The Human's Demon Dragon

Music played in the background. Ellie sat behind her dressing table, gazing at her reflection as she applied a bit of make-up. “Where is James taking you?” her friend, Olivia, asked shyly. Ellie blushed and glanced down at her phone. Olivia couldn’t come over to her place because Olivia’s parents were strict on her, especially going to her friend’s in the middle of the night was a no-go. So, Olivia and Ellie were talking over the phone. “You know, Look Out Point?” Ellie asked, applying lipstick. Her friend answered ‘yes,’ “we will be having a picnic there and watch as the sunsets. Oh, so romantic.” She sighed dreamingly. “Indeed, so romantic,” Olivia said in a flat tone. Ellie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ollie, I swear you need to talk to your parents about having a social life. You are a fifteen-year-old teenager who hides away because she’s afraid of her parents.” “You don’t understand my parents...” Ellie grabbed her phone, switched off the loudspeaker, and placed the phone on her ear. “Your parents are religiously crazy, but Ollie, you’re your own person, and this is the twenty-first century, live a little. You are only a teenager once.” There was silence on the other end. Ellie knew Olivia was taking in the truth that she was afraid of admitting. If Ellie had been a loudmouth social butterfly, Olivia would not have had a friend. Not to be rude, but it was the truth because Olivia was too shy and insecure. Mostly insecure. “I must go, Ollie. Promise me, next time we talk, we’ll be planning a night out. Please.” She sighed, “I’ll see...” “Don’t see, promise. Bye,” Ellie swiftly hung up the call rushed grabbed her handbag as she strolled out of her room. Meanwhile, on the other side of the call, Olivia stared at the blank screen of her cell phone. She was unsure what to say to her friend. Her only friend. A knock on her bedroom door snapped out of her train of thought, and she glanced at the door. Her mother entered with a blank stare around her room until it landed on her hand that held her cell phone. She huffed her chest as she leaned back on her feet. “We bought that phone for emergencies, not to distract you with your school.” Her mother said. Olivia quickly placed her phone away and looked down at the books she had prepared to read after calling Ellie. Her mother walked into her bathroom to collect her washing. She came out carrying the piled washing basket. As she got closer to the door, Olivia turned, “mum!” Her mother stopped and glanced at her daughter, “yes, sweetie?” Olivia uncomfortably shifted in her chair. “Am I allowed to... date?” She hesitantly asked, lowering her gaze. She suddenly wished she had not asked. As she lifted her gaze, she saw the surprise on her mother’s face. “Oh no, no, no, has the devil tempted you?” She asked, furrowing her brows as she approached a few steps forth. “You cannot date at this age; you must think about your future and God! Dating can lead you to lose your virginity and how you will marry a good man if you are not pure! Pray to God to deliver you from these dark thoughts.” With that said, her mother stormed out, slamming the door behind her causing Olivia to flinch. Olivia sighed softly, getting the answer she needed from her mother. She turned back at her books. If she continued to ask these questions, her parents might decide to take her to boarding school. She does not want that to happen. She cannot leave her only friend. Ellie was the only person who could show her a bit of the real world. Olivia glanced to her open window, and a shooting star passed. I wish I were more confident and courageous, she thought to herself. After hours of blankly staring at the same page, she decided to call it quits for the night. But her thoughts continued on Ellie and how her date was going. She turned to look at her alarm clock, seeing it was already going for ten p.m. she was surprised her friend had not called her yet. Knowing Ellie, she would have called her the minute she arrived home. Maybe her date went horrible, and she did not want to upset me? Olivia wondered, staring up at her ceiling. Or she had a fantastic date and was too tired to call? For a while, she wandered until she fell asleep. Suddenly, her alarm clock rang, causing her to jump out of bed. She was confused at first. She remembered it was a Saturday, which meant getting ready to go to church with her mother for prayer and then coming back to prepare brunch. Later, do more studying and reading for Monday, then layout her Sunday dress for tomorrow’s service. Olivia silently groaned and grabbed her phone, checking if she missed any calls from her friend. But there was nothing. She hummed in confusion before shrugging her shoulders as she slipped out of bed and went to have a shower. After her shower and was dressed, she went downstairs to the kitchen. She was noticing the eerie silence. Unusual for a typical Saturday. Then she saw her parents seated with Mrs. Reed, Ellie’s mother, by the dining table. She felt her heart drop, realizing bad news was heading her way. “Good morning, everyone?” She asked instead of greeting. Her mother stared at her with a strained look but with a slight pity, “Olivia, please sit down.” She said in a low tone. Olivia hesitated at first, but she saw the tired and heartbroken look on Mrs. Reed’s face as she approached the table. Her eyes had bags and swollen as if she was crying all night. Olivia became more nervous, worried that something terrible had happened to her best friend. Once seated, Mrs. Reed cleared her throat and took in a few deep breaths before turning her gaze to Olivia. “Olivia... I don’t know how I should tell you this...” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and eyes began to water, “... the was a fire in the forest... No one knows how it happened and...” Mrs. Reed turned away, avoiding Olivia’s gaze. Watching this, Olivia turned to her parents. Her heart paced fast in fear for the worst. Was Ellie hurt!? Was she okay? What happened? Her eyes asked the questions to her parents, but they took deep breaths, awkwardly cleared their throats, and looked away. Mrs. Reed took a few more breaths and turned back to Olivia, “Ellie and James were there, and the car caught on fire...” As tears streamed down on her face, tears began to build in Olivia’s eyes. “... They were trapped in the car and...” There was a hesitant pause, “Olivia... Ellie passed away in the fire!” Mrs. Reed sobbed. Olivia shook her head, ‘no.’ She could not believe her only best friend was gone. Tears began to fall down her cheeks, glancing at her parents, hoping it was just a prank. But her mother slightly shook her head, and a sob slipped Olivia’s lips. She could not believe this had happened, she jumped out of her seat and ran back upstairs. Ignoring her parents’ calls, all she wanted was to be alone. Away from everyone, to mourn the sudden death of her friend. She threw open her bedroom door open, rushing in, and with a slam of her door, she laid on top of her bed and broke into a hurtful sod. Olivia sobbed herself back to sleep when she woke up. She felt drained and confused. She pushed herself up, realizing it was already afternoon. Slowly a heavied realization flowed onto her-her friend was gone. She looked over at a picture on her nightstand of Ellie and herself making funny faces. A tiny smile graced her lips, remembering that day when they took that picture. She would never see that crazy brunette, a master in doing the puppy dog eyes with her chocolate brown eyes. Only photos like the one on her nightstand were going to remind her of the old memories they used to have. Suddenly, she got off the bed, went to her closet, changed from her dress to a T-shirt, jacket, and pants, and then slipped on her trainers. She grabbed some of her money and the picture on her nightstand. Taking a deep breath, she quietly slipped out of her room and tipped toed downstairs until the front door. She knew her parents would stop her from doing this, but she did not care about them at the time. She wants to take this risk for her friend. Rushing out of the house, she ran far as she should from her home. Afraid her parents would catch her. She slowed down once she was far away. Before wandering to the flower shop, she took a few deep breaths, calming her heavy panting. Olivia planned to go to Look Out Point to pay her respect and mourn her friend’s sudden departure. She bought Ellie’s favorite flowers, white lilies, and red roses. Then she walked for two hours to the forest. Her tears would not stop running down her face. She felt fate took her perfect half away from her; she was alone and had no one to turn her troubles. By sunset and Olivia reached Look Out Point, startled by the fire. The entire area burnt. There used to be tall trees and trim bushes and scrubs. Now it was covered by a blanket of ash. As she proceeded feather, she could not believe her eyes then her gaze landed on what looked to be a car. It was so burnt that its frame was sticking out. A sob broke out again as she got closer to the vehicle. She knew her friend could not have had survived this awful fire. She placed the flowers and picture by the car and roared out her sobs. She dropped down to her knees and cried as loud as she could so that the heavens could hear her. “I promise I’ll take a bit of a risk and live life,” she whispered, placing her hand on the bit of car that was left. “I promise, Ellie,” she sobbed, feeling her heart clenched in pain and her lungs screaming for air. Olivia’s sobs slowly silenced when she heard the howling cries of a deer in pain. Startled, at first, she hesitantly rose onto her feet and listened to the cries echo towards her. Concerned about the creature, she followed the cries of the dear. Olivia ventured deep into the forest. Her brain screamed “RUN,” but she continued. Finally, there was silence, and she spotted steady flames engulfing scrub. She walked around it, noticing a tree was also on fire and a trail of fire. She followed it, and a gasp escaped when she saw the deer on fire, lying on the ground. She wanted to run and scream for help, but she could not believe her eyes when she saw him. Her eyes widened in shock and fear. There was a little boy who looked at least five years old. He was seated beside the burning deer; someone would scream at the boy to get away. But what stopped her was the fact he was ripping pieces of deer’s burning flesh and eating it, not bothered by the flames. “Oh my God!” She winced, which caught the boy’s attention. He snapped his dark gaze at her and hissed, revealing his tiny fangs. Olivia realized he was the cause of the fire. A demon! She stepped back, causing him to flinch onto his feet, and was ready to attack Olivia, but he suddenly collapsed. He snapped a burning glare at her and continued to hiss as he tried pushing himself back up. Less frightened, Olivia noticed his problem. He had a piece of the deer’s antler painfully sticking in his barefoot. Olivia winced in pain for him, watching him struggle to get away from her. Someone with an average mind would take this chance and run away from the boy, but someone with a heart would help. Olivia decided to help. She lifted her arms, showing she had nothing in her hands as she hesitantly approached him. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” she said, but he continued to hiss and pushed himself backward. Closer she got, she unzipped her jacket, and once close enough, she kneeled in front of him. His dark eyes flashed fiery red as he glared at her. “I won’t hurt you,” she said in a whisper, lowering her hand to his injured foot. When she gently placed her gentle hand on his ankle, she glanced up. He stopped hissing that was good. “I’m going to pull it out, so don’t... burn me,” she said as if he could understand her. He just stared at her with caution and interest. Olivia’s hands trembled, seeing the blood that covered his foot. It could be his or dear’s she did not know. She carefully placed her hand on the piece, took a deep breath, and pulled it out. The boy roared in pain, and a spit of fire landed on her hand. She screamed out in pain, shaking the flames off her backhand. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the pain traveled up her arm. But she had to ignore it and try to stop the boy from losing more blood. With the strength she had, she ripped her top and gently grabbed his foot as tight as possible, wrapping his foot with the ripped piece. Once she tightened the cloth, she quickly pushed herself away from the boy, and she looked at her burnt hand that shook. Tears kept streaming down her face, and she did not know why. She glanced over to the boy, who just looked down at his wrapped foot. At least, he was okay. Suddenly, a beam of light was on them, and everything went dark for Olivia.