CHAPTER 1

Help me! Someone, anyone, please help me! My heart was racing as my paws pounded the ground, and my breath formed mini clouds in front of me. Please make them go away! I wished that I had listened to mom. Mother always said not to shift without supervision, since bad people would come for me. Sadly, I didn't believe her. Nightmare wanted to get out for a little bit, so I thought it would be okay. Now, five people are chasing me through the woods on ATV's with guns pointed at me! As I was remembering the countless warnings my mom gave me, a sharp pain pierced my hind left thigh. I didn't know what it was, but I started to get really tired. My legs buckled from beneath me and as my eyes drifted shut, I saw the group of five people smiling down at me.

I sat up in bed, breathing heavily, cold sweat pouring down my face. It was that dream again. Of the time when I was 6 years old and I had gotten kidnapped for the first time by some lackey of a witch. I always hated that my parents had me hear a tracker in my chokers, but I was grateful for it then. However, I was still tortured and have numerous scars as proof. After my heart calmed down, I looked at my alarm clock- 5:30 AM. I should start getting ready for the first day of school. Heading to my en suite, I quickly took a shower and got dressed. I decided to have my bangs hanging over the left side of my face and wore a black Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt with black ripped skinny jeans and black Chuck Taylor Converses. As I turned to exit my room, I grabbed my black beanie and my black and white skull hoodie as I smelled fried, crispy bacon.

Walking down the stairs, I could tell that it was my mom from her apples and cinnamon scent. Dragons and Ayakashi are able to associate people with scents, and since I can turn into both, I can do it too. Upon hearing me enter the kitchen, my mom turned around to look at me. Her eyes showed her concern, and not for the first time, I'm glad that I couldn't hide anything from her.

"The dream again?" She asked as she sat a plate of crispy bacon, fluffy eggs, and chocolate chip waffles in front of me.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" I muttered, biting off a piece of bacon. The edges were crispy while the inside was still slightly chewy, and the flavor left my mouth watering and my stomach wanting more. Mom was the best cook.

"You can with some things, honey, but not this. It looks like you saw a ghost. Do you want to talk about it?" She sat beside me at the counter with two cups of coffee. One had cream and sugar for her, the other was plain black for me.

I sighed. "It was from nine years ago, when I was captured for the first time. I regret not believing you sooner. If I had, maybe all of this could have been avoided." The topic of my kidnappings have always been a very sensitive subject for me. Especially when it's paired with a look of sympathy. The subject doesn't make me cry or feel overly depressed, but it does make me angry. Even though Magnis and Nightmare are animals, they still have their own personalities and can communicate with me. The few things they have in common are their desire to protect me, and their anger. Other than that, Nightmare is sarcastic and mischievous while Magnis is more calm and reasonable about certain things. You can think of them as the angle and devil on my shoulders. I picked up my fork and started pushing the eggs around the plate and stabbing my waffles. My appetite was gone. I looked up and noticed my mom was eyeing my outfit.

" Andrew, are you really going to wear that today?" She inquired. My outfit was accompanied by a few accessories. I wore my studded choker, my long dragon and wolf necklace, cuffed dragon earrings, and my black studs for my snake bites. Rolling my eyes, I stood up to take care of my dishes.

"Yes, I am. By the way, don't you need to be at the hospital by 6:30 AM?" I asked, picking up my backpack. Kissing her on her cheek, I headed out the door to start my walk to school. My mom works at the local hospital and dad works at the police department as an officer, so my sister, Alex, usually drives my brothers and I to school; but I wanted to be alone today. Fifteen minutes later, I was walking through the front doors of Northwood High School. This four story red brick building was 150 years old, and is considered one of the best schools; but most of the students didn't like those who were different. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for a living hell. As I was walking to my locker, people stopped to look at me, and pretty soon the whispering started. Man did I hate the whispering. It's not like I can't hear them or anything. This is the downside of having heightened senses- you can hear and smell everything!

"Just another freak." A new student commented.

"Did he get dental implants and contacts?" Another wondered.

There were a lot of faces that I didn't recognize from middle school, so I assume they either transferred from a different high school or came from a different middle school. By the end of the school year, they will be under the influence of the other students. There goes my first impression, I thought gloomily.

"Just ignore them. The year will go a lot faster if you do." My adoptive brother, and best friend, Josh, said as I slammed my locker shut. Looking up, I saw that Adam and the twins, Damian and Dominic, were with him. My parents were best friends with theirs, so when they passed away during a fight with vampires while they served in the military, mom and dad took them in since they had no other relatives. That was nine years ago, shortly after my first kidnapping. I gave a forced smile and pulled my backpack higher up on my shoulder. "Easier said than done. You know they won't stop. They never do." I sighed, remembering last year. The middle school had a group consisting of five bullies that kept beating me up until I threw a punch back, putting one of them in the hospital for a month. I have a bad feeling about this year.

The ringing of the bell filled the halls. Groaning, we headed to our first class, AP World History with Mr. Lite. Most of the seats in the front were taken, so we took the five empty desks in the back, by the window. I decided to take out my sketchbook to continue my current drawing. It was of two wolves howling at the moon in the woods.

"That looks amazing! How long have you been drawing?" The girl in front of me asked. My eyes widened in surprise as the unknown female voice filled my ears. I looked up to see a girl of my age with ginger hair, green eyes, and freckles on her nose, staring at me. This was the first time that someone, other than my family or school faculty, talked to me willingly.

"Nine years. I started when I was around six." I replied. After that, the teacher walked in and class started.

After AP World History, we had Algebra and then lunch. By the time we got to the cafeteria, it was already crowded with most of the tables filled. We grabbed our trays and went to sit outside where it was quieter. Taking out my phone, I decided to text Nigel, one of my four godfathers.

Andrew: Still up for afternoon training?

Nigel: Yeah, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. I want to see how you adjust to different situations.

Andrew: Not cool.

Nigel: You'll thank me later.

Grumbling, I put my phone down to continue my picture. Nigel, Nixis, Umbra, and Donatello were my four godfathers, and they were also dragons. Apparently, they were old family friends going back 200 years, so my parents dubbed them as our godfathers. They were also my teachers when it comes to self-defense. After I was first captured, they decided to teach me how to protect myself.

Nixis teaches aikido, Umbra instructs krav maga and mixed martial arts, Nigel teaches about blades, ranging from daggers to katanas, and Donny is a doctor in case something happens during my lessons. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice two new people sitting beside me. It was the girl from World History and a guy who looked a lot like her.

"Hi! Your drawing looks so realistic! By the way, my name is Amber, and this is my twin brother Jacob. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier." Amber said. She had such a smooth voice that you could listen to it for hours. I could also sense that they weren't human.

"It's fine. My name is Andrew, and this is Josh, Adam, Damian, and Dominic." As I called their names, they smiled and waved. I had a small smile on my face as well, at this pleasant change. Maybe this semester will be different. Just as I had that thought, Jessica, the meanest girl in the school, walked up to our table.

"Why are all of you hanging with the residential freak of the school? It won't do you any good." Jessica told everyone at the table. I had a sneer on my face while everyone looked at each other. We all shrugged and I went back to drawing.

"Well, we happen to be his brothers, so of course we'd stay with him." Josh said as a response.

"And we think that they would make a better crowd to hang with than an obvious bitch like you." Jacob said for him and Amber. Jessica's eyes got very wide and her jaw hung loosely in shock. We laughed at her expression as she stormed away, back to her group of female friends.

As we continued eating, Jacob spoke. "So what class do you have next?" He asked around a mouthful of french fries. Amber playfully punched his right shoulder while muttering about 'lack of manners.' We all laughed at this.

"PE, how about you?" I asked while adding shadows to the trees. With a smile on my face, I signed the bottom right corner of the page and ripped it out of the book. This was one of my more detailed pieces and was one that I was extremely proud of.

"I have PE as well, but Amber has Art." Jacob responded. After a couple minutes, he continued. "The other students say crazy things about you, but you act completely differently in person. I'm glad that we decided to sit with you. You guys seem to be a lot cooler than the other students." This made me happy since I might have a chance to make new friends. As I was packing up my stuff to get ready to leave, I had a smile on my face. Then my phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, I saw that it was Nixis.

Andrew: "Hey, what's up? You normally don't call during school."

Nixis: "Nigel had something come up. The training session is canceled."

Andrew: "What came up? You guys normally don't cancel training, no matter what." The shock could be heard clearly in my voice.

Nixis: "It's with the clan. Sigh. There's some members who don't want to accept that you are the Dragon King. He'll be going to the mountains for a bit. He said to let you focus on school for the time being. I'm sorry." I could hear the unspoken words in his tone.

Andrew: "You mean that a time will come when I might have to fight the Elders to prove my worth?"

Nixis: "Not the Elders, but some clan leaders are a possibility. Nigel is trying to get them to wait until your 19th birthday."

Andrew: "But there's no guarantee…. You know what will happen on my 18th birthday." I said, trying to keep the fear I felt from entering my voice.

Nixis: "I understand, Andrew. However, we all have faith that you will succeed. I have to go. I'll see you in a bit."

Andrew: "Sigh. Alright. I understand. Bye." Closing my phone, I laid my head on the table. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. "The training session is canceled." Lifting my head up, I got my things together just as the bell rang. Getting up, I placed the picture that I had just finished by Amber's tray. She looked at it in awe. "Because you liked it so much." I told her as I walked to the gym to get ready for my next class. Inside the changing room, all the guys were talking about how the class was going to be boring. I went to a shower stall, closed the curtain, and started changing. Changing into the mandatory basketball shorts, v-neck t-shirt, and sneakers, I went to the gymnasium. Making a v-neck mandatory for PE didn't make sense to me, but I had no control over it. I was just glad that they didn't care about the colors as long as it was the required items.