Prologue



I was having one of those days where you just want to crawl in bed, go to sleep and never wake up. I had nothing to say, or to feel. I was numb, even the pouring rain couldn't snap me back to reality. I was just lost in trains of thought- I’m moving? My mom doesn't want me, I have to live with my dad who I barely know and worst of all, I’m losing my best friend, Sean.
"You can come to my house, instead of sitting on your deck in the rain." Sean said, trying to comfort me.
I didn't respond, I couldn't, speech left me. Sean sighed heavily and tapped me lightly on the shoulder, trying to get a reaction out of me. But, I still couldn't even to blink.
"You know, it's not all that bad. I mean, sure, your mom kicked you out and doesn’t want you-"
The moment Sean said those words, "Mom" and "doesn't want you," I snapped someone back to reality, just enough to speak, "Just...stop!!" I yelled, pushing Sean out of the way and running into the woods. When I entered, full reality came back and I finally became aware of my surroundings. The dim sunlight, the wet-green trees, and more importantly the weather. At first, still slightly dazed, I didn’t quite comprehend the rain. It felt like it was drizzling, but I knew it was pouring. The thing I didn't quite get until later, was how cold it was. My hands and face were frozen, but I felt no pain.
After all the pain I went through for the past five years, I can understand why-why I was so...immune to pain. And the more I thought about it, the more I lost my intrepid self.
"AHH!!!" I screamed and fell to the wet, muddy ground. I began to cry as the rain mixed with my tears and created tiny rivulets. I began to shake violently, and didn't know what to do.







Chapter One- Burning Remorse

"Drake, come on, we have to leave...” my dad, Charlie said.
I ignored him and gazed up at the perfect blue sky and fluffy-white clouds.
This is the last time I'll ever see this beautiful place again, the last time...I thought as Charlie grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the car. I tried to stand my ground, but any chance of succeeding in that was slim to nothing. My dad was to strong for my twig like body.
He opened the door and stared at me, impenitently waiting for me to get in.
"Let's go...now!" he pushed me in and slammed the door, mumbling to himself as he walked to the driver’s side door. The driver’s door opened with a loud creak and closed with a loud slam. He looked at me with his green eyes and gave me a smirk. I quickly looked down at covered my sad expression.
"Drake, I know this is hard for you, especially since you don't know much about me...but I promise things will get better!!"
Better. That word sounded fake; like that word didn’t even exist. Nothing could get better, not in my situation. I’m a depressed maniac that needs a miracle to come true. That was my real and only hope.
The cars engines roar when it started broke my thoughts. I looked at Charlie, who put the car in drive and slowly backed out of the rocky and bumpy drive way. I didn't even try to look at my mom’s house; I could not and of all things would not.
"Charlie, um...what kind of car is this?" I asked, trying to make a conversation to get my mind off of my depart.
He looked at me and laughed, "Well, it's a 1995 Ford F-150. It's old, I will admit that, but it's in good shape. Wouldn't you say?"
I examined the inside of the truck, I could easily tell Charlie was a clean type of person, considering there was no dust and not a single thing of trash in it.
"Uh...yeah. I like it, I can't wait till' my birthday! I’m hoping to get a truck of my own."
"You're birthday, huh? Hmm...let me guess...May...20th? Right?"
I giggled to my surprise. It felt good to get a laugh out, even if it was small.
"Yeah. I'll be turning 17. Think that's good enough to be driving on my own."
The two hours of driving went by fast with the conversation going on. We went on rambling about; trucks, animals, what it was like in (haven’t figured out a place yet, throw in some options for me please!!), and the subject that bothered me the most, why me and mom never got along.
When we arrived to my Charlie's street, adjusted myself and examined the area. It was all woods. No life signs anywhere, just...woods.
"Uh, Char-"
"Dad. Please."
"Dad...why do you live in the middle of...nowhere? Doesn't it get too...quite or lonely?"
He looked at me with a smirk, but I could tell he was sad and lonely inside.
"Well, I guess you get used to it, being single and all." He laughed to hide his true, inner feelings.
"Oh, ok. I was just wonder-" Before I could finish my sentence, out of the corner of my eye I saw a cloud of black smoke. "Char-DAD! Look!!" I pointed east of our direction to the smoke.
"Dear god. That's the area I live in!!" He pushed on the peddle harder and the truck gained speed, soon hitting a speed of 110. I held onto the door handle for stability as we came to a sharp turn and about a minute later, he turned into a driveway. Which I was guessing was his. I looked up and noticed the smoke was directly above us. He pulled in slowly, probably trying to hope nothing was wrong with his house.
"Please, please, please." He said, shaking. I looked at him and patted his shoulder, trying to comfort him when I noticed his eyes widen and the truck came to a halt. I slowly turned my head, and my eyes widened when I saw his house in a wall of flames.
“What happened here…I...no...” Charlie stammered falling to his knees. I couldn’t believe it either; my dad’s house was bursting into flames.
“Dad, why isn’t anyone coming to help?” I asked, slowly walking towards the house.
Something isn’t right. You would think the smoke would be darker, but it’s so...light.
I stepped closer to the house as the heat touched my face, growing more intense with each step.
“Drake, get away from the fire!”
“Just, hold on.” I said, taking another step. The smell of burning wood entered my nose and caused me to cough. I examined the house closely and realized something I never thought I would in a million years. The house wasn’t completely on fire, the fire was surrounding the house-like a barrier. And, at that very moment I realized another thing, a blurred shape. Some thing was in this barrier of flames. I turned around and saw Charlie crying.
“Dad, look at this! Your house isn’t on fire, fire is surrounding it and some thing is in it!!” I yelled and pointed at the object as Charlie got up and ran towards me to get a better view.
“What do you mean? Nothing is in there…” I twirled around, he was right. It wasn’t there anymore. That’s of anything was there.
Am I imagining things? No! I definitely saw something in this barrier of flames. “B-but…dad, something was there!! I know it!! Can’t you at least see the house is surrounded by the flames, like the flames are protecting the house?” I explained.
Charlie ambled a little more towards the house and squinted. “Yeah, you’re right. But, I don’t get this? Wouldn’t the fire catch onto the house?” Charlie’s face twisted into confusion. My brown-long hair covered my face and I stood motionlessly next to him.
“Yeah, I know. Well anyway, do you have a hose? We need to extinguish this ongoing fire.”
“Yeah, let me grab it.” And with that, Charlie ran to the right side of the house, trying to avoid the shots of fire. As with me, I still stood motionless trying to comprehend what just happened. I knew something was in that barrier. I knew I wasn’t insane, I just knew it. And whatever that thing was, I intend to find out. Charlie ran over soon with the house and it shooting water everywhere.
“Uh, dad, your suppose to aim at the house.” I laughed and he joined in with me trying to extinguish the flames.
About a half an hour later of hard fire extinguishing labor, the flames dispersed. Charlie shut of the hose and clapped his hands together. “Well, glad that’s over with.”
I laughed and plopped down unto the soft grassy ground. “Yeah me too, is there any damage on the house?” I asked as I patted my black cotton shirt and black jeans, trying to get the dust and dirt off. Charlie examined all sides of the house and came up to me with a hand.
“Nope, not a single scorch on the house. It’s really amazing that nothing happened to it with all that fire. Now, come on, grab my hand and get up.” He giggled as I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up with great strength.
I walked into the house and my eyes widened with amazement. The house was so big inside; at first I thought it was a mansion. Just the hallway I stood in was so detailed with satin walls and hardwood floors. Everything was neatly placed as I walked more into the house, stepping into the living room.
“Well, you’re not what I completely thought of…I must say.” I chuckled.
“What do you mean?”
“The house, the car, everything about you is so…neat and clean. I thought you were going to be one of those; sloppy, unsophisticated, rude and angry dad’s with no intention of ever having a child…and so on.” I explained, sitting down on the soft and leather couch.
“Oh yeah, all those don’t really run into my category.” Charlie laughed and ran his hand through his brown-silky hair, which was a mess from all the stress he had just encountered. He walked over to the wooden table that lay in front of the couch I sat on and picked up a remote. He pushed a button and the satin wall in front of me opened and revealed a TV, which soon turned on. I stared in awe, as he plopped down onto the couch next to me.
“Guess you don’t wanna’ see more of the house, huh?” he said, flipping through the channels.
“Well, yeah, I do. It’s just my mind is still set on why the house didn’t have a single scorch mark, and not to mention how the flames were acting as a barrier around the house.” I played with my fingers, as I talked reluctantly.
“Well, I guess that’s something we won’t find out. I’m just glad my house isn’t burned to the ground. Oh, and about that thing you supposedly saw…what exactly did you think you saw?” he asked while pushing the hair out of his face and adjusting himself more comfortably into the couch.
"Well, I better start dinner. It's almost..." Charlie looked at his watch on his right wrist, "5:30." he finished and got up heading into an emerald painted hallway.
"What are you making?" I questioned, shivering at the fact of Charlie making food.
"Well, I think I’m going to make something simple. Like spaghetti. Is that good for you?"
"Yeah, that sounds great!" I tried to make him believe I was excited, but I was only lying. I wasn't hungry at all. "Oh, where’s my room? And the bathroom?"
Charlie chuckled and pointed to another emerald-painted hallway. "Head that way, up some stairs. Your room is on the second left, the bathroom is on the right."
I nodded, and headed to the hallway and came to the stairs Charlie mentioned. I headed up and arrived to a wide mahogany-painted hallway. I walked up to the second door on the left side and opened it slowly. The door creaked open as red light burst through the crack.
"Well, guess my room is...red." I opened it fully as the bright red blinded me momentarily. When I regained my vision, I stepped into the room and shut the door. My room was big and had black carpet. My bed sheets were a match of the room design; red comforter and black pillow sheets. At the left corner was a Compaq FS7600 computer, placed neatly on a maple-colored desk. Other than those two, there was nothing else.
"Are you serious? I have a computer, but no bureau to put my clothes in..." I sighed heavily and sat on my bed. "I guess I should be grateful for the computer." The room was quiet, perfect for thinking and when you just want to be alone. I glanced at the computer, got up and headed to the desk.
No chair...just perfect. Where am I supposed to sit? I sighed heavily again and pressed the power on. The computer burst into life as the loading screen came up. I waited a few moments before the desktop screen came up. I clicked impatiently on the internet button and the internet screen popped up. I stared blankly at the screen as I typed in Dragons in the search bar. About 20 listings came up about dragons, a lot of them sounded ignorant and crazy. Saying how the lived in the dinosaur era and the dinosaurs became extinct become of them. But one sentence caught my interest;
Dragons-mythical creatures of the sky, dragons often breathed fire and when threatened used a barrier of flames to protect them or some thing.
“’A barrier of flames’, huh?” Suddenly, a knock echoed through my room. I quickly closed out the program and turned off the screen. “Come in!” I said, running to my bed and sitting down. The door opened slowly as Charlie’s head peeped through.
“Hey!! Just wanted to tell you to come downstairs and eat, dinner is done.” I nodded as I got and headed out of the door, accidentally slamming the door behind me. I ambled down the stairs and into the kitchen as the scent or spaghetti lurked in the air. I sat down at the table as Charlie brought plates full of spaghetti. It was good, but I slowly with the thought of dragons running through my head.
“Is there a problem?” Charlie asked, taking a bite of his buttered bread.
“Uh…no…not at all.” I smiled to reassure my dad, I couldn’t tell him about what I read. What I thought and what he thought would turn into an argument evenatually.  He smiled back and took another bite of the bread.
“Ok good! Ya’ know if you don’t like the spaghetti you don’t have to eat it. I don’t want you to force yourself to eat something you don’t like.”
“No…not at all. It’s great!” This time I wasn’t lying, it really was good.  He nodded and continued to eat, none of us saying anything for the remainder of dinner. After dinner, I cleaned up the plates as payment and headed back upstairs for bed. I was still in my clothes from earlier, and all my clothes were in the truck and I wasn’t up for going outside in the dark. As I lay down, the automatic lights soon shut off leaving nothing to see but darkness, soon leaving me in deep sleep.