“A dragon?” Her teeth still chattered. Julie wished she’d put a sweater into her backpack. She wished she still had her suitcase. Nausea continued to afflict her. She sucked in deep breaths to try and calm her rolling stomach. She wasn’t sure whether it was the latest revelation or the concussion that caused her upset stomach.

“Yes,” the panicking woman said. “An honest to god dragon. He swooped down and picked me up. Ellis is going to be mad. He’s going to…”

“Your pimp is the least of your worries.” The woman closest to her spat.

“I shouldn’t have confided in you.” The panicking woman threw back.

“We were abducted by…” The other woman let the sentence die.

“Dragons.” The panicking woman sobbed. “That thing that carried me was a dragon. There is no other explanation.”

“Maybe,” the closest woman said. “It can’t be though.”

The back and forth was making her headache worse. “Wait. Stop.” She held up a hand, which was silly in the dark room. “Please stop talking for a second.” She groaned. “I hit my head and your arguing is making it worse.”

A noise came from the other room. It sounded like someone screaming. It was muffled but slowly drew closer.

“They’re bringing in another one!” The panicking woman whispered, her voice was high pitched. The screaming grew nearer and nearer and then there was the sound of a door opening.

“What’s going on?” A woman screamed. She was crying and sounded shocked and beyond upset.

“Sit down.” Someone said in an authoritative hiss. It was definitely a woman that spoke. She didn’t sound very friendly.

“No. You can’t do this.” The new arrival shrieked.

“Sit down and shut up.” Their abductor was a woman. Not a very kind one. “There’s a good human.” She laughed, sounding spiteful. Instantly reminding Julie of the bullies she’d had to contend with at the orphanage. Bigger, older girls who loved to push around the smaller, weaker ones. Girls that got a kick out of beating and humiliating others for no reason other than that they could.

Julie ignored the human comment. The whole dragon thing couldn’t be true, could it? Right now was not the time to think on it. “Hey!” Julie shouted. “We’re freezing and hungry.”

“Tell someone who cares.” The bully spat. “Pretty soon you’ll wish you were dead anyway so enjoy the peace and quiet while you can.”

It didn’t make sense. It was starting to look like they had been abducted. There must be a reason why. Julie didn’t want to dwell on what that reason might be. It would cause her to panic and panicking was not going to help them out of this situation. Point being, whoever had taken them must want them alive. At least for the time being.

“I could use some headache pills.” It was worth a shot. “We’re thirsty—”