Come Love A Stranger

Three

Mariah woke up in the night to the howling right outside her window, she held her breath, wondering why it would sound so close to her. The howling came again and it sounded like an animal in pain. She sat up on her bed, her chest rising and falling with her quick breaths. She climbed out of the bed and slowly walked to the window, gulping, she looked back at her door, wondering if someone would be awake to hear if she screams since she doesn’t know what could be outside her window.
The howl came again, more like whimpering, she wondered what it could be and what pain the animal could be in. She sucked in a deep breath and opened the curtain as little as she could and gasped immediately. Right at the edge of the forest was a dragon. She jumped back immediately, panting like she had seen a ghost. She had seen a ghost, dragons were supposed to be a myth; how come there is one right outside her window? Just to be sure she had seen correctly, she slowly crept to the window and opened the curtain slowly just in time for the creature to raise its wings and she was able to see that the wings were silver, the body was black and the wings were slivery white, glistening to the moonlight.
Mariah felt like her heart was in her throat as she peeped at the majestic creature, her eyes were wide, wanting to take in every scene, every action. As if realizing that it was been stared at, the dragon looked her way and she quickly closed the curtain, her hand on her chest as she backed away from the window. Her eyes remained on the closed curtains as she chanted in her head, there is a dragon outside my window, there is dragon outside my window. She was panting and kept moving away from her window, the howling came again and she was tempted to go check it out and as she thought it, she did it.
She slightly pull the curtain aside but her heart left through her throat as she stared at the big face right aside her window, staring at her. The eyes were black and gold, watching her, studying her. Mariah took steps back, she gulped, her eyes never leaving the big shadow that was blocking the moonlight that was coming into her room, she was trembling, wondering what would become of her now.
The dragon kept watching her, it didn’t attack, it didn’t growl, it didn’t move, it just stood there, its eyes glowing like the midnight sun, black and gold. It huffed, blowing breath to the window and Mariah watched as the air flew into the room, coming to her. She drew back, her back already on the door and she wanted so badly to avoid the smoky air coming to her, but it was impossible for the air met her and immediately it did, her vision blackened and she slumped on the floor, unconscious.
***
“Mariah, wake up, it’s morning already,” Lydia said outside the door, she knocked again when she got no answer. “Mariah, Mariah?” She called and was forced to push open the door when no sound was heard. She entered the room and hissed when she saw her sleeping on her bed, “goodness gracious,” she walked up to her and tapped her softly, “wake up, Mariah.”
“Mm,” Mariah moaned, stretching her body. She rubbed her temple and opened her eyes to look at her mother’s blue ones, “mother?”
“Yes, get up, we need to do the laundry, and we need to gather some firewood, remember?”
“Ah yes, sorry, I must have gone into a slumber,” she frowned, did she? She never sleeps so deeply, what exactly happened? She got off the bed and stretched herself. Then walking to her window to pull the curtain, she froze when she touched the curtain, this isn’t right, she could remember she pulled the curtain last night to peep at something, but what?
“Are you okay?” Lydia asked, wondering why she paused and grew still.
“Yes, I-I’m fine,” Mariah turned to her, her eyes glanced at the door and she remembered something again, she remembered slumping on the floor but now that her mother woke her up, she was in the bed, how possible? She furrowed her brows, trying to remember every detail of the previous night, why was she up? Why did she open the curtain? Why did she collapse by the door? Why was she on the bed and most importantly, why doesn’t she remember?
“Mariah, are you alright? You do not look so well,” Lydia walked up to her, she cupped both her cheeks, looking into her eyes with worry, “is something troubling you?”
“Uh? No…no, I’m-I’m fine,” she freed herself from her mother’s concerned hands and walked back to the bed, she picked up a pillow as she stared at the bed, trying to remember if she had climbed into it later in the night, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t remember.
“Mariah, I am worried about you, why are you moving to places and stopping, did something happen to you?”
She turned to her mother, taking in her attire then, she was wearing a black dress with the neckline and sleeves white, she gasped as pictures filled her mind, a big majestic creature, black and with slivery white wings, the closeness of it when she had opened her curtain to see its face, she dropped the pillow she was holding immediately, her heart beating loudly in her chest, last night she had seen something, she had seen a dragon.
***
It was hard focusing on anything if her mind was on the creature she saw last night, Mariah still find it hard to believe that a dragon was right outside her window, why did it not attack? Why did it let her go? What did it do to her that she didn’t immediately remember what happened? The more she thought of it, the more she was confused and the more she wished she could see the creature again, maybe she could ask it? She groaned and picked up the woods her father has chopped and walked to place it in the store.
“What is wrong with her? She has been like that all morning,” Roderick asked, staring at the back of Mariah who seemed to not actually be there.
“I don’t know, your mother said she has been acting like that since she woke up,” Josiah shrugged; dropping the axe he was carrying and rubbing his arm to ease the pain.
“She is always strange,” Roderick said, bending down to carry his own stack of chopped woods.
“Do not say that about your sister, Roderick,” Josiah cautioned and picked up the axe to get back to his work.
They were at it until Lydia called them in for breakfast and after that, they went back to it till late in the afternoon when they decided to take a rest. Mariah spent her evening after dinner outside the house, she searched the forest edge, wanting to know if she could find any link to the creature she saw last night, maybe a scale or something. She hasn’t told her family about her encounter with it last night and she was surprised when none of them mentioned anything about the strange howling or whimpering, could it be that she heard it alone? Then could it be that it was all a dream?
But it can’t be, the dream felt so real and the creature was so close to her window that if she was not so sacred, she could have reached out and touch it. When she found nothing at the edge, she decided to go into the forest, it’s possible that the dragon’s nesting ground would be in the forest, if not, where else can a creature its size be hiding? The more she didn’t find any clue or any mark of what she was looking for, the deeper she went into the forest, she could hear her mother’s voice in her subconscious, telling her not to go into the forest but she blocked it away and continued on her quest.
Time flew by and Mariah was getting worn out, her legs were hurting and she decided to go back, tomorrow she would continue earlier and who knows? She might find something that will prove that what she saw last night wasn’t a dream and it was real.
A deep growling behind her sent chills up her spine, she turned back immediately but she saw nothing, she gulped, her heart beat increasing, she quickly scanned her surrounding but there was nothing, she heaved a sigh and turned to continue on her walk home. She was constantly aware of her surrounding; being on alert in case anything jumps out at any moment to attack.
The growl came again and she froze, it sounded like it was behind her, she turned back slowly but saw nothing, all she saw were trees and nest of the sleeping animals. She placed her hand on her chest to calm her fast beating heart. She tried to ignore the fear in her heart and turned to run back home but she heard dried leaves rustling behind her and then the growl again. Mariah closed her eyes, there was no denying it anymore, something was behind her, she turned softly and her heart beat seized when she saw the creature staring at her. It took a step towards her and she felt like her soul left her body.