The Stray Dragon : (A collage age urban fantasy with werewolves werewolf community center book 3)

by Abigail Smith

  “Okay then, I guess I’ll head out and grab those while you two bring the groceries back?”

  “We’re going to need you to help carry stuff, so go run and get it now, and make sure to hide it in the bag. And for plausible deniability, go to the Walmart, their jelly beans are better and we could have those for dessert!”

  “What’re you two talking about?” Silvia asked, arriving with two loaves of fine white bread.

  “Dessert. I just realized I hate this store’s jelly beans and gummy worms, so why not just have Gavin run out there, and get some, while we finish up here, then we meet back up and he can carry other stuff?”

  “You sound like you have something to hide,” she said, clearly having heard me explain stuff to other people in that panicked manner time and time again.

  “I… don’t?” I asked, sounding really suspicious.

  “Okay then, if they have any Reece bars, get me all of them. Please,” Silvia said, licking her lips slightly.

  Gavin nodded and rushed out the store exit, as I pushed the cart somewhere else.

  Silvia smiled at me and held onto the cart as we pushed it around the aisles. “So, all of the chocolate bars they have, huh? That’s not going to be an issue with the wolf form, is it?” I asked, teasing her a little.

  “I… well, I’m sure it’ll be fine once we’re not in danger of dying. How long does it take to fully digest a chocolate bar?” Silvia asked.

  “That’s something we’re going to have to look up, which seems like an annoying thing to keep track of. I know it’s a stereotype that women like chocolate, but I’m sure a lot of werewolves are just aggravated that they can’t have some.”

  “I mean, maybe it’s not all that long? And it takes a bit of time before it’s really a problem.”

  “You clearly like these things, so when and how did you enjoy them before?”

  We walked through the aisles, finding things we needed, and things it’d be good to have for breakfast. I realized way too late that I was hungry during the trip, so I was picking up anything even remotely appetizing.

  “I found that I liked Reeses Peanut Butter Cups when I was a girl and found that the bars had a better ratio of peanut butter to chocolate, and when I snapped them apart they were amusing to eat.”

  Silvia, while sharing something most would consider completely asinine, had a sweetness to her. There wasn’t the panic before the storm, nor the worry for the future. Just calm, she was simply enjoying the moment.

  “It’s nice to calm down like this. We were supposed to be on vacation and not only was grumpy pants after us the moment we started but now this… but grocery shopping is nice.”

  Silvia hooked her arm around mine as we walked. “We’ll get through this! We managed to get through the body-swapping kitsune, and the demon mage brought an entire assault on us. I doubt this annoying man will do any harm.”

  “Yeah! We can do this!” I said, giving her a bold smile.

  “D-do you think it’ll take long though? I mean, we’re spending a night here, but like, would it last two more days?” Silvia asked.

  Her tone was hard to place. Her intonations went down and up like she wanted something. Maybe it wasn’t clear at the time.

  “What happens after two more… ohhh, right, your birthday. Uh, yeah, it might wreck that, but that’s fine, we can have cake anytime and I’m sure everyone’s gifts are at the community center!”

  “Did you know growing up I had to make all my own cakes?” Silvia said.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?” I asked.

  “Because I didn’t trust Gavin near the oven, and yet, he became the cook of the community center!” Silvia scoffed and gave a slight chuckle.

  We ended up at the frozen food place, and I nearly got some ice cream before I remembered to not get anything frozen.

  “I bet he took up the mantle just so he could learn to make your stuff. It must be so nice having a big brother that cares for you, instead of making you miserable…”

  I sighed, not wanting to bring the mood down, but still doing it.

  “He still doesn’t quite have the hang of baking. He mixes too hard, that’s why he only does things he can grill, or things that only have a single sauce ingredient,” Silvia said.

  I hardly noticed as she leaned her head against my arm, keeping clear of the dragon’s resting spot.

  “Let’s go checkout. I swear if we went over the amount of cash she had in her purse, I’m going to be embarrassed.”

  “Odd that she had so much cash, huh?” Silvia mused.

  “I bet it’s for motivating people in her community. Do this and I’ll give you this cash!” I mused.

  I’m sure my imitation wasn’t the best, but it got Silvia laughing. We went to the checkout and started to unload the items.

  “Shame we couldn’t bring any reusable bags,” I said, picking up two from the edge of the checkout station.

  “We can reuse plastic ones we pick up,” Silvia said, reassuring me.

  I nodded and we sent the food through the line. I paid and we strolled the cart full of bags out to meet Gavin.

  “Got them!” Gavin said, lifting the bag.

  He hadn’t hidden the kits very well, but the first thing seen through the white plastic bag was in fact the jelly bean container.

  “Neat!” Silvia said as she grabbed the top row of bags. I grabbed the two reusable bags, and Gavin took all six of the bottom bags.

  Thankfully, none of the werewolves who had their wolf form skulls caved in were these two, so carrying all that weight seemed to not faze them.

  It did cause a few onlookers to give Gavin a bit of a stare, but seeing as he was so huge, they elected to just believe he was capable of carrying that much.

  “Lots of people walk around in the evening here in the suburbs,” Silvia said

  “There are more people walking around in the city at night,” Gavin reminded her.

  We walked a little more down a winding path. I kept looking towards the manor house, or at least its direction, hoping that this little shopping trip wouldn’t be interrupted with some sort of dragon-riding, dragon-hunting badass.

  “I thought there were fewer people here,” Silvia complained.

  “Generally there are, but factor in all the people who never leave their apartment, and you know…” I said, trying to paint the picture.

  “There are people who don’t tend to leave their houses, too,” Gavin reminded me.

  I panted. Despite the small talk, the weight was getting to the forefront of my mind.

  “Hope Leonardo doesn’t complain that we didn’t get caviar or something,” I joked.

  “More likely that his sister will complain about it,” Silvia added.

  I chuckled. “We thought she was a brat before. Now she’s a little kid, we should be battening down the hatches!”

  “Think she’s going to take charge and try to lead us into battle, squeaking all the way through it?” Silvia said, chuckling.

  It was a bit mean to talk about her like this but one, she was a bitch right up to the end and two, we needed this.

  Finally, the house was in sight, and there was a police car out front. “Ohhh, great,” I moaned.

  “I own this house, I have the key in my usual residence, but I was in the neighbourhood and needed to get in for the night,” David could be overheard saying.

  “While I’m sure you can tell there are a lot of circumstances in this, I can assure you that my friend here wouldn’t be breaking into any houses that he did not own. Feel free to call up the real estate agent and confirm his name as the name of the owner.”

  The cop was looking a little annoyed with the two of them. “I… oh no, that’s not a good idea.” I gritted my teeth.

  “What’s not?” Gavin asked.

  We’d stopped just a few meters away from the commotion. “I was thinking of telling them I know Jim and to hopefully let David off, but connecting him to this doesn’t seem like a good ide
a. Heck, they might recognize me from the incidents preceding.”

  “I really think you should come down to the station till we can verify that you live here, to give the neighbours peace of mind,” the cop frowned.

  I kept walking, not quite knowing what to do. “Hey, uh, before that happens, could I put these groceries away? We thought everything would be cool with Dave’s summer home and went out and bought some food to stock the fridge.”

  “The fridge, the fridge is empty, that ought to prove that no one’s lived here for a while!” David said, smiling smugly.

  “That doesn’t prove that you own this house,” the cop said, looking at David like he was an idiot.

  “Oh god,” I huffed.

  “I don’t think I want to let you people in, this doesn’t seem like a legal thing even if someone hasn’t been living here.” The cop folded his arms.

  “Could we get Fumnaya to use Val’s… you know, to get the deed?” I whispered to Silvia.

  “No, I don’t think so. There’s no–” she looked to the cop, “‘quick lookup’ for those kinds of documents.”

  “Tch, that’s what you think!” a voice came from behind us.

  A witch that I’d served many a time at the bar, yet had never asked the name of said it, as she walked up holding the deed in hand.

  “How did she know to… Right…” I said, moving aside so that she could do what she needed to do.

  “Angela, what excellent timing,” Leonardo said.

  The cop, a little disgruntled, took out his phone, and inspected the legal document, before taking a clear picture and sending it off somewhere.

  “I also have Mister Alaster’s social insurance number, to ensure that he is, in fact, David Alaster.”

  Angela had long blonde hair and a mask of makeup on, including but not limited to, glitter mascara, dark red lipstick, put on perfectly, and a little glittery foundation. She was wearing a formal suit, and high heels, which I really felt sorry for her for, since it was late and those looked uncomfortable.

  “Who’re you and why do you have that?” the cop asked, sounding suspicious.

  “I’m a friend, who realized that this would probably happen, and who also lives with David,” Angela said.

  “Hold up, your last name is Alaster?” I asked, looking David in the eye.

  “Yeah? Why, do you know an Alaster?” he asked with one eyebrow cocked.

  “I just… Weird last name, and it just does not fit you at all,” I said.

  “Doesn’t fit him, like some form of alias?” the cop asked.

  “E-lis, stop giving the tired hard-working cop reasons to over-work himself?” David said, pausing and looking to the cop every other word.

  “Alright, but if we hear anything about this house or you people again for the next year, you’re all coming to jail,” the cop said, gurgling angrily.

  Angela, as her name would imply, angelically took some bags from Gavin, and handed David his documentation.

  “Soo, hi there,” I said.

  “Hello, I don’t think we ever actually introduced ourselves before you became my favourite bartender. I’m Angela, I’m a witch under Miriam.”

  “Do you do the thing she does?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “What thing?” The woman recoiled, seemingly afraid of what I was going to ask.

  “Damn, you’re good,” I said tentatively.

  “It’s my job to be!” she returned.

  “Oh my god, they all do it!” I snorted and walked inside.

  “W-what?” Angela asked, looking to David and Gavin.

  “I have no idea,” Leo said, folding his arms.

  15

  Chapter 15

  With the food put away and the fridge plugged in properly, we got to cooking dinner. We all sat down near the kitchen table and looked at Angela, expecting an explanation of how and why she’d known where to go. Yes, the explanation was she was a witch and could see the future, but elaborating on that would help.

  “So, one thing that Miriam never does is called Free Fragmenting, where you just look at any fragment, including ones where, say, the impossibly improbable happens. She actually got into a fight with someone a long time ago who would only do that. I tend to do it sometimes when I’m bored, see what could happen in the future. And when you see a lot of fragments of a similar bend, you realize something is definitely happening that you weren’t aware of.”

  “Ohhh, that might explain a few things about Miriam,” I said, thinking back to the mission six months back.

  “She prides herself on accuracy, and Free Fragmenting is literally the most confounding variable there is – it’s only good for picking up odd parts around what you think will happen, like a Middle Eastern bodybuilder KO-ing all the werewolves on vacation…”

  “So, how did you go from that to bringing David’s social insurance number and deed to the house to this location?”

  “That’s where a smart person, who isn’t going for either extreme like Miriam and her rival, can use logical deduction. I found that it was incredibly unlikely that you’d defeat him, with what I’m assuming was a new kind of magic some of you pulled out of nowhere. And the fragments of you surviving were coming here. If not here, I’d come over to you in the tent you made way out in the woods,” Angela explained.

  While she explained, she’d put a kettle on, and once it got hot enough she poured herself some tea.

  “At least we had a good stock of witches at the community center. If we didn’t have a good team of them, I dare say we’d have lost the fight years ago,” Leonardo said.

  “W-where am I?” Valkyrie asked, looking around.

  We’d placed her on the couch in a room just off from the kitchen, and I could see her tiny gauntlet gripping the side of the couch.

  “What da fuck is up with my voice…?”

  “Language! Do we have to wash your mouth out with soap?” I said, chuckling.

  Everyone looked at me with raised eyebrows. “What? Never had that happened to you?” I asked.

  “No? Most magical families put a great deal of focus on proper child-rearing, and explaining the virtues of not swearing, rather than trying draconian torture,” Leonardo explained.

  The dragon seemed offended at the term draconian.

  “Yeah, but like, an older sibling must have done it themselves at some point, right?” I said, remembering the two times my brother tried to do that to me.

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “M-maybe you should invest in some therapy for your issues with your family?” Angela asked, trying to be helpful.

  I sighed and ate my supper. Put together quickly, it was some burgers that went into the oven, and a spread of condiments. Angela was at peace no matter if she was at a board meeting or eating the burger, but Leonardo looked to be uncomfortable.

  A little way into the meal, Little Valkyrie went up and David served her a plate with half a burger on it. They were thick, wide, meaty things so it would be a good starting point, but the brat seemed to pout.

  I was too busy smiling smugly at the child, to notice the atmosphere around the table. Or more accurately, I was distracted from it, even though the weight everyone seemed to be experiencing could crush a building.

  “So, Angela, I don’t suppose you know the over-under of defeating this guy?” David asked.

  “Not quite, too many variables right now, and I honestly don’t know enough about your little group to understand what fragments to ignore. Then again, if that punching an explosion into existence fragment was true, that’d be handy.”

  “Not a power we know of,” I said, munching the last of my burger.

  “After you finish eating make sure to rest yourselves. There will be a great deal of strife we have to face and you must be strong to face it,” Leonardo said, looking solemnly down at his food.

  “If we had my entire community at hand this would be a simple matter,” Valkyrie said, muttering.

  “No, it would not, hav
ing them come and see you as this would only prove one thing: you were unable to defeat him. If anything, my community would be of more use, but I don’t have the luxury of swinging them around.”

  “E-excuse me! He did not defeat me, he… he cheated!” Valkyrie slammed her tiny, gauntleted hands on the table.

  “What makes you think he would hesitate to do it again?” Leo said sternly.

  I could tell he was stifling a smile, and with one look to me, he knew that I knew. I smiled and nodded, signalling my approval. While normally I’d love to put him in his place and tell him off for pressing such an advantage, Valkyrie had been irrational towards me and it was a younger sibling relationship. I couldn’t not let him do it.

  “Okay, okay, we’re already on thin ice with the neighbourhood, no shouting matches. In fact, let’s just get to sleep.” David yawned and rubbed his eyes, before turning to go get some things.

  David got out some blankets that had been in the house already. They seemed clean enough and most people slept on the floor, while a few got the couch, loveseat and armchair.

  The armchair was the only thing left to claim when it was my turn to do so, and I didn’t intend to sleep on something so small. It was a little hard to sleep now that Angela had mentioned the entire lack of assistance we could receive from the active members of the community center.

  I was wondering what Anderson might say about this situation. As restlessness turned to aggravation, I decided to see if he was still up.

  I took out a phone, don’t remember whose it was, but luckily enough it was left on the table. It didn’t have a passcode, so I opened the phone app, which always aggravated me, and dialled what I remembered of his number.

  ‘Anderson’ appeared at the top and the thing filled in the rest. “I can’t even imagine a time where I’d want that,” I said, stepping outside, and sitting against the leaning deck of the place.

  “Angela, didn’t expect you to be calling this late at night,” came Anderson’s deep reassuring voice.

  “Ah no, not quite, I stole Angela’s phone,” I admitted.

  “Oh, E-lis, well, you’d better find a way to make it up to Angela,” he chuckled, and I heard the squeaking of a chair from his end.