Dragon Seekers

Chapter 2

Wake up, eat, get berated, get beaten, go to school, get asked relentless questions, get bullied, go home, do homework, get punished again, eat again, get punished for the third time, sleep.

That's how Jamie's life truly went. He'd always cry in his sleep at night, wanting the pain to stop. He always wanted to tell the truth to a teacher, but he always found himself lying to protect Jasmine. Carl would always threaten Jamie that if he squealed, Jasmine would be beaten up so badly that she would be sent to the hospital, or worse. Jasmine was the only person that Jamie cared about more than anything, he'd do anything to protect her.

Jamie looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His nose was bloody, but thankfully not broken. He had a small cut on his cheek and just over his lift eye (which was a little swollen). Bruises littered his skin like the spots of a Dalmatian. Jamie hopes that he could easily covered by some of Jasmine's make up (she'd regularly let him borrow it for that purpose). It had worked a few times in the past, but only time will tell when the so ever observant teachers at his school would work it out.

Jamie sighed as he gently took a warm flannel. Hesitating, he carefully cleaned his face. Blood stained the flannel, turning the pure white to crimson red. The boy winced a little, but bared with the stinging sensation in his in his face. After all, this was nothing compared to the more brutal beatings that Carl gives. Jamie shuddered at the thought of being put in the hospital again. He hated being there because the lies just continue every time the doctors ask their repetitive questions.

Sighing again, Jamie soaked the flannel and wrung it out. The blood, mixed in with the water, poured into the sink, swirling a like, almost lie, paint in clear water. Briefly looking at his reflection again, and satisfied that he washed off all the blood from his face, he let the water run down the drain at last. He scrubbed away the blood that stained the white procaline sink and dumped the damp flannel in the wash bin. He silently left the bathroom behind and retired to his room. To say that, judging by how his room looked, Jamie loved magic was an understatement. Posters were plastered on his walls of magicians such as Dynamo, Darcy Oake, Shin Lim, Richard Jones and Paul Daniels. He even had a poster of a magician from a fantasy world. "Harry Potter" books were lined up neatly along with some text books on a shelf. On his desk, a book is wide open. "Dynamo: The Book of Secrets" to be more precise. It was wide open to a diagram of how to do a magic trick. Under his bed were boxes of magic tricks of various styles.

Jamie laid down on the star themed duvet covered bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was faint, but he could just see the glow in the dark stars that had been there since he was five years old. Surrounded by things like this made him feel safe. One of the rare places where he feels safe.

Reaching behind his head, under his pillow, he pulled out a playing card. Subconsciously, he folded it up twice and curled his hand around it. He shook his fist a couple of times before opening it slowly. The card was gone, no trace of it. Taking his other hand, he reached down into his trouser pocket and pulled out a playing card that was folded up. He unfolded it, smiling to himself as it was revealed to be the same card that he made disappear. Doing magic, no matter where he was, whether it be alone or out in public, made him calmer. He felt like magic, aside from Jasmine, was his most trusted friend.he could never explain it properly, but he always felt like it was a part of him. It was just natural for him to be able to do it. While he was always worried about getting a trick wrong, he never really did. It was quite bizarre, as even some magicians get things wrong when doing magic. With Jamie however, it was like he could never make a mistake.

Jamie was about to do another trick but he then heard muffled shouting from Carl. It was downstairs and a shattering sound of a plate was heard.

"You clumsy cow! Clean it up! They would never accept this behaviour back at the base!" Carl bellowed, his voice rising. Jamie often wondered if the neighbours heard the fighting. He wondered if they maybe considered in calling the police but never did. After all, Carl didn't just frighten him and Jasmine. He terrified the neighbours too. It wouldn't surprise Jamie if the neighbours were too scared to stand up to the man. Just as he and Jasmine were. Jamie put the card down and covered his ears again. He pretended that he was once again on his island with Jasmine. Where he could keep her safe and life would be 100x better for them. Where they wouldn't have to worry about Carl or anything else. Jamie slowly took his hands away from his ears as he felt the shouting stop. He continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to think of something else. His mind subconsciously drifted to what Carl always bragged about. He always wore his dog tags and constantly compared everything to his days back in the army. He never spoke of his days in detail, just how things were better "back at the base". Jamie just wished that Carl would just go back there or be deported out of the country. That way he and Jasmine could escape to some place where they couldn't be found.