by E. J. Krause
He grabbed a chip to give himself a few extra seconds to think. Should he go with the truth, or would they hold that against him? They were a different sort, that was for sure, and they might cover it up at any cost, including burying him in the backyard.
No, he'd seen too many movies and cop procedurals. Whatever Andi was, and he honestly had no clue, she was a good person. Or whatever. Her mom, too. He glanced at Mr. Thomas as he swallowed his chip; the jury was still out on him, though he couldn't imagine he'd be evil when Andi and her mom were so nice.
"I, uh, felt the zombies, and when I turned, I saw four at the front of your house, moving to the side gate."
"You felt them?" Mr. Thomas said.
"Yeah, like pins and needles on the back of my neck. Just like yesterday morning."
Mr. Thomas started to say something else, but Mrs. Thomas jumped in. "Lee, let him finish. What next?"
"I figured I should warn you guys, so I followed them into the backyard to see what they were up to, but you were already there, waiting."
"I noticed them right after I got in the house," Andi said. She finally looked at him, and they shared a smile.
Mrs. Thomas prompted him to continue. "And you saw us …"
"I saw you chop two up with a couple of swords, just like yesterday morning, and I saw …"
"Say it, boy," Mr. Thomas said. It sounded like a dare.
"I saw you and Andi turn into …" He almost said monsters, but caught himself. "… something."
Mr. Thomas flashed a wicked grin that proved he knew what Ben almost said.
"I'm a dragon, and so is my dad," Andi blurted out. "Don't hate me."
"If he hated you, or was even frightened by you, he'd be long gone," Mr. Thomas said. "Not sitting here sharing an afternoon snack, as meager as it is."
"Yes, Lee, I'm well aware you want me to go to the grocery store," Mrs. Thomas said as she rolled her eyes. "I'll do it tomorrow."
Ben and Andi's eyes met, and she gave him a shy smile before concentrating on her soda can. What Mr. Thomas said was true, though. Andi being a dragon, whatever that meant, didn't frighten him one bit. And he certainly didn't hate her. Quite the opposite. That didn’t mean it didn’t confuse him to no end, though.
"Besides," Mr. Thomas said, "he's your guard. He's programmed to not hate you, and you him." He gave Ben a hard stare. "But just because I acknowledge it doesn't mean I condone you putting your hands all over my daughter."
"Daddy!"
"Lee!"
Ben could only sit there and wonder what was going on. He hadn't even been close to putting his hands all over her. They'd almost kissed, sure, but she started that, not him. And what did he mean that Ben was her guard? Why would a dragon need a guard? None of this made any sense.
"What?" Mr. Thomas said to his wife. "I'm stating my feelings. I thought you liked it when I displayed them."
"I also know you understand the concept of tact, but you're choosing not to show any of that at the moment."
"Excuse me," Ben said, hoping he spoke loud enough to be heard. He had, as all three looked at him. "Uh, well, I mean …" He took a deep breath, and though Mr. Thomas kept his sour expression trained on him, smiles on the faces of both Mrs. Thomas, and more importantly, Andi urged him on. "What do you mean I'm her guard?"
"It's fate, dear," Mrs. Thomas said. "You're destined to be Alexandria's Dragon Guard."
Chapter 5
"What is a Dragon Guard?" Ben asked. "I've never heard of that."
"You've also never heard of dragons outside of storybooks, either," Mr. Thomas said.
"Lee, be nice."
"Yeah, Dad. He's your future son-in-law, after all."
What? He looked at Andi, but she rolled her eyes as she said it, so she was joking. Right? Oh, god, why hadn't he gotten scared and run when he had the chance? This was getting to be too much.
Her dad gave Andi a withering look, but Mrs. Thomas just shrugged and said, "She's right." Mr. Thomas turned his gaze on his wife, but this time it held annoyance rather than anger.
"Mom! I was kidding. We're way too young to even think about getting married or being bound or whatever you call it."
Mr. Thomas motioned to Andi. "Yes. Thank you. Finally my daughter shows she can display some common sense."
Mrs. Thomas stood up, anger bubbling up on her face, but instead she burst out laughing. "What?" Andi and her dad both demanded, while Ben sat there taking it all in and trying to remember how to breathe.
She shook her head and took a long pull from her soda can. "Nothing. It's just that this wasn't how I pictured explaining this process to my daughter and her future guard."
"You already explained it to me, and it sounds ludicrous," Andi said. "Maybe it'll make sense in a couple hundred years, but not yet."
"I told you very little, and of that you seem to remember only the portion you're most uncomfortable with."
Andi turned to Ben. "It's stupid. You agree, right?"
He tried to think of something, anything, to say, but all that came out was, "I don't even know what's going on," which brought out more giggles from Mrs. Thomas, and caused the rest to stare at her again.
"I say we leave it at nothing is going on," Mr. Thomas said. "Alexandria said it best. This whole situation is ludicrous."
Mrs. Thomas sat back down a grabbed a potato chip. "Need I remind you that it was your idea to let fate decide? And it has. Ben witnessed us fight zombies, and he's still sitting here. How much more do you need?"
Mr. Thomas gave a non-committal grunt and finished his soda. He looked at Ben. "What did you mean earlier when you said you sensed the zombies? You got a feeling of pins and needles?"
"Uh-huh. It was like a bunch of them were being stuck in the back of my neck. It didn't hurt, not really. I don't remember it ever happening before. Just today and yesterday. Does it happen to most people around zombies?"
"Of course not. Why else would we think you are out daughter's future guard?"
"Enough of the attitude, Lee. Why don't you go out and sweep up zombie ash?"
They stared at each other for a few seconds, each squinting like they had splitting headaches. Ben glanced over at Andi and saw confusion and a bit of worry written on her face. So this wasn't normal behavior. He had a suspicion that almost everything happening here was new to her, too. Finally their headaches stopped. Mrs. Thomas leaned back and massaged her temples, while Mr. Thomas stood and headed out of the kitchen, presumably towards the sliding glass door in the living room.
Ben gaped as he left. If his parents had started an argument like that, they would have gone for each other's throats, and if Mom told Dad to leave, he'd have been in her face the rest of the night. As weird as this all was, he began to see it might be better to hang out here than at home.
Mrs. Thomas looked at Ben and smiled. "I bet you never dreamed you'd get this much entertainment today after school."
That was an understatement. But did this count as entertainment? He was pretty sure he wasn't having much fun. Out loud he said, "No ma'am."
"So what's going on, Mom? Yesterday you said Ben and I were connected, and by the way Daddy's acting, I'm guessing it's more true than I imagined."
"All I can say is, get used to each other. You're going to have a long life together." She gave Ben a pointed look. "Longer than you know."
He frowned and turned towards Andi, but she blushed and busied herself with her empty soda can. "What do you mean?"
"Sometime soon you two are going to go through a ceremony where we'll bind your souls together. After that, Ben, your aging process is going to change to that of a dragon. You'll age at the same rate as Andi, roughly one year for every 50 human years."
It took him a few seconds to wrap his head around that. "So how old are you?" he asked Andi.
She smirked at him. "See? If you remembered to do your math homework, you could figure it out on your own."
"So this is the attitude I have to put up with for an eternity?" he
shot back.
She and her mother laughed. He couldn't believe he'd come up with that quip so quick. He couldn't do that around most girls. Maybe they really were meant to be together.
Andi gave him a playful swat on the shoulder. "That and more."
When Andi didn't offer up her age, he worked the calculations in his head, with a bit of help from his fingers. "So you're 750 years old?"
"758 to be exact," she said. "But I'm also 15, same as you."
"Wow." What else could he say?
"There's much more to this than age and love."
"Mother! We just met. Quit with the L-word."
Ben snickered. He tried to keep it quiet, but Andi heard and gave him a little shove. Her hand lingered a second on his arm, and he certainly noticed that. She did, too, and blushed.
"Fine, fine. Let me go over it all again so Ben can hear. You'll always know where the other is, and what each other's emotions are. For example, I know Lee is in the garage, likely getting a broom and a trash bag. He's still a bit worked up, but he's beginning to calm down. You'll also be able to communicate telepathically, but it will only work when Andi is in her true form. It's strange at first to have someone else in your head, but necessary. It's been over 1000 years, and I still can't decipher even the easiest piece of dragon language. You can also talk telepathically when Andi is in her human form, but that'll give you both a splitting headache."
"Is that what you guys did right before Daddy went out back? I've never seen you do that."
"Yes, and you saw how unpleasant it was. We do our best to not have to talk that way, which is why you've never noticed. You'll understand what I mean when you try it right after the binding. And you will try, I guarantee it," she added with a wink.
Ben wasn't sure he wanted to get bound at all, and he knew for a fact that he didn't want to give himself a headache on purpose. Knowing each other's emotions would be pretty cool, though; if his parents could do that, it'd cut down on their stupid fights. But having Andi in his head all the time when she was a dragon? That sounded scary.
"In addition to those shared powers, you'll gain a nifty assortment of your own, Ben. We'll have no idea what until after the binding ceremony, but since someone is sending zombies after us, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet your powers have something to do with battling the undead, especially since you can already sense them. That's only a guess on my part, though."
"What are your powers, Mom?"
Ben looked over at Andi. Wow, this all must be new to her if she didn't even know what her own mother could do.
"I'm a master of all weapons. Put something in my hand, and I can make it deadly. I can also build up a charge of energy, a mini explosion, in something I'm holding so it'll give an bit of damage to whomever or whatever I'm fighting."
"Wait," Andi said. "How come I've never noticed any of this either?"
"As I said yesterday, your father and I have stayed off the radar since you were born. Looks like someone has caught up to us."
"Who?"
"No idea. We can't think of any old enemies with control of the undead." She looked at Ben. "But enough about me. You must have a ton of questions."
He managed to nod, but couldn't think of where to start. He could start asking questions and not stop until tomorrow or the next day. Even that might not be enough time.
Mrs. Thomas smiled and nodded, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "I get it. Too many to ask. Tell you what, why don't you let it all sink in, and you can ask your specifics later. Until then, let's go test something out." She stood and headed out of the kitchen, turning back when she reached the door. "Come on, you two. Let's go see what Ben will be proficient with."
He and Andi looked at each other, and she gave him a shrug. They both stood and followed her to one of the extra bedrooms. This one had no furniture in it at all. Ben frowned. What did she mean be proficient? Proficient at what?
Mrs. Thomas pulled open the closet, and two big racks of weapons sat in there, like an armory from one of his medieval-themed video games. He glanced at Andi, and her reaction proved she'd never seen these before. Mrs. Thomas reached in, grabbed a huge axe, and handed it to him. He took it, but now what?
"Attack me." She reached down and pulled out her two short swords from hidden scabbards on her thighs. He hadn't even noticed them.
"What?"
"Attack me with the axe. Don't worry, you won't hurt me."
He examined the weapon. It was beautifully designed with an ancient battle scene carved into the head, while the shaft had jewels and gems encrusted into it. He lifted it over one shoulder – it was a heck of a lot lighter than he imagined – and swung. She swatted it aside with one of her blades.
"No. Come on, like you mean it. It's a waste of both our times if you don't."
He nodded and lunged at her, swinging for her left shoulder. She again swatted his attack away as if it were an annoying gnat coming at her.
"Better," she said. She lifted the axe out of his hands and replaced it with a huge hammer. "Maybe that's more your style."
The hammer was heavier than the axe, and not nearly as neat looking. It reminded him of a bulky sledgehammer. He tried hitting her again, but got no closer than with the axe. She replaced the hammer with a huge sword. They went through the same exercise with the same result. Next she gave him a smaller sword, one easy to handle with one hand, and a shield. He paused before swinging. The other weapons had felt clunky, out of place in his hands. This one felt right.
"Okay, Ben, come at me."
He swung the sword with more precision, and while she knocked it away as easily as the others, it looked like she had to put some actual effort into it. While he was still in motion, Ben brought the shield forward and tried to knock her off balance. She trapped the top between her arm and body and twisted to the ground. Ben went head over asskettle, as his dad liked to say, and looked up at her smiling face. Andi gasped and rushed to his side.
"Mom! What was that? Are you okay, Ben?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He looked back up to Mrs. Thomas, who still wore a huge smile. "Sorry. I don't know why I swung the shield."
"I do. It's because we found your weapon. When you're bound, you'll be a match even for me. For now, I can train you well enough to protect yourself." She glanced up at the doorway where Andi's dad now stood. "But we'll save that for another day."
Mr. Thomas grunted, but it wasn't the angry sound he'd used earlier in the kitchen. "Sword and shield. Makes sense if we're right about the holy warrior aspect."
"Huh?" Ben said as Andi helped him to his feet.
"Nothing. A discussion for another time. We've kept you here long enough today."
Mrs. Thomas pulled out her cell phone and checked the time. "Oh, goodness. I hope your parents don't get mad at us for keeping you so late."
"Don't worry about it," Ben said. "They'll think I stopped at a friend's house. Which I guess I did." He doubted his parents would notice at all. Or if they did, it would be to pull him into one of their never-ending arguments.
All three walked him to the front door. "I'm sorry we had to lump all of this on you today," Mrs. Thomas said. "But I suppose it was necessary."
"Yes," Mr. Thomas said. "But just think, kid. Maybe you'll wake up tomorrow and find it's all been a dream." Andi and her mother rolled their eyes and said goodbye while Mr. Thomas bellowed out an evil but goofy laugh. Ben said his own goodbye and turned for home, picking up his abandoned backpack from the lawn where he'd tossed it what seemed like days ago.
Chapter 6
The sounds of his parents screaming at each other assaulted Ben before he opened the front door. Another one of those nights. Hopefully they'd see he was home and he could escape to his room for most of the evening. He tried to sneak upstairs, but as soon as he hit the living room, they burst in from the kitchen.
"Look, Trent, just look. The walls are boring and bland."
"Jeez, Heidi, they look fine. That's why we hang pictures. If
we paint them light blue, it'll look like an infant's room."
He tried to stay as still as possible and hope neither noticed him. If they didn't pay him any mind, they might burn through their argument quicker and keep their behavior mild the rest of the evening. If they brought him into it, though, they'd both go into a frenzy to try to get him on their side. It was like they were planning for a divorce and already fighting for custody, and that thought made his stomach hurt.
Despite his best efforts, his father saw him. "Ask your son, Heidi. He'll tell you how stupid light blue paint would look in a freaking living room."
"Don't bring him into this. This is between you and me. You hadn't even noticed the color until I told you I wanted to change it. Whatever I want, you have to go against it. It's a never ending cycle, and it's just to tick me off."
"That's ridiculous. And of course I didn't notice the color. That's the whole point of white. It lets the pictures and decorations speak for the room. Ben would say the say the same thing because he's not a crazy person like you. Right, son?"
"Uh …"
"There's no way he didn't know the color of the walls. He's not devoid of that section of his brain that recognizes major details."
His dad threw his hands in the air. "So I'm brain damaged? And since when is white paint a major detail? By its very purpose it's a minor detail at best."
They continued arguing, breaking down into more insults. Ben snuck towards the stairs and almost gave a fist pump when he reached the top and they didn't call him back down. Once he made it to his room, he closed the door and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
He tossed his backpack onto the bed and crashed down next to it. What a day. From enjoying lunch and a walk home with Andi, to finding out she was a dragon and he was her guard, which meant superpowers of some sort and a long lifespan which might as well be forever, and then coming home to one step closer to living in a single-parent home. He covered his face with his hands. Was today a win or a loss? That hinged on whether he was happy about this Dragon Guard thing or not. While he didn't know her very well yet, he liked Andi, and truth be told, the thought of having superpowers was pretty cool. But he wasn't ready to get married, and from what he took from that conversation, when they got bound or whatever, that's what they'd be doing. Setting aside the fact that they were way too young, he didn't want to end up like his parents. He didn't want to hate Andi in a few years.
