Trouble

Silver meets Emily's cousins, flirts with boys, and discovers a dragon.

Emily was happy.

    Emily’s vampire siblings were coming over.

    And as it turns out, Fiona looks great in black.

    Recently, we got lockers so we didn’t have to run from our classes to our dorms for our stuff. And it saved a ton of energy.

    After Emily told me her secret, she told Fiona about herself and Yana. Fiona promised not to tell and they all became good friends.

    So the four of us were walking through the stream of people, Fiona trying out the Goth style. Today she wore a black shirt with mid-length sleeves and a matching black mini skirt. Her black eye makeup matched her boots and silver chains.

    “So, I just got a text that said my family is coming over. I want you guys to meet them so you can see why I don’t live with them anymore.”

    “Siblings?” Fiona asked.                          

    “Sort of. So can you guys time me?” Emily asked, stopping at her locker.

    “Sure. What are you doing?” I asked my finger poised over a small button on my watch.

    “I’m going to break my record and run all the way to Vietnam, get a newspaper, and come all the way back. My record is four seconds.” Emily said with a grin on her face.

    “Whoa, that’s not right. Even with super speed, you can’t make it back that fast.” Fiona said, her hand resting on her hips.

    “Oh really? Watch me.” She said, and then she was gone.

    I hit the button. One…Two…

    Emily’s locker door opened from the inside. Out stepped Emily, a newspaper in her arm.

    “How was that?” She asks, and I hit the watch.

    I glanced down when something black zoomed forward. Emily appeared beside the first Emily, a newspaper in her arm too.

    “How did I do?” She asked, grinning.

    “What…” I trail off, looking between the two.

    Then a third Emily came forward, a newspaper in her arm too. She stood beside her doubles, grinning. And of course she asked the question they all asked me.

    “What’s my time?”

    “How-There is three of you!” I exclaim, looking at them.

    The third girl stepped forward. “Silver, these are my sisters. We’re triplets, and this is Raina.” She said, and the first girl stepped forward and shook my hand with a smile.

    “And this is Willow.” Emily said, pointing at the second girl.

    “Nice to meet you. Where is werewolf?” She asked in a strange accent.

    “You mean Yana? She’s in her room since she decided to spend her Saturday knitting a headband instead of finding her locker.” I say.

    “So, want to show us around? Give us the special tour, you know, the one where we can find the best hiding places?” Raina asked.

    “Sure. See you guys around.” Emily said, and the trio walked off.

    “Hiding places?” Fiona asked.

    “To pull that trick that they just pulled on us.” I say, and she shrugs before inspecting her makeup in the mirror.

    Right then Fio walked up, and then stopped when he saw his sister.

    “Hey sis. Did you die and come back from the dead?” He asked, and she scowled.

    “Do I really look that bad?” She asked her bravado breaking.

    “You don’t look like my sister at all.” He admitted, and she began wiping her makeup off.

    “So, Silver, I heard that they added a Solarium to the complex. Want to come look at the stars with me on Friday?” He asked.

    Was he asking me out? Did I want to go out with him? I mean, yeah he was cute, but he was my friend’s twin brother. Awkward if you know what I mean.

    “Sure. When?” I say, surprising us all.

    “Eight thirty sound good?”

    “Sounds great! I say, and he grins.

    “Awesome! See you there!” He ran off with a smile on his face.

    “What just happened?” Fiona asked her face now makeup clean.

    “I don’t know.” I murmur.

         That night (ten thirtyish)…

    Fiona and I were in our dorm, each wearing pajamas. She wore a loose t-shirt and shorts, and I wore a nightdress I made myself. Both of us were in our beds, talking since we weren’t tired enough.

    “So who do you like?” Fiona asked me, absentmindedly braiding her hair.

    “You mean boy wise?” I asked.

    “Yeah. So who?” She pressed.

    “I think Yana’s older brother is cute. But other than him nobody else. Why?” I asked.

    “What about Fio?” Ignoring my question.

    “Fio is… I don’t know. But don’t you think it will be awkward if we dated?” I asked.

    “Not really. I don’t mind you dating him as long as you two are happy. If you do end up together and having twenty kids-

    “What?” I broke in.

    “-then I can accept it. It won’t be easy, but I can deal.” She went on, ignoring me.

    “So what about you?” I ask eager to change the subject.

    “I like Mr. Tron.” She said. Our Calculus teacher, James Tron, was a cutie but not my type. Dark hair, a bit of muscle, and a good smile that always made me laugh.

    “Really? He has a college degree and you just graduated from eighth grade. I don’t see how it will work.” I say.

    “I’ll figure it out. Anyway, night.” She said, and she snuggled deeper into her bed.

    I turned onto my back and pressed my stuffed animal closer to my chest. A small clouded leopard with blue eyes, sewn together by my mother. Besides my twin necklaces (one gold flame charm, one silver-gold moon charm) it was the only thing I could really hold I had left.

    I kissed his head and wrapped my arms tighter around his chest.

         Two forty seven in the morning…

    BOOOOOOOM!

    CRAAAAAACCK!
    RUUUUUUUUUMBLE…

    These noises woke me up that morning. I blinked widely for a moment before rubbing my eyes. Then the alarms blared, and the ceiling promptly fell in, glass and concrete covering the floor. Fiona woke up and ran out the room.

    I glanced down at the floor. My ladder had been broken off somehow and was now lying on the ground. My bed used to be on top of Fiona’s but they just stood it up on metal poles and added a ladder. I was too high up to jump too.

    Staring up at what had once been the ceiling, I saw nothing but sky. For some odd reason they never built a room over mine, but now that served as useful.

    Grabbing the edge of the hole, I started to pull myself through it, my stuffed animal clutched still in my arms.

    An unearthly howl made my turn, and I saw a beautiful creature.

    A dragon, with purple and blue starry eyes and glowing white-gold scales. Silver markings on his head covered his ears and his forehead, running down his nose. Long clawed legs and a scaly tail that wrapped around the building. The dragon stopped howling and looked at me, and I saw my reflection in its dark eyes.

    “Fiery! Long time no see eh?” He said, examining me.

    “I’m sorry, but I am not Fiery. I am Silver.” I say, looking up at him.

    “Oh. What are you doing up here?” He asked.

    “My roof crashed in and I came up here to see the commotion. Are-are you in pain?” I asked, eyeing his back leg.

    “I am.” He said simply, showing me his leg for a closer look. What looked like a telephone pole had been wedged in him, and black liquid was leaking from it.

    A noise behind me made me turn, and I saw a man walking to us. Wearing a scarf, coat, thick pants and boots, his head covered by a helmet, an axe slung over his shoulder.

    “Who is that?” I asked in a small voice, slightly afraid of the man.

    “That is the warden, here to take me back to my cage where I will wait to die. Even though you cannot stop him, can you stay with me?” He asked, returning his gaze to me.

    “I will.”

    “Silver, you are bleeding.” He said suddenly, raising a claw to my head. Putting my hand to my head, I felt blood.

    “Oh, the glass…it must’ve cut my head…Ohh…” Blackness filled the corner of my vision, spreading inward. The last thing I saw before I passed out was the dragon’s face, looking down at me.

         7:36 A.M. (a few hours after the ceiling fell in)

    The first thing I saw was white. White ceiling, white walls, white tiles, and the soft beeping of machines.

    Then Fiona’s face filled my vision. “Silver! You’re awake! Oh I was so worried when you weren’t there after the ceiling fell in-

    “Whoa Fiona.” Stem the flow before it becomes a flood. “What time is it?”

    “Breakfast is being served in the cafeteria right now. You were only out for a few hours.” She said. “Or at least that’s what the teachers told me.”
    “Where did they find me?”

    “On the roof- Isn’t that the weirdest thing? I mean I’m not expecting you to remember what you were doing but I mean-

    “I don’t remember.” I break in. She stops talking immediately before rushing away, saying that she forgot to do homework.

    “Oh and because of your head injury, you can take the day off.” She called before shutting the door.

    Pulling off my bandage on my head, I looked in the mirror where a gash was, a small trickle of blood coming out of it. I swept the blood away with my thumb before wrapping a fresh bandage on my gash.

    ‘Poor dragon.’ I thought to myself as I ran a brush through my hair. I could easily imagine him trapped in a cage, shackled, the pole still stuck in his leg.

    After shimmying out of my nightdress and into jeans and a shirt, I knew what I had to do.

         Fifteen hours later (it’s like ten thirty now)…

    I decided to wait until night to make escape. Thankfully the ceiling had been fixed so Fiona and I didn’t have to move into a new dorm.

    That night I snuck out of my dorm with my stuffed animal tucked under my arm, dressed in a black night gown. Fiona was already asleep, thanks to Ashley, the girl next door, who gave her a ton of sugar until Fiona crashed.

    Pushing out the building, I fingered the map, tracing my escape route. The map was filled except for the center, which was white and marked as ‘dangerous: stay out’.

    I turned and started walking through the alleys between buildings.

         Eleven o’clock…

    It took longer than I thought to get to the white area on the map. But at last I was there, slipping past the gate. In front of me, all I saw was this long white tube that snaked into a tunnel, ending at God knows where. Windows lined the sides, and I realized it was a train.

    Climbing through the open door, I pushed my way to the front of the train. Behind a curtain, I saw a chair and the board in front of it covered in buttons.

    Sitting down in the chair, I buckled in and examined the buttons and levers. Finally I found the gas pedal and stomped on it.

    The train lurched forward, and I stumbled to grab the wheel. I never have driven a car before, and this was the first time I’ve ever driven something bigger than a bike.

    Pressing down carefully, I kept my foot steady as the train began whirring down the track. The brake lever was right by my elbow, and I almost knocked it over several times.

    Finally I had the hang of things. Before I knew it, I was roaring down the tracks, the little bar on the dashboard told me that I was going at seventy miles per hour. This was normal for cars going down the interstate. I wondered if there was a speed limit for the train.

    Soon the GPS on the dash board told me that the track was almost out. I pulled the brake lever slowly and waited for the train to finish stopping. It stopped right as the track ended, and I hopped out of the train.

    In front of me was a building that looked like a jail. Staring up at it, I read the big black words painted on it.

    Holding Cells for Creatures that Exist but Shouldn’t

    Wow.

    Just wow.

    Could they be any more secret?

    Smothering my giggle, I stepped through the door and into the dark building.

     Almost midnight (I think)…

    The map on the wall told me to go to the hall on the left and through the courtyard. I never thought that this would be so specific, but it showed me were everything was. Even a small spot where some bratty kid left their gum.

    I followed the instructions, my feet padding on the cool stone floor. The air smelled sweet, like jasmine. Around me, the moonlight caught on small blooming flowers and waxy leaves. I tucked a small red blossom in my hair before continuing.

    Through a glass door and around a corner. In front of me was a door, and next to it was a small screen. The warden, approaching the dragon I had met last night. I gasped as the warden turned away and started walking towards the door.

    Pressing myself into the corner, I held my breath as he opened the door and walked on. All I saw of him was his long billowing red cloak and the back of his boots. He stopped at the end of the hall, realizing something had just happened. He turned.

    But Silver was already gone.

    12:05 (midnight)…

    Shackled and chained, lying on his stomach was the dragon. His scales seemed duller, and he opened his eye wearily and sleepily, like he hadn’t slept at all.

    He smiled (I think. It’s hard to tell) when he saw me. I crossed over to his face so he could see me, and his eyes sparkled when he saw me.

    “You came.” He murmured.

    Now is the time to tell you that despite the fact it was stupid, I brought the stuffed animal with me. I didn’t want to lose it. I clutched it tighter now, pressing it against my side.

    “I came.” I say, and he chuckles.

    “Just like your mother. Smart and caring, she was.”

    “I’m so sorry, but I don’t think I can break you out.” I eyed the chains and immediately crushed that hope.

    “It’s okay child. Can you do me a favor though? There is something I need.” He said, eyes fluttering sleepily.

    “Yes of course.”

    “I need…” Something was wrong. The air was charged with energy suddenly, as thick as blood. I took a small step away from him, unsure this was a good idea.

    “Your body!”

Author's Note

Cliffhangy! Anyway, review