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“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it,” Alex says, curling the cord of his earbuds around his fingers and looking down at his shirt.
“Are you kidding me? You’re not some white guy in Hawaii, Ax!” DJ argues, turning around to walk backwards, facing his friend. “I beg of you, remove the goddamn floral button-down.”
“Never,” Alex says dramatically. “It’s hot out, I couldn’t wear my sweater.”
“But why did you wear a floral button-down?! It’s like you do this just to piss me off.”
Alex looks over at DJ with one eyebrow raised, a smug smile on his face. DJ raises his arm to knock Alex’s baseball hat off, but the back of his foot catches on the uneven pavement and he stumbles backwards. He lets out a high-pitched squeak as he falls, his backpack catching the brunt of the fall. He looks up to see Alex trying and failing to hold in laughter. Alex helps him up, and they continue the walk home.
“At least I’m dressed for summer,” Alex says, bumping DJ’s shoulder with his own as he walks beside him. “I thought you were gonna pass out today in gym with your giant hoodie.” DJ elbows Alex in the ribs, which starts a shoving-fight that eventually ends with DJ stumbling into his front yard fence. A small mutt comes running up to the fence, barking like mad. DJ laughs and reaches over the fence to pet his dog, Mikha, who snaps at his hand before licking it and quieting down.
“Wanna come in?” DJ asks, turning towards Alex. Alex is staring down the road with a blank look on his face, eyes slightly glazed over. “Alex?”
Alex blinks and seems to come back to reality, shaking his head slightly. “Sorry, what was that?”
“I asked if you wanted to come in.” DJ leans against the fence and drops his worn backpack on the ground next to him. “I’ve got food, and Apocalypse of the Damned 2.”
“No, I should, um… I should get home. The sun’s gonna set soon.”
DJ frowns, staring at his friend. “I thought your parents didn’t care.”
For a moment, Alex looks like a deer caught in the headlights. “Oh, I-- They’re, uh, starting to care more, y’know?”
DJ pushes himself off the fence and takes a couple steps towards Alex, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”
Alex shrugs him off. “I’m doing fine. My parents just want me home tonight, I dunno why.” His voice is slowly getting more annoyed, and DJ backs off.
“Okay, whatever you say.” He sighs, not wanting the day to end on a bad note. “I’ll… see you tomorrow, ‘kay?”
Alex nods. “Later.” He starts walking down the road to his house, not looking back once. DJ frowns and opens his gate, nudging Mikha back with his foot. Mikha whines, looking up at him.
“You know me so well,” DJ says quietly, closing the gate and sitting down on the grass. Mikha jumps into his lap and licks his face, making him laugh and push his dog away. “Mikha, down! It don’t feel right to be laughing.” DJ notices a nearly torn apart tennis ball lying a few feet away and stretches to grab it, tossing it across the small backyard. Mikha goes wild, running after it and barking. DJ gets up and leans over the fence to grab his backpack before heading inside, closing the door before Mikha can ram himself into the gap and get inside too.
DJ runs upstairs and throws his backpack onto his bed, taking his phone out of his back pocket. He’s not sure what it could be, but he feels like he did something wrong when he was talking to Alex. It’s not like Alex to get annoyed at him like that, especially after something as small as pushing too much during a conversation. He feels the need to apologize indirectly anyways, so DJ dials Alex’s number and starts pacing around his small bedroom.
The phone rings once. Twice. Three times. It stops ringing.
DJ pulls the phone away and stares at it, frowning. He sits down on his window ledge, leg starting to bounce as he sends Alex a question mark via text. Alex replies a moment later with “srry, cant talk. whst is it”
DJ responds back with “uh wanna have a sleepover? i got lotsa food” He waits for five minutes, staring anxiously at his phone. As soon as he had sent the text, it showed that Alex had read it. After four minutes, the three bubbles indicating that Alex is typing pop up before disappearing. They repeat this for a full minute before a short response comes in. “cant, i think im getting sick”
“that sucks,” DJ types back, lying on his back in the window seat and pressing his feet against the miniature ceiling of it. “i can bring u uhhh soup or smth”
“m jsut gonna rest.” Alex’s final response concerns DJ. Alex doesn’t have autocorrect turned on, but it’s usually a red flag that he’s upset when he’s making typos. DJ goes to ask if he’s okay, but remembers how Alex reacted when he asked that earlier today. He gives up and puts his phone down, sitting up on the seat. His stomach grumbles and he gets up to stretch and walk downstairs. His mother had left a small note on the counter, listing what she’d bought and what’s being saved for a family reunion coming up next week.
DJ grabs a soda and walks over to the couch, flopping onto his back and turning on the television. Nothing good is on, so he switches to the news to serve as background noise. As he stares at the ceiling, something catches his ear.
“The gang of rogue scalebloods known as the Talon Ring are now travelling the country, terrorizing local youths. The president has theorized that the gang is infecting people by awakening the dragon blood that may be in their systems,” the reporter on the tv says. DJ sits up and stares at the screen as pictures start flashing across it. “Half-scales all over the country are being harassed by humans who believe that any blood containing scales should be spilled.” The report suddenly stops, and switches to another scene with a man speaking urgently.
“This is breaking news for the area of Lake Fortitude. Rogue scalebloods assumed to be affiliated with the Talon Ring were seen wandering the streets of at eleven-am today. Authorities urge you to lock your doors and windows, especially half-scales. Police are searching the city for the gang. Updates on the situation will come hourly. Stay safe, citizens of Fortitude.”
DJ stares at the screen, mouth hanging open. The Talon Ring, patrolling Fortitude. No way. He springs off of the couch and runs to the front window, staring out into the street. He doesn’t see anything, save for a couple of his neighbors closing their shutters or drawing their curtains. DJ lets in Mikha and feeds him, foregoing a meal for himself. His stomach is turning slightly and he’s lost his appetite.
Alex.
The thought hits him like a brick. DJ sits up, eyes wide as he snatches his phone out of his pocket and dials Alex’s number. He stares out the window at the darkening sky, relief flooding his chest when he hears Alex pick up.
“Hello?” Alex’s voice sounds scratchy, almost distorted.
“Are your parents home?” DJ demands.
“What? No. I mean-- uh--”
“I’m coming over.”
“Wait, no, you don’t know-- just, no, don’t come over” Alex begs. DJ hesitates at the sincerity and desperation in Alex’s voice, but his mind is set.
“I’ll see you in a few minutes.” DJ hang up and grabs his backpack, setting his books aside and grabbing a first aid kit and a pocketknife, shoving them in alongside a phone charger and a sketchbook. He slings the backpack over his shoulder and makes sure he locks the front door behind him as he leaves.
DJ walks the familiar street, passing the church and turning down South Niman. DJ walks quickly down the street, looking behind him every few seconds. Squirrels dropping acorns from the trees turn into menacing footsteps that have DJ whirling around with his knife halfway out of his pocket after every other step. He feels his heart starting to beat faster and takes a moment to calm himself down, decidedly avoiding having a panic attack in the street. He doesn’t have much time to keep walking, though, before three police cars zoom past him and turn down Alex’s street in the distance. DJ feels his stomach drop as the worst possibility becomes the only thing he can think about. DJ starts to run.
Worn tennis shoes slap against the pavement, accompanied by the frantic breathing of the sprinting teenager. DJ turns a sharp corner, nearly tripping over himself. He staggers, manages to catch his balance, and keeps running until he sees a familiar house in the distance. He stops for a moment and his heart seems to stop beating. Three police cars surround the house, lights flashing. Heat builds up behind his eyes and he doesn’t bother blinking it away. He breaks back into a run, racing up to the house. As he gets to the bushes that border the yard a police officer steps towards him and puts a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back slightly.
“Sorry kid, you can’t be here,” the police officer tells him.
“What happened?” DJ speaks past the lump in his throat, jerking the hand off his shoulder. He know he looks and sounds frantic and probably a little insane, but he couldn’t care less.
“Go home,” the officer says firmly. “You can’t be here.”
“Where’s Alex?!”
“I’m not gonna tell you again, kid--” The officer is cut off by a strangled, bloodcurdling scream from inside the house. DJ feels his heart drop from his throat to his shoes. He shoves past the officer, ignoring her shouting. He sprints to the front door, years of the 50 meter dash making it easy to evade the cop behind him. He throws the door open and his entire body goes numb.
The smell of copper hits him first followed by the sight of blood splattered across the scuffed hardwood floor. Alex is curled up on the floor breathing heavily. The back of his sweater is torn to shreds and soaked in blood. Protruding from his head at the hairline are two small horns, and emerging from the torn flesh of his back are two glossy wings, dripping in blood. DJ stumbles backwards, his head buzzing and his mind reeling. The house is completely dark, and out of the shadows steps a creature. A creature with large green wings, two twisted horns on her head, and a thin, shining tail that tapers to a serrated point. A scaleblood.
The woman looks surprised at DJ’s appearance, but her face quickly morphs into a smug smile. Her eyes are a blend of green and yellow, and they feel like they’re burning into DJ’s skull.
“This your friend?” she asks, pointing down at Alex. DJ looks back down at Alex, whose panting has turned to pained whimpering. His new wings are twitching, and each movement draws a small, heartbreaking shriek of pain from him.
“What did you do?” DJ whispers, breaking out of his petrified state to kneel beside his friend.
“I brought him to life,” the woman answers smoothly. “You’re welcome.”
“It--” DJ swallows the lump in his throat and tries to put as much venom into his voice that he can. “It doesn’t look like it.” His voice wobbles, and the venom falls short.
DJ looks down at his friend, who’s shaking like a wounded animal. He sees tears streaming down Alex’s face and reaches down to brush one away, but jerks his hand back as Alex screams “No!”
“How do I help him?” DJ asks, looking up to stare at the scaleblood.
The smirk drops from the woman’s face, and she looks up at the police officers waiting for command outside the house. Guns are aimed at the windows, and more cars are pulling up behind the three stationary ones. “Go,” she says quietly. “Take him away from here. The other Talons and I will make a distraction. Take him to the sea.”
“To the sea?” DJ blanches. His mind races, his memory jumping to a seven hour car drive to the nearest beach when he was five. No fucking way. “Are you insane?”
“He needs it,” the woman insists, kneeling on the other side of Alex. “Go, now.”
DJ looks from the woman’s face down to Alex, who’s trying to take steadying breaths.
“Okay.”
After tearing up Alex’s bathroom and bedroom for gauze and cloth, he binds Alex’s wings to his back as gently as possible. He sits back and watches blood start to soak into the makeshift bandages, his stomach turning. He forces himself to look away and crawls over to his backpack. He shoves his phone in his hoodie pocket along with his charger, and keeps the knife in his jeans pocket. He takes the small bottle of antiseptic from the first aid kid and puts it in his jeans pocket. He looks down at his backpack and nods to himself, turning away from it. He nudges Alex. “I’m gonna carry you, okay?” he says gently. “Like a koala.” Alex nods wordlessly, still staring at the floor. DJ picks him up with difficulty, holding him like a baby. Alex buries his face in DJ’s shoulder, holding on tightly.
“Where do I go?” DJ asks the woman. “We’re surrounded.”
The woman’s wings fold out and she gestures towards the back door. DJ carries Alex out into the backyard and the woman grabs him, lifting him up into the air. As they’re lifted over the roof of the house, DJ sees five other scalebloods burst out the front door and attack the police. He forces himself to look away as guns go off and screams rip through the air, most of which coming from humans. He hears Alex make a pained noise and holds him tighter.
---
The woman drops the two of them on the rocky shore of Lake Fortitude. She drops to the ground, her wings drooping as she catches her breath. DJ loosens his grip on Alex but doesn’t let go, scooting backwards on the rocks. The woman stands up after a moment and looks at them both.
“Good luck, kid,” she says to DJ. “You’ve got a dragon on your hands now.” With that, she stretches her wings and shoots into the air, flying back in the direction of Alex’s neighborhood.
DJ looks down at Alex and pinches his arm to get his attention. “I’m gonna let go, ‘kay?” Alex nods, and DJ carefully lays him down on his side on the rocks. DJ stands up, looking out onto the lake. He reaches into his hoodie pocket and takes out his phone. He turns it on and sends a text to his parents: “i love you. i gotta go. back later.”
He makes sure it sends before shutting off his phone and throwing it as far as he can, watching it disappear into the dark water with a distant splash.