The Dragon Tattoo

I woke on my own accord in the morning, not to a kick in the side, or a yell in my ear, or some other rude way of awakening. Yawning, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, the blanket draped over me sliding off halfway. I blinked a few times rapidly, then took the chance to look around the room for a moment. It took me a while, but I finally noticed Leon’s absence.

Shaking my head, I padded, shoeless, over to where the plastic bag from last night rested. I reached in and pulled out an apple, deciding that I’d eat something before he got back and that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t mind if I hadn’t waited for him. I let myself wonder where he might be, but I shook it off and took a bite out of the nice, crisp fruit in my hand. Maybe he’d tell me where he was when he got back, and then again maybe he wouldn’t. I didn’t know near enough about Leon to know whether he’d talk to me or not, but I could let myself hope. I wanted to know more about the situation I found myself in, and he was the only one who could tell me because he was the one who had dragged me into it all.

I wandered idly around the small room, not really daring to explore the whole warehouse for fear that Leon would come back and be angry with me. You could tell that the place hadn’t been lived in for a while, but maybe visited occasionally. I figured that he had come back sometimes to make sure that if he did ever need a place to stay, it was ready and habitable. At least until the building was demolished.

Passing by a dusty shelf, I stopped and turned to look. Out of the corner of my eye, I’d caught a glimpse of something, so I reached out and dusted it off. It turned out to be an old silver ring that looked like it had been left here for years and years on end without even being touched. If it was Leon’s, did he have a reason for just leaving it there, untouched? And if so, what could that reason be? I couldn’t think of anything, but I figured the ring was best left alone, at least for the time being. So I moved on, running my hand along the edge of the table as I pulled out the single chair and sat down.

A normal person would have tried to leave by now, I told myself dully, so if that’s the case I guess I’m really abnormal. For one, a random (but gorgeous) guy has practically kidnapped me, admitted that he was initially going to kill me, but then promised he wasn’t going to hurt me and I completely believed him. For another, he has mentioned the ‘others’ quite a few times, but won’t tell me who they are or why they would kill me indiscriminately on sight. It all seemed pretty shady, but I didn’t question it. Perhaps it made me a fool, but I didn’t think on it.

“What to do…?” I asked no one in particular, since I was the only one present. I was childishly swinging my legs back and forth, pulled up so that my feet didn’t touch the floor. I pulled one leg all the way up onto the chair, putting my heel on the edge, wrapping an arm around it, and resting my chin on top. Once in this position, I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, watching the events of the last day or so unfold in my memories for what seemed like the hundredth time. Everything from the moment that Leon tackled me, to when whatever he was holding to my head disappeared and his hand ran up my side, past when I first saw his face, to last night when he finally explained just a little about the whole thing. Trying to puzzle through some of the cryptic things he’d told me last night didn’t come up with anything, so I gave up and stood. I paced a little before returning to the same position I had recently abandoned, perched on the rickety wooden chair.

I had closed my eyes and started going back through the sequence of events leading up to this moment when a loud sound came from above.

“His scent’s everywhere,” a voice said, but this one sounded like it was just down the hall. I pulled my shoes back over to me and slid them on, listening. There was no sound of footsteps at all, and I started to think. There was no escape that I’d found except for the way that was blocked to me, and if these people were who I suspected them to be, they were the ‘others’ that Leon wouldn’t tell me much about.

I took a deep breath and crossed one leg over the other, crossing my arms over my chest and putting a defiant look on my face. If they were going to barge in, I was going to be as cold as possible, even if it was the last thing I did. They wouldn’t see fear in my eyes, whoever they were. Unconsciously, I clutched at my marked side, then released the tension in my fingers. It wouldn’t do to let them see my rigidity.

I don’t know what gave me the sudden burst of confidence, or courage, or foolishness, but my defiance was absolute. I wouldn’t give in, no matter what they threw at me. For some reason, I was feeling the bravest I had felt in my entire life now, when I was facing what seemed like certain death. It’s times like these that make a person wonder, why me?, but I didn’t. I just calmly watched the door, listening for footsteps that I never heard.

“Is there someone else?” asked another voice, lower and more gruff than the first.

“Smells like a woman,” the first said. If I wasn’t wary of them, he - whoever he was - had a honey-smooth voice that could draw a woman in. “What’s he been doing around one of them? They’re not good for anything.”

He said this just as the door opened, and with as much venom as I could muster, I said snidely, “I could say the same thing about men.”

The man, who was looking at his comrade, jumped slightly and turned to face me. It seemed as if he’d been expecting me to be gone or to be hiding if I was still there, but I was neither. Then he started laughing, honey colored hair that matched his voice falling across his eyes, which were a piercing shade of blue. His buddy had light brown hair, cut pretty short, and deep brown eyes, with a small beard. He wasn’t grinning or laughing like the blonde, but scowling with his arms crossed.

“You’ve got nerve,” he chuckled, composing himself, “but that won’t do anything for you.”

A knife seemed to leap to his hand, and he flicked the blade out. I was proud of myself for not even flinching when the pocketknife appeared. Somehow, I had resigned myself to dying here, if that’s what was going to happen. I wasn’t about to betray Leon, because I trusted him. I cursed myself mentally for it, but I couldn’t help it. It just came so naturally.

“Don’t kill her,” the brunette said unexpectedly. My eyes, which were narrowed slightly, flicked to him. “We’ll take her with us, to see if he comes after her. We’ll kill two birds with one stone if we can manage to get him to come. We can kill both of them at once.”

The knife left the blonde’s hand and he grinned, saying, “I like the way you think, Kev,” while he approached me. The other came nearer at the same time.

“Stand up,” he ordered me, almost imperiously.

“No,” I said coolly, idly twirling a lock of my hair around my finger. “Why should I do what you want me to? You were just going to kill me a moment ago, and you’re still planning on it.”

“Stand up,” he repeated, an icy tone to his voice. I would not relent.

“I said I won’t,” I reiterated, staring him down.

“You don’t know what you’re doing, you little bitch,” the blonde snorted, shaking his head as he reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me roughly to my feet. “Now, when we tell you to do something, you do it, got that?”

“Get your hands off me,” I yanked my arm free from his grasp. “Am I clear, jackass?”

He drew his hand back and it landed across my cheek, smarting.

“Don’t talk back to me!” he spat, angrily.

“Then keep your hands off me,” I replied, returning the slap across the face. He looked like he’d seen a ghost, but then fury overtook his gaze and he reared his hand back again.

“Leave it,” the one called Kev, which I assumed was short for Kevin, said sharply, stepping forward. “And you,” he directed at me, “just shut the fuck up and do as you’re told and you won’t be hurt.”

“Yet,” the blonde added scathingly, glaring at me as a red mark showed slowly on his cheek.

I looked between them, then sat myself solidly back on my chair.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” I said darkly, again crossing my arms but this time just lounging back in the chair.

“I’m not in the mood to play games, you stupid woman,” the brunette leaned down, inches from my face. “Get your ass out of that chair and come along like a good girl or there will be consequences.”

“I said no,” I enunciated. My cheek received a sharp slap on the same spot as the previous one, but with enough force that it knocked me from my chair and I sprawled out across the floor. I pushed myself back up, sitting on my heels and putting my hand to my throbbing cheek. A scowl began to creep slowly across my features.

“Get up,” I was ordered in the same cold voice that Kev had been using the entire time. “Now.”

I really shouldn’t have done what I did, but I couldn’t take it back once I had.