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Taking a deep breath, Jen walked up to Jack’s two-story contemporary house. As she looked up to admire the modern architecture, for a while, she forgot all about her original purpose for going there in the first place.
This house must have cost a fortune! she thought in combined awe and bewilderment, staring at the beautiful house with a nicely manicured front lawn. I knew Jack came from a well-off family, but this is... Wow!
She was about to knock on the front door when she noticed that it was ajar. She crept inside and heard several voices talking. The sound seemed to be coming from the back. She followed the talking, admiring the lovely interiors as she walked past the living room and onto the dining area. There were sliding doors that led to a huge garden.
Her heart hammered faster as she came nearer. She tried to picture breaking the news to Jack, unsure how he would take it. She couldn’t believe that her so-called night of freedom had led to this. Would she be paying the price of her mistake for the rest of her life?
Her mind drifted back to the pregnancy test kit she’d used early that morning. She had been holding back, convincing herself that her period had just been delayed because of stress. But the two lines did not lie. She’d actually repeated the test just to make sure. Again two lines. She was pregnant.
As she made her way across the spacious, luxurious hall, a part of her wondered how he’d amassed the kind of money needed for a house like this one. He wasn’t from a rich family, after all. And from what she knew of his employment record, she was certain it was impossible to afford a house like this.
She heard his voice coming from a nearby room with the door ajar. It seemed like a huge library or office from where she stood.
“No, listen to me...” he was saying in a terse tone, his deep, gruff voice echoing against the walls.
Her heart beat faster. It didn’t seem like a good time to tell him what she’d just found out. She began to turn around to leave. But then, his next words made her freeze.
“Jen Smith is mine...” he said through gritted teeth. “She’s going to be my queen, I’m telling you... whether she likes it or not...”
Jen suddenly felt her body turning hot and cold at the same time. Sweat broke out on her forehead. The air conditioned house suddenly felt like it was on fire. The spacious hall began to close in on her, the walls seemingly narrowing.
She leaned on the wall behind her, shutting her eyes and shaking her head in disbelief. Her head began to throb in rhythm with her racing heart.
Somehow she knew she needed to get out of there. But then, she couldn’t seem to make her feet move. The world around her was turning and churning.
“Who are you to make me rush?!” she suddenly heard Jack yell angrily. It was the first time she’d heard him actually lose his temper and burst out like that. “I am the Dragon King! Nobody tells me what to do!”
Dragon King?! Jen thought in panic. What’s he talking about?
In her mind, she tried to force herself to take a step further away. Her head was badly aching now and she felt like throwing up at any time.
A thunderous sound came from the room at that very moment. It was like an explosion of furious animals crashing into one another, mixed with a reverberating rumble that ignited great fear in Jen.
What was that?
The frightening sound was followed by a deafening bellow that Jen recognized to be Jack’s own voice. He appeared to be in intense pain.
Curiosity and concern won over her fear, as she decided to tiptoe closer to the open door to see what was happening. To her utmost shock, the sight that greeted her was one that she never would have guessed she’d encounter in real life.
Her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. She watched in horror as the man whom she was beginning to fall in love with and whose baby she had inside of her started transforming into a... monster. He screamed in seemingly unbearable pain as his face twisted into a distortion of all sorts, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and turning into fiery red. His nose shrank back just as his mouth protruded, growing into a full snout with sharp fangs.
His skin had turned greenish-brown, like a reptile. Clean, shiny spikes came out of his head, running down the length of his back. As he thrashed about and continued to scream in agony, he crashed into the chairs and shelves of books beside him, making them topple onto the floor.
All of a sudden, he stood up straight, his clothes now in tatters. Huge wings began to rise from his sides, reaching the ceiling and smashing onto the chandelier above. Pieces of glass fell onto the floor.
Jen couldn’t believe her eyes. “Oh, my God!” she whispered in terror. “He’s a... a...” She turned around then and ran as fast as she could. Her vision was becoming blurry, but she just kept on going.
She’d almost reached the front door when the dizziness made her lose her balance and tumble to the ground. Everything went black.