The Predator Awaits 
******************* 
by Teri 


Teri walked slowly across the drawbridge and away from the Castle, stopping 
only long enough to kick disconsolately at a half-buried rock beside the 
road. The sun was shining beautifully which somehow only seemed to accentuate 
the blackness of her mood.  Suddenly, irrationally angry at the stubborness 
of the rock that dared to be there sparkling in the sun, she dug at the 
surrounding dirt with her foot until she could kick it loose from its resting
place. Swooping up the offending rock, she tossed it into the air a couple 
times marveling at her wonderous skill at actually being able to catch it
while she shuffled forlornly along the edge of the moat. 

Anyone who knew her, probably would have taken one look at her dark expression 
and carefully given her a wide berth, well......all except for one or two who 
may have taken their life into their hands and tried to badger her into a 
more cheerful mood. She could just hear Nay now....."Who crawled up YOUR butt
and started rooting for gold?" And Sherri.......Teri didn't even want to 
*think* about what Sherri would have to say if she found her right now, but 
it probably wouldn't be as polite as "What the hell is wrong with you?" 

What the hell *was* wrong with her? She sighed in frustration and tossed the 
rock into the air again. After all, it was a *gorgeous* afternoon, and she 
had it all to herself. She had lots of friends here in DenialLand, in and 
outside of the Castle, she had some really interesting acquaintances of the 
Undead persuasion, and now......now she had a rock. Woohoo. 

She sighed again and flopped down on the bank of the moat, kicking her tennis 
shoes off and dangling her feet in the cool water swirling around the Castle. 
She tried to analize her foul mood as she intently studied the color patterns
of the rock in her hand. Why was she feeling angry? She was angry at the rock
for being there, she was angry with the Kitchen help for being rude, she was 
angry with the sun for still being UP and shining so brightly, guaranteeing 
that none of her favorite Vampires would be stopping in soon to make her feel
better. And she was angry with herself for feeling worthless. 

There. There was the crux of it. What good was she? What meaningful 
contribution did she make to Castle life? She was Official Chief of Security,
but who needed security here in DenialLand? Besides, the Castle had its very 
own dragon who cheerfully kept any would-be pranksters or evildoers at bay. 
And if anything got past the dragon, Abra had the Ice-water Vat and a 
veritable arsenal of defenses. What did *she* have? Nothing really left over 
for her to do there. Nobody at the Castle liked Country music, so they had no
use for her questionable music abilities, they didn't have the Castle Stables
built yet so there were no horses for her to care for, and she'd just been 
chased out of the Castle Kitchen once again. She scowled at the rock like it 
was its fault. 

Fault? She humphfed at herself irritably. It was nobody's fault. She really 
couldn't even blame the Kitchen help. They were right. Any time she tried to 
help out in the kitchen it was a total disaster. Knighteyes had tried to back 
her up this time, but there was only so much magic in the world and it wasn't 
enough to make them forget what happened Last Time. The scorch marks on the 
wall still hadn't completely faded. Teri hurled the rock away from her, 
watching it sploop into the water and sink out of sight. The current of the 
water didn't allow for ripples so that was boring. She kicked her feet idly 
and sighed again. Then, finally remembering the little brown paper bag 
Knighteyes had slipped her by way of consolation as she was ushered 
uncerimoniously out the door, she opened the top and peered in at the 
contents. 

********** 

The rock slipped into the moat and dropped like....well, like a rock. It 
disturbed very little as it settled softly to the bottom, even the fish 
barely noticed its passing. But SOMETHING did. Two gleaming eyes opened and a
massive head turned to follow the movement. Tendrils of smoke puffed slightly 
from the nostrils that barely cleared the surface of the water, seconds 
before the nostrils sealed themselves for an underwater excursion. With a 
hush that was almost eerie, eyes, nostrils and everything in between 
disappeared beneath the murky waters, momentarily replaced by the coils of a 
ridged and scaly tail as the owner dived deeply, silently into the depths. 

********** 

Teri peeked into the bag and laughed out loud inspite of herself. Chocolate 
pops. Anatomically correct, of course! What else would a castle full of 
Perverts munch on? And at least a dozen cookies! No wonder the Kitchen had 
smelled so scrumptious. These cookies were still warm! Bless her heart. She'd
have to remember to thank Knighteyes again later.   She reached in and 
blindly grabbed the first thing that came to hand, pulling out a chocolate 
pop.  She smirked to herself as she examined the intricate details of the 
facial features carved into the chocolate. This one was Nick. The artist that
had created these molds was good! The face, the hair, the eyes....everything 
was a nearly perfect reproduction. Her bemused inspection of the candy was 
not quite detached enough to travel any lower on the figure's anatomy. The 
very thought of it made her blush and look away. 

Hummphf! Some Pervert *she* was! Heck, she couldn't even EAT these things 
without turning their little faces away and resolutely NOT looking at them 
while she broke them into unrecognizable pieces! She proceeded to do so, 
rendering the Nicky-pop into an unremarkable pile of chocolate bits on her 
lap, munching on a couple pieces while she stared morosely into the moat. 

********** 

Deep in the shadowed waters beneath the drawbridge, two glowing golden eyes 
narrowed and changed hues, becoming slightly tinged with red. Water swirled 
against the normal current as a huge unseen body slithered surrepticiously 
upstream toward its unsuspecting prey. Fish scattered frantically in all 
directions as the menacing shape moved lithely along the edge of the moat, 
creeping ever closer. 

********** 

Teri hated feeling this way, all grumpy and out-of-sorts. If she couldn't 
stand herself like this, how could she expect anyone else to put up with her?
What to do about it? She puzzled it over in her mind, without noticing that 
she'd crumbled a second chocolate pop before she'd finished more than a 
couple pieces of the first. More than a few chocolate crumbles tumbled off 
her lap and into the water below her. 

********** 

The sinister darkness flowed toward its intended victim, a mere shadow in the 
murky depths. The target never moved, completely oblivious to any danger. As 
quickly dissolving crumbs of chocolate swirled past the nostrils, the 
gleaming eyes darkened to an even deeper red in anticipation. From almost the 
bottom of the moat the hunter pushed itself violently upwards, moving with an
unbelievable speed and agility. There would be no escaping. 

********** 

Teri discovered she had yet *another* chocolate pop in her hand, and was sort
of surprised to look down at the face of LaCroix as she prepared to 
heartlessly dessimate the pop. Suddenly the serene afternoon exploded around 
her in a confusion of sound and movement.  She didn't even hear herself 
scream, as she caught only glimpses of scales, ridges, wings and teeth, and 
water erupted all around her, drenching her in the blink of an eye. Hot, 
smokey breath blasted over her and chocolate bits flew everywhere. Reflex 
caused her to cringe before the massive creature as it focused its glowing, 
multi-faceted eyes on her and lowered its huge snout, jaws agape revealing 
row after row of long, incredibly sharp fangs. The head swung lower, closer, 
smoke rolling from the nostrils as the great mouth opened further and it 
said..... 

"BOO!" 

"AAAAAUUUURRRRRRGGHHH!!!!" Teri roared back, half angry and half choking on 
repressed laughter. She threw the only thing she had in her hand, which just 
happened to be the poor, doomed Nunkies-pop. With a quick snap of those 
deadly-looking jaws, the pop vanished and the dragon settled back into the 
water crooning happily to itself as it munched. Only bubbles marked the spot 
where it had just been. The beast was incorrigible! Sneaking up on people 
like that! It would eventually be the death of someone, she just knew it! She 
wrung the water out of her hair and then noticed with an aggravated sigh that
she'd lost all of her chocolate pieces. From the swirling of the water and 
the migration of the air bubbles which kept relocating beneath her, she 
surmised that someone was enjoying quite a chocolate feast under the surface. 

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the long scaly snout broke the surface 
again, eyes gleaming with a smug expression. The dragon raised its head along
with several yards of blue and purple neck out of the water and gracefully 
lowered its chin until it almost rested in her lap. 

"Ptooey!"It said very clearly, as it spit the well-chewed chocolate pop stick 
into her lap. 

"Oh, gee, thanks a lot." Teri said with a full measure of sarcasm in her 
voice. At least the thing knew better than to litter the moat. The dragon 
settled lower into the water, tipping its head on its side and blowing smokey 
bubbles just beneath the surface, peering hopefully up at her with those 
glowing eyes. It batted its non-existant eyelashes at her coyly and crooned 
again. "I don't HAVE anymore. You ate them all!" she scolded. Unabashed and 
unbelieving, the dragon inched a little closer to the bank, aiming for the 
now soggy paper bag. 

"You are a total MOOCH. Do you know that?"Teri snatched the bag out of reach, 
hoping that *some* of its contents were salvageable. Peeking in, she saw that 
while the chocolate pops were indeed gone, most of the cookies seemed to be 
no worse for their bath. "You're not going to go away, are you?" The dragon 
didn't exactly shake its head, but she got the distinct impression the answer
was "no". With a sigh, she held out a cookie which was delicately taken from 
her fingers by teeth that could have easily severed her arm without noticing.
"It's chocolate chip......it will have to do." Without argument the dragon 
was obviously enjoying the slightly damp cookie, and she'd barely had time to
bite into one herself before it was begging cutely for another. Suddenly, 
midbite, the dragon's head swiveled around toward the Castle drawbridge, eyes 
wide and swirling. 

"What?" asked Teri, looking around for whatever had caught its attention. 
Seeing nothing, she turned back but the dragon had disappeared completely 
under the water. Suspiciously, Teri checked the bag of cookies to make sure 
it hadn't been some kind of ploy. No.....it was still there and so were most 
of the cookies....... 

"Teri??" called out a voice. "Are you ok? I thought I heard a scream....." 

"Hi, Steph! Yeah....I'm ok." Teri was still wondering about the dragon's 
sudden disappearance, but didn't think to mention it to her friend as Stephni
stepped to the edge of the drawbridge and peered down at her on the bank. 
Before either could say another word, water geysered on the other side of the
drawbridge as the dragon pulled its favorite trick and launched straight into
the air from beneath the walkway. Huge wings sprayed water liberally in all 
directions and the sharp exhalation of dragon breath sent smoke and steam 
billowing around Stephni. As startled as Teri had been moments before, Steph 
screamed and flinched, losing her balance and falling into the moat. 

"Steph??? Steph????"" Teri scrambled to her feet, fervently hoping Stephni 
could swim. Before she had a chance to do more than fret, the dragon swooped 
back under the drawbridge and plucked Stephni from the water, depositing her 
safely on the bank. 

"STUPID dragon!"snarled Steph, swatting at it as if it would *feel* a slap 
with that scaly hide. " Now you know why I think it's name should be 'You 
Idiot'!!" 

Teri laughed. "Haven't they decided on a name yet?" 

"No!"grumbled Steph,"But I think 'Moron' works too!" The dragon crooned 
charmingly once again slinking low into the water until nothing but nostrils 
and eyes were visible. "Don't you even try to make up, 'You Idiot'! And if 
you mess around and accidentally inhale some more water, and put out your 
pilot light again, Nay's gonna be mad at you!" Steph rolled her eyes in 
disgust and turned to Teri. "Whoever heard of a Firebreather spending so much
time under water? Stupid dragon! Now I have to go change clothes again." 

"Hi guys!" a voice rang out behind them. "Seen Cinder?" 

"Yes!" answered Steph, quickly reaching out and tweaking what passed for the 
dragon's left ear before it had a chance to hide itself below the surface. 
"It's right here! Stupid dragon!" Cyn gave her friend an odd look, pausing to 
note both Teri and Steph's soggy condition before she reached over the bank 
to scritch the dragon's broad face affectionately. 

"Hi, Cinder! How ya doing, boy?"Cyn fished a carefully wrapped chocolate bar 
out of her pocket. "I brought something for my favorite dragon. Here ya 
go.....I saved it just for you!" 

The dragon's eyes sparkled with delight and he raised that long neck up, 
stretching forward to accept the gift as the neck scales glistened bright 
greenly in the sunlight. With a mouthful of chocolate, he rolled over in the 
water, exposing the lighter green belly scales for scratching, which Cyn 
obligingly supplied. 

"Sorry boy, but I gotta run." She looked at Teri and Stephni again. "You 
know, it's not healthy to stand around in wet clothes. You really ought to 
change." And with those final words of wisdom, she was gone, leaving Steph 
grumbling in her wake. 

"No f@$%# mutter mumble.......STUPID Dragon!" Steph growled again, casting 
another black look at the creature before she squelched off toward the 
Castle. 

Teri was sorry that Steph's afternoon had been ruined, but she had to laugh 
as she suddenly realized that *she* was no longer in a foul mood. She reached 
into the cookie bag and tossed another chocolate chip cookie to the beast in 
the water. 

"She calls you "Cinder", eh boy?"Teri asked rhetorically. The dragon couldn't 
really speak, though she swore it understood every word everyone said. "Boy? 
Are you a boy?" The dragon licked its muzzle with a chocolate smeared forked 
tongue and blinked innocently at her. "Not telling, are you?" Again, there 
was no answer, but the dragon happily snapped up the next cookie. "I still 
like 'Phydeaux'. That could be either male or female, the way it's spelled." 

"Oh look!!! There's Smokey!" Teri turned to see who was approaching this 
time, but didn't recognize the girl. There were so many Castle residents 
these days, she didn't have names for all the faces. Hmmm....this must be one
of the Lurkers, Teri thought. The young lady smiled shyly at Teri before 
kneeling on the bank and reaching over the side. "C'mere girl! There's my 
pretty girl!" The dragon immediately placed the top of her head conveniently 
within scratching reach, enjoying the attention with closed eyes and a happy 
sigh. "Smokey is the most beautiful dragon in the world, don't you think? I'd
never realized there were so many shades of silver!" 

Silver? Teri had thought the dragon looked blue and purple. But no, there in 
the sunlight, it was quite obvious that she was a deep charcoal fading to a 
brilliant silver! She watched the girl toss a chocolate morsel to the 
gleaming silver she-dragon and puzzled over this new discovery of dragon 
magic. The Lurker rose to her feet and then paused. "You know....." she said 
hesitantly. "Ummm.....it's not real healthy to sit around in wet clothes." 
And with a last pleasant nod to Teri, she headed off into the Castle, glowing 
dragon-eyes following her wistfully. 

"Some Watchdragon you are! You like everybody!" complained Teri 
affectionately. The dragon turned its face back to her, once again gleaming 
in rich hues of blue with purple overtones. Its expression was haughty, 
almost disdainful and it blew a reproachful snort in her direction.  That 
Person was a resident of the Castle, and therefore was in the dragon's care. 
Of *course* it liked her! Though the dragon still hadn't uttered a word, Teri
felt as if she'd been slapped for her stupidity. She made amends with another
cookie. Teri's mind wandered back to the problem she'd been trying to work 
out. 

"What am I gonna do, buddy?" 

*scratch here and gimme another cookie* 

"Yeah.....that's your answer for everything, isn't it? Wups! Looks like that's 
it for the chocolate chip. What are these?" she mused to herself. "Mmmmmm, 
oatmeal. These are yummy too, even though I like 'em better without the 
raisins." She offered one to the beastie in the moat, and it sniffed 
suspiciously before deciding to take it. The sound of laughter and 
conversation floated over to them as a couple more Castle residents 
approached the drawbridge from the other direction. Almost too quick for the 
eye to follow, the dragon was underwater and enroute to make their day a 
little wetter. A whoosh, a sploosh and a couple of startled screams later, 
the dragon was back looking terribly pleased with itself. It raised its long 
royal blue neck out of the water again, smirking at her for a moment before 
lowering its chin to her lap once more. 

"Ptoo-ptoo-ptoo-ptoo-ptoo!" 

"Ewwwwww!"Teri eyed the sticky little pile of raisins with distaste, and then 
dropped them into the moat for the fish. "I take it they're not your favorite 
either?" 

"Who are you talking to? Vlad?"The familiar voice came out of nowhere, 
causing Teri to jump and look behind her, where she found Nay, Castle-mom 
Extraordinaire. 

"Yeah, he's right th......."Teri turned back to an empty moat. Not a 
dragonwhisker in sight. "Well, he WAS right there!" 

"Uh-oh....gone into 'stealth-mode', has he? Someone's in trouble," Nay 
laughed. "Hmmmmm.....probably me!" She gave Teri an ornery grin."Heehee! 
Watch this!" Nay strolled along the bank toward the drawbridge nonchalantly, 
trying not to show that she was aware of how the water swirled beside her. 
Just when she got to the bridge and started across, the expected blast of 
wings and water caught her, as she knew it would. 

"BOO!" yelled Nay, beating Vlad to his punchline. 

"MEEP!" The brilliantly irridescent blue-green dragon dove under the 
drawbridge with a splash and peered back up at her from underneath, snorting 
twin puffs of smoke and steam in his indignation. Nay did a happy dance on 
the bridge and laughed back at him. 

"You be careful, Vlad! The last time you put your fire out, we all had to eat 
super-hot spicy foods for a week before we got you re-lit! I don't think my 
digestive system could handle that again!" Nay headed on across the 
drawbridge.
 
"And YOU......." she leveled her motherly glare on Teri. "......should come 
in and change. The sun will be down soon and we're expecting Company this 
evening!" Nay grinned in anticipation of the Undead visitor she favored most.
"Besides, it's not healthy to sit around in wet clothes." 

"Yes, Mommy," Teri answered obediently. Nay shot her a suspicious look, for 
Teri was *never* meekly obedient, but since she was already getting to her 
feet the Castle-mom didn't comment further. Teri's mood was much lighter than 
it had been earlier, and now she too smiled to think a certain dark-haired, 
brown eyed vampire might stop by a little later. She still hadn't come to any
conclusions about trying to be useful around the Castle, but that could wait 
for another day. She dropped the last of the cookies over the side to the 
dragon. "You'll have to spit the raisins at someone else, my friend. Mommy 
says I hafta go in now." 

The dragon crooned its thanks and watched his mortal Pets walk back into the 
sprawling Castle it had chosen as its home. It munched quietly, its color 
slowly changing back to a muddy brownish gray that blended so exactly with 
the murky waters around it, rendering it almost invisible to the eye. It 
would stay that way until someone else came along with a color preference. 
Vlad/Smokey/Cinder/Phydeaux/Boo reflected on the conversation it had just 
heard. So the Cold Ones would be coming by for a visit, would they? The 
dragon had just as much fun playing its pranks on the vampires as it did the 
mortals, in fact it was more of a challenge because the vampire senses were 
so acute it was harder to sneak up on Them. Especially the Old One, Nay's 
favorite. Almost as old as some of the dragonkind that still existed and
exuding a Power the dragon could feel a mile away, it was rarely able to pull
anything over on him! Not that it would ever quit trying. 

The dragon chuckled evilly to itself and extended its own sharp senses to the 
skies above the Castle. As dusk began to descend upon DenialLand, the dragon 
settled lower into the water to wait, a Predator stalking a Predator. When 
Visitors came, it would be ready. 

************ 

fini 

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