THE LAST DRAGON KING'S BRIDE

CHAPTER ONE

THE DRAGON'S BRIDE
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J I A Y I

I hear everyone's thoughts. I hear everyone speaking even before they could open their lips. I hear you. I hear them. I hear animals. I hear things, even ones which will make me hate myself for hearing them.

I hear my parents, both the ones said to me and the ones left unsaid. I hear my friends. And that's why I hate to be with them because they're all fake friends because they're not there with me because of me, they're there because of what they gain from me.

I find myself analyzing every interaction, searching for signs of hidden agendas or false motivations. But the more I analyze, the more I find myself overthinking and second-guessing. I'm afraid to let anyone in, but I'm also afraid of being alone.

I have magic, anything I touch turns to gold, I can make  two people turn on each other with magic, I can kill someone with my magic, I heal too, it only depends on what my family want me to do,  that's why I was made to wear gloves from a young age just like Elsa in FROZEN which always made me think I was living in a Disney movie, that's why I loved to watch them so much, I believed that my own prince charming will come one day to take me away from my wretched life just like the sleeping beauty or Rapunzel.

If only I can live in a fairy land, everything will be much easier for me.

"Nǐ duì wǒ háo wú yòngchù! (You're of no use to me!) I wish my husband never took you in." I remember my foster mother speaking as she hit me severally for being tired and not able to do anything to help the family.

The words echoed in my head, over and over again. They were like a curse, following me wherever I went. No matter how hard I tried to forget them, they always found their way back to me. I was just a child when I first heard them, and they had shaped my whole life. They were like a shadow, following me and casting doubt on everything I did.

I wondered if I would ever be able to escape their hold on me. I wanted to be free, to live a life where I wasn't defined by those words.

Why am I so different? Why am I never allowed to speak? Why am I never allowed to express myself? Why was I born different?

I see dreams. Dreams of my parents, and my family being snatched away from me. I see their blood, I see their painful and teary eyes, I hear their echoes in my head every night. I can't sleep. I have nightmares.

In the daytime, my foster family haunts me, my friends haunts me, school haunts me and at night, the nightmares also haunts me!

I woke up. Looked around the room, everything was so strange, like a fairy room with everything looking so magical. The bed was draped in silk sheets, and the furniture was intricately carved. There were windows that looked out onto a beautiful garden, and the walls were covered in paintings of dragons and other fantastical creatures. I sat up in the bed, feeling disoriented and confused.

"Wǒ... zài... nǎlǐ (Where am I?)" I asked aloud, my voice stuttering and shaking, I was scared. And my eyes were acting funny, changing color due to the strange environment I found myself in. 

There was a mirror on the wall, and as I looked into it, my reflection changed to match the room. I looked as if I was made of crystal, like a living sculpture. The colors of my eyes shifted and whirled like a kaleidoscope.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, and I felt a wave of confusion and disorientation. Where am I? Am I in a fairy land or am I still in my dreams?

As I reached out to touch the mirror, I felt a tingling sensation in my fingertips. My hand glowed with a blue-white light, and as I pressed it to the glass, I saw a ripple of energy spread out across the surface.