The Rebirth of a Dragon: Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

  After hearing this, Seth decided that he had finally gone insane because only crazy people had conversations with voices that thought they were you. The voice said,"You're not crazy. Trust me I would know." After this comment Seth thought that this was too much and he began to walk towards the office door, but the hag once again said, "Mr. Drak! I. Said. The. Primcipal's. Office. Now!!" He turned to her and glared as he said, "No.'' His calmness scared him, but he decided to keep at it. She seemed to be the type of person who wanted him to speak and act like a delinquent so being calm and in control seemed to be the best option. The strange thing was that when he acted like this, the voice had gone mute.     

     After this, Seth guessed that the hag would try to call for help and since he now knew that not all the students were human, it was only natural to assume the same of the faculty. And God only knew what the freaking principal could do to be able to manage students with paranormal abilities. This caused Seth to begin to plan. If he went out the door, they would expect that and he wouldn't even make it to the stairs, let alone the front gate so with the corner of his eye, Seth looked out the window. He knew that the office was on the second floor and normally it would be sure to break a few bones, but he did have newfound super strength and rapid healing powers. With that thought he opened the nearest window and jumped before he thought long enough about it , chicken out and remember that he was supposed to be afraid of heights.

       Seth was surprisingly able to land on his feet. Without looking back, he ran until he reached the gate. The very locked gate. He looked behind for the first time and found that as expected there were about three or four teachers running towards him so he did what anyone would do in this situation-he jumped the fence and ran faster than he ever thought he was capable of. And when he saw that they did not have any intention of giving up, even though they were off campus, he decided to keep running without looking back until he was sure that he had lost them. Normally after running for that long (they were really persistent) and that fast he would be out of breath, but he strangely felt almost relaxed. 

    Seth took a look around and found that he was in some alley. It occurred to him that for the first time in his life, he might actually be lost. It was while this problem presented itself that he remembered what James had told him. This was why he muttered, "Crap.'' He decided that the easiest way to deal with this problem was to try to find a phone or borrow one from a passerby on the street. Considering that even if there were any people in this alley, they wouldn't be the sort who would lend a phone, Seth made his way out of the alley... or at least attempted to. 

    "You have to be fucking kidding me! Each alley leads to another freaking alley that leads to an f-ing dead end! How the hell is anyone supposed to make it out of here," complained Seth at the third dead end that he had crossed. The voice whispered, "You could always try going up." Seth said, "Shut it! You're one of the reasons I'm stuck here so I don't want to hear anything out of you! And another thing, how the hell am I even supposed to get up if there isn't even any latter or rope to climb -and I am seriously resorting to having a conversation with a voice in my head. You're losing it Seth." The voice said, "Are you done with your temper tantrum because if you are, I would like to get out of here." Seth said,"Yeah, and how the hell am I-aah!!'' 

        That last part was said at the sight of Seth's own feet going farther and farther away from the ground. The voice chuckled and said, "You know for a guy that's supposed to be me, you really don't know the meaning of the word relax." Realizing that the voice was goading him for a response, Seth decided to keep his mouth shut if for no other reason than to deny the voice satisfaction. Seth didn't know that he had been holding his breath until his feet touched the rooftop. The voice said, "And you call yourself a Drak? Whoever heard of a dragon afraid of heights?" Seth decided that he could keep ignoring the voice or risk losing whatever sanity he had left by replying to the voice. 

     Seth chose the latter and instead put all his efforts into figuring out where he was. He could see the familiar skyscrapers so he knew that they were not that far off. He estimated that they were only a couple of miles off so if he went by roof until he got to a main road and then followed that to downtown, he could get to a phone. It looked to be about noon so if he moved quickly enough and had enough luck, he could get there by three or four. With a destination in mind, he jumped to the roof that looked to be in the direction of the skyscrapers. It was at times like this that Seth was grateful for the architecture in Manhattan that put the buildings so close together.

    

      

The Rebirth of a Dragon: Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

      

   When he arrived on campus, Seth got the feeling that something was off and it was not the normal type of off that he always felt around the ''untouchables." For a while he just continued walking and ignoring that feeling until he caught some whispers and he came to the conclusion that the "off-feeling" was not because of the school, but was because of him. His classmates were eyeing him like he had grown an extra head and rumors and whispers that had his name attached were flying throughout the halls. He heard such phrases like, "Seth Drak is back, but I thought he got expelled for starting that fire" or "Didn't he run away to Europe after nearly blowing Kane Lupe to pieces?" As he walked he decided to ignore what was being said until he heard James call out his name. 

      He stopped and turned to greet his friend only to have a fist planted in his jaw. "What the hell," exclaimed a shocked Seth. James shook his hand out and said, "Jesus, what the fuck is your jaw made out of? That hurt like a son of a bitch. Oh, and for the record, I'm not sorry because you completely deserved it. Who would have ever thought that you of all people would have pulled a disappearing act for a whole month? Never mind, we're causing a scene. Meet me at the spot at lunch..." He started to walk away, but turned his head and said,"Oh and if you don't show up and explain where the fuck you've been,we are not friends anymore." When James left, Seth found that he was more confused than he'd ever been in his entire life which was saying something after the revelations that he'd hd. Just what did James mean when he said that Seth had been gone a month. He couldn't have been gone longer than two, maybe, three days tops. 

     His thoughts were put to an abrupt halt when he saw that everyone in the halls wasn't even pretending to not stare at the scene that just happened. Damn, didn't they all have anything better to do with their lives than gossip? This was his life, not theirs' so they should mind their own damn business. He knew that this was high school and once you were in the limelight, your life was all that was spoken of, but he didn't think that skipping a few days of school could put him in that annoying spot, but then again he supposed that ditching for a couple days after getting into a fight could cause this side-affect.

    He decided to ignore them and head to his class, but then he realized that his schedule was in the backpack he hadn't seen since the last time he saw his dad and that he wasn't sure if today was an even or odd day. Crap,where had his brain gone too? It wasn't like him to go to school ,or anywhere really, so completely unprepared. Even with everything that had happened, he couldn't believe that he could be so careless. Seth told himself to calm down and rationally think of a way out of his situation... That's it! He would just go to the office and say that he was dealing with some personal problems. He was an honor student with the highest GPA with no past discrepancies (if they forgot that fight) so they were bound to help him. Right?

     Seth decided that he couldn't afford to be doubtful so he made his way to the office and asked to speak with his assigned councilor. The elderly lady at the desk asked what his name was and he replied, "Seth Drak." After this, her personality took a turn from bored receptionist helping a student to adult dealing with the delinquent kid that you wish would just get expelled. She said, "Now why would you want to talk with your councilor? You cause anymore trouble while you were gone? Well, it always is the quiet ones that you should watch out for." It took a moment for her words to register because Seth had never been talked to like that by a member of the school's staff in his entire life. 

     Once the words had finally clicked, he said, "Excuse me, but have I done anything to offend you because I think that you've mistaken me for someone else Mrs...Lupe-crap." The old hag smiled and said, "Mr.Drak, your grades to me don't matter to me, but from what I hear you are on a full scholarship. I wonder what would happen if it got out that a scholarship student was that sort of boy." Irritating old hag! Seth clenched his fists and said, "I am sorry, but I meant you no disrespect." "Don't apologize to this bitch! She's blatantly goading you on! You owe her nothing," screamed a voice in Seth's head that was eerily similar to his own. It didn't even have a foreign feel to it like he would have expected a voice that screamed at him to have. 

    "Mr. Drak! Are you even listening," screeched the hag. To which Seth said, "Wha?" She said, "That's it! Principal's office! Now!" Seth reasoned, "With all due respect, I have not done anything to warrant this treatment and refuse to go there unless you can give me a plausible reason." "Idiot! Is that organ you call a brain just there for decoration," lectured the voice. Seth decided to fight back and thought, "Shut up! You have any better ideas? And who the hell are you anyway?" The voice said,"And for a second I thought that you'd grown half a brain, but your still an idiot. Listen, Because I'm only going to say this once. I am you and you are me. The only difference is that I'm your beastly side and your my wimpy mortal counterpart, but don't worry we'll work on getting rid of your cowardice later." 

      

The Rebirth of a Dragon: Chapter 18

   Chapter Eighteen

  The man sat and began to remember all that had brought him to his impending doom. He did so not because he particularly cared about where his brother's traitorous habits had sprung from, but because he was bored and could think of nothing better to do in his cell. So he thought back to when this had all started. Yes, now it was so clear. It must have been ten years ago. Back on the day that he had decided to break routine and tradition for the first time in-well now that he thought about it he couldn't really remember when he had done that before. Perhaps when he was going through his first century of life? No matter, it was too long ago to recall so he put that out of his mind and remembered.

     That day the man was bored. Winter had begun again and it had encased his city in white once more. He was very irritable that day and for the first time in what seemed to be forever he snapped at his councilmen. He remembered their shocked faces that someone who had an eternal pokerface could actually express real emotion. They surely must have thought him to have finally gone mad! And why not? Most others of his kind had already succumbed to  madness and been properly disposed of by their fifth or sixth millennia -the idiots- so why would it surprise them if the man who had lived well into his tenth millennia was also to succumb to that bothersome ailment? After such a political faux-pas, the man had decided that he would just drop everything and leave. He knew it was a rash decision, but if he had already made a fool of himself today, then what would it matter if he chose to spurn  tradition for the rest of the day? It was not as if anyone could ever hope to stop him. He was after all the oldest and most powerful of his kind.

    He decided to go into the mountains and take flight, not because there was any need, but just because he wanted to. It had been a while since he could do that and it was one of his few pleasures. Life rarely held any surprises for a man of his age. Even so, the one that never failed to surprise him, no matter how much time had passed, was the excitement and anticipation he felt at being able to shift. The feeling was complexly incomparable to anything else. Since he had decided to waste the day away, he didn't go to any of his usual mountains, but instead went to one that was a little out of the way. He first had to cross through the woods for a few hours and then hike up for another few hours to reach it. He supposed that if he was human it would have taken days to reach the summit, but he wasn't human. He never was and he never would be. Not as if it mattered. He never could understand what was so great about weaklings whose lives could flash by in the blink of an eye. Not that he'd ever harm them. Contrary to popular belief, he did follow some honor code. As if he would ever be stupid enough to let that fact be known.

    Looking back, he liked to think that it was fate. It was while he was lost in his thoughts that he heard a distant voice singing. The man had heard the beautiful voices of the eleven and fey in times past, but this voice was different than that. It was soft and mournful like a hymn, but the thing that surprised him the most was that even though the voice was surely not sung by either a skřítek or a víla the voice was singing in the old language of his birth.

      He remembered this song. It was about a mortal who was hated by other mortals for the death of her mother at her birth and in her loneliness took to wandering the forest and in her wanderings, she had met and befriended an elfí lad. The song started when they were children and spoke of how as the girl turned to a maid and the lad into a man their bond only grew stronger and then on a night when spirits and demons are said to roam free she heard her father speak of sending her away because there was  no need of such a child here and at the thought of leaving behind not only her elfí lad, but also her birth land, she fled into the forest and it was there that she heard a voice call to her from the river to jump in and end it all. Right before she was about to jump the elf she had befriended cast a spell to banish the water spirit and the maiden returned with the elf to spend the rest of her life with the elf and his clan.

     He had not realized it, but as he listened, the man began to approach the source of that voice and it was there that he saw her, perched on a branch of an old oak tree. A woman with eyes like the forest and hair as black as night, but the strangest thing of all was that even though this was a song of the children of the sun and moon, the singer in question was completely and utterly mortal.

     Seth awoke at this point with the feeling that he had dreamed something important and for a few moments the dream stayed with him, but then it disappeared. He tried to grasp on to whatever it was that he had dreamed, in case it seemed to have some real meaning, but gave up when he found his efforts to be in vain. Normally Seth would have never done something as pointless as trying to remember a dream that can't be remembered, but before Seth fell asleep, he had come to the decision that he would never again doubt another fairy tale, myth, or superstition again. 

    Since he was awake, Seth decided that he would ditch school again in favor of figuring out who the hell had sealed him and what would they have to gain from doing something like that. To do that, he'd have to find someone stupid enough to tell him how to find that Magi guy, but not able to figure out that he plans on pissing off the said magician, warlock, or whatever.

     He thought for a moment and went through a mental checklist. Jack. Would probably stop me because even though he hates my dad, he wouldn't let some kid do something that would send him to an early grave. Kane. Would say no just to spite me. Katrina. Would probably snitch on me to Jack, Kane, or both. James. Is probably human and would laugh at my face if I ever told him any of this. Dad. Would rather shoot myself than ask him for help. Mom. Love her, but she would stop me and tell dad what I was planning. He sat on the edge of the bed and pondered who else he knew that would be able to help him.

     All of a sudden, Seth knew who to ask. He made his way to school deciding that he wouldn't ditch today as he had planned, but would instead get the start of all his problems to help him. After all, that person wouldn't dare to rat him out after the hellhole that she had put him through in the span of only a couple of days.

    

The Rebirth of a Draon : Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

   When he heard this Seth felt something inside of him snap, but instead of trying to punch out Kane as his instincts told him to do, he spoke in a low, and cold voice as he said, "I'm sorry, but what the fuck did you just say?" Kane smirked and said, "Exactly as I said. You had your powers sealed and from the looks of it maybe a little personality alteration. I'm no warlock, but it's pretty obvious that you aren't the same cowardly little turd that you were  a couple weeks ago." Seth told himself that although Kane was a prick, it was no reason to punch him out and that if he were to start a bar fight then there was no way he was going to be able to meet up with Jack. 

    After he took a deep breath to calm down he asked, "Is there any witch, warlock, or whatever that has the ability to do that for the entire fu- sixteen years that I've been alive for in this city?" Kane said, "Are you retarded? This is freaking New York City." Katrina must have seen that Seth was close to snapping so she chanted in, "New York. London. Prague. Paris. Alexandria. Kyoto. Hon-Kong. New Orleans. Surat-" "Why the hell are you listing random cities," questioned Seth. She said, "I'm not. These are just a few of them, but all these places are areas that attract a large number of children of the sun and moon. That also means that if you want to find someone whose got any real talent or skill, you head to these places and more to the point New York is famous among our community for housing the Grand Master of the House of the Magi. A.K.A the ruler of every witch and warlock." 

      Seth looked at her like she was speaking Greek so she said, "You've got talent, but this guy can flick his rest and turn you into lizard dust without even batting an eyelash. Not only that, but his council is filled with the most powerful witches and warlock in the whole world. So to answer your question, yeah there's a lot of people who can do what they did to you without you ever figuring out that it was done to you." Seth took a moment to let this sink in and remind himself that no, it still wasn't a dream and that yes, this was now his reality.

     When this was done he asked, ''Do you know where Jack Giftzahn is?" Katrina said, "Jack, why do you want him?" He said, "I have a favor to ask of him." Kane laughed and said, "You seriously think that the Alpha of the New York pack is gonna do a favor for some coal sucker who probably hasn't figured out how to shift and has absolutely no control over his abilities?" Seth said, "On second thought, screw not starting a fight." Seconds later, Seth saw his right hand morph into something filled with blue-black scales and white claws as this other hand fisted and connected with Kane's Jaw. 

   "Now while he's surprised push him against the bar and put your claw at his neck," came a thought to his head. Not one to disappoint, Seth did just that and said, "I'm sorry, but what is it that you were saying?" Kane's eyes changed to a golden color and glowed as he said, "Let go of me and I'll show you how a real fight is supposed to be." Seth smirked and said, "And why would I do that? It's pretty clear here who the stronger one is." In the back his mind, Seth wondered just when he had become so callous, but quickly shoved that thought away when Kane said, "What coal sucker? Scared of getting in a fair fight with a real shifter?" At this moment Seth really wanted to hit something so he pushed Kane away and said, "Game on. You ready to go?" 

      "Just what are you brats doing," asked an annoyed Jack. Kane and Seth turned their heads to the intruder as Jack continued, "And you, put that away, we're not in the right company for that." this was directed at Seth and as he was about to say that he wasn't sure how this happened, Seth's claw morphed back into a hand. Jack then pointed to Kane and said, "And you I expect better from. You know better than picking a fight with someone who has a lot of power, but no control. Now that we're done with that, what the hell are you doing here again other than disrupting my club with your antics?" 

      Seth said, "I need a place to stay for the night." Jack said, "And why would I give you one? You have parents and a home and to be frank I don't have much patience for annoying brats." Seth said, "I refuse to go home and if you give me a place to stay it would piss off my dad because he hasn't a clue to where I've been since the last time I was here." Jack said, "You are really underestimating your old man. You know that right? Listen here. Aleksander Drak has been around for a few millennium and back in Prague, he was regarded as one of the most powerful members of the Order of Ouroboros. Do you honestly believe that a person like that would be stupid enough not to be able to keep track of his own son?" Seth said, "Then how about the fact that it would annoy him to know I went to you for help instead of asking him for help even though I am aware of the fact that there is no love lost between the two of you." 

    The longest silence that Seth had ever felt occurred and then Jack muttered a curse before he said, "If you break anything, I'll tear you apart, but you can take one of the guest rooms upstairs." Seth kept his face impassive and said, "Thank you for your help" before slipping up the stairs behind the bar.

      

    

       

The Rebirth of a Dragon: Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

     Seth had managed to find a back door, not that it was too much of a chore. It was really simple, to be completely honest. All he had to do was follow the trail of druggies and drunkards that had trickled out of the back door and had wandered off. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he should feel disgust at seeing this when night had only fallen about an hour or so back, but for some unexplainable reason the only thing that he felt was a cold calm to finish the task at hand. Well that and a feeling that he had done this before, but that was preposterous because he would have remembered going to a club before. Right? 

    When he had reached the door and found that it was locked, he thought that instead of trying to pick a lock without the knowledge of how to do so he should just stake out the door. He decided to do this because of the way that a lot of people had found there way out. He surmised that the most logical thing to do would be to wait for another party-goer to trickle out and then sneak in so he stood next to the entrance of the back door, crossed his arms and waited...and waited...and waited until he thought he was going to completely lose it. It was when he was contemplating testing out his new found super strength on the door that an arguing couple came out. 

    Not one to tempt fate, Seth immediately slipped in while the couple was distracted with there own problems. When he entered, the club had been as completely transformed from the inside as it was from the outside. While he was looking at the dark room filled with bright strobe lights and people, he was struck with a sense of familiarity at the sight. He saw people of all kind. Men with women, women with women, men with men, and some people were grinding together in groups far greater than the standard two-people couple. He thought that he should feel disgust or shame at seeing some of the things that these people were doing in front of a large crowd, but he couldn't muster any emotion other than indifference and a sort of righteous anger that he should feel something, anything really, but he couldn't so he gave up and focused on scanning the room for the bar or Jack. It didn't matter him how he found Jack as long as he did. In his mind, the temperamental bartender seemed to be his only lifeline.

      Finding Jack in this crowd was an impossibility and the bar was on the other side of the dance floor. He thought that it would be a pain to navigate through the crowd, but moved through anyway. For some reason, the clubbers tried to avoid him and he managed to reach the bar with a minimal amount of interaction. When he got there, he was about to ask where to find Jack since the current bartender was not him, but instead exclaimed, "Shit" at the people he saw next to him. The people in question were His and Her Craziness in the flesh. 

      At his curse, Kane and Katrina Lupe turned to face him. He also noticed that contrary to everyone's beliefs that he had burned Kane to a crisp with his freaky dragon powers, Kane didn't have a scratch on him. This caused him to say, "Your not burned or dead." Kane stared at him or while and when Seth thought he was going to start something, he just turned back around and muttered, "Fire-breathing prick." Katrina said, "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you go back to Europe?" Seth gave her a blank stare and said, "Europe? Why would I go there?" Then she started laughing. 

     Seth knew that Katrina was crazy, but he was supposed to be some sort of bad-ass dragon now so with a coldness that he would have never done before, he said, "And just what is it do you find that is so funny?" she stopped and said,"You really don't know anything, do you? I bet you even thought you were some human...Oh my god, you did, didn't you." Kane scoffed and said, "I can't believe I lost to a retard who couldn't even figure out that he's not human." Seth retorted, "It's not my fault that my dad thought it would be better if I didn't know anything." Abruptly shock registered on both their faces and then one thing akin to pity. 

     Seth didn't want pity from anyone, especially two people-wait make that somethings since they just admitted that they are not human- who he had always considered to be a little more on the crazy side so he said, "Cut the pity-routine because I am not in the mood." Kane said, "Pity-routine? Why the hell would I pity you? It's not my problem that you got your sorry ass sealed and needed a little action to get rid of it?"

The Rebirth of a Dragon: Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

     "What the hell," exclaimed Seth for what seemed to be the thousandth time in the past few hours. The reason to his distress was not because of yet another supernatural revelation, but was due to his bike pulling a disappearing act. He was sure that he had parked it right outside the park and had even checked the surrounding streets just in case of the extremely unlikely situation that he had forgotten the precise location that he had parked. Of course, this idea was completely idiotic because Seth Drak never ever forgot anything, let alone the location of his most precious possession. This was of course proven true when he had repeatedly scoured the area to find himself still completely bike-less. 

     At the end of this, all he was left with was an overwhelming need to punch something at the unfairness that his life had taken. So he did. On a boulder. Instead of smashing his hand, the boulder had been demolished into a billion tiny pieces. He muttered, "Add super strength to my growing list of 'Reasons Why I am Now a Freak'" He looked around and breathed a sigh of relief that no one was around to witness his weirdness. He may have not liked or wanted his abilities, but he didn't want to end up as some experimental test subject for the government. He looked at the sun and figured that he had an hour or so until sundown and he was in freaking Central Park without a penny in his pockets, a ride, and a cell phone. 

    Seth considered himself to be logical so he looked over his options in his mind:

  a) Walk for over four hours and reach home in the dead of night with numerous

      questions and accusations that come from both his parents. There is a chance 

      that someone would try to rob him, but he doesn't have anything in his pockets

      except the keys to his now-missing bike and his new abilities would make it a 

      Herculean task to try to fight him.

  b) Beg some random passerby for some money to take the metro and sneak into his 

      room without his parents noticing. Then again, his dad is a godforsaken DRAGON. 

      Seth was still figuring out his abilities (out of necessity), but his dad most likely

      has a lot more experience and control than Seth and could therefore overpower 

      him as easily as the European knights did to the peasants during all those revolts

      and he definitely wasn't dealing with another father-son chat after the way 

      he had parted ways with his father the other night.

  c) Walk the twenty minutes it takes to get to Lower Manhattan and ask about 

      that club, what was it called...Club Blue Moon, yeah that was it. He wasn't sure 

      that if he went with this option what he would exactly do, but he kind of knew 

      the people there and it was an option. The walk wasn't too long and if he hurried 

      he might actually make it before nightfall.

Seth looked through each option and immediately took away option b because there were to many cons and not enough pros and more to the point, he had never begged for anything in his life and didn't plan on starting now just because his life had taken a turn for the weird and creepy. Option a sounded like it had the potential to turn into an extremely annoying situation that he was definitely NOT prepared to deal with, even if he were offered a billion dollars up front so this left him with option c. Not his first choice, but it seemed to be a lot more promising than the other two.

     With a point of destination firmly in mind, he set off for the club. It wasn't that hard to find because it was apparently well-known, as if he would know anything about this. God, he felt like some freaking greenhorn after he reached Lower Manhattan and asked for directions. By the time he had reached it, the sun was barely noticeable and there was a huge line to enter the club. He didn't notice it the only other time he was here, but then again, the last time he was here it was only the afternoon and this seemed to him to be the sort of nocturnal place that only was filled with people as long as the sun was dormant. 

     At the sight of the line he muttered, "Crap." At the sight of the bouncer who was actually taller than Seth (this was not easy considering that he was 6'4) and two or three times his width, he muttered, "Double crap." If he waited in line like everyone else, he would be stuck out here until freaking dawn and with the way his luck was going, it was extremely possible that someone he knew would saunter by and recognize him and therefore be under the assumption that they had caught strait-laced, honor-student Seth Drak trying to sneak into a club after ditching school. He could hear the rumors now and knew that if something liked that was to occur than his last two years of high school would be a veritable living hell. He wasn't a girl so he couldn't get the bouncer to let him cut like he saw some girls doing. If the bouncer wasn't a freaking giant than maybe he could get in by saying that he knew the bartender, but there was no way that the bouncer wouldn't see him as some teenage-brat that not only wanted to sneak in, but also cut in line to get into the said club.

    With these thoughts in mind, he did something that the Seth of a few days ago would have never done in a million years. He went into one of the alleys adjacent to the club to see if he could find a window or back door that he could sneak in through. As he was doing this, Seth couldn't help thinking that if this didn't work, he was so f-ing screwed.

   

The Rebirth of a Dragon: Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

 

December 21, 2004-sometime after lunch

     

Today, I am eight years-old. And this is the weirdest birthday ever. First of all, I can't see my mom, dad and siblings. The people giving me a birthday are all bad guys. I don't see why those adults celebrate with me if I can't even leave here. They think I'm just some stupid kid that they can get to do whatever they want, but I still remember papa's face during that time and what they threatened to do to mama. I promise that no matter what happens I won't forget and I'll never let those adults read what I write here. They may have gotten this for me, but I still have siblings and know how to keep a good secret and hide things really well. I know that I won't be here forever too because when I left with those grown-ups papa said, "My little one, do not forget us and know that you will never stray from our thoughts and be one who is close to our hearts." He didn't say bye-bye and he told me to always think about him and mama and everyone else so that means that we are going to see each other again. I hear footsteps now so I'll hide this for now, but when they go away I'll write what happened.

December 21, 2004-early twilight

When those oldies came in they had on these smiles that were just scary and asked those stupid questions about my dreams again. Like I'd ever tell them what I really dreamed so I just told them that I forgot it. For a second, I thought that they were gonna get really mad and hit me like the bad guys do in the movies. You know, I've never been hit before. Not even that time that I punched that guy in school for making fun of my brother. Anyways, they just put on the same phony smiles and Scarface (scariest one) said, "My dear, we know that you are very young and things like these do happen, but it has been been nearly a month since you have come here and that has been your answer each and every time. Next time try not to forget, after all you are a pretty child and it would be such a shame if something happened to that prettiness when you are so young." Now, I may only be a kid, but I've seen movies and read books. I know when someone is saying to do what they want or your going to get hurt. And anyways, out of all those oldies Scarface is the one who scares me the most. I wonder if I should lie, but I've never lied before. Mama says that lying is wrong, but what they're doing is more wrong so I guess it's okay. Right? Now I'm not to sure. I'll see what happens and then pick what to do. It's starting to get dark now and I want to read before I sleep so that's it for today.

December 22-sometime after breakfast

Today they (the bad guys) asked me that question. They were so stupid. Instead of telling them my real dream I told them that I dreamed of papa practicing with my brother. They even believed me. This just shows you what happens when you underestimate a kid. The bad part is- 

     Seth-kid heard footsteps from outside so he closed the diary, absently tucked it in his bag, and hid under the bed. He held his breath and waited for the footsteps to recede. After what seemed to be an eternity, but what was really only a few seconds Kid-Seth slid from under the bed. He then slipped out the door. After this happened Seth felt Josephine grab, or more like yank, his hand and push him through another vortex.   

    This time when they came out, Josephine landed on her feet, but Seth landed flat on his back. He gave himself a mental high-five that he did not faint like a girl this time and then faintly wondered if he was getting used to the vortex thing.He muttered a curse and then said, "If we were inside my memories how come it feels like I fell from some random place?" Josephine helped him up and then said, "Because although we were visiting your memories, I can't just pop both of our consciousnesses into your brain so I took us to a place that deals with only your lifetime." He looked at her like she was speaking Greek and then said, "Never mind. I've got enough on my mind to think about without trying to think about how your abilities work." 

     After this new proof, Seth sat down and looked at the events that had happened all in the span of two days. He knew that he was not in a dream because the pain that he felt was real and he had woken up on his motorcycle instead of his bed so he did not hold out hope that this was some elaborate scenario that his psyche had created from the trauma of getting into a fight. He had no choice, but to rule out the insane idea because of the proof that was shown to him not only by Josephine, but also by his own body. In the midst of his thoughts a cellphone went off and Josephine  whispered a curse before saying, "Hey, I really hate to run after showing you all that, but we were there for a while so I have to head home before I get even more screwed than I already am." Seth absently nodded and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now.

The Reburth of a Dragon: Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

    Seth remembered reading that Gothic architecture was designed to make the visitor of the building feel small and insignificant. He had never before believed that a building could inspire such emotions, but following his younger self, he began to understand and remember that feeling. Now that he thought about it, the feeling of remembering his memories as he watched his younger self experience what happened to him for the first time was sort of surreal and Seth thought that he probably did not want to make a repeat of this experience, not that he had much of a choice the first time around.

       The corridor they were walking in fit the Gothic/horror theme that the outside gave. It was dark because there was nothing to light the way, but from what Seth could barely make out, it wouldn't seem to be appealing even if there was a light. The walls were made of stone and Seth remembered that they felt like ice to the touch. As for Kid-Seth, he had taken his gloves off when he entered the building and was now feeling his way across the walls to move around. As for Josephine, she seemed to have turned three shades paler when entering and as a result, seemed to forget about her anger. Seth knew this to be true because when they entered, she always made sure that they were walking shoulder length apart. 

     Seth didn't want to upset her again so he focused all his attention on following his younger self and pretended not to notice her fear of this place. He had reasoned that if  she wanted to keep her secrets, it was fine by him for heaven knew that he couldn't deal with anymore baggage for a long, long while. As soon as he thought this, a wave of guilt hit him. This was followed by anger and annoyance that he should feel guilty for not being able to help a person who so obviously didn't care for him, but a tiny voice from deep in his psyche whispered, "If that were true, then why did she try to warn you about her dream? Why did she continue to push the subject, even after you had so blatantly disregarded her words as nonsense? And why are you currently in this situation? Would someone who gave no thought to your well being have went so far for you?" Seth would rather deal with his irritation than with the feelings that some  of these questions brought up so he mentally told that voice to take a hike. In response, Seth could have sworn that this voice had called him an idiot.

    This made him pause and break the silence by asking Josephine if it was possible to enter another person's mind and fool the said person into thinking thoughts that are not that person's thoughts. She replied by telling him that although there were a lot of creatures that could read minds and think things into another's mind, but the person that it was being done to would be able to differentiate his thoughts from the thoughts of the alien presence in his mind. When she finished explaining, she asked him why he would ask something like that. Seth thought that hell would freeze over before he ever told her about his inner monologue. Out loud, he said, "No reason. Just call it morbid curiosity that happened in the spur of the moment." She gave him an odd look, but let the subject drop. 

       Afterwards both focused on Kid-Seth because the wall had ended and turned into a corner that looked like a stairwell, but unlike the corridor, the wall adjacent the stairwell was filled with lit candelabras. When faced with this, the child looked at the stairwell with big, fearful eyes that were shaken off after he took a picture of the stairwell and tested the first couple of stairs to deem them safe for travel. Seth remembered that at the time, he thought that he had gone too far to back out now so he might as well finish exploring this place and that he might never have a chance like this again. 

      With a light to guide him, navigation became much easier for the child and with that power came the sort of confidence that only a child could muster in such a situation. Because of this fact, it was only natural that Kid-Seth passed through the stairwell much faster than he had the corridor. And at the top of this stairwell was not another corridor as the ten year-old expected, but a door. And when he opened that door, he saw a room. What surprised him the most was that it was not a room that matched the rest of the castle with it's dark and gloomy colors that seemed to give an aura of despair, but that it was but a child's room that awaited him.

      It was a room filled with the things that any ordinary girl-child would enjoy. The walls were pink with the exception of one side which was a mural of the forest that stood outside, but in the middle of spring instead of winter. The right corner was filled with toys and there was a bed designed for one of Kid-Seth's height in the left corner. It was directly below this ledge that was just under a giant window that overlooked the forest below. The bed was also the pink of most of the room. On the right of it was a bookshelf, no taller than Kid-Seth's eyes, filled with fairy tales and classics in a variety of languages. 

      Kid-Seth had bended down to take a look at the contents of the shelf and before he got up, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to the bed there was something jammed in under the mattress. Kid-Seth pulled it out and saw that it was some sort of diary. The cover read, "J's Journal" in pretty cursive writing. He wondered who J was for a moment and in his imagination thought that it must be the name of the girl who lived here.

      Kid-Seth knew that it would be rude to read someone's diary, but the temptation of finding out what it was like for whoever lived here proved to be too much for the boy. So with a silent apology he cracked it open and read with the present Seth and Josephine able to follow along with him through the same power that had brought them here.

       

    

    

The Rebirth of a Dragon: Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

      For the first few minutes, Kid-Seth walked carefully, but after he was sure that the road was safe he developed a steady, speedy pace and kept his eyes peeled for the scarred tree. His movements were watched by the present Seth and Josephine as they followed his path. After a few minutes, Josephine said, "Hey, I've been wondering something for a little while now." Seth said, "Yeah, what?" She said, "What the hell happened to you?" He asked her hat she meant and she replied, "When you were a kid, you had the guts to go on some treasure hunt to a place that might not even exist, but when I first met you, you seemed to be the type that would do anything to survive, even if it meant being a complete wuss." 

     "That's not true. I'm not coward. I never was and I never will be," stated Seth. In response, She asked, "Then why was your head down and why did you try to make yourself disappear from your own desk?" He said, "I don't know, but if I had to guess, it would be because I know the rumors about some of the kids in school and even though I'm not the type to listen to gossip, I know for a fact that some of those rumors are true and I guess I just wanted-actually I'm not even sure what I wanted. In the end, I suppose that I justified my actions to be one of those facts of life that you want to change, but you just can't."  She asked him why and he said, "I don't know. 'Cause that's life and you don't always get to be the person you want to be or get to do all the things you want to do."

          She looked like she was gonna say something, but stopped because Kid-Seth had found the tree with the cross-shaped scar. It was the strangest thing, in a forest filled only with evergreen trees, there stood the largest oak tree that both the ten year-old Seth and the sixteen year-old Seth had ever seen. It's roots were so big that they reached above the ground and were possible to climb on. It's branches seemed to stretch forever and the trunk seemed to be thicker and wider than a house. And in the center of that trunk was a pale cross that spanned the entire front side of the tree. 

        Seth turned to Josephine to see what she thought, but stopped when he saw her pale at the sight of the tree.  He put his hand on her shoulder to try to turn her to see what was wrong with her, but at his touch she screamed and went into a fetal position on the ground while saying, "Please don't make me go back their," over and over again like some mantra. Normally, he wouldn't have paid attention to things like this, but he had come close to a panic attack earlier today and more to the point, if he didn't do anything he knew that the guilt would make him feel like a complete asshole and he didn't want to deal with that sort of responsibility. 

     It was this reasoning that made Seth get down and say, "Hey, Josephine... Josephine- Earth to Josephine!" With her eyes filled with fear she looked up and said in a weak voice, "What?" "I'm not really sure what your afraid of, but this is just a memory and we can't even feel the cold here so that stands to reason that whatever caused your fear is also a part of the memory and by default not real in the time and place that both of us are from," calmly reasoned Seth. "Yeah, and what's your point," hesitantly asked Josephine. He said, "No one is coming to take you to anyplace you don't want to go...feeling better?" 

       At her nod, he helped her up and said, "But it is a surprise. Even someone like you has things that their afraid of." At this she seemed to get mad. Seth knew this to be true because she quickly walked ahead of him and at his cry that she wait, she turned back to him with a glare that could turn the strongest to dust and said, "You may not be a coward, but you are an ass." Seth blanked and wondered what he did wrong and then remembered that she was a girl and that because of this it would be hard to figure out what he did wrong. This caused him to reason that it would be best to keep his distance until she calmed done and then broach the subject. After looking at her angry form again, he thought,"Or I could ignore the subject and hope she forgets about it and then try to get along with her by not mentioning whatever it was that I did."

      As this had gone on, Kid-Seth had found the pathway and had already maneuvered through the branches before taking a picture of the tree. When Seth and Josephine came to the tree, they just walked through it as if they were ghosts. The road this time was a lot more ruff and Kid-Seth's pace was a lot slower than it was earlier. This time, there was nothing to pass the time with because Josephine still refused to speak to the Seth of the present. 

     During this time Seth let his thoughts wander, but decided to concentrate on his younger self when he realized that all he had was a lot of questions with no answers and this made him regret storming out the other night. This, in turn, only made him dread the coming confrontation that he would have to make with his own parents. A fact, which only served to strengthen his resolve to concentrate at the task at hand. After what seemed to be an eternity, All three stopped in front of a castle that looked like either Hogwarts or Dracula's castle. After a moment's hesitation, Kid-Seth entered with the present Seth and Josephine trailing behind.

       

The Rebirth of a Dragon:Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

     He was falling. It was a strange experience that reminded him of Alice when she followed the white rabbit down the hole into Wonderland. The only anchor he could find was Josephine so he held onto her with both his arms because in the deep recesses of his subconscious, he just knew that if he let go of her, he would never find his way out again. After what seemed like forever, but must have been closer to seconds or minutes, Josephine said, "You can let go of me now." He looked around and saw that they were standing near a house that was surrounded by trees with a single road that lead to, what seemed to be, the middle of nowhere. The snow that he saw told him that it was deep in the winter. 

     After seeing a place that he knew should and did in fact exist, all of his fear seemed to vanish and he became aware of the feel of her body against his. He hastily pushed her aside in embarrassment. Seth didn't think himself to be completely hideous and had been on his share of dates, but this was still the same girl who had insulted him when they had first met and he did have some pride still left in him. He noticed that she was blushing from this encounter and to his humiliation, he felt a burning creep up his neck. She then coughed and said,"So... This is your memory. Now where is the younger you."

     Right on cue, a beat-up Mercedes from the 1970s drove up. Out stepped, a man in his early thirties, Seth's parents, and a ten year-old version of Seth. Seth recalled a vague memory of spending his Christmases at his uncle's house, but his family had stopped doing that after he had turned eleven so this must have been the last time he had been here. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that this was an important memory and that he should pay close attention. 

      Aleksander said, "Thank you again for picking us up from the train station, Jo-I mean Mr. Snow." Seth's uncle turned to him and said, "It's Doc Snow to you." The present Seth said, "That's right." Josephine asked, "What's right?" He replied, "Uncle John never did like dad. He had this thing against foreigners and even if he didn't, he always said that he never trusted a man who could talk his way out of anything, dance, or cook and Dad could do all those things. Every time we came here, Dad spent the entire holiday trying to get him to like him, but he was always shot down coldly." "So why did he keep coming back," asked Josephine. "He didn't. My uncle is still alive, but this is the last time that we ever visited him, but for some reason I can't remember why." Josephine said, "Don't worry. That's why we're here so let's just watch. Your memory should come back as we watch." Seth nodded and they both turned their attention back to the scene before them.

       When they turned back, the ten year-old Seth was helping his dad take their things into the rooms they would be staying at. After they were done, Seth went to the living room and started reading a hard-cover Harry Potter novel on the couch. He may have been known in school for always studying, but Christmas vacation was the time where he had made a rule to never pick up a textbook and to only read stuff that was not required for school. Seth remembered that whenever he went to visit his uncle, there was no Internet or phone connection, except for one land-line, so he always brought books with him to help him deal with the remoteness of the place. 

      "Why do you always do that," asked Seth's uncle from the corner of the room. Kid-Seth looked up and said,"Do what?" He said, "Ever since you were three, all you do is sit there and read. Don't you ever want to do anything else?" Kid-Seth put his bookmark in the novel and closed the book before saying, "What is there to do? No-offense, but the kids who live here are all boring and there's no Internet and the T.V. here doesn't have anything fun to watch and even if it did, it doesn't work most of the time." He laughed and said, "Children are always brutally honest no matter when they were born, huh." he said it as a fact. Kid-Seth shrugged and said,"If that's all, then I'm going back to my book." His uncle put his hand on the book and said, "If I let you do that then what would be the point of this conversation. Now, look out the window and tell me what you see." 

      Seth craned his neck to the window behind him and said, "I see the road that leads to town, I see the forest filled with evergreen trees, I see the snow that has stopped falling and covers everything, and I see your 1976 Mercedes. As for the forest, it should be a miracle that places like this still exist considering that most of the natural wildlife in the U.S. was torn down when the Industrial Revolution started, but then again maybe it isn't so surprising since people have begun to take an interest in the environment within the last fifty years or so." Seth's Uncle muttered, "Right, I forgot that you were ten going on seventy." 

     Seth's Uncle John sat down and said, "You like reading those fantasy stories about wizards and magic and all that, right?" After Kid-Seth's hesitant nod, John said, "Did you know that if you were to go into the forest and you go on that path for an hour," He pointed to a hidden road that was on the right side and then continued, "but go on the left road for another hour after you see the tree with a cross slashed into it, you'll reach a place that looks a lot like that castle on the cover of your book." Kid-Seth said, "That's not true. Although there are records of some castles being built in the Americas, the really big, Gothic ones are only supposed to exist in Europe and were in Nowheresville, Maine so even if a castle like that was to exist in the U.S., why would they build it here?" Seth's Uncle John had a far away look, as if he was remembering something sad from a long time ago when he answered, "Maybe they have something to hide, but you're only interested in fictional adventures so this has nothing to do with you." Kid-Seth said, "Uncle John, I read about reverse psychology and it won't work on me."

       Josephine murmured, "And I thought you were a pain in the ass now." Seth didn't quite catch that and said,"I remember now. I knew logically what he was doing, but what he told me was still in my mind. It snowed for the next few days, but after, it stopped and the weather said that it wouldn't snow for the whole day so I told my parents that I was going for a walk and I left. And then-ow! I can't remember." When Seth tried to remember further, his head felt like someone had taken a hammer and smashed it. Hard. Josephine said, "Don't stress yourself. It's weird that this isn't a memory that you remember, but it should come back as you watch so calm down and let's see what's going to happen." He asked why she was so calm and she replied, "Well, one of us has to be sane if we're both supposed to get back in one piece."

        As Seth predicted, they watched Kid-Seth unable to concentrate on any of his books and spend most of his time staring out the window waiting for the snow to stop. They watched his impatience and on the third day, the signal for the T.V. started working again. Seth's mom wanted to check the weather to see if it was safe to drive into town and the aforementioned forecast came to pass. When Kid-Seth saw it, he asked his mom of he could go for a walk. His mom said, "Seth, I don't think it's safe to go alone." Kid-Seth said, "The nearest house is four miles away and town isn't for another seven. Plus the only people who come here are the sick and injured. This isn't New York and who would want to mug a kid that's out in the middle of nowhere." His mom said, "But-" Seth said, "Don't you also have to go into town with Uncle and Dad so they don't kill each other and if you do that I would still be alone." His mom smiled and said, "You really are a perceptive kid. Well, all right, but promise me that you won't get lost and if you think you've gone too far you'll come back." Kid-Seth said, "O.K. I promise." 

     He then turned and changed into beige thermal pants, snow boots, a white long-sleeved thermal shirt, a coat, and faux fur lined gloves that his parents had bought him back in New York, just in case he wanted to go out walking in the cold. He also brought a small backpack that he filled with a digital camera, water, and some sandwiches that his mom had made for him in case he got hungry. He then waited for ten minutes. When he saw his parents drive off with his uncle, he set off for the path that his uncle had told him about.

      

The Rebirth of the Dragon: Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

    When Seth opened his eyes, Central Park had morphed into a hallway made entirely of light. At least that was the only way that he thought to describe it as. This was because the first thing that he saw was a single road that was a blinding white-blue light. The color seemed to him to be the same color you see when you try to look directly at the sun before it blinds you, but with a bluish tinge. It suited it because he remembered from chemistry that blue fire was the purest form of fire and this light, seemed to him, to be more like fire than light. This could also be why he was reminded of the myth of Apollo's son who got too close to the sun and burned up into ashes, but he wasn't in some Greek myth and he wasn't burning, but standing on that light, fire, or whatever. 

    On the side, there were what appeared to be doorways. All the doors were the same blinding blue-white, but the doorknobs appeared to be in the shape of dragon heads. He looked at one of them and could have sworn that it winked at him, but that should have been impossible. Then again, doorknobs made of light should have also existed far beyond the realm of possibility. At that moment, Seth decided that if magic was real or not, he was definitely insane because magic was one thing and seeing a place made entirely of light was a completely different phenomena that bordered on the schizophrenic side.

       He then turned to Josephine, who looked completely calm and unperturbed to be standing here, and when he did, he had the feeling that all of this was happening to the person right next to him. It was as if he could see, feel, and hear everything, but the phenomena could not quite reach his brain. He could witness everything, but it didn't feel entirely real to him. He tried to figure out what this feeling was and thought that it must have been some type of defense mechanism or culture shock. This feeling even made it so that when he spoke, his voice sounded like someoneelse's voice to him when he said, "Where the hell are we," with a trace of fear. When he noted the fear, he knew that was what he felt and it wasn't the type of childish fear that he felt whenever he thought he got a bad grade on an assignment or test. Nor was it the desperate fear of knowing he would have his life cut short before it had even began. This was the fear of knowing he would live on and on, but in a place where no one could reach him. It was of reaching a place where although he would live, he would not experience the things that a real life would grant him nor would he see the people he had cared about ever again.

     Josephine must have noticed the fear in his voice,  how his face paled, and the widening of his eyes because she said, "Relax Einstein. I may be a lot of things, but I'm no sadist. We're only here to give you your proof and then we'll be gone. So now, pick a door." Seth blanked and stuttered,"Wh-What?" She said,"Any door will do, just pick one... Look, the sooner you do, the sooner we're out of here. Now hurry up. Time moves differently here so I don't want to sit here waiting for you to pick one and find out that by the time we're done here, both of us have been missing for a week." "A week," questioned Seth. "Yeah, and that only happened to me once, but I don't want a repeat because the last time I was gone for that long, my dad grounded me for a month so hurry up," complained Josephine.

       Seth was angry at his parents, but he had no intention of pulling a disappearing act for that long so he randomly chose a door that was four places up on the right side from where he was standing. When he made a grab for the handle, Josephine cried, "Wait, don't-" "Ow, something burned me," said Seth. He looked at his hand and a tiny burn mark was there, but he soon watched as that burn mark healed itself up in the span of twenty seconds. Seth thought that although the healing thing was useful, it was going to take some getting used to.

     She sighed and muttered, "This is why mom and dad always complain about getting involved with dragons." He said, "Did you just call me a dragon, as in the big fire-breathing monsters like in the story of St. Gregory who slain the dragon?" She gave him a look that said, "Really, you're asking me this now," before sighing and with a voice dripping with sarcasm, she said, "No, that's only why the only pathway to get into your memories is the same color as the fire that you used to nearly incarcerate that Kane dude and each entrance to said memory is guarded by some god-forsaken dragon. Now move before you screw this up." 

    She pushed him aside and said, "Wow, you must have been one of those returnees that mom talks about. This is a really strong mind-block and the funny part is, it was set up by yourself, instead of some other supernatural being. No worries, though because yours truly happens to be a bone-fide returnee so even though I don't remember that lifetime, I still got the powers accumulated from it." She then got close to the door and on one knee, whispered something to it for a good minute that Seth couldn't quite catch. After, she turned the knob and said, "Now let's see what we have here."  When the door opened, the only thing there was a swirling vortex of the same blue-white light.

      Seth was still thinking about all the things she had said to him when she had finished muttering. Things like the fact that he had nearly burned a man alive, he might share something in common with Josephine by being a "returnee," whatever the hell that was, and that this was supposedly some weird passageway that lead to his memories. These facts caused Seth to not notice the open doorway of light until Josephine said, "Hey, you just going to stand there or are you coming?" When he looked up. The myth he had remembered came back to haunt him. He was going to back away slowly and try to escape, but Josephine grabbed his arm while saying, "No way in hell are you chickening out on me now after you made me ride your deathtrap twice," and they were both soon falling in that swirling vortex of light. 

       

The Rebirth of the Dragon: Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

     When they had arrived Josephine went to a cluster of trees and Seth soon followed. She sat down and said, "I haven't been here too long, but from what I've seen, I'm pretty sure that Central Park is going to be my favorite part of this whole city." He asked her why and she said, "Hey, did you know?" Seth asked, "Know what?" She replied, "This place is a favorite for both the Sun-children and the Moon-children living in this area." He said, "Oh really? How come?" She said, "This is one of the oldest parts of New York. Those that remember the Earth as it was enjoy the feeling that comes from places like this." He said, "Listen. I know that I supposedly be some weird, strong supernatural being, but I'm not really into the whole supernatural and mystic thing." She looked at him for a moment and then changed the subject. 

   "Is it really so strange," Josephine asked as she stood up from under the tree that was in the center of the cluster in central park. Seth, who was standing a few feet from her said, "Isn't it normal to think things like magic and werewolves and fairies exist only in fairy tales and in the imagination of writers?" She said, "Isn't that just your version of normalcy? If your parents had told you about your parentage when you were young, would you be reacting the same way?" 

     He asked what she meant and she replied by saying, "Take the things that you see every day. The skyscrapers that New York is famous for, the T.V. That sits in your living room, and the motorcycle that you seem to love so much. A century ago, these things would have been far beyond human comprehension, but here you are using and seeing these marvels each and everyday of your life." He asked if there was some point to this lecture and she replied, "If you are able to understand these things, why don't you give your own abilities a chance?" He said, "Why are you trying to make use abilities that I don't even want or am not even sure if I really have?" She replied, "Because, I dreamed of you."

        For a moment he was shocked and then he remembered that she said she was a shaman. After this, his brain went through all the myths that he had read about shamans. He knew that they were the native American version of witch-doctors. They were said to be able to see into the spiritual world, healed through strange rituals, and have prophetic dreams. 

     Normally, he would have blown off such things as silly superstitions, but he had seen fire come out of his own father's mouth inside a room that didn't contain anything that flammable. He also knew that a lighter couldn't have made a flame that was that big. Another factor to consider would be his wounds that had mysteriously disappeared. With all these points he could either accept that the supernatural existed or assume that he was crazy. Both were not good options and he was almost positive that he wasn't clinically insane so for the time being he chose to act as if everything that was happening was real.

     This way of thinking caused him to ask, "Was this a good dream or more like those nightmares that people call dreams to make the person it was about feel good until they hear what the actual dream was about?" Josephine contemplated his question for a moment and said, "A little of both...So do you want to hear the good part or the bad part first?" The crazy option was looking more appealing by the minute to Seth, but he still answered by saying, "Bad first." 

      "The bad part is that there's a chance you might get killed by this extremely powerful, 8,000 year-old, kind-of immortal that really hates you and would do anything to see you six-feet under," explained Josephine while speaking extremely fast. For a moment Seth just stared at her dumbly and then he said,"You're joking, right?" She just stared at him and he realized that she was dead serious. He said, "Yup, that's it. I'm outta here." 

     She stopped him and said, "Wait, don't you want to know why or how to stop him? This is- and you don't believe a word I'm saying." He said, "Yeah, you kind of lost me at the 8,000 year-old part." She said, "Look, I know that this sounds completely psycho, but I swear I'm not making this up." "Prove it," said he. "What," replied Josephine. Seth said, "I said to prove it." She made an exasperated sigh and said, "You want proof, then fine I'll give you proof. Give me your hand and look straight in my eyes." Seth thought that he had caught her in her act, but when he grabbed her hand, her eyes glowed and the darkness enveloped him once more.

       

The Rebirth of the Dragon: Chapter 8

  Chapter Eight

   The man looked at the full moon through the crack in his cell and thought of happier times. He thought of the child he had once been and the care-free spirit he had once held. He thought of his Máder with her pale, angelic features and his strong Páder with his cold blue eyes. His Máder said that looks could be deceiving and those seemingly cold eyes held a hidden fire that the man, himself had inherited. They were both dead now. He wondered why he was still alive if the people he cared for had all either died or betrayed him. His parents were dead. His láska was dead. His bratr was a traitor, unworthy of the love that the man had given him. The friends that were loyal to him had either fled the country or would soon betray him at his trial. 

    Not for the first time, he wondered what would have happened if he had never met her. If that day he had decided to through town instead of going through the forest. Ne, he could not imagine his life without her and was happier than he could ever remember being during those few short years. It didn't matter now. He would probably soon join them so for now he would close his eyes and enjoy what peace he could get in that dark, cold, and damp cell.

        Seth woke up to the dawn with a stiff neck, back, and really stiff everything. This was the second time that he had dreamed of that man and since he had time to think about it, he thought that it felt more like a memory than an actual dream. It was as if he was the man and was experiencing those things. He shook his head and thought this was no time to be worrying about a dream. He had bigger problems, like the fact that his entire life was a lie. How could his parents have not told him that their was a chance that he might not be human? Then an instance of clarity hit him. He was not upset that he might not be human, but that his parents had no wish to divulge this information unless a situation like last night occurred.

      As he went over this information, he got of his bike and stretched. He then made a mental note never to spend the night sleeping on his motorcycle again. He also spent some time marveling at the fact that he had managed to avoid getting mugged even though he had spent the night sleeping on his bike behind some abandoned building in Lower Manhattan. Some higher being must have decided that he had had enough for one night so had given him a little luck out of pity. Seth then muttered to himself, "Now, what am I supposed to do?" "Well isn't that the million dollar question," said a voice that he really wasn't in the mood for. Actually, now that he thought about it, last night wouldn't have even happened if it wasn't for this pest. Yes, pest was a good description for her. 

      He turned to her and in a dead voice said, "What?" She said, "Why aren't you just  a big bag of sunshine?" He said, "I'm not on the mood for your sarcasm so unless you have something important to say, buzz off." In that moment, her face lost all sarcasm and she said, "Hey, did you know that some humans can have abilities?" Seth  thought, "Oh, so she's one of them." Out loud, he said, "What does that have to do with anything?" She then said, "Humans with special abilities always get confused with True Seers, but to call them that would be a lie." Seth didn't know where, but he had heard these words before. This was why he was able to cut her off by saying, "The reason to that is because seers see the future while they wake and only when the moon is in the sky, but those humans with special abilities see the future in their dreams and some can even hear the voices of things like animals because they" "are one with the earth itself," finished the both of them at the same time. 

       An awkward silence ensued for a split second. Josephine broke it by saying, "My parents have taught me this all my life, but how is it that you who had no knowledge of the supernatural, know of a saying that few supernaturals have even ever heard of?" In that moment, Seth thought that she sounded much older than any teenager should ever be. He then remembered that she wanted an answer so he lamely said, "I just do."

      She nodded and held her hand out before saying, "Let's go." Seth laughed nervously and said, "The last time you told me that, I ended up spending the night here so why should I follow you?" She smiled and said, "Because I'm  what you would call a shaman and if you would like to learn the truth then you had best follow me." She began to walk away and said, "If you want to be confused and alone, that's fine too. I won't force you to listen to anything I have to say." He screamed, "Wait!" She casually turned her head and said, "Yes?" Seth felt a nerve twitch and thought, "Arrogant, little tree-huger... Tree-huger? Where did that come from? Never mind. No time to dwell on that." He said, "Fine, but first tell me where. I won't be dragged to some random place and make a complete fool of myself like last night." She said, "Central Park." As he was driving it dawned on Seth that today would be the first time in his life that he had actually ditched school and he honestly couldn't care less.

The Rebirth of the Dragon: Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

      The room that they were in appeared to be some sort of guest room. There was an average sized bed in the corner, a wooden wardrobe by the door, and a table with a couple of chairs in the center of the room. Seth's dad took out one of the seats and sat down. He then gestured for his son to do the same. The both of them just sat their, staring at one another. Well, it was really more like Aleksander trying to reassess his on while Seth stared at a blurred version of his dad while trying to appear calm. When Seth was contemplating this situation along with his lack of eyesight, his father decided to use that moment to speak. 

       He said, "Now, where do I begin?" Seth said, "I think that there's a lot to tell from everything that happened and I've always found that the beginning is as good a place as any to start." At this his dad laughed out loud. Seth said, "Dad, I don't think this is the time to be laughing and I don't really see what's so funny about what I said. I was being serious." After his dad had calmed down, he said, "It's not that. It's just that someone once said the same thing to me a very long time ago and back then the situation was very different." Seth asked who that person was. His dad said, "This person was more like a father to me than my own and out of all the people I have been fortunate to meet in my life...he was the best there was, better than the whole lot of them. There was always an innate goodness in him that he could never shake off. That goodness also made him more loyal and honor-bound than the most dutiful solder." Seth asked what happened to him and his father replied, "Well like most good, strong, honest people he was betrayed by someone very close to him and that betrayal led to his demise, but that was a very long time ago and makes no difference because it's all in the past...Well then, I believe I shall take your advice and start in the beginning."

       "Once upon a time, when the Earth, Sun, and Moon were young, the Earth made a decision to bring about it's own creation and from out of the dirt sprang beings that we now know as man. It was not long before the Sun saw these creations and grew jealous of the Earth's children of dirt and so it decided to send forth three of it's own races to dwell with the Earth's creation on the earth. It was soon after that these creations held sway over the children of dirt for they were indeed beautiful. The Sun had given it's creation more beauty, intelligence, and powers than most of  the children of dirt could ever hope to achieve. 

       Now the god who had created the earth, sun, and moon, along with all other things, saw these creatures and favored the children of dirt for he loved them for their imperfections. This angered the Sun and he ordered his creations to turn on the children of dirt and they became the creatures of trickery and deception that we now call the Fae, Elvin-folk, and True Wicca. 

         When the Moon saw what was being done to the children of dirt, she felt sorrow that they should experience such pain and suffering only because they trusted in beauty, and so she sent three of her creations to combat the children of the sun so that the beloved of their god could live as they were intended. These are the races that we now call Vampires, Weres, and True Seers. And thus the seven races have lived on the earth unto this day." Throughout this story, Seth's sight had slowly returned to him.

      Seth said, "That's a great story and all, but what does that have to do with anything?" His father answered, "In our world,this is our creation story. Ours is the world that only a handful of the children of dirt still believe in. It is a world where heaven and hell is a definite and all stories hold some truth." Seth said, "Our word? Don't give me tha-" At that moment, Seth saw fire come out of his father's mouth. 

Seth stuttered, "You-ju- just-" "Spewed fire out of my mouth," finished Seth's dad. Seth could only nod like some idiot at this.

      Seth's dad then said, "While I have your attention, I'm only gonna say this once so listen up. You're not human. You never were and you never will be. The fact that both your black eyes just disappeared a few moments ago is proof of that." Seth put his hands over his eyes and cursed when he didn't feel any bruising. As he was repeating to himself that this was not happening and it was all a dream, he thought about his mom and said, "What about mom? She's as normal as they get so don't tell me that she can do what you just did." Seth's dad replied, "Your mom is a special case in that she is still human, but her aging process slowed down to match mine during our....wedding ceremony." "Why do I get the feeling that their is more to that- Never mind. I don't want to know," said Seth. He then got up and promptly left the room and he did not stop until he got on his bike and drove far away from the place that had just shattered his entire world.