Birth of the Dragon

Dakota could hardly pay attention to what had been going on in school. The day passed by with her only thoughts being of the little dragon and why she was brought to it. Alana had promised to pick her up after school, as Dakota couldn't drive. She waited by the front of the school, wondering if it would have been faster to just walk; Alana sure was taking her time. She was beginning to become very impatient by the time the car pulled up. Relieved, she jumped in and buckled her seatbelt.

One look in the backseat showed Dakota why Alana had taken so long. "Shopping, Alana?" she questioned with raised eyebrows. Her friend shrugged.

"I didn't bring much with me, and I didn't want to spend the whole day in a stranger's house, even if we all will be spending a lot of time with each other," Alana responded. It made a lot of sense, but Dakota would have preferred to spend the day watching the baby dragon. The fact Alana hadn't packed much didn't really surprise her much; she had always acted quickly when one of her dreams, or visions, came even if that meant not bringing anything unimportant. It had never been that bad though.

"You know, you should really have an emergency bag ready in your car at all times," Dakota quipped, causing Alana to giggle. She had lost track of how many times her bizarre friend had called her in the middle of the night to tell her she had a dream and wound up in some strange neighbourhood. This would be the first time her visions took her hours away, however. It was also the first time her dreams had a truly mythological plot. In the past, Dakota had assumed Alana was just really perceptive and creative, as well as had a lot of luck and a sleepwalking problem. Last night, however, proved otherwise. She guessed she always had her suspicions there was something more mysterious going on, deep down.

Alana soon pulled her car into one of the spots not taken over by other cars on Bash's front lawn. She took a deep breath, both excited to see the dragon again and terrified she would find out it had been a strange dream.

Later, after Alex arrived at the house Dakota found herself approaching Bash. "Hey, Bash. How are you holding up?" she asked, smiling at the little dragon in his coat pocket. It turned to look at her.

"Yeah, I'm doing well." Bash put the dragon on the couch and told her to stay. "How're you coping with all of this?" Dakota wasn't entirely sure how she was coping, but for the moment she felt fine.

"I'm getting there; it's a lot to take in," Dakota responded as everybody began to leave for the witches. She and Bash slowly followed behind them.

"Yeah, I know what you mean; I'm not really sure if I've managed to process everything."

"Still, it's exciting. I feel like we're taking the ring to Mordor, you know?" Dakota never expected anything remotely interesting would happen at Hillford; she thought she would have a quiet last year of school then move back to the city by herself. The city was full of adventures, but nothing quite like this. She silently thanked her mother and whatever made her pick this town of all places.

"I hadn't really thought of it like that, but yeah you're right. Hopefully it won't be quite so life-threatening and dramatic," Bash said with a chuckle.

Dakota grinned. "Is it really an adventure without a bit of life-threatening drama?" she asked.

"Let's just hope there's only a bit," Bash replied, grinning gorgeously. Dakota had thought there would be no attractive boys at the town, but it seemed something out there wanted to prove her wrong about everything. Bash was handsome and seemed sweet and caring; there had to be a catch somewhere.

"So long as nothing bad happens to one of us two," Dakota laughed.

"If we look out for each other then we should be okay." Bash seemed sincere, which caused Dakota to blush.

"Well I'm counting on you, then," Dakota remarked cheekily, playfully poking him in the shoulder.

"Oh god, don't put that pressure on me I was planning on counting on you!" He replied with feigned concern.

Dakota flexed, showing off her nonexistant muscles. "Then I've got this. Stay behind me and I'll protect you," she teased.

He breathed a sigh of relief with a grin. "I definitely feel safe now."

They weren't too far into the walk when the hairs on the back of Dakota's neck stood on end and a shiver crawled down her spine. A feeling of dread overcame her and she froze on the spot, grabbing Bash's arm in a vice-like grip. Bash turned, a question obviously on his lips when he too stopped and his eyes went wide. "What is it?" Dakota asked, her voice shaky and quiet in fear of what the answer would be.

"I think we're in for a bit more excitement than we expected." Dakota turned around and saw him. He was a tall man who looked as though he had just stepped out of a time travel machine, garbed in what Dakota thought was Victorian era attire. His eyes were entirely blacked out and his skin was pale as the moon. Someone towards the front of the group began loudly exclaiming something Dakota wasn't paying attention to, so the man started moving so quickly he was almost a blurr, moving faster than a rollercoaster ride. "Dakota!" Bash moved as though to run in front of Dakota when he was grabbed by another person that she hadn't seen. "Let go of m-" he was cut off by a violent blow to the head and she was sickened to see that it was left a dent in the side of his skull.

The first man lifted Dakota and threw her over his shoulder as though she was light as a feather, then they were moving so fast she could not clearly make out her surroundings. She was too shocked to try and scream, her fright for both Bash and what lay ahead of her was overwhelming. She thought she saw them passing some sort of ruin, then not long later the light was cut off and the man stopped running. It looked like they were in a dungeon with nothing but a small bed and a regal woman standing in the centre.

Dakota was set on her feet and she was surprised to see her weak knees were able to support her as her body shook. The woman in the middle of the room was tall and dark-haired and beautiful. She gracefully stepped towards Dakota and swept her up in her arms. Dakota wasn't sure what was going on, but there was something so calming about this strange woman in the Georgian era dress.

Then, the woman bit Dakota's neck. Pain coursed through her and the scream she had been holding finally released. She thrashed out against the woman, pushing against her and kicking ineffectively. It felt like hitting stone, and if Dakota hadn't been in so much pain already she would have noticed the damage it was causing her hand. When Dakota was feeling woozy and ready to faint, the woman let her go. Her vision was blurry and she thought she was going to die when the woman pushed her bleeding wrist against Dakota's mouth. Her blood was filling Dakota's mouth, and Dakota use eventually forced to swallow as tears brimmed her eyes.

The woman pulled away from Dakota and wiped the blood from he wrist to reveal there was no longer a scratch underneath. She gazed at the girl with interest. "Do you understand what is going on?" she asked. Dakota gulped and shook her head as she rubbed her neck, wondering why the pain had all but subsided. The woman laughed softly. "No, I suppose not. We are vampires, young one. Forced to hide inside a mountain we built our home into many years ago. Our coven is weak as we have no matriarch, and finding a human with the right DNA to become one is so difficult. We were about to fall apart when you came along," she explained.

Dakota could not grasp what was going on as her mind was still in a whirl. Something inside her felt strange, almost sick. "What is going to happen to me?" she asked meekly, trying to back away from the woman. She stepped back into the man who had kidnapped her and she winced. "Won't you let me go?"

"No, you are going to become our matriarch. You will make us stronger and save us, young one." The woman looked almost sympathetic. "Oh my, I'm sorry. My name is Euphemia. What shall we know you by?"

"Dakota," she responded quietly, looking anywhere but at Euphemia. The woman was soft-spoken and looked lovely, but she was a demon. Dakota found herself crying like a little girl and wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball. More than anything, though, she wanted to scream out of fear. Euphemia placed her hands on Dakota's shoulders before she gently lifted her chin so they could meet each other's eyes.

"Dakota, you have nothing to fear," she promised Dakota before snapping her neck.