by Daniel Fife
His heart raced and his breath was heavy, but Danny didn't stop until he reached the doors at the end of the hallway. Enveloped by bright white lights, he stopped. Looking beyond the thick-paned glass, he saw the red glint of metal and recognized the compact car.
"Mom!" he yelled, pushing the doors open, practically leaping to the side of the car. He pulled on the handle, finding the car door locked. "Unlock it!" he yelled, taking a quick glance over his shoulder, half-expecting to see the shadowy creature behind him. Turning back, he pulled on the handle for the second time, his attempt coinciding with the click of the mechanism to unlock the doors. "Mom!" he yelled again, finding the door locked.
"Danny, just wait," her voice was muffled.
Risking another quick glance behind him, Danny took a deep breath. The sound of the automatic locks clicking almost caused him to jump. Exhaling, he pulled at the lever, opened the door, got in and slammed the door shut behind him.
The inside of the car was warm and welcoming as a twangy country song played on the radio.
Danny's mom looked at him with obvious disappointment. "We have a lot to talk about, young man," her tone was serious and accusing.
"I know, Mom," Danny said, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. "I know."
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Chapter 4 - Becoming Friends with a Drake
anny was wide-awake, still in his bed when his mother came to wake him for breakfast. With nightmarish dreams and jumbled, confused thoughts, sleep had been rather difficult.
Grounded for a week, despite attempts to explain his actions, Danny sighed and began his day.
The bus ride to school seemed normal enough, although Danny was in no mood for Alonso's stories.
Alonso simply shrugged and told his tale to someone else.
Danny was going through the motions, heading toward midday. To his surprise and relief, Steven Rooney kept his distance during gym class. Whether it was because of the white bandage on his nose or Mr. Ingram's watchful eye, Danny couldn't be sure. In either case, he was glad to be left alone for once.
"You okay, man?" Chris asked during their baseball game, the gym activity for the day.
"…Not sure," said Danny, looking at a fellow student getting ready to bat.
"Well, you sure waffle stomped Steven Rooney. I heard that was an epic fight."
"I guess," said Danny, though he wasn't thinking about Steven, his thoughts were far away. He wanted desperately to tell Chris what he'd seen the night before, yet he knew Chris would never believe him. Danny wasn't quite sure if he believed it himself.
"I guess?" mimicked Chris. "You broke his nose, man. The story has been going around school all morning. Heck, I just found out myself. I'm surprised you didn't call me to tell me last night."
Danny turned and looked at Chris. Danny could see that he'd hurt Chris's feelings. They were best friends, after all. "I'm sorry," said Danny with a shrug. "I just, have a lot on my mind right now."
"Hey, I understand. I get the same way after a wrestling match. It's easy to second-guess yourself," said Chris with a comforting smile.
After gym, Danny skulked his way to science class, noticing that he seemed to be the center of attention. Everyone looked at him with a mixture of fear and awe. Danny didn't feel like a hero, as the day went on, he began to feel more and more awkward. It was not what he had expected.
Science class ended with Danny in a daze. He was so focused on the events of the previous day that he didn't even acknowledge Sabrina Drake, she was sitting right next to him.
The bell chimed, echoing through the small science lab, marking the end of the period.
Still going through the motions, Danny placed his science book back into his backpack, got up, and left the room. Lost in his own thoughts, he almost failed to hear Matt call out.
"Danny, wait up!"
In a dazed state, Danny stopped and waited for his friend.
"Are you okay?"
"Yea, I guess so."
"Stephen Rooney, wish I could've seen that. How'd you pull that off?"
Danny turned and continued down the short hall, Matt followed him. "I wish I knew."
Before Matt could continue, Danny heard his name uttered lovingly by Sabrina Drake.
"Danny Firoth," she said in a soft alluring tone, materializing out of the crowd.
Danny held the door open and allowed her to breeze past him.
"Thank you," she said with a slight smile, the faint aroma of wild roses followed in her wake. "That's the second time you've held the door open for me," she said, flicking her long black hair back behind her shoulders.
Stunned by this sudden interaction, Danny nodded.
"Would you walk me to my locker?" Sabrina asked him, reaching out, grabbing Danny's right hand with her left. Pulling him gently, she urged Danny into submission.
The slight contact sent a shiver down Danny's spine. His previous distracting thoughts vanished quickly as he focused on one thing and one thing only—Sabrina Drake.
"I'll catch up with you later, Danny," Matt said, as if sensing Danny's sudden distraction.
"…Yeah, later." He followed Sabrina up the stairs, his eyes never leaving her back.
At the top of the stairs, she relinquished her hold on him, strode through the threshold, and into the hall. "Do you need to go to your locker first?" she asked, stopping, turning to face him.
With the soft touch of her hand fading, Danny refocused. "Um, no," his voice quivered, showing his nervousness.
"Okay," she said with a gleeful smile, "my locker is on the other side of the school, near the cafeteria."
"Oh, okay," as if he didn't already know—he'd scoped out the location of her locker on the second day of school. His stalking behavior had become a ritual after science class; he always took the long way to his own locker so that he could follow Sabrina to hers. He'd never expected that she'd invite him to walk with her.
Sabrina looked at him curiously, as if waiting for something. "You coming?"
"Uh, yeah," his tone rose two octaves.
"So, you broke Steven Rooney's nose, huh?" Sabrina asked, gracefully weaving through a mass of fellow students.
"So you heard about that, didn’t you?" feeling stupid for answering her question with a question. He followed her through the crowded hall.
"Actually, I saw it," Sabrina said with a smile. "I was standing on the sidewalk by the bus. It was strange. You moved as if you knew what Steven was going to do."
"Yeah, I was pretty lucky," still finding the event quite strange himself.
"Yeah," agreed Sabrina. She squinted at him for a second but the look disappeared as she replaced it with a smile. Two small dimples appeared in the corners of her mouth as her lips creased the soft skin of her face.
The pair rounded the corner, walking past the office.
"This is mine," said Sabrina, stopping in front of an olive-colored locker.
"Oh," Danny said, trying to act surprised. "It must be nice to have a locker located more or less in the middle of the school."
"Yeah, it is," twisting the combination lock, opening the slender metal door with a clang.
While trying to think of something clever to say, Danny heard the warning bell through the intercom. He'd have to hurry if he wanted to get his books before class; he didn't want to be late.
"I just forgot—I need to go to my locker," said Danny, starting to walk backward down the hall.
"Okay," said Sabrina, throwing another hypnotic smile his way.
Danny was about to turn and run when Sabrina's yell stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Hey!"
Danny turned back patiently.
"I have choir practice after school. Do you want to stay and hang out after? You can even come and watch me if you want."
"Sure," knowing that his mother had grounded him, he couldn't pass on this once in a lifetime opportunity, no matter what might happen later.
"Meet me at my locker after school," f
inished Sabrina, throwing a red book in her bag. She shut the locker, waved, then disappeared into the flow of the crowded hall.
Danny's heart fluttered as he turned and ran. Feeling light as a feather, he leapt down the stairs that led to his locker, taking them two at a time. He passed through a pair of double green doors and as he rounded the corner, Danny felt a profound exhilaration. Twisting the combination lock, Danny found it hard to concentrate—his thoughts remained on the past few moments he'd just spent with Sabrina Drake. Finishing the ritual, he opened his locker, grabbed his history book and bounded off to class. Unfortunately, the tardy bell rang seconds before he passed through the doorway.
"You are late, Mr. Firoth," said Mrs. Hershberger, jabbing the air with her finger. Older than most of the teachers, Mrs. Hershberger wore a wig of curly, thin hair the color of silver, she sported a pair of bifocals with thick lenses and always dressed in the fashion of her generation, whenever that might have been.
Danny nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Hershberger." Under the current circumstances, Danny couldn't care less. He felt amazing. As he took his seat, he could still feel his heart beating a mile a minute.
Daydreaming of the events to come, the rest of the school day went faster than Danny ever thought possible. Before he knew it, the final bell rang, signaling the end of art class and school.
Danny gathered up his belongings and made straight for his locker. He organized his homework, gathered his books into his backpack and finished in record time. Slamming the locker shut, he made his way up to Sabrina’s locker.
He waited for five minutes, no sign of her. Five minutes more, still he waited. A few minutes later, he spotted her as she rounded the corner, looked up and smiled at him. Again, his heart fluttered, his breath caught in his chest and his palms began to sweat.
At some point, during the past three classes, she had gathered her black hair up into a tight ponytail and draped it delicately over her right shoulder.
"How long have you been standing there?" Sabrina asked, dialing the combination of her locker.
Danny shrugged, "About a minute," he said, lying.
"So, are you going to be okay if you don't take the bus?" Sabrina said, as she opened her locker door.
"Yeah, I live fairly close. I can walk home. How are you going to get home?"
Sabrina smiled, rifled through her book bag and produced a silver phone. "I can call my father, he can pick me up."
"Oh."
"I could give you a ride home, if you like?"
"Sure, that would be nice."
Hefting her bag over her shoulder, Sabrina closed the locker and walked down the hall toward the choir room, Danny walked beside her.
Danny found a seat out of the way and watched devotedly as Sabrina took her position at the base of the elevated stand. During practice, Danny concentrated on singling her out, he decided that her singing was easily the most wonderful sound he'd ever heard.
As soon as choir practice ended, Sabrina smiled, said her goodbyes and approached Danny. "You ready to go?"
Danny stood, nodded and said, "You have an amazing voice."
Sabrina flushed at the compliment, her creamy cheeks turning a soft red. "Thanks," she said, swiveling on her right foot, causing her ponytail to whip around behind her. Turning, she eyed Danny with a focused intensity, her bold eyes pierced him.
Together, the pair turned the corner and walked down the hall, side by side. They left through the pair of glass doors at the front of the school, rounded the small elementary school building and headed toward a large, fenced-in playground, complete with teeter-totters, basketball equipment, swings and a rounded set of monkey bars that jutted up from the ground in a half-globe.
Sabrina took off at a slow jog and planted her right foot on the first steel bar that made up the base of the spherical jungle gym. Hand over hand, she climbed to the top and stood daringly at the summit.
Danny followed her, but instead of climbing he slipped between the bars and eyed Sabrina from beneath.
"Can I ask you a question, Danny?" she asked, staring down at him.
At that moment, she could've asked him anything and he would've answered without hesitation. "Sure."
"Do you believe in dragons?"
Danny looked down in confusion. The question left him dumbstruck. He did believe in dragons—now more than ever; he had seen one with his own eyes. However, he wondered if she would think he was odd or dumb if he answered her truthfully. This day was beyond amazing, Danny didn't want to ruin it by sounding stupid.
"Well?" said Sabrina softly.
Her musical voice yanked him from his trance. Danny gazed up at her.
"Yes, I believe in dragons."
Sabrina's mouth parted in a slight smile that quickly vanished as she hunkered down, her facial expression turning serious. "Do you believe in the Dark?"
Again, the question stirred memories of the night before, the dark creature with red eyes had haunted his nightmares. "What do you mean?"
Sabrina leaned down farther, "True darkness, a malevolent force whose only goal is to destroy all life as we know it."
The statement, so bold and imposing, caused Danny to shudder. He'd seen just such determination in the gaze of the dark creature the night before. "Why are you asking me this?"
The sky rumbled as if answering Danny's question. The once-white clouds turned dark, blotching out the comforting amber rays of the setting sun. The gloomy clouds began to swirl, producing a wind tunnel.
"What's happening?" Danny asked. A jagged bolt of lightning jutted out from within the whirling storm, perhaps a warning.
Before Sabrina could answer Danny's question, something shadowy and sinister fell from within the tempest, leaving a trail of billowing black smoke through the sky. Landing soundlessly on the ground, the dark smolder swelled outward in a wave.
Peering into the ominous haze, Danny came out from under the bars of the jungle gym. Taking two bars at a time, Sabrina climbed down and stood beside him.
The wind picked up, its strong breeze dissipated the murky mist, revealing a slender silhouette beneath. Thin red eyes flashed within the gloom as the creature took a silent step forward. The thing smiled, revealing a wicked array of sharp, silvery teeth.
Danny's breath caught in his chest. He knew this creature. It looked exactly like the monster he had seen the night before. However, this time there was no dragon to protect him. "Get behind me!" Danny yelled, pushing Sabrina behind him with his right hand, while he stepped in front of her.
In the distance, the shadowed creature stalked beyond the veil of black smoke. Its hands twitched with anticipation as a set of razor-sharp fingernails extended to the length of daggers.
"No, you get behind me!" Sabrina yelled, her voice lost its melodic timbre, it turned deep and throaty. Stepping beside him, she pressed her left palm to his chest, she pushed him backward with a sudden surge of strength that Danny would've never thought her capable of.
Danny landed roughly on his rump ten feet behind her. However, before he could comment, his eyes were drawn to Sabrina, her body began to glow.
Taking on the characteristics of the sun itself, Sabrina emanated a brilliant amber light. A pair of beautiful wings sprouted from her back. Her arms and legs extended to impossible lengths, bulging with masses of lithe muscle. Her neck stretched and a nimble tail blossomed from the base of her back. Rosy red scales completed the transformation.
Danny looked at the fully-formed dragon that stood where Sabrina had been only an instant before.
"It was you," he said after stepping back to what he thought would be a safe distance. "You're… you're the dragon," jabbing his finger in her general direction.
The dragon angled its snake-like neck in Danny's direction and eyed him, unblinking. Sabrina's soft brown eyes, now larger, with a slit pupil like that of a lizard, narrowed, as if in warning.
Seeing its chance, the dark creature took two quick lunges forward and bounded into the air.
&
nbsp; "Look out!" Danny yelled, seeing the creature's movements in his peripheral vision, pointing.
Lightning-fast, the dragon swiveled its head. Letting out a low, rumbling growl, Sabrina planted her front claws in the ground and thrashed the back of her body forward. The sudden movement caused her elongated tail to whip behind her, catching the creature in the torso, flinging it back through the air.
The creature tumbled end over end before colliding with the far fence. The chain link fence groaned and warped before pitching the creature to the ground, where it remained slumped forward.
"Is it dead?"
Sabrina returned her gaze to him and shook her scaled head side-to-side, suggesting that the answer was no.
The fence jingled, drawing Danny's attention, Sabrina followed his frightful gaze.
The creature pulled itself upright, its thin claws scraping across the metal fence, like fingernails screeching against a chalkboard. The sound sent shudders down Danny's spine.
The creature of shadow stood up, squared its stance and bounded forward, angling around for another head-on attack.
In response, Sabrina planted her front claws deep into the ground and made ready.
Panicking, Danny scanned the ground. He picked up a palm-sized stone and hefted it in his right hand, testing the weight. Hauling back, he chucked the rock with all his might, sending the stone hurtling through the air.
The creature didn't even attempt to dodge it as it charged forward with an inhuman speed.
Danny's aim remained true, but the stone passed harmlessly through the creature's head, causing its smoky skin to ripple where the rock had failed to touch it.
"That's impossible."
The stone sailed through the air, losing its speed, tumbling across the ground.
Once more, Sabrina squared her shoulders and twisted her torso, causing her long tail to lash out a second time.
In response, the creature leapt into the air in a shallow arc just above Sabrina's swift attack, causing her tail to come in contact nothing but the wind. The creature twisted in the air, completing one full rotation before thrashing out as it fell within striking distance of Sabrina's back. The creature's long silver claws raked against the pink scales of Sabrina's right shoulder, shedding a bright display of sparks.