Dragon

XXIII

Cobra, Ryan, and Atom all took off once they got their phones and glanced over the locations they were meant to go, wasting no time in gathering reinforcements. Drake and Lucy went together, taking the bright red '72 Dodge Charger left behind by the scumbag Fury.

Their locations were relatively close, and by close they were about an hour drive each in opposite directions from the club, of course. They were heading to the ally groups that Frank had managed to make while being President, groups that would come to the Devil's call. There was a total of four groups they were responsible for going to and along with the address to the clubs themselves, there were addresses for places to stay in between traveling that were already covered.

The Northern Nameless.

The Salem HellHounds.

The Fallen Angels.

The Scornful Renegades.

"Haunting names," Lucy commented, reading through the list on the phone over and over. Furrowing her brows and then unfurrowing them. "You said these are the ally groups Frank made since being President?" 

Drake nodded. "They were enemies to Fury but loyal to Frank. While back, Fury wanted them slaughtered too, for whatever reason. Frank personally knew the President of each club and when he didn't go through with the missions, the clubs made it very clear that they would come to the Devil's call."

"Fury?" Lucy asked, looking up at him, his eyes fixed on the road.

"Oh, right," he chuckled sheepishly. "You don't know about Fury."

"Who is he?"

"More like who was he. He was the previous President before Frank. Put Frank and all of us through hell, killed Ryan's father---Eagle---and betrayed the club. Nearly killed Charlie too. Nasty, horrible man. Frank always took missions from everybody because every single one Fury had was a death-sentence. He was protecting the club from Fury until we got to execute him ourselves."

Lucy sat in silence, processing all of the information given to her, thrown at her just then. "Sounds like a version of Beastein."

"Yeah, a rated PG-13 version of Beastein. No one can amount to that mans evil," Drake grumbled.

She nodded. "What club are we heading to first?"

"Northern Nameless," he said. "Most remote area of the four, tucked away up in the forest in a decent-sized town. Really private," he glanced over at her, flashing her a smirk and giving her a wink.

She furrowed her brows and grimaced. "Let's stay focused shall we?" she muttered, turning to hide the slight flush on her face. "I'd really like to get all of this done and over with. I want this nightmare with Beastein to end."

"Let's enjoy the traveling, might be the only chance we got until all this shit blows over," he said. "Who really knows what'll happen after all this."

Lucy went silent. It was true, who really knew what would happen after all of this was done and over with. An encounter with Beastein never ended without a fatality, and war never ends without casualties. This may very well be the last chance for her to get a taste of what real-life is like, nothing is guaranteed once war starts. She also had to admit that she had never travelled anywhere or seen anything for pleasure. Sure, with Beastein she had to travel with him for his work, to spy, to kill, and even though this is for recruitment for a war, it was still far greater than any other view she had. 

"Hey, don't look so grim. I promise to give you the best second chance at life possible, once this is all done and over with," Drake said, flashing her a big grin, causing her to stare at him with nothing but pure admiration. "This place up here is gorgeous. I haven't had the luxury of meeting any of the Northern Nameless, though. They're not the social type."

"Are they really all secluded out here?"

Drake nodded, following the twisting and winding roads, up the mountain and through tunnels of trees. "It's not the most convenient place to build a city, that's for sure. However, the Northern Nameless are well acquainted with Frank and should hopefully be easily convinced."

"What makes you so sure? If they're secluded up here...why would they want to come help?"

"Come on, I'm just trying to stay positive here, Lucy. Have a little faith," he said, giving that same, big goofy grin as he did.

However, Lucy was not sure if she even had much faith left to give nor hold onto. After being used and abused and treated in inhumane ways by Beastein with no way of escaping, she lost all faith in anything good. She only believed in survival, staying alive. But, even that was becoming increasingly hard. 

Drake could sense her mood shift, like a dark cloud suddenly appearing over her head. Her shoulders drooped, her head fell, and her hands were tightly clasped together. He was more than aware of how hard it must've been on her, how hard it still was on her. After all, he was still struggling with his own demons caused by Beastein, even after all these years. "Have you been anywhere like this before?"

Her head lifted slowly and she seemed to have remembered she was on a winding, twisting road through the mountains and trees, away from the beach. She shook her head slowly. "Anytime I travelled was with Beastein or under direct orders. I had no time to stop and admire anything."

"Well," Drake began. "I think now is the time to start admiring the beauty in the world."

Just then, they passed through an open clearing, showing the view of the vast forest and mountains, the river and a waterfall just ahead and the sun glistening. She stopped dead in her movements, staring in awe at the sight before her.

Drake let out a low chuckle. "You should see the look on your face," he said, his voice low and deep and cunning, causing her ears to suddenly burst into flames. "We're almost there."

Hello Everyone!

I am extremely excited to tell you all that I officially graduated college with my Bachelor's Degree in English with an emphasis in literature and creative writing! I am so extremely relieved to be done and so proud of myself for the huge accomplishment. I am even more happy to have the opportunity to share it all with you!

Furthermore, I will continue to update as much as possible. I have things better fleshed out for this story and can---hopefully---start plowing through updates. 

Thank you all for being so patient with me and please continue to vote and comment it really helps me out a ton!

With care,
D. M. Brightwell