Captured By The Dragon
Episode 33

Patara

I had started to believe that I would never see their faces or hear their voices again when I was locked in Dylan’s house. I knew he would never let me have a glimpse of them—or even a proper goodbye. Even now, it felt unreal to be so close to them when I swore they were gone from me.

When we emerged from the darkness, I saw my parents waiting in the light and it felt like all of my energy was restored for a moment. There they were—they were here!

I broke away from Malcom and ran the rest of the distance. I could barely see through the tears, but I knew their arms opened wide for me.

I collapsed in their arms, my father held me up in his strong grasp and I was grateful for the warmth. I was grateful that he had me now.

“Oh, my beautiful girl.” He said against my hair. I felt my mother’s arms wrap around me but I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes just yet. Part of me was afraid that if I closed my eyes, I might wake up back in Dylan’s house and this would all be a sick dream.

But no—no. They burned it down, this was real. This had to be real.

My parents brought me far away from the border of the shifter world and right back home. No police station first, no stops at all. Everything became a blur from one place to the next. I only know that they held me the entire time and that made me feel a little better.

When the car dropped us off at our house, I stopped in front of the gates. It was a place I had called home for my entire life, yet somehow I felt like an outsider. My mother took my hand and led me inside. She smiled something small and sad before she looked away from me.

I realized then that she hadn’t said a word to me since I came back to her. But neither had I.

All of my siblings were waiting inside when I finally went in. They gasped when they saw me—I was sure I looked as if I had been dragged through the mud and I suddenly wanted to skip the long reunion and take the longest bath of my life.

“Oh, Pat.” My eldest sister wrapped me in her arms and held me until I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t realized I was crying until I felt the wet drops fall against my hand. “I—We missed you so much! We were so worried about you!”

Nina brushed my hair from my face and wiped my tears. I tried to speak, but nothing would come out no matter how hard I tried. “Shhh, it’s okay now. You’re safe.” She said gently.

Her husband stood nearby with a worried look on his face that matched the ones worn by my parents. Oram, my little brother, ran across the room to wrap his arms around me as tight as he could. I almost fell, but it would have been worth it.

I squeezed him tightly.

“I missed you so much, Patara. They told me you might not ever come home.” He looked up at me with big, sad eyes.

“We said no such thing!” My mother snapped. She tried to cool her features before I glanced at her. “Pat, darling. Why don’t you go get cleaned up and rest for a little while? I’m making your favorite for dinner.”

All I could do was nod. I knew that if I opened my mouth, only sobs would come out. Loud, horrible sobs.

I hurried up the steps to my room before someone else could capture me in a hug and break the dam I was trying to hold in. I never thought I would see them again, and now that I was here—it all felt like a fantasy.

My room looked just as it did the morning I left for school before I was taken. Not one thing was out of place as if no time had passed at all. It was… a relief. If this hadn’t changed, perhaps I could step right back into myself and be who I was before.

But that seemed unlikely.

I was stained by everything that happened. I hurried to my bathroom and locked the door behind me before I filled up the bathtub with soapy water. As much of it as I could put before it would overflow.

When I finally pulled off the dirty clothes from my body, I threw them in the trash and stopped dead in my tracks.

The burn mark of the dragon looked even brighter than it had at Dylan’s house. I traced it slowly—I knew my mother would kill me if she saw this.

I submerged myself in the hot water the moment my mind started to wander towards Dylan. He was the past, he wasn’t— he didn’t matter anymore. The mark meant nothing, it was only another way for him to lay power over me.

But.. .still. I couldn’t help but wonder what his face would look like when he came home to his home in ashes. Was all of his mother’s things there? Did they get ruined in the fire?

No… No. I couldn’t go down that route. He took me—

And he saved me more than once—

Was I… just trying to shove my true feelings down? My mind wouldn’t leave him even though I was free. An ache pounded in my chest when there should have been relief. I didn’t want to think about the idea of never seeing him again—

I bit my arm and screamed against my skin to muffle the sound. I closed my eyes and sunk my head beneath the surface in hopes that I would forget about him and all that he was. But I knew I wouldn’t. He was tattooed on my heart as well as my skin.

When I finally came out of the tub, it was dark from all of the dirt that was on me.

I gripped the edge of the sink when a sudden dizziness fell over me. I felt—sick—

My knees hit the ground and I just barely made it to the toilet before I threw up everything inside me. I sat there for a long, long time before I pulled on the rest of my clothes and crawled in bed.

“Patara?” My mother said from the door. How sweet a sound was when you swore you would never hear it again. I opened my eyes a little to see her carrying a tray of something that smelled like pancakes. She only made those on my birthday.

“I feel so sick…” I whispered. “Mommy…”

My mom set down the tray and hurried over to me. She brushed my wet hair from my face and looked over every inch of me that was visible above the blankets.

“You feel as if you have a fever… I should call a doctor.”

I said nothing. I only closed my eyes and leaned against the feeling of my mother caressing my shoulder.

I hadn’t felt her do that since I was a child.