Burning Sky

Chapter 12

"Say what now?!" she yelled at the phone in her hand. "What are you doing there?"

"I just had to know more," he said calmly. "I sneaked in through Drake's window when he left for the night, but then he came back earlier than I expected, and now I am stuck in the bathroom with no way out."

Sora let a curse escape her lips. She really wanted to yell at him, but she realized that wouldn't help the situation. If Drake found him hiding in his bathroom, there was no telling what he would do. She would rather not find out. "I am coming to get you," she said sounding more confident than she felt.

"I just need you to get Drake out of his room, then I can climb out the window. Nothing big."

"Yeah, nothing big," she repeated sarcastically, but a wave of fear hit and she dropped the sarcasm. "Ok, get ready to leave in a few minutes." She crept out of her room and headed to the one place she would rather not be in the middle of the night; Drake's house.

At least not under these circumstances, she thought. Shocked by her own thoughts she shook her head fiercely. Not under any circumstances.

"What will you do?" Mo asked, still waiting on the other side of the phone.

"I have no idea," she replied honestly. "But I will figure something out."

"I am sure you will."

She smiled at his words and was about to hang up when she heard Mo calling her name. "Yeah," she muttered back.

"Thank you," he said before disconnecting.

Sora turned her attention to Kiba who was standing in front of her, his tail swishing happily from one side to the other. "How do you feel about helping Mo?" she asked and he barked in reply.

***

She knocked on the door first, hoping to avoid waking the entire house, but when no reply came, she had no choice but to ring the bell. At last, she heard heavy footsteps, and after a few seconds, the door creaked open, and a half asleep Drake scowled out at her. "What?" he said, his voice barely recognizable.

That was easy , she thought but then realized he was expecting her to give him a reason for waking him at this late hour. She bit her lower lip awkwardly before explaining. "Kiba got loose again. I must have left the door open or something and he ran away," she hurriedly spat out the lie.

Drake kept staring, a blank expression on his face. "So?"

"I want you to help me find him," she said expectantly.

"You want me to find a dragon for you, so you helping me find my dog is more than a fair trade."

Drake's eyes flew open at that comment, he was suddenly wide awake. Before he could answer, more footsteps sounded behind him.

"What's the matter, son?" Sora heard a man call out. Drake turned, and in the dim lighting, Sora glimpsed Drake's parents behind him.

His mother looked even more beautiful up close, and Drake was practically the spitting image of his father, except for the eyes. His father's eyes were a warm honey color, unlike the cold calculating black of Drake's eyes.

"Who is this?" his mom inquired pleasantly, despite it being the middle of the night, her voice as peaceful as Sora remembered, and there was no indication that she had just been jogged out of her sleep.

"Sora lives next door," explained Drake. "I think her dog ran away."

Everybody turned their attention to Sora. With three pairs of eyes trained on her, she felt like she needed to say something. "Hi," was the only thing she could utter.