Chapter #10

Dylan's Pov. (Minutes before the accident).

I was finally given a break from my supervising duty. I had to assist teachers on Tuesdays by training with the junior students. After having lunch at the cafeteria with Shane and the guys I had to go and feed my dragon, Jewel.

"Afternoon, Nina." I greeted the woman sitting behind her desk in the waiting room.

"Good Afternoon Mr. Pelt." She said, removing the pen from behind her ear to write something down. "Here to check on Jewel?"

"Yes please." I winked jokingly at her and she laughed.

"Go ahead." She said after writing. "The mixers are in there though." She added.

"Why?" I wrinkled my brow at her.

"Lately, the headmistress allowed them to their dragons. They're in there choosing as we speak." She pointed to the dragon's keep door.

I straightened my leather jacket and walked in. I couldn't help but let my mind wonder towards her, Aurora.

What dragon has she chosen? Probably one that matches her raging attitude.

I laughed to myself as I made my way down the tunnel, lost in thought. I soon came across Stacey, she was looking at the black dragon in front of her, I recognised him.

"Hi." I came behind her. She spun quickly, obviously spooked.

"Oh, um... I..." She kept fumbling for words which just amused me.

"You're Stacey right? You like that one?" I ignored her shyness and gestured to the black dragon.

"Um, yeah. I j-just can't decide on a name." She was scratching the top of her head.

"How about Midnight, it matches his appearance." I suggested and her face broke into a grin.

"That's perfect." She gasped.

"Thanks!"

"Uh, is Aurora here?" I quickly changed the subject.

"Yeah, I saw her go farther down with Mr Cue, don't know why though."

"Thanks." I left her but she didn't even respond, she kept staring weirdly at the dragon.

I got closer and closer towards the end of the tunnel but I didn't see her until I reached the end where Jewel was fast asleep on the right cell of the room. Aurora was standing on the left side in front of the white dragon's cell, I was still at least twelve feet away from her when I saw her do the stupidest thing ever. She reached her arm into the cell to touch it. Just as I expected, the dragon opened his mouth and went straight for a bite.

"No! STOP!" It was too late to pull her away harmlessly, the dragon was way too close to her. But I could still try.

I made a beeline for her as fast as my ability could, grabbed her and pulled back. She seemed weightless as I pulled her and she fell into me. I loosened my grip and let her turn around to face me.

She could have been killed for Christ's sake! Images already started to materialize in my head but I quickly pushed them aside. Too angry to think.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" It came out in more of a shout than a question. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you have a death wish?"

She just looked on at me, eyes wide. I wasn't getting through to this girl.

Aurora's Pov

So I ended up in Dylan's arms after all, did my imaginations start becoming a reality? Maybe I'll imagine being rich later on.

I turned to Dylan with utter shock, I'm pretty sure I was going to cry. I could feel my vision going blurry with tears.

"Y-you... If... M-my..." I was at a loss for words. I didn't know what I was trying to say, my mind was messed up.

"What were you thinking? Never stick your arm in the cell of a dragon that doesn't know you. For God's sake that's why they put the bars there! What are you, eight?" His constant ranting went on and on but soon I completely tuned him out. He was obviously mad at me, I couldn't blame him, I was mad at myself as well.

Tears soon fell down from my cheeks unto the ground. He immediately stopped talking when he noticed I was crying.

"Hey, hey!" He placed his hand on my shoulder, looking deep into my eyes for answers.

There was an immediate pain in my left hand, I rose it up to my face level.

My tears rolled out more as I noticed the back of my hand was badly scratched out in two. Blood began to pour and I panicked, something about my parent's deaths gave me a permanent and sickening feeling towards blood.

"You're hurt..." He muttered a curse under his breath but I didn't hear. He glared at the dragon that bit me.

"Ack!" I could feel my stomach turn and I closed my mouth knowing I would soon throw up.

As if knowing what I was thinking, Dylan began pulling my other hand. I turned my head in the opposite direction of my bloody hand.

"By the time I get you to the infirmary you'd have fainted. Come on."

Before I could protest he swept me off the ground in his arms and began speeding off.

"Arggh!" I yelled in pain and confusion. I felt him take a few quick turns and corners and stop.

I opened my eyes and saw the door to the infirmary, I've definitely been there before. The blood was still flowing fast out of my hand, it sickened me the more. I soon felt light headed and weak, I let myself lean into him. He seemed to notice that too and kicked the door open. I didn't open my eyes, in fact, I couldn't. All I could do was listen to the voices going on around me.

"Quick, she's losing consciousness!"

"Stop the bleeding! Close the wound."

"Bring the elixir... We're all out, check the bottom drawers."

The next thing I heard wasn't in English, but I recognized it. Someone was casting a spell. All sound soon drowned into a beep.

************************************

There they were, the two very reasons of my existence smiling in front of me. For the first time I dreamt that they were okay in one piece, beaconing to me to join them.

Nothing felt more real than their safe arms around me, wrapping me in a hug that was worth a million hugs. I cried, I cried for joy. Dream or no dream, I never wanted this to end, if it meant I wouldn't wake up again then so be it. But the universe seemed to disagree with me...

My eyelids took their time in opening, it took me a whole minute to adjust to the white lighting.

All I could make out at that brief moment was a silhouette, I'd recognize that figure any day of the week.

"Aurora? Aurora can you hear me?" Alexis was looking more worried than a mother who just lost her child.

"Hmm, Alex." I gave her a comforting smile, she looked like she needed it.

I sat up from the neatly laid white bed I was lying on. There was no sunlight seeping in from the window, meaning it was night time.

She looked like she was going to hug me but placed her hands on my shoulders instead.

"I'm guessing you heard what happened?" I asked.

She smiled at my question. "Elsa, the whole school has heard."

"Then I'm probably the dumbest person in the world."

"Probably." She laughed.

Dylan entered the room shortly holding a tray of food in one hand and two bottles in the other hand. One contained water and the other juice. He wasn't smiling though, his expression was hard.

He waited at the door for us to finish talking. Alexis seemed to understand.

"Elsa, I gotta get going. I just came to check on you."

"Okay." I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Please don't forget to feed Kita."

"I won't." She let go of my shoulder and shuffled away. Dylan didn't say anything until she was completely gone.

"The nurse said to eat this when you wake up." He dropped the tray on my laps and the bottles on the stand beside my bed.

My mind went straight back to the accident. I was asking myself questions, questions only he could answer. He looked on at me like he wanted me to say something.

"What happened... to me?" I managed to get the words straight.

"Besides the dragon bite, you suddenly became nauseous and fell sick. You even vomited in your sleep."

If nothing embarrassing had ever happened to me before, then this was the first and possibly the worst. My cheeks slightly heated up, imagining myself throw up while sleeping. I briefly closed my eyes in disgust. Why did it have to be blood? Why?

"Why can't I remember that?" I rubbed my head.

"Dragon saliva is poisonous. The elixir the nurse gave you causes deep sleep, nothing can interrupt that."

"Oh..."

"I'm guessing you have a problem with blood?" Was I that obvious to read?

I nodded and picked the slice of pizza from my plate, eying it. I loved pizza but this wasn't a good time.

"You don't have to eat immediately, you're still pretty pale."

I dropped the slice back. "How did you know I was in danger?"

"I didn't, I came to check on Jewel."

"Jewel?" I wrinkled my brows.

"My dragon. She stays opposite the cell of the white dragon." He paused for a while and frowned. "Didn't anyone ever tell you about how dangerous dragons can be?"

"How long have I been here?" I asked completely ignoring his question. Of course I knew I wasn't supposed to touch unknown dragons, they see it as attack. For such big creatures they could easily be startled. But I couldn't help myself, why would anyone want to stay away from such captivating creatures. I didn't know how to tell him that.

"About six hours." He pointed at the clock mounted up the wall opposite me.

"How long have you been here?" I turned to him. I noticed his expressions and movement were slightly slower, his hair wasn't as neat as it always was.

He looked uncomfortable at my question. Like he didn't want to answer. Or maybe he was shy to answer.

I grabbed the bottle of water from the stand beside me, I could practically taste my bad breath. I opened it and took a long sip.

"Thank you." I said after drinking almost half of it.

"What for?"

"Do you even need to ask?" I smiled, when did he become the modest one?

"I guess I've misjudged you."

"Oh?" He gave me a questioning look.

"I thought you were this obnoxious Jock who only cared about himself and how to get girls fall for him." I couldn't believe how straightforward that came out, it wasn't what I planned to say, but it was definitely what I thought.

Instead of being hurt, he laughed quietly. His laugh sounded deep, warm and hearty, quite peculiar.

"Since we're being honest, I sort of misjudged you too." He sat on the chair in front of me. "When I first saw you, I thought you were this super insecure Emo girl who dyed her hair white to avoid attention and would most likely end up being a complete nobody."

His straightforwardness certainly hurt me but I didn't show it.

"My hair isn't dyed." I pointed out. That's not the first time I heard that assumption about my hair, in fact, it wasn't the tenth.

"It's really white?" He leaned forward and I nodded.

To my surprise, he reached out his hand and touched one of the long, loose strands that were resting on my lap. I blushed, my hair was a mess.

"That's something you don't see everyday, were your parents this way too?"

"Only my da--" I stopped what I was saying at the sight of someone's arrival.

"Glad to see you're awake, Aurora." Stacey's mother, the nurse entered the room.

"Thank you, Nurse Roberts." I smiled.

"The dragon venom hasn't completely left your system, it will in a few hours. You'll need to be escorted to your dorm to prevent any future mishaps."

I thought I'd have to call Alexis back here again, but my thoughts were interrupted.

"I'll take her." Dylan said.

I looked at him and he held my gaze for a brief moment before looking back to her. His expression was so earnest, I couldn't say anything else.

"Good, Aurora, take this after eating and you'll feel back to normal in the morning." She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a small bottle that had a white, glowing liquid in it. She handed it to me.

I opened my palm and received it with caution. "What is it?"

"Something to help your nausea."

"Oh, thank you then." I tucked the bottle in my bag, since my uniform had no pockets. She smiled and left.

"You don't have to escort me, I'll be fine." I said after I was sure she was out of earshot.

"You obviously aren't." He muttered. "Besides, I'm the one who brought you here, it's only fair that I take you out." He stood up.

"Says who?"

"Me." He gave me a sudden serious glare.

I got up, picked my bag and headed for the door without waiting for him.

"You're not even gonna eat?" He asked.

"I'll eat something later in my do-" I was cut off by a sudden weakness and dizziness. I didn't even know that I had started to loose my balance and fall.

"Urgh!" I winced as Dylan's hands immediately clasped around the sensitive part of my waist in support.

"If you're gonna be stubborn, can you at least do it carefully? Saving you is getting boring." He looked angrily at me.

His expression changed so suddenly from caring to scary, I wasn't sure what to say next.

"I-I didn't ask to be saved."

"Yeah, and you didn't just look like you were about to faint." His sarcasm was clear.

"I..."

"Can you stand?"

"Um..." I was still feeling dizzy but I suppressed it and nodded my head.

He slowly let go of me and I balanced myself again. I wasn't standing completely upright but I was good enough to walk. He slowed down to match my pace.

Once we were outside I started to feel my vision go back to normal, I gave a relieved sigh. We walked side by side across the large school grounds.

There were more guards than usual roaming around in their sharp uniforms of dark blue shirts and black pants followed by brown boots. They were each heavily armed with guns and other gadgets mounted on them, very intimidating.

"You've noticed the guards too?" I saw him look around me and his eyes settle somewhere in the distance.

"Yeah." He answered.

"Why are there so many?"

"Because of that." I followed his gaze to the distance in front of us.

I couldn't well explain what I was seeing. There were a group of teens being guarded and following the headmistress of the school.

I couldn't quite see their faces because they were far from us, they were on their way to her office when one of them turned to me. His face was indescribable, his eyes were a piercing yellow colour and his skin matched the exact colour of the moon glowing on top of us.

The next word that came out of Dylan's mouth made my skin crawl.

"Vampires."