Birth of the Dragon

Alex entered the run-down house, juggling her suitcase of clothes and sewing machine under her arm because the handles had broken many years ago. She set the suitcase against what appeared to be the only wall without a fist-sized hole in it and looked around the lounge room. She had known that a ridiculously cheap, what was supposedly a four bedroom, house would have issues but she was surprised at how well kept the house seemed to be; she couldn’t smell any damp or mould, nor could she hear any mice or cockroaches scuttling around.

“Definitely not the worst we’ve been in,” Alex mused out loud.

Sebastian, her older brother, nodded with a smile. “Not at all.” But Alex frowned, he was leaning on one leg and pulling at a loose thread on a shirt she'd only just made, meaning he must have been toying with it for a while.

Despite his apparent cheerfulness, Alex could see he was upset. Her parents, though even now she winced at the thought of them, had always said that she had a sixth sense because of how well she could read people’s thoughts and feelings. But the truth was that after seventeen years, she just knew her brother. For him, fidgeting and not being the first to put a positive spin on the situation was a clear sign there was something on his mind.

However, if Alex didn’t bring it up then Bash was unlikely to talk about it, being the sort of person to push aside his own problems and put on a brave face for others. “Bash, are you still upset about James?”

His smile fell and was replaced with a look of frustration tinged with sadness. “I just wonder what would happen if we didn’t move from place to place and avoid people, you know.”

Alex held in a sigh, guilt gnawing at her heart. “It’s not for much longer, after my eighteenth we won’t have to.”

“And it’s safer this way.” Bash sighed, pushed back his hair and gave her a genuine smile. “There’ll be another James.” Alex made a noise of protest. “Yes, yes, after your birthday this time. God Lex, I don’t know how you’re going to cope when we actually do start making connections,” he said with a chuckle as he picked up his suitcase. “Go put your bags upstairs and then we’ll bring everything inside.”

Alex rolled her eyes but did as she was asked, carefully holding her sewing machine and suitcase again as she climbed the stairs. The rest of the house was likewise damaged with holes, stained flooring and the entire place in dire need of repainting. Instead of being disgusted though, Alex took off her shoes with a grin to wriggle her toes on the carpet.

“There’s two bedrooms down here, is it the same upstairs?” Bash called out from below.
Alex had a quick look into the five doors that were upstairs; one was a cupboard, another a bathroom, two bedrooms and another led to a small set of stairs. “Two up here yeah. Any idea what this little staircase is?”

“I think there’s an attic or something.”

She placed her hand on the railing leading to the attic but pushed aside her curiosity, she’d look at it later. Alex dumped her stuff in the room furthest from the stairs, having chosen it because of the natural light filtering in through the windows. She then ran back downstairs to find Bash had already started unloading their van.

“I’ve got all the kitchen boxes in, come give me a hand with the couches.”

It took them a little over an hour to move everything inside and set the flat pack furniture back up, they’d done this so many times it had become almost second nature. Afterwards they collapsed on the couch and sat in comfortable silence. Each thinking about the coming week of starting again, Alex about her new school and Bash his job.

Eventually, he stood up with a groan. “I’ll start making dinner if you go and test the water.” Alex nodded cautiously and walked up the stairs to her bathroom, something she was very excited about. She ran the sink tap first and nearly jumped when water came gushing out.

“We have running water!” She called out and she heard him cheer in response.

She turned off the tap and went to leave the room, but stopped in the doorway. Feeling adventurous, she turned the hot water knob in the shower and waited… The warm water on her skin was so enticing that she nearly jumped in with her clothes on. Instead, she turned the tap off and ran downstairs to tell Bash.

He wasn’t in the kitchen, even though the pan was sitting on the stove with the ingredients for dinner sitting on the counter. A door creaked and she turned slowly to see that there was a back door leading to a covered patio. Outside, Bash was standing with his hands in his pockets with a conflicted look on his face.

Alex followed his line of sight and gasped. Not even twenty metres from their back door stood a forest of trees that was so thick that they couldn’t see past the first few lines of trunks, and with the sun setting behind the greenery, the pair were both awed and saddened.

“It looks like…” Alex began but was unable to bring herself to say the final painful word.

“Home.”

Alex gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. “We don’t have a home.”

“Don’t let what happened colour all of your memories of our time there, Lex, and don’t let it affect your opinion of this place. We’re home so long as we’re together and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Alex avoided his gaze, he was far wiser than a nineteen-year-old should have been and she knew his kind, blue eyes would be willing her to let go of their pain. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She refused to. Knowing her as well as she knew him, he pulled her into a one-armed hug, both of them still looking out at the sunset.

“Well, I’d better get started on dinner.”

Alex nodded with a smile but didn’t follow him into the kitchen. Instead she kept looking out at the forest, curious as to what could be out there and without realising she’d walked down the patio steps. She held onto a post and looked back, she could hear Bash singing to himself as he cooked. He wouldn’t mind if she went exploring, so long as she was back before it got fully dark.

She closed her eyes as she took another step forward, enjoying the feeling of the soft grass under her feet. The forest was lush and exploded with such colour and fragrance that it made her head spin. The deeper she went in the older the trees seemed to be, their huge roots reaching above the ground and bark gnarled. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as the sheer grandeur of what was around her nearly overwhelmed her senses.

Or at least, that's what she told herself. The trees became more dense, block almost all light. The birds had stopped singing and the only sound was the rustling through the trees and the crunching of leaves under her feet. The sun didn't set that fast.

She spun around but nothing was there, though she swore she could feel something watching her. She kept walking and telling herself she was being paranoid, but her heart still raced. Bash’s voice carried on the wind, calling her name, so with a barely suppressed sigh of relief at now having an excuse to leave she turned to head back to the house. Her body wouldn’t move.

Alex was completely paralysed and no matter how she concentrated on just twitching a finger, her body would not obey her. She gasped as an aching cold spread throughout body and it began to move on its own. Walking forward was awkward and unnatural as though Alex were a marionette that the unseen force didn’t know how to properly control.

Her stomach tightened at the sound of Bash’s voice calling in the distance but the whispering in her ear was even more terrifying. Alex couldn’t make out what the voice was saying but the tone was soothing. Out of fearful curiosity she stopped fighting the force which controlled her and listened intently to the voice that grew louder with each stride. Eventually she saw a faint glowing from beyond the trees. Alex stepped out into a clearing with trees so thick overhead that no light could enter. Yet she could see perfectly because resting in the centre was the source of the glowing; a large, blue orb.

Alex was pushed to her knees and the incoherent whisper now rang clearly in her mind. “You will do as I say.”

She didn’t understand how but Alex was able to respond without speaking. “And what if I don’t?” She was pushed so far into the ground that she choked on dirt. Taunting a strange force that could control her body and speak into her mind would not end well. Alex was terrified.

“You will do as I say or there will be consequences.”

She screamed as the aching cold that had filled her body now burnt like fire. Tearing at her skin until she drew blood to try to stop the pain she eventually held her head in her hands and sobbed. “Okay.” She felt a strange clouding in her mind as though it was filling with fog and distantly she heard herself say, “I will do as you command.”

“Good. Now I do not know when I will hatch but you will protect me until then.” The presence sent a flicker of fire down her spine and Alex whimpered. “Got it?”

“You have my word.” She said as she resigned herself to the knowledge that she couldn’t leave.