CHAPTER 3

Mr. Deus was the first one to approach me. Gently laying his hand on my furry head, he was surprised at how soft my fur was. It's been a while since I let my Ayakashi and Dragon out, so Nightmare was telling me how happy this was making him. And I couldn't help but agree with him. This was something that I didn't expect to happen. My ten tails were thumping on the ground, and when Mr. Deus reached the spot behind my ears, my right leg joined in as well.

Seeing this, Marcus slowly came up as well and started rubbing my sides. Rolling over onto my side, I just let Nightmare soak up the attention for a little while. Getting up, I slowly shifted back to human, still fully clothed. Stretching, I made my way back onto the grass.

"Now, there's a secret about dragons that not many people know." I said while getting back to my original spot. "We can change our size depending on the situation. All we have to think about is the size we want. I'm going to use a smaller size so that Magnis's normal size doesn't scare you." When they nodded, I slowly started shifting again. It was similar to Nightmare's transformation, but instead of fur, it was scales and spikes. And the skin on my back split open to make room for my wings. The size that I decided to go with was about the size of a Great Dane. When I was done shifting, I spread my wings and flew a few laps around the yard before landing in front of everyone. Magnis gave the same feeling of joy as Nightmare. I'm going to have to talk to mom and dad about doing this more often, I thought to myself.

Walking up to Mr. Deus and Marcus, I told them to be careful of the spikes because they were poisonous. They were cautious, but still showed amazement at the rough but smooth texture of my scales. After a while, I shifted back, minus a shirt, and we went back to the living room. Once everyone was sitting, I spoke. "Do you have any questions?"

"What did the colors mean? Your wolf was black and blue, while your Dragon was black, red, yellow, and purple." Mr. Deus asked. Their curiosity made me happy. I haven't been able to share what I was with anyone outside of my family before.

"It represents the elements they can use. Dragons and Ayakashi are able to control one or two different elements. Because Nightmare and Magnis are the Kings of their respective species, I can control more. Nightmare controls Darkness, the black and Ice, which is the electric blue. Magnis can also control Darkness, but he can also control Fire, the red, Electricity, the yellow, and Poison, the dark purple." I didn't hide anything from them. My family and I answered all of their questions honestly, and pretty soon four hours had passed. When Mr. Deus and Marcus left, we made sure they promised no to tell anyone, even Marcus's mother.

By this time, it was already 10:30 PM. Wishing my family a good night, I went upstairs to start my homework. I have to write down facts for the essay we were starting in World History, do the problems assigned for Algebra, do vocabulary for Russian, and think of an idea for my first picture to share in Art. Deciding to do my Algebra and Russian first, it only took me an hour to complete them. Then another hour was used to write down the facts I would use in my essay which I decided would be on the Civil War. It was almost 1 o'clock in the morning, so I laid down in bed and played my Avenged Sevenfold playlist.

Soon the week passed in this manner: get up in the morning and have breakfast, go for a morning run before school, go to school, another run afterwards, go home and have my training sessions with my godfathers, do homework, and then try to get some sleep. Amber and Jacob quickly became part of our group, and I enjoyed their company. Marcus also transferred from his current school, Trisecta High, and started going to ours. He also became a new addition to the group. Things seemed to be going in a good direction, but good things don't last forever.

By Monday of the second week, my hands were already healed, gotta love the enhanced healing speed of a shifter, and it was raining heavily. Alex took us to school, and by the end of AP World History, I already had a pounding headache. At the end of Algebra, all I wanted was a nap, but I wasn't able to fall asleep during lunch.

When it was time for PE, and the teacher said that we would be playing basketball, I was dreading it. He split us into groups of seven and had us play a 20 point game for each rotation. Josh, Adam, Damian, Dominic, Marcus, and Jacob were on my team; and the team we were playing against was led by a guy named William. He was the bully that I had hospitalized last year. This will not be good.

"Finally! I've been waiting for this! I'll finally get to pay you back for breaking my collarbone last year!" William said when we were all on the court.

"Pay me back? For what?! You guys wouldn't leave me the fuck alone last year until I put your ass in the hospital!" I bit back. My head felt like it was splitting open, so I didn't have the patience to deal with him. As the game progressed, my team had 7 points to William's 5 points. When the ball was coming my way, someone tackled me to the ground. My head made a resounding crack as it hit the floor and then multiple people started kicking me in the stomach. Josh and the guys, along with the teacher, pulled them away from me. However, the damage was done. I coughed up blood before passing out, barely hearing the teacher telling someone to call 911.

Beep Beep Beep. That persistent sound was annoying. Groaning, I forced my eyes to open to find the culprit of the sound. I was in a plain white room with different wires attached to me that led to different machines. The smell of disinfectant assaulted my senses. Great. A hospital. That would explain the annoying beeping. Looking around, I found my dad slumped in a chair by the side of my bed.

"Dad?" I called out, my voice hoarse. Jerking awake, my dad looked at me before standing by my side.

"You're awake! Let me go get Donatello really quick." He said before rushing out of the room. When he returned a few minutes later, Donny was with him. Dad sat back in the chair while Donatello looked at the machines and my chart.

"How are you feeling, Andrew?" As Donny asked the typical questions of a doctor, he was giving me a hard look. Normally, I would try to down-play my pain, so that my family wouldn't worry; but Donny's look made me think that it wouldn't be smart on my part.

"It hurts to breathe, and everything hurts in general." I told him honestly. And it was true. My lungs burned, my sides felt like they were being stabbed, all while I was being run over by a train. "Plus, I'm really tired. Yet at the same time, I can't sleep." I added at the end.

"That's to be expected. Four of your ribs are broken and you had extensive internal bleeding because of it. And you being tired is because of your lack of sleep mixed with the meds you are on right now." Donny explained. When he saw the unspoken question in my eyes, he sighed. "You've been asleep for three days, Andrew. It's already Thursday night. Everyone has been worried about you." When he was done talking, Donatello patted my left leg and walked out of the room.

"What happened afterwards at the school?" I rasped out as I turned my head to look at my father.

"The group of seven students were arrested and are talking to Antonio and the judge. Last year you were acting in self defense. This was a straight up assault. I've already given the judge and Antonio the documents from the hospital showing the severity of your injuries." My dad explained. "Also, because of how serious the internal bleeding was, Donny gave you medicine to slow your natural healing speed. That way, they can make sure everything heals correctly." He added at the end. I nodded my head to show that I understood. But just because I understood it, it doesn't mean that I have to like it. Getting up, my dad laid his hand on my head. "They want to keep you for two more days, to make sure nothing changes. Try to get some more rest, okay? I need to go home to let your mom know that you finally woke up."

"Okay, dad, I'll try. And thank you. For everything." I told him as my eyes slowly closed and my breathing, which was still labored, evened out.