Chapter 1 - Part 2

Before I could even open my eyes, I realized I wasn't at home anymore. The smell that radiated from around me was an unfamiliar lemony scent infused with dandelions. I remained stiff on my back to keep my muscles from groaning from the soreness. My head had a dull ache as I shifted my head to the left in an attempt to get more comfortable.

The bed made me feel as if I were laying in a field of flowers. That smell though. That lemon sweet scent slipped into my nose as I inhaled deeply. The pillow was comfortable, and that's how I knew for sure I wasn’t at home. My pillow was a rock hard hand-me-down from my older brother Cal.

My feet hung out from the heavy blanket and stung in the cold. Slowly lifting up my legs and bringing them closer to my chest to curl into a warm ball, I bumped into something hard. A soft groan sounded from beside me. My eyes were wide open.

There was a someone in the bed with me!

Like a cat in water, I scrambled out of the bed. I ran toward the door and let loose the most ear splitting screech as I lunged for the handle. I nearly forgot that my entire body felt like it had gone through a meat grinder the previous night. The metaphorical meat grinder caused me to face-plant right into the closed door.

I dragged myself up against the white door frame. My entire body felt like it was on fire from moving so abruptly. Slow and even breaths were the key to calming down. I realized that it wasn't just the bed that smelled like lemon sugar cubes and fields of flowers, it was the entire room. The scent was alluring in an almost inhuman way. I have never met a pixie before, but this is exactly what I would imagine one smelling like.

The boy peered over the bed with a sour face. His blond hair was unkept and almost covered his eyes. His mood got even worse when he saw me.

“Do you always get up like that, or is this a new thing?” His voice stank of sarcasm, and I wrinkled my nose. He rubbed his eyes when he stood up from the bed. He was surely trying to wipe away the exhaustion. He was only wearing boxers, and probably lacked the decency to even notice that it was a problem.

“I’m Colin Wei, you?” I stared at him suspiciously, and didn't answer. He emphasized his last name like I should recognize it. And I did, kind of. Wei sounded like a name I shouldn’t forget, but lacking sleep in some classes caused me to doze in and out of important lectures. That feeling in my gut told me to trust him, but I was weary. I stared at him, and like a fish, opened and closed my mouth several times without forming words.

“I- I’m Sam,” I paused, dumbstruck for a moment. “Did you kidnap me? Did you poison me last night? Where am I? Why are you laughing? This isn't funny!” My voice got louder as I rambled on, and at the end of it, I was yelling over Colin’s laughter. His smile caught me off guard as I tried to scramble my thoughts together.

“Sorry, sorry. It's just hilarious that you have no idea what's going on.” Colin wiped away his imaginary tears from laughing so hard. He strolled over to his closet and pulled on a red T-shirt. I still sat on the ground in front of the door.

He pointed at my left arm without warning.

“You kept mumbling about how much your arm hurt the entire time I was carrying you, and that's when we realized you were the new Zodiac.” No matter how much sleeping I did in class, there was always something I couldn’t miss. The Zodiacs. Powerful beings that were chosen by their God to rule their factions. Supernatural creatures that, for the most part, kept to themselves. I was most definitely human, and this kid was most definitely insane.

Before I could deny his insanity, the door swung open and I fell back through the doorway. My head hit the ground with a painful thud.

“Good morning, young dragons!” Bellowed a loud voice from behind me. I scrambled to my feet and almost managed to fall over again in the process. Curse my clumsiness at a time like this. I twisted to look behind me. There was an empty hallway leading out to a kitchen. Was I hearing ghosts now too?

I heard someone clear their throat, and instinctively, I looked down. A small, red lizard-looking creature stood its hind legs, with his arms crossed. I screeched for the second time today as I flew backwards into Colin. He didn’t move out of the way, or allow me to back away anymore. His hands rested themselves calmly on my shoulders to brace me.

“Morning, Grandpa. This is Sam, the one making all the noise so early in the morning.” Colin remarked. I stared blankly at what appeared to be a talking lizard. In all of my Supernatural Studies classes, I could never recall a talking lizard. Not even in shapeshifters.

“Rough morning then?”

“The lizard… the lizard’s talking… how is it doing that?” I peeled myself off of the blond kid and got down on my knees to get a closer look at the creature. Lizards can’t actually talk, right? I’m probably still asleep and am having a super weird dream.

The red lizard’s face turned from happy to bitter in a matter of seconds. It felt a little like he would rather skin me alive than talk to me anymore. I wasn’t really sure if I should feel bad for upsetting the thing. I stood up to find Colin behind me again. I tried to move away, but this time, he didn’t let go of my shoulders.

“A lizard? Is that what you think I am? A lizard?”

I heard Colin snort a laugh from behind me. It made me realise how small this little red lizard actually was. I realized I wasn’t in any real danger. Colin bent down and picked the lizard up gently.

“He doesn’t know any better. Besides, we all know you’re not a lizard, there’s no need to prove it.” Colin sounded like he was enjoying this. The red creature grumbled out something inaudible, and then jumped off Colin’s hand and glided out the door.

“Come on, breakfast should be ready.” The lizard waved a hand for us to follow. As if it were normal, Colin grabbed my hand and pulled me excitedly down the hallway. My arm felt ready to fall of from the strain put on my muscles. His hand still gripped mine when he slowed.

I thought it was weird that he was holding my hand, because in any other situation, this would be the most awkward thing another boy has ever done. At this thought, I separated our hands in one swift movement. I didn’t even know who he was. I still didn’t know where I was, and he wanted to play house with a talking lizard? Colin glanced at me for a quick second, a hurt look in his eyes. When I blinked, his eyes were fixed on the old man cooking by the stove. Colin was trying to act like it didn’t bother him.

“The food smells good,” Colin commented from his kitchen stool like it was just any other day.

The kitchen may have been smaller than normal, but it was very pretty. The cabinets were a dark ebony, and the counter tops were a gray quartz that complimented the white tile flooring. The old man stood over the stove as he stirred bacon frying in a pan. It smelled heavenly in here.

“The Zodiacs first change? He must be very hungry.” I was surprised by the thick Asian accent from the old man. I noticed that Colin, despite the lighter colored hair, also resembled someone of Asian descent. His skin was olive colored and his stunning blue eyes matched the old man’s.

“A Zodiac?” I found myself saying, before I couldn't even think about what I was asking.

“Your left arm, the tattoo is the mark of the Zodiac.” Colin said, as if he were bored of answering my stupid questions. I pulled my sleeve up for the first time this morning, and saw what they were all talking about.

A tattoo wound all the way up my arm. It was a dragon. It's head rested at the base of my shoulder, with its tail coiling down my arm. A shudder or panic filled me as I stared at the dragon. It seemed to stare right back at me as if it were alive. All the things I had yet to ask seemed to flow out of my mouth all at once.

“Where am I? Who are you? And why on Earth do I have a tattoo of a dragon on me?” I said it so fast it was hard for me to understand. Panic was started to cloud the outer edges of my mind. A rising sensation I found hard to push down.

“Calm down, Young Dragon. Your brothers’ brought you to us last night. We are the Wei family, and I am Master Uda Wei. This is my husband, Jac Wei and our grandson, Colin Wei,” he took a pause to gesture at the red lizard, and then at Colin. “That tattoo appears on the arm of the person worthy of leading the dragons. You are that person.” I could tell the old man's tone was careful as he attempted to answer all of my questions.

“The Dragon Zodiac? Don’t you have to be a dragon for that?” With receiving answers I so desperately needed, I felt my heart slow in my chest. The old man scooped eggs onto our plates before setting out a full plate of bacon. I didn't touch the food, I was too nervous. My appetite seemed to fall out of my stomach.

“Yes, and no,” His cryptic answer wasn’t helping to explain anything. “A zodiac doesn’t have to be a dragon, but you are.” The old man explained. To my right, Colin was mindlessly shoveling in food. The small red lizard with wings flew onto the old man's shoulder. The lizard, Jac, sat down on his shoulder with a single piece of bacon that was nearly as big as he was.

“So, my brothers brought me here, I am apparently a dragon, and a Zodiac…?” I specified, and Colin nodded, with his mouth still full.

These people were insane. I need to get out of here.

“So what is the lizard-looking thing? Is it a baby dragon?” I asked, pointing at Jac. I could hear Jac’s growl from here when I accidentally said lizard. I should probably not say lizard anymore. Wouldn’t want the little guy to bite me...

“Not quite. Since he has passed on before me, his spirit stays behind in this form. He cannot pass over until I die, because we are mated.” None of what the old man just said made any sense, but I nodded anyway.

Me, a dragon? I didn’t think so. I was one hundred percent human last time I checked.

I started eating a piece of bacon and instantly swooned over the taste. The perfect blend of crispy and greasy. I gobbled down as much as I could.

“Slow down, pig.” Colin grumbled with a half grin.

I assumed that was his way of telling me to continue eating.