Chapter 4- Fairy Tale Monsters

POV- Dominic

Making it to the car, Alaric lugging along his kit filled with miscellaneous items of supernatural origin, and Hope bringing a vengeful attitude with a hand almost permanently in her pocket like she was concealing something.

"Raf get out from under the car," I say exasperatedly. He slides out, holding onto some kind of bar.

"Sure thing, traitor."

"I didn't betray him."

Hope supports me somewhat, hissing back, "Landon's a liar and a thief."

"It's just a stupid knife, and yes you are a traitor for hunting him."

"Nothing in this school is a stupid anything," she rants.

"I'm trying to stop him from killing more people Raf," I explain, causing him to stop. "Five people were left incinerated in the bus he was on; the bus was called in and Landon had fled from the scene."

"Well then, I'm coming with you."

Hope however disagreed, "No you're not, and I'll use my magic to make sure of it, in case you've forgotten."

"Well unless your magic can fix a sway bar…" he said waving the bar in his hand. The smirk on his face was huge, and Alaric just accepted it.

"Fix the bar and you can come. Just…put on a shirt," he said gesturing to the sweaty white singlet he was currently wearing.

~~

"According to the tracking spell he should be up that way," Hope gestured, pointed into the woods. "Not sure why he'd still be here considering he had around three hours head start?"

I turn to Raf, "You busted him out immediately after finding out he wasn't staying?" He looked away slightly, but he didn't apologise, nor did he seem ashamed. Following behind Hope, who leads us deep into the forest, under a roof of light green and over trails.

*Crack*

Alaric stops, "Did you here that? Someone's here." Hope had been going another direction so there was no way it was Landon. We follow the aging father as he runs towards the cause of the noise, and I'm buffeted with a dark purple mist.

"There," I point, leading the trio to a woman cowering behind a tree, her white dress smeared with soot and covered in leaves.

"Woah, I'm not going to hurt you," Alaric says in an attempt to pacify the alarmed if confused woman, her head switching between Alaric and her surroundings as if she were unsure of both. "Were you on the bus? Can you tell us what happened?" The doctor was being soft and calm, but still she was alarmed, cautious even, stepping further back with every step he took.

"Is she a survivor?" Hope asked, ignoring the fact that the woman had obviously been near smoke and was showing symptoms of shock.

"Smells like it. She reeks of smoke." 'So Rafael now has a dog nose, but apparently not hearing, seeing as Alaric noticed the woman's footsteps first.'

"It looks like she's confused and in shock," I point out.

"Alright, I'll take her to the hospital, while you three go find him, and when you do, don't engage. We don't know how dangerous he is."

Raph was tense in anger, defending his best friend through his teeth. "He's not dangerous."

"I said don't engage." Again following Hope and her magic compass spell, we end up at an old shack with a cellar. I'd ignored most of the bickering between Rafael and Hope, but then he promised to get the 'stupid/not stupid knife back,' along with answers.

"He's in the root cellar. You have three minutes to do this your way." We watch as Raf runs off while she starts counting down.

"You're not waiting the three minutes, are you?" I state rather than question, a knowing smirk on my face.

"How'd you know?"

"Your words, "Everybody lies. Just know that you're about to receive a crapload of shitty apologies, for… whatever he did to you."

She looked back towards the root cellar and sighed, "He started talking about the last time we danced and then he kissed me, before vanishing to go talk to Rafael again."

"You didn't question why he was out?"

"He'd been tested again and I figured Dr Saltzman made an exception." She stormed off, towards the cellar, as I followed slowly, not wanting to cop even a fraction of her wrath. "After you burnt the bus?" I hear, Hope going into full interrogation mode, as she holds him pinned to the wall with her magic.

Landon looked pathetic, afraid and struggling to speak despite no pressure being on his neck based on the amount of head movement he was making. "That wasn't me, I swear. I barely got out of there alive."

"Last chance, who the hell was it?"

He stammered as he spoke, terrified of the aggressive and hostile Hope. 'She may be threatening but damn is she sexy as she does it. Anyone who can't appreciate an aggressive woman has poor taste. Am I a masochist?' I shake my head at the thought, 'Definitely not, I have a thing for subs too… Switch then?' "T-There w-was this girl. She got onto the bus and started grabbing this woman's bag. That's when the knife started to glow and she turned towards me. She started breathing fire and I just ran."

Hope had listened to his explanations but found them lacking. "I don't believe a word you're saying."

"You have every right to be mad at me, but I am telling you the truth." He turned to Raf and me, "Come on guys, help me here."

"I believe him," Raf said, yet again being 100% confident in Landon in their weird little relationship.

"You believe that a fire-breathing witch burnt the bus alive?"

"Yeah."

"And Landon happened to be spared?"

"He did say he ran," I add. "If he was telling the truth in the first place. So where's the knife?"

"He said he dropped it," Hope said disbelievingly.

"No he didn't." The same dark purple of the cautious woman mixed with a murky brown I assumed was shame was emanating from him. "He's still got it." Seeing the colours spike in intensity, I know I got it right. Hope whipped her head towards him as he tenderly reaches into his jacket and pulls it out with two fingers, acting as submissively as possible.

"I panicked okay?"

"You want to explain what you were doing stealing the knife in the first place," she pressed.

"I don't remember stealing it."

"Of course not," she scoffs. "Why'd you leave in the first place?"

"I didn't want to lose my memories."

"If they weren't there you wouldn't miss them, that's the point." She made a good point.

Landon rose from the corner, having been released by Hope, "Look, I didn't want to steal from you, and I don't want a fire-breather chasing me. I'm sorry for all of it." By the end of his speech, he had gotten up in Hope's face and if it were any other girl, they would have punched him or flung him into the wall again with their witchy powers.

At this point Alaric came running into the cellar, having heard Landon's outburst, "Theres a fire breathing woman running around the woods."

"Sure she isn't a dragon?" I ask.

"Dragons are a myth." Alaric replied acting like a professor.

"And yet you have no idea what I am either…just saying. Also this barrel is filled with phones, wallets and other crap. So the fire-breather is either a kleptomaniac, or she's making a hoard, out of dead people's stuff." I turn to Landon, "I apologise for not believing you about the witch/dragon lady earlier." He shrugs it off, but he seemed relieved that I was somewhat supporting him.

Alaric rummaged through the barrel hoard, grabbing a phone and calling someone. "The fire-breathing witch has a hoard…yes like a dragon. Ugh, the kid said pretty much the same thing. No not Landon, Dominic, the other new student who we couldn't identify."

"Demon," I interrupt, "at least according to Milton." Alaric looked at me like I'd said the moon was made of cheese but continued asking the person on the other side of the phone how to kill a dragon.

"You'll need a lot of courage…and a sword."

Hope held up the dagger that caused all this crap in the first place, "How about a dagger?" Blasting the doors open, Hope leaps up the stairs, with me and Raf following and with Alaric and Landon, armed with a crossbow and a hammer Landon found sitting in the rear. For some reason, the dragon lady took this moment to approach, placing her hand out for the knife.

"You weren't kidding. I wonder why she wants it."

"I don't know Dom, why don't you ask the nice dragon," Raf joked, but seeing that the knife wasn't being handed to her, the woman's eyes glowed red. With her cheeks and throat glowing, she exhaled the fiery stream at us, Hope's shield holding back the flames as I sidestep the stupid woman and punch her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Hope, Alley Oop." Raf runs and jumps, catching the magic death knife that probably shouldn't be thrown and stabs it into the woman's chest. He pulls back out the knife and hands it back to Hope, with Landon making some snarky comment about dragon slaying being more of a challenge in the stories. As I go to walk back to the group, I feel a tingle down my spine and through my tail. 'Weird sensation.'

"DOMINIC!!" Hope calls out and I unfurl my wings as a reaction to the sudden spike in heat I feel coming from behind me, wrapping myself in them like a cocoon shield. 'Oww, fuck, shit this is hot, but considering the other guys got turned to ash I shouldn't complain.' As the plume stopped I peeked out of the cocoon, finding myself not even fifteen feet from a full-sized, scaly-ass dragon. Using my legs to push from the ground and my wings to push the air, I launch myself away from the creature, more worried about the sharp teeth and claws I can see than the flame which I seem resistant to.

"You've got wings?" Landon asked, completely distracted somehow from the real-life dragon.

"Landon, priorities!" I shout, pointing towards the now-flying lizard.

"You guys should go back to the car and wait for me there."

"But what about the-"

"Dr Saltzman, I've got the knife, which means it has to come back here to get it."

As he ushered the two others away he spoke up again, "You wake up with a death wish today?"

With a hard smile she replies, "Something like that," but I can see the confidence she has, and her other hand, which was concealed from Alaric, was rubbing her pocket again.

He turns to me, "And you're-"

"Fireproof, with enhanced strength, speed and endurance. I'd be an amazing dragon slayer." Laughing at the joke he turns and stands by the cellar, crossbow in hand.

"I said go Dr Saltzman."

"I cant leave a student here facing that thing alone.

"Am I invisible?" I mutter to myself.

"Then tell me how I'm gonna explain to your daughters that all that's left of you is hot ash."

"The dad card? That's a low blow." Nevertheless, he climbs into the cellar, doors now shut above him, and Hope pulls out her secret weapon. A piece of paper, covered in runes with a drawing of a skull and the Latin word for death. 'I hope she didn't rip that out of a spell book or something stupid, just take a photo.'

Hearing the squall of the dragon and the sound of approaching wingbeats, she raises the blade towards the creature in the distance and begins to chant, cast, whatever they call it. I stand behind her, hands on her shoulders, ready to yank us both out of the way should the spell not take out the dragon before it gets too close. I listen to her chant and feel the cold energy radiating from her words and through her extended hand, but my nose is focused on her scent. A slight note of perfume and a pomegranate shampoo, only noticeable because she's not only close but short, placing her head just below my chin. 'Focus Dom. Magic murder spell that she brought for Landon, and a thieving, murderous dragon.'

As the dragon dives lower and lower, she continues to chant, her hair flapping as if in a breeze, and a bright glow emanates from the knife as the dragon approaches into the zone I deemed too close. The dragon cried out, crashing to the ground as a human, breaking bones with a sickening series of cracks, and Hope collapsed from the effort of the spell, dropping the knife and the page. Picking them both up and stashing the page in my pocket, seeing as Hope REALLY didn't want Alaric knowing she had it with her, I walk over to the still-conscious dragon lady, crawling desperately towards me. Stabbing the woman over and over with the knife, half in shock and half desperate to put an end to the lizard, I only stop when I feel a pair of arms wrap around me.

"The spell didn't kill her?" I hear Hope ask, guilt in her voice.

"It turned her back to human, and she crashed, but no. Even this broken she was desperately trying to claw for it." I chuckle, but there was no mirth in it.

"I'm sorry you had to finish her off," she said, tightening her hug, her warmth soothing in ways words couldn't be. Alaric clambered out of the cellar, finding me over the woman, bloody knife still in my hand.

"So the dragon is dead?"

"Yeah, here's the knife," I offer, holding the pommel by two fingers. Standing up slowly and folding back in my wings I feel somewhat better, I'd had to kill someone, but the woman was a crazy monster murderer who wanted to steal a magic knife of unknown origin, leaving me somewhat guilty, but no more than when I drove some assholes car into a swimming pool because he wouldn't shut up about it, talking shit to everyone who didn't have a car and about how he'd pick up guy's girlfriends in them. Just like he deserved it, so did the dragon lady, no matter how confused and scared she was, I have to believe she deserved it, or what I did was murder. 'Self-defence, that's all it was. I protected my unconscious friend and myself from a pyromaniac mass murderer.' Feeling slightly better again I follow them back to the car, not saying a word, instead climbing into the backseat and shutting my eyes, allowing the sudden drop in adrenaline to carry me off to sleep.

~~

"Hey, Dominic." Waking up to the sweet voice of an angel, though the murder magic before hinted otherwise, Hope tries again. "We're here, get up."

"Thanks, Hope, and I think you can call me Dom now, seeing as we faced a dragon together." I take her offered hand and climb out of the far back seat I'd taken that sits behind the back seats in an attempt to avoid Raf and more specifically Landon's questions and poking. 'Was I just escorted out of the car like a lady? Whatever, I'm too tired to care right now and based on the moon being up, I'd say we missed lunch, hopefully, the dining hall has a good steak, or a potato and leek soup, I'd take either at this point.'

Seated beside Hope I hear Josie and Liz skip over, "Hi/Hello Dom." Then turning to Hope beside me they greet her too, with varying levels of enthusiasm, "Hey Hope/What're you doing here?"

Leaning my face on my hands against the table I groan out, "Liz, can you please just pretend to get along for the next half hour?" She forms a tight smile, glares at Hope for a moment then nods, sitting down opposite me, with Josie seated facing Hope.

"So how'd your retrieval mission go? We heard you fought a dragon."

"Who the hell?"

"Rafael and the elf boy told us," Liz answered, giving a fairly valid description of Landon's features, curly hair, and slightly pointed ears, though I'd always thought his nose and cheeks made him look a little like a bird. "So it's true then, an actual dragon?"

"Scales and everything."

"Milton said you were a demon or something, which we obviously thought was ridiculous, but if dragons exist…"

"I'm fireproof with wings and claws, can read and provide emotions to others, and put people to sleep. I've got no bloody clue what I am, and until the horns come through, I'm not going to be fully convinced." Josie was looking at me nervously, flashes of the same pink and dark blue combination Milton had this afternoon, obviously embarrassed about something, while the other two were simply dark blue, curious about my race. After a surprisingly good, but not quite what I wanted lasagne, I dove into my own bed, the twins having already expanded it to the size of a Super king for some reason.

*knock knock*

Groaning as I pull myself off the soft bed I open the door and see Raf. "Look, I said some pretty nasty stuff earlier, calling you a traitor, but I know you were just looking at the facts. When you came back you were covered in blood though. You're still covered in blood actually, so what happened?"

"Hope cast a spell that reverted it to human, I stabbed it with the knife. How'd you think?" I ask incredibly annoyed at being forced from sleep again.

"Anyway, Landon is being given the chance to stay so long as the student council agrees."

"What student council?"

"Well, Landon isn't technically a supernatural, but Hope and I convinced the headmaster that his peers should get the opportunity to vote. Dr Saltzman said the students should get a say, and so one representative of each race is getting a spot on a council."

"So, shouldn't you take over the wolves, that way you'll get a say, and either Liz or Josie will take the witches' spot, so that might give you another."

"Yeah, you're right, if I can't convince Jed, I can always fight him for it." 'I meant through a vote, but I guess a contest of strength might actually work in his favour.'

"When's the vote?"

"In two days, but the candidates must apply tomorrow night after the game."

"Ahh, I should probably go to that, shouldn't I? Whatever, I'll talk to them, okay?" Not even waiting for a reply I shut the door, collapsing back on the bed.

*Knock Knock*

"I'll ignore it, and put them to sleep if they knock again.

*Knock Knock*

"Ughh." Heaving myself off the slightly too big bed, I open the door, annoyed I don't have the witches' telekinesis. Seeing Hope at the door with a smile my desire to drop the knocker unconscious fades. "How can I help you?"

"Umm, I came to see if you were alright. You got hit with dragon flame for a long while, and then you had to end a life."

"I'm fine on both sides I say, poking my wings out of the huge holes in the back of my shirt I'd ripped to protect myself from the dragon breath. My wings were no different to before, had felt the heat, blistering as it was, like a really hot shower, but not been damaged by the flames. "I guess hellfire is hotter than dragon fire," I joke, eliciting a giggle and another one of her beaming smiles.

She looks around me and into the room. "This is definitely a good room, though I'm not sure why anyone would need a bed that big."

"The twins got overzealous I guess, and didn't you know demons are sinful creatures, so I'm sure the bed would come in handy," I tease, resulting in me getting a soft smack on the chest.

"And what sin are you thinking of now?" She purred, a smile on her face and her hand still on my chest.

"At literally any other time I would have dragged you onto the bed with me, but right now the only sin I want to indulge in is sloth." Hope laughed again, her smile now a smirk as she patted my chest, having been joking herself, something I knew from her emotional aura, a warm yellow of happiness and amusement, rather than a wicked cherry red I saw from a couple grinding against each other before in the hallway. "Is fighting always that tiring, the suspense, the constant mental pressure?"

"It probably is, though I would say your mental exhaustion also has to do with the role you played in it. While I did come here to check up on you, I also wondered if I could have the page back? The one I figured you picked up after I collapsed." Reaching into my pocket I pull it out and hand it to her.

"Why'd you hide it? From Dr Saltzman I mean."

"Because this kind of magic, black magic, is not only addictive but soul-altering, making the user more aggressive, violent and dangerous. Some of the worst atrocities in the world happened due to black magic. Which is why I need to thank you for hiding it, Dr Saltzman would have been furious." She hugged me around the waist, squeezing tighter than I imagined for a girl that size and turned leaving me at the door. "Enjoy being a sloth Dom," she called behind her, disappearing around a corner as I shut the door.

'At least tomorrow won't involve a dragon. Just some regular football, though I have no idea how they're supposed to remain discrete. Maybe they pretend to suck?'