Crown of Dragons by Nina Walker

Author:Nina Walker [Walker, Nina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950093038
Publisher: Addison & Gray Press
Published: 2019-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

“Hey, there big guy,” I say, reaching out my hand. “Are you okay? Where’s your home?”

The dog appears to be a stray. It’s black scruffy fur is matted and it’s skinnier than it should be for its hulking size. The poor baby was digging through some trash when I found it.

“C’mere, boy,” I say, walking closer. “I can help you.”

He takes a tentative step forward, looking at me with big watery eyes, when he tenses. He barks, the sound echoing through the alleyway, before skittering off.

Disappointed, I resolve to look for him again after work. He could use some love and there’s nothing I’d rather do than help him.

Something prickles along the back of my neck, a rush of grasping awareness. I freeze, listening intently, and the feeling only grows.

Someone is following me.

Not someone of the dead variety. I’m used to that. No, whoever this is, they are very much human and very much alive. I keep my head still but my eyes dart from side to side, taking in the alleyway, the red brick buildings on either side, searching for signs that I’m not alone. I will someone to come out of one of the back doors or to turn down the alley from Main Street, but nobody does. I fumble to get my phone out of my pocket and quicken my steps, gathering the nerve to look behind me.

There’s nobody there.

Nobody that I can see, anyway. But they are there. I know they are. I want to release the breath caged in my chest, want to relax. But I can’t. Because I can still feel them. The awareness is like a boa constrictor, wrapping itself around me, disabling my ability to reason. Glass scatters across the concrete behind me and I turn around.

This time, I see him.

He’s tall, over six feet, wearing dark jeans and a black windbreaker that’s zipped all the way to his chin. He’s sporting a gray ball cap that hoods his turned-down face. I can’t get a good enough look to gather more, to get an age or coloring or anything identifying. I’m stuck in static indecision, wondering what I should do next. Am I being paranoid? Something dark and ethereal flashes above him and I squint, unsure what kind of spirit I’m looking at.

He pauses for a second, and then runs toward me.

It happens so fast, the feelings and thoughts that jolt through my mind. Part of me wants to be logical, wants to assume the best, that this man isn’t a threat. But the bigger part of me knows all the way to my marrow, to my atoms, and the space in between, that he wants to hurt me. That he’s already chosen to hurt me. That if I don’t get away right now, he will succeed.

I whip around and run. Blood rushes through my ears, the soundtrack of panic.

Why did I come this way? How could I have been so naive? At night, after closing up the shop, I always walk along Main Street back to campus.

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