Laura’s idea of fun was holding ourselves in our room while we watched reruns of “Gilmore Girls,” painted our nails and stuffed our faces full of junk food. I had to admit I was having a good time. However around midafternoon I was itching to go explore, and if that meant I ended up at the pool- I was okay with that.
“Hey, I’m thinking about going to check out the pool. Want to come?”
“Oh no chika, I just stuffed my face full of Doritos, I’m not swim suit ready.”
I chuckled, typical. “Totally fine, but I’m going to go anyway.”
She shrugged “Suit yourself, but I can’t promise to save you any munchies for later.”
I went into my room to dig through my suitcases, for a brief second I thought about staying in to unpack, but the need to swim was overwhelming,
I basically ran the last half of the way back to my dorm room,“Laura, you’ll never guess what…”“CHARLEE, so glad your back, we have a visitor.”“Sebastian I swear…”“Sebastian?” “I would hope you aren’t talking about Sebastian Lane.” The voice cut like glass. I looked over and saw Mrs. Henderson sitting at our kitchen table.I looked over at Laura and she gave me a shut the fuck up if you want to live look.“Oh, uh, Hi Mrs. Henderson. Nice to see you again.”“I highly doubt that dear.”“Now, Laura here as told me that she accidently
After the whole tattoo debacle, I grilled Laura. Was she sure she didn’t know what it was? Did it have something to do with what happened at the beach? I thought it was a dream, could it have been real? After promising me she would help me figure it out tomorrow, she went off to bed and left me alone with my thoughts. After another night of tossing and turning, I fell into a deep sleep.Where was I? The sun was shining almost too brightly. I heard laughter and looked off to my side. It was that man again, the one from my dream last night, only this time he was happy. Smiling and laughing as he chased a girl around in the sand. He eventually caught her and tossed her into the ocean. She was laughing, she ran over to him and kissed him. It looked like the kind of kiss one felt throughout their entire body. I felt like I was intruding, again. I couldn’t help myself
I felt Sebastian’s absence in my bones, it was a chill I couldn’t shake. It felt as though my heart was bleeding and pouring out into the water around me, I couldn’t stop the tears. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed in the pool, just that when I got out my lips were blue. I made my way back to my dorm in my sopping wet clothes, all I wanted was a hot shower and sleep. I barely made it through the door“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Laura’s voice hit an octave I wasn’t sure was possible “You just left me there with Parker and his goons. It was unbearable, he kept asking where you went, what you’ve said about him…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at me, “Oh my god Charlee, are you okay?”“I don’t think so.” I leaned on her and let the tears flow, luckily for me Laura didn’t press the subject any further, just let me
I found myself entering Olivia’s office in just my towel, perfect. She motioned for me to take a seat, and I begrudgingly obliged.“Care to explain what exactly happened?”“Not really.” Where was this attitude coming from? I should be scared shouldn’t I? Instead, I felt mildly irritated, she attacked me.“Ms. Jones, you’d do well to remember that you are here on scholarship, fighting between anyone especially different affinities is STRICTLY prohibited.”I hated being chastised.Weak, we can take her. It was that voice again, it startled me and I jumped.“Ms. Jones? I’m losing my patience.”“I don’t know what happened, o
Laura ran off to her room and I figured it was best not to bother her for the rest of the day. In hopes of being a good roommate and wanting to convince her I wasn’t going to hurt her, I decided I would go to the beach. For a brief second I considered going to the pool, but shuddered at the thought of going back there. Beach it was. I quickly changed out of my clothes and into my swimsuit, wanting to give Laura as much space as she deemed necessary.As I made my way I noticed a group of students playing some form of football but the ball never touched the ground, they all had silver eyes. That made sense. The campus was beautiful, the grass was almost an unnatural shade of green, with vines running up the sides of the buildings, it looked like a picture from a fantasy. I laughed to myself, of course it would. I shook my head, and made my way into the dense forest that would lead me to the ocean. I took my time, noticing the difference
I’m a fucking dragon.Yes, we are.There was the voice again.“uh, dragon?” I thoughtYesHoly shit. I was losing my mind, I’m talking to myself, in my head and apparently it’s a DRAGON, or I’m a dragon. My thoughts raced, what was I? Am I stuck like this forever? Why can I breathe under water? Oh my god, they really are going to kill me.Calm down, I will answer everything you want to know.“Uh… what are we?”We are a dragon shifter, the first in a very long time. I’ve been waiting for you.“Are w
The cracking of my bones finally subsided, and when I could think straight I realized I was at the shores edge, two legs instead of four.“Our rider?” I asked.Silence surrounded me, great. I guess I will just have to wait until next time.Shit, I really needed to get back to the room, even if Laura was scared of me. I started my trek back to the main campus, marveling at how even in the dark everything seemed unnaturally alive. The moon was a bit too bright, crickets chirping a little too loudly. The forest seemed restless, the fog had settled just below the tops of the trees, creating an unnatural looking barrier between the ground and the sky. I choked on the humidity, sweat pooling around the base of my neck as I made my way back. It took me a second to realize what I was feeling, and
I was aware enough to realize that Sebastian was handing me off to someone in white, he was very animated with his hands. He kept looking down at me, worry laced his handsome features. A bright light assaulted my eyes, I tried to knock it away, but the weight of my arms were too much to bare. I looked over at Sebastian, who was now sitting in a chair next to me. His head cradled in his hands, he looked broken. Once again, I tried to reach out, instead of failing this time I succeeded, I grabbed his hand just as a shooting pain overtook my entire body, and everything faded to black.“You must wake up, there isn’t much time. Please.” A voice reached my ears. I tried to rub away the inky black spots that clouded my vision but unfortunately I was not succeeding.“Charlee, can you understand me?” A cold hand touched my shoulder. It seemed to zap my brain into full consciousness, as I took in
With no other options left, I decided I needed to head back to my dorm room. I found myself pacing outside of my door, I had been asleep for two weeks, the last time I had seen Laura she was scared of me. Before I could stop pacing and figure out my next move, the door swung open, and I was met with a puffy faced Laura. I was immediately engulfed in her arms, while she sobbed.“I’m so so sorry Charlee, I over-reacted. Everyone’s magic comes to them in different ways, I’ve just never really seen it since we are taught at birth ways on how to control it when we turn 18. I tried to visit you in the infirmary but Sebastian was scaring everyone, I mean like really scaring everyone.”Laura was squeezing me so tightly that there was no way I was going to be able to get a sentence out let alone breathe.“Laura… I… Can’t…Breathe.”
I wasn’t sure how long I stayed on the bathroom floor, thoughts of my normal life before flickered through my mind. How easy it was only being concerned about boys and what to wear to school, now I was concerned about turning into a big huffy and puffy dragon, and the fact that everyone kept telling me I was in grave danger. I yearned for someone to talk too, someone who understood, but I had no one. I was alone. Eventually the nurse flew into the bathroom like a bat out of hell, cursing me up and down for almost giving her a heart attack thinking she lost me. She begged me to get back into the bed and stay, but I just wanted to be alone, and away from prying eyes. Finally she caved in, only after I promised her I would be back tomorrow morning for a checkup and telling her over 100 times that if anything felt even remotely off, I would come back. Leaving the infirmary left me feeling restless, I was unsure if I should go back to my dorm- Sebastian said I had
“Little bird? I’m going to need you to wake up now.”His voice was creeping into my barley awake brain, but it was spreading all throughout my body. Like my own personal antidote. I felt him run his fingers up and down my arms, it was exhilarating, and every part of my body felt like it was coming back alive from the brink of death just by his touch.“I see you responding to my touch, please open your eyes…” he whispered.I was helpless to refuse him, knowing what he was to me. My eyes fluttered open, the light was painful and I needed to blink multiple times to gain focus so I could begin taking in the room around me, it was white, it smelled sterile, of antiseptic- it made me want to gag.I looked over to my left and I saw Sebastian, elbows on the bed, face much too close and yet not close enough. “How long have I been out
I was aware enough to realize that Sebastian was handing me off to someone in white, he was very animated with his hands. He kept looking down at me, worry laced his handsome features. A bright light assaulted my eyes, I tried to knock it away, but the weight of my arms were too much to bare. I looked over at Sebastian, who was now sitting in a chair next to me. His head cradled in his hands, he looked broken. Once again, I tried to reach out, instead of failing this time I succeeded, I grabbed his hand just as a shooting pain overtook my entire body, and everything faded to black.“You must wake up, there isn’t much time. Please.” A voice reached my ears. I tried to rub away the inky black spots that clouded my vision but unfortunately I was not succeeding.“Charlee, can you understand me?” A cold hand touched my shoulder. It seemed to zap my brain into full consciousness, as I took in
The cracking of my bones finally subsided, and when I could think straight I realized I was at the shores edge, two legs instead of four.“Our rider?” I asked.Silence surrounded me, great. I guess I will just have to wait until next time.Shit, I really needed to get back to the room, even if Laura was scared of me. I started my trek back to the main campus, marveling at how even in the dark everything seemed unnaturally alive. The moon was a bit too bright, crickets chirping a little too loudly. The forest seemed restless, the fog had settled just below the tops of the trees, creating an unnatural looking barrier between the ground and the sky. I choked on the humidity, sweat pooling around the base of my neck as I made my way back. It took me a second to realize what I was feeling, and
I’m a fucking dragon.Yes, we are.There was the voice again.“uh, dragon?” I thoughtYesHoly shit. I was losing my mind, I’m talking to myself, in my head and apparently it’s a DRAGON, or I’m a dragon. My thoughts raced, what was I? Am I stuck like this forever? Why can I breathe under water? Oh my god, they really are going to kill me.Calm down, I will answer everything you want to know.“Uh… what are we?”We are a dragon shifter, the first in a very long time. I’ve been waiting for you.“Are w
Laura ran off to her room and I figured it was best not to bother her for the rest of the day. In hopes of being a good roommate and wanting to convince her I wasn’t going to hurt her, I decided I would go to the beach. For a brief second I considered going to the pool, but shuddered at the thought of going back there. Beach it was. I quickly changed out of my clothes and into my swimsuit, wanting to give Laura as much space as she deemed necessary.As I made my way I noticed a group of students playing some form of football but the ball never touched the ground, they all had silver eyes. That made sense. The campus was beautiful, the grass was almost an unnatural shade of green, with vines running up the sides of the buildings, it looked like a picture from a fantasy. I laughed to myself, of course it would. I shook my head, and made my way into the dense forest that would lead me to the ocean. I took my time, noticing the difference
I found myself entering Olivia’s office in just my towel, perfect. She motioned for me to take a seat, and I begrudgingly obliged.“Care to explain what exactly happened?”“Not really.” Where was this attitude coming from? I should be scared shouldn’t I? Instead, I felt mildly irritated, she attacked me.“Ms. Jones, you’d do well to remember that you are here on scholarship, fighting between anyone especially different affinities is STRICTLY prohibited.”I hated being chastised.Weak, we can take her. It was that voice again, it startled me and I jumped.“Ms. Jones? I’m losing my patience.”“I don’t know what happened, o
I felt Sebastian’s absence in my bones, it was a chill I couldn’t shake. It felt as though my heart was bleeding and pouring out into the water around me, I couldn’t stop the tears. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed in the pool, just that when I got out my lips were blue. I made my way back to my dorm in my sopping wet clothes, all I wanted was a hot shower and sleep. I barely made it through the door“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Laura’s voice hit an octave I wasn’t sure was possible “You just left me there with Parker and his goons. It was unbearable, he kept asking where you went, what you’ve said about him…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at me, “Oh my god Charlee, are you okay?”“I don’t think so.” I leaned on her and let the tears flow, luckily for me Laura didn’t press the subject any further, just let me