It was a few minutes past ten in the morning when Lucy and Shiki left the small two bedroom house they had been using over the past few days. The two had not walked more than 30 paces down the sidewalk in the direction of the bar they had been working at when the house began fading from view. By the time they reached the corner the house had disappeared leaving only a vacant lot with a ‘For Sale’ sign stapled to a stake driven into the ground, just as the property had appeared before their arrival three days ago. Lucy wearing a red pleated mini skirt with a sleeveless white tee shirt with the words, ‘The horns are there to hold up my halo’ in fancy script. Shiki turned just as many heads wearing a porcelain blue silk cheongsam with white flowers, that resembled cherry blossoms in bloom, embroidered in clusters on it. While it came down to just above her knees the slits up both side exposed her legs, which were covered in tights that matched the white embroidered flowers, up to the top of her thighs.

Arriving at the bar they had been working at the past few days Shiki noticed Lucy veered toward the bar’s entrance instead of the car they had left in the parking lot. Stopping she turned toward Lucy, “Thought we were leaving?”

“I thought it would be polite if the both said goodbye to Jake,” Lucy answered while she continued toward the door. Then under her breath Lucy stated, “I still have one promise to keep.” Lucy waited for Shiki to catch up once she reached the front door of the bar. Holding the door open for Shiki, Lucy followed her in.

Both women immediately spotted that Jake wasn’t alone. Three men, their face obscured by a ladies stocking pulled over their heads, stood in a half circle around Jake in front of the bar. Two held pistols in their hands, one of which was pointed at Jake’s head, the other had one tucked inside his belt the handle protruding out of the front of his pants.

The one not holding his gun on Jake pointed it in Lucy and Shiki’s direction as Lucy turned back toward the door, her hand reaching toward the lock, “Nu-un ladies, you’re not going anywhere. You by the door, lock it, then both of you get over here!” he demanded.

Completing her movement to the lock, Lucy twisted the dead-bolt’s inside latch securing the door from being opened, “All locked up, no one else can get in,” then just loud enough for Shiki to hear her, “Or get out.”

Walking over near the gunmen Lucy raised her hands, “Please don’t kill anyone.”

Pointing the pistol at Lucy, “Shut up bitch, do I look like I give a shit about what you want?”

“I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to her,” nodding her head toward Shiki who had used the distraction to move behind him with a burst of inhuman speed, striking the base of his neck with her hand before he knew she was there. His body still falling as the next would be thief met Shiki’s fury. Before he could bring his pistol even close to a point he could try to aim at her, three fingers held like a spear point by the small oriental girl struck his in the armpit of the arm that held the pistol. The gun falling out of his now useless hand as Shiki’s other hand, fingers folded back so into a partial fist, rose toward his face. His eyes rolling up and back as the knuckles of her pointer and middle finger struck him in the center of the forehead. Confident in her abilities, Shiki never slowed or looked back toward the previous as she continued toward the last gunman.

Seeing the last thief raise his gun to the approaching Shiki Jake yelled a warning, but the loud crack of the pistol firing in the enclosed space drowned out his words. Jake cringed knowing the young girl was dead, even though the gunman had no time to aim, Shiki was too close to miss. Then to his amazement Shiki’s hand came up in a flash of speed appearing to swat the bullet as if it was nothing more than an annoying fly, while she spinning her body in in a 360 degree circle giving the appearance that she could dodge the bullet. He never had the chance to fire a second shot as she collided with him with enough force to drive him back and down to the floor. Using the momentum she had, Shiki flipped head over heels off the gunman’s prone body landing on her feet. Turning around Shiki looked back at the three gunmen, two lying unconscious on the floor while the last lay curled in a fetal position with both hands between his legs moaning.

Walking over to the first one Shiki took down, Lucy knelt over him, then looked over at Shiki, “I asked you not to kill any of them!”

“He’s still breathing isn’t he?”

“Yes but you broke his neck!”

“You never said I couldn’t hurt them, and it’s only one vertebra.”

Jake who still stood wide eyed at what he saw his temporary bartender just do finally spoke, “You, you dodged that bullet. You weren’t more than five feet away and dodged the bullet he fired directly at you.”

Walking up to the bar beside Jake, “I didn’t exactly dodge it,” Shiki grinned as she carefully placed the bullet in her hand on the bar.

Jake gasped, “YOU CAUGHT A BULLET!”

Shiki used her hands to hoist herself up where her waist was level with the top of the bar, leaning over as she did then reaching behind the bar coming up with a bottle of her choice whiskey in hand. Sitting the bottle of whiskey on the bar, she plucked two shot glasses from behind the bar before twisting back around and sitting on one of the barstools. Pouring out a double shot into each glass, Shiki sat the bottle down then handed Jake one of the glasses, “Catching the bullet is easy, bleeding off the Kinetic energy is the difficult part.”

Taking the glass, Jake downed its contents in one swallow before sitting in back on the bar, “people don’t catch bullets, it's impossible! Who, no what are you!”

“I’m a master of Sinanju, although my skills are nothing compared to what she can do,” Shiki redirected his curiosity by pointing at Lucy who after pulling the stocking off the unconscious man’s head planted a kiss on his lips. As Lucy stood up Jake could see the stubble on the man’s face had disappeared while his facial features began to soften. While Lucy walked over to the next unconscious gunman, the first one’s body had begun to shrink and change at an incredible rate. Kneeling down, Lucy gave that one a small chaste kiss on the lips before standing and moving on to the last gunman Shiki had taken down.

Completely engrossed in the changes he saw happening to the three men that tried to rob him, Jake failed to notice the pool tables fading away into oblivion to be replaced by tables and chairs while all the tables now held, Ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper and other condiments placed in the center of each table, along with paper placemats situated on top the tables by each chair. The liquor behind the bar vanished and the bar itself-changed to look like a lunch counter.

Shiki sighed heavily as the bottle of whiskey she had placed on the bar became a pitcher of ice water. Jake saw the one that Lucy had kissed first was stirring, although no longer showing any resemblance to the thirty something man. In his place Jake saw a small girl of no more than ten or eleven years old struggle for a moment then get up from the floor. Dressed in jean shorts and a lighter blue top the young girl walked over to the booth nearest the counter to sit down on the bench beside an open pink backpack. A large hardcover book lay open in front of where she sat with some papers to its side.

Jake felt a sense of pride as he saw the small girl dig into her homework from school. Shaking his head at the thought Jake knew that girl was one of the men that tried to rob him, but he also remembered that she was Annie, youngest daughter of him and his wife Mary. But those memories could not be right as Mary, the love of his life that he had already asked to marry and at their parent’s request were waiting until after both graduated, had died in an accident months before they graduated high school. Her death was the reason he had joined the military, he needed something to occupy him and at the same time get him away from his hometown. Jake felt very confused as he could remember when both their children were born, but in his mind he knew that he never had the chance to be intimate with Mary before her death as they both wanted to wait until their wedding night.

Looking over to Lucy for an explanation he whispered one word when he spotted the woman Lucy was helping to her feet, “Mary.” While a much older version of her, Jake imagined this was exactly what she would look like if she had lived, but then the other memories came flooding forward in his mind. Memories of the summer after graduation, the summer they had become man and wife, although the memories of her death and the pain he felt were still there, both sets of memories just as real to him.

“I know this is confusing for you,” Lucy said as she walked up to Jake.

Jake gasped, “What, what are you?”

“Let’s just say that I’m someone who cares, “Lucy answered cryptically. “I’m sorry I can’t remove the old memories. Your old life, the life that created those memories has been manipulated for most of your life. I can’t erase everything they have done but I can change enough of it to make things right.”

“Something you can’t change?” Shiki feigned surprise, “Now I need a drink!” reaching over to the picture of water, she filled the water glass that had been a shot glass before everything begun to change. Holding the glass full of water out toward Lucy, “Please?” Rolling her eyes at her friend Lucy stuck one finger into the glass. The clear water took on an amber color. Raising the glass to her lips Shiki took a long swig of the amber fluid. Grinning as she brought the glass down, “Ahh, much better than that lame wine trick.”

Reaching over, Jake took the glass away from Shiki. Bringing it up her smelled the amber liquid, “This is whiskey!” Turning to Lucy, “You turned the water into…”

“No,” Lucy interrupted, “Not even close. Let me try to explain, do you remember the story of Job?” Lucy continued once she saw Jake nod, “Okay well part of the story is correct, he was put through all kinds of terrible things in his life. The parts about who did it and why are not exactly correct.”

What do you mean?” Jake asked, “God and the Devil didn’t have a bet?”

Shaking her head, “No, there was never a bet nor any involvement from the Devil. Of course you know that God is immortal, well he gets bored and occasionally sends his angels down to manipulate people.”

“Why would he do something like that?” Jake gasped.

With her glass raised to her lips, Shiki answered, “Entertainment.”

“Like I was saying,” Lucy changed the subject, “I can’t get rid of the memories caused by their manipulation, but I am able to give you another set of memories, better memories. Jake I want you to enjoy your life, your wife and your children, the life you would have had if there hadn’t been any interference.”

As Shiki sat down in the passenger seat of the car beside Lucy, “he can remember before the change, so why didn’t you tell him who you are?”

“The less he knows the safer he and his family are.” Lucy explained, “If any angels see his life changed he can’t accidentally tell them by whom.”

“Yeah but they’ll figure your father had something to do with it.”

“And which one do you think will go ask dear ole daddy about it?” Lucy giggled, knowing none would dare enter his domain.

Thirty minutes later Lucy had driven them to the truck stop and with Don’s help they loaded the Ferrari back into the trailer. Shiki then Lucy climbed into the truck, Lucy looked back to see Don standing there holding the door looking around, “Something wrong Don?”

“I was just looking to see if Shani was back yet.”

“Who’s Shani?”

“Yeah who’s Shani?” they heard Shiki from inside the cab.

The geisha girl you had taken care of me while you were gone.” Jake explained, “The one with the white hair and dragon tattoo.”

Shiki shook her head, “I have no geisha.”

“Dragon tattoo?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah well it was white at first but yesterday it began turning brown and getting darker,” Don explained further.

Lucy’s eyes went wide, “This tattoo, were the dragons wings leathery like a bat or feathered like a bird?”

“Feathers, that what I found so unusual about it. I thought dragons were supposed to have leathery wings.”

“You know who this one is Onesan?”

“I got a good idea,” Lucy answered, “I just don’t know how she would have gotten past the wards protecting Earth from her kind.” Motioning for Don to enter and follow her, Lucy led her two friends back into Shiki’s compound.

Once inside the house Shiki had given for Don’s use and everyone was comfortable Lucy had Don explain everything, begging him not to leave out any detail of the time he spend with this girl Lucy and Shiki had not known about.

As Don began describing how she had disrobed and joined him in bed Shiki interrupted, “That is not like a geisha, more like a Baishunpu.”

“So you had sex with her?” Lucy’s question was more of a statement.

“Um yeah,” Don’s face became flush, “a lot actually, she was quite insistent on it.”

“And it was after this you noticed her hair began changing color?” Lucy continued her questions.

“Yeah, Then last night she asked me to show her the outside, and while out there asked me which direction was the tallest mountains.”

“I know how she got past the wards,” Lucy stated.

“What are wards,” Don asked, “You said something about them earlier?”

Lucy explained, “A long time ago the dragons were lured away and magic was used to keep them from every returning.”

“Dragons?” Don gasped, “They’re real?” raising his voice as he realized what he had done, “I was sleeping with a dragon!”

“Not a true dragon but related to them even if the true dragons don’t claim them to be.” Lucy continued, “Your Shani is a tarragon. They would be best described as half dragon, half faerie. They are much smaller than a dragon and are unable to breathe fire, but they do have the ability to change size and form.”

“Okay but how does that get her past those ward things?” Don asked.

“Her white hair,” Lucy began, “only an unmated tarragon has that color fur, once the female chooses her mate her fur darkens to match their mate’s. You have brown hair so her darkened to match yours.”

“Mate, you mean she’s my wife now!”

“Tarragons like all drakes mate for life, so yes.”

“So why’d she run off?”

“While the female is the one to choose who she mates with, she must always obey her mate after the mating is complete,” Lucy explained further. “By mating with you, she is now part of your world and can get past the barriers that stop her kind, but by mating with you she must obey you in all things. By leaving she has avoided any rules or orders you may give her.”

Don looked at both the women with him carefully, “So what do we do now?”

“We travel west toward the mountains and start searching for her.”