The Stone Dragon

by H. M. Gooden

  "What's up?" Vanessa asked in a quieter area, away from earshot of Kevin or any other guests.

  Cat looked around, making sure that no one was listening before she answered in a whisper.

  "He's not safe, Vanessa, but he's human. I'm not really sure what I'm looking at, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's done something really, really awful already, or is in the process. He's someone to stay as far away from as you can."

  Vanessa looked into her sisters worried eyes and nodded.

  "I know. Everyone on set knows that Kevin is someone... important. He seems to be able to get things for people and he can make problems disappear. But everything has a price. I haven't attended any of his parties before because I don't like him. I've never spent time on set with him, because he creeps me out. If you say he's human, well, that's something, but then why are other people around him getting tarnishes on their halos then?"

  Cat shrugged. "Maybe it's just the association with him? Or maybe something he's extracting from people that makes it happen. I think Linda spent too long in his company, but I think that maybe Dave owes him money, for drugs, or possibly he's blackmailing him about something. I think that's why his aura is worse. But I don't think this is related to Dub, unless we're seeing someone he'll call to work for him in the future if we don't succeed. We probably can't save Kevin, but we might be able to prevent Dave from getting any worse. Can you find out what Dave owes him? Maybe use a little magic of your own?" Cat still didn’t understand what Kevin was, but she knew they could help Dave if they tried.

  "Sure. I'll see what I can discover. What about the other guys? Dustin and Jake?"

  Cat looked around the room, relieved to see Dustin and Evelyn standing nearby in a circle of other people discussing something animatedly, before the entire group burst out laughing. All the auras looked happy, normal, and without any stains. She saw Jake and Mai sitting together on the couch, just the two of them, and Cat could practically see their auras touching. It made her feel odd watching them, like she was intruding on a private moment, but she felt happy too, because she could see it was a good thing in the making.

  "Go ahead and mingle. I'll stay here and hang out where I can keep an eye on things. Maybe I'll go see if I can join the group Evelyn's with. I don't want to interrupt that." Cat gestured in the direction of the lovebirds on the sofa.

  Vanessa's face softened and she smiled.

  "Man, I'm a little jealous too, but your plan sounds good. I'll be back in a few minutes. Any danger if I stay near him for too long?"

  Cat gave Vanessa a helpless shrug.

  "I'm not sure. I don't think it's a situation like being too close to Declan, but I don't know if he has any power, so be careful and don't touch him."

  Vanessa nodded and headed back to the kitchen. Cat took a deep breath, steeling herself for a group discussion before joining Evelyn.

  But despite Cat's misgivings, the evening passed pleasantly. People at the party were nice and for once, Cat didn't feel awkward in a group. Vanessa spent time in the kitchen with Kevin, returning after a half hour still looking relaxed with him and the group of people that he'd been with. Around eleven, people started to drift away. The next day was a work day for most of them and actors took looking good much more seriously than Cat would've imagined. Then again, cameras did make people look older and fatter, so maybe it was more self preservation than work ethic.

  The big non-surprise of the night for Cat was that Mai was completely head over heels for Jake. The girls had rode back with Dustin and Jake as expected, but it was too late to go for burgers by the time they left the party so the guys had come up to the apartment for awhile after dropping them off to wind down. While Dustin had chatted up the three of them, Jake and Mai had remained behind in the kitchen, talking quietly where the others couldn't hear them.

  "Oh wow. It's been a blast but it's getting really late now. I have to get up soon, so we should probably head out. Let's do this again real soon, okay?"

  Dustin stood up after looking at his watch and Evelyn stood up too.

  "Yes, totally. I had a great time tonight and I'd love to hang out again before we go. Maybe we could go to a movie or something."

  Evelyn batted her eyelashes at him with an enticing smile and Dustin smiled back.

  "That would be cool. Give me a shout tomorrow and we can plan something. Vanessa has my digits."

  Dustin winked and entered the kitchen, where Jake and Mai were still quietly talking.

  "Dude, six am is only a few hours away. We have to jet."

  Jake nodded, reluctantly dragging himself away from Mai.

  "You have my number, right? Call or text me tomorrow?"

  Mai nodded, shyly smiling back at him. "I will."

  After they left and the door had been closed for several minutes, Vanessa couldn't wait any longer.

  "Okay, you guys need to spill. There was some big stuff that went down tonight and I need all the details! Grab a drink and let's go sit."

  Cat eagerly complied, as she had the least information and the second highest level of curiosity. Evelyn looked pleased with herself and sauntered into the living room, but Vanessa practically had to steer Mai to take a seat. Once they were all gathered, Vanessa cut the quiet with her excitement.

  "Okay, as much as I really, really, want to hear about Mai's night, maybe we should start with Evelyn?"

  Evelyn agreed. "Sure. I don't have much to tell. It was a good party, low key. Dustin is hot and a lot of fun. I totally wouldn't mind getting to know him better, if you know what I mean." She wiggled her eyebrows before reluctantly getting serious. "Oh, from a psychic point of view? I didn't see much. Dustin seems clean and I don't sense he has any skills, outside of a fine backside and a glorious set of biceps. Super fine."

  Evelyn sighed and Cat knew she was picturing him before she cleared her throat and got back to business. "It was the same with the others at the party. No real darkness, no flashes of anything emotional. Seemed like a pretty normal bunch of people overall, ones that likely won't be involved in our problem with big D."

  Cat nodded. She'd had the same impression. "Yeah, other than Kevin, no one at the party worried me. He seems to be the only one to watch for, unless Vanessa or Mai had concerns. Mai?"

  Cat had to raise her voice to get her attention and Mai sheepishly smiled back at her.

  "Sorry guys. I had a good night, too. I know you had asked me to get some information about Jake and I think I did. It was hard to talk about anything really deep, since we were in public, but I think he is a nice guy and I'm supposed to call him tomorrow."

  She blushed when Evelyn and Vanessa hooted at her.

  "He's a nice guy, hey?" Vanessa chortled.

  "Okay, fine. He wants to ask me out, just the two of us."

  Cat snorted at that. "You think? Oh, Mai, that guy wants to ask you to marry him. I've never seen anything like you two. Seriously, it's like you were written in the stars."

  Mai turned a deeper shade of red, but looked hopefully at Cat.

  "Really? I am not familiar with dating and I have little experience with what would be expected now. I am worried that I will ruin things, somehow."

  Evelyn and Vanessa protested.

  "Nope," said Evelyn.

  "No way," Vanessa shook her head.

  Cat added her reassurance as well.

  "I'm pretty sure this isn't something you can mess up, Mai. This is way more than a guy who just thinks you're pretty. While I've haven't seen it before, I think whatever he is and the dragon that you are have recognized each other. Not to be too cheesy. You need to go out with him, one on one, to figure out what he is. This is important, maybe not in our fight against Dub, but for you and your future."

  Mai looked at the girls, saw them all nodding in agreement, then nodded too.

  "Okay, I will call him tomorrow. Can one of you help me?"

  Evelyn swiftly jumped in.

  "I'll talk you through it, sweetie. Don't worry, like Cat said
, you really can't screw this up. Now, Vanessa, I want to hear what you found out from Kevin."

  All eyes turned to Vanessa and she grandly perched on the arm of the couch, leaning forward like a storyteller at a campfire.

  "Okay, is everyone ready?" Vanessa paused, then when she was satisfied everyone was listening, she continued. "Kevin is outwardly very nice, but we all felt that he isn't right. Cat says he has a black aura and I think that while he may be human, he's the closest to pure evil you can get in a person. He's a great conversationalist, but he's also mean and catty. Kind of like a society gossip columnist, you know?"

  Cat and Evelyn nodded while Mai looked confused, but Vanessa kept going, not stopping to explain.

  "After the usual small talk and stuff, I mentioned that Dave seems different, like he's more stressed or something. I also hinted that maybe I thought he was into something he couldn't handle and I was trying to give him a hand. Kevin didn't really spill, but hinted at the fact that Dave needed to 'reexamine' his priorities and take a break from going out so much. I get the sense that Kevin may be a dealer, or a bookie, or something, but he didn't elaborate and I'm not that great at being subtle, so I dropped it."

  "So how do we fix this?"

  Evelyn looked grumpy, having hoped that Cat would've been able to just touch-heal him and end the issue while they were there.

  "I think we need to go back to the set with Vanessa tomorrow. I can see how Linda and Dave are doing and maybe heal Dave while we're there."

  Vanessa agreed. "I'm going to try to talk to Dave to see if I can get him to tell me what he's into. If it's a drug debt, maybe we can help pay it off, and if it's something else maybe we can help with that too."

  Cat snorted. "Speak for yourself. I have zero disposable income, remember?"

  Vanessa waved her objection aside.

  "I'll handle any money issues. I'm doing okay right now."

  "Must be nice!" Cat muttered under her breath, giving Vanessa an innocent smile when she looked at her sharply.

  "Tomorrow on set then? All of us?" Mai asked, brightening. It was obvious to them all that she wanted to see Jake and it made everyone smile.

  "We'll even go a bit early, if you want to watch the guys," Vanessa offered.

  It was possibly the most altruistic thing Cat had ever seen her sister do, since it meant an earlier morning. Plans set, they soon turned out the lights, each girl thinking of the coming day with anticipation.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The next morning went smoothly, with the girls eager to get up and out. The only hitch was Mai's almost pathological ambivalence about her clothing choice for the day. Finally, with much encouragement from the others, she settled on a navy blue shirt with jeans. With a nervous smile, she and the others headed to the set.

  Once they arrived, Cat and Vanessa zeroed in on Dave, who was still twitchy and nervous near the front, while Evelyn and Mai went to watch the fight scene that the guys were still shooting.

  "Hey Dave, how's it going today? Feeling any better?"

  Dave looked at Vanessa, giving her a weak smile.

  "Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm fine. I don't know, I guess I feel a little better. It was nice talking with Mai yesterday, she's pretty cool."

  Vanessa agreed. "Yeah and she's a great roommate, too. Not only does she cook and clean, but she's not too chatty or demanding. Which makes me look worse in comparison, but hey, you can't have everything."

  Vanessa warmed him up with light chatter before plunging into the more sensitive topic. "Dave, I get that this is a touchy subject, but I have to ask. Do you owe Kevin money?"

  Dave looked startled and started to stutter. "Wha-wha-what do-do you mean? What did he say?"

  Vanessa shook her head and touched his forearm reassuringly.

  "He didn't say anything directly, but you've been looking stressed lately. Some of the things he said at the party last night made me wonder if your problems were because of him. I'm not sure he's a real friend, even though he's friendly. You know what I mean? If you need anything, any help, I'd be more than willing to be here for you."

  Dave shook his head, looking at the floor miserably.

  "Thanks, Vanessa, but you can't help me with this."

  Vanessa looked him at him sternly. "Try me."

  Dave sighed, then told her his story as he blushed with embarrassment.

  "I was really stupid. There was this guy. I thought he really liked me. I kind of tried to impress him and Kevin encouraged me, convincing me to borrow some money from a friend of his. Turns out, it was a set up. Once I stopped borrowing, the guy I liked was gone. Now Kevin has started to get threatening. He says I have a week to get the money, or else I have to start doing 'favors' for him. I'm guessing that doing favors for him won't be great for my conscience or my future."

  Dave looked as defeated as a guy could and the suspicious sparkle of tears in his eyes prompted Cat, who'd stayed quiet until now and slightly hidden behind Vanessa, to reach her hand out and place it over his. He jumped in surprise.

  "You can trust Vanessa, and me too, Dave. You have nothing to worry about. We can help you keep your conscience intact and get rid of Kevin. How much do you owe him?"

  Dave scuffed his toe on the ground, kicking at it almost absently.

  "Five grand. It's maybe not a lot for some people, but it's more than I make in several months."

  Cat nodded. It sounded like a lot of money to her. While she couldn't help him find the money, she could help with his aura and stress levels. She sent a burst of warmth through her hand into his. She watched with satisfaction as the dark stains melted, breaking into pieces and vanishing, leaving a healthy, intact aura behind. The change in his mood was instant. Dave went from looking twitchy and pale to relaxed and healthy.

  "I think I can help you with the money, Dave. It'll clean me out, but if you promise to pay me back, I think I can have it to you by tomorrow."

  Both Dave and Cat's mouths fell open, but Cat managed to close hers before Vanessa noticed.

  "Really? You'd do that for me? I totally promise to pay you back, but it may take me the next year. Are you sure?"

  Vanessa smiled. "I'm sure. I wouldn't let my worst enemy be in debt to that guy. Something about him doesn't sit right with me."

  Dave gave her a big hug. Vanessa patted his back awkwardly, then made a point of looking at her watch.

  "Oh, jeeze! Look at the time. I have to get ready."

  Vanessa gave Dave an apologetic smile as she extricated herself and he looked at her with limitless gratitude.

  "Thanks. You don't know what this means to me."

  Vanessa gave his shoulder a squeeze and the girls walked away, toward the trailer Vanessa used to get ready.

  "So, how did it go?" Vanessa asked, opening the trailer door.

  Cat hesitated, not sure if she was allowed in, but followed when Vanessa gestured impatiently. The trailer was empty when they entered, so Cat answered.

  "Good. His aura is back to normal now. I'm just happy it wasn't drugs. Well, not addiction anyways. There was still something unhealthy about it, but it's good now." said Cat, then abruptly changed subjects. "By the way, where the heck did you get five grand?"

  Vanessa gave her a Cheshire Cat smile. "From working. I just got a raise and I'll be here another month at least, maybe more. So, worst case I don't get the money back, I'm still breaking even."

  Cat whistled. "Nice. I'm jealous. Too bad acting isn't in my future. Hey, what does Kevin do anyway? He doesn't really seem like an actor, although Mai thought he was."

  Vanessa put on some lipstick, smacking her lips together before blotting and answering. "He's a screenwriter, so he does a lot of the rewrites of the original story. He's pretty good, apparently. And even though most of us don't like or trust him, you have to be nice or you could find yourself written out. I'm trying to be a nice, quiet girl off-set so that he doesn't try to rope me into some of the wilder stuff. He can access drugs, clubs, and probably prostitutes, according
to some of the things I've heard. I don't want to end up down skid row like other up and comers in the past, so I'm keeping my distance while smiling pretty."

  Cat shuddered, not wanting to think of her sister in that position.

  "I'm glad. I don't want you anywhere near him."

  Vanessa took a last look at herself in the mirror before turning around.

  "Let's go see what the others are up to. I want to watch Jake and Mai in action. Something about those two makes even my jaded heart flutter."

  Cat agreed. While she wasn't in a rush to experience love for herself, it was fascinating to watch it happen nearby at a safe distance.

  They caught up with their friends sitting on folding chairs, near the alley Vanessa had been in the previous day. From the looks of things, it seemed to be a follow up scene to whatever had been shot the day before, which Vanessa informed her was just happenstance. Shooting was often out of order, depending on what scenery was needed.

  The guys were truly impressive to watch. It was clear that they'd all done some type of martial arts training, because they looked like they really knew how to fight. While not interested personally, Cat appreciated the muscular lines of guys wearing sleeveless shirts as much as the next seventeen year old girl.

  "How did things go?" Evelyn whispered, not taking her eyes off the fighting, and Cat caught her friend focusing on Dustin's arms rolling her eyes before she answered.

  "Good. I think we sorted out Dave's situation. The only problem is I don't think we can do much to protect people from Kevin. He's a human with no conscience and a black soul. I can't make him different, because he's not broken. That's just how he is."

  Evelyn shrugged, taking her eyes off Dustin just long enough to pat Cat's arm.

  "Can't win 'em all. People always have good and bad in them, some more bad than others. That's what the police and the legal system are for. Human rules for human abuses."