2. Edward

The genius of my father’s business senses had always been infallible, but this last enterprise of his was even grander than anything he had previously undertaken.

Taking advantage of tourists wanting to visit Screaming Woods and Fable Forest, he first built a hotel right where the freeway divided, so the visitors had the convenient option to go to either town. The hotel was a success, not huge, but enough to give him more ideas.

He added an indoor waterpark, the largest in the world, and soon added another hotel and another. When local personnel resources dried out, he decided on another, even more elaborate project, which was where I came in. I had studied engineering and real estate development, and coming fresh out of college I thought I knew it all, having worked on construction sites every break from school.

Dad hadn’t liked my career choice at first, would have preferred I studied business administration and finance instead, but I wasn’t the type of person who would be happy behind a desk. I liked the outdoors, I liked hands-on work.

Still, when dad offered me this project, I realized I would have to spend a lot of time behind a computer screen. It was a compromise that suited both of us though.

After I picked the perfect site for a housing development, where all our new employees would live, I first built the large mansion my father expected. He had worked his way up from a lowly concierge to owning an entire hotel chain that stretched around the world. In his late fifties now, he reveled in luxuries as much as he expected them. Which meant that when he came to inspect and visit, he expected to stay in the luxury he was accustomed to.

Living alone in an eight-bedroom mansion seemed pretentious to me, but it wasn’t exactly a hardship either. Especially since I didn’t have to lift a finger for the upkeep. Gardeners, pool technicians, maids, a butler, a cook, and a housekeeper saw to all my needs and helped make the house feel not that empty.

Now, two years in, I was learning that college had taught me shit, but I held up my own. Thanks to the help of a couple of experienced superintendents, we had the first houses up and two even already occupied by managers for one of the hotels and their families.

“The werewolf applied again,” Jack, one of my foremen, informed me when I arrived at the jobsite.

That was the downside to having this place so close to Screaming Woods and Fable Forest. We lived off the tourism both places lured in. It would make me a hypocrite, like my father, if I despised Screaming Woods’ or Fable Forest’s inhabitants just because they were different from us humans. That wasn’t me. The only way I judged a person was by their actions, not their looks.

Dad on the other hand called them abominations. Since he was the one financing this enterprise and my boss—like it or not—I was forced to obey his rules. His instructions on this had been clear, none of the residents of either town were welcome to work here. I had no idea if I would have been comfortable or not in the presence of an orc or werewolf, and I wasn’t given the opportunity to find out.

Lately there had been rumors that whatever had happened to Screaming Woods and Fable Forest was spreading to other towns and villages in the area. Rumors of magical portals circulated, portals that were becoming increasingly unstable.

Whatever had happened to Screaming Woods had turned its citizens into orcs, witches, gargoyles, vampires, and any other supernatural species known, or even unknown, to man. Some people were repelled by them, others flocked to the villages. I didn’t judge either group. Live and let live, was my motto, as far as I knew none of the so-called monsters had ever hurt anybody.

Fable Forest, on the other hand, was filled with real-life fairy tale creatures. I didn’t know how that worked exactly, but I didn’t feel an urge to explore it either. It brought in income and gave me job experience and that was all that mattered to me.

“You know the boss’s instructions, no fairy tale creatures or any other kind are welcome here,” I reiterated my father’s instructions like I would have any others. This was not about what I believed what was wrong or right, this was his company. For now.

“Whatever you say, boss.” Jack wasn’t happy with my orders. He had told me before what great, hard workers orcs and some of the other supernatural beings were. I didn’t doubt him, but my father would rather fire me than allow them on our payroll.

“How is the orange zone progressing?” I asked to change the conversation. The orange zone was where the first inhabited houses stood.

“All good, boss. We lost power over there for an hour yesterday, but we got it back,” Jack informed me.

“Good, keep me posted.” I looked at the large map on the wall of the construction trailer that made up part of my office. “Purple is still a go?”

Purple would be filled with smaller houses for future workers who couldn’t afford the larger houses or were single. It was one of Dad’s genius ideas. He paid the workers for the hotels and park, and in return, they paid him rent or mortgage payments.

“The dirt is being moved as we speak,” Jack confirmed.

“My father wants to add another hotel as soon as the purple zone is finished. We should drive around later and see if we can find a good spot,” I filled Jack in on Father’s newest plans.

“He’s going to build an entire city, isn’t he?” Jack smirked.

“That’s the idea. He’s even talking about schools and a college,” I confided Dad’s plans for the future to him.

“Nice.” Jack’s head bobbed up and down in approval. My father’s plans meant job security for him.

Later that day Jack and I took a tour on the four-wheelers to check out prospective sites and I made notes on a map printout. The area my father chose was perfect. Large plots of undeveloped land basically begged to be filled with manmade structures. It was idyllic and peaceful when you forgot about the residents of the neighboring towns and the kind of creatures wandering the woods. But they would also be a lure for prospective buyers. A lure I didn’t quite understand, I wasn’t curious about them in the least. I had never understood the attraction to a circus or zoo either, those were sad places to me. Similarly, the animals and the inhabitants of Fable Forest and Screaming Woods were no animals, no matter what some people might believe. They would, however, bring in money to add to our family’s fortune and these projects were giving me the experience I needed to make my own life one day.

Lately, Dad had been pestering me about finding a wife. I had laughed at him. I was twenty-four and sure I had enough time to start my own family. Right now, I just wanted to concentrate on my career.

The thing about Dad though, was that when he put his mind to something, he was like a pit bull and wouldn’t let go until whatever he wanted got done. Not on this one, old man. I was prepared to put my foot down, just as I had when it came to my career choice. Which had worked out rather nicely for us.

Jack had long taken off for his home, and the sun was setting in the west when I was still cruising on the four-wheeler, not quite ready yet to call it a day. I stopped by a river, envisioning a bridge and looking for the best spot to put it, when a shadow by the trees caught my interest.

A hunched-over figure moved out of the shadows, cautiously looking around. I narrowed my eyes and slowly made out green skin and a hawkish nose on an old, wrinkled face. I stopped dead. A witch.

She must have come from Screaming Woods.

“Hey, you, this is private property,” I yelled across the river.

“What?” she lifted her head and squinted in my direction.

“This is private property. You can’t be here!” I yelled louder, driving the four-wheeler closer to the river’s edge.

The river’s flow wasn’t very strong, so it wasn’t very loud, yet the witch didn’t seem to hear me.

Suddenly, something ran out of the trees. Something small, and a black cat after it like a bat out of hell.

“Lucifer, no!” the witch yelled.

Helplessly we both watched, from opposite ends of the river, as the cat chased a squirrel straight for the edge of the water, where a bank rose. The squirrel jumped at the last second, veering left, but the cat wasn’t able to stop in time. For just a moment it hung on to a root sticking out of the bank, but the root broke loose and with a subdued splash, the cat fell into the rushing water.

“Lucifer!” the witch screamed, running down to the edge as if she wanted to throw herself in after the animal.

“Wait, no,” I called getting off the ATV and running down the bank on my end, keeping an eye on the cat as it fought against the water.

Shit, the animal wouldn’t last long even though the current wasn’t very strong. Cursing myself and thinking of all the reasons why this was a bad idea, I threw myself into the water.

It was colder than I had anticipated and momentarily stunned me. The witch ripped me out of my stupor. “Over here, over here,” she called, pointing and running as fast as she could.

Well, in for a dime, I figured, and crossed over to the other side, allowing the current to take me.

The cat had managed to hold on to a large, floating branch and meowed miserably. It only took me a few more strokes to get to it, then my hand grabbed a hold of the branch and I directed us toward the opposite shore, where the witch was surprisingly keeping pace with us.

“Hand him to me,” she yelled, staying away from the water. In the back of my mind I seemed to remember something about water and witches.

The water depth changed and I was able to stand. I reached for the cat, who, with a hiss, flung herself at my arm, claws out, and ripped through my wet shirt.

“Agh,” I cried, instinctively shaking my arm to get it off. Blood rose from where the cat’s claws had dug deeply into my skin.

“Don’t drop him,” the witch ordered.

“Lady…” I was at a loss for words, I wasn’t even sure if she qualified as a lady, but I kept moving out of the water nevertheless.

“Lucifer.” She stretched her arms out and the beast used me as a springboard, scratching my chest, upper arm and shoulder in the process as he flung himself at the witch.

“Damnit,” I cursed, shaking my arm, staring at the shredded material of my shirt and the blood dripping down.

The witch turned to leave and I stared exasperatedly at her retreating back. “Really? Not even a thank-you?”

“Is that why you rescued Lucifer? To get a thank-you?” she asked, turning back to me.

Large black eyes stared at me, sending shivers down my spine. I had heard of the inhabitants of Screaming Woods and Fable Forest, had seen pictures and even some short videos, but this was the first time I saw one of them up close and face-to-face.

It was unreal and frightening on a deeply primal level.

“Well, is it?” she prompted.

“No, ma’am,” I replied, wishing myself anywhere but here.

“So why then did you expect me to thank you?”

Because it’s the polite thing to do, lay on the tip of my tongue, but I bit the remark down.

“Never mind,” I said instead. “You have a good day, ma’am.” Just because she didn’t have manners didn’t mean I had to forget mine.

I couldn’t bring myself to look away from her though, her black eyes were hypnotizing and besides that, I didn’t think I would have turned my back to her no matter what.

“Here is a thanks for you then,” she said with a crooked smile that raised even more hairs on the back of my neck.

“In scales, in fire, in power ignite, with this curse, transform from mortal to might. Wings shall sprout, fangs and claws, dragon’s form by ancient lore!” she chanted, and my skin began to crawl. Knowing eyes penetrated deep into my soul.

”By lunar might, shift to dragon at night. With morning’s gleam and daylight’s power, transform to man by sunrise hour. As stars emerge and daylight’s done, return to dragon when the night’s begun.”

“What have you done?” I pressed out. But she wasn’t finished.

“Scale and flame to flesh and bone, from dragon’s might to human’s tone. By noble act, in peril found, break the curse that doth abound. Return to form, from beast to man, with bravery, undo what began!”

Before I even had a chance to reply, agony brought me down to my knees, my clothes ripped and my body hurt as if someone was crawling out of it. No, not someone, something.

I stared at my arms as they moved up against my will, connecting with whatever had emerged from my back, my skin was turning into scales. My teeth hurt as they turned into fangs and my hands as my nails turned into claws.

The witch had turned me into a dragon!

“I fucking saved your cat,” I said before I was robbed of the power of speech and my mouth turned into a snout. Heat built in my belly. An urge to exhale was so overpowering, that I did, and stared in horror at the large flame coming out.

“You did save my cat. In return, I gift you the present of true love. May you find it and become the man you are supposed to be,” the witch said and turned away.

For a moment I contemplated spewing fire at her, roasting her and her damn cat, but I managed to taper it down. It wasn’t the cat’s fault.

But I was royally screwed.

The moon hung high in the sky when I figured out how to work my wings and in wobbly flight made my way across the river to where my ATV still stood idling.

I tried to recall the witch’s words, By lunar might, shift to dragon at night. With morning’s gleam and daylight’s power, transform to man by sunrise hour. As stars emerge and daylight’s done, return to dragon when the night’s begun, and hoped it meant that at least during the day I would be a normal person again. If my father found out what happened, he would not only fire me, but disown me, I was certain of it.

Gift of true love, my ass, I thought. No woman would ever want me if I turned into a dragon at night. And vice versa, there was no woman in the world I would ever trust with this kind of secret. She would wield too much power over me. The damn witch had just sentenced me to a life of loneliness and fear.