The Dragon Inhales by Natasa Pap

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Writing inspired by the SWC creative writing prompt: Write a story about the moment before a momentous occasion or a big explosion, those few seconds before all hell breaks loose.

The Dragon Inhales

by Natasa Pap

Miss Charlotte Veil never liked Mr. Alexander Law, her father’s friend from Oxford.
The man had arrived this morning and would be staying with them for two days, unfortunately, helping her father with some legal business.

At first Charlotte thought it was just her imagination, but now she was sure that Mr. Law wanted something from her. He had been looking at her in a strange way, a way no 46-year-old man should be looking at an 18-year-old girl.

She felt trapped in her own living room with Mr. Law standing between her and the door. It was three o’clock in the morning. Charlotte only left the safety of her bedroom to take a book to read herself to sleep. Suddenly she had to deal with this lawyer who thought the way to win a woman’s heart was to simply shower her with compliments about her beauty…and how much she resembles her mother.

Mr. Law kept getting closer to where Charlotte was standing. He was stretching his logical brain to pay her a creative compliment. It was obvious that this man didn’t have a creative bone in his body. 

Suddenly the knot of fear in Charlotte’s stomach loosened itself halfway. This was her house after all; he couldn’t do anything to her here. He was on her turf, and if he so much as touched her she was prepared to scream, bite or dig his eye out with a letter opener.

As Mr. Law was confidently standing, towering over her thinking that he had the power in this situation, Charlotte simply walked past him and wished him a good night. She was tired and not in the mood for a conversation. 

That was the first display of arrogance in her life and hopefully it would not be necessary to repeat it. She was almost at the door; she would soon be free of this man and his unwanted advances. Just as she was about to reach the handle of the half-opened door, Mr. Law’s hand pushed them and slammed them shut right in Charlotte’s face. Raw fear washed over her like an ocean wave over a rock. 

Caleb Carter was 24 years old and employed by the Veil family as a bodyguard. After making sure that no one was lurking around their estate, he entered the house through the kitchen door just in time to hear the living room door slam shut. He immediately went to investigate. It didn’t take him long to get to the living room. 

When he opened the door, he witnessed Miss Charlotte using both her arms and her legs trying to push Mr. Law away from her. All thoughts were suddenly gone from Caleb’s mind; he grabbed Mr. Law by his shirt from the back and threw him on the floor away from Charlotte. 

Caleb was significantly younger than Mr. Law, but he was stronger and his combat training, as well as his time on the police force, served him well. The battle didn’t last long, nevertheless Caleb only stopped after he broke both of his opponent’s arms. The older man’s scream was ear-piercing.

Breathing deeply Caleb turned to look at Charlotte and before he could blink, she had her arms tightly around him, crying in relief. 

“This is going to be quite the tale for her parents.” he thought as he slowly put his shaking arms around her.