My Dragon Keeper

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. They started arriving earlier this year, just a few short months ago. You could find them appear a little everywhere on the school grounds or in town. For the past ten years, they had been the rulers of the city, and now they were expanding outwards towards the smaller towns, stretching their reach and taking over territories.

I never expected to be so close to one. I still remember the news stories I heard when I was a kid: drugs, theft, murder — they were involved in many crimes. Regardless of the criminal activity, it seemed they never got in trouble for it, whatever the reason. I tried to not give it much thought back then, but now I could hardly contain my wandering mind.

I needed no warning to stay far away from people like that, but now I didn’t have a choice. I was so close I could practically smell his scent, a mix of dirt, sweat and eucalyptus. It seemed like an odd mix, but it was strangely enchanting.

“Eleanor Prentice” I heard my name, but it didn’t steal my attention away. I hadn’t even realized I had been looking until his eyes met mine, dark orange glowing eyes.

He raised a brow at me, and it was as if I could almost feel him trying to contain the smile on his lips. But there was no smile, no hint of any emotion.

My face flushed as I snapped my head towards the front. “Yes?”

“I will repeat the question: why do you believe the author killed the love interest? What purpose did it serve?” The teacher seemed impatient with me, his tone bitting at aggressive. It was truly hard to take him seriously with his short stature and thick red beard.

“I — I’m not sure.” I hesitated, suddenly so nervous my brain couldn’t function enough to have an answer to his question. From four seats away, I could feel the dragon’s eyes on me, and the heat burned and pricked at my cheeks.

Maybe I could’ve had an answer if I had gotten enough sleep last night, or if I had actually read the book. It will be harder now, knowing the author kills the love interest. So much for a spoiler alert.

“Perhaps if you had been paying attention, instead of daydreaming of your classmate, you would have an answer.” The professor snapped.

I dipped my head down, staring at the empty page of notes in front of me, unconsciously pulling at the silk scarf tied at my neck. I could hear hushed laughs and snickers across the classroom, but I just kept my head down. They didn’t bother me. It was the fact that he was still staring at me that had me cowering away from the teacher.

“Well then, perhaps Mr. Bell, you could enlighten us?” The dragon kept his eyes on me for only a second longer, then turned to face the front.

“Because he was lazy.” He settled further back into his chair and kicked his feet up onto the empty chair in front of him.

I kept my face down, but peered up at the professor, just in time to see his face flush with anger, the red of his cheeks nearly matching his beard.

“You believe award-winning author Joshwa Gillunstein’s award-winning fiction novel was lazy writing?” He bit out.

The dragon casually shrugged, while I tugged nervously at the silk.

“Yes.” He stated calmly. Before the professor could respond, he continued. “He killed the parents to make the character special to begin with, then killed his caregiver to cause conflict, then killed his friend and his pet to propel the story forward just to finish by killing the love interest to give the main character the proper motivation to win the battle. He used characters as tools and death as a motivator because he couldn’t develop the character enough by himself.”

“You’re saying authors shouldn’t kill characters?”

“I’m saying people die, it happens. But you shouldn’t be killing off people just for the benefit of the main character. If you kill someone, there should be a cause. There are more ways than just murdering someone to create character development.”

“Well, I suppose a gang member like yourself would know best about killing people.” He seemed proud of himself for saying it, but everyone else in the room tensed, their eyes darting from the professor to the dragon.

He remained controllably calm, but I could see the tension in his jaw as he grinned and nodded.

“Yes, I would.”

The professor opened his mouth, ready to add something else, but thankfully the professor for the next class pushed through the door, interrupting the class, and cutting the tension. This was best, because whatever he was going to say would likely get him into trouble, a terribly horrifying trouble.

Students started filling out of the room as her ones piled in. I gathered my literature textbook with my laptop and notepad, holding them all in my arms. My fingers instinctively moved to touch the silk across my neck, but I felt nothing.

My hand quickly grabbed my neck in panic, feeling nothing but my cold, dry skin. My eyes darted around me, looking for the light blue fabric. I found it splayed on the ground next to my seat. I dropped my stuff on the table and reached to grab it, but before I could, a hand nearly twice my size pick it first.

I jumped back, my heart beating so hard I could hear it ringing in my ears. I kept my hand clasped tightly around my neck as he stood up and moved directly in front of me. His body blocked my view, his frame taking over my entire line of sight. All I could see was the black form-fitting t-shirt and his torn denim pants.

I lifted my eyes slowly until they met his. His dark orange eyes held mine, not wandering anywhere else. I took in his musky, intoxicating scent, his body so close I could practically feel his controlled defensive energy enveloping me like a blanket.

Without his eyes moving from mine, he pulled the scarf around my neck, his finger brushing against my skin as he pushed my hair out of the way. His skin was impossibly warm against mine. It almost made me want to lean into it. Almost. He wrapped the silk around my neck, over my hand, and tied a knot in the material. He gently slid the knot to the left, just as I had it this morning before leaving for class.

We stood there a moment longer, my breaths slowing to sync to his while he stared down at me, his black hair falling loosely across his forehead.

I wanted to say something. Maybe a thank you. Maybe to ignore the professor, leprechauns were always in a horrid mood. Anything, I could have said anything, but my lips refused to part, my voice lost. Before I knew it, he was moving past me, leaving the aisle, past the new students filing in. Then he was gone. I gathered all my stuff again and pushed past the obnoxiously energetic first years.

I missed my chance to say anything, but I would see him again. It was Friday, and for the past 3 weeks, we had a pattern. I hoped this Friday wouldn’t be different.

As I exited the building, I stopped at the top of the steps. I pulled my bag from my shoulder and balanced it on the railing while I shoved my stuff inside. My eyes wandered the manicured grounds, looking for that one particular person.

There was something so frighteningly exciting about being close to a dragon. Bad boys weren’t my type, nor would I ever condone gang violence, but there was something so magnetically attractive about him that made me want to learn more.

I deflated a little when I couldn’t find him, wondering if he would break the Friday tradition we seemed to have inadvertently created. My eyes studied the skies, looking for my chance of rain and finding none. I had two options to get home. I could take the train. It was faster, and got me much closer to the apartment, but I wasn’t quite ready to be home yet.

I chose the second option, opting for the bus and the ten-minute walk home. I moved slowly, making my way over to the bus station. My feet dragged, and I kept my eyes on the ground while I navigated the sea of students. I made it to the bus stop just in time to watch my bus pull away.

I pressed my back against the wall while I waited for the next one. I looked around for him, but he still wasn’t around. By the time the next bus arrived, I had lost hope he would be here on time. A dozen students piled into a half empty bus.

I took a seat directly next to the door for easy access to get off, while also being able to see through the window of the bus across from me. To my side was a small rose scented woodland nymph. She was carrying a small soil filled pot in her hands, a small seedling poking out.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you as you grow big and strong.” She whispered to her plant. It wasn’t common to see nymphs in urban areas, but they certainly lived up to their caring and devoted characteristics.

I pulled out my phone to read through the four unread messages waiting on my home screen.

Dylan - are you still in class? 3:45 pm

Dylan - when will you be home? 3:47 pm

Dylan - why aren’t you answering? 3:50 pm

He had called twice after that message. I hadn’t even felt the vibration. I clicked on the message box and typed something quickly.

Elli - Sorry. Class ran late. The prof called me out. It was awful. Just got in the bus, be home soon ❤️❤️ love you 4:06 pm

As they were closing, something hit the doors, making me jump in my seat. I turned and saw him step in, his breaths hard and uneven from running. My eyes followed as he walked past me, moving further into the bus. He stopped at the edge of the accordion part of the bus and faced my direction.

I forced my eyes to my screen and bit down on my lip to keep it in place. The vibration against my hand barely took my attention away from the man standing just a few feet from me.

Dylan - ok 4:07 pm

I tried to keep my attention on my phone. I opened the last unread message and smiled.

Cleo - wanna do a girls night tonight? We can get drunk and order pizza at my place. Ur bf works tonight right? 1:23 pm

Elli - Yes, I definitely want that. He is, he works all night. I can come over for 7, after he’s gone. 4:09 pm

Elli - You won’t believe what happened. My scarf slipped off at the end of class today, and the dragon picked it up and tied it around my neck for me. Now we’re on the bus together. I think he’s looking at me. 4:09 pm

I got an answer almost immediately, but now that I was looking at my phone, I could let my smile slip. It didn’t matter who it was for, no one needed to know.

Cleo- so you actually talked to him then? Not that I’m encouraging your obsession with the dragon boy, but I would look too. Those boys are sexy as hell 4:10 pm

Elli - No, I didn’t talk to him… I couldn’t. I just froze. It’s my stop, talk more tonight. 4:10 pm

Cleo- okay babe, see you soon 4:11 pm

I pulled the cord for my stop. I wasn’t on the bus for long, but by the time the bus stopped, I had to push through people to get off. Jumping down onto the sidewalk, I started walking. I was hyperaware of the surprisingly light footsteps following behind me.

Just as we had for the past several weeks, he followed behind me, just close enough to feel his presence. With every turn I made, he disappeared from sight for a few seconds before reappearing again.

We walked distantly, but together like this for just over ten minutes before I saw the apartment building. It was an ugly brown and red low rise building. It only had four levels, with four apartments per level.

As I walked up the walkway, I wondered if I should speed up, so that I can close the door behind me, or slow down to hold it open for him without making him feel rushed or awkwardly waiting too long. But by the time I had weighed the pros and cons of each, I was already walking up the steps to the door.

I pulled at the door, opening it as wide as it could go. I looked over my shoulder to see how far he was behind me, and came face to chest. His arm reached out around me and grabbed the door to hold it open.

“Thank you.” His voice was both a brushing whisper across my face and a booming, thundering sound that consumed my entire being. It set every nerve I had in my body on fire, being so close to someone so dangerous and powerful.

I nodded as my response and moved into the building, pressing the button for the elevator. It was not larger than a five-foot square tin box. His body took up most of the room as he came in after me and pressed the fourth floor button, the blue light flickering on.

I felt my fingers touch at the silk. The thought of him tying it around my neck was still fresh in my mind.

We stood next to each other in silence, our bodies so close we were practically touching. I held the metal railing of the rickety box until we made it to the fourth floor. The loud ding of the elevator made my heart flutter.

He held the frame as the door slid open, keeping the doors from closing. He followed me onto the top floor after I walked out. I walked all the way to my apartment, 404 bolder in big black lettering on the door. I held the handle until I heard the familiar clicking and closing of a door.

I turned around, staring momentarily at the 403 door he disappeared behind. I took a deep breath to settle my nerves.

See you next Friday, I thought to myself.

I opened the door and walked into the two-bedroom apartment. The blinds pulled shut, the only light coming from a few candles lit in the living room in front of me, and two others in the kitchen to my right.

I treaded lightly, careful not to make too much noise.

“Baby, I’m home. Are you here?” I whispered gently. I kept moving through the apartment towards the sound of grunting and grumbling at the opposite end of the living room.

“Yeah,” I heard him mumble.

I moved towards the pained sounds, noting the multiple glass bottles of TrueRed littered all over the tables and floors. I dipped my head into the fitness room and found it empty; the equipment casting large menacing shadows across the back walls.

Stepped into the bedroom immediately to the left. There was a large lump under the blankets with only a small beige vanilla scented candle illuminating my way. I sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my hands over the blankets.

“Hey, are not you feeling well?” I could feel his head shaking under the blanket.

“If I’m an inconvenience to you, you can just go play with your friend now.” He bit out, his tone more harsh than needed. I took a deep breath, glad I had deleted the other texts before he could read them, or he would have been a lot more upset.

“No, of course not. I’ll spend all my time with you tonight, until you leave for work, or if you’re too sick for work, I just won’t go over. Did you want me to get you another bottle of blood?”

“No, they’re disgusting. The animal blood tastes awful, the synthetic blood even worse.” He rolled over on to his back and threw off the blankets. I placed my hand on his stone cold chest while he looked up at me with his black eyes. I ran my fingers up and through his short brown hair.

He gripped my palm and brought it up to his lips, placing a gentle kiss, then another. His other hand reached up and pulled gently at my scarf.

I pushed up from the bed, away from him, and took a few steps back, pressing my back against the wall. His brows pulled together, and he sat up in bed.

“You said yesterday would be the last time.” He looked down while his hands rubbed at his face.

“I know. I know—” he said, standing up and walking towards me. For the first time, I noticed him already dressed for work in his uniform, his badge firmly tucked into the belt. The only piece missing was his gun, which was likely still in the safe. He only ever took it out right before leaving. “Tonight is my last shift, then I have a week off and I swear I will go through the detox process, but please, just this one last time. I can’t go out and protect this city while feeling this sick. If I took tonight off, I’ll have to make it up during the week, so I won’t have a full week off. Please, just one last time.” He pleaded.

He stepped closer to me and placed his hands on my hips, pulling me gently towards him. I could see his fangs with every word he pleaded to me. I dipped my head down and pushed out the door back towards the living room.

“No, it’s not a good idea. Especially if I’m seeing Cleo tonight. I think she’s getting suspicious. And—” I hesitated, not sure what or how much of the truth I should tell him. “Today in class my scarf slipped.”

His eyes snapped into focus on me, making me feel like a rabbit caught in a hunter’s snare.

“What? Did anyone see? How could you be so careless?” He bit out.

“No one saw, I swear.” I added as quickly as possible. While maybe not the truth, I didn’t want to make him more upset than he already was.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was, Elli? Someone could have seen. They could have caught me, put me in jail for something like that. Did you think of that? Do you have any idea what happens to officers who go to jail? It’s not good.”

“Fuck!” He shouted, his voice echoing around the room. His hand hit the lamp on the side table, sending it flying across the room, shattering into a million pieces against the wall. My body shook as pieces of my mothers’s lamp scattered across the floor.

He was on me in a second, his hand gripping my arm so that I couldn’t pull away from him. He was angry, and I understood why I shouldn’t have been so careless. If someone saw and reported it, it would be a tremendous deal. He would be in real trouble, and that was the last thing I wanted.

“I’m sorry, it was an accident. It will never happen again. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” I begged.

“Once is all it takes. How can I trust you anymore? After all I’ve done for you? You live in my apartment. I never make you pay for anything. I even work overtime so that you don’t have to have a job while you go to the school that I pay for, and this is how you repay me?” Behind his anger I could see the fear of what he could have lost, the hurt he was feeling from the loss of trust I caused.

He was right. I have never gone over all the stuff he did for me before. I was being ungrateful. He almost lost his career, his entire reputation, his whole life could have been ruined because of me, all because I let my scarf slip. It would have been over for him.

I enveloped his cheeks with my hands, gently caressing his face. “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry. It’ll never happen again.” I pulled myself closer to him, and pressed my lips to his, though I could his resistance, he let me.

When I pulled back, I could barely make out the shape of his pale face through my tears and the dark ambiance of the candlelight.

“I swear, I won’t let it happen again.” I breathed, as I tugged at the knot in my scarf, letting it slid off my neck.

He took a deep breath and smiled gently. “Okay, it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it, you just need to be more careful next time, ok?” I nodded.

He glanced over at the remnants of the lamp, pieces scattered everywhere. “I’m sorry about your lamp. I was just angry. You know I would never intentionally hurt you, right?” Again, I nodded. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. He has never hurt me. He loves me, and he wants to keep me safe. It was my fault he was so upset. I shouldn’t have let the scarf slide off.

He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on my temple, then slowly trailed his lips down to meet mine. He kissed me softly once, then twice before wrapping his fingers around the back of my neck and deepening the kiss. His touch was all-consuming, everything about him was too much and not enough all at once.

I pulled him down onto the couch with me, feeling the weight of his body press into mine while his hands explored all over my body, gripping and squeezing at my skin. He trailed kisses down my jaw and down to my neck.

I could feel his teeth slowly sinking into my neck, through the same wound that he created last night. I could feel my body tingle as he drank from me. It was a strange and ticklish type of feeling, and it felt good. My body relaxing into him more.

I let him drink until I felt lightheaded, my body seemingly extra heavy.

“Okay Dylan, that’s a little too much.” I told him, but he didn’t stop. I braced my hands on his chest and pushed him off of me.

“I said that’s enough.” The blood loss was taking a toll on my body as I tried my best to stand. I was unsteady, leaning on the couch for support.

His eyes were blood red, remnants of me slowly dripping down his chin. He stalked forward, his movements predatory. I couldn’t move back, I couldn’t release my support.

“I just need a little more.” His voice was dark and hoarse, consumed by his desired addiction.

My heart pounded in my chest, breaths uneven. I had never seen him like this before. I didn’t know what to do. He was faster, bigger, stronger. I didn’t stand a chance.

I released the couch and stepped backyard towards the windows. He moved forward, trapping me. I felt the cold brick of the wall behind me. My hands felt along the wall for the curtain. When I finally got hold of the thick blackout fabric, I yanked the curtains open and ran for the door.

I didn’t dare look back to see where he was, if it had even affected him at all. I just ran, but it wasn’t enough. Before I had even made it to the other side of the couch, he had his arms around me, and he sunk his teeth into me.

It was an excruciating pain like I had never felt before. He was ripping through skin like a rabid dog.

I heard a ringing in my ears, loud and overwhelming, as my vision blurred from the lack of blood. Through the pain and the adrenaline pumping through my system, I wasn’t sure who had opened the door. I just saw our metal door torn off at the hinges and bent out of shape.

Then Dylan was gone, pulled off me. I could hear something crash behind me. It seemed to take an eternity just to turn around, and a whole other lifetime to process what I was seeing.

Dylan was on the floor, his body held down by the weight of another man. He was impossibly large, his frame cutting off all sight of Dylan as he punched him repeatedly, his fist moving abnormally fast.

That wasn’t what got me. What froze me in place was the familiarity of the man, his dark hair and sweet eucalyptus scent.

He pulled his hand back, his fingers no longer making a fist, instead there were long sharp claws ready to tear through flesh and bone.

“No!” I heard myself yell, and before I knew what I was doing, I had my hands wrapped around his wrist, holding him back.

He looked at me, the fury behind his eyes softening gently. I didn’t want to look down at the mess he made. I couldn’t stand to see the man I loved injured so terribly. He didn’t look back either. He stood up, towing in front of me till I had to crane my neck to meet his eyes.

“Go pack your things.”

—————————————

If you are a victim of domestic abuse, please reach out to a councillor, friends, family or even the police. Your life may be lonely, isolating and scary, but it doesn’t have to stay this way. You deserve better, a life full of love, happiness, strength and hope. No matter the form, it is still abuse, and you can make it through. Please reach out for help, someone will be there to take your hand.