Shared By The Dragon Clan Complete (19 page)

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

The day was not over for Stacey. Nor was
the night.

As
heartbroken and forlorn she was at her parting with Zane and the Island, she
wouldn’t be given too long before she was running for her life again.

Right now, it
was the middle of the afternoon. Almost two o’clock. She was sitting on the bed
of a motel room a few towns out of the city, courtesy of Walter. Since her
apartment had been destroyed and he didn’t know what family she had, he had
driven her here from the justice hall, to wait out the next few hours. He’d
said that the police had only agreed if he said he would stay here with her,
and they were given the address.

He gave them
a fake one.

It turned out
to be a wise action.

Stacey had
spent the last couple of hours sleeping. She was also given access to a shower
and a new change of clothes. Only now was she waking up, sitting on the edge of
the bed, putting on her shoes. Walter was supposed to be around somewhere. In
the room, outside it, in his car… But when Stacey opened the door a few minutes
later, she couldn’t find him anywhere.

His car was
gone from the parking lot.

When she
returned to the room she was given a frightening shock, as the phone started
ringing. She answered it.

“Hello?”

“Stacey, it’s
Walter,” came his voice over the phone. “You need to get out of the room right
now.”

“What? Why?”

“They’re
coming for you –” Walter said. At that point the phone was knocked out of his
hand by someone or something, and the line went dead.

Stacey let it
fall from her grasp and then she went to the window and pulled back the blinds.

Cop cars
pulling into the car park. Lots of them.

“Shit,” she
cursed and then ran out to the bathroom. She closed the door, locked it, and
went to the window. She removed the screen and pushed herself through. She hit
the dirt below on her knees and quickly stood to dust herself off. She could
hear the cops already knocking on the door to the room.

Quick
thinking, Stacey hurried over to a wire fence that stood between the motel’s
grounds and a junkyard which was next-door. She successfully managed to scale
it, and jumped to the other side without harm. She started running across the
base of it. Looking back after a moment, she saw officers were searching for
her at the back of the room where she’d come through.

“There!” one of
them shouted. “She’s over there!”

Panicked,
Stacey ran faster kicking up the dirt as she did. She veered round to the
entrance, looking for some kind of help, any help.

But the road
was empty at the moment.

Stacey made
her way out of the junkyard and exited out to run alongside the main road.
Looking behind her, there were still no cars. She knew of course there would be
soon. The problem was that out here, there was nowhere for her to hide. Any
second now the cops would be on her tail and she’d have no choice but to go
with them.

And from
there… Back to the Island…

Honk-honk.

Someone was
out here. She didn’t recognize the car at first, but realized she should have
once she saw who was in it.

He honked the
horn again.

Opened the
passenger door.

“Get in,”
Dennis said.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Now the police cars were starting to
move. Red and blue lights swung round the corner leaving Stacey in a box of
utter terror.

“I’m here to
rescue you, you goose,” Dennis scolded her.

The lights
were coming too fast. Stacey didn’t have a choice.

She got in
and before she’d even closed the door Dennis pressed his foot down on the
accelerate. Hard.

The jolt sent
Stacey to crack her head against the dashboard, drawing blood.

“Jesus
Christ!” Dennis cursed at her.

“Sorry,” Stacey
wailed.

“Close the
fucking door!”

Stacey
managed to slam it shut.

“Buckle up,”
Dennis said, their speed increasing. Stacey looked over her shoulder to see the
cop lights were still there, but fading. She wondered if they saw her get into
Dennis’s car.

At the next
intersection he made a left and soon they were moving through a series of
backstreets. He slowed down and they kept going… Where to Stacey wasn’t sure.

“I think you
lost them,” she muttered.

Dennis didn’t
reply.

“Do you want
to let me out now?”

“You need
somewhere to hide out don’t you?”

“Yes, but –”

“Jasmine
called me. Told me where you were. She would have come but she was too far
away.”

“How did she
know where I was?”

“Your friend
must have called her. The guy who got you the room.”

“Oh…” Stacey
trailed off. As grateful as she was to be rescued by Dennis, she still hadn’t
gotten over his crazy behavior from last night. She didn’t trust him at all.

Eyeing him
carefully she asked, “How did you get out so quickly?”

“You mean
from jail? My parents posted bail. I got court in two weeks. Over what, right?
Such bullshit.”

“You do
remember threatening me with a gun don’t you?”

“Pfft,”
Dennis muttered. “That thing wasn’t even real.”

“What? You …
you fired a shot into the air. I remember. I was there.”

Dennis looked
at her funny. “I was just mucking around. I was … stoned.”

Stacey
shifted. She was really uncomfortable. “Where are we going?”

“I said we’d
meet Jasmine at our cousin’s house.”

“Why your
cousins house? Because they’ll probably check our house.”

“So you’re
still living with Jasmine? She didn’t kick you out?”

“I haven’t
even seen her since last night. But the cops might check our house, so that’s
why we’re going somewhere they won’t find you.”

“Okay,”
Stacey sighed.

“Don’t sound
so grateful.”

“I am …
grateful,” Stacey mumbled.

“No,” Dennis
said. “You’ve changed. You used to love me.”

She wasn’t
going to argue with him there.

She had
changed.

About a
quarter of an hour later, they pulled upside Dennis and Jasmine’s cousin’s
house. Stacey had never been here before, though she had met the cousin a few
times. He was a shady character in his late twenties. He liked tattoos and took
drugs. Other than that, she didn’t have much to say about him.

Inside the
house, which Dennis entered without knocking, they found the cousin sitting on
the sofa in the lounge room watching TV. He was smoking a cigarette.

“Hey,” he
greeted.

Dennis
hi-five him. “You remember Stacey right?”

“Oh yeah,”
the cousin said. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Stacey
said. “Matthew … right?”

Matthew the
cousin nodded.

“Alright,”
Dennis said. “Just chill here for a bit, Stacey. I’m gonna give Jasmine a call
find how long before she gets here.”

Stacey sat
down and Dennis disappeared into the kitchen with his cell phone out.

“Hey,”
Matthew repeated his greeting to Stacey.

She didn’t
respond.

“Want a drink
or something?”  he asked.

“Not really,”
Stacey replied. “I don’t know how long I’ll stay here to be honest.”

“Why do you
have to be somewhere?”

“Dennis and I
… we’re not together anymore.”

“How come?”

Stacey
shrugged. “Too much fighting.”

“But he loves
you, yeah?”

Stacey shook
her head. “He needs to get over me if he does.”

Matthew
snorted. “Why, do you think you’re better than him?”

Stacey
shrugged.

“Do you think
you’re better than me?”

Dennis
reentered the room. “Jasmine will be here in twenty minutes. Are we good till
then at least, Stace?”

“As long as
you don’t threaten me with a gun or anything,” Stacey replied.

“Hmm,” Dennis
said sitting opposite her. “If I did that though, then you wouldn’t be allowed
to leave, would you?”

“Will you
quit joking around?” Stacey demanded.

“Sure,”
Dennis nodded. “I guess I should probably apologize for yesterday as well
right.”

Stacey
blinked.

“Well, I’m
sorry, babe. Rest assured, it won’t happen again.”

Funnily
enough, Stacey wasn’t sure she believed him.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Jasmine arrived within about half an
hour. Before then, conversation with Dennis and his cousin was awkward at best,
but at least neither of them seemed overly aggressive towards Stacey. As far as
she could tell, he’d given up pursuing her as his girlfriend. At least for now.

Stacey was
relieved when her friend finally showed. Jasmine looked a bit more tired and
apprehensive than her usual outgoing self – consolidating Stacey with a gentle
hug and then directly asking if Dennis had been on his best behavior.

“He seems
okay at the moment,” Stacey answered.

“You see,
sis, I told ya she’d forgive me,” Dennis said.

“Did he
apologize?” Jasmine asked Stacey.

“Of course I
apologized!”

Stacey
nodded.

“Alright,”
Jasmine smiled. “How are you going, Matt?”

“Can’t complain,”
Matt said.

“So what’s
the plan now?” Stacey asked.

“Just hang
out here, for a bit,” Jasmine said. “But…”

“But what?”

She flopped
onto the sofa next to Matt. She leaned over to Stacey.

“You’re going
to have to come clean sooner or later.”

Stacey sighed.
“I’m supposed to be released. That was … part of the deal…”

“What deal?”

“I don’t
know,” Stacey murmured. “I mean I do, it’s just –”

“You can tell
us,” Jasmine assured her.

Dennis stared
on intently.

“Zane
sacrificed himself for me,” Stacey said finally. “I was supposed to be free,
but I accidently killed this woman –”

“What?” Matt
barked.

“It was self
defense. She was trying to kill me. But because of that, this guy wanted to
kill Zane and I was really lucky to escape the Island as I did.”

“That sounds
like some fucked up shit,” Dennis remarked. “You should stay away from that
loser.”

“Ignore him,”
Jasmine said. “So anyway, what you’re saying is…”

“If the cops
get me, they’ll send me back to the Island. If I go back to the Island, they’ll
kill me. Unless…”

“Unless
what?”

“Unless Zane
is still alive.”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Was Zane still alive? Oh how Stacey
wished he was.

The afternoon
was dying. They’d been at Matthew’s place for nearly two and half hours. Dennis
was surprisingly relaxed. He made no move to come onto her. Didn’t say anything
all that inappropriate. For him at least – he was still a dickhead generally.
Unfortunately that hadn’t stopped Stacey falling for him in the first place.
What a lost child Dennis seemed now, compared with her courageous new man.

Zane.

She didn’t
want to think the name.

Zane.

All around
the lounge room as they drank vodka and lime from premixed cans, throughout the
clouds of marijuana smoke Dennis and Matthew were puffing on, she saw his
dragon flying amongst them. She saw herself too, riding on his back. So happy.
So alive. She knew she loved him when they were together, but now that they
weren’t, that love seemed all the more powerful.

His eyes. His
nose. His lips.

His face was
everywhere.

Meanwhile,
Dennis was reminiscing.

“Remember
that time, we were staying at one of your friend’s places – I can’t think of
her name – Natalie – Natasha –”

“Teresa,”
Stacey answered him.

“Was that
Teresa’s place? Before you moved in together?”

“Yes,” Stacey
said.

“Yeah –
remember how we got drunk that night, and we were making out on her table
tennis table?”

Stacey
remembered.

“And I didn’t
even want to,” Dennis was laughing. “You’re like, come over, fuck me here. I’m
like, ‘Nah, nah, let’s go to bed or something.’”

Stacey took a
sip from her can.

“So Stacey
drags me onto this table and – it’s like really hard. My back is getting all
fucked up. And she starts taking my pants off and I realize there’s something
underneath me.”

“What was
it?” Matt asked.

“I’ll tell
you in a second,” Dennis giggled. “I know this thing is under there, but
Stacey’s like … well … it’s sex time. And you know I can’t refuse a lady –”

“Shit,
Dennis, you’re embarrassing her,” Jasmine interrupted.

“I’m sorry,”
Dennis muttered. “Am I embarrassing you, Stacey?”

She blinked.

He was
annoying her, not embarrassing her.

“No.”

“Right,”
Dennis continued, “so there we are going at it –”

“Oh don’t
tell me you’re sitting on a dog or something,” Matt said.

“No, no, no,”
Dennis protested. “It was only the ball and two of the bats.”

“Oh.”

“But anyway,
halfway through the fuck, the whole fucking table makes this gigantic snap and
the thing breaks in half with the two of us falling in the wreckage.”

“You’ve told
this story before,” Matt said. “I think…”

“Anyway, we
passed out and Natalie comes in –”

“Teresa,”
Jasmine corrected.

“Teresa comes
in and sees us there, in her broken table and what does she say – Stacey – what
did she say?”

Stacey
breathed in and out.

“If I knew
you guys were going to fuck my table, I wouldn’t have bothered making up the
extra bed.”

Dennis and
Matt laughed uproariously.

Jasmine
looked at Stacey with a disturbed look on her face. “How the fuck is that
funny?”

“You had to
be there,” Dennis chuckled.

“No, you
didn’t,” Matt laughed.

Dennis got up
and gave him a high five.

“Come on,
Stacey,” Jasmine said, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Whoa, wait a
minute,” Dennis said. “Where are you going?”

“Just for a
walk,” Jasmine said.

“Can you get
us some more drinks while you’re there?” Matt asked.

“If you got
the money.”

Stacey stood
around while Dennis and Matt sorted out their money and order for alcoholic
beverages with Jasmine. She moved closer to the front door.

“Okay, I’m
ready,” Jasmine said finally. “Are you ready?”

Stacey
nodded.

They stepped
out the front of the house.

“Don’t be too
long,” Dennis sang out.

Stacey and Jasmine
walked quickly up the garden. “Sorry about that.”

“That’s
okay,” Stacey said. “It’s not your fault.”

“And sorry
about last night. It was fucking crazy.”

“Tell me
about it.”

They reached
the footpath and started walking down it. Jasmine’s phone was ringing.

“Hold on a
sec,” she said, stopping to open her handbag. She pulled out the cell and
answered it. “Hello?”

Stacey
watched Jasmine’s face twist a little.

“Alright…”
she said. “Yes, she is.”

Who is it?
Stacey
mouthed.

Jasmine
handed her the phone. “Zane?”

Stacey
quickly put it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hello?” came
Zane’s voice on the other line. “Stacey?”

“Master,”
Stacey murmured. “Is it really you?”

His voice was
very quiet and there was static in the background.

“Yes, it’s
me,” he answered. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,”
Stacey said. “What about you? What happened after I left?”

“There were
complications,” Zane replied.

Stacey waited
for more information. “And?”

“I’m still
here. I don’t know for how long.”

“Well, are
you captured? Or did you get away? Or what? You’re still on the Island aren’t
you?”

“I can’t say
where I am. I don’t know who is listening.”

“Okay…”

“Just know,
that I know where you are. And I’m sending someone for you.”

“Who?”

“He’s just a
friend of mine. His name is Xander. You’ll know him when you see him.”

“So Xander
knows where you are?” Stacey asked.

The line
seemed to be cut off.

“Are you
still there?”

Nothing.

Stacey handed
the phone back to Jasmine.

“What did he
say?” Jasmine asked.

“That some
guy named Xander is coming for me. He’s sent him.”

“How does he
know where you are?”

“He didn’t
say. He was … in a hurry or something. Afraid someone was listening.”

Both girls
looked to either side of the street.

No movement.

“So are you
going to go with this Xander guy if he shows up?”

Stacey
shrugged. “What do you think? Should I?”

“I don’t
know,” Jasmine said. “Do you trust Zane?”

“Yes, I trust
Zane.”

“Then what?”

“Well, I
never heard of this Xander guy before. And how would Zane know where I was?”

“He’s a
dragon, isn’t he?”

Stacey
shrugged.

She then
spotted a red car moving up in the direction they were facing. She looked to
Jasmine.

“Let’s go the
other way,” she said.

“Why?”
Jasmine replied.

“I just …
let’s go the other way…”