Four: The Beginning

Part Four: The Dragon Rider

By chuckles1414

Chapter 1: First Date

"Do you want a refill or something?" Charles asked Annie. They were together on their date in a movie theater. Charles felt he had to get out of there though. He had been talked into going to a drama/romance movie, and he was bored out of his mind. Being close to her was great, but he didn't know how much longer he could take the mushy stuff.

"How about we just ditch this place," she said, standing up. He smiled at her.

"Alright," he said, leading her outside. "Wanna grab some pizza?"

"Sure," Annie answered.

"There's a pub down the street." They walked down the street a block to the pub. They sat down in a booth and waited for a waiter to come over.

"What'll it be?" the waiter asked.

"A sausage pizza and two Pepsis," Charles said. The waiter jotted it down on a pad and walked away.

"Looking forward to school starting?" Annie asked, trying to fill up the awkward silence.

"Ha, no," Charles answered. "I don't know if I'm going to like this new school we're going to be going to. I'm used to going to a big school in New York. Not some tiny, small town high school."

"I know what you mean. I already miss my old school and all my friends. I probably won't even get to see them again."

"Yeah, it seems like we've given up a lot when becoming witches." An old couple in the booth next to them gave Charles a strange look.

"Yeah, we have," Annie said. "I don't know if I want to hunt demons and save innocents for the rest of my life."

"I sure don't. And these powers are a hassle. I don't know how my mom has hidden her secret life of fighting evil from me all these years." Their conversation was ended when the waiter brought over their drinks.

"Thank you," Annie said, smiling brightly.

She has such a beautiful smile, Charles thought to himself.

"I want to have a normal life," Charles continued. "Sure having powers has it's perks, but the whole suspense of not knowing when we're going to be attacked is terrible."

"Yeah, we never know when we're going to be attacked."

A few minutes later, their pizza was brought over. It was gone in a matter of minutes. Annie wiped her mouth with a napkin and finished her Pepsi.

"That was good," she said.

"I'm glad you're not one of those psycho, bulimic or anorexic girls."

"Oh no," Annie said. "I love to eat without the puking. Besides, demon fighting burns a lot of calories." Charles smiled.

"Shall we go now?" He left some money on the table, and they exited the pub.

"I had a good time tonight," she said.

"Me too," Charles said. He glanced down at his watch. It was ten o'clock. "I should probably get back and go to bed. I've got to work at seven tomorrow."

"That sucks," Annie said. When they were only a few feet away from Charles' car, they heard a loud, high-pitched screech. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Charles said, looking around. They heard it again. "It's coming from that alley." They slowly crept over to an alleyway that was a few feet away from them. As they neared it, a giant bat-like creature flew out. The force and speed of it knocked Charles and Annie to the ground. They watched it fly out to the night. "What the hell?"

"So much for a paranormal-free date," Annie moaned.