A.N. I apologize for any mistakes!

obviouslyincognito: Technically he would be the old Mr. Tiny but I also think of him as new lol

Ansy: I'm glad you like it :D


I focused on the entrance to the tent and wove my shaking fingers together, resting my head on my hands and waited for the first sunlight to peek through the doorway. Many hours had passed since I had given up on sleep; Harkat had joined me halfway through the night and together we now sat in the corner of the tent that had quickly become my bedroom of sorts. The tenseness that came before a battle settled over both of us early and I kept fidgeting, longing to rush outside and wrap my claws around throats. However, before vengeance came thought and planning. We still did not know Harrison's men kept finding us, and they were here; there was no doubt of that. I could smell them through the crack in the tent, harsh scents that filled my nostrils like burned rubber. They smelled of hate and blood. Their scents drove away the creeping exhaustion that threatened after two nights of little sleep. Harkat and I said nothing to each other, not wanting to wake Mr. Tiny and draw his unanswerable questions on us.

For the first two hours I had lingered in the bathroom, staring dazedly at my pale face. A long time had passed before the feeling of cold metal around my throat vanished. I had traced the paths Harrison's knives had made over my body, knowing exactly where the blades had cut even though the bastard had been careful to keep the wounds from scarring. Another scar of my own making was hidden right by my right hip. I'd sliced open my skin and forced magic and intent into my body so violently it had healed instantly. The brief pain had been worth it, the magic rested in my skin, acting like a ward against Mr. Tiny. My memories before waking up in Harrison's care were sealed off from the man forever, unless I reopened the scar and let the magic free.

Harkat shifted from his stock still position and looked over at me. "Previously, I was thinking rationally and thought waiting for Mr. Tiny to wake up would be the ideal thing."

I raised my eyebrows. "And now?"

"My rational thinking has flown out the window," Harkat said and stood up. "We have the advantage of darkness and surprise. We can kill them while they rest." He rubbed his hands together. "I am a Little Person and you are…something. Anyway we are stronger, faster and more dangerous then those humans. Don't you want to shed that fake air of humanity you hold around yourself for even a bit?"

I tucked my hands under my legs to hide the emergence of claws and sighed. "You have no idea how much." Harkat wouldn't be able to imagine the sheer annoyance of not being able to use magic on a daily basis. It was an itch wherever the dragon went, a burning under my skin and a restlessness that would not be satisfied with normal activity. The illusions strained to contain my broken wings and sometimes when I caught a glimpse of my reflection my eyes would flicker back to swirling blue from a moment. I stood up and stared at the gap in the tent, leaning forward as if I could just appear outside without moving.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Harkat asked playfully. "If you are at all worried I bet Mr. Tiny would approve of the bloodshed at least."

I cocked my head and growled lowly. "I don't need his permission." I curled my hand around the entrance to the tent and exchanged a look with Harkat before ripping back the fabric and crouching on the ground, the Little Person standing over me with a knife in each hand. We were unable to be seen by anyone outside yet, as we had not left the tent. There were the usual cars in the street and people walking up and down the sidewalk, clutching coffee in their hands. But here and there were Harrison's men, scattered among the other humans like black clouds. Oh they had made an effort to blend in, but holding coffee and yawning convincingly was not enough to disguise the bulge in their pockets or the glint of steel up their sleeves. "Scattered," I muttered gleefully. "This is too easy." I ducked out of the tent and motioned to Harkat to stay on the sidewalk while I crossed the street. I used the few people as blockades, gaining valuable ground before the idiots even realized.

The closest man was sipping at coffee and checking his watch when I lunged for him, closing my clawed hands around his waist and dragging him down to the ground. His head banged off a wall and the coffee spilled all over his front, drawing a pained scream as his skin burned. I leered at him when he tried to pull out a gun and ripped the weapon out of his hands, driving a knee into his groin before I crushed the barrel of the gun with one hand. The goon had time to widen his eyes in panic before I ripped open his throat. Ordinarily I would have left him there to bleed out and die, but I grabbed him by the foot and pulled him down the street, leaving behind a trail of blood. People rushed away from me, screaming and babbling into phones that they dropped when I looked at them directly. I laughed softly and closed in on the second man who had his gun already out and pointed at my chest. His eyes were blown wide with fear, but there was an air of determination around him. The dragon purred on my skin and I locked eyes with the man, silently daring him to fire; the gun went off but I was already moving the bullet flying by harmlessly, my claws hooking into skin before the man could fire again. His body jerked as I sank my claws into his chest and buried my fangs into his shoulder. He died too quickly and I dragged a man by each hand, pausing to see how Harkat was faring.

I shouldn't have worried; Harkat had slain more men then I had, but he had taken no time to relish the kills. Two men lay dead at his feet and his knives blurred into the body of another even as I watched. Blood splattered against his face and he turned to gaze at me, eyes alight. I wandered over to him, dodging humans and whispered in his ear. "I will leave one alive."

"Why?" Harkat asked.

"So he can run back to Harrison and tell him exactly what happened," I hissed and leapt away. The third man I had already chosen, but I took my time stalking him around the tent. When he was right in front of the entrance I jumped at him, sending us flying backwards back inside the tent. I punched the man in the face and snarled, shoving my fangs into his face before throwing him into the weapon rack. The man clattered to the floor and I snatched him by the arms, swinging him around in the air and back outside, following with a bound that landed me precisely on his chest. We stared at each other in equal disgust and I wrapped my hands around his throat, pulling his head up at an awkward angle. "You are all fools," I snarled. When the man tried to speak I clamped a hand over his mouth and nose until he turned blue; only when he ceased struggling did I let him take a breath. "Did you not learn your lesson when I escaped? Did you think I would tolerate pursuit? Everyone that comes after us will be ripped apart without a thought." My voice was deep and melting between human and dragon. "Except you," I trailed a finger down the mans cheek and smiled. "You are the lucky messenger." I forced him around so he could see Harkat killing the rest of the men with no effort. "Do you see that? Describe it to Harrison. Tell him how your companions died." I bit down on the mans ear and he screamed. "Unfortunately, your master isn't the forgiving type," I said pursing my lips. "He will probably kill you for failing to catch me."

"You're a monster," the man choked out between heaving breaths.

I smiled and pulled up a sentence from long ago. "Yes," I said nastily. "But I'm only a baby one." I let the man go as he fell unconscious and wiped my hands clean on his shirt. I emptied his gun and scattered the bullets, then took his knife and snapped it in half. Harkat ran up to me and also cleaned his weapons on the fallen man. "Are they all dead?" I asked, watching my nails return to normal size.

Before Harkat responded a clapping sound startled me and I whipped around. Mr. Tiny was standing just outside the tent, bringing his hands together in resounding applause. He looked like he might cry from happiness. "Oh, I am going to love having you two around!" he said in delight, looking at the carnage on the street. He took one step and appeared between Harkat and I, slinging an arm around our shoulders. "Let's get you two cleaned up," he chuckled, staring at the spots of blood on my hands.

"Hands in the air!" A voice cried at the same time a whistling sound echoed in my left ear. A spot of red appeared on Harkats shirt and in a split second a dart was embedded deep into his shoulder. A pain in my arm told me I had a dart too and I wrenched it out without looking. Harkat swayed on the spot, looking confused and I searched windows and rooftops for the shooter. Mr. Tiny pulled us around and caught another dart in the bottom of his jacket. He ignored it in favor of dragging Harkat down the street while tugging me along with his other hand.

"You underestimate us," the voice said again and this time it sounded like it was coming through a loud speaker. "All three of you think we are fools."

I blinked fuzzily; the ground was heaving underneath my feet and I tried to compensate by leaning the other way. Apparently that was wrong though because Mr. Tiny yanked me the other way. Harkat was completely out of it, hanging like a doll in Mr. Tiny's grip.

"The monster and the boy belong to us old man," the voice continued. "Shadow may have some strength at his disposal, but it is no more then a vampire. We measured his speed and yes, he was a bit faster then a normal vampire but that is nothing spectacular."

I laughed under my breath. I felt like sicking up from the tumbling world but I had figured out where the guy was speaking from. I stared at a green car to the left and ducked out from under Mr. Tiny's arm, stumbling toward the car. The voice continued, berating Mr. Tiny for helping us, listing everything that would happen to him when we were brought in. I didn't know if the guy knew that all his men had been killed or if he didn't care either way. I reached the car and placed my palms on the window to steady myself before trying the handle; surprisingly it was unlocked and I threw open the door, noting with some distant dread that a string had been tied to the doorframe and led deep into the car. There was nothing in the car except a machine sitting on the driver's side that played the guys voice. I had a split second to stare at the empty vehicle before a clicking sound betrayed the real intent of the car. I was such an idiot.

The car burst apart in a rush of fire and pieces of metal and I was blasted into the air, metal slicing into my clothing and skin. I hit the cement, rolling across the ground and onto debris that cut into my stomach. Flaming pieces of seat leather fell around me and the steering wheel, or at least a piece of it hit the sidewalk next to my head. I tried to roll on my back but a sharp pain in my side made me moan in pain; I twisted my head awkwardly to see and nearly fainted. A curled piece of metal was sticking out of my stomach and another piece was deep in the front of my right thigh. My other leg was smoking and I couldn't see out of my left eye. It wasn't any of that which bothered me the most however; it was the dragon. I could feel the dragon was pinned on my thigh right through his left front leg and another wound had opened up my left arm in sympathy. The dragon started to thrash around frantically and the wound on my arm opened up further. I couldn't feel any pain except on my face and it felt like it was on fire.

Harkat fell to his knees beside me and I stared at him silently. His lips were moving but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I didn't understand how he was walking around. Hadn't the dart taken him out? The Little Person beat the ground next to me and I tried to say I was alright, it wasn't that bad but my mouth wouldn't move. I couldn't even move my eyes anymore. Then Mr. Tiny appeared and my fingers twitched, trying to run away. If he looked at my wounds he would see the dragon and it would be over.

Mr. Tiny patted Harkat on the shoulder and moved to my other side, gently sliding his hands under my limp body. When he lifted me up my body burst into pain and while I couldn't make a sound a puff of air escaped. My head fell back over his arm and I looked at the world upside down, staring blankly at Harkat. All around police cars were pulling up, but Mr. Tiny strode through the mass of blinking lights without being stopped. A gun went off and I flinched, wishing the dragon would stop fighting. It was with some interest that I noticed we were not going towards the tent; instead we were heading out of the city completely. Harkat grabbed onto Mr. Tiny's jacket sleeve and the world spun into blackness.

We appeared in a place that had enough snow to go up to Mr. Tiny's knees. But we were only outside for a second then Mr. Tiny walked over hardwood floors and up a flight of steps before setting me down on a pristine white blanketed bed. I felt bad for staining the sheets with blood and soot. The door slammed shut and Harkat touched the uninjured side of my face, patting me. I wished I could let him know I was still here.

Mr. Tiny shrugged off his jacket and approached the bed, surveying me from several angles before Harkat said something angrily. Mr. Tiny snapped something back and then rolled up his sleeves, grabbing a knife out of the air and slitting his wrist. He held the open wound above my throat and blood dripped onto my lips, but didn't go down. Mr. Tiny held his wrist closer and forced my mouth open wider, stroking my throat until his blood went down. Instantly I sucked in a breath and coughed loudly.

"Shadow?" Harkat asked. "Can you hear me?"

I tried to say yes but it came out a in a garbled mess.

Mr. Tiny cut open my shirt with the knife and stared at the metal in my stomach then wrapped his hand around it. Harkat placed his own hands on my shoulder and pushed me down into the bed. I wanted to tell them that there was no need; I couldn't feel anything except my face. However, when Mr. Tiny pulled out the metal it woke up the pain and the dragon resumed its frantic movements. I tossed on the bed with muscles that finally remembered how to work and threw off Harkat easily. Mr. Tiny tossed the metal on the floor without looking back and started to go toward my thigh.

"No!" I cried pleadingly.

Mr. Tiny paused with one hand over the metal. "If its modesty you are worried about I don't think this is the time." Without waiting he ripped off my pant leg and I closed my eyes in defeat. There was nothing but silence until the pain that came with metal being pulled out of your leg and a sickening lurch in my stomach.

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but the room; I was standing by the door behind Harkat and Mr. Tiny who were still crouched over…myself? My body was lying on the bed, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. My chest had ceased moving entirely and now Harkat was shaking me violently, screaming in my ear. Mr. Tiny had his wrist back at my mouth, and pressed two glowing fingers against the side of my neck. I ran over to them and tried to grab Mr. Tiny's arm but when I touched him the man did nothing to give away he had felt my touch. I waved my hands in front of his face but he didn't even blink. I tried to grip Harkat by the shoulders, but nothing I did would move the Little Person. "HEY!" I screamed in Mr. Tiny's face. In frustration I balled my hand into a fist and tried to punch him in the face. Nothing happened.

Mr. Tiny removed his fingers from my neck and the red glow faded away. He stared at Harkat and shook his head. "The boy is dead," he said. He stepped back and stood in the corner of the room silently, walking right through me.

Harkat wailed and punched the side of the bed.

I stared at myself. Blood stained the sheets and my face was swiftly paling. My injuries looked even more gross from this angle; I had a horrible gash running down the side of my face, right over my eye. The wound in my stomach was gaping and the one in my leg looked equally nasty. My eyes were mostly closed, but a slit of bright blue shone through the crack in my eyelids. I looked closer and gasped; the illusions had fallen on my eyes. Then I looked for my crumpled wings underneath my body and failed to find them. I whipped around and dove at Mr. Tiny who had his head bowed and grabbed the front of his jacket, trying to shake him. "I'm not dead!" I screeched. "You could try harder bastard!" Mr. Tiny did nothing and I turned on Harkat who had his upper body now thrown over me. "Where are my wings idiot! If I was dead they would be here!"

"We have to go," Mr. Tiny said eventually and appeared beside Harkat, resting a hand on his shoulder.

The Little Person had been staring into space with me sitting next to him, but he stirred and looked up at Mr. Tiny blankly. "Where are we going?"

"Wherever the wind takes us," Mr. Tiny said. "We will give Shadow a vampire's burial." A ball of fire took shape in his hand and my insides froze. If Mr. Tiny burned down the house, I really would be dead.

Harkat touched his forehead to mine and tears rushed down his face, dripping onto the gash. I felt his tears on my own skin and touched them, looking at the drops on my forehead. Then he stood up and let Mr. Tiny guide him out of the room and back down the stairs.

I chased after them, running through Mr. Tiny when he paused at the front door. I picked up a lamp and threw it at Mr. Tiny; it bounced just short of him and cracked on the floor. But the man didn't even look around. Mr. Tiny rolled the fire between his fingers for a split second then tossed it at the steps. The fire burst into life, swiftly spreading on the old wood and began to climb up the steps. He and Harkat stepped outside but the Little Person suddenly turned around and made a dash for the front door again.

"We can't leave him here," he sobbed.

Mr. Tiny wrapped Harkat up and began to drag him away, with the Little Person screaming and kicking the entire time.

There was another tug in my stomach and I was pulled up the flaming steps, back into the bedroom and into my body. I sucked in a breath, chest heaving until I inhaled smoke and coughed. My injuries were starting to heal. As I watched skin closed over the hole in my stomach and thigh, leaving behind puckered scars. My face ached but I could feel it healing over too. I quickly reapplied the illusions on my eyes and went to the window, smashing through the glass before leaping down one story to the grass below. Harkat saw me first and his mouth fell open. He slapped Mr. Tiny in the side of the head and scrambled toward me as the house became an inferno behind me. When Mr. Tiny turned around his eyes widened just a bit before narrowing. Then I was tackled to the ground by Harkat. We were only pulled up when Mr. Tiny finally made his way over to us and yanked us to our feet.

Mr. Tiny looked me up and down and frowned. "You were dead," he said.

I grinned. "You can't get rid of me that easily!" I said slyly.

Harkat spluttered and poked me in the chest. "You had no pulse!"

I shifted from foot to foot. "I will be happy to explain, but could I get some pants first?"

Mr. Tiny regained his composure and smirked. "Of course," he said and waved his hand. "Now explain."

"You know those people who say they had an out of body experience?" I questioned. "Well, unless I was hallucinating, I just had one." The blank expressions I got made me sigh. "I appeared in the bedroom, but I was still lying on the bed too. Mr. Tiny was checking my pulse and then he said I was dead."

Harkat blinked and circled me twice, then scratched his head. "I don't know…"

I crossed my arms. "Mr. Tiny said that he was going to give me a vampire burial and then he had to drag you down the front yard."

"Could you not speak to us?" Mr. Tiny asked disbelievingly.

"Nope," I said and blushed. "I may or may not have tried to punch you in the face. I screamed too, quite loudly and none of you did anything. I even threw a lamp."

Now Mr. Tiny was looking extremely interested. "What returned you back to your body?"

"I'm not sure."

"Think," Mr. Tiny hissed.

"I don't know!" I said.
Mr. Tiny came way too close and tipped my head back to stare at the new scar lining my face and his fingers lit up briefly. Something like an electric shock, but also nothing like what the color had done to me raced up my spine and onto my chin. Mr. Tiny jerked back and his eyes gleamed. "Interesting," he said speculatively. "Ah, but everything worked out in the end did it not?" He rubbed his hands together and there was a brief moment of dizziness before we were back in the tent. Mr. Tiny sat down in one of the cushy chairs and stared at me without blinking.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing," Mr. Tiny said and kept watching.

I took five more minutes of the nonstop watching until even Harkat was looking between us. "Would you stop it!" I said.

"No."

I stomped over to my corner of the tent and pulled several blankets over myself to block out Mr. Tiny. But the blankets were pulled back and I was once again forced to endure it. I was so mad I turned on Mr. Tiny, baring my fangs at him. "Stop it!" I shouted.

"I am waiting," Mr. Tiny "explained."

"For what?" I snarled.

"I'm not quite sure yet," Mr. Tiny said and propped his head on his hand.

I stared at Harkat in disbelief and he shrugged, gesturing to the exit. I agreed mentally and walked toward it. But of course I was pulled back to the rug. Now I was beyond angry and stomped over to the magician, lashing out with every bit of strength I had at his nose. "I'm not a test subject!" I growled. My fist collided with Mr. Tiny's hand when he brought it up to shield himself.

"Defensive," Mr. Tiny murmured and flexed the hand I had hit. "Strong too." He didn't even look angry. "I am sure you have had quite enough of being studied," he conceded.

"Yes," I said furiously.

Mr. Tiny swiftly changed the conversation and addressed both Harkat and I. "Are the nightmares getting any better?"

Harkat and I exchanged looks of surprise. I hadn't expected Mr. Tiny to pay any serious attention to our nightly suffering. "No," we said together. "Not at all."

Mr. Tiny nodded. "I will have to do something about them." He stood up and grinned at us both. "Now, I may begin to get the business done that I came here to do. You may stay here or come with me, it does not matter which."

I thought about it before nodding. "I'll go," I said. I was tired, had just come back to life and was wearing horrible pants, but I wasn't quite ready to call the day done. Harkat stepped up beside me and also voted to come along. Mr. Tiny didn't give an outward reaction about our choice but I could smell his pleasure. For whatever reason he actually enjoyed our hopelessness in getting into trouble; maybe he was thinking we would cause even more mess wherever we were going.

"Follow," Mr. Tiny said and settled back into his usual quiet aloofness as we fell into step behind him. I stayed directly behind his right shoulder and Harkat walked on his left. There was silence for several minutes as we crossed streets and dodged harassed humans. Only a few of them gave us second glances and I recognized one or two of them as werewolves. Whenever one of the non-humans made eye contact with either Mr. Tiny or I they flinched. After that I stared at the ground so hard that I barely heard Mr. Tiny when he spoke again. "Most magicians use illusion to pull off their tricks," Mr. Tiny said. "But I have caught wind of a pair who may have some magic at their disposal. I do not think they were born with it. Most likely they got a hold of an object with magic in it." Mr. Tiny looked back at me and his eyes shone. "Unfortunately for them most objects like that are inherently corrupted and will bend their owner's minds into insanity."

"Fun," Harkat muttered.

"So are we going to kill them?" I asked.

"I haven't decided," Mr. Tiny said happily. "The mind is a fascinating place and to loose a pair so tainted would be a loss. I enjoy studying humans and non-humans minds to see how each one works. The sheer number of ridiculous fears and desires to manipulate are delightful. Non-humans of course are a bit trickier to read, but not one has withstood me." Again he looked back at me and this time I was the one who wanted to flinch away. I broke eye contact and stared at the sidewalk; not completely missing the satisfied smile that crossed Mr. Tiny's face. "However, while this should be an interesting experience the mind I truly want to explore is Harrisons'."

I stiffened and nearly tripped over a crack in the road. "Why?" I asked.

"Because, while most non-humans are idiots they are powerful," Mr. Tiny said. "If Harrison knows enough to capture two then he should also know that killing either of you would be unwise. Bringing you to his side and harnessing your abilities would have been the smarter path to whatever he wanted. Which I assume is power."

Harkat snorted loudly. "He tried to "harness" our powers all right. He wanted me to be his strong man. I said no and the consequences were not pleasant."

"I was to be his pet," I said simply. "I refused."

"And again there he went wrong," Mr. Tiny said like he was delivering a life lesson. "He should have kept after you. Delivering pain when you want someone on your side isn't always the answer, especially in the case of vampires and other non-humans. I take it both of you took a lot of pain?" Neither of us answered but he continued anyway. "Trust is another way. If he had taken you both in, helped you, fed you and generally been kind, then there would have been a higher chance of accepting his offer." Mr. Tiny looked faintly disgusted. "If he had delivered the offers in a different light. "Pet" is such a demeaning term."

Harkat snickered quietly and I looked over at him questioningly. "You would make the worst pet in the world," he said and laughed harder. "You'd probably shred their curtains, chew holes in expensive clothing and then eventually figure out structural weaknesses in the house and bring it down."

I kept a straight face. "You forgot about using antiques as claw sharpeners."

"And constantly wanting outside and then back in," Harkat giggled.

I smiled but before I could come back with something else Mr. Tiny shushed us.

"We are here," Mr. Tiny said. "While we will not go inside until tomorrow I want to get a good look outside."

I looked up at the building and frowned. It looked like an old warehouse that had been converted into something the Cirque Du Freak would have used if they had a permanent location. The windows were fitted with heavy velvet drapes; a different color on each floor. The entrance had two sets of huge doors proclaiming the pair's stage names in large black letters, but the words themselves I couldn't read. They seemed to be in a different language, but it was in none that I recognized. People were lined up outside, buying tickets but not going inside. Mr. Tiny walked toward the ticket booth, but I stayed back while he got in line, somehow cutting to the front without anyone noticing. I scanned all the windows I could see and saw faces peeking out from behind a few of the curtains. One little girl stared at me and her tiny hand pressed against the window as she waved to me with the other, her face lit up with a bright smile. Then she was gone. Mr. Tiny came back and held up three tickets.

"The show is tomorrow night at eleven," Mr. Tiny said. "Until then let us go back." He touched both our elbows and we spun back to the tent.

The rest of the evening I couldn't help but think, though the girl had looked happy enough there had been sadness in her eyes that did not fit such a child. I went to bed, dreading the night and closed my eyes, pulling the blanket over my head to block out the sound of Harkats breathing. Maybe the nightmares would spare me tonight.


R&R please? :D :D