Birth of the Dragon

Thoughts

Alex


Howls and shrieks filled her ears but she couldn’t see from where to shield herself. They came closer and pain ripped through her as a new scream sounded through the air. Her own.
 
Alex woke with a start, her breathing heavy and heart racing. Her dream was already forgotten but she knew the feeling of terror and the agonising pain in her skull wouldn’t leave her quite so quickly. She held her head for several moments and tried not to try to remember her nightmare as it seemed to only prolong the pain.
 
Eventually, she stood slowly using the bedside table to support herself and stumbled down the stairs. For some reason there was a mound of pillows on the couch and a mattress on the floor but she ignored this. "Bash? Bash where are we keeping the pain killers?"
 
Her brother emerged from the kitchen holding a pan and a cloth; the sound of them hitting the floor echoed through the house as he pulled Alex into a tight hug. "Oh Lex, I was so worried."
 
Alex hugged him back for a moment before wiggling away and looking at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean you were worried about me?"
 
"You won't remember what happened," Alex went to interrupted but Bash put his hand over her mouth despite her continued protest, "and you just need to trust me when I say that you're the one who told me tha- don’t lick my hand you grot!" He wiped his hand over Alex's face, both laughing as she pushed him away. However, Bash's smile quickly disappeared and was replaced by a look that Alex couldn’t read. "Now you need to go to school and pretend that you just had a bad cold and if anyone mentions posters and you being missing just say that you'd wandered into the woods and I overreacted."
 
"What?"
 
"Just trust me, Lex. Once you're back I'm going to explain further but you're nearly late for school and you've already missed a full week. You know what happens then."
 
Alex rolled her eyes at the thought but said nothing more on the matter and rushed upstairs to get ready.
 
***
 
The school building was quaint and, thankfully, easy to find the different rooms so Alex managed to not arrive late. Her first class, at nine o'clock on a Monday morning when it shouldn’t even exist yet, was math. Of all the subjects, Alex had a special hatred for it. Due to their near constant moving, school was difficult for her as they all did things differently and were on different topics. However, despite this she was able to keep reasonably on top of her other subjects. Except for math, which always managed to confuse her no matter where she was.
 
The teacher was pretty typical, she told everyone Alex's name and asked that they make her feel welcome. Likewise, the students were the same as usual, some gave friendly smiles and motioned for her to sit with them whilst others ignored or, as common with a small town, looked at her with equal parts curiosity and fear. Instead she ignored all of them and sat by herself and kept her eyes on the teacher rather than anyone else. The teacher seemed shocked at this but didn’t comment, instead starting her lesson on algebraic equations where there were fractions within fractions and to solve for x she needed to know some rule and… oh how she hated math.
 
Thankfully the class passed reasonably quickly and at the sound of the bell, Alex raced outside with the intent of finding a quiet corner when one of the guys from inside approached her and timidly said, "Hi, do you remember me? I was helping you sleep - I-I mean I heard you having a nightmare and no one was there so I… uh… you don’t remember me at all, do you?" Then giving her a sheepish grin.
 
Alex had never seen him before and couldn’t understand how he could know that she had a nightmare or had seen her sleeping. "Should I remember you? Nothing about you seems worth it." She felt bad for saying this but she and Bash lived by strict rules in order to get by, and she wasn’t going to break them for every cute guy who came her way.
 
He scratched the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable. "I'm Ryan." He glanced around and lowered his voice as he continued. "I don't suppose Bash filled you in on what happened last night? It's pretty hard to forget."
 
"What? How do you know my brother? What do you mean 'fill me in about last night'?" Her tone grew more confused and accusatory with every question.
 
"Uhh…" he stood there, eyes wide. "What do you remember exactly?"
 
Alex cast her mind back to the night before and only just managed not to cry out when a stabbing pain shot through her skull. She clutched her head and leant against the wall until the pain subsided enough for her to open her eyes.
 
"Hey!" Ryan's voice was alarmed, as he stepped closer to her. "You're not going to faint on me again, are you?"
 
His mentioning of this sent another stab through her and she managed to choke out. "You need to get the hell away from me."
 
He instinctively took a step back. "What's wrong? Maybe I should call Bash."
 
"No, I'm fine. It's just a headache. How do you know Bash's number?!"
 
He shook his head. "I don’t think I should say. What about some water then?" As he spoke, he grew a little red in the cheeks, as though he was remembering something embarrassing.
 
"I said I'm fine. Now whatever your connection with Bash, work or whatever else, that does not extend to me. Now leave me alone."
 
"What happened? Are you okay?"
 
Alex couldn’t understand why he was still standing there with his big, green eyes and messy, black hair. Usually by now people were yelling abuse at her or had walked off angrily or one time a girl had been reduced to tears, yet here Ryan stood, still looking worried and undeterred. Well somehow he knew Bash well enough to have his phone number and to also know her, if Bash trusted him (and had broken the rules) then so could she. "I'm fine. Why are you so concerned?" This time her tone questioning and curious.
 
He shrugged. "No reason, just…" he put a finger to the top of his ear absent-mindedly. "Uh, just common human decency? What? Stop looking at me like that."
 
"Uh huh, and does your common human decency extend to everyone or just attractive strangers?"
 
"Only the ones that get dizzy and have to lean on a wall for support. Really turns me on, you know?" Oh ho, she hadn't been expecting that.
 
Alex tried not to laugh as she responded, "Well you'd find me irresistible at a party then." Not that she'd been to one, but she and Bash had had good fun on her seventeenth birthday when they drank a bottle of vodka between themselves. Surely that counted.
 
Ryan looked away and raised his eyebrows, muttering something under his breath. Alex grinned at her obvious victory, her tone teasing as she said, "What? No sassy comeback this time? But I was having so much fun."
 
He looked back at her and smiled. "You were?" He sounded hopeful.
 
Now Alex felt really horrible, she'd let the conversation go on for far too long and now she'd have to properly hurt his feelings. "Well not anymore, you sound like a lost puppy. It’s pathetic."
 
The smile left his face, replaced with shock, and then anger. "Look, you should talk to Bash, alright? And…" he half turned to go, "drink some water or something." He left then, taking quick strides away from her. She let out a long sigh, whether from relief or disappointment she wasn’t sure as she walked off to find a place where she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone else.
 
***
 
Alex was just leaving her last class, thinking she'd managed to get through the remainder of the day without incident, when the teacher told her that she was wanted in the principal's office. Keeping the fear from her expression she thanked the teacher and walked over to the administration buildings. Even though she’d acted unconcerned in front of Bash she knew who would be in there and she was terrified.
 
At least the inside of the building was air-conditioned unlike everywhere else she'd been that day. She told the administration woman who she was and was ushered into the office immediately, never a good sign. Leaning against the desk was a short, balding man wearing what appeared to be a new suit and in his hands was a large file with her name on the front in bold, red letters 'Alexandria Fall'.
 
"Ah Miss Fall, please have a seat."
 
As he didn’t move to do the same she said, "I'll stay standing but thank you, sir."
 
The noise he made was a mixture of a laugh and annoyance, his shrewd eyes boring into her. "I'm sure you know why I'm here."
 
"No sir, I cannot imagine why you've travelled all the way here from the city when there are far more pressing cases to deal with." Which in a way was the truth, she couldn’t understand why this man seemed to have a personal vendetta against herself and Sebastian when there were cases of children in real danger.
 
"You know I don’t appreciate that tone, girl. I am here because you decided to skip a week of school and your incompetent 'legal guardian' did not know where you were. Explain yourself."
 
Alex couldn’t hesitate or he'd be suspicious but she also couldn’t mess up. She smiled and laughed, acting relaxed. "Oh that! That was just an unfortunate turn of events. I had gone into the woods exploring, if you turn to page three of my file you'll see that our family home was near a forest, and got lost for several hours during which Sebastian grew concerned and put up posters in case someone had seen me. However, whilst out there I must have run past some blooming flowers, my medical report, which is near the back if I remember correctly, states that I get terrible hay fever, and I was sneezing and snotting everywhere so I just couldn’t attend school for several days. Then after that my muscles hurt so much from all that sneezing that I could barely move! You'll see also in the medical report that thi-"
 
"This tends to happen, yes yes I know!" He reminded her a bull, ready to charge if he saw red. "So where are your parents this time, huh?"
 
"They're attending a conference."
 
"What's the subject?"
 
"The effect of deforestation on rainfall patterns."
 
"The seminar on 'the true cost of mining' held only just recently wasn’t enough?"
 
"What can I say sir, my parents are passionate about what they do. That’s why they left me in Sebastian's care."
 
"Ah but we both know that’s not true."
 
"The documents declaring him as my legal guardian can all be found in the folder in your hand."
 
"Don't be so sure of that Miss Fall." He paused and grinned maliciously. "Just remember, you may only be one year away from being declared an adult but if we find anything out of order we can have your brother jailed for any number of charges; fraud, kidnapping, or whatever else we could convince the police of, either way you'd never be allowed to see him ever again." Alex remained quiet, knowing that he would if he could. "Pull another stunt like this and I'm going to have all attention on your case."
 
"Nothing else will go wrong Mr Stalone, I promise you." And she meant it; lack of attention had been what had kept them safe all of these years, if anyone looked too closely they'd surely find out.
 
"Good. You're hardly worth the effort if not for the promotion I’d get." With that he walked past her and out of the room, leaving her standing alone in a stranger’s office to attempt to steady her racing heart and catch her breath. She and Bash needed to leave. They had to leave the state so Stalone wasn’t in charge of their case anymore and they'd go back to someone who didn’t care about the near eighteen-year-old being looked after by her elder brother whilst their parents were away protecting the environment.
 
Alex wasn’t fit enough to run all the way back to the house as it was on the far outskirts of the town whilst the school was at the centre so she had to settle for a brisk walk. This gave her the opportunity to try and collect her thoughts, this first day had been stranger than the one where she’d been asked for drugs by three separate people throughout the course of the day and later found out that the way she had shirt tucked was code for her being a dealer.
 
Most importantly she had to convince Bash that they had to leave. it didn’t matter that he’d gotten a higher paying job than usual or that the house reminded them of their parent’s old home, Stalone was too dangerous for them to stay. And then there was the guy from earlier, how did he know her and Bash? What was going on with her and her, literally, painful memories? Or lack thereof. Hopefully she wouldn’t see him again and all of this would become another strange first day story.
 
Alex was now only ten metres from the front door but she paused at the front gate, there were several cars she didn’t know parked in their drive way. From where she stood she could also see two silhouettes in the window. What was Bash doing? The rules were the rules. Deciding against throwing open the door she stood with her ear pressed against it.
 
"… any hasty decisions. What we need before anything else is a leader, and I personally think that Bash has proven himself more than capable." Alex covered her mouth with her hand to hide her gasp, it was the boy from earlier! And what did he mean by leader?
 
"I think so, too." This time it was a woman’s voice. Looking through the keyhole Alex could just read the girl’s senior badge, Dakota Leighton.
 
Enough was enough, she opened the door and said, "What the hell is going on here?" So much for not making a scene.
 
"Alex," Ryan said, sounding surprised. "You're here."
 
"Yes I am, I live here. What's your excuse?!"
 
"I-I…" he indicated to everyone else. "We're here to discuss what happened. Has Bash told you yet?"
 
Bash grabbed Alex's arm and dragged her into the kitchen. "I'm sorry everyone. Just give us a second."
 
Alex opened her mouth, about to yell at Bash, when he put his finger against his lips and pointed to their full lounge room. She took a deep breath and continued in whispers, "What the fuck is going on Bash?!"
 
"Okay, so you remember how I promised to explain? Well last nig-"
 
"Don’t talk to me about last night! For some reason it makes my head practically explode!"
 
"Well the gist of it is that something happened and now we have to figure out what to do about it.”
 
“That doesn’t explain anything!”
 
“Well it’s the best you’re going to get.”
 
“Bash you are so frustrating when you’re like this!”
 
“Stop whispering so loud! Everyone can probably hear you!”
 
“Speaking of which! What happened to the rules, huh?!”
 
Bash opened his mouth to reply but cried out. “Ow! You’ve got sharp claws little one.”
 
Something moved in Bash’s coat and Alex jumped back. “What the hell?”
 
Bash undid the zip halfway and pulled out the strangest creature Alex had ever seen. “This is what happened.”
 
“You found a giant rat with a skin condition?”
 
“No, its… ugh, you’re so difficult.”
 
The strange creature was making little squeaks causing Bash to smile and feed it what looked like cut up sausage. It then noticed Alex. It stopped making sounds and stared straight into her eyes. Alex was taken over by a strangely familiar feeling. She knew that somehow she’d met it before. How, where or why she didn’t know but somehow. Without realising it she’d closed the distance between herself and the creature. Still staring into its deep, blue eyes through which silver spiralled, she reached out her hand and touched it.
 
Her mind exploded outwards. Alex could sense everyone in the next room. Without needing to be told she knew all their names, she could feel their unease. Wonder what’s going in there-they’ve been in there for a while-damn Bash is hot-something seems to be seriously wrong with that girl-. Alex held her hands over her ears, trying desperately to block the jumble of voices that yelled over each other.
 
She felt hands on her cheek and all of a sudden she was brought from her mind back to the physical world. Bash had his hands on her face, forcing her to look up at him. “Hey? Are you alright?”
 
Alex took a deep breath, the voices were all still there and she had no idea what was going on. But most common phrase was that they’d been in here for so long. She was confused and scared and the last thing she wanted to do was go back out into that room. Alex shook her head. “No, but we can talk about it later.”
 
Bash’s eyes grew wide but gave a nod of understanding when Alex motioned to the lounge room. Putting on a fake smile of his own, Alex and Bash walked back into the room. "Okay. So what have we decided?"
 
Initially no one responded and it didn’t escape Alex's attention that everyone was several feet closer than where they had been before, obviously trying to listen in. Finally, a man bigger than Ryan, Sam she realised, said, "Uh… Really just that you were in charge so we were waiting for you."
 
A few others nodded in agreement and a girl whom Alex hadn’t seen at the school that day, Alana, spoke next. "So what do you think we should do, then?"
 
Bash then spoke, Alex knew him well enough to know he was nervous. However, now it wasn’t just from his unsteady gaze and slight shifting of weight from foot to foot, but she could feel his emotions, his thoughts even. She tried to ignore all that she could hear by trying to remain within her own mind, focusing intently on her own thoughts and trying to tell herself that she was being ridiculous. "Well, we don’t know anything about the cull so we can't exactly move forward much on that point. Nor do we know anything about the few who have had... Strange occurrences," he gave Sam an apologetic smile, "or if anything else like that will happen to the rest of us. So we need to find out. Mel, you said you live with other witches, will any of your family know?"
 
Mel had been standing back and observing the others, her hood up. "Definitely. One of my distant ancestors claims to have been born a little after the last cull. I can take you all to meet her if you like."
 
"Wonderful, if everyone is happy with that?" No one argued against. "Then let's go."
 
Bash put the creature onto the couch, sternly telling it not to leave the house and they all set off. Mel led the way whilst Bash brought up the rear with Dakota. Usually Alex would have felt comfortable in a forest but the further in they went the more uneasy she became. She could see things out of the corner of her eye but whenever she looked it was gone. More than that, she could feel something encroaching on her mind, there were feelings of anticipation and excitement that she knew weren’t hers. The things at the edge of her vision were slowly taking centre-stage, blurred trees and people that she knew weren’t really there. She struggled hard to remain grounded in her own reality but she now felt like an outsider, no longer in control of her body.
 
"Hey," Ryan said, coming up beside Alex. "So did you talk to Bash?"
 
"He did,” her voice was airy and as though she were in a dream but there was nothing she could do about it. “He showed me a giant, scaly rat. I touched it and now I feel strange."
 
Ryan frowned. "You mean the dragon?"
 
"Oh is that what it was?"
 
"Well, either that or a giant shared hallucination between the eight of us."
 
"Don’t speak of hallucinations right now," she shook her head as if trying to rid water from her ears. Somehow that managed to help her regain some control of herself.
 
"Are you feeling any better?"
 
"Better isn't the word I’d use."
 
"And I'm guessing you still don’t remember anything." He sounded disappointed.
 
"No, Bash said that I told him that I wouldn’t remember anything."
 
"You did seem pretty out of it. I would fill you in but you almost fainted last time I mentioned anything."
 
She was still very out of it. "Apparently it has something to do with the rat- uh, dragon."
 
He nodded. "It kind of hatched last night."
 
Have to find the matriarch-the matriarch is somewhere-must find her-
 
“What?” Ryan asked, looking confused.
 
Alex opened her mouth even though she had no idea how she was going to explain what was going on but she couldn’t rid herself of the overpowering minds nearby. Instead, their words spewed from her mouth. “The matria-hungry, why can’t we ta-she’s here I can sme-“
 
“Alex, what’s going on?”
 
“Have to find he-the coven must survi-SHE’S HERE!” Their voices tore at her mind and her throat. Alex had dropped to her knees and clutched at the ground that she couldn’t see. She could tell that they weren’t purposefully forcing themselves on her mind, they just seemed to be so powerful that she couldn’t help but hear it; like a loud speaker at full volume.
 
Dakota screamed behind them, followed by Bash yelling out, "Dakota! Let go of m-" With a thud that Alex could hear from this far, Bash was cut off.
 
Despite their elation at finding the matriarch a more powerful mind intruded on Alex’s thoughts, she recognised it as Alana and it was now her thoughts that she screamed. "There are ruins, path lies beyond. A door built into a mountain, open. A scream, and so much blood on the walls. There's a room, Dakota is lying on the floor. She's been bitten; she's not moving!"
With more strength that Alex thought she had she forced the foreign thoughts from her mind and ran to Bash's side. Sinking into the mud beside him she cradled his head in her lap, there was a sickly dent in his head and she realised that the ground wasn’t slick from rain. She heard the others run over, everyone stood at a distance many with wide eyes and mouths agape.
 
Mel was the first to approach and if not for the sure look in her eyes Alex would have told her to back off. She knelt down and inspected his wounds. "He needs to be healed, now. Ryan, Sam, can you carry Bash? I know someone who could help him."
 
Alana, who had been pinching her nose to stop the blood that had already soaked the front of her shirt, said quietly, "But what about Kota?"
 
What about her? Alex wanted to ask. Her brother was dying! Before Alex could voice her thoughts, Mel responded, "She's gone, we can deal with that later. Right now, Bash is dying." Alex almost thanked her, what she'd said was far more eloquent than the tirade she'd been about to unleash.
 
"But she wasn’t moving," Alana said, looking around desperately at everyone in turn.
 
Sam stepped forward and knelt beside Bash to pick him up, giving Alex a moment to take a breath before speaking. "Neither is my brother. If we don’t help him now, then he will die."
 
Alana bowed her head. "Okay, let’s go."
 
Sam stood, easily carrying Bash in his arms. "As soon as we’ve gotten Bash to the witches then we can search for Dakota."
 
Alex didn’t care about that though, as heartless as she knew that was, the only thing that mattered was saving her brother.