the money.”
Stacey stood around while Dennis and Matt sorted out their money and order for alcoholic beverages with Jasmine. She moved closer to the front door.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Jasmine said finally. “Are you ready?”
Stacey nodded.
They stepped out the front of the house.
“Don’t be too long,” Dennis sang out.
Stacey and Jasmine walked quickly up the garden. “Sorry about that.”
“That’s okay,” Stacey said. “It’s not your fault.”
“And sorry about last night. It was fucking crazy.”
“Tell me about it.”
They reached the footpath and started walking down it. Jasmine’s phone was ringing.
“Hold on a sec,” she said, stopping to open her handbag. She pulled out the cell and answered it. “Hello?”
Stacey watched Jasmine’s face twist a little.
“Alright…” she said. “Yes, she is.”
Who is it? Stacey mouthed.
Jasmine handed her the phone. “Zane?”
Stacey quickly put it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hello?” came Zane’s voice on the other line. “Stacey?”
“Master,” Stacey murmured. “Is it really you?”
His voice was very quiet and there was static in the background.
“Yes, it’s me,” he answered. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Stacey said. “What about you? What hap
pened after I left?”
“There were complications,” Zane replied.
Stacey waited for more information. “And?”
“I’m still here. I don’t know for how long.”
“Well, are you captured? Or did you get away? Or what? You’re still on the Island aren’t you?”
“I can’t say where I am. I don’t know who is listening.”
“Okay…”
“Just know, that I know where you are. And I’m sending someone for you.”
“Who?”
“He’s just a friend of mine. His name is Xander. You’ll know him when you see him.”
“So Xander knows where you are?” Stacey asked.
The line seemed to be cut off.
“Are you still there?”
Nothing.
Stacey handed the phone back to Jasmine.
“What did he say?” Jasmine asked.
“That some guy named Xander is coming for me. He’s sent him.”
“How does he know where you are?”
“He didn’t say. He was … in a hurry or something. Afraid someone was listening.”
Both girls looked to either side of the street.
No movement.
“So are you going to go with this Xander guy if he shows up?”
Stacey shrugged. “What do you think? Should I?”
“I don’t know,” Jasmine said. “Do you trust Zane?”
“Yes, I trust Zane.”
“Then what?”
“Well, I never heard of this Xander guy before. And how would Zane know where I was?”
“He’s a dragon, isn’t he?”
Stacey shrugged.
She then spotted a red car moving up in the direction they were facing. She looked to Jasmine.
“Let’s go the other way,” she said.
“Why?” Jasmine replied.
“I just … let’s go the other way…”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Stacey didn’t know why, but something about it didn’t feel right. Perhaps she was being overly cautious, but after Conrad was able to use magic to completely shift into his brother, then it seemed any appearance of Zane could be an imposter, much less a voice over the phone.
But then on the other hand, if Zane was dead, why would Narses or the Mage come after her to such a degree? Were they really that hell bent on revenge?
Hmm.
Yes, they were.
“Walk faster,” Stacey said to Jasmine.
“I am,” her friend complained.
Stacey looked over her head and saw the car was accelerating.
They were passing Matthew’s house now.
“Should we just go inside?” Jasmine asked.
“No,” Stacey shook her head. “No – I –”
But then, she thought, what if that really was Zane? And this was her one chance to be with him again? She didn’t even know if this red car was being driven by Xander. She could be freaking over nothing.
“Okay,” Stacey said. “Let’s just stand still.”
They both stopped. Jasmine eyed her carefully.
Then their attention turned to the car. It was slowing down.
When it came to a complete stop, the girls looked at each other.
The car door opened. This was it.
A young, extremely handsome man with dark hair, leaned over the roof of the car.
“I’m looking for Stacey Caversham,” he said.
“Who wants to know?” Jasmine shot back.
“I’m a friend of Zane’s,” he said. “I’m Xander.”
“Prove it,” Stacey said. “Prove you know Zane.”
Xander closed his door and walked over to them. He shrugged. “How do I do that?”
Stacey racked her brain. What was something only a friend of Zane would know?
“Where was Zane born?” Stacey asked.
“In the otherworld,” Xander replied.
“And when did he come here?”
“He was sent here when he was eighteen. He joined the ranks at the Island and had to work his way up.”
Stacey blinked. “Zane said he missed the otherworld and one day wished to return. He had a favorite place there he liked to call home. What was it?”
Xander didn’t flinch. “There was no such place. The Island is Zane’s home.”
Stacey took in a deep breath.
Jasmine looked at her. “Was that the correct answer?”
“I guess so.”
Xander smiled politely.
“How do you know Zane?” Stacey asked.
“I used to be a member of the Dragon’s Guard on Firebound Island. But I found it wasn’t for me. So I moved on.”
“And why didn’t he go to you for help yesterday?”
“I was an obvious choice,” Xander said. “Since the Clan knew of our friendship, I was the first place they went to find Zane. He wouldn’t be safe with me.”
“And where is Zane now?”
“He’s leaving the Island. I’m supposed to bring you to a safehouse where the two of you can meet up.”
“He can’t come here?”
Xander shrugged. “I don’t have contact with him. If you don’t feel like you want to come with me, Zane hasn’t said I’m to force you to. He said you would want to come.”
“Can I bring my friend?” Stacey asked.
“I guess so. If she wants to come.”
Stacey looked to Jasmine pleadingly.
Jasmine sighed. “I guess I owe you one for yesterday.”
Xander headed back to the car and the girls obediently followed him. Stacey still had her reservations, but even if Xander turned out to be not who he said he was, she had Jasmine with her, and they would figure a way to get out of it.
The promise of seeing Zane was far too tempting to ignore.
Once in the car, with their seats buckled, Stacey turned her head to face the house. She heard a shout from it, and saw Dennis’s figure approaching from behind the screen door.
“Shit,” Stacey murmured turning to Jasmine.
“What?” Jasmine replied.
“Your brother…” Stacey trailed off.
As Xander started the car, and began to accelerate, she saw Dennis’s figure was still behind the door, and closer to it.
But for some reason, he had completely frozen still…
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Stacey had no idea where Xander was driving them. She asked a couple of times but he hadn’t given a direct answer. She didn’t trust him. She felt really off about it. At the same time, he hadn’t done anything. He was a man of few words. At one point, early on, he offered the girls some gum. Jasmine accepted and Stacey declined.
Dusk was setting in across the suburbia. They were on the freeway, watching the glow of it fade out, between each tunnel they traveled through. It was about half an hour before the car made a stop. When they did, it was in the parking garage of a high end apartment complex, which carried on for at least twenty floors. Xander led them out of the car and into the elevator, where they stood together.
“Is Zane waiting for us here?” Stacey had asked him.
“No,” Xander replied. “But he knows about this place. If he wants to meet you somewhere else, he will let me know. Until then, we will wait here.”
“He’s not going to be too long,” Jasmine muttered. “Is he?”
“Hopefully not,” Xander said.
They arrived at his apartment a few minutes later. It was modern, spacious and very expensive looking. He said they could take what they wanted from the fridge and to just amuse themselves whilst he got changed in the other room. Jasmine found couple of vodka drinks tucked away in a bar fridge in a room at the far end of the complex when Xander was out of sight, and she gave one to Stacey to drink whilst she had one for herself.
“I bet Dennis is pissed,” Jasmine remarked.
“Maybe you should call him,” Stacey suggested.
“I’ll wait another hour or so. Someone bett
er be giving me a ride back there as well. You’ve really put me in the deep end here.”
“Sorry,” Stacey said.
“That’s alright.” Jasmine smiled brightly. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Okay.”
“When Zane shows up, can you find out if that Xander guy single?”
“Single?”
“What? He’s hot.”
“But –”
“But he’s a dragon? Apparently they’re all the rage now – haven’t you heard?”
Stacey chuckled. “I’ll mention it to him. Zane will be able to tell me if … you have any chance.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Jasmine remarked. “You don’t think he’d be attracted to me?”
“I really have no idea.”
“You should ask him for me.”
“Come on.”
“You come on,” Jasmine insisted. “I’m bored – so just ask him for me. Go on. While he’s not with the both of us.”
Stacey put her drink down, smiling, and made her way out of the room. She walked through the kitchen and then took a turn to the hallway she’d seen Xander go down just before. There were a series of closed doors.
She stood in the middle of them, and called his name. “Xander?”
She heard water running from one at the end. It wasn’t fully closed, just pushed shut. Stacey gave it a nudge, and then ventured into the bedroom.
She heard the water still running, and Xander humming to himself in the bathroom. His shirt and pants were laid out on the bed as she passed them.
“Hello?”
She stopped in the edge of the bathroom doorway, and then saw him standing over the sink, brushing his teeth. She started to speak and but then her eyes drifted to the mirror.
The face in the mirror was not Xander’s.
It was the most unspeakably, grotesque, demonic like creature – like a corpse covered in black slime. It’s eyes glowed red and so did it’s tongue.
“Hello,” Xander said calmly.
The monster’s mouth in the mirror moved with his words.
Stacey stepped back, on the verge of screaming. She tripped over her feet and landed on the floor below him.
He advanced and stood over her.
“Not one sound,” Xander whispered. “Not one.”
Shared By The Dragon Clan: Part Four Page 4