"What are you people?  Some kind of witch or something?  Shit!  All these lights pop'n, ground shake'n!  What the hell is going to happen next?"

Jerry is pitching a fit.  I couldn't help but giggle at his dramatics.  I reach for one of my limbs to put back on.

"Wait," says Damien.  He comes to me, dropping to his knees at my feet.....sort of.  Stubs maybe?  Though technically my feet were lying at the ground.

"I can heal you."

"What?" says Jerry, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.  "I just had to ask!"

"I have seen your future," says Damien.  "He will find you, and he will find a way to make your limbs stop working.  You will be left immobilized and vulnerable.  If you let me, I can keep this from happening."

I turn my eyes to Jerry, the closest thing to a father figure I have.  He looks concerned.  I turn my eyes back to Damien's dark ones.  Where was that fire in them that I see every night in my dreams?  Right now, I only see fear.

I nod my head.  Damien settles himself on the floor.  He gently puts his hands on the underside of my thighs.  His hand's touch feels electric.  I sharply inhale.  The newly replaced bulbs begin to flicker.  Damien pauses, his adam's apple bobbing slightly at our closeness.

"Lil, please don't blow another one," says Jerry.  The little spider robots were already coming back, standing at attention, waiting for the next move.

I exhale, and nod again at Damien.  He rises my thighs, placing them on his shoulders.  It's difficult for him to be this close to me.  The mutual attraction, our lover's past, even if it was only in our dreams.

"This will hurt a little," says Damien.

I feel a throbbing at my knees.  It quickly turns into pain.  I gasp, as my skin bursts open.  Damien's eyes glaze over.  I can feel him absorbing my pain as his, concealing it even from our secret link.  I feel my elbow, and my shoulder doing the same, even as my last artificial limb dislocates.

It doesn't hurt anymore.  Muscles and sinews extend from my body.  They grow thicker, elongating, taking their form.  I feel the bones forming inside, taking shape.  A protective barrier starts forming on the outside, growing thicker, finally starting to grow little hairs.  A sound emerges from Damien's lips, like a gasp, and his head falls forward in exhaustion.  At his closeness, my inner core.....  He senses it.  His tail tightens on mine as he slowly looks up.

"What.... the hell..... was that?" exclaims Jerry.

It's just the distraction we need.  He gently places my feet back on the floor. I giggle.

For the first time, I see Damien smile.  It almost reaches his sad eyes.

"Yeah, that's real nice, Lil Witchy Woman.  Now is anyone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?"  Jerry is just about screaming now.  I can't help but laugh.  He so rarely gets ruffled.

"Yeah, yeah.  I'm a funny guy," says Jerry.  "You keep laughing at me."  He's practically pouting now, but turning his head away to try to hide his smile.

I meanwhile, am busy wiggling my toes, and flexing my fingers for the first time in years.

"Am I dreaming?" asks Jerry.

"I don't know," I say.  "Am I?"

"You're not," says Damien.  "But just to answer your question, yes.  I am a Witch.  A keeper of the Earth, a keeper of secrets."

"Oh, so THAT explains what is going on," says Jerry.

"No," says Damien.  "Our Pagan practices don't have anything to do with this."

"Then what-" Jerry tries again.

"We are dragons," says Damien.

"What?" asks Jerry.

"We?" I ask.

"Yes," says Damien.  "And we are not the only ones."

"I believe you," I say.  "That man, the murderer.  I think he's one too."

"What did you see," asks Jerry?  He's all business now, his cop mentality in full force.

"I remember his eyes glowing a bright, orangey red.  His teeth looked sharper than usual, and I remember smoke coming out of his nose and mouth."

"Just smoke?" asks Damien.

"No," I say.  "He burned me.  He would char my flesh before he would eat, and his head appeared much larger.  All this time, I thought I had dreamed it."

"Elemental of fire," says Damien.  "Bringer of death.  Did he do anything to drug you or make you weak?"

"We were hungry," I say.  "He gave us food, and then we began to feel sick."

"We?" asks Jerry.

"Yes," I say.  "The twins.  I was the weakest at the time, so they gave me some of theirs.  I ate the most.  It poisoned me.  While he was hurting me, they figured out a way to break free. The wind storm helped.  They even managed to build my limbs from discarded items of trash."

"That's some interesting work, there," says Jerry.

Damien picks up one of my limbs to examine, even as Jerry speaks.  The mechanical spiders, meanwhile, click to attention.  They begin to make repairs on the flooring.  Ignoring them, Damien says, "We can use them as witnesses."

"You can try," I say.  "But they are both mute, and they both tend to run from strangers, or anyone they recognize is not a fellow bottom-feeder."

"I have a feeling I will be an exception," says Damien, putting down my old limb.

"Why's that?" asks Jerry.  "Did you see it in the future?"

"Yes," says Damien.  "And you are coming with us."

"Me?" asks Jerry.

There is a frantic knock at the door.

"Come in," says Jerry.

Dandan comes in, looking wide-eyed and panic stricken.

"Daddy!"

I have never heard Dandan call her father by anything other than his name or title while they were at work together.  They liked to keep things professional on the clock.

"What's wrong, baby," says Jerry, full of concern.

"The monster has escaped!"

"What?" asks Jerry.  Damien stands.  I am terrified.

"It's worse," says Dandan.  "Mother went with him!"