“How did you know to come to this address?” Crispin asked, sitting on the couch with Annabel. Henry and two other people inside joined them and waited to hear her response.
Annabel felt uncomfortable as if she were on display. She regretted coming over. She looked at the others in the room before saying, “I talked with my roommate about what happened last night. She didn't believe anything I said so I searched online with the number you gave me and it came back to this address.”
All the people in the room exchanged concerned looks with each other. “That seemed far too easy. Can we work on it?” Crispin asked the man standing near the doorway to another room.
The second dark haired guy nodded. “It shouldn't be hard for the number to become unlisted. Or we can always not give you the number anymore.”
“That's a good idea too,” the dark haired woman named Sera said. She sat on a chair nearby and smiled at Crispin.
“She needed help,” Crispin said in defense.
Henry nodded. “I use that line a lot too. I think I've helped over half a dozen women.” He raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head.
Crispin turned his attention to Henry. “I'm using it seriously.”
“Of course you are.”
“So Annabel, what happened last night?” Sera asked. She sat on the edge of her seat now; her attention focused entirely on their conversation
Annabel continued, “Well, I was coming home and tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. This huge, dark shape appeared and started coming after me. I wasn't even sure it was real or something from my imagination but then Crispin appeared. He shot flames at it from his mouth.” She paused for a moment. “What was that anyway?”
Everyone shifted their gaze towards Crispin. None of them gave any indication as to what the answer was. Even Henry looked uneasy.
He looked to the side as if trying to think of an answer. “I'm a fire breather. Like those people in the circus who shoot fire out of their mouths. Fire mouth breather.”
There was a brief moment of silence before the other three in the room burst into laughter. “I don't think I've ever heard a worst excuse,” Henry said with a smile and he looked at the others for confirmation.
“Of all the things you could’ve said, you chose that one? Really? Did you get dropped on your head last night?” Sera asked. She shook her head and walked away to another room, past the man standing in the doorway. She continued laughing as she passed.
“Don't stare at me next time and I'll think of a better excuse,” Crispin stated in defense to Sera as she continued out of sight.
“It seems that's not the real answer. What happened then? You did shoot flames out of your mouth, right?” Annabel began getting nervous. She wasn't certain if she should stay or leave – now. The others didn't look nervous about what was happening.
“You can explain it to her. I'm going swim,” Henry said as he too left the room. The other man standing in the doorway gave a wave and left as well. It was only Crispin and Annabel left in the room.
Crispin hesitantly moved closer to Annabel. He looked down for a moment before picking up his head. His eyes stared through her. “I'm telling you this because you saw the dark shape. Otherwise you could survive without knowing it."
“What is it?” She was eying the door. She planned on leaving if it was too unbelievable. He already proved he lied to her.
“It's a long story. The essentials are the dark shape you saw is what we call the Unseen. People call it different names – terrors, death shadows, demons. It refers to the same entities. There are thousands all over the world and we track them before they attack anyone.”
She stood up in disbelief. “I've never heard of that. Are you telling me the shape I saw last night could kill me?”
He raised his hands to calm her. “I was there. It wasn't going to kill you. You saw me fight it. I've done this hundreds of times.”
Annabel's mouth dropped. This was exactly what she was worried about hearing. “Is it coming after me again? Am I in danger right now?”
He paused for a moment, looking to the side once more.
He took too long to answer her. She knew why he was stalling. “I am in danger. I can't believe this. Why didn't you warn me last night?” She looked around the room uneasily. She expected to see the Unseen coming after her in a cloud of darkness and trying to kill her.
“I tried to warn you. I gave you my number if it came back.”
“That didn't warn me. I thought you were being nice. I didn't know I needed to call your number and wait around to see if you show up because a creature could potentially kill me. Shouldn't the police know about this? Or someone else? How about the President?” She paced around the room. There had to be something she could do to stop the creature from coming after her. Maybe move. Pack up everything and start her new life as a gypsy, drifting from one town to another so it didn’t kill her in her sleep.
“The odds of it coming back for you are slim. It won't.” He stood and put his hand on her shoulder.
She reached over and picked his hand off her. “Who are you guys and why should I believe you?”
“We're from a long, long line of people fighting these creatures for thousands of years. I need you to keep this a secret and never reveal it to anyone else.”
“Don't tell me you're some kind of vampire.”
He laughed. “No, we can go outside during the day. We're what used to be called dragons by humans.”
She rolled her eyes. “If you're going to lie to me, at least make it convincing. Dragons aren’t real. They’re only in games nerdy little boys play in their basements.”
“I'm telling you the truth.” He shot out a small jet of flames from his mouth. He smiled at her as if had won the argument when he closed his mouth.
She wasn't impressed. “How do I know anymore, dragon?” The last word stressed for her disbelief. “You might be a flame thrower like you said before.”
He looked at her skeptically. His attention drifted towards the ceiling before returning it to her. “Do you just want to win this argument?”
“I guess I do. I didn't think about that. I do know this is some kind of trick you're playing on me. Your friends are in the next room, laughing about it, and I’m being recorded for a weird television show.”
He laughed again. “You're hard to please. I was wondering something though. Something that’s been troubling me since you arrived.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you come here?”
She had forgotten why she originally came over. All of this information had caused her to stop thinking about her real purpose. “I was thinking you'd like to go out for a late lunch. Or maybe early dinner,” she said pulling out her phone to check the time. “Early dinner.” She slept longer than she thought. A whole day was wasted.
He nodded to himself, seeming deep in thought. “That sounds good. Food – why not. No harm there. Why don't you decide where we're going? I'm sure you know the best places in the city.” He stood and walked with her towards the front door.
She followed, her body automatically going through the motions when food was involved. “How do you know I'm from here?” She didn’t remember telling him she grew up here.