The Dragonstones Trilogy
Chapter 2

Sara woke up to the blaring of her alarm, panting and covered in sweat. As long as she’d been alive, seventeen years, she could not recall a day when she had not been haunted by nightmares. Although it had happened when she was five, Sara still remembered the night her father had been killed.

Sara reluctantly dragged her feet, and then the rest of her body, out of bed. She trekked into the bathroom, and after washing her face went downstairs to eat breakfast. Sara’s mom had left her a note on the fridge, telling her that she had gone to the store. Sara’s mother had white hair, and light brown eyes, and looked almost nothing like Sara. She also let Sara do anything she wanted, which Sara was just fine with.

Sara finished breakfast, and went outside to wait for the bus. The bus was fifteen minutes late, enough to make her tardy. Sara’s first hour teacher didn’t like excuses, so Sara didn’t have to explain why she was tardy. She silently took an empty seat, unfortunately next to Victoria White.

As the teacher lectured the students on the various kinds of essays, Victoria leaned over and whispered, “There was an empty seat over there,” she said, pointing over to the chair in the back corner. Sara had learned to ignore Victoria’s nasty remarks, and reminded herself that they had once been best friends, until Victoria wanted to be “popular.” Around ninth grade, Sara had needed to go to the hospital, because of a disease which Sara had forgotten the name of. A month later when she had finally recovered, Sara had found Victoria, her best friend, sitting with another group. Ever since then, Victoria had made a point of making Sara’s life miserable. Apparently it was cool to be a jerk to old friends.

Sara didn't have any other classes with Victoria, which was a blessing, and first hour was over before she knew it. Unfortunately, that meant it was time for math. For an hour Sara labored tediously over a problem that would never help her in life. She was even more irritated when she got the problem wrong, and had to start all over again. By lunch, Sara was fuming despite the reassurances to herself that someday she wouldn't have a math class.

Lunch and math combined seemed determined to annoy her today. The line seemed to be five miles long, and Sara was at the back of it. Sara rolled her eyes when the meal was a disgusting-looking blob of what the school called food. She bought a carton of milk, and walked to her table. Her table was occupied by another group, but everywhere else was full. Sara sighed and sat down. After eating her small and gross lunch, Sara felt a wave of dread wash over her.

Sara looked around. She knew to trust this warning signal. She hadn’t felt it much before, but the feeling had come the night her father died.

Sara didn’t see anything, or anyone that looked dangerous. A sharp pain stabbed at her fingers, and Sara looked down. Protruding from her fingers where the nails should have been were huge claws, dripping with something green. Sara stared at the claws in horror. Her skin seemed to have gone cracked and scaly, and taken on a greenish tinge. This had never happened before, well, almost never.

Sara forgot about her lunch tray, and everything else. She dashed to the closest bathroom, shoving students and teachers out of the way. At least she didn’t have any friends to ask if she was all right. Sara almost cried with relief when she saw the bathrooms. She was even happier when she found the room empty. She wouldn’t have to explain anything, to anyone. Given a moment to think, Sara realized that there wasn’t any pain in her hands anymore.

She looked down. Her skin had returned back to normal, and there weren’t any claws. Her fingernails weren’t even unusually long. Her overwhelming sense of dread was gone, as well. Lost in thought, Sara exited the bathroom, and knocked into a boy she didn’t know. She ignored his asking if she was all right. For some reason, Sara felt a strange, safe feeling. It was pleasant, even. She almost didn’t see the orange aura surrounding the boy.

Sara walked quickly to the office, and asked to use the phone. Sara was pretty sure that her mom wouldn’t pick her up, but that she would know what to do. Even though her mom was at work, she always tried to make room for Sara. Someone picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi, Mom, it’s me, Sara,” Sara said.

“Sara? Are you all right?” Sara’s mother sounded worried.

“Um, yeah, I mean no.” Sara stammered. “Could you come pick me up?”

There was silence on the other end, then she heard her mom say, “Okay. I’m outside waiting for you.”

Sara knew that the hospital where her mom worked was at least fifteen minutes away, but shrugged it off. She needed to get home fast, and she wasn’t going to complain. She went outside, and looked for the small, blue car that her mother drove. “What happened?” Mom asked after Sara got in the car.

“Nothing. I just felt sick,” Sara rationalized that she was only half lying. After all, she did feel sick. Sara’s mom looked like she wanted to press, but chose against it. Sara closed her eyes for the drive home. They seemed to get home impossibly fast.

Sara was more than grateful when she saw her bed. She was already half asleep when she heard her mom say she would be back in a few hours. It seemed like she had barely slept at all, but when Sara woke up from her nap, the sky was black. Sara felt a sudden urge to go outside. She had been inside for – Sara looked at her clock – three hours, six including the ones spent at school, and maybe the exercise would help relieve the stress of the day.

Mageton was a small town, and the small, mostly empty downtown often was nice for walking, as Sara had discovered when she was younger, after her dad died. Sara had lived in Mageton as long as she could remember, but they had moved into different houses several times.

Sara’s walk was almost over when she felt another wave of dread. Sara silently noted that, today, something seemed to be out to get her. Suddenly rough hands seized her from behind. Sara felt the claws grow from her fingers again, and she imagined that her skin was changing as well, just like last time. Sara’s body reacted faster than she did. She reached behind her, using her claws to injure her opponent, get him to release her. It all happened in a split second, and after that moment was over, Sara was free. Sara looked around, but there was no sign of her attacker until he jumped on her from behind. His hands grabbed Sara’s claws, but then let go. Sara whirled around to see the man’s hands sliced open, the steaming blood dripping onto the sidewalk.

Something told Sara that there was another person, ready to attack. Trying not to think about it, Sara lifted her clawed hands, and swiped at him, instinct leading her to where he was. Bemused, she watched as gashes steamed and turned a sickly shade of green. Gasping, the man looked up, horror in his eyes. He had just enough time to blurt out “A dragon?” before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness, falling out of the bushes and onto the sidewalk.

Sara looked down and almost gagged. She had just killed two people. Their bodies were lying on the sidewalk. No, they weren’t dead, Sara realized, only knocked out, but with some pretty nasty gashes. Sara glanced down the alley where they had probably hidden, and, for a split second, saw him, the man surrounded by black. Sara looked at her hands. The claws had retracted, and her skin was as it always was. Sara looked away, and turned her walk into a run. Sara couldn’t think of why this was happening. She was just an ordinary person.

Sara’s thoughts wandered as she ran back to her house. What was happening? Why had those people attacked her? Were the two things connected? Sara thought back to earlier that day, when she had seen the boy with the glowing aura. Why was he glowing? Did he know about this? Sara found her bed without even turning on the light, and fell into a troubled sleep.