by Jenna Payne
“Sure,” he said, smiling.
Her heart was beating fast, and heat was creeping throughout her body, filling her with the familiar desire that she’d been trying to ignore the past days whenever they were together.
As they sat side by side in the living room, enjoying the snacks she’d prepared, she couldn’t help noticing how his hands kept brushing against her knee or shoulder while he gestured and talked. She knew that he’d been trying to gauge her too.
“Jen…” he suddenly said at one point, looking serious. “I want to talk about that night at the hotel.”
Jen met his intense gaze, her insides churning and her heart racing.
“I had some to drink, but I didn’t just get carried away,” he told her sincerely. “I wanted you, but not temporarily. I still want you, but I don’t want to give you the impression that it’s all just physical for me.”
He took her hands and began to caress them. She could feel her body responding.
He continued, “Now that we have gotten to know each other better, I’m hoping we can take the next step.”
Jen’s heart pounded even harder. “What do you mean?” she breathed.
“I want you to be mine,” he simply said, his eyes not leaving hers.
Her heart almost stopped. She could tell that he really meant what he said. A part of her was terrified because she knew that she’d be risking her heart again.
“Let me take care of you, Jen,” he said. Then he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. It was fleeting, gentle and sweet.
Jen could feel the taste of his lips lingering on her mouth. He was waiting for her to react, but all she could think of at that moment was how much she wanted to kiss him and feel his touch again.
“It’s okay, you can think about it,” he suddenly said, leaning back. She felt disappointed. But she just nodded as he changed the topic to the latest project they were doing at work.
As their discussion led to the topic of dragon shapeshifters, she could not help imagining the hideous creatures living among humans at present. She wondered if their kind had actually survived through the years without the knowledge of people.
“Do you think there’s a possibility that there are still dragon shifters to this day, hiding among humans?” she wondered aloud.
He paused for a short while, seemingly in deep thought. Then he nodded, saying, “Yes, I think so. But if they do still exist, maybe it’s not a bad thing. If they wanted to cause trouble, they surely would have done it long ago.”
“But maybe they’re afraid of being overpowered by humans because there are only a few of them now… What if they wanted to rule the world and kill all the humans or something?” she said in fear.
Jack chuckled. “You’ve been watching too many fantasy movies.”
Jen relaxed a bit, laughing too. “You’re right.”
“Who knows?” he said. “These creatures may actually be able to help humans with things beyond the human capacity. Their extraordinary strength, sharp minds, and ability to fly may just be what we need in this world. And since they’re half-humans too, they also have hearts that care and love.”
Jen shrugged with a laugh. “I think you’re the one who’s been watching a lot of fantasy! But yeah, who knows?”
*****
Taking a deep breath, Jen walked up to Jack’s two-story contemporary house. As she looked up to admire the modern architecture, for a while, she forgot all about her original purpose for going there in the first place.
This house must have cost a fortune! she thought in combined awe and bewilderment, staring at the beautiful house with a nicely manicured front lawn. I knew Jack came from a well-off family, but this is… Wow!
She was about to knock on the front door when she noticed that it was ajar. She crept inside and heard several voices talking. The sound seemed to be coming from the back. She followed the talking, admiring the lovely interiors as she walked past the living room and onto the dining area. There were sliding doors that led to a huge garden.
Her heart hammered faster as she came nearer. She tried to picture breaking the news to Jack, unsure how he would take it. She couldn’t believe that her so-called night of freedom had led to this. Would she be paying the price of her mistake for the rest of her life?
Her mind drifted back to the pregnancy test kit she’d used early that morning. She had been holding back, convincing herself that her period had just been delayed because of stress. But the two lines did not lie. She’d actually repeated the test just to make sure. Again two lines. She was pregnant.
As she made her way across the spacious, luxurious hall, a part of her wondered how he’d amassed the kind of money needed for a house like this one. He wasn’t from a rich family, after all. And from what she knew of his employment record, she was certain it was impossible to afford a house like this.
She heard his voice coming from a nearby room with the door ajar. It seemed like a huge library or office from where she stood.
“No, listen to me…” he was saying in a terse tone, his deep, gruff voice echoing against the walls.
Her heart beat faster. It didn’t seem like a good time to tell him what she’d just found out. She began to turn around to leave. But then, his next words made her freeze.
“Jen Smith is mine…” he said through gritted teeth. “She’s going to be my queen, I’m telling you… whether she likes it or not…”
Jen suddenly felt her body turning hot and cold at the same time. Sweat broke out on her forehead. The air conditioned house suddenly felt like it was on fire. The spacious hall began to close in on her, the walls seemingly narrowing.
She leaned on the wall behind her, shutting her eyes and shaking her head in disbelief. Her head began to throb in rhythm with her racing heart.
Somehow she knew she needed to get out of there. But then, she couldn’t seem to make her feet move. The world around her was turning and churning.
“Who are you to make me rush?!” she suddenly heard Jack yell angrily. It was the first time she’d heard him actually lose his temper and burst out like that. “I am the Dragon King! Nobody tells me what to do!”
Dragon King?! Jen thought in panic. What’s he talking about?
In her mind, she tried to force herself to take a step further away. Her head was badly aching now and she felt like throwing up at any time.
A thunderous sound came from the room at that very moment. It was like an explosion of furious animals crashing into one another, mixed with a reverberating rumble that ignited great fear in Jen.
What was that?
The frightening sound was followed by a deafening bellow that Jen recognized to be Jack’s own voice. He appeared to be in intense pain.
Curiosity and concern won over her fear, as she decided to tiptoe closer to the open door to see what was happening. To her utmost shock, the sight that greeted her was one that she never would have guessed she’d encounter in real life.
Her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. She watched in horror as the man whom she was beginning to fall in love with and whose baby she had inside of her started transforming into a… monster. He screamed in seemingly unbearable pain as his face twisted into a distortion of all sorts, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and turning into fiery red. His nose shrank back just as his mouth protruded, growing into a full snout with sharp fangs.
His skin had turned greenish-brown, like a reptile. Clean, shiny spikes came out of his head, running down the length of his back. As he thrashed about and continued to scream in agony, he crashed into the chairs and shelves of books beside him, making them topple onto the floor.
All of a sudden, he stood up straight, his clothes now in tatters. Huge wings began to rise from his sides, reaching the ceiling and smashing onto the chandelier above. Pieces of glass fell onto the floor.
Jen couldn’t believe her eyes. “Oh, my God!” she whispered in terror. “He’s a… a…” She turned around then and ran as fast as she could. Her
vision was becoming blurry, but she just kept on going.
She’d almost reached the front door when the dizziness made her lose her balance and tumble to the ground. Everything went black.
*****
Jen’s eyes fluttered open, she momentarily forgot what had happened. All she knew was that she’d had a very bad dream.
The scent of fresh flowers filled her nose. And as her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the posh countryside-themed room, she found herself staring at literally hundreds or even thousands of colorful blooms around her.
“Jen…” a gentle, low voice whispered from her right.
She turned around and met the troubled gaze of familiar gray eyes. Seeing Jack’s handsome face brought back the horrible nightmare she’d had. “Oh, thank God you look normal again and it was all a dream…” she said with great relief, almost laughing at the incredible image her mind had conjured up. “You wouldn’t believe it, Jack… I think I’ve been working too hard on this dragon stuff in the lab that I actually dreamt of you turning into one of them!”
Jack gave her a faint smile. “How are you feeling, Jen?” he simply asked, ignoring her story.
Jen sat up in bed. “I’m okay, I think,” she said. But then, she now had a better view of the massive room filled with flowers. The place was beautiful and enchanting, but certainly new to her. “Where are we?”
He lifted his hand to her cheek and gently caressed it. “This is my real home, Jen. It’s far away from the city. I brought you here after you lost consciousness.”
“What do you mean?” she asked in a puzzled tone. Suddenly, every detail of her dream came back to her in vivid images. She leaned closer and looked into his eyes. He seemed to be hiding something from her.
Her heart began to thump harder. “What’s going on?” she whispered in a slightly frightened tone, even though she wasn’t sure if she could actually handle the truth.
Jack remained quiet, appearing to be weighing things.
She remembered what had transpired before her supposed dream. She’d discovered something really big that she needed to tell Jack immediately. Something that would possibly change both of their lives. But now, she felt as if he had something bigger to tell her.
Slowly, he moved closer and kissed her on the lips very softly. She could feel he really, deeply cared for her. “I love you, Jen,” he told her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t reveal the truth earlier. But now, it’s time. You have to know.”
Jen’s heart was pounding madly. She held her breath, waiting for him to go on.
“What you saw or you thought you dreamt of… all of it… is real…”
Jen could feel her heart almost exploding as the image of the bloodcurdling monster came back to her. Her eyes filled with tears as she shook her head in disbelief. “No, it can’t be…” she murmured in confusion and anguish.
“I’m a dragon shifter, Jen,” he said calmly. “Half-human, half-dragon. You of all people should know that it’s possible. There are many of us scattered all over the country and even in other parts of the world. We’ve kept low profiles, though, and tried to blend in with ordinary humans.”
“Impossible…” Jen whispered, her face turning pale.
“It’s true,” Jack insisted. “I lead thousands of dragon shapeshifters. I am their king. And we are in a remote town in the countryside where many of us reside.”
He squeezed both of her hands then. “I’m not a bad person, Jen. We’re not monsters. I’ve fallen in love with you and I want you to be my queen. This lovely room is all yours. Everything I have will be yours as well.”
Jen took her hands away from his and moved back. Instinctively, her hands flew to her womb. “I-I c-can’t do this…” she stammered in fear and panic. “Get away from us!”
“Us?” Jack asked in bewilderment. His eyes shifted to her stomach which she was clutching. Then she saw his eyes fill with understanding as his gaze went back to her face.
She couldn’t tell what was running through his mind then. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from him as possible.
“We have a baby, Jen?” he asked, his tone softening even more. The expression on his face was one of combined amazement and joy.
“No, you can’t touch this baby!” Jen hissed. “You’re some kind of mutant or monster! You’ve been duping us!”
He reached out to her but she escaped from his grasp and hurried to the wooden door at the far end of the room. Unfortunately it was locked. She banged on it repeatedly, screaming for help.
“Nobody will hear you,” Jack told her as he sauntered toward the door. “And even if they could, everybody here is the same as me. This is the land of dragon shapeshifters and I am their king. Do you really think any of them would dare to defy me?”
Jen began to cry helplessly as she realized how defenseless she was. There was nothing she could do to change the situation at the moment. “I don’t want to be any dragon’s queen…” she whimpered.
At that moment, Jack took her in his arms, trying to soothe her with his embrace and soft kisses on her head. “Jen, this is still me. I’m not just any dragon or any human. I’m the Jack who loves you very much.”
She cried even more.
“I know it’s hard to process it all right now… But think of the baby you’re carrying. Crying won’t do him or her any good. And besides, that’s my baby too. There’s a huge chance that the baby may turn out to be like me. In that case, you can’t have any other doctor find out the truth. The media will feast on you! Scientists may even want to experiment on the baby!”
Jen buried her face in her hands and just let Jack comfort her as her shoulders racked uncontrollably. She knew in her mind that he was right. She had no choice but to stay with him, at least for the time being.
After a while, Jack was able to get her back in bed to rest and calm down. He had several servants attend to her so she could eat, bathe, and get dressed. He even had a doctor come in to check on her.
Meanwhile, Jen simply went along, her mind and heart still jumbled up. I must go along with all this until I can figure out a way to escape, she thought. Staring at the elderly, kind-looking doctor, she wondered if he too was a scary-looking dragon when he transformed. She shivered in disgust and dread.
Later that evening, she was feeling a lot better. She had calmed down completely after finally realizing that neither Jack nor any of the others there had any intentions of harming her.
A swooshing sound close by made her whip around toward the large window of the room. She quickly ran to it and opened it. A cool breeze greeted her, blowing strands of her hair around her face. With eyes wide open, she peeked out and looked from left to right. There was nothing odd around. No flying dragons as she’d expected.
She sighed, not knowing whether to be relieved or disappointed. An idea was actually forming in her head, giving her more reason to want to stay behind and play along with the current situation.
The room she was in seemed to be located on the third floor, from what she could see. Looking down below, she could make out the dark shapes of trees and other plants across a vast space which was probably a field or garden. Behind it, she noticed sparkling water in the darkness, which was probably a lake.
There was a full moon in the sky, illuminating shadows of people on the ground, who were moving in unison and whispering amongst themselves.
“Could this be some kind of cult?” she wondered aloud.
At that instant, something colossal flew past her. She followed it with her eyes as it soared upward. The enormous wings spread out in the sky.
Jen gulped. It was a real dragon. She couldn’t be mistaken.
Suddenly, the dragon roared while it flew in the sky. A blaze of fire came out from its mouth, making her step back in shock and fright. She watched it whoosh lower past some trees. Soon it was joined by two other dragons. The three of them seemed to be playing a game, throwing balls of fire toward the horizon and creating what looked like glowing firewo
rks in the night.
“I have to get out of here,” Jen said to herself, running toward the door of the bedroom. She didn’t have a plan and didn’t even know where she was exactly; just that she was not in the city. But she knew she had to do something or she would go insane.
To her surprise, the door was open. She easily slipped out of the room and a large hallway decorated in modern rustic interiors. She silently made her way down the stairs, carefully watching out for anyone who might be around.
When she reached the second floor of the house, she could hear a lot of jolly, excited noise coming from the backyard which she figured was the area she could see from the window earlier. She realized they were having some kind of festivity outside, which would be perfect timing for her to sneak out.
When she finally got to the first floor, she was even more cautious as she tried to move from one area to another, looking for the main door leading to the front street.
But just as she was about to reach it, she caught sight of a small office that had framed photos of newspaper clippings and enlarged images of dragon skeletons and other evidence. Curious, she paused for a while and peeked inside. When she came closer, she saw that the clippings were all about news on dragon research and discoveries of dragon remains. She found one that even mentioned the lab where she was working.
Suddenly, an idea came to her. If this was a dragon’s lair and they were likely to worship her as their queen, she could gather tons of information on dragon shapeshifters and come up with a breakthrough report that would likely rock the world of modern scientific research. She would be at the helm and would have all the credit. Imagine what that could do for her career!
When she came out of the office, she was dazed. So many thoughts were running through her mind. Slowly she found herself heading toward the back door instead of the front door. I can make an expose on these dragon shapeshifters, she realized. I’ll be an instant superstar and millionaire. It’ll be amazing! And besides, I’ll that money for my baby’s future.
Without thinking any further, she moved toward the back door. Somebody actually beat her to it, a dark-haired beautiful woman who’d probably come from the kitchen. She seemed a little bit older, but looked really pretty and friendly too.