Dragon Tears (Indigo Apocalypse Novella)

Chapter Six: Time To Put On A Public Pretty Face, And Not Die

HUNTOR:
I pulled away, feeling something pulse in the back of my mind, feeling something entwine with the Drac'on beast inside. I stared into Sydney's beautiful green eyes, stared, and stared, and stared, feeling that something pulse hotter, harder, harder, harder. "I love you sometimes. I love you sometimes. I, love, you, sometimes." "Forget sometimes," Said a voice in my mind, a voice, that, wasn't, my own. "I love him, all, the time." I stumbled away, and a flash of fear and worry slapped through my heart. "You ok Huntor?" Sydney asked, reaching for me. "Yeah, yes I'm fine, it's just, I heard your thoughts. Just now." "What do you mean? You're a telepath, of course you did." "No, no Syd, I heard them, but I also felt them, in my heart, I felt what you felt, in my heart." "Is that a bad thing? Did I do something wrong?" Again, fear and terror exploded through, and shame. I reached for her, and, surprisingly, she let me fold her in my arms.
I pressed my lips to her's, and said, "Remember what I said, about being mates?" "Yes." "Well, because we are, there are things we will, can, feel and hear from each other. What causes that is called a mating bond. I know only one other pair who have one, Kitana and Kendra. They can hear and feel things from each other that no one else can." "So, you can feel and hear me, in my head?" "Yes." I said. "Think something." She commanded. "I love you too." I thought. Her body went taught and straight. "I heard you Huntor." She said in disbelief. "Promise me." She thought. I pressed my lips to her's, and thought, "I promise, I promise, I, promise." As I thought it, I infused my mind with love and affection, filling Sydney with it, and letting her fill me with it. Kitana had described the bond between her and Kendra like a glass bowl of emotions between them. But here, with Sydney, here between the West towers, it felt like a burning inferno, a fire that never ended, never died out, a huge burning fire between us. "Shit, shit shit shit shit, SHIT." Sydney said very very quickly, then screamed the last word and slammed into me, grinding her hips hard against me, her breathing heavy, hot breath over my face, my neck, smelling of pancakes. I pushed back, feeling the heat in her, feeling the fire burn hotter, hotter, hotter. "More," She moaned, out loud, and in the fire. She screamed it, begged it. I nearly roared with the sensation, the feeling of her there, her, here. When we were done, I pulled away, feeling my Drac'on coil back inside, but not her. "More," She moaned. "More more more." "Hold on." I laughed as she pressed her body to mine. "We can't do this up here, in the open. Despite what I said about privacy, people who are looking for me will come up here." I ran my hands through her soft hair, soft thin hair. "Trust me, I still want you, need you." "I still want you, all of you, I can't believe I do, but it's true." She thought. I kissed her. "I know Syd, I know." "Would you hate me?" She asked, completely throwing me off my rocker, almost literally. She rolled a bit away and cold air flooded the bit of space between us, it may as well have been a river between us. "If I never let you inside me? If we never truly have sex, would you hate me?"
Well damn, that killed the mood fast. "Sydney, no, no of course not." "Of course not what? You would?" "Sydney, I love you, you, meaning your personality, your laugh, your face, you, not your body. Your body is very beautiful, very attractive, but, I'm not going to force you into something like that. If you don't want me in you, i understand, I can live with it." "How?" She asked. "You aren't like them, aren't, but you're still a male, you need that kind of thing, don't you?" "Need, no, crave yes, desire, yes, but need, no. I think I can survive without being inside you."  I was ok with it, but the Drac'on in me on the other hand, he didn't like that at all, and, if I had to guess, well, I knew, that Sydney's Drac'on hated that idea too. I held open my arms, "Come here, let me hold you for a bit Syd." She stayed away, thinking, "Try, try try try try try try, I have to try, have to try this, have to. He loves me, loves me, loves me, no one else did, no one else wanted to." It tore my heart to shreds as I heard, but, she finally came closer, and pressed her mouth to my neck. She breathed against my skin, in my head, "I love you." I filled her with affection, letting it say what words couldn't. "Um, Huntor? I don't know about this." Sarah was standing on a ledge, her wings slightly out, body braced, and filled with terror. "You have to try friend, if I can manage it, you can." "Hell, no. I'm not like you. I don't have your daredevil heart, or your Dio Indaco, whatever. I'm just Sarah, and shit shit shit shit, I can't fly." "You aren't flying, you're just getting off the ground, the water is right there, if you fall, you'll fall into it." Sarah gave her wings a tentative flap, and swore.
"Shit shit shit shit shit." I sighed. "Do I have to demonstrate again?" "No, no, kiss my ass. You know, you're in a really, really good mood." She noted as she gave her wings another tentative flap, and, swore. "I am feeling pretty good." I commented. "Impatient because a certain someone won't give her wings a real flap." "Shit shit shit shit shit shit." She said, now udderly squealing. "Fine fine fine." She said, hearing me laugh. She flapped her wings, took off, and, actually glided for a few dozen feet before squealing, then screaming, then falling, and landing in the pool. Her head popped up, and she swore very creatively. I laughed, unable to resist. "Come on Sarah, you managed it in that battle." "Go to Hell, it was a life or death situation." "All I'm hearing are excuses, since you could do it last time, you should be able to again." She grumbled under her breath, but got out the water, and up to the platform. We've been at it for a while, well, almost an hour. Sidney and I left things at a tentative hope, the fire between us still roiling with heat and desire, and, through it, I could feel her, and hear her as she talked to Briella and Lorna, who was asking if Syd wanted to meet her best friend Camille. "Well shit, won't that be a mess." I thought. Sydney's surprise burned through the fire, and I hid my smile. "What is? What's she like?" Sydney asked. "You'll have to see for yourself, it could go either way, you may like her, you may not. I will say this, she may be too much, energy for you to handle now, later maybe, but now." I let that hang, but Sydney got the hint. I went back to my training with Sarah, who cursed me all the way through. Then, "Can I join?" I turned to see one of the renegade Drac'ons, one of the younglings, and a Snow one at that, and, supposedly, a distant cousin of twelve years. "Of course you can—"Zavala." I said. "Pretty normal compared to the names I've heard." Sarah said. Thinking of Seeka and Theia, I nodded. She giggled. "Yeah, pretty unique for our kind though." She was quiet for a time, then said, "You're doing everything right, you just have that mental block." "What?" Sarah asked. "You know, that block, you're afraid, unconsciously, to lift up and fly. It's in your blood, both of you, so, you just have to get over that mental block."
She spread her wings, and took a running start, and lifted off. I heard her breathing as she flew, flapping her wings with every inhale, exhaling on the glide. She landed by me and folded her wings. "It's hard, I didn't start learning to fly till two years ago. I still struggle to be honest. Typically we start while we're hatchlings, between four and eight, that way the mental fear isn't so great. But I was late because I was born on the run and my family were afraid of discovery." I nodded, and Sarah swore. "Still, I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Sarah said. We spent another two hours there, Sarah and I alternating, training to handle our birthright, especially as royal-born. "There'll be a day when the Snow Queen sends for you, best be ready by then." She said as we left the sector, her wings trailing behind her. "So, what happen to your parents, why did they become renegades and refugees?" Sarah asked. "Because they couldn't live like the Snow Queen wanted." Zavala said, then went quiet. As we entered the dinner hall, I could feel every eye on us, Sarah and I, who still were in our Drac'on forms, were getting the eye, and Zavala, who's wings still trailed behind her, was getting it too. We grabbed food and chose a table at random. Zavala ate quickly, which was like her, always excited, always happy, always quick to eat, fly, whatever, and, always lazy. Even now, her wings sat against the floor, occasionally shifting for someone to walk by.
    "I can smell it on you." She said through a mouthful of food. "What?" Sarah and I asked. "Huntor," She said, gesturing with a clawtipped hand. "You found her didn't you?" Sarah whipped around so fast I felt the gust of wind from her wings. "Your mate, you found your mate, you found her and didn't tell me," She said those last words in a pout. "That's why you were so damn happy, so insulting, I haven't seen that since, since, since, Audrey." She stopped, and asked, "It's not her, Reina, is it? We knew that, but, but, but, if not her, then, then, then," It dawned on her, and she whispered, "Sydney." I nodded. "Oh the gods are cruel, how, how can you stand it?" I snarled, feeling the rage deep. Sarah backed away, "Ok ok ok, sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I just thought, you know." I sighed. "Sorry Sarah, it's hard for me to control my instincts, just don't tell her yet, I still have to figure how that's going to happen." "Hey, I'll keep your secret, you know that." "Yeah, I do." Zavala tossed in, "She's coming this way you know. That Reina girl." "Shit." Sarah muttered. "Well, this'll be interesting." I commented. "Hey Huntor." Reina called. She came over and wrapped her arms around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. Zavala snickered, no doubt seeing the ire in my eye, feeling it in the air. "What's so funny lizard?" Reina asked. I stiffened, and Zavala stopped snickering. "That's very rude." Zavala said, anger in her words. "So, snickering at people is rude too." Zavala's wings flared slightly as she sat forward, as she said, "Don't mess with me, I bite back, hard." Reina laughed. "I've handled worse than an adolescent lizard. I'm sure I can handle you, without a problem." Zavala rose but I waved her back. "Reina really, enough is enough. You provoking them, you causing arguments is going to get you killed here." "What? Really Huntor Love? How can you side with her, with them?" "They helped us end the war Rey, have you forgotten that? They helped us end it all, they were there for us. They help us with the government, with everything, the least we can do is treat them the same way we wanna be treated. Respect is a two-way thing." "Oh Huntor, sometimes you irritate me." I rolled my eye at Zavala, who snickered again. She relaxed against her seat, her wings laying against the back of her bench. "They kinda look ugly if you get a harder stare at them. I mean, look at that one, sshe has a horn on either side of her head the same color as her eyes. Kinda weird, then her claws, and—" The knife came from nowhere, and, it was my telekinesis that saved Reina from a literal knife in the back. She slowly turned, and stared at the blade, level, with, her breasts.
    "Now, that, is what I meant Reina." I said pleasantly. I gave no outward sign of notice, made sure I sat there, comfortable and placid, as Reina stared at death only three inches away. "And I wasn't the one who threw it." Zavala commented smugly. "Though I wish I had." "Reina, every Drac'on here has intensified hearing, and, also are very, very, very territorial and proud. Don't insult them again, and not expect retribution." Stiffly, Reina said, "I'm sorry." Zavala said, "I guess." The next day, the day before Thanksgiving, of course, found me in the city of D.C. standing in front of a huge crowd of Indigo supporters and media cameras. "What are the Indigo gonna do now the Keepers are dead?" "Excuse me, Mr. Huntor, will the Indigo ever walk among us again?" "What's your mission now the Keepers are gone?" "Didn't someone already ask that?" I thought. The media hounded questions out, more and more, all just little spins of the same lines, What are the Indigo doing now, will they ever walk the streets, and, what is my so called mission now. "The Inddigo will remain where we do until further notice. Our mission is to live in peace with the world." "What about the boys and girls who are Indigo who don't live with you, what do parents do, send them to you, get them into hospitals?" I tilted my head, "What's your name?" "Rosa Gardener." She said, luculently preening in her spotlight. "Well, Rosa, let me say this, do you think my mother wanted me to leave her?" "Well, no butt—"Do you think, my sisters, my cousins, my family wanted me to leave?" The media went silent as I laid my attention on her. "I can promise, none of us wanted to leave our families, our friends, our lives behind. Some of us even brought our families to the Indigo Symbol." "Sir," Gardener said, sounding annoyed. "But what if parents don't want to part with their children, we're talking of families torn apart, people having—"Listen, very, very, closely." My voice was pleasant ice. "My family, Joy and Luna's family, Brooklyn's family, all of them didn't want their children to leave, to live in some rumored Symbol, to go off to war." I narrowed my eye. "Some of us, brought our families with us. The point is, it's, up, to, the child and parents. The Indigo Symbol stands open to anyone who just wants to live in peace, human or otherwise. If the child wants to come, but the parents do not wish it, it's up to the will of the child. Our laws are different from your's, that being said, we stand different." I stepped away, ignoring the media wolves who just wanted more more more more more. But I'd given all I had intended. Zavala and Briella were waiting for me just inside the doors of the building, the building where I had agreed to this. "That was awesome." Zavala said, her wings flashing with adoration. "You were awesome and tough up there." She said. "Gee Huntor, it looks like Zavala has a little crush on you."
Zavala squealed in indignation and twisted to face Briella. "I do not." She squealed, and, in that squeal, there was no doubt she crushed hard on me. I laughed and said, "Let's go home." We turned to walked deeper into the building, but someone called my name, "Huntor, Huntor Sir, wait." I turned, and noticed Gardener coming forward, her clipboard in hand, and sounding out of breath. She was dressed in heels and a bold red dress, her jacket of the same color, even in the brisk November air. She just screamed female, screamed female power, and yet, there was an undertone to it all. "I meant no disrespect Sir, I was just asking the real questions, the real deal. The people deserve a right to know, deserve answers to their questions." "And I'm willing to answer them all. But I won't be hounded like some comon criminal Gardener. If the public want answers, they'll get them, but they won't disrespect me, or, my people." I waved to Briella and Zavala. "This is our future, the public needs to know that, understand that, and," Alleyka came out of a doorway, right on queue, Holly by her side, Kitana on her other side. "This is our future. Humans, werewolves, Drac'ons, and shifters." I decided, not, to add in the vampires. "I, I, i, I I I I." She went silent, staring in awe at Kitana and Holly. She turned to Briella, staring with some fear at the cat shifter, no doubt recognizing her. Then, faced Zavala, and said, "She's adorable." I wondered if she meant for that to come out. "Yes, yes she is." I rested my hand on Zavala's horned head, giving it a little stroke. Zavala preened in her spotlight. Rosa turned back to me, "Again, apologies for the behavior back there. I'm telling you that people are going to react differently now, seeing how you feel, how everyone feels. But, you all need to walk the streets, walk around, give the image that it's safe, that everyone is safe." She reached forward, taking one of my hands. "I can promise that some, if not most, of my colleagues are still going to spin this wrong, give you the bad image, you need a media person, someone who will give you the proper image. CNN and FOX are willing to work with you. We are willing to give you all the respect you deserve." I had an interesting change of heart, even if I still was apprehensive to trust. "Perhaps Gardener, perhaps." She reached in a pocket and drew a card. "Here, take it." I did, and slid it away. Rosa Gardener turned and walked away, heels clicking.
"Well, that was interesting." Briella noted as we walked down the sidewalk toward a lighted intersection. "How much do you wanna bet that she has a point and is actually on our side?" "Never bet against the house." I commented. "Especially when the house holds one of the best grifters in the country." Briella laughed. "Kiss up." She said, slapping my arm playfully. "Will you trust her?" Zavala asked. I shrugged, "I guess only time will tell, either way—" An ice cold hand pressed against the back of my neck as we started across the street. Kitana's snarl and Briella's growl proved to me that our instincts were in sync. I reacted, throwing myself at Zavala, trusting Briella and Kitana. Zavala screamed as the huge truck came surging out of nowhere, and I shoved with telekinesis, stopping it as it neared, freezing only a foot from the young Drac'on's tail. I shoved to my feet as people crowded in, then started yelling and screaming. Briella was already moving, leaping to the driver door, but it was already open, and the people in the truck, were already running. "HUNTOR." Kitana roared. I rolled and rose, Zavala behind me. I turned to Alleyka, Holly clinging to her side. "Get them out of here." I said, already feeling my Drac'on rise and shoving it back. "Get them back to the Symbol." I turned to Zavala, "Go with her, protect the pup, get yourselves in the Symbol, that's your duty." "I I I I, yes Huntor." I kissed the top of her head, knowing that she was strong, she could do this. "Send Sarah Kendra and Joy." "Already done." Kitana said. I nodded, and turned to the trail, the hot trail, and, ran. Skies, no one knew how to move. I ran in and out of people, Kitana and Briella leading the way, using their noses to track our enemy. We rounded a corner and found ourselves in a near empty dead end. "Trap." Briella said. "This just screams trap." "What should we do?" Kitana asked. "Do we keep going? Their through that door." "Yeah, it's a trap alright." I thought about it, was it worth it, worth the trouble? Then I remembered Zavala, remembered her face, her fear, the terror that death was right there, that she was about to die. "We go in." I said, "We go in, now." We entered a doorway, and walked into the warehouse, dark, and filled with shelves of things, shelves that made alcoves, and hallways, and, plenty of places to hide. Silent as death, Kitana and i went one way, Briella the other. Yep, it was a trap. As soon as we entered the center of the huge warehouse, the door slammed, and lights flashed on. "STOP RIGHT THERE." Someone yelled. We froze as dozens of people came into the open, guns at the ready. Briella snarled, Kitana echoing her.
I shrugged, and said, "Best do what he, she, they, say." Someone shoved to the front of the guns. "That's right you blind bastard." "Geez, that stings, horribly." I said. "Look, what do you want, we have a Thanksgiving holiday to prepare for. Don't we Kitana?" "I haven't even started on the list of things I'm thankful and grateful for." She answered. Someone scoffed, "I didn't know you ugly things even celebrated our holidays, that's so disgraceful." I shrugged. "Either way." I shrugged and asked, "What do you want?" "Don't ever dare walk our streets." Someone shouted, and that started the roil of agreement. My answer, was, "Meh." "Don't walk our streets, don't let us see you, let us engage with you, never step out of that Hell you live in." I yawned. "Anything else?" "That's it." Said the same speaker, sounding surprised. I stretched, and said, "No." "Excuse me?" The sound of dozens of guns cocking echoed in the warehouse. "I said, no. No, because, regardless of our race, blood type, species, we still hold humanity in us, we still live on U.S. soil, and deserve rights. So, no, we won't stand here, listen to threats from a bunch of pissed off people." I turned, ready to leave. "Let's go guys, we have things to do." The sound of bullets echoed through the warehouse, and they all froze, every, last, one, of them. I slowly turned, as every gun was lifted into the air, and the bullets fell to the concrete. Everyone took several steps back. "I'll presume that either, A, you're truly stupid and just thought you could get away with this, or, B, that you wanted to scare me, and had no intention of killing me, or, C, that you are, or were, Keeper supporters, and wanted to revive their rule, or, D, that you obviously didn't learn from them and remember that we all have telekinesis and can stop any attack even before they reach us. What do you think Briella?" "I hated the Keepers, they took everything from us. I had to live on the streets because of them, I think their Keeper supporters." "You Kitana?" "Come on guys, give them a chance, they're just stupid." "See," I said. "We have conflicting feelings right now. So, what we're going to do, is disarm each of you, nice, and slowly, and, we're going to wave hi to our audience, and ask their opinion." There was the sound of heels, and Gardener came into view, her camera in toe.
"Well Huntor, if you ask the CNN public, they say that these people had no right to entrap you and threaten to kill you, and fire on you." She said excitedly, somehow conveying astonishment, horror, repugnance, and pride in every word. "Our viewers, who saw the whole pursuit, and trap, believe that these people plotted to kill you and are screaming for retribution." "Is that so?" I asked. "Well, I'll let the law here take care of it, let it get justice for us. But I'll say this, we have our own justice system, and, trust me, it's not as lenient as your's, is it Kitana?" "Oh no." She bared her fangs. "When Briella and I are done with interrogation, which is, Hell," She said Hell, with enough ferocity that everyone, Gardener included, shuttered. "The time in a cell is no fun either." "We take things seriously." Briella added. "No one threatens to kill us, or, tries to, and gets away with it." As we stepped toward Rosa and the camera, cops filled the warehouse, cuffs clinking as people were rounded up. "THIS ISN'T OVER." Someone shouted. "No," I answered. "It truly never is, but you are over. All of you are over, and done with." We walked out of the warehouse to meet Sarah Kendra and Joy. Rosa was on our heels, her camera firing questions at everyone who was dragged out. "Loose the camera, and we talk." I said to her. The camera continued on, asking the prisoners questions. "First off," I said. "Thanks for that." "So you did know." Kitana said. "You knew she was following us." I nodded. "I figured I could trust her. She seemed trust worthy, but I needed to test her." "It wasn't easy to find you." Rosa said. "Seriously, you all move fast, but, we found you, and managed." "Thank you for that, now I know I can trust you." I said, holding out my hand. We shook, and went our separate ways, for now. "You know the camera saw that." Kitana noted as we walked away. "I know, I meant for it to get the image, not the sound." I replied.