Page 6 of To Fall for a Dragon

Hakko came around the car and clapped a hand on Poe’s shoulder. He never said or did anything other than walking up the stairs and ringing the doorbell. He smiled at Poe, inviting him to stand by him. How could Hakko continue to accept Poe’s constant dismissal? It was maddening and yet Poe was happy Hakko was there, waiting for Poe to be ready.

The door opened, and a woman stepped out onto the porch, a woolen shawl draped over her shoulders. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. Hakko and the woman spoke briefly before Hakko beckoned Poe.

“Poe, I’d like to introduce you to Lya. She’s one half of the pair who own this inn. She will take care of you.” Hakko dropped his head to look Poe straight in the eyes. “You can trust her.”

“Hi, Poe. Welcome to Nokk and Enter. We invite you to stay here as long as you need. We have a basement room ready for you. Hakko said you had a sensitivity to the sun?” Lya asked as she led them through a warren of hallways. Her presence had the same aura as Hakko’s, radiating comfort and peace outwardly for everyone.

“Ahh, thank you?” Poe slid a glance at the smug Hakko. “Very kind.”

“You’re welcome. If you need anything, please let me or my partner, Jassa, know. We will always find a way to accommodate all our guests.” She smiled at Poe and Hakko. “You know where the room is, right? I’ll see you before dawn, Mr. Poe.”

Lya patted Hakko’s cheek before disappearing into the bowels of the inn. Hakko slipped into a side room and flicked a switch on a small table lamp.

“You’re safe here,” Hakko repeated. “No one can enter unless they are invited. Lya and Jassa want people to feel comfortable, and though there are some other creatures who can enter any public domain, they cannot do that at their inn. Too many times, people are hurt. Lya will not allow that to happen. She has claimed this as a sanctuary.”

“This wasn’t necessary. I could have stayed at the crypt.” Poe shook his head. This was beyond his means. People did things out of pity or for money. It was never out of kindness. He would not be beholden to anyone.

“Poe, it’s going to be so cold tonight. Even if you are a vampire, you will run the risk of exposure.” Hakko point-blank mentioning Poe’s vampirism made Poe’s stomach churn. He hated being acutely aware of his nature.

“I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again. Stop trying to take care of me. I can?—”

“No, Poe. Stop fighting me,” Hakko snapped. His eyes glowed, and he towered over Poe. It wasn’t scary, but it wasn’t kind either. “It's not necessary to do that with me. Just don’t.”

The anger and ire seemed to melt away from Hakko as Poe refused to cower under the weight of Hakko’s might. The light dimmed in his eyes, and he sagged in disappointment. “I’ll come back tomorrow night, and maybe we can see about your… whatever.”

ChapterFour

Hakko returned to his home, saddened at being dismissed so suddenly by Poe. He had hoped… It was obvious Poe was not the sort to share his life with a stranger, but Hakko had thought he could have swayed him even a tiny bit. He was so guarded and so hurt by his past.

For now, Hakko could understand what Poe meant by a house of industry and see how that worked for or against Hakko’s favour. He hadn’t researched the history when he became the caretaker. He had assumed the land was accepting him, so there was nothing untoward regarding the past.

He stepped through the door of the museum and smiled as the rush of acceptance hit him. He inhaled the sharp ozone and scrutinized the room with his other senses. This was what it was like in the old world before he decided to leave. He was an elder there, and people had begun to treat him as the humans treated the museum, a piece of the fossilized past and something to pick up and examine when it behooved them. He was tired of being forgotten about, and he had thought a change of location would solve his problems. Hakko hadn’t expected more complex ones to drop on his lap. He had gained so much information about the human world and its inhabitants, both the transplants and the townspeople. It was a fascinating experience.

With Poe arriving at this critical juncture in Granite’s time and the faint familiarity of his way of speaking, Hakko wondered if destiny was at play. Maybe the ennui he was feeling in the old world was fate pushing him forward to change. Which was more than enough thinking at the moment. Hakko had to discover what exactly had caused Poe to panic at the mere sight of this place.

The walls spoke to him, and he wished he had listened before. The house felt guilty for what its inhabitants had done. The museum had allowed Hakko to take possession to help begin reconciliation with the ghostly residents. It believed Hakko would do the right thing and cleanse them. Each room had a bit of a dark history, and Hakko could feel the pain emanating from every wall. He’d go to the archives in the morning to see if he could find more concrete information. He was sad that it was Poe who'd enlightened him to the past.

Wandering back to his personal space, he startled when the phone rang. It was late, and no one phoned unless a problem was imminent. Was it Jassa calling about Poe?

“Hello?”

Nothing, nothing alive, was on the other end. The warmth that permeated through every living soul wasn’t present. Hakko rolled his eyes and waited for the creature to speak.

“There’s no need to help that fallen vampire. He’s a lost cause, a misdirection. Your focus, your attention, needs to be on the letters. Ignore the monster and read what's been written. You’ll learn the information you seek. The vampire lies. What's on the paper didn't. They’ll show you the right picture, not a false narrative.”

“First off, the lost cause is fine. His arrow is a tiny bit askew. As for the letters, the land, and everything else you’re talking about, I am the land. I am the one who listens. I know more than you do. Whatever your boss is attempting will not happen. I will not allow it.”

“You aren’t seeing the whole picture. Just a portion of it. The land accepts the truth. The land needs its wounds lanced, otherwise it will continue to bring poison past the barriers, like the broken vampire. This is detrimental to the town’s health.”

Hakko pinched the bridge of his nose and bared his teeth at the receiver. He focused on trying to place the voice so he’d have something to work with. It wasn’t the mayor. Elijah was too egotistical to hide himself. It wasn’t the headmaster, as he was too much of a blowhard to not announce himself. The voice might belong to the vampire sire Poe was talking about. He let the person blather on and on about the health of the land before he finally became bored.

“Listen, whoever you are. I don’t care what you think. You’re not going to convince me to change my mind over the phone. It’s impossible.” Hakko shook his head at the audacity and placed the headset on the receiver quietly.

It was too late in the night to contact anyone who might have an idea who the caller was. Hakko put it out of his thoughts and locked his apartment behind him as he entered the museum proper. Suspicious about everything, Hakko checked the alarm systems, the magic systems, as well as the physical locks. Too many people were interested in what he had collected. As he passed each display case, he gave it a quick glance to make sure it was safe and secure.

Winding his way to the main hall, he paused at the pages from long ago. A lot of them were from ladies writing to their sweethearts who lived in the next town over, but his favourites were the ones that were so obvious in their subtext.

He stared at the faded paper with its handwritten scrawl and read them over again. The words were familiar, as though he had written them himself so many years ago. The author struggled to find the right phrase to share his thoughts without causing pain. The writer understood that the recipient was in a dark place, and the words on the page were the one thing keeping them in the light.

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