Dragon's Fire:

New Breed


Danielle Kazemi

Copyright 2011 Danielle Kazemi

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Updated 2012

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Dragon's Fire:
New Breed


Danielle Kazemi

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 1

“What kind of loser calls his girlfriend an hour before they're supposed to go out – just to break up?” Annabel Wells asked over her cell phone. She couldn't believe her boyfriend did this. They dated for eight months and he didn't give her a logical reason for this phone call.
She paced around her room, dressed for the nice evening they planned earlier this week. Her high heels were on, perfectly matching the rest of her outfit. Now she began realizing she would be showing up at the party single. This was excellent. It was exactly what she needed.
“Yeah well, why don't you do the whole world a favor, crawl up your ass, and die?” Annabel yelled into the phone before clicking it off vehemently. She threw the phone on her bed, disgusted from the conversation. She made a face at it and turned away.
She walked over to her mirror and examined herself. Even though it felt good having him out of her life, it still hurt Annabel to be dumped. Especially by someone like him. She splashed some water on her face to get the red out of her eyes. It didn't work. The best option she had was to put some makeup on and act cheerful. She gave a fake, half-hearted smile to herself which dropped off abruptly. She didn't like this.
She walked into the living room. June, her roommate, sat on the couch and stared at the television. Annabel knew she heard the entire conversation. She never watched reality shows. “So that was fun,” Annabel opened up the conversation, plopping herself on the couch as well.
“It sounded pretty rough,” June stated looking over at Annabel. She didn't want to say anything but Annabel's make-up started running down her face.
“You'd think after eight months he'd at least have the decency to break up with me face to face. I could even hear music in the background. I wouldn't put it past him to have his friends listening in.” The more she thought about him, the angrier she became. At this point, she wanted to slam his head into something.
“I never knew what you saw in him. He didn't seem like your type.”
Annabel rolled her eyes. June was right. In the past few months, Annabel thought about dumping Greg but never got around to doing it. She was the one dumped instead. Her ego felt bruised more than anything else. “I need a drink,” she said standing up from the couch and heading into the kitchen.
“I don't think there's anything in there.”
“Ugh,” Annabel said in frustration. She grabbed a glass and turned on the faucet for some water. She wanted something, anything. Swigging it down, she slammed the glass forcefully and hung her head.
“You want to go out right now? We can get to the club early and you can start getting good and drunk.”
Both girls laughed. That probably wasn't the best thing to do in the current situation. Besides, if anyone got drunk, it'd probably be June. She was more outgoing than Annabel by quite a bit.
“I don't think getting me drunk is the best thing. But a few drinks might be great,” Annabel said looking at the clock in the living room. The time she spent on the phone slipped her attention. Now an entire hour passed since the original phone call took place; an hour of her life which could be struck out.
“We'll find you a cute guy,” June said grabbing her keys from off the holder.
“My definition of cute. I don't want any guy who has more piercings than me.”
“Your definition of a cute guy really limits your options.”
“I'm serious. I'm tired of meeting a guy only to find out he's a complete loser. I want someone who's adventurous, someone who's deep, and yeah, really cute.”
“You made an oxymoron.” June walked towards her car, smiling as though it would change Annabel's night. She hated seeing her friend depressed.
“That's harsh,” Annabel said, following. It wasn't that she was being picky. Dating the same type of guys got old. It ended the same way every time. If this cycle didn't end soon, she'd have to give up on ever finding her perfect man and join a convent. She probably wouldn't. Maybe she could become a cat lady instead. Cats always loved their owners.
June drove over towards their favorite hangout. It was a small club located on the east side of town. It was more a bar then a club, created on the location of a former chain restaurant with the drive thru still intact. The owner of the bar allowed local artists to hang their drawings and come perform, which made it one of the trendier spots in town.
Annabel threw her head back in her seat. “I don't want to go to Dancing Aces.”
“What's wrong with Dancing Aces?”
“Let's try something else tonight. I don't want to go where people know me and then I'll have to answer the question, 'So where's Greg?' with 'Oh he dumped me claiming I was a stuck up girl,” Annabel complained. She also had a feeling Greg would show up there anyway wanting to rub their broken relationship in her face. He knew it was her favorite place to hang out and he would want to ruin whatever fun she could possibly have.
June knew it was useless arguing her point. Besides, the one dumped picked the place she wanted to go. That was the rule.
“Where were you thinking of going?”
“Um,” Annabel said lazily looking out of the window, “There.” A grungy looking place, it was the last spot she expected to see someone like Greg. He couldn't walk through the door without being intimidated. Him and all his artsy buddies were too busy discussing Rembrandt or some other well-known artist, laughing when she asked questions. She grew angry again.
“The Jungle? Seriously?” June went in there a few times but as a general rule, she shied away from the place. It wasn't the most welcoming club in the city.
“Why not?”
“It just doesn't seem like a place you'd want to go.” Dancing Aces seemed more in keeping with her friend’s attitude. Maybe she could convince her to go somewhere else.
“I'm not me tonight. So let's go somewhere people don't know who I am so I can just cut loose and have some fun.” She planned on drinking until tomorrow. It didn't matter much where they went.
That was a valid point. Maybe a change would be for the best. “Let's see how the new Annabel Wells behaves on her first night out. Her debut.”
The night didn't go quite as well as Annabel wanted. Instead of finding her perfect man, her roommate June instead found them a whole group of guys which were almost exactly like her last boyfriend. The drinks kept coming and before long, empty glasses surrounded Annabel. She didn’t even know for sure which ones were hers.
“I'm gonna...home,” Annabel told June, her head already pounding. It was probably around two or three in the morning. She wished she brought her phone with her to know what time it was exactly. She left it on her bed at home.
June waved at her friend while she remained almost conjoined with one of the guys she found earlier. At that moment, Annabel could have changed into a giant frog and June wouldn't notice. This was typical June behavior, especially when it came to guys.
Annabel felt certain the club existed close to the house. It might have only been two blocks away. Maybe five blocks away. She knew, when she saw the red building, to turn left. Those were good enough directions for her.
“Oh so I'm not good enough for you? You know what Greg, you were lucky to even be seen with me,” she repeated out loud to herself. She wished she held her phone with her right now. She would call Greg and tell him how breaking up was the best thing ever.
As she walked down the street, she heard something move behind her. She heard the rustling, hesitating to turn around. She didn’t know what she’d find behind her. She turned around, expecting to see maybe June coming behind her or even a cat. There was nothing. “I must really be drunk,” Annabel said. She began feeling uneasy about this entire situation.
The noise happened again. It was the same rustling sound as before. This time she knew she heard it. She turned around once more only to see nothing. “June?” she asked. If her friend was there, she didn’t respond. Annabel really hoped it was an animal nearby. She could deal with an animal.
Annabel heard the noise once more, this time much closer to her. She turned to her right hesitantly. She wasn't sure if she actually wanted to see what came close to her. But her curiosity kicked itself into overdrive.
A dark shape appeared next to her, seeming to encompass the her entire field of vision.  She couldn't make out any discernible features. It appeared to just be a clump of darkness growing rapidly. She turned and started running towards her house. Her best option was to get home as quickly as possible and hopefully it would stop the thing from coming after her. Or she could alert someone to stop it. Either way, she didn’t feel adequate enough to deal with it.
Instead, the darkness chased her. It came close to the edges of her heels and gained as much speed as possible. She felt the slight breeze emanating from it as it continued speeding towards her.
Annabel ran as fast as she could. Her right foot tripped over one of the raised edges of the sidewalk and she fell down, hard. The dark shape hovered over her, almost seeming as if it was about to bear down on her.
“Who are you?” she asked looking at the dark shape looming. She wanted to know who this person or thing was. It had to be someone or something she could reason with. She closed her eyes tight. Maybe when she opened them, it would all be a dream.
She opened her eyes. The figure remained in front of her, as menacing as before. Nothing changed.
The darkness seemed to grow taller and more intense. A large dark spike formed, hanging directly over her body. Just as it started curving at the top as if to drop upon her, a stream of fire came from behind. She wasn't sure exactly what happened and who she should be more afraid of.

Chapter 2

Annabel tilted her head back against the sidewalk. A dark clothed and haired man stood nearly on top of her; his stance firm. He shot flames at the dark creature in an effort to drive it back. Her first reaction was he looked pretty nice. She should be running but nothing connected mentally. She checked out of reality once the creature came after her.
He checked to make sure she was okay with a quick glance. Her eyes seemed glazed over. She might have hit her head before he showed up.
Lifting her head closer towards him, she wasn't sure where he shot the flames from. A stream of flame came from his mouth and attacked the darkness with the same intensity as before. She had her answer. This was the craziest drunk dream she ever experienced. She blamed June for it.
The dark shape seemed to absorb the flames. The flames would either directly hit the darkness or they would hit against the side of the building. Scorch marks appeared on the bricks.
The flames appeared to do little to no damage on the creature. Annabel saw small places where the darkness seemed to be less powerful when she looked closer. That must have been caused from the fire hitting the creature.
The darkness attacked the man. It pushed him backwards with a great force. The man's body flung against the side of the building and crashed into it hard. He created a crater when he slammed hard into the bricks. Annabel moved closer to help him but she saw him stand up from the attack unfazed. He pushed the darkness backwards to Annabel's direction with more blasts of fire.
Annabel felt the edge of the darkness brush against her body. It felt colder than anything she knew of. The darkness pushed past her and tugged at her arm. She fought and freed herself by wringing forcefully, struggling against her captor with the advantage. She looked down at where the darkness grabbed her. A large gash ran up the upper portion of her arm, clearly visible even in the dimly lit streets. The darkness scratched her when it pulled her. She never felt pain before in one of her dreams. Maybe she wasn't having one. She felt utterly confused.
“You're not going to hurt anyone tonight,” the man said to the darkness as he launched himself forward. He saw the darkness attack Annabel. This is what he wanted to avoid. His hands struck the shape and began ripping chunks of darkness from the larger shape, flinging them about easily. This was a battle both fought before. There were no surprises on either side when it came to their tactics.
She positioned herself to the side of the sidewalk away from the action. She wasn't sure what was happening but it seemed this man knew what he did. She would ruin whatever he planned if she got involved. Common sense dictated she should run but she wanted to see the outcome. It wasn't every day one got the chance to see something like this happen. It would be an interesting story to tell June later.
The darkness picked up the man from the ground. It hoisted him into the air and suddenly dispersed itself and allowed him to fall – hard. It gathered itself once more after it accomplished the deed. The whirling forces gathered more momentum as it remained in place.
Her hand went to her mouth as she looked at the man lying on the ground. She didn’t feel confident he lived after the last attack. That fall looked like it would have knocked him out. It knock her out certainly. She’d be on the ground and hoping not to get stepped on. She hesitated before moving towards him. She saw him slowly pick himself off the ground and onto his feet.
The man shook his head regaining his balance. “You're going to regret doing that to me,” he said licking his lip. A small trickle of blood dropped from it onto his chin.
The darkness swirled around. Annabel swore she heard the creature laughing from within its dark entity. She blinked her eyes to make sure she was still awake. This night began getting a lot weirder as it went on.
A stream of fire came from the mysterious man's mouth. The flames made contact with the darkness but seemed to be absorbed. Nothing else was burnt from the flames. The darkness released its own stream of dark energy towards the man. It knocked him off his feet and against the wall once more.
“Are you okay?” Annabel asked before she caught herself. She wanted to not talk at all. It would be best if she could fade into the background and let him handle everything. She probably messed up all of his plans with one statement.
“I slammed against a wall and left a crater. Yeah, I'm fine,” the man said sarcastically as he stood up. He narrowed his eyes. The darkness he fought was no longer visible. He stepped away from the wall and looked further down the street. There was no sign of it. There never was. The darkness escaped quickly when it knew someone could destroy it.
“Did you see where it went?” he asked Annabel as he continued looking around. She may have seen something he missed. The night seemed darker than he remembered, more foreboding. The creature could’ve blended into almost every dark alleyway around here.
Annabel looked around. She couldn't see anything out of the normal but she didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings while the fight went on. “I don't see anything,” she said moving out from her hiding spot. Hopefully she didn’t need to worry about being attacked again.
“I was worried about that. Did it hit you?” the man asked walking closer to Annabel. He looked around to see if anyone else saw what happened. He preferred operating without anyone else interfering. Already one girl seeing him knocked his worry into another category.
She shook her head. She didn’t feel like revealing her arm to him. “I didn't get hit. Are you sure you're okay? Your lip's bleeding.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a napkin from the club. She pressed it against his lip.
He pressed his own fingers against the napkin as she pulled hers away. They briefly touched for a moment. “It's not too bad. I can still walk.” He couldn't say the same for her. She looked like a train wreck on two legs. It was obvious she got scared because of what happened, or at least he assumed that much. She certainly didn’t act normal.
“So,” she said with hesitation in her voice, “Whom can I thank for saving me from that attack?” She tried pulling it off as coyly as possible. She couldn't be certain, but she believed half of her words were slurred. If he understood her at all she would be impressed.
“My name's Crispin,” he said extending his hand with the napkin in it. He grabbed the napkin with his other hand and shoved it in his pocket. He gave a lopsided grin.
“I'm Annabel,” she said shaking his hand. She felt herself leaning more on it to maintain her stability. Of all the ways she envisioned meeting someone who saved her life, this certainly didn’t cross her mind.
“Do you need me to call you a cab or a friend to come get you?” He wanted to make sure she was safe from another attack. The sooner she got somewhere with people, the safer she would be. The darkness preferred not to draw attention to itself.
Annabel pointed at a red building further down the street. “I was heading home. I live behind that red building.”
“Oh,” he told her looking in that direction, “In that case, let me walk you home.” He didn't trust her making it back on her own. Especially not with the creature still roaming the streets.
“That would be nice.” She grabbed onto his arm, pressing herself close to him. He smelled nice. His clothes were clean and gave off a hint of vanilla. That was the best smell in the world.
As they walked down the street, Annabel asked Crispin, “When did you move into the neighborhood?”
“How do you know I haven't lived here long?”
“You don't have an accent. If you'd been here for a few years, you'd have picked up an accent by now.” She tripped on a sidewalk crack, stopped by Crispin's grasp before landing face down upon it.
He laughed. “You busted me. I've only been here for a month or two. A few of my friends and I moved down here for a change of scenery.” He helped guide her over another crack without a trip this time.
“I'm sure fighting dark monsters counts as a positive change in scenery. Okay, see that house right there? That's mine. Well, actually only the top half. It's a duplex. And it's a rental.” Annabel began feeling tired. The walk to her house took longer than she expected.
The two walked to the front of her house. Crispin waited for her to unlock the door, his eyes constantly checking the perimeter. “Do you live with someone else?” he asked when he noticed the dark house she was entering. He didn’t feel secure she should be staying alone especially after the attack on her earlier.
“It's fine. My roommate is going to be back soon. Probably. I don't know,” Annabel said with a laugh thinking about June. June was most likely hooking with up someone as they spoke.
He glanced at the dark house once more. He felt obligated not to leave her completely alone in there. “Do you have a phone?”
“I have a cell phone.”
Crispin pulled out the same napkin as before and scribbled his number down on it. “I don't have any paper – sorry about that. Here’s my number. If you see any dark shapes coming after you, call it. It's very important.”
“Thanks,” she said looking at the phone number. She stared at the paper. Her brain felt frazzled and couldn’t recognize what numbers they were. She didn’t even feel sure they were numbers. One looked like a bunny.
“Are you sure you're okay? You look a bit off,” he said looking at her. Her eyes blinked erratically and she needed to lean against the wall for support.
She nodded. “I need some sleep. Only a little sleep. It was great meeting you tonight.” She flashed a smile.
“Okay then. Be safe and call if dark shapes start attacking you.” He turned and walked back to the sidewalk. As soon as he turned the corner, Annabel closed the door and locked it.
Walking up the stairs, she plopped herself down on her bed. Something hard jutted out from underneath her. She rolled over and pulled her phone out. “What an ass,” she said, thinking about the last conversation she held with Greg on it. She yawned and passed out on her bed, the phone dropping next to her.

Chapter 3

Annabel's phone started ringing, the distinctive sound coming through audibly. Her hand went to her pocket instinctively but found nothing. She opened her eyes and looked around. The phone lay closer to her head than she remembered. She lifted the phone to her head and asked, “Who is it?” Her head pounded from the night before.
“Annabel? Where are you?” June's voice came through loud and clear. She sounded a bit worried.
Annabel moved the phone away from her ear for a moment. It sounded far too loud in her ear this early. She regained her senses and said, “I'm home. Where are you?”
“You're home? I'm here too. Are you in your room?”
“Yeah. I'm getting up. I'll see you in a few minutes.” Annabel hung up the phone. She felt horrible. It felt too early for her to wake up. She looked at her phone to see the actual time. It was three in the afternoon. Even that seemed too early. Her mouth felt dry. That one trigger answered quite a few questions she had.
“You left so quick I never noticed until thirty minutes later you were gone. What happened? The guys were looking for you. One of them, I think, could be the guy of your dreams,” June said pouring both of them coffee. Annabel was too tired to lift the carafe to pour any for herself.
Annabel took a sip before saying, “I told you I was leaving. I had the weirdest experience on my way back here. Or maybe it was a dream. I'm pretty sure it happened.”
“What happened?”
“There was this big dark shape that attacked me and then this guy showed up. He could shoot flames out of his mouth.”
June looked at her friend curiously. “Are you sure you weren't imagining this? You were pretty drunk last night when you left.”
“I'm not imagining this. It happened,” Annabel said, “I can even prove it to you.”
“You took pictures in the middle of a fight?”
“No, I have a phone number from the guy I met last night.” Annabel reached into her pocket and pulled out the napkin. The phone number remained on there. This time she could clearly make out the digits. His name appeared on there as well which gave added proof that she didn’t make this up.
June looked at the napkin, turning it over briefly. She raised her eyebrows as she looked to Annabel. “I hate to be one of those people but that napkin’s used. It's also from the same club we were at last night. It’s possible one of the guys there gave you his number and now you're imagining this crazy dream. It's okay. It happens to everyone.”
“It was real.”
“Then prove it to me. Reverse look-up the number and then you can prove to me that this guy, Crispin if I'm reading it right, gave it to you and he exists. Right now, it's not looking too good.”
“It could be a cell phone. Cell phones can't be reversed looked-up.” Annabel wasn't certain if looking up the number would work but it seemed like a good way to meet her mystery guy again.
June smirked at Annabel in a told-you-so manner. “Imaginary numbers also can't be looked-up.”
Annabel walked over to her laptop. “I'll prove to you this is a real number.” She typed in a website and put the phone number in. After clicking through a series of ads she wasn't interested in, she smiled. She pressed a button and printed out a copy.
“You found it?” June asked leaning over Annabel's shoulder. She remained skeptical until she got solid proof.
“The number goes to 409 Highland.”
June wasn't giving up easily. “This could be a random coincidence.”
“I'll prove to you it's his number,” Annabel said strolling confidently towards her room.
“How?”
“I'm going over there. Well, first I'm actually going to take a bath and change. Then I'll head out there.”
June nodded. “That would be smart. I didn't want to say anything but if you're going meet someone you should change. I'd also do something about your hair. I think you slept on it.”
Annabel patted the top of her head and felt her hair. “Thanks for telling me that. I want to look great so I can give him a proper thanks for saving me.”
June gave a thumb up. “I'm sure that's the only reason you’re going there.”
Annabel stuck out her tongue as she headed off to get ready. A shower was what Annabel needed to think about what she planned to do. Going to a stranger's house to prove to June she met him seemed a bit odd but at the same time, it could prove to be a fun experience. She needed to keep talking herself into actually doing it. Otherwise she would remain at home and convince herself none of this happened.
It shouldn’t be that hard. He gave her his number after all. He wanted her to find him. He must be shy and this was his way of flirting with her. She knew she should call first but it would be more interesting to show up unannounced.
She picked a cute outfit she hoped would make her look as cute as she did last night or cuter. She wasn't sure how good she looked tripping in the middle of the street and stumbling around like a fool. Yes, this was an improvement already. She would have to bring her phone and take pictures or else June would never believe her. She checked her jean pocket to verify she brought her phone with her. There was nothing left to do now but get out there and meet her guy from last night.
“I'm heading out there. If I don't make it back, you can have my computer,” Annabel said in a melodramatic voice.
June looked up from the couch. “Wow, you look pretty nice. Expecting something to happen tonight?”
“Maybe. He did save me from a horrible creature so maybe something should happen.” She smiled at her friend. June was the one person who would understand her joke.
“Yes, he saved you from a creature which no one has ever seen before and probably doesn't exist. Good luck to you with that. You can call me if you need to and I'll go rescue you from any trouble,” June said, “Oh and pictures. You have to bring me proof that this guy actually exists.”
Annabel pulled out her phone. “Somehow I already knew you were going to ask for pictures.”
“I have trained you well,” June joked as she waved good bye to her friend.
Annabel drove to the address. It was only a five minute drive to get to the place. That explained why he was on the street at that time. She didn’t expecting him to live in another town and save her life by accident.
She parked her car on the street in front of the house. It looked like most of the other houses in the area – two stories, wood balcony, and weeds in the flower bed. She double checked herself in the side mirror. She looked pretty enough. She confidently made her way up the driveway to the door.
Annabel knocked. She heard movement behind the door. It opened and a blond haired guy stood there shirtless. “Can I help you?” he asked. He looked around to see if she was alone. He stepped outside of the doorway to check even further down the driveway and sidewalk.
“I'm here to see Crispin,” Annabel said, unsure if she had the right address. They would know who he was if she arrived at the right place. She couldn't see Crispin directly in front of her. Maybe she went at the wrong house. It could have all been a dream. She felt embarrassed and stupid.
“Who are you?”
“I'm Annabel Wells. Crispin and I met last night. Well, we sort of met.” She hoped there wasn't a Crispin here. She felt ready to head back to her car and drive away as quick as possible.
He smiled. “Oh really? You met Crispin last night? Let me see if I can find him. Sera?” he called behind him without checking to see if anyone stood there.
“We're not interested,” a female voice said from one of the side rooms. Annabel couldn't see exactly where it came from.
“Someone's here looking for Crispin."
“Who is it?”
“A girl named Annabel.”
There was a long pause. “Are you kidding me?”
He laughed. “I'm serious. Do you know where he is?”
“If you're looking for me to say how awesome I am, I'm right – hey,” Crispin said coming down the stairs and into view of the door. He didn’t expect to see her at the doorway. He quickly shoved whatever he held in his hand into his pocket. A grin appeared on his face.
“She said she met you last night. Amazing isn't it?” The blond haired guy grinned. There must be some sort of inside joke being shared between them. Annabel had no idea whether it was good or bad. She felt torn between leaving or staying.
“It's a long story,” Crispin said walking towards the door. He prepared himself to step outside and talk with her.
“Then come in and tell us this story,” the blond haired guy said helping Annabel into the house before Crispin got a foot completely out. “I'm Henry by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you Annabel.”

Chapter 4

“How did you know to come to this address?” Crispin asked sitting down on the couch with Annabel. Henry and two other people joined them and sat waiting to hear her response. She felt on display. She regretted coming over.
Annabel looked at the other people in the room before she said, “I talked with my roommate about what happened last night. She didn't believe anything I said so I searched online with the number you gave me and it came back to this address.”
All of the people in the room looked at one another. “That seemed far too easy. Can we work on that?” Crispin asked the man standing near the doorway to the next room.
The other dark haired guy nodded. “It shouldn't be hard for the number to become unlisted. Or we can always not give you the number anymore.”
“That's a good idea too,” the dark haired woman Sera said sitting on a chair nearby. She smiled at Crispin.
“She needed help,” Crispin said in his defense.
Henry nodded. “I use that line a lot too. I think I've helped over half a dozen women.” He purposely tried tempting Crispin into turning red.
Crispin turned his attention to Henry. “I'm using it seriously.”
“Of course you are.”
“So Annabel, what happened last night?” Sera asked steering the conversation back to the main topic. She was interested in finding out more about the attack that happened.
Annabel continued, “I was coming home and tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. This huge, dark shape appeared and started coming after me. I wasn't even sure it was real or something from my imagination but then Crispin appeared. He shot some flames at it from his mouth. What was that anyway?”
All of the people in the room shifted their gaze towards Crispin. None of them gave any indication as to what the answer was. Even Henry looked uneasy.
Crispin looked off to the side as if thinking of an answer. It was difficult to think under pressure from her and everyone else. “I'm a fire breather. Like those people in the circus who are able to shoot fire out of their mouths.”
The room filled with brief moment of silence before the other three in the room burst out laughing. “I don't think I've ever heard a worse excuse,” Henry said looking at the other people for confirmation.
“Of all the things you could have said, you chose that one? Really? Did you get dropped on your head last night?” Sera asked. She shook her head and walked off into one of the other rooms past the man standing in the doorway. She heard enough.
“Don't stare at me next time and I'll be able to think of a better excuse,” Crispin stated in defense to Sera as she continued out of sight.
“It seems that's not the real answer. What really happened then? You did shoot flames out of your mouth right?” Annabel began getting nervous. She wasn't certain if she should stay here or if she should leave now. The other people didn't look nervous about what was happening.
“You can explain it to her. I'm going swim,” Henry said as he too left the room. The other man standing in the doorway gave a little wave and left as well. Only Crispin and Annabel remained in the room.
Crispin hesitantly moved closer to Annabel. “I'm telling you this because you saw the dark shape. Otherwise you could survive without knowing about it."
“What is it?” She eyed the front door from her position. She planned on leaving if what he told her was too unbelievable.
“It's a long story. The essentials are that the dark shape you saw is actually what we call the Unseen. People call it different names – terrors, death shadows, demons. It refers to the same entities. There are thousands all over the world and we track them down before they attack anyone.”
“I've never heard of that. Are you telling me that the shape I saw last night could kill me?”
He raised his hands to calm her down. “I was there. It wasn't going to kill you. You saw me fight it. I've done this hundreds of times.”
Annabel's mouth dropped. This was exactly what she worried about hearing. “Is it coming after me again? Am I in danger right now?”
He paused for a moment to think of the right thing to say. He didn't want to cause panic. He also didn't feel right lying to her. She deserved to know the truth.
He took too long to answer her. She knew why he was stalling. “I am in danger. I can't believe this. Why didn't you warn me last night?” She nervous and looked around uneasily. She expected to see the Unseen coming after her in the room.
“I tried to warn you. I gave you my number if it came back. That should’ve cued you in to what might happen.”
“That didn't warn me. I thought you were being nice. I didn't know I needed to call your number and wait around to see if you show up because a creature could potentially kill me. Shouldn't the police know about this? Or someone else? How about the President?” She stood up from the couch and paced around the room. There had to be something she could do to stop the creature from coming after her. Maybe she could move.
“The odds of it actually coming back for you are pretty slim. It won't.” He didn't know. It was pure chance he found her before the Unseen killed her. He never saw someone survive an attack before.
“Who are you guys and why should I believe you?”
“We're from a long, long line of people fighting these creatures for thousands of years. I need you to keep this a secret and never reveal it to anyone else.”
“Don't tell me you're some kind of vampire.”
He laughed. “No, we can go outside during the day. We're what used to be called dragons by humans.”
She rolled her eyes. “If you're going to lie to me, at least make it convincing. Dragons aren’t real. They’re only in games that nerdy little boys play in their basements.”
“I'm telling you the truth.” He shot out a small jet of flames from his mouth. He smiled at her as if he won the argument when he closed his mouth. She couldn’t say anything in rebuttal to that.
She wasn't impressed. “You might actually be a flame thrower like you said before.”
He looked at her skeptically. He told her everything and she chose not to believe it. “Do you want to win this argument just for the sake of winning it?”
“I guess I do. I didn't think about that. I do know that this is some kind of trick you're playing on me. Your friends are in the next room laughing about it. You’re just so excited to pull a fast one on me.”
He laughed again. “You're hard to please. I was wondering something else.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you come here?”
She almost forgot why she came over. All of this information he told her caused her to stop thinking about her real purpose in coming. “I was wondering if you'd like to go out for a late lunch. Or maybe early dinner,” she said pulling out her phone, “Early dinner.” She slept longer than she thought.
He weighed his options. She came here after all. It would be rude to refuse her gesture. “That sounds good. Why don't you decide where we're going? I'm sure you know the best places in the city.” He stood up and walked with her towards the front door.
“How do you know I'm from here?”
“Your accent,” he smiled as he opened the door.

Chapter 5

“I need to apologize for last night. I was coming back from one of the bars nearby and I wasn't sure if I saw you. I thought I imagined you. I expected to wake up and not have the phone number anymore,” Annabel confessed as she nibbled on one of the bread sticks from the table. She chose for them one of the nearby Italian restaurants. It wasn’t too busy and she could get to know him better without feeling rushed.
Crispin leaned on the table to move closer to her. “I wish I knew that earlier. I could have said you made up the whole story about breathing fire.”
She didn't understand. “Are you regretting being out with me?”
“Not at all. I'm regretting the lame excuse I used.”
“You saying you're a fire breather isn’t a lame excuse. It's beyond lame.” She laughed. She hoped he would realize she made a joke. She wasn't trying to be rude to him.
He laughed a little. “You're very fascinating Annabel. I've met a lot of people in my life but there’s something about you. I can't figure out what it is.”
“That's a great line to keep someone interested. I'm sure you tell all of the girls you save that.”
“I'm not Henry. That hurt,” he said leaning back with a mock expression of hurt. He smiled at her.
She smiled at him. He possessed a good sense of humor. That was a positive trait on her scale. “Have you been here before?”
“This place or do you mean the city in general?”
“Both.”
He shook his head. “It's my first time for both. I haven't gone around and checked out all of the places in the area. I'm content to stay away from people.”
“Is it because you're a dragon?”
“Shh,” he said looking around the place and hoping no one heard her, “Don't ever say that in public.”
“Sorry,” she said softly. That was the only problem she had with him. He thought he was actually a dragon. It wasn't the worse problem he could have but it did seem really weird.
The rest of the meal passed by slowly. Annabel wasn't sure if she blew her chance at going on an actual date with him. “So...what are your plans for tonight?” she asked. She looked at him sweetly, hoping there was a chance they could do something together tonight.
“I can't go out with you,” he said abruptly. He hated saying those words. He practiced saying them to himself all night.
She felt foolish. “That's fine.” She wanted to leave now before it got worse.
Crispin shook his head. He didn't want her to feel that way. “It's not because of you. It really is me.”
“That's one of the oldest lines in the book. It's fine. We weren't even dating. This is a preemptive break-up.”
He opened his mouth to say something but Annabel kept talking before he could.
“I'm already in a very deep relationship. His name is,” she said looking up trying to think of a name quickly, “Paul. It's very serious. He's not a dragon.”
“That's nice,” he said putting his napkin on the table, “Do you - ”
“No.” She didn't want to hear what he planned to ask. “I'm going home right now. That’s the best thing for me to do.”
“I'm - ”
“See you later Crispin,” she said standing up before he did. She walked to the front and paid for the meal. Her cheeks burned from being embarrassed in front of him. And Paul? She didn’t know a single person named Paul. She should have chosen another name and then found someone to pretend to be her boyfriend.
She left the restaurant and headed to her car. She was going home and explaining to June how the whole thing resulted in a huge mess. It was like everything else she did. Perhaps she needed to swear off guys for now. She reached into her purse for her keys.
“Hello,” a voice spoke behind her. She turned around. It sounded as if it spoke into her ear. Nothing stood in the space behind her, only air.
“Hello?” she asked. She listened carefully. There was nothing outside. She couldn't hear the cars on the street either. Something felt wrong.
“Annabel,” the voice said again. It came from behind her once more. Its tone sent chills down her body. She knew that voice. She heard it before but didn’t know who it was. She did know what it belonged to.
“Who are you?” She didn't turn around.
Another shiver ran down her body. “You look scared. Are you afraid?”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“It is very rare to touch a human,” the voice said with added emphasis on the last word, “and not have her crumble beneath me. Who are you Annabel Wells?”
 She felt scared now. Whatever this was, it knew her name. She didn't know how it did. “What do you want? I don't have any money on me.”
A wisp of cold air moved past her neck. The creature laughed, the echo resonating around her and off the brick walls. “Money does not solve every problem. I want to know who you are.”
“You already know my name.”
“I want to see how you look inside.” The voice sounded colder than before. The threat became real.
Annabel swallowed hard. She wasn't letting this creature kill her. She took off running. She didn't know where she was going. She only knew she planned on getting away from it as fast as possible.
The dark shape appeared in front of her instantly. “You think you can get away from me that fast? Nice try.”
She turned around and started to go back when the shape appeared in front of her again. Everywhere she turned, the shape was there already. It began growing in the same fashion as it did the night before.
A massive spike formed in the creature's hand. She saw it this time clearly unlike the other attack when it existed only as a blur. This creature, the Unseen, planned on killing her. She raised her arms above her head and closed her eyes.

Chapter 6

She felt the heat from the flames rush past her and strike the creature. She opened her eyes. The creature didn’t killed her. She turned around. Crispin stood there, his eyes glaring at the creature.
“What are you doing here?” She asked him. She thought he left the area already.
“We'll talk later.”
Her attention drifted to his hands. She could see a claw where his hand should be. The flames could have been explained but to have his body change in a short amount of time was a stretch. He told her the truth earlier.
The Unseen spoke in a cold voice, “Mmm, I am having dragon tonight. I was thinking it was going to be human. This is such a treat for me.”
“You're having nothing tonight,” Crispin answered. He advanced closer to the Unseen with his claws ready. The light of the flames reflected off the scaly claws.
“Exactly. Neither one of us is on the menu for tonight,” Annabel added. She made her way behind Crispin. She was scared of the Unseen attacking her even in this position.
Crispin looked at her oddly for a moment before refocusing his attention on the Unseen. The two stared at each other. They planned on fighting each other in the same way as the night before.
The Unseen attacked first. Its dark shape threw itself against Crispin hard. The darkness knocked Crispin off his feet and threw him against the hard asphalt of the parking lot. Annabel heard his body hit the ground. The dark shape collected itself again and hit him while he lay on the ground.
“Pathetic,” the shape said as it swirled around, using the opportunity to grow in intensity.
Crispin rolled himself onto his knees and sprang at the dark shape. The swirling darkness traveled around him and allowed for brief glimpses of his body.
Annabel felt useless. She looked around the lot. There had to be something she could use to help Crispin. All she saw was a stick nearby. That would have to do. She picked it up and charged at the darkness.
The stick hit against the creature but she wasn't sure if it did any damage. The Unseen remained distracted while hitting Crispin still. She would have to concentrate on using whatever time she possessed to find a way to help him out. When they made it out of this fight, she would ask Crispin or one of the others what weapons were useful against the Unseen. She didn’t want a repeat of this in the future.
Two more streams of fire came from behind Annabel. She turned around and saw Henry and Sera standing there. Both of them held their claws prepared. “Move out of the way,” Henry told Annabel as he prepared to launch himself into the fray.
Annabel moved to the side and watched Henry dive into the fight. Claws from both men sliced through the Unseen. It became difficult to tell which claws belonged to whom. Patches of darkness fell onto the ground and disappeared. The ones which didn’t instantly vanish were scorched by Sera until she destroyed all of them.
When the darkness disappeared, Annabel watched as all three returned to their normal looking bodies. The claws turned back into regular hands. “Are you okay?” Crispin asked walking over to Annabel. He looked to see if the Unseen attacked her while he wasn’t watching.
“I'm fine. What about you?” She saw him being thrown against the ground by the Unseen. He should have a few broken bones at least.
Henry walked over, checking out the people who started passing in front of the parking lot. “We need to get out of here before another one shows up. I don't think we can take two Unseens tonight.”
“I agree with Henry for once,” Sera looked at all of them and settled her eyes on Annabel, “Is she coming too?”
Crispin nodded. “I need to talk with her. She actually heard what the Unseen was saying.”
The other two exchanged glances between themselves. There was likely another reason why Crispin chose to bring her along with them. “Okay,” Sera said, “I guess we can start walking back then.”
“My car’s here. I can give you a ride since we're all going to the same place,” Annabel said. It made sense to her for them to travel together. If an Unseen tried attacking her again, they would be nearby. It worked out for her in the long run.
Henry and Sera cast a concerned look at Crispin. He nodded. “I think going with her would be the best.”
“Whatever you say,” Sera mumbled under her breath, following Annabel like the others. Everyone piled into Annabel's car and headed back to the house; their gaze shifting backwards every once in a while to ensure no one followed them. The questions started pouring out the moment she sat down on the couch.
“When did you first hear the Unseen talk?” Crispin asked. Perhaps she heard it earlier.
“Tonight was the first time. It talked in my ear softly,” Annabel answered. She was remembering as best she could what happened.
“What did the voice sound like?”
“It was...cold? Is that even possible?” She turned towards him, hoping it made sense.
Crispin nodded. “She definitely heard it. I don't know how she heard it. I was under the impression that humans can’t hear the voice of the Unseen."
“Unless they've been attacked by the Unseen before in which case there's a chance they'll be able to,” the other dark haired man in the room said. He stroked his chin. He scrutinized Annabel as if he expected her to change into an Unseen in front of him.
“Who are you?” she asked him. She didn't mean to sound rude but she wanted to know who was talking. She knew everyone else in the room except for him.
“I forgot to introduce myself? I always do that. I'm Jules,” he said standing up to shake her hand. He also took notes about everything being said among the group.
Annabel shook his hand. It was still a hand. She looked over at the others. Their hands also seemed normal. “Was I imagining it or can you change your hands into claws?”
All of them nodded. “It's one of the few things we still have from our original forms. It's also one of the few things that does damage to an Unseen,” Crispin explained.
“What happened tonight between you and Crispin?” Sera asked randomly. She waited patiently to ask that question and it seemed like the right time now.
“Don't ask that,” Crispin replied for Annabel.
“Why not? We're trying to determine exactly what made the Unseen come after her. The more we can find out the better. Your date happened right before the Unseen attacked. I think it’s relevant.”
“You can ask her tomorrow. For now, she's going to stay here overnight. Is there anyone you need to call?” Crispin asked Annabel. He ignored the dirty look from Sera.
“Why do I need to stay here?” She wanted to know everything that pertained to her. This was important and could possibly save her life.
Crispin and Jules exchanged looks with each other. They knew why she needed to remain nearby but hesitated mentioning it to her.
“I want to run some tests on you. It'll take a while to get everything ready,” Jules explained, “I do have a pamphlet you can read which outlines some of the things I'm going to be checking for if you want to look over it." He shook his head slightly, looking over at Crispin.
That was an odd thing to hear but she could play along. “That sounds reasonable. Let me make a quick call so no one worries about me tonight,” Annabel said looking from one man to the other. She expected them to say she couldn't or that she needed to remain cryptic about what she said. They were a weird bunch from the short amount of time she spent with them already.
Crispin nodded. “That's good. Let me show you where you're going to stay.” He stood up and walked with her upstairs.
Opening the door to the room he indicated, she peered inside. The room looked bare – a bed with a dresser against the wall. It looked like no one slept in there for months.
“Do you have a lot of people staying over here?” She knew the answer already.
He shook his head. “You're the first. You can stay in here tonight. I promise we're not going to attack you or anything. You can lock the door, barricade it, whatever. If you hear the Unseen, let us know. I'm going to make sure someone’s around at all times in case. I'm next door so if there’s no one, just knock on the wall and I'll come.” He knocked on the wall to prove his point.
“Thanks,” she said slipping inside of the room. As soon as she felt positive he left the upstairs area, she closed the door and locked it. This was a bit odd. It was not at all how she thought the day planned to go when she woke up.

Chapter 7

“June? Can you hear me?” Annabel whispered into her phone. She was talking low to keep anyone from hearing her.
“Yeah but why are you whispering? Is your date actually going that well?” Music played in the background. Annabel wasn’t sure whether or not June was in their apartment or out for the night. She might be having some sort of party if she stayed home.
“He's a dragon,” Annabel said trying to keep her voice low. Crispin warned her not to tell anyone about that. She couldn't help but tell June this. June could be trusted.
“The gang that hangs around the south end of town?”
“No. He's a real dragon. Or at least he claims to be,” Annabel explained as she tried convincing June. June would believe her if anyone should. She always found crazy people.
June paused for a moment. Annabel checked her phone to see if she lost the signal. No, it was still there. June must be thinking about something or have gotten distracted. “June?”
“Annabel, I believe you're taking this break-up over Greg too hard. I've never seen you this crazy to make up that someone is a dragon.”
“I'm not crazy.”
“Does he have wings?”
“Wings?”
June sighed. “I know dragons have wings. Everybody knows that. Does he have wings?”
“I...I don't think so.” Annabel couldn't remember seeing any. He might be hiding them from her.
“Problem solved. He's nervous. Do you have a picture so I can see for myself?”
Annabel shook her head while talking into the phone. “I didn't take one yet.”
“Go take one and let me see. I'll tell you if he's a dragon or if he's a normal guy. I am thinking it's the second option.”
“Fine, I'll go take a picture. I'm only taking a picture of him so you can see him and know he's a dragon.” Annabel hung up the phone before June responded. Now she needed to sneak downstairs and take a picture of him. If she kept talking to June, it would have evolved into gathering more evidence.
She opened the door. No one was visible in the hallway. She couldn’t remember if she was allowed to walk around or if they preferred she remain in her room. Making her way to the top landing, she heard voices talking below. She listened in on what they said.
“You can't ask her that question,” Crispin said. His voice sounded tired.
“It's a simple question. I think I have the right to know the answer,” Sera said, her voice agitated.
“It shouldn't matter. She's in trouble and we need to help her.”
“Your statement would be more convincing if you hadn't gone on a date with her tonight.”
“It wasn't a date. I wanted to know more about her in an informal setting.”
Henry laughed. “That's the second time you've said one of my lines today. I should copyright them for the future.”
Crispin sighed audibly. “I don't see how any of this relates to what's going on right now. We have solid proof that the Unseen is after her. Tomorrow, Jules is going to run some tests so we can see why.”
The conversation became muted and Annabel could only heard random words. Footsteps sounded off in different directions a few minutes afterward. The television was also turned on, helping mask whatever conversation happened below.
Annabel crept down the stairs. She was convinced no one planned on coming up to check on her. She saw Crispin sitting on the chair, reading a book. Sera sat nearby. She was the one watching television.
Annabel aimed the lens at Crispin and zoomed in. Her phone couldn't zoom in as much as she wanted. The image remained still a little blurry. This was the best she could get. If June complained, she could come take her own picture. Annabel pressed a button and heard a click.
Crispin looked up at the stairs. He heard a click coming from that direction. Annabel’s face appeared visible through the railing. His attention drifted to her phone held up still. He stood up from his chair and walked past Sera, careful not to let her know that something happened out of the ordinary.
Annabel backed up the stairs and tried to keep herself away from Crispin once she realized he planned on coming up. She felt he wasn’t pleased with the fact she took his picture. She slipped on the carpeted stair and scrambled to her feet once more. He kept gaining ground on her.
“Give me your phone,” Crispin hissed loudly to her as he made his way up the stairs. He practically ran up the stairs to get to her, taking two at a time.
Annabel thought momentarily he owned wings to run up the stairs that fast. “No,” Annabel pressed the buttons on her phone quickly. She needed to send this picture to June before he took her phone.
Crispin grabbed her arm. “Give me your phone.”
“No.” She passed the phone from one hand to another to keep it away from him.
“Are you going to make me take your phone from you?”
Annabel grabbed her phone with both hands and pulled it closer to her. “You can't have it. Does that bother you?”
Crispin reached for the phone and started wresting it from her hands. “You can't take my picture.” She was behaving like a child. The two fought over her phone until he pinned her arms against the wall. He was finally able to get the phone from her. He pressed a button and deleted it. He handed her the phone back satisfied.
“That was rude of you,” she said angrily to him. She stared at him in the eyes. She never came this close to him before. He didn't look like a dragon. He looked normal. June might be right.
“You can't take a picture of me.”
“Why not?”
“There are people who would kill me if they knew I was here. If you send that, I'll have to leave and keep moving. It'd be too dangerous to stay here.” He never noticed before but she had lovely green eyes. He blinked his own. He needed to focus on the current situation.
“Maybe I want that. You said you didn't want to get involved with me. I don't see how this would affect me.” She was captivated by his eyes. She felt him staring at her too.
“It appears we're going to be involved regardless. Can you promise me that you'll not take any pictures of me?”
“Not one single picture?”
“Not one.”
“Okay,” she said moving out from against the wall, “I'm going back to my room. I'll see you in the morning.” She masked her smile by biting the inside of her cheek.
“Good night,” he replied watching her going back into her room. He heard the click of the lock and walked down the stairs. He smiled, pleased with himself.

Chapter 8

“Did you get the picture?” Annabel asked June. Crispin deleted the picture from her phone but not before she sent it to her friend. That could be the only evidence that the police would have to find her if something went wrong. She was still unsure if she should trust them or not.
“It's a little blurry but he looks nice. I don't see any wings and I examined the picture twice. Your theory is completely wrong. He looks like your kind of guy. I didn't see anything to disqualify him from being on Annabel's list,” June said. Light music played in the background.
Annabel sighed. “That's the problem.”
“What do you mean that's the problem? You're looking for something wrong with him aren't you? Why can't you accept that he's someone you might want to be with?”
“I thought about that. He's nice. Do you think it would be weird for me to ask him out?” Based upon their last conversation, he stated they would be together for the moment regardless. It could be a good time to make her move.
“I don't think so. I've asked out dozens of guys. They usually prefer it.”
Annabel nodded. There was truth in those words. She didn’t feel mentally convinced she would be up to the task. She’d need to find a way out. “There's another girl over here. I think she might be his girlfriend or something.” She heard the desperation in her voice as she searched for some flaw. Guys like Crispin always had a flaw of some sort when it came to being in a relationship. Otherwise, they would be with someone.
June gave an exasperated sigh. “I'm hanging up now. Next you're going to tell me he's married or has a dozen kids. I'll see you tomorrow. We need to talk about this finding excuses routine.”
“Fine,” Annabel said curtly hanging the phone up. June didn't believe her. She would handle all of this by herself. She could do it. She handled many things before. They didn't always work out perfectly but they were handled.
She dropped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow, things would start making sense. Or they might go even further in the realm of make believe. At this point, either was a strong option. She crawled under the sheets and soon found herself drifting off to sleep.
Annabel looked around her when she woke up in the morning, light coming in through the window. She forgot she slept somewhere else. It took a few minutes for her to remember where she went to sleep at. She buried her head in the pillow. This weekend was becoming one she hoped she would forget later.
Someone knocked on the door. It was probably Crispin or Jules. She would have to do all of the experiments they wanted to do on her. She didn't mind. All she wanted was to be safe from that dark creature. The Unseen as they called it. She rolled out of bed. Might as well get it over with. Annabel opened the door, hoping she didn’t look horrible.
Neither Crispin nor Jules stood there. Instead, Sera handed her some clothes. “I wasn't sure what size you were. If they're too big or small, you don't have to wear them. I thought you might want something comfortable to wear. The tests are long.”
“Thanks,” Annabel accepted the clothes. They looked like normal clothes. The clothes must not be something she had to wear special for the tests. Sera genuinely wanted her to be comfortable. There was still skepticism when dealing with her.
Sera turned to leave then looked back at Annabel. “Oh and Jules told me that whenever you're ready, you can meet him to start. His office is downstairs. You take a right in the living room and open the door. You can't miss it.”
“Do you know what kind of tests he's going to run on me?” Maybe she should have asked for the pamphlet. She laughed internally – that was a joke. There was no pamphlet and she knew it.
Sera shook her head. “I don't deal with that stuff. Most of it's too complicated for me to understand.”
“This should be interesting then,” Annabel said to herself aloud thinking about what planned on happening. She would find out soon what the tests consisted of. Worrying about them without proof was useless.
Sera heading down the stairs. Annabel closed her door and changed. She headed down the stairs to find Jules. No one hung around in the living room. They were probably waiting for her in Jules' room to see her progress on the tests. She opened the door to the right of the room.
The sun beamed down on her. Annabel's eyes took a few moments to adjust before she could see that she arrived outside. “Took a wrong turn?” Henry asked from the chair by the pool. His hair was wet from having swum earlier, his chest as well.
“Sera told me this was the way to Jules' room,” she said with confusion. She felt Sera lied to her. Something definitely went on with her and Crispin. Her hunch was right.
Henry walked over to her and smiled. “You took a wrong turn. You should have taken a left. I can show you where you need to go if you want me to.”
“That would be...okay?” Annabel wasn't sure what she should say.
He hooked his arm with hers as he led her back into the house. “It's this way,” he said walking with her into the room to the left.
Crispin and Jules stood in there waiting for her. Papers lay on a table as they checked over some data they gathered earlier. All of it dealt with the Unseen attack from last night. They looked up from the papers when they heard Annabel and Henry enter the room.
“What's going on?” Crispin walked over to Annabel. He also cast a dirty look at Henry especially when he saw their arms linked together.
“She took a wrong turn. I had to show her where she needed to go. Remember, you can always come outside and talk to me if you get a break,” Henry winked walking through the door. He made sure to leave before Crispin gave a response.
“Is he always like that?” Annabel asked. She wasn't sure if he was trying to impress her or not. He kept coming on a bit strong.
Crispin shrugged. “He's been like that for as long as I've known him. It's his defense mechanism. Let's start these tests before he comes back.” He motioned for her to come closer. The tests needed to start. They didn't need to dwell on Henry any longer.

Chapter 9

Annabel followed Crispin to a testing area they set up for her. It consisted of three chairs and a table with various objects on it. “What tests are you planning on running?” She wanted to be fully informed.
“We're not sure why the Unseen is interested in you,” Jules sat down opposite her, “I'm running a few basic tests to see if anything shows up immediately.” He positioned one of the devices facing her.
“Basic tests?” She looked to Crispin for any indication what these tests would be. He was the person she trusted in this scenario. He saved her twice already. He could be trusted.
“The tests are to see why the Unseen decided to invest its energy into finding you. We'll be able to figure out the exact cause from these tests,” Crispin explained. He took a seat opposite her. He grinned and watched the information being transmitted.
Annabel crossed her arms in the chair. She felt nervous about the process. “I trust you. Let's figure this out. Do I need to look at some pictures and tell you the meaning?”
“A Rorschach test? I never understood the importance of those tests. These are nothing like that. They are more scientific,” Jules reached out for her hand. His glasses hung off the edge of his nose.
She gave her hand to him and smiled. “Palm reading?” She relaxed. This was easy so far.
Jules poked her finger with a small pin he held in his other hand. She didn’t see it earlier.
“Ow,” she instinctively tried pulling her hand back. He held strongly onto on her and kept her finger in his hand.
He squeezed a drop of her blood. “I need to take a better look at this sample,” he explained. He scraped it onto a glass slide and placed it on the table.
“You should warn me before drawing my blood. It's not nice to poke people,” she said when released. She was curious to see he would find. She placed her finger in her mouth. The pin left a mark.
Jules slid his chair to a microscope he had at a counter nearby. He looked at the slide and told them, “I don't see anything unusual. I'm going to do an experiment with some of the Unseen material. I want to see if anything happens.” He grabbed a small jar from the table. Its contents consisted of pure black. Annabel saw it before. It was the same darkness as the Unseen.
She felt nervous. She looked at Crispin. His eyes remained fixated on the jar and her blood near Jules. He realized Annabel was looking at him and grinned back. Her expression gave off an aura of fear of what would happen. He tried calming her by saying, “Don't worry. It's not enough to attack you. He wants to see what happens when it comes in contact with your blood.”
Annabel nodded as though she understood the explanation. “I'm holding you responsible then. You fight it if it tries attacking me,” she joked. If it tried coming after her, she planned on running out the room.
He smiled. “I wouldn't have to. It dies off quickly since it doesn't have a host.”
She nodded again. She didn’t understand what he said. It was one occasion she needed to take his word on. He was the experienced one in this scenario. She just started learning about all this.
Jules opened the jar and put a small amount of dark material next to the slide. The dark material swirled around the drop of blood. The spinning increased as the seconds passed. Annabel and Crispin saw this happen from their positions. It continued moving for a few minutes before directly attacking her blood. The slide cracked from the force of impact. The swirling ceased once the blood became consumed.
As Crispin said, in a few seconds the material wore itself off. It disappeared into a thin white smoke after it finished the attack.
“That doesn't look good,” Annabel said aloud. She worried the Unseen would attack her in the same way. If it was after her blood, she was going to be attacked again. She couldn’t get rid of her blood. There must be another way she could avoid dealing with the problem. Her attention drifted back to the men in the room. They were her best options for solving this.
Crispin and Jules exchanged looks with one another. They knew it was a bad result. They didn't know how to explain the results to Annabel positively. She kept looking to them for answers. They needed to say something.
“That sample was taken from the same Unseen we fought last night. It was destroyed so I wouldn't worry about it attacking you again. Jules, do we have a jar from another Unseen?” Crispin asked. He smiled at Annabel to reassure her.
“There's one in the back of the storage room. Can you help me get it?” Jules stood up and started off towards the room. Crispin did the same, smiling the entire time.
“Are you positive the Unseen is gone?” Annabel asked before they left. She fidgeted in her chair. She could be in danger right now. The Unseen might enter the room at any moment and come after her.
“I'm positive about that. Three dragons can destroy any Unseen,” Crispin said. He followed Jules through the door. They stood in the kitchen and looked at one another, waiting for the door to swing close before talking about the findings.
The situation was serious yet they were both excited at the findings. Something like this never happened.
“Did you see that?” Jules asked. He wanted to be certain he didn't imagine that happening. This was a new discovery for him.
“I know. What are we going to do? I can't tell her what the results are.”
“I don't know what we can do. It's hard to stop an Unseen once it chooses its prey. They'll travel across continents if they have to until they kill that person. I wish I had more time to explore the options. This is completely new territory for me.” His mind raced with experiments he could do.
Crispin ran his fingers through her hair. He thought about several paths he could take but none of them seemed promising. He didn't want to put her in danger but he needed more information. He hated making decisions without examining every available option. “Why do you believe this happened?”
“I think perhaps she lied.”
“About what?”
“I think the Unseen did touch her earlier and that's how it can track her. It has a sample of her essence and it will go after her until it completes its task of killing her.” That was the best explanation Jules could think of.
Crispin bobbed his head in agreement. He feared that. “That would make sense but she told me she wasn't.” He was inclined to believe people told him the truth. After all, most people were scared after learning he was a dragon and believed he might decide to scorch them if they lied.
“She could be scared. You can be intimidating at first glance. We could force the information from her. I have something for that.”
“We're not going to force her to tell us. You might be right. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Let's go into the room and see if she was touched.” He grabbed a jar from inside a cabinet. He pulled off the label and shoved it into his pocket.
Jules raised his eyebrow.
“We said we were coming in here for something. It would be suspicious if we didn't bring anything.” They exchanged a nervous laugh as they headed back towards Annabel. Hopefully the Unseen didn’t attacked her while they were away.

Chapter 10

Sera walked outside. It felt like a pleasant morning. The sun beamed down on her. It was an excellent day for swimming. All of her plans were interrupted as Henry asked, “Can't tell your right from your left?”
She looked over to the side of the pool. Henry didn’t move from his position earlier. “I have no idea what you're talking about.” She headed towards him. She didn’t feel like having a conversation the neighbors could hear.
He took his sunglasses off. He turned his chair towards her as well. This would be an interesting talk. “I've never seen you act like this before. What brought about this sudden bout of jealousy?”
“It wasn't jealousy,” she defended herself. She dangled her feet in the water. “I told her to take the right. Jules' room is to the right.” She held up her left hand.
“It's your other hand,” he told her laughing.
She changed hands. She dropped both of them in frustration. It was embarrassing for Henry to correct her. “I guess I told her wrong. I can't tell my left from my right. Are you happy? I'll correct that next time.”
“I don't know. Quick, is this right or left?” He held up his left hand.
“Ha ha,” she sarcastically told him. She saw the sun directly above her. “What are you out here for anyway? Shouldn't you be inside helping them?”
“Crispin told me not to interfere. I think he wanted some special time with her. I needed some sun anyway. I have to keep this body looking handsome."
“You’ll be out here for a long time. I thought by now you'd already be surrounded by throngs of admirers.”
“I'm planning something. Crispin told us months ago that we were not allowed to bring people here. He broke his own rule by bringing Annabel along. He has no option now but to let us have fun,” he said putting his glasses back on his face and leaning back, “I'm going out tonight. I heard of some interesting places nearby.”
Sera kicked the water. She would be stuck inside of the house again doing nothing. She watched television all the time. She saw most of the shows on there. She was losing her patience and sanity. “Can I go with you?”
“What?” He lowered his glasses. He gauged whether she was serious or not. He couldn’t be sure.
“Let me go with you tonight. I'm stuck in this house every day for two months. I've seen every show on television. I can recite them by heart. All I want is one night.”
There was a drawback to this plan of hers. “Crispin'll be mad. He doesn't like you going out.”
“He doesn't have to know. I'll say I'm going shop for food or something and he'll never find out. I've done it before. Please Henry. Save my sanity.” She batted her eyes at him. She hoped she convinced him to take her along.
“No,” he said shaking his head to reinforce the fact, “I'm not going with you. It would be weird flirting with a woman if I have one standing next to me.”
“You can say I'm your sister. People bring their sisters with them.”
“And that's not weird?”
“You don't have a choice.”
He grinned. She had nothing. “Explain.”
Sera told him, “If you don't take me, I'm going to tell Crispin about this before you go out. He is going to tell you that you can't bring anyone back. He may even stop you from going. There's a lot of work to do around here. I'll block you before you go out.” She grinned now.
“You're quite crafty. I hope you learned that from me. I'll let you come along tonight. If I give you the signal, I want you to go somewhere else. I can't have you ruining my evening.”
“Deal. The same goes for me.”
“Really?”
“It's possible. I was told that I do look pretty.”
“Who told you that?”
“Why does it matter?”
He looked at her suspiciously.
“It was a guy at one of your parties. He said that to me. Then Crispin came and told him to leave.”
He stifled a laugh. “That's his personality. How are you getting out without Crispin noticing that you're gone?”
She rolled her eyes. “That's going to be easy. He's googly eyed for that human girl. He's concerned with saving her. I doubt he notices who's in the house now. I'll say I'm sleeping and sneak out the house. I'm all prepared.”
Henry resumed his sunning. “Meet me outside at ten. I'll wait around a few minutes but if you're late, I'll leave without you.”
“I won't be late. It's my first chance out of here and I am not about to miss it.” She jumped into the pool. She felt excited about leaving. Now she all she needed to do was wait until ten to experience the new city. Things finally became interesting for her. 

Chapter 11

“How concerned should I be about another Unseen attack me? Do I need to run now?” Annabel asked Crispin and Jules as they walked into the room. Her hands moved nervously. She worried the entire time they were gone. She couldn't be sure if one of the creatures could enter through the window or door to attack her. She felt slightly better knowing they came back.
Crispin placed the jar on the table. He sat opposite her with a concerned look on his face. Jules did the same. “That depends how much you cooperate with us.”
She shifted nervously. “Wha – what do you mean?” She wondered where this conversation headed.
Crispin leaned closer to her across the table. “Is there something you're hiding from us?”
“What would I hide from you?”
“Did you lie to us earlier?”
Her face dropped. He found out. “How did you know?”
He tried not to smile. He was still a good interrogator. “I have my sources. Why did you do it?”
“She asked before I came here to do it. All she wanted was one picture. She wanted to see what you look like. I told her you were dragons so she said she definitely needed one. You didn't have wings. That was how she explained to me I was wrong. I know you are so it’s confusing. I'm sorry. I'll tell her to delete it. Please don't set me on fire.” She shifted her eyes from Crispin to Jules and back again. This was specifically what he told her not to tell anyone else. She deserved to have flames shot at her.
Crispin stared at her in disbelief. He didn't think she would reveal that. He needed to remain focused. He failed, taken back by her blatant disregard for his order. “I didn't think I could've been clearer. You were not to reveal our true nature. There are people out there furious with us.”
“I'm sorry. I really am.”
“How did you even get a picture? I deleted it from your phone.”
“You deleted the picture off of my phone but I'd already sent it.”
He hung his head. He had a good idea on how to determine why the Unseen was after her. This scenario gave him an excuse. “You can't stay here. I can't trust you. Good luck out there.” He stood up from the chair and started for the door.
“No, no,” she followed him, “I said I was sorry.” She worried about being attacked. He was the only one who could keep her safe. She needed to stay here.
He faced her. “You need to learn that when I ask you not to do something, you should follow my advice. Besides, you'll be safe at home. Don't come here again.” He didn’t mean it but it reinforced the punishment.
“Please Crispin. I'm sorry.”
It hurt him to watch her plead like this. He had to remain strong. It wasn’t forever. “Everything will be okay. You don't need me. You have your phone anyway, right?”
She opened her mouth to protest but closed it. She did lie to him. All it took was one lie and she was on her own. “I understand. I won't come back ever. You don't have to worry about me. Not that you probably ever did. Nice to meet you Jules,” she said giving Jules a handshake good-bye. She walked past Crispin without looking at him and left the house. There was no need to talk to him anymore. Their involvement was over. He made that clear.
Annabel opened the door to her car and sat inside staring at the controls. She wasn't sure what happened. She couldn't tell if he was serious when he told her she was safe now. It didn't matter. She felt angry with him banishing her from there. He didn't use the word banished. He told her she couldn't come back. To her, it sounded the same. The creature could attack her now and she’d be defenseless. She didn’t even know how to defend herself. He could have at least told her one technique.
She thought about what happened as she drove home. In particular, she thought about Crispin She was wrong in thinking he could be different from other guys she met. They were all the same. The only difference between him and the rest was he claimed to be a dragon. The story was weirder than what she normally heard. That was what attracted her to him. Now it ended. She could go home now and everything would resume to normal.
Annabel opened the door to her quiet apartment. She felt glad to be back on familiar turf. She checked around the place for June. She must have left already. She couldn't stay still for long. A note lay on the kitchen table. Annabel read it, noting the familiar swirl of the letters. Yep, June went out with Sven. She didn’t know who that was. Annabel opened the fridge and pulled out something to eat. She was starving.
She flipped through a magazine. The house sounded too quiet. She looked at the clock on her phone. It was only eleven in the morning. The day just started. She needed to find something to take her mind off all she went through. She could only think of one thing to free her thoughts.
After a day of shopping in the city, Annabel returned home to find June already inside with, who she assumed was, Sven. “Are you finally back?” June asked when she saw Annabel, “It looks like you bought everything in the city. You had a rough weekend?”
Annabel put the bags against the wall. She would sort through them later. “You have no idea what I've been through. I can't even describe it. Hello,” she said to the man sitting on the couch, “I'm talking to Sven right?”
June interrupted with, “He doesn't speak much English. He's visiting with some of his friends from Europe. I forgot where he's from but he's so cute. Aren't you Sven?” She leaned over and ran her fingers down the side of his face before kissing him.
“Ah love,” Annabel said sarcastically. She headed towards her room.
“Speaking of love,” June stressed, “What about you and your mystery hero? How did that go?”
“I think I was dumped twice by him before we went out. It might be a new record.”
“Ouch. Well the offer still stands. There are a few cute guys who are over here with Sven and they'd like to meet you. I can get them over here in half an hour.”
Annabel shook her head. “I'm not up for that tonight. I'm going to sleep. I have such an exciting life. It'll give you two some alone time.”
June nodded and draped herself over Sven. Annabel shook her head as she left. That relationship wouldn’t last as long as Sven stayed in the country. She went into her room and closed the door. Tomorrow could not come fast enough. 

Chapter 12

“I'm going to the store. Anyone need something while I'm out?” Crispin asked standing at the edge of the outside door. He placed his hand on the door knob.
“Let's see, you're going around Lawn so why don't you...actually, I don't think there are any stores around there,” Henry said. He looked at Crispin to see if he showed any sort of emotion. Henry knew it would.
“Why would I go to Lawn?” Crispin folded his arms over his chest. He shifted his eyes.
“I happen to know that a certain brown haired girl lives around there. You may want to tell her hello. I could be wrong. You did yell at her and tell her never to come here again.” Henry flipped through the channels absentmindedly. He knew he managed to strike a chord with Crispin.
“You're wrong. I'm not going to Lawn.”
“Where are you going?” Sera asked. She grinned at Henry sitting next to her.
“I'm not sure yet. I'm only going shop for food. I was trying to be nice.”
“Could you get me some cookies?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes I can.”
“Oh and get me a number,” Henry said without turning to Crispin.
Crispin and Sera looked at Henry curiously. “A number?” Crispin asked.
“The one to the roommate she talked about,” Henry said with a smile.
Crispin rolled his eyes. “You don't have to believe me. I'll talk to you when I get back,” he said opening the door and leaving. He didn't want to keep answering their questions. Henry would keep asking questions until he managed to make Crispin confess where he planned on going. Crispin told them enough: He was going buy more food for the house. That was all they needed to know. For now, it would be the truth.
He never said how long he planned on taking to get the food. They wouldn't notice if it took all night. He would walk in later to a quiet house. He figured Henry was leaving the house tonight. Crispin was surprised Henry didn't have his groupies at the house already. The speech Crispin gave before they moved worked. It lasted longer than he thought it would.
Sera and Jules were staying at the house like usual. He felt bad about forcing Sera to stay there. It was best for her close-by in case of danger. He worried about her sometimes. Jules could protect her while he left to handle other business.
He found himself outside of Annabel's house. He wasn't sure which one she lived behind but a few were lit. A silhouette of two people crossed it. He felt confident he was looking at the living room. He stood back in the shadows and watched. If the Unseen hung around like he assume, it was coming after her soon. He felt certain about that.
“She lied to you,” a nagging voice inside his head told him. That was true. He thought about this problem ever since she told him about it. He made her promise not to tell anyone he was a dragon. She not only told someone, she took his picture as well. He should leave and let her deal with the problem herself.
He sighed. That wasn't him. He had to help her. She probably could’ve sent his picture to the press and he would still be here, waiting.
“I'm too nice,” he said to himself. That was always his problem. He should let one of the others worry about saving people.
Crispin wasn't sure how long he stood outside her building. His eyes kept scanning for the Unseen. If what Jules discovered was correct, the Unseen was coming straight to her. She attracted them. He was nearby to destroy them. It would be a great symbiotic relationship. He wouldn't have to search for them anymore throughout the city.
A dark shape took shape outside the house. Crispin straightened himself when he caught a glimpse of it. That was what he waited for. He moved closer towards the house. All of the lights went off earlier and the curtains were drawn. No one would see the shape coming towards them until it arrived. He ran faster to the house, hoping to overtake the Unseen before it entered.
The shape traveled up the wall and pulled bricks down. Arriving almost underneath it, Crispin ducked the falling debris and caught its attention by shooting flames at it. He scorched the Unseen along with the exterior of the house. “Come down here and fight,” he challenged the Unseen. It was barely out of his claw's reach. He needed to find another way to attack it. He had to entice it to come down. They would be on even footing.
“Silly little dragon. You are not worthy of my attention. You are not the target,” the cold voice said continuing up the side of the building. It wasted time responding to him.
Crispin knew who the target was. He didn't have a choice at this point. He needed to get inside the house now. He clawed at the door handle. It refused to open. He pulled it off and threw it on the ground. Time was running out for him to get to Annabel. The Unseen could be in her room at any moment.
Darkness filled the house. Light from an outside street lamp was the only thing allowing him to see where he went. His eyes scanned the dark room. He saw something move in the corner. He turned to get a better look. The Unseen crashed into him and forced him down. Crispin scrambled back onto his feet. The shape slid underneath a door. That had to be the door to Annabel's room. He bashed himself against the door three times before it fell off its hinges.
Annabel sat up in her bed. “Crispin?” she asked, unsure of what she was seeing. She wondered if this was a dream from all she saw earlier. He would certainly be in it. She pulled her covers around herself.
“Don't move,” he warned, “I followed an Unseen into your house. It's in here.” He scanned the area. He saw it come in. It had to be in the room. He would have felt it leave. He stepped onto the broken door and into the room.
“You told me I was safe here,” she said with a slight panic in her voice. She knew what the Unseen was capable of. She wanted to run out the run.
“I lied,” he said as he kept searching, “I took a lesson from you.”
“Making jokes when there's a creature nearby that could kill me does not make me more comfortable. Is there anything I can do right now?” She searched the room also. She couldn't tell if anything came in there. She never noticed how many shadows were in her room before.
Crispin nodded. “Turn on a light.”
Annabel turned on the lamp on her side table. When she did, half of the room remained in darkness. “Oh,” she said softly. All of her doubts disappeared. Those shadows were the Unseen. It was definitely inside of her room. She felt trapped even with Crispin there for protection.

Chapter 13

“Get out of here,” Crispin instructed Annabel. He needed to stall the Unseen from coming after her. Getting her out would give him less to worry about. He braced himself near the door so she had a way to get out. He could cover her exit.
Annabel stumbled out of bed and made her way to the door. “Are you sure you're going to be okay?” she asked Crispin before leaving. She wanted to make sure he could get out as well. He came to save her. It was the least she could do for him. No one deserved to fight the Unseen alone.
“Once - ,” he started before being knocked off his feet. Annabel felt the darkness brush past her. It knocked her to the ground as well. He stood up once more as he looked around. He helped Annabel to her feet too. “We need to get you out of here now.”
The dark shape took advantage of the moment and made its way to the door. Its dark shape filled the entire door frame. It extinguished the light from the lamp in one blow. “There is no escape for you,” the cold voice said. A shiver ran through Annabel's body.
She searched around the room. Whatever light came in from the street lamp couldn’t help them anymore. She relied on her memory to move from one spot to another. “Crispin?” she asked in a whisper. Her hands grazed over objects as she searched for him. He must be nearby unless the Unseen attacked him already.
Something grabbed her hand. “Annabel,” Crispin said grabbing onto her, “Follow me.” He pulled her in the direction of the window. Or at least she was thought he led her towards the window. She wasn't certain where they were headed. She relied on him to lead her to safety. She grabbed his hand tight.
Her hands continued searching as she felt her way around the room. She found the edge of her bed before hitting it. That gave her a clear image of where she was. She knew they were going. It was towards her window and opposite wall of the door. It was the only other exit from her room.
“Open the window. I'll make sure we don't have any opposition,” Crispin said placing her hands on the window sill. He made sure both her hands gripped the window securely before releasing them.
Annabel started opening the window. It had been a long time since she opened it. She hoped they could still open. She pushed the window up hard with a pop finally sounding when it broke through the coat of paint painted onto its edges. “It's open,” she said happily. She wasn’t sure where Crispin went.
“What's open?” Crispin asked. He sounded further away than she assumed he stood a few minutes before. He must be fighting the Unseen over there. Dragons did have good infra-vision she assumed.
 “You asked me to open the window. I opened it,” she explained. She peered through the room to find his silhouette.
“Close the window,” Crispin yelled. A stream of fire indicated to Annabel where he was. He stood on the opposite side of her room – closer to the door. She lost contact with him when the fire died down.
She shook her head. He suddenly changed his mind again like before. She closed the window.
“Open the window,” Crispin yelled at her.
“Make up your mind,” she yelled back. She was tired of him giving her an order only to change his mind a few minutes later. He needed to decide whether he wanted the window open or closed.
“It's imitating me. Close the window and... I don't know what you can do,” Crispin told her as he clawed the dark shape. He didn't know what she could do. All he wanted was her to stay away from the Unseen. He aimed fire at the darkness in hopes of escaping.
Annabel looked at him curiously. There could only be one Crispin in the room. At least only one shooting a jet of fire. “Are you sure?”
“I don't have time to explain all of this.” The darkness hit him against another wall in her room. He crashed into a shelf and brought down whatever was on it. Glass hit the floor and shattered. Crispin felt the glass crush under his hands as he stood up.
She glanced around the room. “I need something I can hit it with,” she thought searching the area. She needed something to do damage. She knew the Unseen was vulnerable to fire. There was no fire in her room. She thought of using her umbrella to attack it but she remembered the incident with the stick. It would do no damage. She kept looking.
Her hand hit against a piece of mirror on the floor. That might work. She could reflect something back at the darkness. She reasoned if the darkness was turning off the lights, it might be vulnerable to light. She searched hoping to find anything she could use to create this effect. The only thing inside of the room capable of producing light was the flames from Crispin. She would have to find a way to reflect it back at the darkness.
She made her way over the broken objects closer to the two engaged in fighting. It would be impossible to attack the Unseen from the front. It continued fighting Crispin anyway. There were some flames going astray. Those she could use for her attack. She held up the portion of mirror. She reflected some of the flames that missed hitting the creature from an unguarded angle.
The Unseen paused its fighting for a brief moment. It became confused about what happened around it. It couldn’t sense another dragon inside of the room yet it was quite positive that it felt flames coming from another direction. It turned to face Annabel. A cold laugh escaped when it realized what happened.
A large hand formed from the darkness and smashed itself against Annabel. She fell upon the ground and lost the mirror piece. She scrambled to find it but felt the dark hand grab her ankle. It pulled her back towards it. Her fingernails dug into the ground as she attempted to resist it.
“It is rare for one to escape us. You are a problem to us. Now you will be a problem solved,” the cold voice said. The icy grip moved up Annabel's legs. She could barely feel her legs now. She couldn't move them at all.
Crispin raced to her. He had been blocked by the Unseen before albeit only for a few seconds. He dropped to his knees and inspected her legs. They began freezing completely, her legs becoming harder to the touch. He worried about what was going to happen. He could only think of one option. “You have to trust me on this,” he told her while looking at Annabel's eyes. He wanted her to trust he didn’t want to hurt her.
She wasn’t sure what he planned. He was the expert in this sort of scenario. Whatever plans he had, she’d go with. She nodded in agreement with him. “Okay,” she said.
He released a stream of flames at her legs. Annabel gritted her teeth to keep from yelling. She felt the flames scorching her skin but this was the only way she could get her legs freed. He kept blowing the fire at her and watched the darkness slink away. She moved her legs after a while and pulled herself away from the situation. Later, she’d need to inspect the damage.
The Unseen pulled back. Its shape beginning to swirl as it turned rapidly. “This is not over dragon. You know we have claimed her. She belongs to us.” It spun faster and faster. Objects gathered in the force, picked up and swirled around the room with tremendous power. It prepared to launch a massive attack against them.
Crispin grabbed Annabel and pushed her to the ground. “We need to stay down,” he instructed her. An object flew by and hit Crispin in the head. His head hit against the ground with a thud.
He was her only help in this problem. Now she didn’t know what to do. Annabel wrapped herself as much as possible around him, keeping him positioned against the ground.
With a free hand, she grabbed her bed post. She hoped the Unseen would spend all of its energy and leave them alone. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hang on. Her grip began slipping.

Chapter 14

Annabel closed her eyes and bit her lip. Her grip continued slipping away with every passing second. She opened her eyes to adjust her hold. She realized she was no longer in her room. She wasn’t sure where she was. Bright light surrounded her from every direction. “Crispin,” she said looking around. She couldn't see him. Her heart raced as she scanned the room for him.
“He cannot hear you,” a voice said, “He is not permitted.”
She stood up scanning the area. “Who are you? Are you the Unseen? I'm not afraid of you.” She tried not to let her emotions show. She would feel braver if Crispin stood here. Even Henry would do.
“What you call the Unseen is nothing more than an underling. I have many names – none of which you are able to say with great clarity.”
“What do you want?” She looked around. The voice came from somewhere. She couldn’t see anyone around.
“It is rare for a human to be touched by an Unseen and survive. You intrigue me, Annabel Wells. I am going to offer you a proposition. Come and join me. I will give you command of thousands of Unseen. You will be able to do whatever your heart desires.” A shape began forming in front of her. A tall man appeared. His face seemed eerily serene.
Annabel backed up. She wanted to run. She didn’t know where she could run. All she could do was confront him and hold her ground. “You control all of the Unseen.”
He smiled. “I am their creator. They obey my every command. They could obey yours too. I am offering you a very special opportunity, one which I am not inclined to offer again.”
“I don't trust you. I'll never help you,” Annabel said, “I'm not like you.”
“This is the only time in which I am to offering you this. Think wisely before answering.”
“I'm positive I don't want anything from you. Someone who creates these creatures does not value the same things I do.” She braced herself for his attack. She knew those words may have sealed her fate.
The man straightened himself as he examined her closely. She felt him staring at her but became unable to turn away. Something about him seemed intoxicating. It hypnotized her. He released the hold he held on her. She felt her body go weak, sinking down to her ground once more.
He glared at her. “Remember that you chose this. You could have been the leader of the world.”
Annabel closed her eyes against her will. She reopened them back in her room. Crispin lay there with her. The dark shape left the room. She assumed it went through the window. The window was the only thing broken. The objects which had been flung around her room rested back in their normal positions, unbroken.
She relaxed her grip on the bed post. She felt confused about everything. Nothing made sense at the moment. Her gaze drifted back to Crispin. He still lay on the ground, unresponsive to anything.
“Crispin? Can you hear me?” she asked slapping him softly. His eyes remained closed. He appeared to be knocked out still. She wasn't sure if he heard her or not.
“Please wake up. Open your eyes.” She tried to find a way to waken him. He was unresponsive to everything so far. There must be a way to get him to look at her.
She heard that splashing water on someone's face could get that person to wake up. Hopefully it would work. She left him lying on the floor. She grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and threw the water on him.
Crispin opened his eyes and tried catching his breath. “Did you throw water on me?” he asked feeling his face. It felt wet. She also held a glass so he was fairly certain he guessed correct.
“You were knocked out. Are you okay?” She inspected the back of his head where the object hit him. There were no visible signs of the impact.
He felt the back of his head. His hair covered the bump. “It's only a slight wound. I'll survive. Did the Unseen manage to escape?”
She helped Crispin to his feet. “I think it did. It went out through the window.” She smiled at him. “I thought you said I was on my own.”
He gave a crooked grin. “I happened to be in the neighborhood.”
“I need to thank you for saving my life...again,” she said. He was becoming her personal hero.
“That's,” he paused for a moment, “It's fine. I'm doing what I have to do. I'd do it for anyone.”
Annabel said, “Oh” and looked away in disappointment. She thought he would say something special. Maybe he would apologize for kicking her out at the least. She wanted something. She thought she was a special person for him to spend time saving. She thought wrong, again.
He looked around the room for the first time. It changed back to normal. He couldn't see anything out of place except for the broken window. Even then, it was a small price to pay for escaping from an Unseen. “Do you think your roommate woke up because of the fighting?”
“June,” Annabel said realizing that her roommate stayed only a few doors down. She left her room and knocked on June's door.
“Are you in there?” Annabel asked through the door. She wasn't sure if June got hurt during the fight. She wasn't even sure June heard the fight happening. She waited a few minutes before returning to Crispin with a shrug.
“Was she okay?” he asked. He didn’t see anyone come out of the room so he assumed everything went well. The Unseen never showed interest in her roommate before so it stood to reason it wouldn’t start now.
“She didn't answer. I'm not sure if she's okay or not. I'm not sure if she was here actually. I know she was hanging out with her new guy tonight so she may have gone with him somewhere.” Her mind raced back to earlier that evening but it seemed foggy when she tried recalling what June’s plans were.
“Without telling you?” He’d never let the others leave without at least giving him some indication of where they planned on heading.
“We're roommates. I'm not her mom.”
He nodded. He understood that. “I don't think you should stay here tonight. You would be safer around us. We could protect you.”
“That will work for tonight but what about tomorrow? I can't stay at your place forever.”
“It would only be for a bit longer. I'm sure Jules will be interested in what happened tonight.”
“Right, Jules,” she muttered to herself, “Let me get some clothes and I'll go with you.” Annabel gathered her stuff and threw it into a duffel bag. She wondered if she would ever get to stay in her room again. She might have to find another place to live until the Unseen tired of chasing after her. She wondered if that was possible.

Chapter 15

“You talked to the entity that created the Unseen?” Jules asked. He was making sure that he got the entire story from her. This in particular was one of the main points he wanted to get accurate. It seemed unbelievable.
Annabel nodded. “He offered me the chance to lead all of the Unseen on Earth. Or at least a thousand of them. I remember that portion of the conversation because it seemed an odd number to offer.”
“A thousand seems possible. Controlling a force of that size would guarantee you the control of wherever you want. I can't imagine anyone able to stand up to that force.”
“Should I have agreed to take control of them?” Annabel asked with a chuckle. She felt worried again.
Jules shook his head. He flipped a few pages of his notes. “I wouldn't do it. I'd make them destroy themselves.”
The door to the room opened. Annabel and Jules turned to see who came in. Crispin appeared shaking his head. “Do you know where Sera or Henry is? I went to each of their rooms and neither one is in there.” He wasn’t too concerned for Henry. It was not like Sera to leave in the middle of the night. Especially without asking.
“Henry's out for the night. He'll come back in the morning as always. Sera should be in her room. Are you sure you checked it thoroughly?” Jules shrugged. He kept himself busy working on new devices in his office. He assumed everyone else behaved themselves while the house remained quiet.
Crispin opened his mouth to respond but closed it. He heard a sound from the main room which tipped him off. “Give me a moment,” he told the two as he walked towards the noise.
He came back with Henry and Sera. “I found them,” Crispin said. He folded his arms across his chest. He knew what happened.
“Hey, what do you know Annabel's here. Amazing. I did not see that coming,” Sera said sarcastically leaning against the wall. She wore her dress clothes complete with her dark hair stacked upon her head. It was obvious to tell she wasn’t sleeping upstairs like Crispin thought.
Henry, dressed in nice clothes as well, joined in, adding, “Me neither. This is a complete shock. I also didn't see any groceries in the kitchen.” He turned to Crispin and smiled.
“I'll deal with you two later. For now, I think Jules and Annabel need to tell you what happened tonight,” Crispin said motioning for Jules to begin talking about what he learned. This was important for the team as a whole to understand.
Jules started, explaining everything that happened during the night. When he had problems with details, he turned to Annabel or even Crispin to see what information they could add to the conversation. Jules didn’t skim on the essentials of the recent development.
Henry's expression changed into a more serious one. “Guess that ends the fun period over here. It was over before it started,” Henry agreed with Crispin and Jules. They needed to be on guard now for more attacks. At least he had one fun night out before stopping.
Sera nodded. She knew what this meant as well. “What are you going to do with her?”
Annabel looked to Crispin for an answer. He told her to stay here for a while. If he wanted to change his mind, now would be the best time.
“Annabel's staying here for a while. At least until we can figure out how to block the Unseen from coming after her. We'll be able to defend her from any attacks,” Crispin explained. He gave a little grin towards Annabel.
Henry and Sera exchanged a look between themselves. They talked about this earlier. They knew Annabel would be staying for longer than one night. They both laughed. Neither could stop themselves.
“What's funny about that?” Crispin asked. He folded his arms over his chest again. He was defensive around them now. They were making him feel uncomfortable and it was his own place.
“Nothing at all. I think I'm going to sleep. I'm a bit tired,” Sera said leaving through the door. She tried concealing her smile from Crispin.
Henry followed Sera out of the room. He knew tomorrow would be long. He turned around at the door frame and said, “I'll give you two some time alone. Annabel, remember my room is the third one on the left when you go upstairs.” He winked at Annabel and then at Crispin before he left. He knew he was in trouble already.
“I am thinking that's his permanent personality,” Annabel said when Henry left. She felt confident in her guess.
“He'll get better. He's a good person to have on your team if you need help. I think he's tired of being stuck in the house all day,” Crispin said with Jules nodding in agreement, “You're going to stay in the same place as before.”
“I'm staying down here for now. I think I might be able to rig something for her,” Jules told them. He pulled out a soldering iron.
Crispin opened the door and helped Annabel up the stairs. He saw the light was still on in Henry's room. Sera's was dark. He needed to think of how to approach this situation.
Annabel followed Crispin close. She kept sensing something in the corner of her eye. She saw shadows everywhere. “Should I be worried about the Unseen coming after me over here?” She jumped slightly at a shadow moving near the window.
He shook his head. “You'll be safe here. No Unseen would attack a place with four dragons ready to destroy it.”
“You're such a good guy. You're always saving me, the poor damsel in distress.” She smiled at him and brushed his hair from his face. It blocked his eyes.
He smiled back when she told him that. “Well, even heroes need to sleep. I definitely need some after everything that happened. I'll see you in the morning."
“That sounds good,” she said remaining there. She waited to see if he would make a move towards her. The last time she tried anything, he quickly switched the subject. She may be reading him wrong. It seemed he kept searching her out. He might only want a friendship with her. She wanted to know.
Crispin moved away and started towards another room next to her. “I'll be in here if you need me. You can bang on the wall and I'll come,” he said opening his door and going inside.
That was her answer. Annabel heard his door close before hers did.

Chapter 16

Annabel woke up in the morning and saw the curtains drawn. She wasn't sure what time it was. She must have overslept. She looked at her phone. “Are you kidding me?” she asked herself reading the time. It was seven in the morning. If she wanted to wake up at that time, it would never happen.
She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “I'm not going today,” she said thinking about work. She needed to rest after the weekend she experienced. She would be too concerned with checking over her shoulder for the Unseen to attack her to serve coffee properly.
She opened her door and peeked out into the hallway to see if anyone else was awake. She didn't want to accidentally wake up the entire house. They shouldn't suffer for her rising early. She started down the hall and saw Crispin's door opened. She crept closer towards it. She wanted to see if he woke up yet. They could talk about everything. She stopped when she heard voices coming from inside.
“You can't tell me what to do. I can determine for myself what I should or shouldn't do,” Sera said. She sounded agitated with Crispin. This wasn’t the first time they argued like this.
Crispin responded with, “You don't know how to properly defend yourself. Why should you be out? Do you want to be attacked?”
“I was with Henry. If something happened he'd help me. I thought about that before I left.”
“Henry would help you if it didn't interfere with him getting some chick's phone number. I know him. We've worked together for over twenty years now."
Annabel thought about what he said. She wondered how old Crispin was if he and Henry worked together for that long. She thought he wasn't older than thirty.
“That's it then? I'm stuck in this house for the rest of the time we're here. I don't understand why you're acting this way. Do you want me to beg? Oh please sir, can I go outside or do I need to get clearance for that too?”
“I'll give you clearance to go outside.”
“I was being sarcastic. I don't see why you're so angry about this. You're the one who first brought the human here. You broke your own rule.”
“Her name is Annabel and she's being attacked by the Unseen.”
“Yeah right.”
“She is.”
“Oh Annabel, I think you're so pretty. Come, let me save you.” Sera made kissing noises, knowing that it to agitated Crispin. She was angry with him for keeping her here. There was nothing more that he could do to her since she was inside of the house. Her goal was to force him to let her get away if only for peace in the house.
Crispin had enough. He knew what the real problem was. “You also can't hang around Henry. He's a bad influence on you.”
“Now you're going to tell me who I can talk to?”
“Yes I am. If you don't like it, you can always leave and go back home.”
“Fine. All hail King Crispin,” Sera said stomping out the room. She fumed with anger as she headed out. He was being unreasonable.
Annabel headed back to her own room before Sera or Crispin saw her in the hallway. She didn't want to get involved in whatever dispute they were having. She made it back to the room and stood against a wall so she wouldn’t be seen. She heard Sera's steps heading down the stairs. Annabel peered out of her room once more before walking to talk with Crispin.
She saw Crispin left his room and walk to another one. She counted the doors and saw it was Henry's. Crispin was going tell him the same thing he said to Sera. He was not allowing this behavior to continue. Definitely not while they were in danger of an attack from the Unseen.
Annabel would talk to him later. She wouldn't have to worry about waking up anyone now. It seemed everyone already woke up. Entered the living room, she saw Sera sitting on the couch watching TV. Some reality show crossed the screen. Annabel grinned realizing no matter what species a person was, television was a form of entertainment.
The mood felt tense in the room. Annabel couldn't tell why. There were two options she thought about. It could be the argument Sera had with Crispin. There was also the feeling of Sera not liking Annabel.
“Hi Sera,” Annabel said. She sat down on an oversized chair in the room. It was close enough to talk to Sera without being next to her. She wanted to lighten the mood of the room. It was becoming overbearing.
Sera didn't turn her attention away from the screen. “You heard the entire conversation?”
“I heard the last part.” Annabel wasn't going to lie. She learned her lesson about that.
Sera positioned herself facing Annabel. “I'm sorry about that. I'm usually not that moody it's – do you have any brothers?”
“Oh, you and Crispin are brother and sister?” Annabel smiled and nodded to herself. It made sense now. That was another thing she could cross off her list. Nothing stopped her now from asking him out except for her own hesitation.
“Unfortunately yes. He thinks he knows more than me about everything. He tells me what to do since he has more experience. I would have experience too if he let me go on the missions. It's annoying to put up with it all the time.”
“How long have you been chasing the Unseen with him?”
“I've helped them for about ten years. Actually,” she looked up and counted silently, “It's more like eight years. The guys have been together for a while now.”
“They travel from place to place hunting down the Unseen? That doesn't seem like an easy job to do.”
“It's not only hunting down the Unseen. They search out and investigate what happened to people who appeared to be killed by the Unseen. It's a gruesome job. They also have to worry about fighting knights.”
Annabel wasn't sure she heard the last part correctly. “Fighting who?”
“Knights. It's a long story and it's too early for me to get into it. It'll give you something to talk to Crispin about. I know it's not easy to get Crispin's attention. He can't focus on things for long before drifting off onto something else.” Sera's attention drifted back to the television.
“Thanks for telling me that,” Annabel turned her attention to the television as well. It was easy letting her mind go blank so that she stopped thinking about everything else going on.
Chapter 17

Annabel spent the day there once again going through all sorts of tests with Jules. He was shocked to find that in a few of the tests, her scores were higher than he anticipated. He was convinced that one of those results would help him block her from the Unseen.
“What are our options right now?” Annabel asked. She glanced at the results but couldn't figure them out.
“I'm figuring out a way you can stop the Unseen from finding you. There's some tracking system they must be using. I doubt they could all randomly know about you,” he explained to her as he double checked the information he had. He held a piece of metal to her which turned blue. He shook his head and grabbed another.
He was creating something to block the stronger traits she exhibited during the tests. He hoped that was the problem. He wanted her to return to her normal life. If he didn't find the solution soon, she may have to stay here longer. She could possibly have to stay here forever to be safe.
“You think I can return to work soon? I'm not the best waitress but still, it helps to have money. Rent isn't free,” she joked with Jules. She hovered over him watching what he made. She thought it was a watch but she couldn't be sure.
“I understand,” Jules said continuing to concentrate on the final tweaks of the device he was creating, “This should hopefully keep your smell from being transmitted. It'll give you a sort of camouflage.” He pulled his finger back from the device as it emitted a spark.
“My smell? Are you making a perfume for me too?”
He looked up at her with his glasses hanging off the end of his nose. “No. One of the tests showed you're emitting some sort of chemical from your skin. I'm not sure if that's normal in humans but the Unseen is attracted to it. This device is going to block it.” He returned to modifying the device. He nodded and closed the small back of it. It was finished. He handed it to Annabel.
“This is a watch,” she said examining it. There was a dial face but it didn’t turn. “I stand corrected. This is a broken watch.”
“It's not supposed to keep time. There wasn't enough space. It'll neutralize your smell and make you pass near the Unseen without it being able to detect you. Hopefully.”
“Hopefully?”
Jules clasped the watch on Annabel's wrist. “It's one of a kind. I'll make a more refined one later but for now, this is going to work.”
Annabel looked at the watch. There was no harm in her wearing it. It matched most of her outfits. If it saved her from being attacked, she would wear without complaining. “What do I have to do now? Do I have to wear this for the rest of my life?”
“We need to test it first and see if it works.”
She tilted her head. “Test it?” She thought he perfected it.
“We have to see if it works. We'll need to use you as bait for the Unseen.”
Her mouth dropped. She did not see that coming. “I've been attacked three times by this thing. I don't know if I could survive another one. This is the worse idea ever. Who came up with this?” She had a good idea who it was.
Jules shrugged. “It was Crispin's idea. You can go ask him about it.”
“I am. I can't believe he would think this is a good idea,” she said in belief leaving the room. She would find Crispin and ask him what he was thinking. She couldn't deal with the Unseen again. He needed to rethink a way to test out this device without putting her in harm's way.
She headed upstairs to the last place she saw him. She knocked on the door. She prepared herself for Crispin to be the same mood he was earlier with Sera. She could deal with that. Henry opened the door and asked, “I told you – Annabel. It's nice to see you. Can I help you with something?”
“Is Crispin in here?”
He scoffed. “No. He left earlier after he finished telling me how reckless I was. I think he's in his room. It's one door down.”
“Thanks,” she said heading off to the room. She shook her head, practicing the speech she planned to give him. She wasn’t leaving herself open for the Unseen to come and attack her. He would have to think of another plan. He could get attacked by the Unseen. That would be a better one.
“Crispin, I need to talk to you,” Annabel said opening the door to his room. She looked at him and smiled. He sat in a chair where he dozed off to sleep. His feet were propped up on his desk, his head leaning back over the edge of his seat. She felt slightly guilty about coming argue with him. He looked peaceful.
She closed the door a little louder than she expected to. He sat up in his chair and asked, “What is it?” He looked around the room expecting to have to fight the Unseen. His eyes settled on Annabel and he realized it was only the two of them in there.
Annabel sat down on his bed and swiveled his chair towards her. She made sure he looked at her. “There are a lot of things I want to talk to you about. First, did you tell Jules you were using me as bait to see if this blocker works against the Unseen?”
Crispin couldn’t believe she already knew. “No one can keep their mouths shut around here.”
“It's true? How could you do this to me?”
“We have to see if it works. If we don't test it and you leave this house, then the Unseen may come after you again. We have to make sure you're safe. I can't spend all of my time protecting you. I have a lot to do. You've seen the other two – they don't do much.” He grinned.
“Will you be there when we test it?”
“Absolutely. I like seeing what new things Jules creates.”
“Is that the only reason why you're coming?” She smiled at him. She heard what Sera said earlier. She knew he liked her.
“There might be another one. Does it matter?”
“I guess it doesn't,” she smiled at him. He was never going to admit it. She would have to do it herself. She stood up from the bed and kissed him.
Crispin returned the kiss and brought her closer to him. He wanted to do this since he met her and since she started it, he couldn't pull away. A nagging voice in the back of his head started going off. He physically pushed himself away from her and collected himself. “I can't,” he said standing up from the chair, “We can't." His hand went to his mouth.
Annabel felt her cheeks turning red. She felt so embarrassed. She read him wrong. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I thought – I don't know.” She stood up and started for the door. She needed to leave. Fresh air would help her breathe better. She wanted nothing better than to leave and not worry about any of this again.
“It's complicated. We can't do that,” he explained. He didn't want to get into the whole process with her. There was too much going on already. Maybe later he would. Maybe.
“I want to know one thing.”
“What?” Anything.
“Can we forget about this?”
He smiled. “I'm not going to hold it against you.”
“Thanks,” she smiled back. At least she knew how he felt now. Nothing was going to happen but that was okay. She had her answer. That was the most important thing for her to know now. It was the end of their short term relationship if it could be called that.

Chapter 18

Annabel walked down the street around midnight. She wasn't sure this would work. She wasn’t being attacked at the moment but it could change. For now, she’s focus on the positive. “Nothing so far,” she told Jules over her phone. She stayed connected to him in case the Unseen should attack. They didn’t want to take any chances.
“You're doing well. It appears the device works. I'm a genius,” Jules told her, “You can walk around more if you want. You're invisible to them now. Hope everything goes good.”
“Thanks Jules,” she said hanging up the phone. It would be nice for her to get to spend quiet time back home. She didn’t want to worry about an Unseen attacking her during the middle of the night. She thought about the last time she saw her room. She needed to find something to cover the window.
“Annabel,” Crispin said coming up behind her, “It seems you're good to go. If you have problems, come back and see us. I'm sure Jules can fix it for you.” He continued searching the shadows but they appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary.
“Thanks Crispin. That's nice of you to do all of this for me,” she smiled at him, “I guess you'll have to go find someone else to save all the time now.”
“It's all part of the dragon code.”
“There's a real code?”
He shook his head and grinned sheepishly. “I made that part up. I probably won't have to save anyone for a while. I'll track down the Unseen and destroy them before they get the chance to harm anyone.”
They looked at each other for a moment, both of them thinking about what they wanted to say. It was a chance encounter they met and now it was over. It was time to get back to their normal lives. Their paths wouldn’t cross again under normal circumstances and they both knew it.
“I guess I might see you around. If my watch breaks, I'll be there for sure,” she said leaving. If she stayed longer, she’d find an excuse to stay. She sighed to herself once she made it a few feet away from him. She felt confused about everything.
He watched her leave down the street. He thought for a moment about breaking that watch.
Annabel saw June sitting on the couch the same as always. She chuckled to herself thinking of how everything remained the same here. There was no threat of attacks happening or people shifting into dragons. It seemed almost boring. “How's it going?” Annabel asked plopping herself beside her. She had a smile still remembering everything that happened.
“Where have you been?” June asked looking at Annabel, “You look happy. What's going on? Have you been drinking without me?” She laughed at her roommate.
“It's been a crazy weekend. I don't know where to start describing it. Do you mind if I sleep in the living room tonight?”
“What's wrong with your room?”
“Have you seen my room? One of the windows is broken.”
June's mouth dropped. “There's a broken window? How did that happen? Annabel, you can't be serious” She stood up from the couch and walked over to Annabel's room. Annabel left it unlocked when she went with Crispin last night. June turned the handle and went inside.
“You're such a liar,” June walked back into the living room with a look of relief on her face, “Your room is perfect. Maybe a little messy but it's cleaner than mine. All of your windows are intact.”
“What?” Annabel walked into her room. June told the truth. Everything in her room was once again in perfect position. The window was replaced with the curtain reattached as well.
She walked around her room. There was no sign of the Unseen having fled her room. She looked out the window to the street below. Nothing seemed out of place. “How did this happen?”
She walked back into the living room shaking her head in disbelief. “I swear that window was broken.”
June rolled her eyes. “Windows do not fix themselves. I think you have bigger problems. Your work called today. They said if you don't show up tomorrow, you're fired.”
“Threatening to fire me. I love my job so much. I can't imagine not going there and serving people,” Annabel said sarcastically.
“I know how you feel. I hate my job too,” June said sympathetically.
“You love your job. You get to tattoo guys all day and create dozens of different styles. This is what you want to do. I don't think we're talking about the same kind of hatred of our jobs.”
June made a face at Annabel. “You could quit.”
“I could live on the streets. On that note, I'm going to sleep. I have to wake up early to serve coffee for minimum wage. I'm so happy,” Annabel said heading to her room.
She crawled under the covers and nuzzled into her pillow. It felt nice not to worry about being attacked while she slept. She looked at her watch. Jules installed a button which made it glow. She would never worry about whether or not she wore it. She would be able to find it whenever she needed.
It was not as protective as she felt while staying at their place. It would have to do. She closed her eyes and thought about Crispin. She hoped she’d see him again. That would likely never happen. She fell asleep soon. Tomorrow was coming soon. Her life would return to normal.
Chapter 19

“Our specials today include strawberry pancakes and honey French toast,” Annabel recited for the first time that morning. It was the first table she served this morning. The restaurant only opened for a few minutes ago and already she felt tired. The weekend still played in the back of her mind. She couldn't get the images out of her head.
The old man and woman nodded among themselves. “I think the strawberry pancakes sound good. You can bring one plate and we'll share,” he said handing her back the menus.
“One plate of strawberry pancakes,” she said walking away from the table. There went her thoughts of getting a big tip. A shared plate wasn't a good sign.
She pushed through the double doors and headed into the kitchen. “I need one plate of strawberry pancakes,” she said placing the order. There weren't many patrons in the restaurant so she waited for the order to come out.
“How come you didn't show up yesterday?” the cook asked flipping the pancakes. It wouldn't take long for them to be finished.
“It's a long story. It all started with a guy and it rolled into the entire weekend,” she said rolling her eyes. At least it started as guy trouble. It was too complicated to tell other people about what happened. She promised she wouldn't reveal it anyway. This cut down on her need to invent an alternate story people could believe.
He shook his head and plated the dish. “I remember what it was like to have to deal with relationship problems. I'll let you in on a secret. When you find the right person, your heart will let you know.”
“I don't know.” She stared at the plate. “Sometimes I think I have this ideal person in my head and I'll never meet him.” Or worse yet, she met him but he was of a different species. She’d never see him again.
“That's the saddest thing I've ever heard. Don't give up so easy. You never know what's going to happen an hour from now. Here are your pancakes,” he said handing the warm plate to Annabel.
She smiled at him. “I'll have to keep hoping for the best then.” She pushed her way out of the double doors and walked over to the table. She delivered the plate with a smile.
“You're such a sweet girl,” the old woman said looking down at the pancakes.
Annabel smiled. “Thank you. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Not right now dear. Thank you.”
“Have a nice breakfast,” she said backing away from the table. Annabel turned around to check out if any new tables waited for her. The sooner she got to them, the better service she could give to them. She needed the tips and the diversion.
There was one other table with someone sitting at it. Someone she was quite familiar with from the weekend. Crispin smiled at her from across the room. He looked happy to see her.
“How did you know I work here?” Annabel asked reaching the table. She hesitated between sitting to talk or remaining standing. She chose to stand.
Crispin looked up at her and said, “I have my ways.”
“I don't know if I want to learn what your ways are. Since you're here, can I get you anything for breakfast?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I want to ask you to come help us.”
She looked around. She didn't see any of the others. “Help you with what?” She spoke in a low whisper. “I'm not a dragon or anything like that.”
“We don't need help fighting them. We moved to the area recently and we're still not sure where everything is. Now, you've lived here for a while. You can also talk with the Unseen directly – a feat no other human can boast about. At least none I know of. I would never ask you to join us if I felt it was too dangerous for you. Would you come help us?” He looked at her in anticipation of her response.
“Are you serious?”
Crispin nodded. “Please say yes. You have no idea what I did to convince the others to say yes as well.”
She smiled. “Okay. Yes. I'll help you. Let me go tell – wait, do I get paid?” She needed to get that in order first.
“We'll figure out something,” he told her, “Now go. Today is a busy day.”
Annabel walked through the double doors and shook her head at the rare news she got. She could not stop smiling. This was a fantastic opportunity for her. She never imagined today she would get to work with Crispin. She never thought she’d see him again.
“Are you okay?” the cook asked. He saw her walk through the doors with a giant smile.
“I quit,” she said hanging her checkered apron on a rack, “You're right. You're absolutely right.”
He looked at her puzzled. Her quitting didn’t come as a complete surprise. There were other waitresses who could continue the shift. He never saw anyone so happy to quit. “I'm not sure what that means but good luck out there.”
“Thanks,” she said walking back through the doors. She almost ran when seeing Crispin waiting for her. She was afraid he might change his mind.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked opening the door for her. His smile stayed on his face from before. He felt genuinely happy for her to come work with them. She’d keep it interesting.
“Absolutely,” she said going with him. Perhaps it wasn’t the worse weekend she had in a long time. It was leading her to an excellent week.
Try these other novellas in the Dragon's Fire series

1: New Breed
2: Awry Plans
3: Talon or Steel
4. Frozen Flames
5. Draco Ex Machina
6. Circle of Flames
7. Secrets of Steel
8. Fire Blast
9. Molten Steel
10. Knight Fall
11. Shattered Code
12. Ignition



About the Author:

Danielle Kazemi is an author from southern Louisiana, living within walking distance of a bayou with alligators. She spends most of her free time either coming up with new story ideas or goofing off online. You can find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DaniWrites or connect on Twitter with @DaniKazemi

She is the author of the bestselling action adventure series Dragon's Fire, a series of novellas dealing with modern day travails of these mythological, shapeshifting creatures. She enjoys hearing from readers – even the negative comments help guide her to find the perfect combination of creativity for her next project. 

If you can spare a few moments, please leave a review either here or anywhere else to help others find out about this novella.