Not All Human, Chapter 4

Troy clutched his head in his claws. It had been hours since Victor had given him the medication, but to Troy it felt like seconds. He held on to his memories like a balloon, as if he let go they would float away.
He’d already forgotten his last name, and he was trying to accumulate his thoughts. What could he remember?
He could remember riding home from college, only to find his parents were nowhere to be found.
He could remember waiting for his girlfriend to arrive for a date, and learning she’d been shot by a mass murderer at a club.
He could remember losing his job, his house, and most of his belongings, being forced to travel from place to place just to make money.
He could remember telling himself at midnight in the middle of the empty road that he would always be alone, that one day he’d die unloved like a filthy animal.
It was strange how the things he’d wanted to forget were the memories he could recall most clearly.
And he truly was going to lose everything, just because a man with no moral compass wanted to be a millionaire. He repeatedly thought to himself that he’d somehow make it out of this alive.
As if that makes it any more possible, he thought.



“This must be the place,” Marco said as he pulled into a parking space. Apparently, the “show” was held in an empty lot. The only things present were a handful of people and a small tent. As he walked over to get a closer look, he could hear the complaints of the waiting guests.
“Why’s it just called “the show”? Couldn’t they come up with something a little more original?” Said a short man with glasses.
“Maybe he’s running late,” A little girl said to her father.
“This better be worth it!” Shouted a young boy in a baseball cap.
Marco honestly didn’t care whether the performance was going to be impressive or not. He was mostly interested in seeing (and possibly freeing) the dragon himself.
Unfortunately, the crowd was kept waiting for about a half hour, most of the audience leaving before the blonde man from the commercial stepped out of the tent. In his hand was some kind of leash that the dragon was bound to. Interestingly enough, the man now sported a prosthetic leg, a feature Marco wasn’t expecting. Although, he wasn’t expecting to see a dragon before he watched the commercial…
“Ladies and gentlemen!” The man shouted, waving his hands in the air. “I thank you all for coming! This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! My name is Victor, and I’ve put together a little performance that I hope is worth your time!”
Wait, his name was Victor? From what Mrs. McCarthy had told him, Marco had assumed he was Dante. And wasn’t that the same person who’d told Marco to call him Toby?
Confused, Marco tried reasoning with himself. Maybe he had identical triplets-- though that seemed unlikely. Marco grew even more suspicious as Victor continued.
“Now, I’ll bet you’re all wondering how I got this dragon. Well, it’s a bit of a secret, but let’s just say it involved a lot of hard work.” He patted the dragon on the head.
Marco raised his hand to ask a question. Unfortunately, Victor paid no attention, instead giving the dragon directions. The dragon (whose name turned out to be Troy, which Marco thought was a rather unusual name for a dragon) snorted and stumbled closer to the crowd.
To everyone’s surprise, it took off running into the parking lot. Victor ran after it, yelling angrily. The audience sighed, and started conversing with one another.
Marco decided if he was going to free that poor creature, he was going to have to act now.
He sprinted over to Victor, who was now far away from the empty lot the show was held in. The dragon kept on running, looking back every few seconds to see if anyone was following it. Marco stopped beside Victor, panting.
“Do you take good care of your dragon? It doesn’t seem to like you very much,” Marco said. Victor narrowed his eyes at the dark-skinned man.
“Yes, Marco, I do. He’s just… the rebellious kind.”
Marco’s eyes widened. “How-- how do you know my name? You-- you’re Toby, then, aren’t you?”
Victor flinched, seemingly at a loss for words. Had he spoken out of frustration and hadn’t stopped to think about what had come out of his mouth?
Inhaling, Victor said, “No, I’m not. I think I’ve seen you before, that’s all. I’ve never met a ‘Toby’ before.”
“You don’t have any twins or anything?”
“No! Please, just stop asking questions.” Victor gritted his teeth. “I need to get Troy back. So stay out of the way.”
Oh, I’ll do anything but stay out of the way, Marco thought. He didn’t know why he felt the urge to save this dragon. Running ahead of Victor, a single reasoning thought popped up in Marco’s mind.
What if this is the wrong thing to do?