by Sky Winters
“Don’t you think you’re going a bit overboard?” Sharon asked.
“No. Not at all.”
“What are you doing now?”
“Walking to the subway.”
“What? Why not just grab a cab home. It’s been a long night already from the sound of it.”
“I’m too broke to afford one. The only reason I can get on the subway is that I still have some money on my metro card.”
“You’ve got to find a better job,” Sharon said.
“Girl, I know -” she began to say as she crossed the road, but everything suddenly went black.
***
When she woke up, she was in a hospital. Her head was pounding and her leg ached like a son of a bitch. Her mouth felt like cotton as she tried to speak. She wasn’t surprised when only a croak came out. She tried to look around for the button to call a nurse, finally finding it and pressing it. A voice came on the intercom behind the head of her bed, from a box in the wall.
“May I help you?”
“Yeah. Where am I?” Claire replied weakly.
There was no answer to the question, but a nurse turned up by her bedside within seconds and began checking her vitals and asking her questions. Claire assumed they were to determine whether she was brain damaged or something. She couldn’t remember what had happened to her, but she knew it wasn’t good, whatever it was.
“Well, your eyes are focused, and you seem alert for someone who just got hit by a car tonight.”
“Hit by a car?” Claire creaked out.
That certainly explained why she felt like she had been hit by a car. The fact that she had actually been hit by one would have that effect, she supposed. In fact, it explained a lot. The headache, the stiffness. She was alive, so it couldn’t be too bad, could it? A horrible thought occurred to her. What if she was paralyzed or disfigured. She began looking around for some sort of mirror but found none.
“How bad is it?” she moaned at the nurse.
“Not too bad. Some scrapes and bruises with one pretty deep puncture on your leg where the bumper caught you at a bad angle. The doctors have repaired it, but you lost a lot of blood. We had to give you a couple of pints from a donor, not an easy task.”
“What’s not an easy task?”
“Finding blood isn’t easy with a blood type like yours. We were lucky to find a donor who keeps his number on file in case anyone shows up and needs his type. We had one on hand that he donated previously, but we needed a second, so he came in for a direct transfusion.”
“I have some stranger’s blood running through my veins, then,” Claire replied a bit distastefully.
“That stranger’s blood saved your fanny, so you should be grateful. There aren’t many people like that in the world.”
“I’ll write him a thank you note,” Claire muttered, feeling a bit faint.
“Just rest. You’re weak, but you should be better tomorrow and we can send you home.”
“Okay,” Claire said, already fading away, back into the blackness that had surrounded her since the accident.
As she slept, she dreamed of running up a mountain, climbing higher and higher to where the air grew thinner and the sky grew closer. She stood at the top and looked up at the moonlight and then a strange thing happened, she opened her mouth and howled, realizing she was no longer a woman, but some sort of dog. No, not a dog . . . a wolf.
Preview of Dragon’s Surrogate: Shifter Surrogate Service
Chapter One
“No! I have lived in that apartment for over six years! We picked it out together! We purchased it together! I have just as much right to it as he does!” Mystic screeched at the judge.
“Miss Hanover, get your client under control. One more outburst and I’ll hold her in contempt!” the judge barked at Holly, Mystic’s attorney and best friend.
“Fuck you and your contempt,” Mystic spat back at him.
“Mystic, shut your mouth. He’s going to put you in jail,” Holly whispered to one side, trying not to be heard but failing.
“Too late. I won’t stand for that kind of disrespectful tone in my courtroom. You can cool off downstairs for the next twenty-four hours,” the judge roared, motioning toward a nearby officer. “Bailiff, please escort Ms. Jansen down to the lockup.”
“Holly, do something!” Mystic whined, realizing she had lost the plot for a moment and now would face consequences that she was far from thrilled about.
“Your honor, I’d like to ask the court to reconsider. Ms. Jansen has been under a lot of stress with the prospect of losing her home, the home she worked so hard to build with her husband. He has demanded most of her possessions remain with him, including her car and her jewelry. She has no means of support and nothing to liquidate to help her past these trying times if his petition is granted. This is all after the emotional bereavement she has had to endure over his repeated infidelity for the past six years, despite her dedication to getting the very law degree that enables him to be here on his own behalf,” Holly pleaded on her behalf.
Mystic looked down at the floor, hoping to look a bit more docile, subdued. She felt like screaming some more, but that was obviously not a good idea. She closed her eyes, as if somehow, she could focus really hard on making this go away and it would. After a few seconds of agonizing silence while she waited for the judge to speak again, she opened them, glancing sideways toward William. He stood facing the judge, but the open smirk on his face was still quite visible from where she stood. Smug bastard! It was all she could do not to rage again.
“One chance. If she says one more word before these litigations are concluded, I will not hesitate to send her down,” the judge finally said, waving the bailiff back. “That is your only warning. I won’t tolerate that in my court.”
“Thank you, your honor,” Holly replied.
She shot a glance in Mystic’s direction, a warning to remain silent or there would be consequences beyond her control. Mystic nodded ever so slightly, letting her know she understood and would behave until they were done here. No good could come of her pissing the judge off any further and she knew that.
“Does either party have any further evidence or testimony to present in this case?”
“No, your honor,” both Holly and William replied, practically in unison.
For a moment, Mystic was amused. She had some errant vision of choreographing class in law school, where they learned to respond to judges in perfect harmony like that. The moment quickly passed as the judge moved on to his final decision in their case.
“My ruling is that purchases made during the course of the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Jansen are the sole property of Mr. Jansen, per the pre-nuptial agreement signed by both parties. A full accounting of the items to be retained or returned to Mr. Jansen are set forth in the documents submitted by Mr. Jansen. Are there any further questions?”
“Yes, your honor, if I may?” William Jansen said, addressing the judge.
Mystic cringed at the sound of his voice. It grated on her with every word he had spoken during these proceedings, a state of being that only seemed to get worse with every word he spoke. She bit her lip, willing herself to keep silent until the end. Surely, Holly could still change this with an appeal or further litigation of some sort. They had discussed that it might be their only option to continue if this didn’t go her way.
“Mr. Jansen?”
“I am asking for an emergency eviction based on your ruling. I’ve not been successful in removing Mrs. Jansen from the premises prior to final legal findings and I’d like to have her vacate within twenty-four hours. Also, I’d like to take possession of the Mercedes I purchased for her immediately. Finally, I would ask that the diamond solitaire and wedding band in her possession be handed over prior to her departure from the courthouse. The set was my mother’s and I do not trust her not to attempt liquidation, something mentioned earlier by her own counsel.”
Mystic bit her lip harder, trying to maintain control.
She was normally very soft spoken, not confrontational at all, but William had pushed her far beyond the limits of human decency. He had her up against a wall and was continuing to batter her. As much as she wanted to be quiet, she soon found that she lacked the ability to do so. Her rage, once again, poured from her like a faucet turned on full tilt before the handle broke off.
“You worthless piece of shit! Do you not have any human decency at all?” Mystic yelled at Williams from across the courtroom.
He said nothing, instead turning toward her with that sick little smile of his, which only enraged her further. She had lost control of herself again, even as the judge began to bark at her from the bench.
“You incredible bastard. Fuck you and everything you ever touch. I wish I could curse you somehow so that you get everything you’ve done to me back tenfold!” Mystic hissed at her soon to be ex.
“Mrs. Jansen! I warned you. Bailiff, please escort Mrs. Jansen to lockup. Miss Hanover, do you have the rings requested by the defendant in your possession?”
Holly reached for Mystic’s wrist, trying to calm her with some human contact. It served to quiet her, but she still felt completely at odds with herself and now, as she saw the bailiff making his way toward her, that anger shifted to a sense of helplessness. She could control nothing in her life, not even herself. The bailiff took the arm opposite Holly and began leading her away from the table. Holly nodded to her quietly to just let them take her and then addressed the judge on her behalf again.
“Yes, your honor. They were turned over to me per the prior request that they be brought to court,” Holly told him as Mystic was led out the courtroom doors and out of earshot.
Mystic burst into tears as the officer led her down a hallway and a set of stairs to a small precinct located in the basement of the courthouse. She was booked on contempt of court and placed in a small holding cell to await release in twenty-four hours. At least she was alone and not in one of the cells that housed some less desirable tenants. She felt exhausted. Lying back on the cot, she closed her eyes and drifted off. She awakened sometime later by the sound of metal clanging on the cell door.
“Stand back from the door, prisoner. Chow time,” a burly guard barked at her.
Sitting up, she blinked the sleep from her eyes and glared at him.
“I was laying on the damned bunk, asleep. Was all the clanging and yelling really necessary?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, your majesty. I brought you a lovely dinner entree. Would you like red or white wine with your meal?”
“How about a bottle of tequila?”
“Gosh, sorry. We’re fresh out. If you had any sense, you’d be out at a bar celebrating your freedom. Instead, you’re in here eating slop and drinking water.”
“How about you just give me the water and take the slop back to the pig pen?”
“Fine with me. You’re going to be hungry come lights out and there are no snacks.”
“I brought her dinner,” came a voice from behind him.
“We don’t allow meals from outside,” he said, after whirling around to where Holly stood with a white takeout bag and a fountain drink.
“No? I’ll just eat it during my meeting with my client then,” she told him.
“I wasn’t told about any meeting,” he grumbled.
“Go out and ask your sergeant. He okayed it. I can go back up with you if you like,” she replied.
“Whatever. I don’t care. I need to check you for weapons first.”
“I passed through a metal detector just to come in this place. If you lay one finger on me, I’m going to sue your pervy ass so hard, you’ll get busted down to parking lot attendant. My client is not a threat, and neither am I. Now, get out of my way.”
The guard grunted and carried the tray back out of the cell, waiting until Holly was inside to shut the door. He made his way up the stairs, calling back as he went.
“I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
“I can’t wait to see you again,” Holly shot back.
She handed Mystic the bag and soda before sitting down beside her on the bunk.
“What the fuck were you thinking in there?” she asked.
“I wasn’t thinking. I was just pissed off.”
“Yeah. That much was obvious. I tried to get you out of here early, but the judge isn’t even entertaining the idea. William even gave him some song and dance about how grateful he was that the judge had giving you a cooling down period so he wasn’t in danger of any violence. He had him asking if he needed to issue a restraining order against you.”
“What a dick move.”
“What you did in there, that was a dick move. We have zero chance of appeal.”
“We had zero chance of appeal anyway.”
“Maybe. Maybe not, but now it’s less than that.”
“What am I going to do, Holly? I have no place to live. No job. No money. He even took all my jewelry. Every piece he bought me during the marriage. I mean, I understand him wanting his mother’s rings back. The stuff he bought for me, though. He couldn’t have let me keep that? He cheated on me repeatedly while I was working two jobs to keep us afloat. He finished law school and doubled down on it.”
“Yes, I know. I didn’t miss out on those drunken 2am phone calls about why he wasn’t home.”
“I know, Holly. Listen, thanks for all this. I know you did what you could. I’ll figure something out.”
“You know I have room at my place for you until you get on your feet. The spare bedroom is yours. I’ve got court tomorrow in a nearby county, but just go on over to the house when you get out and get some rest. I doubt you’ll get any in here tonight. Bob will meet us at the house with his van and we’ll get your personal things from the apartment.”
“Will he be there?”
“Yes and no.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said he will have your things boxed up and placed in front of the garage doors for retrieval.”
“Why do I have the feeling that I won’t be seeing much of anything in front of those doors?”
“Because you probably won’t. He’s been very specific in the paperwork on what you can and cannot have. You saw it.”
“Yeah.”
Mystic took a few bites of the club sandwich Holly had brought but found that she wasn’t very hungry. She was very near tears again, in fact.
“Listen, it’s going to be fine. Tomorrow night, we’ll kick back and have some drinks and start to figure out what your going to do to get back on your feet. This will be in your rear-view mirror in no time.”
“I hope so. I wish I could just erase the whole, ugly episode.”
“Just try to watch your mouth until you get out of here. Okay? Don’t piss off the guards.”
“I won’t.”
“See you tomorrow, chicka. Oh, give me your leftovers. I can’t leave that in here.”
Mystic put the last of the sandwich in the bag and handed it to her. Holly took it and reached in her pocket, pulling out a candy bar and handing it to her.
“What’s this?” Mystic asked.
“Contraband. In case you feel hungry later. Stick it under your pillow.”
“Naughty.”
“Well, you know, it’s not every day my best friend goes to jail for the first time.
Mystic smiled a little and tucked the candy under her pillow. Holly reached through the bars and pushed a little button on the other side. There were footsteps descending the stairs and a jingle of keys as the guard let her out of the cell and locked it behind her.
“Don’t fuck with my girl, Collins. I promise you, I’ll own you if she has even the slightest complaint about you.”
“Fuck you, Hanover. I’m a professional.”
“Yeah, I got that from the “fuck you” at the beginning of the sentence.”
Mystic sat down on the bed and watched them walk up the stairs. Once they were out of sight, she began staring at the fresh
ly painted ceiling. It was oddly quiet down here, not at all what she’d expected from a jail cell. She lay there most of the night, thoughts whirling around in her head about what she would do when she got out of here.
By the time she was released the following day, she had no more of a clue about how she would manage than she had in the months she’d had to think about it already. She had dropped out of college after her parents died and taken a job as a cocktail waitress. That had been how she had met William in the first place. They had bonded over shots and the commonality of being adult orphans.
Walking out to the parking lot, she quickly realized her car was gone. For a split second, she thought it had been stolen, but then she realized he had most likely already taken that too. On the off chance she was wrong and it had been stolen, it might as well go ahead and be his problem. It was more likely that he used his spare key and took it on his way out of court or had someone pick it up. So much for forty-eight hours. Great. She had three dollars to her name and no car.
“Bastard,” she muttered under her breath as she made her way for the bus stop near the courthouse. She might have just enough to catch the crosstown bus to Holly’s house if she tossed in the change in her pocket.
And so it began, her journey toward her new life with just her purse, the clothes on her back and the two nickels left over after bus fare.
Chapter Two
The trip to Holly’s house took nearly an hour on the bus, by the time you figured in traffic and multiple stops along the route. She arrived at nearly noon, not quite at the doorstep, but nearly a mile away from the brownstone Holly had purchased fresh out of law school. Mystic found herself wishing she had done more with her life than married well. It would have panned out a sight better for her, no doubt.
She stepped off the bus and began making her way across the bridge that ran along the river embankment and down toward the suburban neighborhood Holly called home. It was her home too now, she guessed. At least until she could figure out how to get herself out of this mess. The fresh air was nice, at least. The warmth of early April spilling across her as she made her way along the sidewalks that bordered her destination.
