by Serena Rose
“Kelsey!” he shouted, beginning his descent from the cliffs near his home. “Kelsey!” he called out, scanning the empty beach before him. She had to be here, and she’d want to be alone. “Kelsey!”
He found his pace increasing, and he sprinted down the beach, passing by a few people by the shore, wanting to surf. Water crashed against the many cliffs that dotted the shoreline. And then he saw a figure above a small cliff, saw a figure hugging herself against the cold. He ran for her, not wanting to shout her name for fear of startling her. Was she going to jump? He heard her heartbeat from half a mile away, he heard the heartbeat of the child, and that rang louder in his ears.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he begged. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
He stopped, realizing she wasn’t alone. There were two men across her, shouting at her. They were wearing hoodies with a university logo on them. He clambered to the top as quickly and as quietly as he could.
“You’re alone, it’s cold, so- how about it?” one guy taunted.
“Leave me alone,” Kelsey said, her voice quivering. “Please, leave me alone.”
“Aw come on, you’re form Huntley-Thwaite, aren’t you? I’d know a pretty little thing like that anywhere.”
“You two are drunk, and you need to go back to whichever keg you climbed out from,” William heard her say. He couldn’t help but smile as he inched closer to the men. He saw her eyes widen, and then the men spun around.
“What in the hell-?”
“You heard the lady,” William said, taking a good look at them.
“And just who in the hell are you?” the other burlier guy said.
“None of your business,” said the one with the hat, pushing him away with one hand; only, it didn’t work on William, and his body stayed rooted in place, much to the surprise of both men.
“You were saying?” William told them.
“What the-” and one of the men launched a punch to his jaw, and he heard Kelsey shout.
“Stop it! Will!”
“Shut up!” the burly man said, pushing her away.
William saw Kelsey stumble towards the edge of the cliff. “Kelsey!” he cried out, watching her slip and fall backwards into the water. William took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring, and he grabbed one man, and burned the man’s throat with his hand, and he stumbled to the ground, choking, wheezing, tears coming out of his eyes. Then he grabbed the other man, the one who pushed Kelsey, clutching at the man’s shirt, and the man cried out in panic, his chest in pain. William casually threw him to the side, not caring if he’d fall down.
Without another breath, William jumped off the fifty-foot cliff, his heart beating painfully, and he knew he was about to shift; even if he wasn’t supposed to. Look for Kelsey, he told himself, willing to stay human. The waters churned around him as soon as he hit the water, and he found himself struggling for a moment against the tide.
“Kelsey!” he called out, fear gripping him this time. “Kelsey!”
He dove, feeling the coldness seeping into his body, calming the beast in him for a moment. He couldn’t see her anywhere. He inhaled deeply, and went back down again, finally seeing something pale against the dark tide. It was Kelsey and her light-yellow sweater.
He fumbled for her sweater, finally grabbing her arms. He pulled her up, struggling against the current. It took quite some effort to reach shore, but they finally did, with no one in sight to help them.
“Kelsey,” he said, touching her cold face. It was pale, but he could still hear her heartbeat. Without another thought, his palm heated up, and he touched her chest, willing for her blood to circulate faster. “Come on, come on,” he begged quietly.
He heard a gasp, and her eyes opened wide, and she coughed up sea water, and she lay sideways, her palms burying themselves in the sand. He heard himself sigh, closing his eyes momentarily, thanking the heavens that she was alive. He found himself embracing her, overwhelmed with that unmistakable human emotion of relief.
“You’re alright, you’re alright,” he murmured, as she began to cry, unable to express any other emotion except that. She began to shiver, uncontrollably, violently, and her lips turned blue. He heaved her up as if she weighed next to nothing, and he began the trek back to his home that would have taken longer, had he not chosen to take a shortcut, and use his enhanced reflexes.
By the time they reached his manor, Kelsey was asleep, still shaking. She was that tired, and she barely noticed her clothes were removed, barely noticed that her body was wrapped up in thick duvets, and she barely noticed that he lay beside her, naked, in an effort to increase her body temperature.
That thing inside her was still alive, unmistakably alive, even if she had gone through something traumatizing. How? It could only mean one thing, this was going to be a male, and male meant shifting and the continuation of a curse he had wanted to stop with him. He found himself drifting to sleep, exhausted by the events that had occurred. His dreams were filled with cries of death, and the cries came from Kelsey.
*
Her eyes fluttered open, and her body suddenly felt battered and bruised. She tried to move but found out that she couldn’t. She looked around her, from her perspective, it was an unfamiliar room, heavily draped, perfectly warm and comfortable…. She lifted her head, and slowly sat up, knowing this time she was in his house.
“Careful,” a voice said to her.
She looked sideways and found William sitting down on a plush velvet chair, dressed in pants, no shirt, and he was barefoot. “How did we get here? I know I was standing there just-”
“What in the hell were you doing, just standing there?” he asked her, his tone changing.
She took a deep breath, trying to make sense of what had happened. She fell into the water, one of the guys pushed her, one of those persistent, drunk guys-
“I could have taken care of myself,” she told him, not looking at him.
He sputtered out with a hollow laugh. “Take care of yourself? Please. You could have died.”
“And I’m supposed to thank you? Wouldn’t that have been a good thing, though? That’s two people you want, dead, conveniently.”
“I don’t want you dead,” he corrected her, “I just want that thing out of you.”
“I may have almost drowned, but I’m still keeping this baby, no matter what you say or do,” she told him stubbornly.
He shook his head and sighed. “Like I said before, there are certain things you don’t understand about me, about my family. I’m asking you this for the best intentions, for your welfare. I said I’d pay for everything.”
“And I said I don’t want your money. Or your empathy, or sympathy. I’m keeping this child, this child will have my name, my father’s name-”
He held a hand up in the air. “Seeing you won’t change your mind. I’d like to show you something. Desperate times…” his voice trailed off. “Please, get dressed. There are spare clothes by the table for you while your clothes are drying. Oh, and drink some hot water, it’s on a table, too.”
He walked out of the room, waited for her in the hallway. “How are you feeling now?” he asked her. “Would you like something warm to drink? A glass of scotch might do you good.”
His sarcasm was unmistakable, and she knew he really wanted the baby out of her.
“Light-headed, alive,” she replied, confused as to what he wanted to show. Was he going to kill her? He wouldn’t, not after saving her, right? “Will, how did you manage to know I was there?”
He shook his head. “You’ll know later.”
“And what happened to the guys that were threatening me?”
“They’ve been taken care of,” he replied simply, as they walked down a long and dimly lit hall.
“Where are we going?”
“Dungeons,” he said.
She looked surprised. “Dungeons? Are you-?”
“We have dungeons, which lead to the sea. It’s for… it’s to keep our family in check.
You’ll see why.”
“Where is everyone else?”
“I’m currently alone. My father’s tending to business.”
They descended deep into the house, taking a lift that creaked as they did so. She was surprised that everything suddenly felt so ancient, medieval, even. They had a dungeon? In modern times? What else was the family keeping from the rest of the world? Who were they, really? The cavern was dimly lit, and she couldn’t make out much of anything, except for the sharp rocks and the stalactites that looked ominous from above. How deep down were they? Why did they even need a dungeon in the first place?
She found out moments later that the dungeon wasn’t filled with bars or equipment for torture, but it was more of a large cavern. “I can’t see anything,” she said, afraid to take a step further.
“Hold on,” he murmured.
Kelsey gasped, seeing his fingers light up into flame. What in the hell-? She found out that she couldn’t breathe for a moment, and as soon as William walked up to a torch that was filled with oil, the entire cavern lit up in a strange bluish, yet orange hue.
“What was that?” she whispered.
“It’s part of what I’m about to tell you, even though I shouldn’t,” he told her. He walked further down, and she felt the cold draft of wind, and she shivered.
“Are you cold?”
“I’m fine,” she said in a small voice. She looked around, not knowing what to make out of it. Then in a corner, she saw a bed without a mattress, a large table filled with paper and art materials, mostly charcoal, and portraits and landscape sketches on the wall. “What is this?”
“It’s my father’s quarters, when he’s feeling vulnerable.”
Vulnerable? She walked closer, seeing something else on the walls. Her fingers traced the outline of it, and she recoiled, realizing they were claw marks. She slowly looked back at William, her heart beating fast.
“It’s why I don’t want that thing growing inside you, Kelsey,” he said, his voice sounding tired all of a sudden. “This is who I am. This is who my family is. We’re not normal, not completely human.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “What are you?”
“A beast,” he replied, “and I want to show you why that abomination in you must be killed.”
He walked further away, and wordlessly, she followed, afraid, anxious, unknowing. A beast. What kind of beast? Surely there was some rational explanation to this. Perhaps, they kept a bear or something, which would explain the marks. Fear crept up to her slowly, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to run…
He took off his pants, which surprised her, and yet, she still said nothing.
“I won’t hurt you,” he told her. “Don’t run away, don’t make sudden movements. Just follow what I’ve said. If all else fails, run towards the end of this cavern, even if you barely see anything. It’ll open up to a small crack, leading to the ocean.”
Why was he telling her this? Then she smelled something acrid, like something was burning, like sulfur, and in the gloom of the dungeon, she saw something rise from his skin, almost like steam- it was smoke. Her breath was caught in her throat, and she saw him collapse to the ground, and her hand reached out, but stopped midway, not sure what was happening to him.
He groaned, and he breathed in and out heavily, and his voice sounded muffled. Was he in pain? He was tearing at his back, his fingers were clawing at his back, his arms, and his head. What was going on? She heard a low growl, almost like an animal’s, and she saw that his back began to form into large lumps, and his once pale skin darkened in color, mottling, and she saw his flesh fall to the floor, disintegrating into ash. She cried out.
“Oh my god.”
She heard bones breaking, and she backed away a few inches, her hands over her mouth once more, heavily breathing in and out. This was no longer William in front of her, and she saw something glisten in the dark, and where his skin used to be, scales replaced. “Oh my god,” she thought, feeling the cold wall against her back. She had inched further and further away from him, and she had cornered herself without meaning to. There was nowhere else left to turn to, but she found that she couldn’t run away from him.
It was mesmerizing, yet fearful to watch. She heard him breathe, and steam came from his nostrils. His eyes glowed red and orange in the dark. It was no longer a human, but there were traces of human somewhere- and he stood on his hind legs, and she heard the rush of wind, the torches flickered violently from his wings… wings? Her eyes widened once more, seeing what was in front of her.
A dragon? She froze in place, disbelieving. This was a dream. She hadn’t woken up yet, she had probably drowned in reality, and was on her way to a cold, dark death. “William?” she uttered out, taking one step closer to him, or it.
The creature in front of her blinked. And then she heard its breath rattle, and she backed away once more. He turned his back against her, and she heard his tail thump on the ground. This was no ordinary, eight-foot-tall beast.
She saw something glow underneath its belly, and before she could react, he let out of whoosh of fire from his mouth, and Kelsey stumbled to the ground, unable to breathe for a moment. Dragon. It was the first thing to come out of her mind. He was a dragon. He was a dragon! The creature turned to face her once more. Did he still recognize her? Was he going to eat her? Burn her alive? The dragon huffed and looked at her, and she found herself frozen on the ground.
“Will? Are you still there?” she whispered.
The dragon stumbled for her, his face close to her this time, and she could feel the heat, almost like his entire body was on fire. He blinked.
Are you hurt?
He was talking to her, without even opening his mouth. How was that even possible? Heck, how was everything possible? She couldn’t be dreaming anymore. She felt the sharp rocks underneath her, cutting into her palms. She found herself shaking her head. “I’m fine.”
I promise I won’t hurt you.
She nodded. “I know you won’t.”
He plodded away from her, as if satisfied by her response. And then she saw it happen again, he was changing once more, shifting back. She heard him cry out in pain, a half-human, and half-animal cry. She could smell sulfur again, and she saw how his back broke out in fissures, and there was fire underneath his scales, and ash flew about, filling the cavern with a burning smell. It was all over in less than thirty seconds, and she saw him collapse to the ground, completely naked once more, and human again, shaking, as if he was cold.
She found herself gingerly walking up to him, and then she cradled his head on her lap, looking at his face. She looked in horror, realizing his ribs were broken, and his shoulder looked dislocated. There were burn marks on him- “Will, can you stand?” she said, trying to act as calmly as she could.
He opened his eyes and he nodded blearily. He stood up with her help, and he half limped towards the makeshift bed, collapsing on it. “Give me a few minutes,” he mumbled to her as she stood above him.
What had she just witnessed? He was right, he didn’t lie. This was something he couldn’t just share to anyone, and yet he had to, with her. He had made a point, and she realized this was what she could be carrying inside her. A million questions raced through her mind, and she found it difficult to filter through it all.
The minutes turned into hours, and she found herself sitting beside his sleeping figure, feeling the warmth that emanated from his body. She couldn’t find it in herself to leave him alone and run away from him.
CHAPTER 12
It had taken him a lot of effort to sit up, and then stand up after that shifting. He would never get used to it, he knew, for as long as he lived. And he knew that Kelsey would never get used to that scene either, nor would she forget it. It had been three hours or more, since he had fallen asleep in his father’s self-imposed exile room, and he found himself walking beside her, back at the manor, stumbling once in a while, knowing his bones and his organs were on their way to healing.
&
nbsp; She had been quiet, and rightly so. For the first time in his life, he had shifted in front of someone who wasn’t his father, who wasn’t someone that was family, or trusted staff- he didn’t even shift in front of Lee. She had to know, no matter how dreadful it was, she had to see the abomination that was growing inside of her.
“Now you know why you can’t have that in you,” he uttered to her the moment he got to his bedroom. He crawled for his bed, grateful to have a soft pillow underneath his head. She didn’t say anything, and he knew she was still in disbelief. She sat beside him on his bed, her hands clasped in front of her.
“Do you need anything?” she finally asked him.
He shook his head. “Wait, gin. I need gin and tonic. It’s in a cabinet, there.”
“Gin?”
“Don’t ask why,” he told her, exhausted. She promptly stood up, and walked for an oak cabinet, grabbing a glass and gin, and tonic. There was a refrigerator by the side, stocked with ice cubes. The only sound in the room for a few seconds was the sound of ice tinkering against glass as she mixed it.
Handing it over to him, she watched, quietly. He took a large swig and propped the glass on a table, burying his head into a pillow. He said something, muffled.
“What?”
He turned sideways to face her. “Are you okay?”
“Shouldn’t it be me asking you that?”
“I know you got hurt earlier.”
“You didn’t burn me or anything. And the baby is still alive, but of course, that isn’t your concern.”
William sat up, feeling better as the liquor began to course through his body. “You’re my concern,” he said, clearing his throat.
“I just saw you turn into something, something that wasn’t human. A- I can’t believe I’m saying this… a dragon? That was a dragon, right?”
“You could call it that.”