Dragon's Fire

Four

    I feel like I’m in limbo. My body feels weightless and empty. I look down and see Kayden asleep holding my hand. I go to move but see I am strapped down. I feel panic rise up inside me and my body starts to burn and I struggle against the restraints. The next thing I know the same thing as before, the bed is on fire, the room is on fire. Burning in flames. Kayden snaps his head up and looks at me, his ocean blue eyes are more like ice than an ocean, they stare at me with impossible sadness. He flicks his arm and the fire is gone. Just like before, he doesn’t take his eyes off me. I feel like I’m paralyzed as he stares at me. He looks angry and sad at the same time. 

    “How could you?” He asks before getting up and walking away from me. I struggle for a moment more before I see my wrists are bandaged up. He must be referring to that. What I did in the bathtub. I thought I was making things easier for myself, if I just died than I wouldn’t be disappointing anyone. Kayden wouldn’t be disappointed when he found out I wasn’t who he thought I was. 

I’m sorry.. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.

I was only trying to protect myself….

What will happen to me when I’m not who he thinks, the girl he’s been looking for, for so long. 

He truly thinks it’s me but I don’t know him. I don’t know this palace. 

    Strange things have been happening to me since I got here. Things keep catching fire around me and I don’t know why or how. 

My sweet Child.. Why did you do it? I look over and see Theodora sitting across the room sadly staring out the window

I don’t want to disappoint anyone by being the wrong person.  I thought it would be easier if I went away.. Why is he so mad?

He’s not mad Child.. He’s hurting.. He lost you once, he’s terrified of losing you again. 

But who does he think I am? 

I cannot tell you that Child.. It’s not my place. 

I’m scared.. What’s going to happen?

Trust Kayden, he has nothing but love and room in his heart for you… no matter who you believe you are. Trust him. 

I don’t know if I can.. 

I know you have no reason to trust anyone here… but so far we have done nothing to harm you.. Is not not a sign of good faith?

But what will he do with me if I’m not the one he wants me to be? 

I promise no harm will come to you Child, so stop worrying about that.. I stake my life as a witch no harm will come to you. You are so scared of what if’s that you cannot live in the present. Why are you so scared, Child?

I was already abandoned once. 

I feel myself drift off a moment later. 

    There’s a fire raging all around me, I’m all alone. Sitting in the middle of it, waiting for it to burn me but it doesn't, it just whips past my face over and over again, threatening to hurt me but never fulfilling its promise. I feel myself crying but the tears just burn. I look down and see my clothing has burned off, I’m naked. I’m naked and alone in the dark with just the light from the flames to light my world. I feel like I’m sitting here for an eternity and never getting any kind of rest. The flames just grow larger and higher around me until I’m fully engulfed by them, I am the flames. I have become the fire I was so afraid of. I feel as if my body will explode if I stay like this. 

I can’t take this! It has to end!! 

    Just as I feel like I may die from the anticipation of the oncoming pain that never comes I see someone walking towards me. 

“Stay away!!” I scream out, my tears burning down my face now. Leaving scorch marks on my skin. 

    They keep coming, “I don’t want to hurt you! Stay away!!” I beg of them. I can’t take it anymore. I feel my chest c***k as the fire burns through my core. 

    I feel arms wrap around me, the fire flares and tries to engulf the person holding me. I expect them to start screaming from the flames, to be in agonizing pain like I am but they don't. The flames start to die down slowly, The person is making them stop. I feel like the fire is being extinguished. I look up and see it’s Kayden, he is sweating and looks pained but he doesn’t let go, he keeps holding me, his body trying to adjust to my heat. 

    After a while I am no longer on fire, I’m cooling down, like an ember of coal after it’s doused with water. Kayden pulls me closer to his body, my naked skin pressed firmly to him, I see the flames have burned his clothing as well. His body doesn’t feel hot like it should, it’s cool to the touch. Almost cold, and getting cooler by the second. After another minute he has us both down to a cool temperature. I shiver slightly. He scoops me up into his arms and holds me to him, I warm back up to a normal temperature, his body heat regulating me. 

“It’s going to be okay” He says as he looks at me. 

“I’m scared,” I whisper. 

“I know” He says 

    I wake up in a cold sweat. My body feels cold like in my dream. I look around the room and see Kayden in a chair beside me. Theodora is standing beside me with a hand on my shoulder and her other on Kayden’s shoulder, they both look at me like I’m some kind of museum exhibit.  

    I stare back at them like a feral cat, looking for some way to escape their gazes. 

“Kayden, why don’t you go get her some food?” Theodora says. He hesitates for a moment before nodding and leaving the room. 

    She walks around the room for a minute before coming over to me. “I’m going to untie your restraints but you have to promise not to make any foolish moves okay?” 

    I nod in agreement after a moment of thinking, there's nowhere I can go anyways. I sit and watch as she unbuckles the straps and sits beside me. I sit up a little bit and rub my wrists gently, avoiding the bandages. 

    “So your dream...Yes Child we saw it... I know you feel all alone, but you need to understand we are here to help you. We want to help you, you just need to give us a chance to do that okay?”  

How could they have seen my dream? 

Is that way Kayden was in it?

    “I can see you are confused, allow me to explain.. I am a witch… I have been helping Kayden for years, and his father before him. I have been with this family since the beginning. My bloodline has been around for centuries and we have practiced the craft for just as long” She explains. 

I stare at her, waiting for her to continue. 

“See the thing is, there’s things happening to you right? Things you can’t explain?” 

I nod. 

“Well the reason is because of who you are.. Who you really are” I shake my head, 

No. I can’t be the person they think I am. I’m just an orphan. 

I shift in the bed and push my face into the pillow. 

    “I can see you need more time, I’ll let you rest” She gets up and excuses herself from the room. Kayden comes back with a plate of food and makes me eat. I feel sick afterwards and pull the covers back over myself. I close my eyes and try to go back to sleep. 

    “I’m going to keep you in here for now. I don’t want a repeat of earlier… I will have someone watching you at all times when I’m not here” He says. I don’t respond. 

    “I just want to keep you safe..” He goes on. 

Safe from what exactly?

    “Will you at least look at me when I talk to you?” I can sense him getting frustrated. Maybe he will finally show me his full rage now. See what I’m dealing with. I don’t move and I hear him punch the wall. I peek through the blanket and see his arm is through the wall and plaster all over the floor. He pulls his hand out and storms out of the room. 

    He doesn’t come back for the rest of the day, there is a lady sitting in a chair in the corner of the room watching me. I ignore her and go to sleep. 

    Days go by and Kayden only comes to see me once, I just stay in the bed and ignore the world around me, when I’m not sleeping I stare out the window and watch the birds fly around. 

    One night I cannot sleep and I go to the window, opening it up. The watcher is asleep in the chair. I look out the window and see I’m only on the second floor. I look down and see there is a small ledge, I crawl out and slide down the ledge and jump down to the ground. I land on my feet but my ankles are weak and I fall to my knees. I open my mouth to cry but nothing comes out. I get to my feet and start walking.  

    The night air feels amazing on my skin, I’ve been cooped up for what feels like a month. I don’t know how long I’ve been gone for, 

A week? A month? Six months? 

    My feet are damp from the dew on the grass, I like the way it feels between my toes. I smile to myself as I take deep breaths. I can hear an owl somewhere nearby, it calls into the night. 

    I try to keep to the big castle as I walk but it’s dark and I don’t know the area. I feel like I’m getting lost. I turn to go back and Kayden is standing a few feet away from me. 

    “What are you doing out here?” He asks. He’s wearing only a pair of sweatpants, hanging low on his hips. I swallow hard, surveying him, he has an amazing body, a six pack and large muscular arms. His broad shoulders cast a shadow on the ground with the moonlight behind him. My mouth goes dry as I stare at him. He steps closer to me, his blue eyes pulling me in. 

    “It’s dangerous to be out here alone.. Let’s go back.. If you want to go for a walk, tell me. I’ll take you outside” He holds his hand out and I hesitantly take it, he leads me back to the castle. 

    I think he is going to take me back to the hospital room but instead he brings me back to the room from before, 

    “No more suicide attempts…” He says watching me closely, I nod in agreement and slide into the bed. I watch as he goes over to the couch, facing me he lays down. We watch each other for a while before I fall asleep.