“In his heart lay an unquenchable fire. The center of all energy. A stout and fearless soul, who’s destined path would see the hand of fate itself brought to heel. It was said that all of God’s creatures, both light and dark, were drawn to this ancient beast, and he, in turn, was drawn to them. For only a dragon possessed the strength to stake his claim on a treasure horde. Only a dragon could bend the hearts of Earth, Heaven, and Hell.”

~~

Valerie Duval, the Crimson Haired Empress of Anju Academy, stared transfixed at the enchanted mirror in front of her office desk. She wasn't aware of it, but she was smiling. Something she always seemed to do whenever she was watching him.

A knock on the door broke her trance as a raven-haired woman entered the room and bowed her head respectfully.

“How's he doing?” she asked in a soft voice.

Her smile grew. “Better than I could have expected.”

The dark-haired Asian beauty quirked her head at the President of Occulta Disciplina. “I still don't understand why you're so fixated on this one particular human, Madame President. I've never seen you so enraptured by a potential servant before.”

Valerie gave her Queen a curious look. “I'm enraptured?”

She nodded before adding with a mischievous grin. “Every time I catch you gazing into your looking glass you have the most curious little smile on your face. Is there something you're not telling me?”

The President sighed before turning her attention back to the mirror hovering in front of her. “Tai, let me ask you something. What do you define as strength?”

Again, her Queen gave the head of the club a curious look. “In what regard?”

“I mean, do you consider power alone to define strength?”

Tai shook her head. “I don't believe so. Power can be inherited, after all.” A sour look crept over her features. “Some feel they are entitled to it.”

“So then what, pray tell, defines strength?”

Tai thought for a moment about her question before answering. “I would say strength is defined by a person’s character; their will to live and will to overcome any obstacle, no matter the perils.” She frowned. “But such strength is a rare quality these days.”

“It is,” Valerie observed while biting on her thumb thoughtfully as her attention returned to the looking glass. “It is, indeed.”

~~

Jon lurched up from his bed, his breath ragged, his skin damp with cold sweat. He tossed his bedsheets aside and grabbed his flashlight. Looking around the room, his heartbeat slowly began to subside from a roaring drum to a dull thud. As he tried to ease his racing heart, he repeated the words his mother always used to calm him down.

“There's no such thing as monsters.”

As far back as he could remember, young Jonathan had always been particularly sensitive to the sights and sounds around him. Every creak in the house, every leaking pipe, he could hear it all; even smells were something he could distinguish with ease. The mildew behind the wall of his room had become particularly obnoxious as of late. But no matter how many things he heard, or things he smelled, nothing could compare to the things he sensed.

It was always the same. That overwhelming feeling of dread that would hang over him like a shroud, like eyes were watching him from every direction. Waiting. Lurking. He would take a deep breath every time this feeling came on and remind himself once again of what his mother would say. 

“There's no such thing as monsters.”

He needed to be brave. Even if the shroud of dread loomed stronger now than it ever did before, he wasn't allowed to be the same old cry baby he used to be. He had a little sister now. One he could hear crying in her little crib for someone to come to her.

“Why isn't mom or dad coming to get her?”

He did his best to swallow the fear forming in his stomach and slowly crept out of his room. If their parents hadn't woken up then it was up to him to protect her. The day she was born Dad made him promise to protect his little sister. He told Jon to be a brave older brother and look after her no matter what.

Jon made his way down the dark hallway, clutching his flashlight to his chest. Though he could see perfectly well in the dark, the flashlight comforted him. Suddenly, his little sister stopped crying. A chill ran down Jon's spine as his knees began to buckle. Every instinct in his body told him to run, but he couldn't. He needed to check on her no matter what.

His trembling hand reached for the doorknob and turned.

“Emily? Emily, it's okay. I'm here.” He tried to make his voice as reassuring as possible as he opened the door.

Relief washed over him as he caught sight of his mother's silhouette. She turned and put a finger up to her mouth to shush him as she rocked Emily in her arms.

His breathing returned to normal and he slowly closed the door. So long as he was up, he decided he'd help himself to some juice for being so brave. Mom and Dad wouldn't get mad, he'd earned it after all. Jon descended the stairs and went into the kitchen. There, he turned on the lights and blanched, becoming frozen to the spot in terror.

She was there, on the floor in front of him soaked in her own blood. His mother's eyes were rolled back in her pale, lifeless face. Two puncture marks on her neck were draining the crimson fluid onto the floor. He couldn't move. He couldn't even scream. At that moment every thought in his being began to ask the same question.

If his mom was dead, then who was with his sister?

He bolted back upstairs screaming at the top of his lungs for help. He continued screaming even as he darted into his sister's room. The figure he had mistaken for his mom turned its head one-hundred-eighty degrees and smiled down at him with inhuman, blood-drenched, teeth and glowing yellow eyes. Once again, Jon was fixed to the spot.

The figure dropped Emily’s lifeless body onto the floor and turned towards him, walking ever so slowly towards the paralyzed boy. His mother had lied, monsters do exist.

He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

~~

Jon lurched up from the bed in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. It had happened again, same as most nights: that God-awful dream bringing up an even more wretched past. He quickly rose from the bed and made his way to the bathroom to splash water on his face. Once he was done, he took a moment to lean over the sink and catch his breath, letting the cool liquid dribble over his face and down his sculpted chin.

“Just a dream. Just a dream,” he chanted to himself. Slowly the thudding sound of his heart beating in his eardrums dulled and faded away. As he finally began to relax, the sound of a figure stirring in the bed and a small feminine moan caught his ear. He swore under his breath, a twisted smile forming on his face. He had forgotten he wasn't alone, nor was this his apartment.

The covers stirred and slid away to reveal a gorgeous young woman with cream skin and raven hair. She stretched one slender arm above her head, bracing it with the other as she popped her back, another series of tired noises escaping her lips.

The details of the previous night had been lost to the booze, which would explain the dull throb in his temples. But if one thing did stick out clearly it was the absolute bombshell he met at the bar the night before. This woman he was now apparently sleeping next to.

“Morning," she purred before rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“I didn't mean to wake you up,” he replied with sincerity. “Truth be told this isn't the first time this has happened.”

She snickered in a bubbly voice, laying flat on her stomach with her arms crossed under her breasts and her legs swinging playfully in the air. “Which part? You ending up in a strange girl's apartment? Or waking up and freaking out?”

“Both, if I'm honest,” he took a moment to collect his thoughts and try his best to put together what had happened. Last he remembered he was at the bar with his buddies trying to be the designated wingman of the evening. As usual, he had a bit too much to drink and spent more time shamelessly flirting with girls by himself than he did actually helping out his bros.

His eye had caught her almost immediately. After all, she was easily the most attractive young woman there that night. He remembered saying something to her to break the ice but couldn't remember what. Knowing himself though, it was probably something stupid, as was his usual strategy. If they laugh at the really stupid jokes you know they're into you.

“Listen, while I hate to “out” myself here. I feel I owe you an apology. I've completely forgotten your name," he confessed.

She smiled in an amused manner which put him at ease. “At least you're honest.”

“Can I trust I was at least a gentleman?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

She scoffed. “Hardly!” The naked beauty righted herself up and turned around before sitting down on her haunches and lifting her hair up, treating him to a view of her rear, now decorated in light bruises and welts. “I haven't been spanked that hard in a long time.”

He winced. “Hope I didn't cross a line.”

“Not particularly. Considering I asked for it.” She caressed the red ring around her neck. “Though the belt was certainly a nice surprise. You learn that from roping steer?”

He chuckled at her little jibe. While he may have inadvertently told her where he was from last night, it was more likely his accent just gave him away as being from the American Southwest.

She slowly stood up from the bed in all her nude glory and stretched. “I think I'll make some coffee. You're welcome to join me after you clean up a bit.” She then added with a devious little smirk. “Maybe then I'll consider giving you my name.”

Jon watched her hips sway in the dark as she sauntered off to the closet before slapping himself the moment she was out of sight. He shook his head, chuckling at his moronic reflection in the mirror.

“You damn fool. What's the point of wild sex if you're too plastered to remember it?”