“No, but you have to admit it would have been a heck of a lot easier,” she murmured with a rueful little smile.
“Since we never expected to find a mate, I will have to agree. Our mother said that we were always a handful,” Calo responded with an endearing grin. “Father said a few other words.”
Melina shook her head again and chuckled. “I can just imagine.”
A sigh escaped her as she looked over his shoulder at where Stuart was watching their interaction with a combination of fear, fascination, and confusion. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she started to open her mouth when she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. She bowed her head, letting her hair hide her face before she raised it again.
“You might as well join us, Harry,” Melina said loudly.
She rolled her eyes at the grin on Harry’s face as he stepped into the living room. He had a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a large blueberry muffin in the other. She looked longingly at both as he walked over and handed them to her.
“Hey, Stuart,” Harry said cheerfully.
“Hey, Harry,” Stuart replied, scooting over as the old man settled himself on the couch next to him. “Did you know about this?”
Harry’s laughter eased the tension in the room as he relaxed back on the couch. Melina didn’t care if her adoptive Uncle was enjoying himself at her and Stuart’s expense. The coffee and muffin made the situation more bearable, which was all she cared about at the moment.
“So, what do you think of Melina’s new beaus?” Harry asked.
“Beaus? As in both of them?” Stuart said, paling before turning his eyes to Melina and raising an eyebrow.
Melina blushed a brilliant red and decided that maybe coffee and a blueberry muffin were a little on the cheap side. She should have asked for a full course buffet if he was going to really embarrass her. Opening her mouth, she took a defiant bite out of the muffin.
“Harry, you are not helping the situation,” Melina mumbled around a mouthful of muffin.
Stuart’s eyes widened as a new thought came into his head and he paled. He glanced back and forth between Cree and Calo, who were standing protectively beside and behind Melina’s chair. He ran a shaking hand through his hair.
“It wasn’t a gas leak, was it?” He asked hoarsely.
“Nope,” Harry said with a grin. “But, if anyone asks me, I’ll say it was.”
“Yeah, that is what Manchester said,” Stuart muttered. “There wasn’t anything on the video surveillance cameras to dispute that it was something different. It was just strange. There had been an old gas heater in the building, but it had been disconnected years ago.”
“Surveillance cameras?” Melina asked around another mouthful of muffin. She quickly took a sip of the coffee to wash it down. “What did it show?”
“You have nothing to worry about, my little mate,” Calo assured her. “Our symbiots took care of the system. They would see nothing out of the ordinary.”
“What did he say?” Stuart asked, curiously.
“What? Oh, their gold friends took care of the cameras,” Melina said, looking at the empty wrapper in her hand.
“What gold friends?” Stuart asked.
Harry groaned as he glanced over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t have asked, Stuart,” Harry informed him with a heavy sigh.
*.*.*
Later that night, Melina watched as Stuart’s blue pickup, followed by Harry’s red one, drove slowly down the gravel driveway. She wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned against the post. The day had actually turned out better than she thought.
Well, after Stuart had gotten over the two symbiots that had stepped into the room, she thought. For being such a jerk when he was in high school, Stuart had turned out to be an okay guy. In another life, there might have been something between them.
Time stood still for a moment as she looked around as the red dust settled back down. She remembered watching the same thing the day her parents had left to pick up her Nana. So much had changed since then.
She laid her head against the post and just stood on the front porch enjoying the peace and quiet. This was her home. It was all she had left of who she was.
“Melina,” Cree’s soft voice called from behind her.
Turning, she kept her arms around her and pressed her back to the post. What she had to say was going to be difficult. No, what she was about to say was going to be excruciatingly painful, but it needed to be said.
“Hey,” she replied, looking at him with a heavy heart.
“I like your grandfather’s friend, Harry. He is a good human,” Cree said, walking over to stand across from her. “I’m glad we were able to meet him.”
“Yes, Uncle Harry is pretty cool,” she said in a thick voice. “He’s more family than friend.”
“Melina,” Cree began, but his voice faded when she shook her head and turned to face out over the driveway again.
Melina wrapped her arm around the old post and hugged it to her. Drawing in a deep, steadying breath, she focused on the small, overgrown patch of rose bushes that her Nana and mom loved to work with. It was time to take a stand and make a decision about her future.
No, my mates, the being inside her cried out. My mates. Our mates. Need us. Need them.
No, Melina replied in a soft voice. I’m home now. This is where Gramps, Nana and my folks are. This is my home. It is time to accept that. They can’t stay and I… I can’t go. I can’t live up there again. It… I can’t.
No!
Yes, Melina said as silent tears spilled down her cheeks. I’m sorry.
Silence greeted her last words. It was as if the being inside her, the dragon created by the Dragon’s Fire, had suddenly disappeared. Pain seared through her and she drew in a large gulp of air in an effort to breathe through it.
“I think it is time for you and Calo to return to the Horizon,” Melina said tightly. “You’ve been lucky so far, but that luck won’t last forever. Harry, Stuart, and Manchester have been cooperative because they know no one would believe them. Harry doesn’t give a crap about that, but Manchester and Stuart know it would ruin their careers, not to mention their lives, if they were to start spouting they saw aliens. The longer you stay here, the more likely it will be that someone will discover you.”
Cree’s swiftly inhaled breath told her that he had not been expecting her to say what she had. His eyes searched her pale face and the dampness on her cheeks before they turned to gaze down the long driveway. Had seeing the human male changed her mind? Did she wish to be with him instead? Pain and disbelief swept through him at the thought of her with another male. He turned when the door opened and Calo stepped out.
“No,” Calo said harshly, having felt the emotions sweeping through his brother. “No.”
Melina turned to look back at Calo. Straightening her shoulders, she looked him in the eye. It was time to get back to living her life the way it should have been. Throughout the day, she had listened as Harry and Stuart talked about some of her former classmates and the changes to the town. It made her realize that she had been deluding herself the last few days. It seemed a lifetime, but it had only been a little over a week ago that she and her Gramps had talked about the same things.
“Yes,” she said in a soft, but firm voice. “Gramps and I talked about the day we would come back. He wanted me… We talked about coming home. It was the one thing that kept us going day after day, month after month, year after year.”
“Your Grandfather is gone,” Calo said stubbornly. “He knew of our desire for you. He accepted it.”
Melina shook her head. “He wanted to come home. My family is here. This farm has been in the Franklin family since the turn of the century. One day, if all goes well, it will go to my children,” she replied.
She jerked back with a startled cry when Cree suddenly surged toward her. The post shook and she swore she heard the wood crack when he hit it with the palm of his hand right above her head
. Her fingers tightened on the post as he leaned into her. His eyes were filled with fury and a dark promise.
“I will kill any male other than my brother who tries to touch you,” he hissed in a cold voice. “We have claimed you. You have claimed us!” Her eyes moved to his throat when he pulled down the collar of his shirt. “Look! Look! You dare speak of staying, of having a child, while we wear the mark of your dragon on our throat?”
“Cree,” Calo warned in a low voice.
“No!” Cree turned on his brother. “She needs to understand what has happened. She needs to know what will happen if we were to leave her as she insists.”
“Not like this,” Calo replied in a quiet voice. “Melina.”
Melina slowly released her grip on the wood post and took a shaky step down as she stared with wide grief-stricken eyes at Cree. Her throat worked up and down as she tried to speak. She had never seen him like this before. It terrified her that she could hurt someone so strong.
“I need you to leave,” she whispered, taking another step away from them, from Cree. “Please, just leave me alone. Let me go. Let me live my life the way it should have been.”
She stumbled in distress when Cree started forward, toward her, afraid that if he touched her she would break and give in. His face was a mask of rage and dark topaz and black scales ran up his neck. His eyes were blazing with pain. Unable to stand the look of sorrow and hopelessness in them, she turned and fled.
“NO!” Cree roared after her.
“Cree,” Calo said sharply, grabbing his brother’s arm. “Let her go for now.”
“I can’t live without her,” Cree said hoarsely, watching as she disappeared into the woods. “We can’t.”
“Neither can she,” Calo reminded him. “She was not ready to hear that. Today, she saw what her life might have been if she had not been taken. She does not understand that she can never remain here. Even if we had not claimed her, she is no longer a part of this world.”
“What do we do?” Cree asked, gripping the railing. “My dragon is not the only one hurting.”
“I know,” Calo said calmly. “Carmen said she needs time for closure. We will give her as much as we can.”
“We don’t have much time left,” Cree reminded him. “Two days at the most.”
“Then, we give her those two days,” Calo said.
“To what?” Cree asked, looking over his shoulder at Calo’s tight face.
“To live the life she thought she was missing and to realize that she does not belong to it any longer,” Calo replied as he searched the wooded area.
“To find closure,” Cree said.
“As much as she can,” Calo agreed.
Chapter 27
Two days later, Melina rose on shaky legs from where she had been kneeling in the now cleared and pruned rose garden. She was covered in dirt and scratches, but she didn’t care. She embraced the stinging of the numerous cuts to her arms. It reminded her that she was alive.
The emptiness inside her was suffocating her. Harry came by several times a day to check on her. He brought her some food which remained untouched in the kitchen. She hadn’t been hungry and the one time she had tried to force some food into her mouth, she had gagged on it.
Turning, she swayed. This was crazy. She was going to have to force some food into her system. Then, she would take the old truck that belonged to her grandfather and drive over to the cemetery. Harry told her yesterday that he, Cree, and Calo had been in the garage out back when Stuart showed up. He had wanted to make sure she had some transportation while she was here, just in case she needed it. He had started Gramps’ truck up a few times, but it had been a while since it had been run and the battery was dead. He had brought another one with him and they were changing it out, which was why they didn’t hear Stuart’s truck when he pulled up.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered under her breath as she headed back into the house. “Quit feeling like it is the end of the world, Mel. You’ve been through worse and survived.”
Twenty minutes later, she was carefully backing the old pickup out of the garage. She had taken a quick shower and her hair was still wet, but she ignored it. She had skipped fixing anything to eat as the idea of food still turned her stomach. Food would have to wait until she came back. Then, she would eat. Harry had brought her some homemade Chicken Noodle soup from the diner. That was always a good choice when her stomach was upset.
She slowed at the end of the drive and looked both ways before she pulled out onto the highway. At least she was making an effort at being normal. The house was spotless thanks to her not being able to sleep. Harry had helped her replace the glass in the broken front window before he left yesterday and today she had cleaned out all the flower beds and pruned them back for the winter.
Three miles down the road, she turned her blinker on and carefully pulled through the gate of the cemetery. It would have been just as fast to cut through the woods along the old logging trail that ran through their property to the cemetery, but she wanted to practice her driving. That was another thing she would need to put on her list of things to do, get a driver’s license.
Rolling to a stop, she put the truck into park and turned off the ignition. It was late afternoon and the temperature was beginning to drop. A chilly breeze blew the door out of her hand as she opened the door.
Grasping the small bouquet of flowers she had cut during her pruning, she slipped out of the cab and shut the door. She pulled her old jacket closer around her to shield her as she walked across the grass, weaving through the headstones until she came to her family’s small plot.
“Hey Gramps,” she whispered, kneeling down so she could pull the old flowers out and arrange the new ones. “You’d be proud of me, I’ve gotten a lot done. The window is fixed, the house cleaned, and the flower beds are pretty much done. Uncle Harry has been helping with the stuff I didn’t know how to do. Do you remember Stuart Wilson? It’s hard to believe he is a Sheriff’s deputy now.” A strangled chuckle escaped her as she stared over the headstone. “I sent them away. I sent Calo and Cree away,” she continued in a quiet voice. “It hurts. It… I never thought anything could hurt so much. I feel empty inside, Gramps. I don’t know what to do. I’m so confused. I thought it was for the best.” Her fingers moved to the gold pendant around her neck.
Warmth touched her fingertips briefly, but it was weak compared to before. Even the gold bands around her wrist seemed paler, less vibrant, than before. The thing that alarmed her the most was the feeling of emptiness that she had experienced before was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. It was as if a huge hole had been carved out of her soul.
“We had talked about coming back home for so long,” she finally continued. “It was supposed to be the same as before, but it’s not. The house, the town, the people are, but I’m not. I don’t fit in here,” she murmured. “I can’t eat. I can barely sleep. The emptiness inside me, terrifies me, Gramps. I need your help. I need your advice to tell me what I should do. What am I going to do? I miss them so much, but I sent them away.”
She bowed her head in sorrow. Even the tears wouldn’t come anymore. She turned her head when a shadow blocked the fading light of the sun. Looking up, she saw the shape of a man standing just on the other side of the headstone.
“Ms. Franklin,” Joe Manchester said with a nod of his head.
“De… Detective Manchester,” Melina said, struggling to stand. “What are you doing here?”
He was quiet for several long seconds. His eyes swept the area, searching. He finally turned his gaze back to her.
“Are they… Are they here?” He asked in a low voice.
Melina knew immediately who he was speaking of. He looked pale and had dark shadows under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days. He kept his hands tucked in the pockets of the long, black coat he was wearing.
“No, they left,” she answered. “You haven’t answered my question. Why are you here?”
&nbs
p; “Oh,” he said, looking around again before he released a sigh. “I just needed to know I wasn’t going crazy.”
Melina’s eyes softened at his soft admission. “If you are, then so am I.”
“What happened to you? When I saw your eyes and the… the scales.” His voice faded as he searched her face for evidence of what he was talking about. Instead, all he saw with the pale face of a very, very sad young woman. “What did they do to you?”
Melina sighed as she thought about how much she should tell him. Looking over at the small stone seat, she waved her hand toward it. He had seen too much already, yet he had kept their secret. Something told her that he just needed to know the truth.
“The story I’m about to tell you must not be shared with anyone,” she warned in a quiet, but firm voice as she turned and sat down. “My journey started almost five years ago, shortly before my sixteenth birthday….”
*.*.*
Joe sat quietly listening as Melina Franklin unfolded an impossible tale of alien abduction, survival, rescue, and return. He knew she was telling the truth. There were too many tiny details to her story that would have been impossible to make up. Whenever he asked a question, she responded immediately.
“What about the things that I saw?” He asked as her voice faltered as she spoke of the two men he had seen at the station. “What about them?”
Melina’s eyes grow old and sad. “They are known as the Twin Dragons,” she whispered. “The Valdier are a dragon-shifting species. I can’t explain how, but I was able to change as well.”
“Was?” Joe asked, studying her face as she stared with sightless eyes out over the headstone covered meadow.
“I can’t feel her any longer,” Melina replied in a thick voice. “I can’t feel them either. I just feel… nothing.”
Joe raised his hand to touch her arm. His hand hesitated for a moment before he dropped it back to his lap. He honestly didn’t know what to tell her.