A bottle of cold water and a sandwich was passed down from the back to her. The helicopter began to take off, and the air-conditioner flushed into Stacey’s cheeks.
Walter looked at her whilst she ate and drank.
“Did someone hurt you?” he asked. “Your face has marks on it.”
“No,” Stacey whispered. “It was me who hurt them.”
She leaned out the window and watched the Island disappear from them.
It happened all too fast.
She thought about Zane. Thought about him striking Narses through the chest and announcing his command over the other dragons. That he would be a hero to them. A King.
And then one day soon…
While there was still hope in her heart… And the joy he’d given her still alive…
He would come back to be with her again.
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.
Shared By The Dragon Clan: The Complete Set Page 15
