Dragon 1 Chapter 7 (Patreon)

The apartment door thumped closed behind me, and I was in such a stupor I tried to lock it twice.

I felt like I was in a daze, but I’d grieved enough before to recognize what was happening. I was grieving for the loss of my former life. Even if I was able to keep some of the normalcy, with what I now knew, I wouldn’t be able to approach the world the same way again. There was no going back to the way things used to be.

And if the change itself wasn’t bad, now somehow this new information had led to a duel with an elf in a few days who wanted to kill me and make an example of me. And to prepare for that, I was going to do some sort of job with Morgana that didn’t sound like it would be a walk in the park, either. What had my life become?

I let out a sigh that seemed to last forever.

“That bad of a day?” Frank said from the couch, making me nearly jump out of my skin. I’d been so lost in thought that I hadn’t even registered that he was in the room.

He watched me. “Sorry, you look like someone shot your dog. Not about to go on a vengeful quest murdering half of Hollywood’s stunt doubles because of it, are you?” Frank, you watch too many movies.

Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but wonder what Frank would think of all of this if I told him. “No, I think that might have been better though.” I opened my mouth to tell him more, but I couldn’t figure out how to share with him without telling him about the para world. “Something I thought was… well, something turned out to be very different from what I expected.”

“Got catfished, huh?”

“What! No. Eew. Why the hell would you think that?” I glared at Frank. He seemed more like the one out of the two of us to have that happen.

“Hey. Never happened to me, Zach. I get my women the organic way.” He read my face like a book.

Seeing the segway into a conversation that wouldn’t potentially get us both killed and would distract me, I prodded him about Maddie. “So, you and Maddie. Finally got her in your bed.”

“Yeah, but then she ran out this morning and hasn’t returned my texts.” Frank looked down at his phone. “Dammit, it’s driving me insane, Zach. Hey, how about you text her?”

“Nope. I’m one hundred percent not getting in between you and her on this one. You officially have a relationship. Work it out between the two of you.”

“Maybe her phone is broken?” Frank sounded hopeful. I’d never seen him like this. More often than not, the situation was the other way around. His phone would be blowing up from some woman he’d been with the night before, and he’d just ignore all of them.

Smiling, I wondered if Maddie was doing it on purpose. She knew Frank, and she knew that coming on strong often freaked him. She was probably giving him some space to miss her, maybe keep him chasing her.

“I don’t think her phone is broken, bud. I think classes are just more important than you right now.”

Frank’s jaw dropped at my accusation before he seemed to wizen up. “Here, take my phone and hide it. I know if she texts back I’m going to respond immediately, and that’s going to seem too needy.”

I took the phone and disappeared into my room, putting it right out in the open on top of my desk. In the event that he went looking for it, he’d see it right away.

“Distract me from Maddie. What about you, if you weren’t catfished? What big revelation has you all down?” Frank had moved to the kitchen and was sitting backwards in one of the chairs.

“What if you suddenly realized that something you’d been told, something important, was a big lie?”

Frank tilted his head. “Why the cryptics? Can’t you just tell me what it is?”

“No?” It came out as a question rather than a statement. “Look, someone has it out for me because of something stupid, and now I’m worried that everything I worked for with the goal of being a doctor is about to go down the drain.”

“Well, that’s bullshit. Fight back. Don’t take that shit lying down. Go to the cops if it’s too bad.” Frank got angry on my behalf. He paused for a moment before coming to a conclusion of his own. “It’s Chad, isn’t it? I knew it after seeing him barge out after you that he was going to cause trouble. Good thing that girl was doing everything she could to calm him down.”

“No, it’s not Chad. But I can’t explain it, Frank.” I put my head in my hands. “Dammit, this is so messed up.”

“Shit, this sounds like some sort of mafia stuff. But we can figure this out. Let’s just call them, A for asshole, for now. A is after you why? You’re not exactly a troublemaker.”

I nodded, figuring we could try his approach. “Because I stood up to him, and he wants to take me down a peg.” On second thought, death was more than a peg. “A few pegs. Well, a lot of pegs.”

“Okay, so A wants to peg you a lot.” Frank started cracking up at his own joke.

I slapped my forehead. “Everything becomes sexual with you.”

“What can I say? I always have sex on the brain. Anyway, A wants to peg you. How do you get out of said pegging?”

“Learn to fight.” I answered. It was the truth, or at least half the truth. I didn’t just need to learn to fight. I needed to learn to kill.

Frank stared at me, still trying to piece things together. “Okay, I’ve got it. You and A are in some secret fight club. And you don’t want to tell me because if you found something that badass and didn’t tell me, you know I’d be pissed.” Frank nodded along with his theory, clearly also just amusing himself..

I almost argued with him, but it was close enough to the truth to work. “Sure, let’s go with that. There’s a big fight with A next week. And I think he’s going to mess me up, to the point that I might not be a doctor.”

“No no. Those things are just about being tough. You’ll bounce right back, even if it takes a few weeks.”

“He’s going to cripple me.”

Frank made a face. “Okay, so A was a more appropriate name than I realized. Well, then it sounds like you need to learn to fight. Quickly.”

I nodded. “I’m working on that. Made a new friend today who is going to teach me in the afternoons. But it still doesn’t solve everything. It will just start a series of additional challenges, people wanting to see how they measure up against me.” I decided to roll with the fight club.

“Isn’t that the point of a fight club? I’ve never been in one, but that’s at least how it sounds, a club to fight in. Pretty sure that’s the main point of a fight club.”

Sighing and rolling my eyes, I let it go. That metaphor only served me so long. “It’s a little more complicated, but I get you, Frank. One fight at a time.”

“Can I join the fight club?” Frank asked. “Got any hot chicks?”

“Frank! You just started dating Maddie.”

He held his hands up in defense. “Hold up. I didn’t say I was going to do anything with them. Sometimes a man just likes some eye candy.”

I held my comments in. Sometimes Frank could be a real nut. But it was also fun to tease him. “Actually, my trainer is ridiculously hot, and she wears these tight, like painted on tight leather pants.”

“Woah, roomy. Now we’re talking. Tell me more. And weren’t you just all worked up about some redhead? Now you’re eying your fight club trainer? Don’t worry, I’ll come join you and take the heat.”

“Not a chance. She’d eat you for breakfast.” I laughed, imagining Frank and Morgana. It was a total nonstarter between those two, even beyond the obvious para versus human thing.

A loud knock on the door broke our banter, and we both looked towards it.

“Who is it?” I called, not used to visitors.

“Police. Detective Fox.” A muffled voice came from the hall.

I scrambled up to open the door. A ginger man with a trim beard stood there with his fist raised to knock again. “May I come in?”

“Sure.” I stepped back. We had nothing to hide.

The man did a quick once over of the apartment, but he didn’t enter more than he needed to close the door behind him. It was like he just wanted to invade our personal space. Something about him tickled the beast and reminded me of someone.

“Were you involved in an altercation the other night on campus?” He asked, pulling out a notebook and waiting for me to answer.

I suddenly realized that there might have been cameras that had caught Chad and my fight. I’d figured if there were, the para world would have wiped them or something. He did shift into a wolf, after all.

I realized I’d already been quiet for too long, and the detective was watching me. “There was a small scuffle with someone over a girl. Nothing too intense. Both walked away fine.” Jadelyn hadn’t mentioned any permanent issues with Chad, so I assumed he’d healed up fine.

“A small scuffle, you say.” He scratched into his notebook far longer than to say ‘small scuffle’ and I wanted to know what it said.

I decided to give him more, but avoid a few of the obvious para details. “I bumped into his girl at the bar and excused myself from the dance floor after. He came and chased me down on campus. We had a small altercation. His girl calmed him down and pulled him away. That was that.”

“Uh huh.” Detective Fox made a few more notes. “Does this individual have a name?”

“Chad Brodie… the football star.”

That made the detective’s eyebrows come up. His whole mannerism changed, like he’d just decided to change direction on his line of questioning. I got distracted as over the detective’s shoulder Frank just kept mouthing ‘fight club’ and throwing jabs into empty air. I was glad he was taking this seriously.

“Did anything strange happen, anything you’d like to report?”

I shook my head. “Like I said, it wasn’t a big deal. We are both fine. What brought you here to ask about it?”

“You were reported to be heading home last night with a severe limp, clutching your arm.”

I nodded. That made sense. A neighbor must have reported it. I was relieved that they didn’t have any footage I had to try to explain away. “It wasn’t that bad, just a bit tender at the time. A day’s rest and I’m right as rain.” I did a small circle showing that I was fine.

The detective seemed skeptical, but he closed his notebook and stuffed it into his jacket. “Bit of advice. Avoid Brodie. He’s a piece of work.”

“Will do. I have no plans of antagonizing him further.” Truthfully, I had bigger problems on my hand with Simon. Chad was in the rearview, I hoped.

“Then have a good day.” The detective let himself out.

“That’s how you—” Frank started and I stopped him by holding a finger to my lips. For all either of us knew, the cop could be right outside listening.

I focused on my hearing, and sure enough, there were no steps in the hallway. He was lurking right outside. Frank and I waited for a moment until the detective’s footsteps started down the hall. “He was waiting outside, listening. Yes, it’s how I became introduced to the fight club, but it was actually the girl, Jadelyn, who introduced me.”

Frank just gave me a big grin. “So there’s three girls circling around you now. I can’t wait to see which one you pick.”

I didn’t bother correcting him. Morgana was not really on my radar that way. Sure, she was hot, but she was also hundreds of years older than me and my custodian into the para world. Not to mention she didn’t exactly seem the type for commitment.

And Jadelyn wasn’t much of an option either, although I had to admit there was some interest there after she’d relaxed and shown me more of herself. But she was a princess and had already been given away. It didn’t seem like the best match, but I was still figuring out how the para world worked. Based on Simon’s accusations, it was at least complicated, and I had enough complicated things in my life at the moment.

But Scarlett was different. Despite everything going on, I was looking forward to seeing her in class the next day. A bit of normalcy.

Crap. I realized I didn’t have any other clothes to wear.

“Frank, I need to go shopping.” I grabbed my keys.

“For what?”

“Clothes. Do you want to come with me?”

His eyes lit up like the fourth of July. “Yes please. I’d love to prevent you from buying more ugly shirts.”

***

We ended up at some off brand store that Frank swore by. There was little in the way of signage, and I didn’t even catch the place’s name. But the broad front windows full of mannequins covered in bright men’s clothing made its purpose clear.

Looking skeptically at the mannequin, I gave Frank a look. I would never be caught wearing something so bright. It better have clothing that wasn’t so obvious and just be using this to draw the attention of those passing by.

“Come on. This place is a closely guarded secret of mine.” Frank held open the door.

“It can’t be that big of a deal.” It was everything I could do to not roll my eyes at his antics.

Frank was a lot of things. Secretive was not one of them.

“Morning.” An older man looked up from the counter. I realized we were the only two in the store. “Anything I can help you with today?” The shop seemed pretty basic. It was decently deep, but it didn’t seem like anything extra special for Frank to be secretive about. Racks of men’s clothes were laid out in the shop with a half-level further back with the nicer clothing. I tried not to look at the price tags for fear I’d go running for the hills.

“Just getting my friend some clothes.”

The man focused on us. “Frank, my best customer.” He gave my roommate the sort of smile that said he smelled money. “Was starting to worry you were done looking for clothes.”

“I do need to come around again and shop, but today is for the tall one behind me.” Frank leaned in conspiratorially. “Todd, if you can help me get him into a few things, maybe I can torch his whole closet.”

Todd laughed and nodded, along with Frank’s joke. “Got it. I’ll throw in the fire extinguisher for free.”

I found it odd that they both spoke to each other like they were old friends, despite the clear difference in their ages and likely social circles. Frank was odd like that, though. He moved through any social situation with ease.

The front door dinged open behind me and in walked another small group, two girls and two guys. They were idle chattering and stepped up to look at the racks of clothes. The girls pulled items off, holding them up to their man before shaking their heads and putting them back, only to try another. I felt for both of them. It looked like two girls playing with ken dolls.

“What do you think?” Frank thrust a shirt on a hanger up to my chest.

Given the similarity between our situation and the two couples behind me, I suddenly felt ashamed and snatched the shirt out of Frank’s hands. “Cut it out. Just give me a couple of ones you think are decent, and I’ll go try them on.”

Frank raised his hands in a plea for surrender. “Alright, alright. No need to get testy. I’ll just go hunt for some things. But if you come out looking uggo, I’m going to be straight with you.” My roommate disappeared back into the racks of clothing.

I held up the shirt he’d given me and wandered over to the changing room. It was a nice, dark red shirt. I realized it would hide blood really well, which made my brain screech to a halt. Did I really just look at a shirt and think about how well it would hide blood? I looked back at the shirt and frowned. More than the world around me seemed to be changing as I stepped into the para world.

I hung the shirt back on the nearest rack without trying it on. Any shirt would be better than that one. My mind was just revolted at the thought of liking a shirt that would hide blood.

White, I picked another out. White always worked. It matched everything and was simple.

Someone’s breath caught my attention, and I turned. One of the men from earlier was hanging over my shoulder. “Can I help you?” I stepped aside and gave him access to the rack I was blocking, but his focus stayed on me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the other man flanking me. The girls were in similar stances, one girl on one side and the other hanging back, blocking me from the rest of the store. I realized they’d effectively separated me from Frank and the store clerk and cornered me by the dressing room.

That got my attention, and I looked them over more. Both of the men were big, muscle bound jocks with square jaws. The girls both looked like they could be on the cheerleading squad, complete with immaculate resting bitch faces.

I huffed along with my beast. They smelled like dog. Realization hit me. It wasn’t a dog I was smelling; it was wolf. Now it all made more sense “Guessing this is about the other night? You’re Chad’s friends?”

“Oh look, he’s got a brain in that head of his. Kelly, what do you think? He the one?” I thought he looked like he was trying to be Chad a little too much. Amusing myself, I decided I’d think of him as Chad-lite.

The girl sniffed the air and glared at me. Apparently, she was in charge. “Best way to find out is to see what he’s made of. But it was his scent on Chad when he came back, tail between his legs.”

Soft growls came out of the four of them. They didn’t shift, but the muscles under the two men’s clothes bulged like they were flexing, only they weren’t. They’d done what seemed like some sort of partial transformation.

Chad-lite swung for me.

I’d only had one session with Morgana, it wasn’t like I was suddenly a kong-fu expert, but practicing with her did help me understand my strengths.

Knowing I could handle it, I took the hit in the chest. It hurt, but I knew it would be worth it as I caught Chad-lite’s arm. My hands turned to vices as I twisted hard and fast. Hearing his elbow crack and pop made me sick to my stomach, but I tried to push that aside.

I ignored that part of myself, letting the aggressiveness of my beast come forward. Sure enough, he reveled in the noise.

Chad-lite winced and growled at me. I’d hoped that he’d be more like a puddle of crying muscle on the floor given I’d just mangled his arm. But it seemed werewolves were made of sterner stuff.

The second Ken doll tackled me from the side, and we went down in a heap as he tried to pummel me.

Ken doll got a few good hits in before I managed to get ahold of his forearms. My head was starting to feel a little dizzy, but I ignored it.

I wondered why Frank and the shop owner hadn’t come running, but I realized we’d been pretty quiet so far, and the racks of clothing were adding additional sound buffering.

I tried to flip Ken, but a boot connected with my head and threw off any maneuver I’d been attempting.

Kelly stood over me, bringing her leg back for another go.

Rolling Ken into her kick pulled her up short. It didn’t do much to Ken, but at least I avoided another hit to the head.

As a result of my move, I found myself turned on top of Ken. I quickly gave two quick punches to the side of his chest, feeling the crack of his ribs under my fists.

I didn’t keep pounding them, not sure if I’d be able to do enough damage to kill him. I just wanted him down for a while.

“Strong, but stupid.” Kelly said behind me, claws prickled at the edge of my throat.

“Careful. I don’t know all the rules yet, but I’m pretty sure you could get in deep shit for that.” All the bravado I could muster was in those words, figuring it was worth a shot. “I’m a lost one, taken in by Morgana just today. You go that far and there’s going to be consequences.”

She at least, was smart enough to hesitate. “You really are a lost one?”

“Ask Jadelyn. I bumped into her at the bar, and Chad and I fought. She approached me this morning, and it’s been a whirlwind of a day for me.”

Kelly huffed at the back of my neck and eased up.

“You don’t seriously believe him, do you? He’s pushing on pack territory.” Chad-lite was still cradling his arm, but I noticed it didn’t look quite so bent out of shape.

I couldn’t see her, but I could feel her shift behind me to focus on Chad-lite. “He’s not lying. And Chad put Rick in the hospital today for even looking at his new bitch. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he went feral on this guy for bumping her at the bars.”

“He’s got some anger management issues.” I added.

Growls sounded around me. “Chad’s our pack leader. You got a problem with him, you have a problem with the pack.” Kelly got off my back and stepped away enough that I could see her in my peripheral vision.

Getting off Ken seemed like only a fair response. The other girl rushed over and helped Ken get to his feet and limp out of the store. Kelly gave Chad-lite a gesture with her head, and he too headed out.

“Sorry about your rough first day. You are tough. You don’t happen to be a shifter?” She asked, her voice sounding a little hopeful.

I had another form, if I was indeed a dragon, but I wasn’t sure if I was considered a shifter or something else. I decided just to fib a bit. “Honestly, I don’t know what I am. Today’s just been one thing after another.”

She sniffed, and her ear twitched. “Don’t have to tell me what you are if you don’t want to. I’m Kelly, head bitch of the new pack forming here at the college.” She held out her hand. “Don’t think that means I’m a pair with Chad. More like, it’s my job to keep him in line, and he’s been very out of line lately. Wouldn’t mind if there was another big shifter in town to give him some competition.”

“Thanks?” I wasn’t quite sure if it was a compliment or a threat.

Kelly’s eyes roved over me, taking in the damage done and nakedly assessing me. “I bet you’re a big son of a bitch, whatever you are. I don’t want to pick a fight with you or Morgana.” She pulled out a wad of cash from her back pocket and split off a significant amount of money. “Here, buy some new clothes, and next time we meet there’s no beef. Any beef you have is between you and Chad. Keep the pack out of it.”

I took the money because I was a little pissed. It was at least a win in a way for me. “And if Chad insists on bringing the pack into it?”

“That gets into what my job is.” Kelly stuffed the rest of the cash in her back pocket. “Worst comes, and he tries, just challenge Chad. That’s how you can force him to fight you without the pack getting involved, but he’ll still pull on us and there’s nothing we can do to stop that. If you do that, you better be ready to rumble.”

Morgana had also warned me that my fight with Chad before wasn’t him at full strength. I appreciated that Kelly had at least entrusted me with a bit of information. “I’d rather not mess with your pack business, but if it happens again, I won’t hold back.”

She cocked a brow at me. “Didn’t feel like you were holding back. Better luck next time, tough guy.” She patted me on the chest and walked out.

I looked after her just to make sure the group was really going to leave.

The whole affair had been quiet, and clearly they knew how to organize. They’d known just how hide the scuffle during the day with a lookout and everything. Their world was clearly more dangerous than the one I was used to.

“What the hell happened to you? Get in a fight with a clothing rack?” Frank asked as he came out from the back, holding an armload of clothes.