Red- Dragon story pt 3

“Bianca, do you know how to drive a stick?”
“Hell yeah. Farmer girl here. Can’t live on a farm and not know how.”
“Good. Back door, take Violet anywhere but here. This is her credit card and ID card. Call me when you get there. Go!”
Violet grabbed my hand and we ran down the stairs to the back of the house. I really want my jeans back right about now. And some freaking tennis shoes. Oh goodness. I look at the green 77 Ford High Boy. You’ve got to be kidding. I look at my dress and take no time gathering it up all around my waist just to get into the thing. Violet’s already in it waiting.
“Wow, that was so easy to get up here!” She exclaims. I roll my eyes at her comment. “Where do we go?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find a road, hit a town and find the most expensive hotel your brother can get us. And in the morning - we’re going shopping.” Toledo? Lima? I ask myself. What IS the nearest town. Where am I? I started the truck which couldn’t have been stock. The sucker barely made a sound starting up. Probably for a quick, silent getaway. “Honey, I don’t know how to tell you this, but your brother killed someone. They might be cops.” I started down a dirt road and hit pavement half mile later. She wasn’t saying anything. Was she in shock? “Violet, did you hear me?” Silence. She was staring ahead into the road. Not a good sign. I get on the highway and see those wonderful green signs that are pointing me towards civilization and city lights ahead. 309? Is that Elida road? I pass the Knight's Inn because I see a Marriott sign. Not sure about the princess over there, but she may like roughing it for a couple days. Marriott's good enough for me.
“You’re going to have to put it on your credit card when we get in there. I don’t have enough cash on me for that.” Please talk, chick.
“I just hand them the cards, they hand them back, and I get stuff. I know. I’ve been told by Grey a million times that if something happens, that’s what I need to do. Kinda stupid that he doesn’t teach me how to drive. If you weren’t there he’d have just taken me and called Cameron to fight off the goons.”
“Who’s Cameron and why does he always cover for your brother?”
“Saved his life once. Cameron feels he’s indebted to him or something. Listen, we aren’t insane. Our life is just very crazy. People are after us and have been for decades.” She let out a big sigh as I parked the truck. As soon as the engine was off, she was out of the car and walking towards the entrance. I practically fell out of the truck and had to race to catch up to her. She was at the desk ordering a room.
“Thank you, Miss Drak. Here are your keys.” The gentleman slid her the keys and her cards back, then looked at me with confusion. Oh, yeah. The dress. “Do you mind my asking why it’s just a photo ID and not a license?”
“Not at all.” She deliberately looked to me and back to the man. “When you’re rich, you don’t need to drive. That’s what she’s for. She does whatever I ask. Even whatever clothes I pick out. So, it doesn't matter, right?” The clerk said nothing. Then she winked and turned around to me. “Let’s go.”
“You know, I’m still not sure if you’re a total bitch or just very keen on how to get your way.” I don’t know what the snort meant, but she handed me two of the card-keys. “Those are to your room. I got two adjoining rooms and a single. There wasn’t anything penthouse-ish, but they’ll do. I’ll give Grey his when he gets here. I’ll call him from the room. I'm sure protocol hasn't changed.” She pushed the third floor button. Since there was only a few floors to get through and my guess was that it was three or four a.m., I figured there would be no stops.
“You know, it may be the police after him.” I fidget with the cuff of my coat as I stated that again. “I saw him kill a man earlier today. Er, I mean yesterday.”
“Sh. We’ll talk upstairs.” This is getting weirder by the minute. Witness relocation program? And she didn’t seem a bit shocked about him killing someone. Not the first time, I suppose. Maybe they were part of the mob. But, in OHIO? I look at my room number on my key as the door opens to the elevator. But we were on the second floor, not the third. “We’ll go up the stairs from here just to be sure. They could be waiting at the elevators.”
“I’m guessing you know that from history.”
“Yeah, I can’t think straight right now for some reason. I can’t see if they’re waiting.”
“Well, when we get up the stairs I’ll look and see if there’s anyone in the hall. They won’t recognize me, right?”
“Probably not.” Up the single flight of stairs we go. At this early in the morning with no sleep, it was a challenge. I put my hand out to tell her to stay. She nodded. Not a soul in the hallway.
“Okay, come on.” She practically ran down the hall as I found the room and started to unlock it. I never could figure out why people had problems opening the door with the cards. One swipe and I’m always in. I didn’t even question her pushing me into the room. I should have known. She locked the door and looked through the peek hole in paranoia. “I’m sure your brother’s okay.” She backed away from the door and fixed her gaze at some distant spot on the wall.
“He’s a little banged up, but alive. He won’t get here for another hour or so.” Violet blinked and then looked to me. “You better have a seat on the bed. We have a lot to talk about.”
“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t about jeans, boys or lipstick?”
“Look, we’re different from other people because we are....seraphim. You know that picture of Saint George and the Dragon that you saw in your room. That’s Grey. He was getting even with the bastard who killed our father. It’s said that when we’re in Dragon form we have so much power in our blood that if someone were to kill us in that state, we would pass our magic on to them along with our longevity. Which you can imagine, is a long freaking time. I wasn’t born until the sixteenth century. So Grey is my very older brother. We don’t really age in human form either and can hardly live out life in dragon form here. That’s why we move all the time. We’ve actually been at this house for about a couple hundred years. I still think the next house we build or buy should have secret passage ways. Anyway, I don’t know how to turn into a dragon. And I don’t think Grey wants to teach me so he doesn’t have to worry about me as much. You know about Satan, right?" I nod. "Well, 'that old dragon' was once a seraphim. was and still is a dragon. Not a good one, but still a dragon. Get it? Seraphim, dragons. Angels who can take on human form. Well, dragons when not in human form and 'angels' when in human form. Some dragons are good, some obviously bad. Questions?”
“Yeah.” Besides the fact that she practically said all that like a run-on sentence, my mind was having problems digesting the information. “Does your brother kill people to eat them for powers or what?”
“Oh. Who you saw him kill? Those are slayers. You’ve seen the movies. People, Seraphim and anyone else kill dragons for fame, money and power. St. George, Michael, you know big dragon killers. See, if you kill me, you become like me and if someone kills you, then they end up with it. Usually it’s assassins hired by someone to kill us. We’ve been trying to trace who’s at the root of it for eons now, but can’t pin down who is in charge. It would be easy to just say Suriel, but he's covered in what he's doing. Whoever it is has a million minions. Did you know the word minion used to refer to a man’s feminine ‘man-friend’? Like the more feminine gay guy? Probably because lots of seraphim are genderless - like some frogs, you know. Until human form takes.”
“Okay, do you have ADD? You need to slow down. So he kills people in self defense because some baddy keeps sending people after you. Can you ever get rid of the dragon/magic thing? How in the hell do angels fit in?” I’m asleep. I have to be. This is crazy.
“ Well, your idea of stupid cherubs is bullshit. But as far as a Seraphim, you can give it up out of free will, but you had better truly trust the person you’re giving it to or they could seriously abuse it. And then you're human forever. You don’t dare just release it to no one. Every dragon or seraphim has different powers. It’s like how you have blue eyes and I have green, but they mine are really orange, it was an analogy. Long story short: Genetics. I can’t tell you what Grey’s is, but I’m kinda psychic. I can see what might or is going to happen. But I can do something about it - change it. I get little flashes of visions and can’t actually see anything but the vision. I walked right into a wall once.”
“Well, that explains some things. Especially the dragon obsession in the house. But I’m having a hard time believing that it’s true. Actually, I’m having a hard time figuring out why I’m involved in all this.” I peel my jacket off and fluff a pillow to lean on. I’m not psychic, but I can feel her watching me. “What?”
“Why did you get into a car with Grey after you saw him kill someone?” Her arms crossed and her brow turned quizzical. I lost my breath for a minute. Why did I? I don’t even know that one.
“I’m still trying to figure that out. Violent, criminal men are not my type. I seem to go for the geeky science freaks in my class. Of course, they never....oh for goodness sakes, I just don’t know.” My eyes are struggling to stay open. “You better call your brother.”
“I did. In a way.” I shake my head. I’m too tired to bother with asking how. “You go ahead and sleep. I’ll be one door away. I won’t lock the adjoining door in case you need me. See you in the morning.”
Morning, right. Wasn’t it morning already? I shed everything but the corset and my thong and look at the hotel alarm clock: 6:21a.m. Maybe if I go to sleep, I’ll wake up and be home. Wherever that is.