Free Dark Dragons by Kevin Leffingwell

don’t think so.”
    “How do you know?  I think she swoons every time she
sees you in the halls.”
    Darren shook his head.  Marilyn didn’t know shit. 
She was just a projection of himself talking to himself in his sleep anyway.
    “I’m not just a dream,” Marilyn purred.  “Believe
me——Vanessa likes you.  She sees you in the hallways and looks away before
your eyes meet.  During lunch, she always sits where she can get a good
view of you.”
    Darren stood up.  “Bullshit.”
    “No it’s not.  You should see her when you pass her in
the halls.  You leave her breathless.  Your dangerous with power like
that.”
    “For crying out loud.”
    “Why are you being so despondent?  I’ve never met a
person living in so much denial.  You’re unreal.”
    Darren turned to her.  “Look, you’ve——”  Marilyn
Monroe had vanished.  Darren could only stand there and tremble.  He
felt his stomach churn.
    “Did you hear me?” Vanessa Vasquez said.  “I said
‘You’re unreal.’”
    No reply.
    Vanessa smiled, and he thought he was going to reach
orbit.  “I’ve watched you for a long time, Darren.”  She slowly
approached. “You are . . . without a doubt . . . the most captivating and . . .
and seductive guy I have ever seen.”
    All Darren could spew out was a dumb-ass, “Thanks.”
    Suddenly a fist came from nowhere and smashed him in the
mouth.  His head jerked back, and he fell on his ass.  He saw blue
lights, felt loose teeth rolling around on his tongue.  She hit him! 
The lights cleared from his world.  No, she hadn’t.
    Todd Lutze had, who now stood between them.  “I don’t
think so,” he said.
    Vanessa shook her head.  “Sorry.  Todd is kind of
jealous.  Gets it from Marcus.”  She looked at her boyfriend and put
her hand on his chin.  “You need to curb your anger, baby.”
    Darren got to his feet and walked away in the direction of
the burning city, now a smoldering wasteland of ashes and crumbling
girders.  He looked over his shoulder.  Vanessa and Todd were making
love in the tall, purple grass.  He turned away, wanting out of this
fucked-up dream.  A laser pierced the sky and touched a mountain in the
distance, and the rocky formation disappeared in a flash and clap of
thunder.  The animals reacted and stampeded for the trees to his left.
    *
    Kalaar’s cargo drone tore the quiet, nocturnal order of the
forest asunder with the ignition of its drives.  It was severely damaged,
only a fraction of its original power remaining, but possessed just enough fuel
to complete its final task.
    Slowly, with much effort, the ship rose from the forest
floor, wailing as it fought gravity.  Dust and dirt filled the air while
the tired engines struggled to gain altitude.  It hovered momentarily when
the drives sputtered but then regained speed.  Higher it climbed, clawing
for elevation, away from the city.  A loud sonic boom issued behind it.
    One mile per second, two, three . . . .
    With its objectives completed, Kalaar’s beloved ship——the
remedy for his shame and guilt so many eons ago——shut down the coolant pumps to
its engines.  A millisecond later, the ship detonated into a blinding,
pulsating flower of fire strong enough to blow out windows in the skyscrapers
fifteen miles below.
    *
    Darren heard chattering squirrels and birds calling to
mates, and wondered how the animal kingdom had found its way into his
bedroom.  He opened his eyes to see he was outside, and judging by the
sun’s position, it was early morning.  Tony, Nate and Jorge lay asleep on
the ground next to him.  Ground.  Not floor.
    He sat up.  Something huge, black and menacing, sat on
the ground twenty feet in front of him.  An evil dragon had landing a
while ago to watch him sleep, and Darren nearly shrieked.  It took him a
second or two to realize the thing was a machine and not a fire-breathing
beast.  He looked to his left and right.  There were three more, all
arranged