Here There Be Dragons
By
Scott Roche
Published by Scott Roche at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Scott Roche
Discover other titles by Scott Roche here http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ScottRoche
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Special thanks go to Sarah Rios, Ryan H, and Ed Talbot for helping me with this story and to the innumerable people that helped me with the cover. Any issues with either the text or the cover is the sole fault of the author who is merely human and likes to refer to himself in the third person.
This short story takes place in the same universe as “X Marks the Spot”, also available from Smashwords. Look for more stories in this world and featuring these characters in 2012.
I locked up the door on Mr. Looper’s PC Emporium and jumped as high as I could, snagging the gate and using my body weight to pull it down. With it locked in place, I knew it was as safe as any store in this neighborhood could be. In spite of the fact that this was a computer store, most of the stuff he carried was way old. He tinkered with his stock and fixed any electronics that customers brought in. No matter how useless or broke down the TV, radio, or remote controlled car was, he could always coax life out of it.
I pulled my black nylon jacket’s collar up around my neck to try and keep warm. If I hurried, I could make the three blocks home before it got dark. This was the Dragon’s turf and anyone caught out in it after dark, especially a girl my age, was like fresh meat. If we didn’t need the money I wouldn’t clean Mr. Looper’s store, no matter how much he paid me, and he paid me way too much.
Mom thought he wanted something more than money. She’d never say that to my face, but I’ve heard her end of phone calls. She’s always asking me how the old man makes me feel or if he ever touches me. I don’t think she knows that at thirteen I know what she’s asking, and it made me sick to think about it. He never did and I don’t think he even has thoughts like that. He doesn’t like people much. Oh he treated his customers and me well enough, but he loved his machines.
Wind picked at my jacket and cut through the legs of my skinny jeans. We moved to North Carolina from Jersey five years ago. I thought it was supposed to be warmer here, but the winters are still pretty cold. I broke into a jog, hoping it would warm me up. It almost had, too, until I heard the whooping and jeering from up ahead. I knew it was a group of the Dragons. They weren’t a real gang, not like the Ochos or the Strangers. Mostly, they were just older teens who smoked dope and stole lunch money from younger kids. Ricardo, whose brother was an Ocho, said that they couldn’t cut it in an actual brotherhood, but wanted the excuse to act tougher than they were.
I didn’t know about that. I’d known a few kids who got their share of bruises and cuts, and while Mr. Looper might not be interested in my girlhood, these boys might. It wasn’t much further to get home, but going the long way around I’d risk running into some tougher groups. There was no safety except to go back to the store. Mr. Looper lived above it and I could get him to take me home, or at least I could call Dad to come and get me when he got home.
I hated to bother him, but he had invited me upstairs once or twice early on for cookies. Thinking about Mom’s advice, I said no, respectfully, and it never came up again. I think he knew why I said no, cause he looked a little embarrassed and sad.
I hurried, but the wind was in my face. It seemed to be blowing faster, making it hard to take steps. I didn’t weigh much and the spaces between buildings focused the winds. That must have been why I didn’t hear the voices. I didn’t know there were Dragons behind me, until one grabbed my arm.
“Not so fast you little c...” The boy’s voice turned into a whoosh of air as my elbow caught him in the midsection.
It was a lucky blow, and I knew I’d regret it later, if I let another one get their hands on me. I recovered, a little more clumsily than I would have in Tae Kwon Do class, but street fights are not the same as ones on the mat. His friends weren’t far away, and they were caught short by my reaction. I was glad, and not for the first time that night, that these weren’t real gang bangers.
I ran as fast as I could, finding more speed somewhere deep in me. It wasn’t much further to the store. Blood thundered in my ears, but now I could hear every angry voice and catcall behind me. My feet started to hurt as they pounded the sidewalk.
The store came up on my left, and I felt like an idiot once I saw that the metal grate was down. There was no way I could get that up in time and get behind the safety it offered. Without breaking stride, I ran past, cutting into the alley just beyond it. I had just enough speed and bounce to make it onto the lid of the dumpster. From there, it was a short jump to the fire escape. Miraculously, I didn’t miss a step and climbed to the roof of the three story building in a flash.
My luck hadn’t bought me much breathing room. The ones right behind me didn’t realize I had gone up, and they went further down the alley looking for me. I had a minute, maybe two, so I looked around for the roof access. Mr. Looper often talked about his roof garden, and I knew there had to be a way to get to ground level from it. Then I realized, I had gone up the wrong building. I’d seen action heroes make the jump from building to building, but they were trained athletes. I was just a scared little girl. At least, that’s how I felt.
The iron bars on the fire escape started grinding against brickwork. Heavy boys, nearly grown men, were climbing up here. My eyes darted around the rooftop, and I saw the access to a stairwell jutting up nearby. I rushed to it, trying not to trip over anything in the dark. I grabbed the handle and pulled, only to be rewarded with nearly pulling my shoulder muscle. My scream was a mix of rage, fear, and disappointment. It fought with the wind for sheer volume and won hands down.
Shaking, I turned to see how close the Dragons were. For once, something played in my favor. In going to the door’s side of the access, I was hidden from them. There was no other way down except for the long jump, so my freedom wouldn’t last long. I made myself small, but kept on the balls of my feet. With any luck, they would all come around one side as a group. They weren’t very bright, so I felt it was a realistic enough hope.
“Chica, come on out. We won’t hurt you. We just want to play a little game.” The boy’s voice wasn’t long out of puberty and cracked once to the amusement of his friends.
“Yeah,” another one yelled, “we just want to play a little touch football.” The next to the last word was emphasized, and I could nearly feel the leer.
I balled my fists and relaxed them in a rhythm. I’d touch them alright. If I could draw blood on one of them, whatever happened next might be worth it. The way my stomach felt, I might even get to puke on them while I was at it. It did seem like they were all coming around to my left side.
As softly and slowly as I could, I circled around to the right. In the dark I couldn’t tell if what I tripped over was a pipe or a string of cable. Whatever it was, it put me down on my side just as one of the smarter boys was sneaking around to intercept. I lay at his feet and had a moment for my predicament to register, before his black Chuck caught me on the side of my head.
My sight dimmed as the loud thud filled my head. That brief sound was replaced by a mechanical whirring noise. It reminded me of a bee’s nest I’d knocked out of a tree once, if you ran the sound through a distortion pedal.
“Flee, interlopers.” The voice was made from that same distorted bee sound. It came from somewhere far above.
Whining sounds filled the air followed by dull thuds and the girlish screaming of a few of the young toughs.
“That means run, you ignorant ruffians.”
That was how Mr. Looper always talked. If the scuffling noises were any indication, the boys must have gotten the message. I kept my eyes screwed shut, praying for the pain in my head to end. Warm wind, too strong to be called a breeze, blew grit against my face. The gravel embedded into the tar of the roof crunched under something incredibly heavy just a few feet away.
“Ms. Perez, are you able to stand?”
The only person to ever call me that was Mr. Looper. A harsh light shone on me. I slid my eyes open and saw three toed feet formed from scrap metal. They looked for all the world like a robot chicken. I wouldn’t find that funny until later.
“My apologies, Ms. Perez.” The light dimmed and the wind died down.
I slowly got to my feet, still a little dizzy from everything that had happened. When I got the full view of what I faced I nearly fainted. I’d never been a fan of science fiction, but even I had seen the Terminator movies. This thing looked like one of the T-800 with its skin scraped off, if they had been modeled on an owl instead of a person. The eyes were huge and its ears were pointed. I could see wings folded against its back and huge turbines sticking up over its shoulders. The light came from a chest mounted lens the size of a hubcap.
I didn’t realize I was backing up until the heels of my shoes touched the roof access. “Mr... Looper?”
The construction lowered itself so that its eyes, which looked for all the world like headlights, were even with mine. “Yes, my dear. Or at least an extension of me. If you will return to the store, we can talk about this.” He paused for a moment. “You will find that the ruffians are suitably frightened for now. Or if you prefer I will ensure that you return home safely and we can discuss this tomorrow.”