Sitting on a stool next to Ms. Derek, David held her hand that was above the covers. David was leaning forward, resting on the bed. Both the dragon and his human mother had their eyes closed. 

Ms. Derek was lying in the bed she had used every night for years. It was wide enough for two, and even in her sick state, she kept to her side. Even though Mr. Derek had stopped sleeping in the room with her three weeks ago. Every night he curled up in the kitchen with a single blanket.

Every night his eyes held more guilt.   

The doctor didn't know what Ms. Derek had. She had been sick in bed for over a month now. She hadn't been getting better. David had been trying to convince himself that she wasn't getting worse.

When it became apparent that Ms. Derek was going to die, the man had slipped into drinking, and it was clear he wasn't going to come out of it.

It wasn't too far into Ms. Derek's sickness that Mr. Derek had started to blame everything on the strange child in his house. The sickness was a curse from the Shape Shifters, a punishment.

But he kept talking about stress from work... David never did learn what exactly Mr. Derek's job was...

David adjusted his position next to the bed, stretching his back. 

Ms. Derek opened her eyes and tried to smile.  Bringing out her left hand, she shifted the covers slightly. 

"David," She grabbed his hand that was holding hers. "I love you like you had been my own, you know that."

"No," David lifted his head. Still partly asleep, he continued.  "No, don't say that. You'll be fine."

"If only Dr. Granders was as sure as you." Her eyes wandered away from David. "There is just something about words, how you can convince someone to die with words." She turned her focus back to David. "The Shape Shifters are calling me."

David tightened his grip on Ms. Derek's hand. The Shape Shifters didn't deserve Ms. Derek. He didn't care what they thought. 

"You're going to be fine," He said. 

"Oh, my little child." She smiled. "Take good care of your... of Mr. Derek for me." 

David swallowed and nodded. "Of course. Of course, but just until you get better."

A small laugh escaped her lips, but it was more like a breath of air. "David, don't change. You've always seemed a little young inside. I guess that's because you..." She smiled and closed her eyes. "I'd like to rest, my little child. But go, eat something."

David wasn't hungry, but he didn't want to argue. 

Standing up from the stool, David left the room and walked into the front room of the house. His adopted father was sitting at the table with his head in his hands.

The bottle next to him was almost empty. He looked up when David entered. Mr. Derek's eyes looked hollow. 

David turned away. He didn't give the man any information on the status of his wife. David just entered his room on the opposite side of the house.

After closing his door, he sank to the ground. He stared at the bed in front of him. The Shape Shifters must really hate him. For him to lose so much in such a short amount of time... 

David noticed someone sitting in the corner of the room. Startled, he jumped up. He stared at the young girl with braids in her hair. It was the girl who had claimed to be Life. 

At his sudden movement, she turned her head. Like last time, her eyes looked solid white, but they were changing between every color at once. 

"You...what are you doing here?" David asked, glancing away. 

Life crossed her legs, sitting up straighter. "She'll die."

"Really," David's voice was sharp. Like he couldn't have figured that out himself? Like a Shape Shifter had to come here and tell him that? He took a deep breath and looked back towards the girl. "That's what you wanted to tell me?" He relaxed his stance, letting his shoulders drop. 

"The man will all but drown himself for his sins he cannot understand, but I want you to stay here." Life narrowed her eyes. 

David glared at her, "And why would I do that?"

Life smiled. It did not reach her eyes. "Because your path involves him, however small a part he might play. Or would it be better to say that I need something from him?"

"What's making me stay here?" David asked. What reason did he have to take orders from a Shape Shifter? 

Life stood up, "Time wouldn't speak with such rashness."

David narrowed his eyes, "If you really are Life why would you have made a special trip to tell me that she's going to die?"

Memories of stories about the Shape Shifters streamed through David's mind. He had never heard anything about Life appearing to anyone, much less twice. But remembering those stories only reminded him of his mother. Thoughts of his mother reminded him of the death he'd seen and the screams. And the mother he was about to lose. 

David tensed, feeling his eyes sting, threatening to start crying again. Adults don't cry. That's what Mr. Derek had said. That's what the humans said, and David was of that age. David was no longer a child to the humans. He was almost an adult.

"I pick up every soul myself. A long time ago I learned how to exist in many places at one time, something I offered to teach Time." Life studied David.  "The only thing special about this," Life continued, "is that you are seeing me in a human form. David Delmer, I do not do that for just anyone."

"Why then? Why are you showing yourself?" David rushed the words out and spoke quietly, afraid he'd break the lump in his throat and set it free.

Life's smile disappeared, "Perhaps I am not speaking to you, but rather to someone close to you." With that she disappeared, leaving David only with a hollow feeling.

David was no longer upset, but now he wasn't feeling anything. It felt like he was exhausted from feeling emotions. Rubbing his eyes, he decided he didn't want to be alone. Even if she was asleep, David wanted to be next to Ms. Derek. If she was worried, he could always lie and say he'd eaten.  

As David walked to Ms. Derek's room, he glanced at the tapestry of the Stone castle. He didn't want to look at Mr. Derek. After he finally opened the door to Ms. Derek's room, David leaned a shoulder on the doorway. 

David found everything far too still. The covers didn't rise and fall. 

Pain replaced David's numbness. His knees felt weak, but the doorframe kept him standing. She was gone. 

The Shape Shifters must really hate him. 

He wasn't going to stay here. He wasn't going to stay with Mr. Derek. The dragon didn't care what Life had said. He didn't want to be constantly living in his memories of a better time. 

Surely Mr. Derek would be happier that way too. 

***

Journal Entry

Once Ms. Derek died, I considered a lot of different paths I could take. I have to say absolutely none of them were what I ended up taking. I suppose I have Ash Flame to thank for that.

I know little of Ash Flame. I've never asked anyone who he was, and I don't think I'll ever understand him. He never claimed to be one of Shape Shifters, but... At the very least, he was not a human or a dragon. 

If anything, I would describe him as disturbing because with him... I don't think I ever met the same person twice.  

End Journal Entry