The Heart of the Dragon
Chapter 12

Hayden didn’t move a bit after the beast had scattered off, and Angie could see why. He including herself were too frozen to move as they stared into each other’s eyes, both of them feeling themselves blushing.

“Angie!”

The sound of Tammy’s voice caught their attention as Hayden immediately got off of Angie and ran off into the trees.

“Hayden!” Angie called out while still laying on the ground.

There was no response, he didn’t even come back. Angie couldn’t understand why he just took off, and that's when she realized it when she heard her name being called again, and this time it sounded closer.

“Angie!”

She turned around and to her surprise, stared into the eyes of her friends.

“Oh my God!” Tammy gasped as she ran over to her best friend and tackled her with a hug “You’re alive!”

Angie didn’t get a chance to reply as she was helped up as Eli pulled her into a hug as well.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

“I’m fine,” she assured before looking down at her wrapped up slash “Although I did get slashed in the river but, overall I’m fine.”

“Oh thank goodness!” Tammy breathed in relief “I swear if you were dead I wasn’t going to replace another best friend.”

“Yeah okay,” Angie muttered while looking back into the trees, hoping to see Hayden.

“What are you looking for?” Jackson asked.

“Oh um-” she mumbled, “Before I jump to conclusions, I just wanna say that I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for someone.”

“Someone?” Tammy remarked puzzled “Who? A cannibal?”

“No, there are no cannibals on this island.”

“Then who are you talking about?” Eli questioned, “Are you saying there’s someone else on this island.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Everyone gasped.

“Who is this person?” Mr. Monroe inquired.

“His name’s Hayden” she explained while feeling a small smile forming “He saved me from getting killed by some- beast thing, I don’t know. But the main thing is, he saved my life, and I really wanted you guys to meet him, but he ran off before you guys arrived.”

All of a sudden, a crack was heard as everyone turned to see a figure hiding behind a tree. Nobody moved a muscle until Angie stepped forward.

“Hayden,” she called out gently “I know you’re behind there.”

There was no answer.

“Can you come out please?” she asked.

Still no answer.

“Can you at least say something?”

Everyone waited for an answer, but just when they thought he wouldn’t reply, they suddenly heard his shy voice.

“I’m sorry Angie” he spoke quietly “I know I agreed to meet your friends, but when I heard them coming, I just panicked, I don’t think I can do this.”

“Come on” she urged calmly “Please?”

“They’re gonna freak out when they see me.”

“Uh, what does he mean by that?” Eli wondered, now feeling interested.

“Um uh-” Angie mumbled, not knowing if she should tell them “Hayden?”

“Go ahead” he offered with a sigh.

She turned to everyone who had their eyes on her.

“Okay here’s the thing,” she began “This is going to sound crazy, but um... okay I’m just gonna say it. Hayden is, well, not exactly human.”

“What?” everyone responded confused.

“Well actually, he’s haft human.”

“What do you mean by that?” Jackson asked.

“Are you saying he’s a vampire?” Tammy questioned surprised.

“No,” Angie nodded, “He’s um, um... okay I can’t say it, Hayden would you just come out and show them?”

“We promise you we won’t freak out” Mr. Monroe promised.

“I doubt that” Hayden muttered.

“Would you just come out please?” Angie urged.

After letting out a deep sigh, Hayden nervously stepped out from behind the trees and into view. And by the looks on everyone’s face, they all appeared shocked by his appearance, all except Angie who stood there with a small smile.

“Hello” he awkwardly waved his hand.

Nobody moved a muscle, that is until Tammy collapsed onto the ground and blacked out.

“Wow,” he remarked amazed, “She actually fainted.”

“Oh, my-” Eli gasped while pointing his finger at Hayden “You’re uh- uh- what are you?!”

“Holy crap” Jackson breathed astonished while examining Hayden “I’ve never seen anything like this. You do appear to be haft human, but what exactly are you the other haft of?”

But before Hayden could reply, Tammy began to regain consciousness as she rubbed her head while letting out a moan as her vision caught the sight of Hayden.

“Oh my God I wasn’t seeing things” she muttered as she was helped up “I am actually looking at a haft human monster creature thing, and he’s surprisingly hot.”

Hayden gave a small snicker at Tammy’s comment until Eli spoke up.

“But seriously-” he began, “What the hell are you?”

“Would you believe if I said that I’m part-dragon?” Hayden replied.

Their jaws dropped.

“Part dragon?!” Tammy exclaimed.

“How else am I suppose to explain my scales and wings?”

“But, that’s not possible” Mr. Monroe stated, “Dragons are just a part of a fantasy, they don’t exist.”

“Um, you’re kind of looking at one now sir” Hayden put in “I may be a hybrid, but I am haft dragon. So yeah, dragons are real.”

Eli let out a big gasp, “I knew it! I knew dragons were real!”

“Seriously babe?” Tammy responded dully, “I thought you stopped believing in dragons when you were 7?”

“I don’t tell you everything.”

“So you’re a bigger geek than I thought you were.”

“I am not a geek” he frowned, “And can we just move that to the side and focus on this hybrid we’re talking to? I mean look at him, he’s part dragon, that is the coolest thing that has ever happened on this trip, we sure are lucky to survive that crash.”

“Yeah I’m still surprised you guys are alive,” Hayden remarked.

“Wait, what?” Tammy questioned.

“I uh, I know about your jet crashing, I’ve been watching you guys since you crashed. I wanted to help but, I was afraid you guys would freak out if you saw me.”

“Hey,” Mr. Monroe spoke up “We could use all the help we can get, we would have allowed you to help us, well, after getting used to seeing you of course.”

“Well um, that’s another thing” he mumbled, “I’m actually not allowed to interact with humans.”

“What?”

“It’s complicated, but look, I’ll help you all survive, but you’ll have to stay onshore, if I’m seen interacting with humans, I might get in a lot of trouble.”

“So you’re saying there’s more of you?” Jackson questioned, now getting more curious.

“I don’t wanna jump to conclusions, so I’ll lead you guys back to shore and then I’ll-“.

All of a sudden, everyone heard a rustle as they turned to see a figure hiding behind the trees. Everyone was too frozen to move when Hayden gave a sniff.

“Oh, shit” he groaned before calling out “Candace I know you’re behind those trees.”

Hearing the name of his adopted sister surprised Angie, especially since she wanted to know what she looked like.

“Look, I know what I’m doing is against the rules” Hayden continued “But I’m just trying to help them survive until help comes to get them off the island.”

At that moment, everyone watched as Candance peered from behind the trees to reveal her face. She did look older than Hayden, most likely in her mid-twenties, she was also very beautiful with her long lush red hair, clear pale skin, high cheekbones, and plump pink lips. Besides that, she wore a maroon-colored cloth around the top part of her torso, and just like Hayden, she had scales running down part of her arms, chest, and down her back, but they were purple instead of blue. Angie could already tell she had a pair of wings too, but they were hidden from view.

“Is she another one of you?” Mr. Monroe whispered to Hayden.

“I am” she suddenly spoke, “I’m his sister who’s just making sure you people can be trusted.”

“Don’t worry” Angie promised calmly “You can trust us.”

“I’ll be the judge of that” Candance replied sternly.

“We can trust them” Hayden assured her “I’ve been watching them since their jet crashed on the beach, they seem like decent people.”

“But they know about us.”

“And who’s going to believe them if they tell anyone?” he put in “Everyone knows ‘dragons’ don’t exist.”

“Fair point” she agreed as she stepped out into full view.

Everyone could finally see her dragon wings growing out her back along with cut-off denim shorts above her knees. Her body was also very slim and fit, and on her right ankle, she wore an anklet with a red star charm that was attached to a black string.

“This is unbelievable” Jackson breathed astonished while studying Candace’s dragon features “I still can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about our world” she smirked when she turned to Mr. Monroe and spotted the pistol hanging on his belt “That thing loaded?”

“Oh uh-” he quickly replied, trying not to appear nervous “Yes but-”

“I’m not saying you should throw it away, but if you use it around our kind, they might not take it so well.”

Being the big sister of Hayden, Angie could already tell how mature and strict she is, seeing how she cares about the safety of their kind. And remembering his warning, she knew not to get on Candace’s bad side or any of their bad sides.

“If I were you-” she added to Mr. Monroe, “I’d keep that pistol hidden from view.”

He nodded in agreement as he began to put the pistol into his backpack. But while he was doing so, Candace turned her attention to Angie who tried to appear calm, but deep down, Candace made her feel a bit nervous.

“How’s your leg?” she asked her.

“Still hurts” Angie replied while looking down at her wound that was still wrapped up, seeing how dirty the cloth has gotten.

“It’ll get better soon.”

But at that moment, everyone was suddenly startled by the sound of a loud roar that echoed throughout the island.

“Was that a dragon?” Angie asked with her eyes widen.

“Yep,” Hayden replied with a small sigh as he turned to Candace “Looks like it’s time for a dragon meeting.”

“Dragon meeting?” Eli questioned.

“What are we gonna do about them?” Hayden asked his sister “We can’t leave them out here.”

“Well we can’t bring them with us” she responded, “You know it’s against the rules.”

“Then what do we do then?”

The hybrids began to think quickly as everyone stood there, not knowing what to do.

“Okay, how about this?” Hayden suddenly suggested “We bring them with us, but not into view. They stay hidden until the meeting is over.”

She thought for a moment, but then let out a sigh.

“I guess we have no other choice” she muttered as she turned to the humans “Okay, follow us. But once we make it to our hideout, you all must stay hidden from view. If any of our kind sees you, we’ll all be in trouble.”

The sound of that sent chills down everyone’s spine. Knowing what they have to do, they all began to follow Candace who was in front to lead them as Hayden followed from behind the group, staying close to Angie.