Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait. Real life caught up with me. As always, thank you to Chris, my wonderful editor who I appreciate it immensely, and Rille, for making sure all the foreign language checked out.
Happy belated holidays!
*****
Chapter 1:
"Oh goddamnit..." Ricky muttered as the both of us stared down the darkened windows of the store.
"Shit." I agreed. Through the glass and the dark interiors of the store, we saw aisles of shelves, cluttered with merchandise. The store was old, as old as the Pacific Mall itself, and quite fittingly dealt with antiques. It was run by a lovely pair of dragonnewt sisters, who also doubled as the store's only employees.
"Do you think it's open?" Ricky asked, bending low so he could look through the window.
"I don't think so. Maybe they're trying to save electricity." I quipped.
"Sarcasm is no bueno, amigo." He rapped his knuckles on the window, attracting a few wary glances from passersby, both human and monsters alike. What a sight we were. One mildly tall human and a freakishly huge giant loitering outside of a closed store. We probably looked like burglars! "Hello?! Anyone home?! Heellloooo!"
"Ricky, I don't think anyone's there. Come on, we'll check back and get Jazz's gift later. They're probably out to lunch. This is what you get for buying your gift for her so late anyways." I said, pulling on his Belcourt High School jacket. Ricky groaned, about to pull away before a light flickered on in the backroom of the store. Gasping in delight, he resumed his knocking on the window stopping once a tall dragonnewt came to the door and unlocked it with a flick of her tail. She pushed open the door, glaring at him.
Ricky whooped in happiness, stooping his head so he could walk into the store but found himself blocked by the dragonnewt, who stared back at him with annoyance lacing her two golden slit-pupiled eyes. "We're closed, can't you see?" She hissed.
"Oh come on, it's two in the afternoon! How are you closed?!" Ricky asked.
"The time of the day doesn't dictate what time this store closes. We do, and we're dictating this store to be closed." The dragonnewt replied, annoyed.
So much for lovely dragonnewt sisters.
"Don't you recognize me?" Ricky asked, exasperated.
"Of course I recognize you. You're the troublemaker who knocked over one of the displays the last time you were in here." She glared at him.
I snorted. Although it wasn't very funny when it happened, it was funny to think about now. Ricky had accidently knocked over a display of trinkets with his duffel bag the first time we were exploring the store. The dragonnewt behind the counter, the sister, waved it off, simply saying that accidents happen and how the accident was akin to her always knocking things over with her wings.
"Come on, please! Can't you open just for fifteen minutes. I want to grab a Christmas present for my fri-.."
"No." The dragonnewt cut in, flatly. "You should've gotten something for your friend when it wasn't five days before Christmas. We're closed."
"Please? Please? Please, please, please?" Ricky cajoled, bending his knees so he was eye level with the dragonnewt and clasping his hands together. "I promise. In and out. Ten minutes. That's hardly any time. Please?"
The dragonnewt's nostrils flared as she took in a deep breath and stepped to the side. "You have five. Only because you're both Belcourt students."
Ricky whooped, stooping his head and walking into the store. He still stooped his head because of the low ceiling. "Thank you so much!" He said, gratefully.
"Yes, thank you." I added, passing the dragonnewt. She stared at me, then simply grunted and closed the door with another flick of her powerful tail. She flicked on the light to the store, bathing us in illumination, and walked behind the counter, watching us intently.
Ricky walked through the aisles, staring intently at the merchandise, deciding what to get for Jazz. "Hey, Chris?"
"Hm?" I looked up from my inspection of the football cards.
"Can you do me a favor?"
"What's up?"
"Can you grab something on the bottom shelf for me?"
"You have two arms, you can do it." I retorted.
"Yeah, but you're shorter than me so it'll be easier for you." He argued.
The dragonnewt behind the counter snorted. I guess he did have a point about that, but I was still six feet off the ground! It was actually fairly funny how it was a pseudo-compliment to tall people to ask them to grab something for you, but as soon as you told a short person to pick something up, all hell broke loose.
"I'm still not grabbing it for you. Use your knees or something. Get some exercise." I snorted, going back to my examination of the various football cards under the glass. Some of them were incredibly valuable. It was astounding. I was particularly interested by the autographed Goren Virven card. I didn't know who he was, but the picture had him staring with a scowl on his face, and pointed ears on the side of his head.
"Want a closer look?" The dragonnewt asked, warmly. I was surprised by her tone, a complete flip of the coin from earlier.
"Sure." I replied, just a tad bit excitedly.
The dragonnewt smiled a smile of needle-sharp teeth. Using her tail, she unlocked the back to the glass counter, extracted the card (which was encased in a clear plastic shell) and set it down in front of me so I could look at it. I picked the case up, looking at it from every angle.
"You know," I began, looking at the stats on the back. "I watch a lot of football but I have never seen this person. Who is he?"
"That, young man, is wide receiver Goren Virven. An elf, born and raised in New York City. He was a standout athlete in track and football. He was the only monster to break the racial integration barrier in professional football. Sadly, he only played one year before sustaining an injury. Went up to catch an errant pass and crashed into the safety. Compressed spinal cord and two broken vertebrae. Paralyzed from the waist down for life." I involuntarily winced. "He works as a Monster Rights Activist now."
Errant passes were bad, but they weren't my worst fear. My worst fear was one of my guys being brave (or dumb) enough to try and get that pass. By doing so, they exposed themselves and were at their most vulnerable.
The dragonnewt continued, looking at the card, nostalgia rushing through her face. "Some say that the pass was deliberately thrown bad, to get Goren to injure himself. Intimidate him to retire his rookie year. Maybe if he had you as his quarterback, he'd still be playing, eh?"
I looked up at her, surprised. "Quarterback? Wait... how did you..."
"Recognize you? It's not so hard to recognize you these days. I saw you before when you and your tall friend over there came in here last time. Of course, it was hard to recognize you then. You had a baseball cap on, but my sister Lerina is always good with faces and swore she recognized you from somewhere. It took your friend to call you Chris for me to fully realize." She stuck out her taloned hand. "Caldra."
"Chris." I replied, shaking it. Her hand was smooth and... soft. It felt the same as human skin, despite the leathery look of her flesh. It was actually kind of surprising. Dragonnewts looked so... rough, with their scaly skin.
"Yes, I know, it is a pleasure to meet you at last."
"That still doesn't answer how you recognized me." I noted. "I don't think I've ever seen you before."
Casdra drummed her fingers on the counter, the talons plinking off the glass. "You're quite well known in our community. Of course, that helps." She pointed with her left hand to a few decorations, displaying antique newspapers. Some were old, like the Victory Day in Japan or Vietnam War newspaper, but some were recent like the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series and... the Belcourt High School Football Team winning their first game, the accompanying picture being a football player in a Belcourt High School uniform holding up his helmet in the air and running like a complete idiot towards his vampire girlfriend. She was meeting him halfway and could be seen just out of frame with her arms outstretched.
"Oh."
"Yes. 'Oh'. I quite like it. Of course, I liked the picture that superseded it right after. The 'kiss'. Tell me, are you two still together?"
I smiled, dreamily. "Yes, we're still together."
And our relationship has never been better. It was growing stronger every day that passed. Despite a few bumps in the road (and in the back of the head), our love for each other managed to overcome any obstacle. It didn't hurt that she was my best friend and knew me like the back of her hand, and I her.
"You must've been brave to have a girlfriend as 'dangerous' as a vampire." Caldra teased. "Even braver to cross the line of interspecies relationships and to switch to such a notorious school like Belcourt. When we heard the news that you were attacked, we were outraged."
"Brave? No. Nothing brave about what I did. She was the one for me and I didn't want to let anybody take her away from me. Besides, I quite like Belcourt. The teachers are great, the students are amazing, what's not to love?"
"I wish I had something like that when I was a young dragonnewt... a school where we could be comfortable to truly be what we were. One of the unexpected blessings of the D-Toss Act, I suppose." She picked up the football card, looking at it. She ended up handing it to me. "Here. Consider this as an early Christmas gift."
"What?! I can't take this!" I replied, flabbergasted.
"Yes, you can. I'd like to have it in the possession of someone who will treasure it, rather than keep it locked away in this counter collecting dust. In a way, you're like Mr. Virven here, trailblazers for the rights of our people, even if all you did was flow with the wind. But whereas Mr. Virven failed, you will succeed in getting us the lives our posterity deserve or at least play a major part. Besides, I wasn't going to give this for you for free."
"What was I going to have to do?" I asked, curious.
"We have footballs in the back. I was going to have you sign a few so when you make it to the NFL, we could turn a very big profit."
"Well..." My cheeks turned red. "I'm not... that good."
"Yes, you are!" Ricky said from behind me. "You're really good, in fact. Woah! Is that a Goren Virven card?"
Ok, I watch more football than Ricky. How does he know who this guy is?!
