The Dragon Prince

The Dragon Elders

A few days have passed since I was discharged from the hospital. I am currently staying with Isabella and her destined mate. Isabella is a dragon, and she is mated to a fairy named Annabeth by a deity called the Moon Goddess as they explain who she is and how she created the magical world along with other gods. Izzy says I have a mate who will love and cherish me. I see the two of them looking at each other with longing, and every night, I hear banging and thumping from the walls. I don't want to know what they are doing, but I can't get any sleep. I also discovered that Jacob and Isabella are brother and sister. I thought they would have the same color dragon, but we are different. The night was peaceful, but my mind wanted me to replay a memory I didn't want to remember. I want to forget.

"It hurts," I breathed heavily.

"Does it look like I care? Get up," Gabe said. Gabe stomped over to my bed, grabbed my arm roughly, and pulled me out of bed.

"Gabe, please stop. Please don't do this." I begged him. "No more."

"SHUT UP AND GET UP." After seeing that I wasn't moving, he started to drag me out of the bedroom by pulling my hair. I screamed louder the harder he pulled. He slammed me up against the wall, and the breath left my body. "My little hatchling, when will you learn? You are supposed to do as you are told." Gabe laughed as he licked my cheek. All I could see was his wicked smile.

"Gabe, why are you doing this?" I barely huffed the words out. He punched my stomach, and once more, I gasped for air. "When are you going to learn? We own you. You are nothing."

I woke from my nightmare screaming. I realized that I had woken up from my dream. I started to cry. Izzy ran into my room, wondering what had happened to me. "ALYSSA! Hey, I'm here. It was just a dream," Izzy embraced me. I continued to cry on her shoulder. "You're safe here. Do you want to talk about it?"

I stared at her green eyes. "I was back at that hellhole. It was horrible, don't worry, Izzy, it's not your fault. I'm sorry I woke you." I said.

"Hey, don't worry; you can always talk to me." Izzy placed her hands on her hips and smiled cheerfully.

"That's very kind of you. Thank you," As I calmed down, I noticed my clothes were drenched with sweat and my hair stuck to my face. "I'm going to take a cold shower," I said. I entered the shower when I turned the water on and let the waterworks out. It was just a dream but worse than a dream—a memory. I don't know how long I stood in the shower. All I know is that my tears had dried up when I was done. I kept hearing Gabe's voice saying, "You are nothing," in my head multiple times. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Thankfully, all of my injuries have almost faded. The cuts above my left eye are practically gone now. I allowed my towel to fall.

Now that the bandages were gone, I could see the full extent of my wounds. There were four long scars on my sides; the first one extended from my right breast to my right side. Two other cuts came after that. The fourth scar starts right below my navel and ratches to my left hipbone. The cuts are deep and red, but thanks to the magic of Dr. Solus, they were mostly healed. What hurt about this the most was that no magic would remove these scars from my body. My left hand was still a bit sore, and I could see scars around my wrist. I looked at my face again, my eyes filled with tears; they seemed so dead, so defeated. "You are nothing," Gabe's words continued to echo.

I put the towel back on my body again, opened the bathroom drawers, and inside were all sorts of cosmetics, but what caught my eye was at the bottom—scissors and hair dye. My head was overflowing with memories of everything they said to me and did. Trying to make me believe I was nothing. Nothing more than a freak. I grabbed the scissors. "It's for a fresh start," I said to myself, cutting my already long hair and the dead ends. I looked at myself again and saw that my hair looked much more alive. I soon heard Izzy knocking on the door. "Alyssa? You've been in there for quite a while now." Izzy said. "I'm fine; I'll be right out," I said.