Riley hurried down the hall, afraid of what this meant. When Riley reached her door, she opened it right away, and closed it just as quick. Riley leaned on the door. After a few moments, she stood, and started to get ready for the trip to town.
Riley trudged over to her closet, feeling as though someone were watching her. She opened her closet, and picked out the casual clothes Cory had been talking about. The shirt was purple, the color of the quilt on her bed, and the pants were just a pair of blue jeans.
'Casual,' Riley thought to herself.
Riley changed into the clothes, and left her room quickly, eager to be with her friends, and let the thought of Caleb out of her mind.
Almost running down the hall, Riley made it to the Dining Hall, where here friends were waiting for her.
"What took you so long?" Ariana asked calmly.
'I must have been sitting in front of the door longer than I thought!' Riley thought to herself.
"Just got a little distracted," Riley replied to Ariana.
"Okay," Ariana replied as though she didn't mind.
"Let's go be free!" Eric exclaimed.
The group ran through the Dining Hall doors and into the halls. Riley remembered some of the halls from when she had been attacked, but then they became unfamiliar.
Eventually they pushed through the doors, and Riley felt the breeze from the outdoors blow against her face. Her ponytail blew behind her.
Outside, Riley found herself in an abandoned alleyway. The wall of the building on her right was crumbling, and looked as if it would fall over. On Riley's left, the wall looked sturdy but old. Both walls were brick and looked smoldered with ash, causing them to be a shade of black.
"Where to from her?" Riley asked.
"Depends on what we want to do," Cory said smiling.
"We should go to Miss Marie's!" Ariana almost shouted.
"Who is Miss Marie?" Riley asked.
"Miss Marie has always taken care of the younger people in Dragon Scars," Eric informed Riley, "She is like the mother of Dragon Scars, in fact, she was the youngest kid to ever be recruited to Dragon Scars. She isn't a part of Dragon Scars anymore though."
"She got too old," Ariana whispered to Riley as though someone would overhear her.
"Dragon Scars leaders don't like kids to see her, but nobody really knows why. Something about distracting them from their training and practice time," Cory added.
"I don't know if we should," Riley said.
"Oh, come on," Ariana said, "She is really nice, and nobody has ever been caught being around her."
"Okay, fine, but if we get caught, what do we do?" Riley asked still worried.
"Stop, run, and hope nobody recognises us," Cory said, calmlike.
"Let's go," Riley said as they started in the direction of Miss Marie's home.
Eric, Cory, Ariana, and Riley passed several homes with children playing outside, and people having parties in their backyards. Soon, the group arrived at the door of a large house that seemed more well kept compared to the other homes on the street.
Eric knocked on the door three time before the door opened slowly.
In the doorway stood an old woman crouched over a walker. The woman wore a light blue shirt with a dark blue shawl over it. Her hair was short and curly, and it was turning gray from old age.
"Miss Marie!" Ariana exclaimed, moving forward to embrace her.
"Hello, Ariana, dear," Miss Marie said in the sweetest voice Riley had ever heard.
"And who is this?" Miss Marie asked Ariana, gesturing to Riley.
"This is Riley. She came to Dragon Scars just the other day," Ariana told Miss Marie.
"Oh, hello Riley," Miss Marie said, "Welcome, come on in Eric, Cory, Ariana, and you too Riley."
Miss Marie slowly moved out of the way to let the group into her home.
"I just baked cookies!" she said moving toward the direction of the kitchen.
"Miss Marie's cookies are the best!" Ariana told Riley.
Riley suddenly smelled peppermint and was frozen in place. Her eyes darted around the room.
"Are you alright?" Eric asked.
"Yeah, fine," Riley said nervously.
"Are you sure?" he asked again.
"Yeah," Riley answered.
Just then out of the corner of her eye, Riley saw a face in the window of the dining room. Riley looked over and was sure the face belonged to Caleb, but the face disappeared before Riley could get a better look. The scent of peppermint still hung in the air.
Riley shivered.
"Maybe we should make this a short visit," Riley suggested.
"Okay, but you have to stay for one of Miss Marie's cookies.
"Might as well," Riley said as she followed Ariana into the kitchen.
"What kind are they?" Riley asked.
"Frosted chocolate cookies," Ariana answered.
Ariana picked two cookies from off the cooling rack.
"Here, try it," Ariana said.
Ariana bit into the cookie, and Riley did the same. The cookie was warm and gooey. The frosting was just right as well.
Riley suddenly felt less stressed.
"My secret recipe," Miss Marie said proudly.
"Delicious!" Riley exclaimed.
Cory and Eric were eating the cookies as well.
"Miss Marie is a great cook," Cory said.
"Maybe we should stay here a little longer," Riley said getting dizzy.
"Are you okay? You don't look too good," Cory asked.
"I'm fine," Riley answered, her eyes blurring so she couldn't see.
"She must have had a reaction to the anti-stress in the cookies," Miss Marie said, "Don't let her fall over. Carry her over to the couch to rest."
Eric swept Riley off the floor and layed her down on the couch.
Riley saw Miss Marie's shaky hands holding a blue vial.
"Let me," Ariana said taking the vial from Miss Marie.
"Give her just a little, not too much," Miss Marie told Ariana.
"Just do it fast!" Eric shouted at his sister.
"I will!" she shouted back.
Ariana had Riley drink some of the contents of the vial.
"Sweet," Riley said.
Riley closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
YOU ARE READING
Dragon Scars
PertualanganRiley heard the gunshot and was paralyzed with fear. The door in front of her screeched open quickly. She then stood still, the gun was pointed directly at her.
