Page 9 of Ensnared
“Why?” Sammy asks. “Our house is right over there.”
I shush him, but it’s too late. The three men turn toward us, their heads tilting, their eyes alight with interest. They’re dressed strangely, and I can’t quite figure it out at first. . .but it finally hits me. They’re wearing exactly the same things as the male leads in the newest Star Wars movie. I saw a movie poster for it yesterday, when I drove past the theater by my house.
Are these bizarre comic book nerds, or are they on their way to a Halloween party? Do they know about the dragons? Because if they don’t they’re going to struggle to believe a word I say. Even though it’s Halloween and they’re in costumes, they look strange in a way I can’t quite pinpoint. Foreign, almost.
I bob my head to acknowledge them, and then I turn sharply away.
“Hey,” one of them shouts. “Where are you going?”
“She’s a bright,” one of the men says.
A bright? What does that mean? He probably meant that I am bright, but that doesn’t make sense. How could he tell how smart I am from this distance?
“She’s too young,” the tallest man says.
That phrase sounds icky, and I can’t think of a scenario in which it’s not. They look about my age or maybe a few years older, and that makes the comment even stranger. Now that we’re closer, it’s obvious that they’re quite handsome as well. Shockingly good looking, which makes me think they were headed for a Halloween party when they realized the cell towers were down. Maybe they’re trying to figure out what’s going on. I decide to do the decent thing.
“There are dragons attacking,” I say, somewhat hesitantly. “Honest to goodness, dragons. I know that sounds crazy, but if you’re wondering why the cell towers are down, or if you’re thinking this is a good time to make trouble, don’t. The world has gone insane. I recommend you get in your car, go straight home, and hide like we are.”
That’s when I notice there isn’t a car parked anywhere that I can see. Does that mean they walked here? This gets weirder and weirder.
“What?” The tallest one has hair that’s black as pitch. He has eyes as golden as the sun, and when he stares at me, his expression’s downright frightening.
Not much scares me, so that’s strange in and of itself. I’m probably just jittery, you know, from losing my mom, and from the dragon attack, and also from the mad rush home. I tamp down my fear and push forward, repositioning Sammy on my back. “I know it sounds crazy. Dragons.” I force a laugh that sounds as brittle as my attempt to warn them. “But listen. Sadly, I’m not making a joke. There are dragons, they’re here on Earth, and they’re killing people. Lots of people. I recommend you get out of Dodge.”
A man with a stocky build and ruddy cheeks says, “She thinks we’re?—”
The tallest one, the lean, black-haired devil, claps a hand over the first guy’s mouth. “Shut up.” He takes a step toward me.
I set Sammy down and whisper, “Go home. Now.”
Coral’s eyes flash. “But?—”
“Do it.” I shove her gently. “Take Sammy and run.” My job now is to make sure the kids’ movement doesn’t attract the men. I slide my head to the right and then to the left like I do before every fight, and then I bounce back and forth. “What exactly do you boys want?” I point. “You’re clearly not from our neighborhood.”
“Why are you sending your children away?” The tall one’s pretty stupid if he thinks I’m old enough to have a twelve-year-old child.
“Why are you three standing there, threatening a girl?”
The one with the ruddy complexion cocks his head. “Axel, you can’t ensna?—”
“I said shut up.” Axel’s eyes flash.
His tone sends an uneasy chill up my spine, and that makes me think. Why didn’t these guys start laughing when I said there were dragons? Or if not laughter, if they saw them too, they should have looked frightened. They should not have stood there threateningly, talking about whether Axel can do something to me.
“Alright. Leave nicely, or I’ll make you.” I assume my fight posture, legs spread, hands loose, eyes scanning, and I start looking for anything that might work as a weapon. There isn’t much in the way of options. The playground’s bright and happy, full of primary color slides and stupid plastic-coated chains leading to rubber swings.
What happened to the good old-fashioned, broke-down playgrounds they had when I was small? How about one of those junk-pile parks that I read about in Europe where they let the kids play on piles of repurposed, recycled crap? I’d kill for a nice piece of rebar right now, or even for a glass beer bottle.
“What are you doing, exactly?” Axel starts moving closer, his eyes tracking my movements.
I lean over and pick up a rock. Then I throw it right at him, striking him right below his eye. A small splash of red blooms on the previously pristine skin of his cheek. His eyes flash, and he scowls at me.
My hostility galvanizes his two buddies, who both come at me simultaneously.
Bring it on, losers.
The ruddy-faced one rushes first, planning to plow into me and knock me over, probably. A quick roundhouse throws him to the side, where he sprawls against the springy, rubber-coated pavement. The second guy, whose insane-looking blonde hair pokes up at bizarre angles all over his head, growls and bares his teeth like a feral animal right before he swings at me with his beefy arm, his knobby hand balled into a fist.
