Gatekeepers Book 1: Darkness

Encounter and Fear

6:02 pm

"Well now, I think that went better than we could have imagined," Draycos commented.

"Yeah," Iris agreed. "I didn't think we would end up getting 2nd place in the contest."

It was late afternoon, and Draycos and Iris were sitting at a table at the same outdoor cafe they sat at when they first met in section B of Atlantis City. Sitting between them on the table was a small silver trophy. A large clear crystal set in it had a "2nd" surrounded by a laurel was engraved on the surface.

A few hours after their performance, the rest of the performances had been finished, and all the performers were told to go to a waiting room while the judges tallied up the votes from the audience. After about another hour, they started calling for a handful of performers over the intercom system to return to the stage. Draycos and Iris were called but were completely in the dark about what was going on until they got to the stage and saw the trophies sitting on a table that had been set up there. They had managed to get second place, and after the award ceremony, one of the judges, wearing a full white suit and shaded glasses, had come up to Iris and given her his business card.

"That really was something else," he had told her. "You're obviously American, and yet you chose to sing a Japanese song, even though most of the audience is American. The fact that so many people voted for you says that you have talent; people wouldn't vote for a song in a language they couldn't understand unless they really enjoyed the performance."

"Of course," Draycos had spoken up. "Who says that you have to understand the language of a song in order to enjoy or like it? If you like it, you like it. No one can tell you that you can't."

The judge glanced over at Draycos at this point. "Your stunt during the performance was also unexpected. I can't believe you decided to jump in and start singing along like that. The way you threw Iris was also incredible; just how strong are you? You threw her, like, fifteen feet up in the air. Was that all spur-of-the-moment?"

"Yeah, it was," Draycos replied. During the reward ceremony, they had seen the replays of the top three performances, and Draycos had seen his stunt. "I honestly wasn't expecting to throw her that high either. I really just got caught up in the moment and had some fun." Draycos put a hand on his cheek, which still stung from Iris's slap from earlier. "I've already been chewed out by Iris; trust me."

The judge laughed. "I see. Either way, that was some impressive strength." He put a hand inside his vest and pulled out another business card that he gave to Draycos. "I have quite a few friends who are in the movie production business. You could definitely go big there; what with your strength and those eyes of yours."

"Huh?" Draycos reflexively attempted to push his sunglasses back into place on his nose, only to find that they weren't there. What? When did I lose those? Last time I remember having them was back at the park...

The judge turned around and started to walk off. "Both of you give me a call whenever you have some time on your hands. I'm sure we can work something out that will benefit all of us."

"Draycos? You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little irritated with myself," Draycos sighed as he focused back on the present, stirring the ice in his water cup with a straw. "I went on stage during a big televised event and didn't have my sunglasses on. I can't believe I left them back at the park on our way to the talent show. That was pretty stupid on my part. Now the whole world will find out about my eyes."

"It's partly my fault, too," Iris soothed. "I was dragging you along since the park; I never did let go of your hand." She was silent for a moment as she stirred her iced tea before she spoke up again. "Want me to buy you a new pair?"