Chapter 8

Revealed

"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! I need to figure out a better way to hide that scar." It didn't take long for them to reach the deli, "Are you sure you'll be alright? I'm coming back right at your break."

"I should be fine. He's never attacked with a huge crowd around. I'll be counting the minutes until you return." They hugged, and Gareth left. He was about to walk into the next alley when he saw the blue water dragon march into the deli. Gareth walked back in after him and sat down.

"If he thinks I'm going to let him get away with this, he dumber than he looks!" The blue water dragon sneered at him, making obscene gestures with his hands directly at Gareth. Gareth arched an eyebrow in the water dragon's direction. The dragon laughed a bit, then mouthed, some words. Gareth looked up at him, and this time, the water dragon whispered it a little.

"I know who you are, human. That black dragon doesn't scare me at all." There was a cruel smile on the water dragon's face.

"He knows about me? Oh that's stupid! He's crazy! There's no way he could have figured it out that fast!" To be on the safe side, Gareth switched seats and sat a bit closer to Hana. She was shaking again. Gareth walked up to the counter, "Hana, I'm going to be gone for just a second. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."

"O--okay...hurry. I don't like the way he's looking at us." Gareth looked back at the water dragon, who was glancing up occasionally at them, giving them a nasty smile each time. The other customers in the deli were looking up at the water dragon from time to time, and each time they saw him smile like that, they looked in Gareth's direction, flinched slightly, then went back to their meals. Gareth didn't blame them.

He walked out of the deli as calmly as he could manage, then ducked into the first alley he saw. He changed once he was sure no one was watching, and made himself look like a purple water dragon he had seen earlier. He changed his clothes to look more the part, and even added a chain necklace. He walked back into the deli, hoping no one saw the scar on his arm, "Wait! Where'd the water dragon go?!" Just then, a blue-scaled hand clamped over his mouth and a gun appeared at the side of his head.

The blue dragon shouted, "No one move! If I see one phone come out, I'll shoot!" Gareth struggled a bit in the water dragon's grasp. The dragon whispered in his ear, "And I want you to stop wiggling. I will shoot, and you can't change fast enough to stop me now."

"He knows! He wanted me to change! What do I do now?!" Gareth's mind raced to find an answer.

"Hana, you come with me."

Gareth watched, helpless, as Hana slowly walked from behind the deli counter. She was shaking horribly, more afraid than Gareth had ever seen her, "You--you'll let the boy go, right?" she asked, "Don't hurt him!"

"That all depends on how cooperative everyone here is." The water dragon turned his attention to the crowd of dragons and griffins in the deli, "No one had better call the police. If I see one cop start to chase us I will shoot these two, and no one had better follow." He switched the gun to the small of Gareth's back, "Let's go, kid." The water dragon pushed Gareth's back with the gun, "Move it! I haven't got all day."

Gareth tried to act like the teenager he was pretending to be, "P--please--let me go. I--I didn't--I didn't do anything..."

"Shut up!"

Hana tried to help, "Please. He's just a boy. He can't do anything to you."

"Oh really?" The water dragon pushed them into an alley. They turned so many different corners that Gareth's sense of direction was completely lost by the time they reached a dead end. The water dragon made them turn to face him, "Alright, kid. Show her."

"Wha--what are you talking about?" Gareth pretended to cringe, "C'mon...wait for it...I need some sort of distraction!"

"I told you to change! Do it now!!" The water dragon switched the gun to point at Gareth's forehead.

Hana panicked. She grabbed the dragon's arm, "For God's sake, Peter, let him go! He's just a kid!! He's harmless!!!"

The water dragon looked at her, "So you do remember me."

"I try to forget."

"Aww...Hana, how could you say that to your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend! What's he talking about? No time to worry. I hope this works!" Gareth used the opportunity Hana had accidentally given him to transform into a huge yellow snake, "It worked!" he slithered up the water dragon's leg and circled around the arm that held the gun. Once he reached the wrist, he squeezed it with all his might until the gun fell to the ground. Gareth transformed again and stood on the gun so it could not be used again, "Now, I believe you were about to do something?" Gareth smiled at the dragon, "You figured me out. Congratulations on being the first one to know just what I can do!" He charged the water dragon, pinning him up against the alley wall, "I told you not to come near her again, and here you are, threatening to kill and holding her hostage. Remember my promise?"

"You don't scare me."

"Not yet!" Gareth changed his form again, adding two extra ams, "Since you made us wander through these alleyways so much, I think we'll just head for the rooftops." The water dragon was staring at his two new arms, "Impressed? I can change into anything I want! I could even look like you..." To prove his point, he changed his scale color to the same shade of blue as the water dragon. He added the leather coat for show, "Don't mess with me or her again!" Gareth scanned the rooftops when he finished climbing, found the most isolated one he could, and threw the water dragon there, "I'll be watching you. Don't come near us again."

Gareth changed his form back to the black dragon and dropped to the ground. Hana was cringing in a corner with her eyes shut tight. Gareth walked up and spoke as gently as possible, "Hana, are you alright? He's gone. You can open your eyes now."

"Get away from me..." She whispered, "You are a monster. Nothing can do what you did..."

"Hana, listen to me. Do you remember when you asked me who I was?"

"Yes." She drew away when Gareth reached out a hand to touch her.

"Do you remember how I answered? Tell me the answer I gave you."

"A f--friend...you said you were a friend."

"Right. Hana, I think I should show you something." Gareth stepped back a few paces and began to transform, "Hana, I need you to watch." Hana peeked up as he began to transform.

When he was finished, Hana found herself looking at Gareth, "Gareth?!! But--but he said--No! He isn't Gareth! He said he could transform into anything he wanted! He could just as easily transform into Gareth! But--then again, Gareth did seem to leave whenever this dragon was around. Maybe he means it." Hana slowly uncurled from her corner in the wall, "Gareth?" She whispered.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I--I thought that--" Gareth stopped when Hana tried to stay away from his touch, "Hana, I never meant to scare you...I just wanted to help. I--" She jumped out of her corner and started running away, "Hana! Hana, come back! HANA!!!!!"

*All dragons are copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 9

Near Death

"I'm not beaten yet. If I can't have her, no one will!" Peter thought as he walked away from the building, "He thinks he's got the upper hand. All I need is one clear shot and Hana will be no more!" He walked all the way across the entire city to an abandoned house in the slums, "Now where did I put that--aha! Here you are..." He pulled out a small pistol from a pile he had hidden in the building, "Now for the ammo." In a shelf that looked about to unhing from the wall was every bit of ammunition he had for each of his guns. He pulled out a tiny container that held one lone dart in it. He loaded the dart into the pistol, "The poison in this thing will kill anyone who lets it get into their system. I'll make sure she's alone, then I'll stick her with the dart and be done with it!" It was almost four. If Hana wanted to keep her job at the mall, she would have to hurry. Peter ran to the route he knew she would take to reach her next job.

Sarrah hurried down to the deli. Hews reports had come on only a few minutes earlier about two dragons being taken hostage, and she had already told Babe he couldn't risk going to such a crowded place, "I hope I'm in time!" She was rounding another corner when she saw a green dragoness in a dress that nearly matched her scale color run from an alley. The dragoness was watching for something that was chasing her, for she kept turning her head to look behind her every few seconds. Sarrah watched her run away, then waited to see what she was running from. She gasped when she saw Gareth.

"Hana, wait! Please! Hana, I'm sorry! Please, don't run..." Gareth stopped chasing her. His shouts died down to desperate whispers, "I never meant to scare you...I love you...please don't go..." Sarrah put a hand on Gareth's shoulder but he didn't notice, "Hana..."

"Gareth? Gareth, what happened?"

The sound of her voice seemed to bring him out of his trance a little, "Sarrah?.."

"Gareth, tell me what's wrong."

"I...Hana ran...did you see the way she looked at me?..she hates me now...I scared her...she won't come near me...I--I..." Gareth started crying. The more Sarrah tried to comfort him, the more he ignored her. Nothing would break through to him.

"Gareth, listen to me. I know what you're going through. I know it's hard. Give her time to get used to you first"

"How can you know?! You have a normal boyfriend! I'm a freak!" Sarrah bit her lip; people were starting to stare.

"C'mon, Gareth. Why don't we talk somewhere else? I'll take you to the lab for some rest."

Gareth didn't move. He was clutching his head in his hands, "They're coming back..."

"Who? Who's coming back?" Sarrah sat down beside him.

"The voices again...they won't stop talking..."

"Shut up! Shut up!!!!!!" Gareth wanted to scream. The voices in his head wouldn't go away. It was like he could hear them but they could not hear him. The more he shouted at them, the louder they became. There were voices in his head that he was able to recognize. Hana was the first one he heard.

"That human is a monster! Why?!" Gareth wanted so much to talk to her, to explain why. He wanted to tell her everything. Behind Hana's voice he could hear Player's, Ace's, Babe's, Sarrah's, and hundreds of others. He tried to think about the other voices, but Hana's was the loudest, "What did he want from me?..Why would he want to keep that secret? What is he?"

Gareth could tell where she was. Her voice was so strong to him that he almost thought he could see what she was looking at. To her left were many small buildings, mostly little shops. On her right were more of the same. In front of her was a huge building, "She's heading for the mall..." Once he was able to identify the buildings, griffins and dragons started to show up in his strange new sight. There was one in particular..."It's that water dragon! What's he doing?" Gareth concentrated on the dragon. He was holding something..."A gun! Hana, watch out!" Gareth got up from his place on the ground.

"Gareth? Gareth, what are you doing?"

"Hana..." Gareth ran through alleyways, down streets, running as fast as he could to reach Hana in time. He was half-way there..."I'll change into a dragon so I can fly there faster. Slow down, Hana!" Hana was almost at the same point that the water dragon was hiding in, "She called him Peter. They know each other from somewhere...He's going to kill her!" He saw her below him and dove. Peter aimed his gun. Hana heard Gareth flapping right then and looked up. She ducked so that he couldn't grab her, right as Peter fired. Gareth swerved to stay away from the bullet and landed. When he tunred back to Hana, he found her laying on the ground, unconscious, "Hana?" He walked up to her limp form, completely ignoring the sound of feet running away, "Hana, are you alright?" Gareth slowly knelt down beside her, "Hana, say something. Hana?" as he reached down to shake her, he noticed a small dart in her left arm, "What's this?" Gareth pulled it from her arm, "Peter shot it! Why would he shoot a dart unless...Poison!" Gareth dropped the dart and started shaking Hana. She did not wake, "Hana, please wake up. Hana..." He grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse, "Nothing...Hana...are you--" Gareth flinched, "Hana, please wake up. Don't die on me. I wouldn't be able to bear it...Hana..."

Someone ran up behind him. Sarrah's voice broke through his thoughts, "Gareth, who is she? Gareth, tell me what's going on."

"Hana...I was too late." Gareth held up the small dart for Sarrah. She took it from his hands, "You're dead. I was too late..." His thoughts turned to Peter, "I can still get even. Peter's out there. I can make him pay..." The voices started to come again. Before they could get very loud, he singled out Peter's voice, "He's already by the beach. I'll kill him there." With a few wingbeats, Gareth was in the air. He changed himself to as huge a dragon as he could manage. Fangs grew out of his mouth, buildings became as tall as his hips, his eyes turned blood red. His wings grew so large he could have shaded the entire city if he'd wanted. Two steps took him to the beach. He shrank back to normal size, unconsciously choosing the black dragon form he had used so much, "Where are you?.." There was a click behind him as he searched a bush. Gareth lengthened his tail and swatted the gun out of Peter's hand, "You killed her!!!" He swung around and grabbed Peter by the throat, "Hana's dead!!!"

"Good. When you made her dodge like that I was worried I would miss. Thanks for the help." Peter smiled triumphantly down at him.

"BASTARD!!!!!! You will pay!!!!" He tightened his grip around Peter's throat.

He choked a bit, but managed to keep speaking, "Killing me won't bring her back. She's gone! There's nothing you can do to me!"

"I'd certainly feel better." Gareth took to the sky, "You know, instead of killing you, I could take you to the human's world. I could drop you off at a zoo to be displayed in front of millions of people. I could take you to a lab to be dissected and examined and experimented on. Did you know that they found a way to keep animals alive while they are being taken apart?" Peter shuddered in Gareth's grasp, "They can scramble the subjects mind so that he stays alive, but can't move, fight, or do anything to defend themselves except die, but they can't even kill themselves!" Gareth dropped him when they had gone nearly up to the clouds. He dove down beside Peter as they fell, relishing his screams. At the last moment, Gareth saved him, "How does it feel, being as helpless as your victims? I have the power to let you live or die right now. You've held that power for too long. Here's a taste of what you've been making others feel." He went back up to the same height, dropped him, then dove past him. Gareth stopped right above the water and grew in size. He made himself huge, spreading his wings for even more area. He thought of spikes all over his body, large ones that stayed skinny, like a porcupine might have. He had them spread all over his back and wings, then positioned himself to make sure Peter would crash into him.

Sarrah had watched Gareth grow, then step, and disappear. She pulled out her cell phone and called Bill, "Bill? Find Babe and tell him to get to the beach as soon as possible. Gareth's about to kill someone."

"Are you sure?" Bill asked from the other end, "He doesn't seem like that kind of person."

"Get Babe down there now! There isn't much time!"

"Okay, okay. He's on his way." Bill hung up. Sarrah looked down at the dragoness on the ground.

"She's still breathing..." Sarrah dialed another number on her phone, "Hello? I have someone here in critical condition. She's not going to last much longer."

"Where are you?"

Sarrah told them her location and waited for the ambulance to arrive. She explained everything she could as the dragoness was loaded up, and came with them when they were ready, "For Gareth's sake, I hope you pull through, girl. You might be the only one he'll listen to." The dragoness stirred slightly.

"What?..Where am I?"

"You're going to the hospital. Someone shot you with a poisoned dart. Hang in there; we'll help." Sarrah held the dragoness' hand until she fell asleep again, "I hope we make it in time."

"Give him back! He deserves to die!"

"Not like this he doesn't! I'm taking him back to the city for trial. Unless you want to go there too, keep off!"

"No!" Gareth shouted, "He killed her! He needs to pay now!!!" He lunged, "Give him back to me!!!"

Babe dodged again as he tried to fly back to the city, "He won't reason! He's too bent on killing this guy to hear me!" Hostile threat. Cannon activated. Babe flew higher as his arm changed into a cannon, "Gareth, listen to me! This is no way to get even! If you kill him, you'll be sent to prison as well!"

"But he killed Hana!"

"How do you know that?"

"I was there! I saw him shoot the gun. She wouldn't answer me when I came up to her. I found a poisonous dart in her arm! HE KILLED HER!!!!"

"Babe? Babe answer me."

Babe deactivated the cannon and held his hand to his ear, "I'm kinda busy right now, Sarrah. Contact my frequency later."

"But it's about Gareth! Tell him Hana is still alive! She even wants to see him right now!" Sarrah told him where they were, and asked him again to hurry, "She's been slipping in and out of a coma. Get Gareth here before she falls asleep again! Tell him I've already talked to the doctors. Tell him they said they can save her! Just get him here now!"

Babe tuned Sarrah out and shouted down at Gareth, "Gareth, I just got word that she's still alive and wants to see you!"

Gareth instantly stopped trying to reach for the water dragon, "What?" He shrank down and slowly became his black dragon form again, "She--she wants to see me?"

"Yes! The doctors she's with have even said they can save her! They have her at the hospital right now." Gareth shot past him toward the city.

Before he was very far gone, Gareth turned around and said, "Don't let that dragon out of your sight. He's gone to jail before, and escaped the same day. I don't know who you are, but you had better not let him get away again. If I didn't have this chance to talk to Hana again, I would kill him now. I'm coming after you next if I find out you've lied to me." Gareth turned back to the city and flew off. Babe sighed in relief as he flew back to the ground and started hauling the dragon to the nearest prison. He didn't notice the water dragon pull something from his pocket, and he barely felt the bullets that the dragon fired. He turned around as the last bullet hit him, "That doesn't even hurt, if you're wondering." He smiled at the water dragon's shocked expression and continued on.

*All dragons are copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 10

At the hospital, Gareth saw Sarrah waiting at the entrance. He landed right in front of her, "Is she alright? Where is she?!"

Sarrah didn't say anything as she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. They got on an elevator and went up to the third floor. When they got off the elevator, Sarrah spoke, "She's in room 306. Get in there before they take her to the operating room."

Gareth ran to the room and came in just as they started wheeling Hana out, "Hana?.." He whispered when they came near.

Hana opened her eyes slightly and looked at him, "Gareth, is that you?"

"I'm here Hana. I'm here." Hana smiled and closed her eyes. She had fallen asleep. Gareth looked up at the two nurses who were wheeling her out, "Can I come too?"

"Well..." The first nurse frowned a bit, deciding, "We don't normally let someone into the operating room when we have a procedure going..."

"Please! Please, let me come! You don't understand!!!"

Sarrah was at the door, "Calm down, Gareth. I talked with the doctor and she said you could come. You just need to stay out of the way."

Gareth felt like he was about to cry. He turned to look at her, "I can come?"

She winked at him, "You've got special permission. Now, you'll have to excuse me. Bill needs me back at the lab. Sarrah gently stepped onto the elevator and left.