Scatenare il Drago

by Bryn Wolfe

Bryn Wolfe muttered to herself as she walked down the street. Talk about a bad morning. She had sold very poorly and was beginning to lose faith in her ability to be a newsie. She’d earned so much more in her past profession, but she didn’t want to go back to that. It was degrading, it was horrible, and it just wasn’t the way she wanted to be.

After just a few steps into an alley, she heard someone walking behind her. She closed her eyes for a moment then turned around quickly, only to come face to face with a rather tall, muscular, menacing looking young man. He’d moved closer as she examined him and she could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath. A -lot- of alcohol, it seemed. She moved to get away from him and he grabbed her arm roughly, holding it tight. "Let go of me," she demanded, trying to pull away. This only seemed to amuse him, since he chuckled somewhat sadistically, pulling her to him.

"Com’on," he said, a disturbing grin on his face as he held her close to him. "I haven’t even gotten to know you yet." She struggled against him more, which only enticed him to hold on to her tighter than before. She froze when she noticed a blade in his hand; his hand that was headed for her arm. As she started to scream, he spun her around quickly and held his hand over her mouth, holding her back against him. "Be a nice, quiet girl, will you?" he whispered harshly against her ear.

As his blade dug into her arm and blood trickled down her arm, Bryn squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to focus on the pain. She’d been through all this before, except usually it hadn’t been in an alley. A few more cuts were made and she didn’t make a sound, partially because his hand was clamped down so tightly on her mouth and partially because she didn’t want to do anything to aggravate him further. The moment she began to protest was when she felt his fingers fumbling with the buttons on her blouse. Her protestations were thwarted by his hand over her mouth but he seemed to get the hint anyway and he shoved her away from him, causing her to hit a wall and emit a small cry of pain.

"I thought I told you to be quiet," he snarled, advancing on her and backhanding her hard across the face. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and drew blood as she did so. He hit her several more times, some times with the hand with his knife in it. Not once did she cry out and that seemed to make him try harder, as it if was some sort of game to him. He grabbed her roughly around the waist and pulled her back to him. The last thing she remembered was feeling his rough hands pulling at her clothes, but she had then blacked out.

*****

It had all happened so suddenly. One moment she had been stepping into an alley and the next found herself being awakened by a complete stranger. The second she opened her eyes and saw an unfamiliar, male face looking down at her, she was quick to push him away, exclaiming, "get away from me!" She’d only been able to push him a little before a sharp pain shot through her arm, stopping her.

"Easy, I’m not going to hurt you," he said softly, moving away from her a little. She gasped in pain, closing her eyes momentarily.

"Shit. It hurts." He nodded and looked her over, trying to figure out all her injuries.

"Come on, let’s get out of here," he said. "Can you walk?"

"I don’t know," she whimpered, frowning as tears sprung to her eyes, but she didn’t cry.

"Wanna try? You can lean on me if you have to," he offered. She looked over at him, still not trusting him, especially since she didn’t know who he was.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Drago Martines." She nodded, and tried to sit up a little. At least now she knew his name, a small step in the right direction. "If you need any help, just tell me." She was, unfortunately, determined to do it herself, and she leaned on her not injured arm to stand up, but promptly became light-headed and fell into his arms. "Easy, Miss," he said, catching her easily and helping her back to her feet.

"Sorry," she murmured, closing her eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in her head.

"It’s alright. Where do you want me to take you? Home? Hospital?"

"I don’t know," she said, opening her eyes. "I think I’ll be okay, but..."

"Let’s get you home. Where do you live, Miss?"

"Rego Park Lodging House."

"Okay, and which way would that be?" he asked gently.

"Um...over that way," she said softly, pointing with her good arm. He nodded and walked in that direction with her, letting her lean on him. He knocked on the door when they got there, and Paige answered."What happened?" she demanded, looking back and forth between them.

"I...got jumped in an alley," Bryn said weakly, leaving out all the details. "He found me." Paige opened the door further, so they could get in, and ordered Drago to put her on the couch.

"Are you gonna be alright?" she asked Bryn, her voice a little softer.

"I’ll be fine," Bryn said automatically, not really sure if that was true. She let Drago take her over to the couch and laid down.

"Do you want me to call a doctor or something?"

"I don’t know," she groaned. She really didn’t like doctors, they always seemed to find things wrong with her that she didn’t want found out.

"How much do you hurt?"

"I dunno," she said, shrugging and shifting a little, but landing her weight on her hurt arm. "A lot," she whimpered.

"I’m getting a doctor," Paige said with a nod. Bryn frowned, but knew she had no choice. Her friend turned to Drago, walking over to him. "Do you know a doctor?"

"I do," he said quickly. "Do you want me to go?" He looked from Paige to Bryn as if asking them both. Bryn just stared back at him for a moment before giving in, though she -really- didn’t like doctors.

"Yes, please," she said with a sigh. "If you wouldn’t mind." He left in a hurry, and Paige turned on her.

"Care to tell me the truth?" she challenged.

"What?" Bryn asked, her eyes widening slightly. "I got jumped in an alley." She was telling the truth, just leaving out the gruesome and unhappy details.

"Then who’s that guy?"

"Drago?" she asked with a shrug. "I dunno. I was out and when I came to, he was there. He seems nice."

"They all seem nice," Paige said with a sigh. "At first."

"Yes, I know," she snapped, sitting up a little.

"You really think that you’re going to be alright?"

"I don’t know," she said quietly, looking at her hands.

"Well, hopefully the doctor can tell us." They sat there in silence for what seemed to be a long time before Drago came in with a doctor. Bryn looked up and frowned, shrinking back as the doctor walked over to her.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked kindly, looking at her.

"I was walking home, taking a shortcut through an alley, and some guy came up behind me and attacked me," she explained, feeling that she had explained it enough times already and that people should already know so she wouldn’t have to explain it again. He nodded and turned to Paige.

"Have you contacted the police?"

"Certainly not!" Paige said hotly, glaring at him. "Just tell us if she’s alright!" The doctor compromisingly went about examining Bryn, who was none too happy about the entire experience. He finished examining her and looked at all three of them.

"The girl will live, but she will be in pain for some time," he said, causing Bryn to roll her eyes. It was no great revelation that she would live; in fact, she had been quite sure of that fact. The doctor handed Paige a jar of pills. "She can take these for pain if she needs to." He got his coat and slipped it on, shooting Drago a look. "No charge this time, Drago, but the next time, I call the police." Bryn waited until the doctor had gone to look over at him.

"Thanks, Drago," she said softly.

"No problem, Miss." She sat there for a moment before smiling wryly.

"Not Miss, Bryn," she corrected, not being used to the ‘Miss’ thing at all. It was a rare day when a handsome boy such as himself called her, a former prostitute, Miss.

"Alright then. No problem, Bryn." She smiled slightly, and he smiled back at her. "Do you need anything else, Bryn?"

"No, I don’t," she said, shaking her head. " But thank you very much for what you did."

"It’s no problem at all," he said, heading for the door. "You don’t mind if I come back to check on you, do you?"

"Not at all," she said, shaking her head with a faint smile.

"Goodbye, ladies," he said with a smile before disappearing out the door. Bryn couldn’t help but smile. He seemed nice, and for her to admit that, he truly had to be. As hard as she tried as she laid there, she couldn’t seem to shake the scenes out of her head. Suddenly someone threw her against the wall, her head hit hard and she slumped to the ground of the alley. A shadow covered her as her attacker stepped in front of the sunlight that would have been streaming into the alley. She winced as he backhanded her hard across the face, her head turning abruptly and hitting the wall. As much as she tried to fight him off, he had just kept coming at her, over and over again. She couldn’t really remember much after a few more times of her head being slammed against the wall. She had blacked out soon after, and she didn’t remember anything after that point. The next thing she could remember was coming to and Drago being there.

*****

It had been totally unexpected. One moment, Bryn had been sitting on the couch, a few weeks after her incident, entirely bored, and then the next moment, she heard someone say her name. The mere shock of it, since she hadn’t heard anyone come in, caused her to jump. She looked over to where the voice had come from and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Drago. "You scared me."

"I am sorry," he said from where he was standing across the room. "I did not mean to frighten you."

"It’s alright," she said with a smile. He barely smiled back at her, but she didn’t really notice.

"How are you faring?" She had to smile a bit more. He had that way of talking that made him seem elegant, and his accent just added to the wonderfulness when he spoke. She almost had to smack herself, she couldn’t believe she was thinking that. Trusting guys was not her forte, but for some reason she trusted him.

"I’m doing much better, thanks to you," she said after a little hesitation.

"It’s not my doing," he said, shaking his head.

"If you hadn’t been there. . ."

"I was just doing what a decent person should do," he said with a nod. She thanked him once again, after a bit more conversation on how much she appreciated what he did, and then the topic swiftly changed. "So, what's this place like?" he asked, getting more comfortable in his position of leaning on the wall that he had been standing in since he got there.

"It's alright. A place to stay, ya know?" she answered, smirking a little. "You gonna sit down, or are you just going to lean there all day?"

"I think I’ll lean," he said, not moving. She would have frowned, but really she was glad he decided to lean. There was something about him that added intimidation to the situation. "But I know what you mean. My sister stays in a place like this."

"Really? Where?"

"Not too far, Astoria..."

"That’s not too far at all," she said with a nod. "You don’t live there with her?"

"No, she wanted her space and I let her have some," he said, shaking his head a little sadly.

"That’s good, not too protective or anything," she said, her thoughts flying to her own brother. Her rather abusive brother, the one she would rather not think about.

"I thought so," he said with a nod. "Do you have any family?"

"Unfortunately," she said with a nod.

"Oh, are they a problem for you?" he asked. She looked over at him, not quite sure what he was thinking.

"Just my brother," she said, biting her lip. "My parents died when I was little."

"As did mine," he said with a nod.

"Everything just went downhill from there."

"That’s terribly sad, where’re you from?"

"Chicago," she said, wrinkling her nose. She wouldn’t go back there for the world, that’s how well she thought of it.

"Chicago," he repeated, nodding a little. "That’s a good ways away. . ."

"Yes, thank God."

"Well if it wasn’t, I would be sure to take care of it," Drago said, tapping something in his coat pocket. She raised an eyebrow, looking at him curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"It’s my job to take care of these things," he said, tapping the object again. It sounded oddly like metal. Her eyebrow raised again and he sighed. "I am sorry, I should not involve you in this."

"No, tell me," she said as she stood up, walking over to him. He sighed as she stepped up beside him.

"I get rid of people for a living," he whispered, barely audible. Bryn’s eyes widened, completely shocked by this revelation. Surprisingly, she didn’t find this repulsive about him, in some odd way it seemed to comfort her. After all, he hadn’t harmed her, and he’d even said he would’ve taken care of her past problems if indeed Chicago wasn’t that far away. She bit her lip as she looked over at him standing there, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He looked ashamed of letting her find out about this, so she struggled to find words to explain what she was thinking.

"Well, as long as you don’t get caught. . ." she began slowly, "I guess that’s a good profession."

"It has been," he said with a nod. "When it works."

"It doesn’t always work?"

"Sometimes I get soft," he said, frowning. "Do you know how hard it is to kill someone?"

"I haven’t really ever tried," she replied with a small smirk. It was a grave subject, true, but she wasn’t sure how to answer that question, as rhetorical as it seemed.

"Well, some people it’s easy," he started, "but others, like crying boys, are harder to deal with."

"I’d imagine they would be," she heard herself say, but her mind was awash with many thoughts. How could she be discussing this type of subject so lightly, not even seeming to realize what they were talking about? How could she be talking with a murderer? It didn’t make sense to her, but she didn’t care. He nodded, and then continued.

"It’s a hell of a life, but anyway. . ." he paused for a moment, beginning to look a little nervous. "I actually came here to ask you something."

"What?"

"In Sicily," he began, pulling a little gemstone necklace from his pocket, "it's a tradition for a man to give a girl that he. . .deeply cares for. . .a saint medallion, but as I don't have any, I thought. . .you'd like this." Bryn’s eyes widened as she looked at him. That had been completely unexpected, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do.

"I–I don’t know what to say," she began hesitantly.

"I’m sorry if I offended you," he said, closing his eyes again.

"No, you didn’t offend me," she said quickly. "I’m just, surprised."

"Oh," he said, nodding once. "So, will you take it?"

"Of course!" He placed it in her hand, smiling all the while. She hesitated a moment, but then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek lightly. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, Bryn," he said with a smile, before leaving silently. She looked down at the necklace in her hand for a moment before putting it on as she walked over to the couch again. Despite the fact that she rarely trusted those of the male persuasion, she had to admit that she liked Drago. He was sweet, and his being a hit man was reassuring in an odd sense. She sighed as she closed her eyes, leaning back against the couch. It couldn’t be possible for her to like him, it just couldn’t. Men were not to be trusted, she knew that well. So why did she like him?

*****

It was a quaint little pub that Bryn went to for her escape. Just a few drinks and her problems seemed to disappear. It had been months since she had first met Drago and although most things in her life had not resolved themselves, she felt a bit happier. She headed out of the pub after having the few said drinks and she started down the street, staring at the ground. Her hair blew into her face and she went to tuck it behind her ear when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She looked up and smiled. "Drago, hi."

"I have not seen you in a long time," he said happily, and she stopped in front of him.

"I know, how’ve you been?" she asked, pushing her windblown hair out of her face.

"As good as I could be considering the circumstances. How have you been?"

"I’ve been fine," she said, very curious as to what the circumstances were. As curious as she was, she never would dream of asking, for fear of what the answer would be.

"That's good, Bryn," he said with a nod. "I do not want to have to hear that you are any less." She smiled wryly, and they walked down the street together, arm in arm. They talked as they walked, and before they knew it they were in front of the house.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked hesitantly. He looked at her a moment, and then nodded. She led him up the stairs and into the house, taking him to the parlor. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked as he glanced around.

"Yes, please, what do you have?"

"I’m not quite sure," she said, pausing a moment to think. "Water, I could make some tea."

"Water should be fine." She nodded and went into the kitchen, getting a glass of water for him and heading back out to the parlor.

"Thank you, Bryn," he said as she handed it to him.

"Quite welcome," she said, smiling softly as she sat beside him. He smiled warmly at her and she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt his head rest on top of her’s and her smile grew. She could stay like this forever, if it was possible. She bit her lip, then softly said, "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She smiled and slipped her arm through his. He had no idea how much that meant to her, just those four words. He kissed the top of her head and she nestled closer to him. She kissed him on the shoulder lightly, closing her eyes.

"It’s nice to be with you," she whispered.

"It is also nice to be with you, Bryn," he said, kissing the top of her head again. She sighed happily and was about to say something else with the door flew open with a bang, causing her to jump and to tighten her grip of Drago’s arm. Much to her relief, his grip on her arm tightened in a protective manner.

"Who’s there?" he demanded, since neither of them could see who it was.

"It’s me, Tino," a male voice announced in an irritated, defensive tone.

"Drago. . ." Bryn said softly, moving closer to him in fear. The name she didn’t recognize, but the voice was shockingly familiar.

"What are you doing here?" Drago demanded, holding Bryn in an even more protective manner as Tino stepped through the doorframe. Obviously he didn’t trust this fellow much.

"I followed you here," Tino said, his eyes flitting back and forth between the two of them. "We need to talk."

"Can it wait?" Drago asked, looking at Bryn worriedly.

"Sure it can wait," Tino said with a sigh. "But I thought you’d want to know."

"I can go to the kitchen if you want to talk," Bryn said softly, so only Drago could hear. He nodded and she slipped out of his arms, quickly going into the kitchen. Tino was so familiar. His voice, his tone, and his appearance, it was all so familiar. She knew where she was placing him too, but she didn’t want it to be true since he was apparently a friend of Drago’s. It couldn’t be possible that the person that caused her to cross paths with Drago in the first place was actually a companion of his. She bit her lip and sat on the counter, hearing bits of the conversation as it went on. When she heard the door slam, she figured she could come back out. Drago looked over at her from where he was sitting, his expression a mixture of emotions.

"What’s wrong?" she asked, immediately becoming worried and going over to sit beside him on the couch.

"Someone tipped off the police to my operation."

"So. . .what does this mean?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"I don’t know," he said, shaking his head. "I can’t think of anything." She bit her lip nervously, and he obviously seemed to regret telling her. "Don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay."

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly."Of course, I’ve gotten out of stickier jams than this one."

"You have?"

"Yes, indeed I have," he said with a nod.

"Like what?" she asked skeptically.

"Um. . ." he said after a few moment of thought. "Once my group had to flee a country. That was much worse than this."

"That would be, I’d imagine," she said, hoping that wasn’t the case with this instance.

"This is nothing," he said with a nod. "It’ll blow over in a couple of days."

"I hope so," she said softly, slipping her arms around him. He did the same as he agreed with her. "But," she added quietly, "what if you -do- have to leave?"

"I won’t leave you, Bryn," he said, shaking his head. "Even if the police are pounding at my very door." It took her a moment to digest what he had said. Never, in her entire life, had she -ever- had anyone that dedicated to her.

"I don’t want you getting arrested or thrown in jail or anything, though," she said with a frown, once she was finally able to find words to respond.

"It won’t happen, so don’t worry about it."

"Okay, if you say so," she said, trying not to sound too worried. Even with his reassurance, she was worried beyond belief.

"Yes," he said, kissing her on the cheek and standing up reluctantly. "I know I must go advise them." She stood up hesitantly, afraid that if he left she wouldn’t see him again.

"You’ll talk to me soon?"

"Of course I will," he said with a nod..

"Good," she said, then she leaned over and kissed him briefly. "Go, then." He smiled at her and headed out of the house, going down the street. She walked to the porch and watched him walk away, her worry increasing with every step he took. She knew that he was worried too, whether he would show it or not. When he disappeared from her sight, she walked inside with a sigh. She quietly walked up to the bunkroom and laid on her bunk.

Several thoughts ran through her head as she laid there, none of them were pleasant. Every time she closed her eyes she envisioned Drago being taken off by the police. It finally got to her, and she took a shaky breath before speaking several words she had not said since she was a little girl. "Dear Father in Heaven. . ."

*****

Late July-

So Rego Park Lodging House was officially closed. With a sigh, Bryn gazed at it for the last time before she left and she walked down the street, suitcase in hand. Her eyes were on the ground and her mind was elsewhere, so when someone put their hand on her shoulder, she automatically pulled away before she looked to see who it was. "Oh, Drago," she said, biting her lip. "Sorry."

"It is okay, but are you okay?" he asked, a look of worry prominent on his face.

"Not really," she said with a sigh.

"What is wrong?" he asked, then he got a glimpse of her suitcase. "And where are you going?"

"I don’t know where I’m going," she said softly. "The house where I was staying just closed." After a few minutes of discussing the situation with him, he offered to take her to the house that his sister ran. He led her there, through a park, and walked up the sidewalk of a brick house. They looked around for his sister for a while before she emerged from the next house’s yard.

"What is it, Drago?" Annette asked pleasantly.

"Well, Bryn, here," he said, nodding at Bryn, "the house where she was living closed, and I told her that she might be able to come stay here."

"I guess she might be able to stay here," she said, looking her over.

"Annette, stop playing around," he said, looking at his sister. "I know you have open space."

"Maybe I do, and maybe she’s not the right type," she said with a shrug. Bryn’s heart started to sink. She could almost guarantee that she wouldn’t be the right type. "But we can give her a chance." She nodded. "Now, Bryn. Is that it?"

"Yes, it’s Bryn," she said softly.

"Okay, Bryn, go on in and make yourself comfortable in the parlor," Annette said, and then she turned her gaze on Drago. "And you, shoo!" She waved her hand toward the road. "I don’t want you scaring people away." Bryn bit her lip, not really wanting the only person she knew there to leave, but she sighed and started down the sidewalk.

"I’ll be back to see you very soon," she heard Drago call from where he was. She turned and smiled over her shoulder at him.

"I look forward to that," she said, and watched him walk away. She then turned and walked up the stairs and into the house, walking into yet another new life.