The Dragon's Kiss

Chapter 1 - The Mysterious Man

The man pulled her to himself, grabbing a fist full of her hair. His lips attached to hers, and her nails dug into his broad, tan shoulders. His free arm wrapped around her waist tightly, and their bodies pressed against each other. The girl's heart raged in her chest, as he pulled away from her, tightening his grip on her hair. The girl glanced down at his toned chest, and her fingers traced over the tattoo on it. A ferocious serpent, raging flames worshipping it.

The man caught hold of her neck, and pulled her closer again, making her let out a gasp. His eyes gleamed a bright red, before he kissed her again. 

And then she woke up with a gasp, her body dripping with sweat, her heart in her throat. 

- - - -

"Are they asleep?" Ashley whispered, holding onto Liana's shoulder who was peeking inside their parents' bedroom.

"Shh," Liana scowled, waving her off. She then slowly moved away from the door, shutting it carefully. "Yeah, they're asleep," she said, a frown on her face.

"Great, let's go!" Ashley grabbed her hand, dragging her down the stairs, as they tip-toed out of the house.

"I'm getting a bad feeling, Ash. This isn't right," Liana whispered, as Ashley closed the door of the house. 

"Just shut up, Lia." She rolled her eyes, locking the door and shoving the keys into her pocket. 

"You know I don't like lying to them. They've done so much for us, they took us in when-"

"We had nowhere to go, we were so desperate and cold and they accepted us, adopted us, gave us a place to live in and a family to love," Ash completed for her, her tone dramatic. "I know how it goes," she stated, looking her in the eye with a blank face. "We're not murdering them. Relax. We'll be back before they are even up, they won't even know we were gone. So you don't have to lie."

"But-"

"Shut up or I'll smack you across the face," Ashley snapped, glaring at her. "If you're gonna be such a spoilt sport, just go back. I'll go alone, no problem."

Liana clicked her tongue, huffing. "No," she frowned. "It's not safe. I can't let you go alone."

"Yeah," Ashley grinned, nodding. "I'm a baby, who will get kidnapped by an evil monster, right? So unsafe for me to be out alone."

"Shut up," Liana slapped her shoulder. "Let's just go so we can come back in time."

"Woo-hoo," Ash whispered, her eyes glittering with excitement.

- - - -

"I love you!" Ashley screamed at the top of her voice, waving her body side to side with the music. "I love you guys so much!"

"I hate this," Liana scrunched her nose up, covering her ears. "This is so stupid stupid!" She yelled.

"What?" Ashley yelled, raising her eyebrows at her.

"This is stupid!" Liana repeated, narrowing her eyes. The color-changing lights were making it hard for her to see, and her head was starting to spin from the loud music and cheering.

"Can't hear you!" Ashley laughed, turning her attention back to the band performing on stage. "You are, you are, you are, uh-uh-uh," she sang along, before parting her knees and twerking. Liana stared at her with wide eyes, as a few boys around them whistled and hooted, staring at her. She instantly moved to block their view, scowling at them.

"Ash!" Liana scolded, slapping her arm.

"Ow," Ash frowned, glaring at her sister as she rubbed her arm.

"Behave yourself, what are you doing?" Liana asked, leaning in to her ear. "At least watch your moves."

"This is a concert, dumbass. People are here to be wild," Ash replied in an annoyed tone.

"It's a concert, not a rave party or something. You know what? You stay here in this crowd, I'm gonna go find somewhere to sit. Where it isn't so loud. Call me when you're done!" Liana said.

"What? Didn't hear you," Ashley replied, earning another slap on the arm. She laughed, gesturing for her to go, and Liana sighed in relief, before walking away. Pushing through the countless teenagers as well as adults, until she finally found a clear spot. Where the music was not loud enough to make her heart vibrate with the beats. She sighed in relief, slumping down in a plastic chair, as she buried her head in her hands.

Ashley, meanwhile, was having the time of her life. Losing herself to the music, shaking her ass, around people she knew would not judge her. Because they were just like her. Happy, and wild.

She felt something tickle her shoulder, and paused, freezing. She turned her head to gaze at it, and a huff escaped her lips.

"You again?" She muttered, frowning at the blue butterfly on her shoulder. "Why do you keep following us around?" She asked, picking it up by its wings and placing it on her palm. "Shoo, go away," she said, shaking her hand slightly. But it refused to listen, staying glued to her skin. "What do you want, Sky?" She rolled her eyes. "This isn't the place for you. Just go away," she pouted.

The butterfly seemed to have a mind of her own, and refused to move.

"Fine," Ashley clenched her jaw, before squeezing through the people and walking to an empty space. Just as she did so, Sky flew away, making her gape at it. "You traitor," she whispered, scowling. "That was such a good spot," she complained, running her hand through her hair. She looked around, hoping to find another spot in the crowd, or her sister, but something entirely different caught her eye.

A man.

Taller than others around him, and clearly well built. His back muscles flexed, visible through the thin white cloth of whatever he was wearing. It was a kind of a shirt, a tunic to be exact, which seemed like it came from a different era. Or a really good costume shop. When the man moved to the side, her doubts were confirmed. He was definitely going to a costume party. Why else would a man be carrying a sword in his hand?

But that was not it.

He turned towards her, his gaze meeting hers instantly. Her mouth parted in surprise, as well as embarrassment, realizing she had been caught staring. But did she look away? Absolutely not. She couldn't, even as heat crept up her cheeks and tinged them pink. The color she despised.

The colorful lights did not accentuate his features too well, but Ashley was already drooling over his physique. Even without seeing his face, she was certain she had never seen a man that hot before, and his mysterious clothes and brooding aura only added to his charms. To top it off, Ashley watched as a certain butterfly flew up to him, calmly settling down on his shoulder. She gaped, staring at him with wide eyes, as his lips curled up in a smirk.

The man slowly turned away from her, and walked away from the crowd, as if sure she would follow. And she did, even though she had no idea why. Her legs seemed to start moving themselves, and she found herself going after him, even as he left the concert which she had taken great pains to attend. She could not stop, even as the man glanced behind to make sure she was following. He kept walking, and turned into an alley.

Everything about him screamed of danger, from the shady sword in his hand, to the murky aura surrounding him. Everything except the beautiful little thing sitting on his shoulder, the butterfly Ashley seemed to trust more than her own intuitions. So she kept walking, a feeling of excitement and nervousness building up in her chest.

"Ashley!" Liana suddenly grabbed her arm, turning her around. She snapped out of the trance she was in, and blinked, frowning at her sister. "Where are you going? Why were you following that man? Is he the reason why you came here?" She pushed her, glaring.

"What? No," Ashley frowned, looking towards the alley again. "I don't even know him."

"Surely it didn't look like that," Liana snapped, scowling at her. "You were following him, Ash. Do you even know how far you've come from the concert? I kept calling your name, you wouldn't even respond."

"What?" Ashley frowned, giving her an incredulous look. "You're crazy, I've hardly..." She trailed off, realizing how quiet it was. She had to be far away from the concert for the music to be so faint. Ashley gulped, running her hand through her hair, as she looked around. "Shit."

"Are you okay?" Liana gently took her arm. "You don't seem fine, Ash."

Ashley gulped, turning around and glancing at the alley again. She heard a giggle, and turned around, her eyes wide. "Did you hear that?" She asked, feeling her heart race.

"Hear what?"

"Someone... Laughed," she frowned, frantically looking around.

"Come on, kiss me, I know you want to!"

She turned around again, letting out a gasp. "Who is it?" She asked, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

Liana frowned, looking around as well, but there was no one. They were alone.

"Okay, Ash. If you're doing this to scare me, I swear I won't talk to you, and I'll tell Dad you made me sneak out," Liana warned.

"I'm not," Ashley clicked her tongue, turning to her. "There are voices here, people are talking."

"I don't hear anything, Ash," Liana said softly. "If this is a prank-"

"It's not!" Ashley snapped, scowling at her sister. "I'm telling the tru-" her sentence was cut off by a weird, electric sound, making her flinch. She turned to the alley, her eyes widening when she saw a white light pouring out of it. "Tell me you heard and saw that," she whispered, staring at in awe.

"I-I think we should go," Liana frowned, gulping, as she took Ashley's hand.

"No, wait," Ashley shook her head, pulling her hand out of Liana's grip. "Sky went in there. I need to see if she's okay," she said, stepping closer to it.

"The butterfly?" Liana asked, frowning at her back. "Ash, wait," she grabbed her arm again. "Let's just go back to the concert, attend it, and go home. Remember what we came here for," she said, looking her in the eye.

"Always remember your purpose. Remember what you were created for."

She turned around again, looking around once more. "Did you hear that?"

"I didn't, let's just go," Liana said, trying to pull her away from the alley.

"No," Ashley yanked her hand out of her grip, and ran straight into the alley.

"Ash!" Liana yelled, and followed after her. "Ash, I-" she froze, her mouth parting in shock when she saw the thing in front of her. Instead of a wall at the dead end of the alley, there was a huge white vortex, glittering and electric, like lightning itself. And in front of it was a flutter of butterflies, levitating in the air in front of it.

"Sky," Ashley whispered, her gaze fixed on them. She started to walk towards it, mesmerized by the beauty of the scene. "Wow," she said, feeling drawn to it by a magnetic force.

"Ashley, don't," Liana said, frowning, as she tried to go after her. But the same thing that was attracting her sister, seemed to be repelling her. Her feet refused to move towards it, freezing her in that spot. "Ashley!" Liana yelled, her voice drowned by the crackling sound of the vortex. "Stop! Don't go near it, please!" She begged, as tears now pricked her vision.

But Ashley could not hear her, a million different voices playing in her head at the same moment. She reached the cluster of butterflies, and spotted Sky, the only one with a gold spot on its wings. Ashley raised her hand to touch it, but it flew away from her, disappearing into the vortex.

"Ashley, please don't go near it!" Liana screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks, as she tried to push forward with all her might.

Ashley stepped closer to the vortex, cool breeze making her hair dance around her, just like the butterflies. She reached towards the vortex, the slight electric touch making her gasp and withdraw her hand. It snapped her out of the trance, and she frowned, realizing what she was about to do. She turned around towards Liana, who heaved a sigh of relief, tears staining her face.

"Come back here!" Liana cried, extending her hand as far as she could, towards her sister.

But when Ashley tried to walk back to her, her legs refused to move. A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind, making her let out a scream as she turned to the vortex. Her gaze met with that of the mysterious man, and before she even had the chance to scream, he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into the vortex.

A wave of energy sprouted out of the vortex as soon as it happened, knocking Liana off her feet. She hit her head against a wall, and fell to the ground, watching with drooping eyes as the vortex slowly dissolved into the air, vanishing without a trace.

- - - - - -