Chapter
7
Rescue
Gareth tried flying out for the first time. It was hard at first, but he made himself
learn. When he was satisfied with
himself, he circled around the mall, waiting for her to finish, "I can't believe I'm doing this!" Gareth watched for any sign of the water
dragon, and was rewarded when he saw the very one he was after crouch behind
the back door. Hana walked out a few
minutes later, warily scanning the area for the blue dragon. He leaped up over her head and landed right
in front of her. Gareth followed them as
Hana started running for her home, "The
way that water dragon moves makes him look like he's part jumper!"
Hana raced through an alleyway, toppling trash cans
as she went. Gareth smiled, "That's why I heard the trash can last
night. She uses them to try to slow that
guy down." The blue dragon
leaped easily over the fallen trash cans, gaining on Hana with every step. Gareth couldn't help it any more. He swooped down to slam into the dragon,
giving Hana enough time to get away. Gareth
took off again after Hana rounded the corner and made sure she got home
safely. She entered a building, Gareth
heard a lock click, then he watched as she ran up a flight of stairs to her
room. He checked once more on the water
dragon as he turned around and headed home.
The dragon was nowhere in sight.
Gareth scanned the ground a few more times, landed,
changed into a human, and walked the rest of the way back to his apartment
room. Mrs. Jackson was unlocking a room
next to his when he reached his floor, "Mrs. Jackson? You live here?"
"Oh, hi Gareth.
Won't you come in? I have a pie
made for when Ace comes by."
"No thank you.
I'm beat. Maybe sometime
later?"
"Okay."
She smiled and walked inside.
Gareth unlocked the door to his apartment and crashed onto his bed.
"Long day...I wonder if I'll be able to keep
this hero stuff up." Gareth started
falling asleep soon after. Outside his
apartment, a blue water dragon scowled up at his room.
"I'm on to
you, human. She's mine! I had her before, and I'll have her
again. Just you wait. She won't be safe forever!" The dragon turned away from the apartment and
headed back across the city. There was a
certain alley he went to visit. Inside
were two other dragons: a red jumper and an electric dragon, "Listen guys. Tomorrow night's the night. I have an idea to get Hana easily. I'll watch for her as usual, but this time, I
want you guys to jump her on her way home from the mall. Sylo,"
The electric dragon looked up, "you'll be the one to hold her down. I get the legs, and Henry, you hold the knife
to her throat. We'll switch off after
I've had her enough. Make sure she can't move or scream. If she does either, we're toast."
"One quick question, Boss." Henry spoke, "Why do you get her
first? All three of us want her."
"I'm the boss, remember? You'll get your shot at her, I just want the
first one. Got it?" They nodded their heads, "Good. We'll get her at the last alley before her
house. Make sure you two are ready! I won't allow another screw up. She's gotten away from me too many times
now."
Hana woke up in the morning happier than she had ever
felt before, "I wonder if I'll see
that black dragon again...It would be so nice if he could stay around all the
time." She headed off toward
the deli, humming to herself as she walked.
Ahead, someone waved at her, and she recognized Gareth. On impulse, when he got close to her, she
hugged him, "It's good to see you again, Gareth. I had the most unusual day yesterday!"
Gareth patted her awkwardly on her back, then asked,
"Really? What was it
like?" She let go of him and
started walking. He smiled,
"Well?"
"I met someone yesterday who was able to scare
off that water dragon!"
Gareth looked at her questioningly, "How is that
unusual? I know at least two dragons who
can fit that description."
"No one's been able to do that before. I never got his name, but he was a huge black
mountain dragon with a scar running down his arm, and white stripes on his head
with a--I'm sorry, I'm talking too much."
For some reason, Gareth slightly hid his left arm
from her view, "What, exactly, did he do to scare that dragon away?"
"He stayed with me almost all day! By being there he drove off the water dragon
without really trying. It was wonderful
not having to worry for once." She
walked along, barely noticing anything around her, "This feels fabulous! It's
almost like I'm a kid again, and the worst thing I'd have to worry about was
what we would have for dinner!"
She beamed at Gareth, who did his best to smile back, "Why, Gareth,
what's wrong?"
"It's just that--see I was
wondering--" Gareth blushed a deep
red, "I kinda sorta wanted to if you were--you know, if you were seeing
anyone." Gareth hid his face from
her.
She found herself blushing slightly too,
"No...no, I'm not. That black
dragon was nice, but he wasn't able to stay the whole time. Are you asking if we could
be--together?"
"Yes..."
Gareth squeeked. He cringed,
waiting for her to say no.
She hugged him again, "Of course we can,
Gareth! I just hadn't--expected--we just
met, after all. Will you visit me while
I'm at work? My break is at
"I'll be there." Gareth heaved a sigh of relief, "When do
you go to your next job?"
"At four.
See you then?"
"You bet."
Gareth left after that, whistling a merry tune as he walked. Hana felt even better than when she had woken
up.
"He wanted
to be my boyfriend...I have a boyfriend now...Plus he's the first guy who
hasn't made fun of my surname yet. This
is gonna be interesting."
The day seemed to drag on forever while Gareth waited
for
Gareth smiled, "You sure you don't want me to
come by? I could--"
"It's okay, Gareth, really. He would have shown himself by now if he planned
to chase me tonight."
"You're absolutely sure? It wouldn't be any trouble at all..."
Hana laughed, "I'll be fine! This day has been the best one I've had for a
long time!"
"Only if you're sure..."
"I'm sure, Gareth. Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Count on it." Gareth waved and left. Behind him he heard the door to the mall
close, "She's happy. Maybe I should have asked her while I was a
dragon. She would have felt a lot
safer." Gareth thought, "I should watch for that water
dragon. I doubt he's given up." Gareth searched for the dragon up until nine
at night, never once finding the slightest hint of the dragon. Gareth headed back to the apartment to get
some sleep. He was drifting off just as
a headache started.
"Let's
go...Ready?..But I wanted one!"
Gareth shook his head. He thought
he was hearing voices! Instead of
leaving him, the voices grew louder.
More voices joined in, threatening to overwhelm him. He clutched his head in his hands, trying to
block out the voices any way possible.
One voice in particular that he recognized began screaming.
Hana.
Gareth ignored the other voices when he heard
Hana's. He walked over to the window, "I feel like I know right where she
is..." Gareth thought. Something was wrong. The voices died away as he transformed into
the black dragon, and he flew outside towards the place he thought Hana
was. He flew above the entire city,
watching the ground below him as he flew past.
When he reached the spot he had thought Hana was, there was no one there. Gareth recognized the route home she had
taken two nights ago, and followed it.
"No one's
around to help me..." Gareth
heard her voice in his head again and shot for the next place she had spoken
from.
Hana struggled for as long as she could. She wanted to scream when they pulled her
shirt up, but the knife to her throat forced her to keep silent. They pushed her to the ground and pulled the
shirt over her head. She flinched when
she heard her bra snap open, much to the delightment of her three assailants. Her pants came down next, and one of the
three tore her underwear from her body.
A mouth closed over her right breast and started sucking on it. She could feel the breath of another dragon
between her legs. Cold hands slowly
forced her legs apart. She shivered, "Help me...somebody help me. Oh why didn't I take Gareth's offer?! Now I'm going to get--get raped because of
it! Why was I so stupid?!" The dragon between her legs slowly moved
upwards, bringing the end with him. A
head rested on her stomach as she felt those same cold hands start playing
between her legs. She cringed, waiting
for the inevitable.
There was a loud roar above her as the knife vanished
from her throat. A huge weight left her
as the one with his mouth on her was pulled up.
The one between her legs gasped and screamed as he was lifted away as
well. Hana pulled her shirt down and her
pants up to see what was happening. The
three who had been about to rape her were dangling in the grasp of the largest
dragon she had ever seen. It was
standing on two legs, but its head nearly reached the roof of her house. It was the same shade of blue as the water
dragon, but it had wings, was unbelievably skinny for its size, and tossed the
three dragons away as if they were nothing more than toys.
He grabbed them before they could fall very far away,
"I never want to see the three of you near her again. If I do, I will hunt you down and torture you
in such a way that you will fear everything that comes near you for the rest of
your lives!" With that he threw
them again, this time putting such force behind his throw that they traveled at
least half the distance she had covered on foot before they landed. Hana looked up at the immense dragon and
blanched. He was shrinking! She noticed a scar on his left arm as he
slowly came down to her size. His scales
turned black; white stripes appeared on his head.
"It's the
dragon from yesterday!"
Gareth finished transforming and turned to Hana. She was staring at him like he was some sort
of bizarre creature, "Are you alright, ma'am?"
Hana stared up at him, "Who--what are you?" she whispered.
Gareth thought back to the strange dream he'd had,
and decided to give the same answer he'd gotten, "A friend." Gareth took off into the night sky, leaving
Hana to sort things out by herself. He
landed in as remote a place as he could find, and changed back into his human
self. He walked the rest of the way to
his apartment, walked into his room, sat down on his bed, and fell asleep
before his head hit the pillow.
Chapter 8
"Get back here you cowards! GET BACK HERE!!!!!" He shouted at Sylo and Henry. They ignored him and kept running as if their
lives depended on it, "I SAID GET BACK HERE!!!!!!!!!!"
Sylo turned around and shouted, "Not anymore,
Boss. You are on your own! We aren't gonna let that monster nab us again!!" When he finished yelling, he turned around
again and ran.
He ran after them, "COWARDS!!!! That 'monster' isn't dangerous at all! He found us by ACCIDENT!!!!!! What are the chances of him doing that
again?!!!!"
"Too high for us, Boss!!! Good luck!
You're gonna need it!" Henry
and Sylo vanished around a corner after that.
"FINE!!!"
He shouted, "I DON'T NEED YOU!!! I DON'T NEED ANYONE!!!! YOU'LL SEE!!!"
Gareth woke early the next morning, and made his way
over to Hana's place. She was shaking
when she came outside, more afraid than ever before. He carefuly walked up to her, "What's
wrong, Hana? Were you chased again? I told you I'd come! Why didn't you let me?!"
Hana was in her green dress again, "I've been
asking myself that same question ever since last night, Gareth. Stay with me, please?"
Gareth made sure the scar on his arm was hidden
first, then started walking with her to the deli, "I hate having to pretend like I don't know what's going on! What does she think of her rescuer
now?!" He gently laid a hand on
her shoulder, "Tell me what happened."
She began spilling the story out, leaving no details
while she spoke. The way she described
how she felt when she had nearly been raped made Gareth feel sick to his
stomach. He got so squemish, he had to
ask her to stop.
"That's horrible!! I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help!"
Hana sighed, "It's alright, Gareth. It was three against one. You would have gotten hurt if you'd
come. I'm just lucky that dragon with
the scar showed up when he did."
Gareth tried to lighten the mood, "Were you able
to get his name this time?"
"I tried, believe it or not, and all he said was
that he was a friend. I can't tell if he
meant that in a literal sense, or just didn't want to tell me his real
name. What do you think?"
Gareth pretended to think about an answer. After a few moments he said, "What if
that dragon meant both? What if he
really is a friend of yours? After all,
you said he could change shape. Maybe
he's one of your other friends in disguise?"
"Well...I guess that's possible...What makes you
say that?"
"Nothing.
Just a thought, really. I just
got here. I have no idea how things work around here. Least of all how one dragon is going to
act." Hana looked at him,
"Oh! Sorry...no offense, I
hope."
"None taken." Hana glanced down at his arm, "Why are
you wearing long sleeves, Gareth? It's
way too hot to do that at this time of year."
"Huh? Oh,
it's a bit colder here than what I'm used to.
I figure I'll get used to the weather eventually."
"Oh...I thought that--never mind. I shouldn't be prying."
Gareth smiled at her, "I'd better be more careful.
She's smart!
