The Dragon's Rose Read online

  “Don’t give me that look. Things aren’t like they used to be, young lady,” he told her, “Now, back in my day, you had people that would help you and not hurt you. Nowadays, I’d be afraid for you to get a flat tire in the middle of the night. No telling what kind of people would come out of the woodwork now.”

  Bella’s mind went back to the strange figure standing in the path of her headlights and how she’d swerved and spun. She shook her head clear of such thoughts. That figure had been a product of a tired mind, nothing more, she thought.

  “I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all,” Bella told them, and a look of compassion formed on her aunt’s face.

  “You’re right. You must be exhausted after all that driving. We can talk about this on the way to the airport tomorrow. You know where your room is. Get some sleep.”

  Bella nodded and stood. She grabbed her backpack, knapsack and purse and trudged quickly up the stairs and into her old room. It looked the same as the day she had left it. The coverlet with embroidered yellow flowers was neatly laid upon the bed and the various bric-a-brac were scattered throughout the room, including her collection of trophies she’d gained over the years. She sighed and sat wearily on the bed. She stripped off her black combat boots and peeled off her jacket. Her room was decorated in shades of sunshine yellow with some parts of her walls laid over with wallpaper patterns with interlocking whorls of flowers, leaves and petals. Many of Bella’s old stuffed animals sat atop her shelves along with pictures of her growing up over the years. She smiled and lay back onto her pillows, her eyes going over the smooth space of her ceiling. She yawned, stretched luxuriously and found herself falling into a deep sleep.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Bella groaned as the sound of singing and music assaulted her ears. She tried to pull the pillows around her face, but to no avail. The clang of pots and pans as well as the deep drone of her uncle’s voice forced her away from sleep and into reluctant wakefulness. She rubbed her eyes and slipped out of bed. She pulled an outfit from her bag along with her toiletries and trudged down the hall to the bathroom, her eyes bleary and filled with the vestiges of sleep.

  She quickly brushed her teeth, showered, changed and went traipsing down the stairs. Her aunt was at the kitchen table setting out pancakes, bacon, toast and a large plate of eggs. Bella threw herself into a chair and grabbed a container of warm syrup. Her aunt placed a bountiful fare in front of Bella who happily dug in. Her uncle was already chewing with gusto as her aunt buzzed about the small space.

  Soon, her aunt was sitting down and eating alongside them. Conversation was light and gleeful as the two talked excitedly about their upcoming flight and ensuing trip. They all finished eating, and her aunt placed dishes into the dishwasher with Bella’s help. Her uncle was putting all the luggage into their truck parked outside. Bella climbed into the driver’s seat and tried to avoid what she knew what was coming.

  She groaned when they were close to their destination and her aunt piped up, a note of concern in her voice. “I just think you should stay somewhere else, Bella.”

  Bella moved smoothly through traffic and took her eyes off the road only to shoot her aunt a look.

  “I’m not moving out of my apartment,” Bella declared, and her uncle made a noise in his throat.

  “Seriously. It’s a done deal. I’m safe--,”

  Her aunt shot her a look of disbelief, and Bella cleared her throat.

  “Well, safe enough. I’m fine. Now, enjoy your trip. I’ll make sure the house is fine and I’ll water all your plants, take care of the garden and make sure that Mrs. Krantz’s dog gets walked for her.”

  Her aunt reluctantly nodded. “Okay, young lady. Don’t think this conversation is over.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Bella intoned and began decelerating the truck as she moved into the lane for airport drop-offs. She parked and waited as her uncle unloaded their bags, then she moved quickly to give her aunt and uncle hugs before they walked swiftly into the airport terminal.

  Bella sighed and looked up into the bright cloudless sky. She was loathe to admit it, but deep down she was excited about having her aunt and uncle’s house to herself for a week. She was looking forward to spending some time decompressing away from the constant sound of sirens, people yelling at odd hours and the occasional sounds of weapon fire. She beamed happily as she climbed into her uncle’s truck and headed back to her childhood home.

  Once she arrived, she quickly got out and went inside. She sat on the couch a bit, trying to decide what to do with herself. With her being on break from school and her aunt and uncle being gone, boredom seemed to loom large in her mind. She heaved a sigh and looked outside. The sun was shining, and the greenery of early spring brought to mind days of her walking about and exploring nature. She ran upstairs and grabbed her knapsack where she had packed her cell phone, portable charger, notebook and pen, as well as a few snacks, a bottle of water and a sweater. She wandered the house for a bit and then thought about the attic. She hadn’t been up there in years. There were probably some interesting things in there, she thought. So with knapsack in tow, she pulled down the string to the stairs and carefully climbed up.

  The attic was immaculate. Only small pockets of dust sat in errant corners, and Bella smiled. Her aunt was a neat freak and probably made attic cleaning a regular part of her routine. Bella traipsed about the space, looking at antiques, old furniture and childhood knickknacks. She suddenly looked over in one corner and spied a trunk she had never seen before sitting next to small stack of books. She walked over and then kneeled down, placing her knapsack beside her as she reached out to finger the trunk. She noticed that the inscription on the side said “Anna.”

  Intrigued, she flipped open the top and looked inside. She gasped as she uncovered pictures of her father, her mother and even some of herself when she was a baby. She gingerly fingered a journal and pulled out various bits of clothing and fabric, as well as documents, carved wooden figures and finally a gorgeous necklace that seemed to glow as if lit from inside.

  Bella fingered it slowly and brought it close to her face to inspect it. It was a jewel encased in intricate filigree hung on a long chain. It looked as if it were ancient, and Bella wondered why her aunt and uncle had never given these things to her. She narrowed her eyes in anger as she fingered through priceless photographs of her mother and father smiling, laughing and living. She would have loved to have had these, if only to serve as a reminder of the two people who created her.

  She then let out a steadying breath. Perhaps her aunt and uncle had their reasons; she just couldn’t fathom them right then. She would definitely bring it up to them when they were back from vacation. Bella found herself putting the necklace around her neck, and she grabbed the journal as well, intent on reading what were possibly her mother’s last thoughts before she’d died. Bella picked up her knapsack and made her way back down the narrow stairs and back into the living room, her fingers idly touching and caressing the necklace. Before she was able to sit on the sofa, she was hit with a wave of intense dizziness. She grabbed hold of the wall, trying to think of how long it’d been since breakfast.

  Her vision was dotted with spots, and she swayed before catching herself. What was wrong? she wondered as the dizziness became stronger, and she dropped to her knees. Her temples felt as if they would explode from the pressure as a headache suddenly bloomed, making her gasp from the pain.

  She groaned as the feelings of pain and pressure intensified, and she quickly shut her eyes, feeling as if the world were spinning and she was being sucked into a small space. She opened her eyes and flailed, a scream catching in her throat as she reached out to nothing but darkness. She began to fall, and wind was rushing past her ears. Her throat felt tight and constricted, and she struggled to breathe.

  This is not happening, this is not happening! She inwardly screamed. The pressure she had experienced before came back tenfold, and Bella felt as if her body were being folded, stretched and then pinned. F
inally, she landed on something hard and real. The feelings of pain and discomfort left her suddenly, and she was wheezing, her body coughing and spasming as oxygen returned to her lungs. She quickly sat up and saw that she lay in the middle of a forest.

  That’s weird, she thought as she continued looking around. She noticed that she was still clutching her knapsack. She stood and threw it over her shoulder. Perhaps she’d had some sort of blackout and had walked outside to the nearby woods. But looking around, she saw that she didn’t recognize the topography. She swallowed convulsively, her eyes darting about as she tried desperately to stay calm and relaxed.

  Okay, Bella, she told herself. There has to be a perfectly reasonable explanation. As she began walking out of the strange forest to a clearing ahead, she racked her brain for said explanation and could think of nothing. The sound of running water caught her ears, and soon she was crossing a small river that flowed over a bevy of rocks and greenery. She shook her head. She didn’t remember a river being near her old home. There was a creek a few miles away but no river, especially not one that boasted a waterfall. She sighed and continued moving, determined to reach the clearing on the other side.

  She walked determinedly past the tree line and into the sunlit clearing. She looked around and noticed something beyond the trees. She squinted her eyes and moved towards it. She realized almost belatedly that there was some sort of village ahead.

  She frowned and took in the details. It looked as if it were an old medieval village with houses and buildings that had thatched roofs, roughly hewn wooden beams and unpaved roads woven around the various structures. Bella’s brow furrowed in confusion. Was this some sort of historical reenactment? she wondered and pulled out her cell phone. The battery was at nearly 100%, but “out of call service area,” was scrolled across the top, and she suppressed a heavy groan as she dropped the phone back into her bag. Where in the world was she?

  She moved from the relative safety of the trees and out into the open, her heart hammering in her chest. She then began to notice people hurriedly scurrying about, their style of dress reminiscent of things worn during the Middle Ages. As she continued walking, she noticed she was garnering her fair share of stares and strange looks. People stopped working as she strolled by; some gasped, their faces awash in shock and awe. Others whispered conspiratorially and pointed.

  Bella looked about, her feelings of fear and confusion intensifying. Had she wandered into some sort of cult? Perhaps it was some little-known Amish community and they had never seen a person that looked like her before. In any case, she found herself swallowing convulsively and moving quickly through the village. She needed to get out of there, she told herself before noticing that a group of the villagers had begun tailing her.

  She picked up her pace and moved toward the line of trees. Her ears picked up bits of conversation, and she noticed that none of it sounded like English. A throng of people began to surround her, and Bella was forced to stop walking.

  “Look, I’m just trying to find out where I am. I just want to go home!” she shouted, and this seemed to ignite the crowd around her. Their voices swelled into a heated wall of sound as they drew closer, pulling at her clothes and hair.

  “Hey!” Bella exclaimed and pulled away, “What’s the matter with you people?!”

  Bella then felt her phone vibrate, and she reached into her bag, relieved that someone could be calling. She took out the phone and realized that it was only her alarm. She had previously set it for her exam schedule and never deleted it. The phone blared a jaunty tune, and the crowd was whipped into a frenzy. They called out in the strange language and pushed at Bella angrily.

  “I don’t understand! Stop it!” she screamed as a group of people pulled at her jacket and jeans.

  The crowd suddenly parted and a big, hulking man stepped through the sea of moving bodies, a dark expression upon his face. He said something that sounded like gibberish to Bella before brandishing a heavy club and raising it high. Bella screamed as the club came crashing down upon her, and her world was swallowed up into darkness.

  Bella groaned as she slowly swam into consciousness. Her head was pounding and her mouth was dry. She looked around and saw that she was in some kind of dark, dank dungeon, the likes of which she had only seen in movies and in museums. She was sitting upon a bed of scratchy straw and shifted her position, surprised that she still had her bag clutched in her hand. She moved herself into a sitting position against the stone wall and blinked a few times. There was dim light emanating from an unknown source, and she could hear the cavernous echo of sound as the world above her moved and hurried. She felt like she was deep in the earth somewhere; perhaps she was even below sea level.

  She looked around and saw chains hanging from one wall and that the entrance was a grated set of bars that looked a bit rusted but sturdy. Bella continued to peruse her surroundings, trying hard to stop the growing tide of alarm and panic. She slowly stood up on shaky legs and took a few steps forward. Her footsteps echoed loudly as she moved towards the entrance. She grasped the grating and pulled. She then pushed at the grating again with much more force before kicking the bars in frustration.

  “Help!” she yelled. “Does anybody hear me?!”

  Her voice echoed, and she could hear nothing save the rapid beat of her heart. She cursed hard and then wandered back over to the space on the straw. She reached in her bag and took a few swigs of water. She immediately felt a bit better, and her headache began to clear. She touched the spot atop her head and was unsurprised there was a large lump forming there. She groaned. How did she get into this mess?

  She heaved a sigh and then tried her cell phone once more. The phone had no signal like it did before, and she wanted to hurl the contraption out of sheer helplessness. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. There had to be a way out of there. She stood once more and began pacing the small space, looking for any possible route of escape. Instead, she simply became more frustrated and anxious. She sat back down on the coarse straw and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head atop them. She held in her need to cry, concentrating on a solid plan for escape, allowing only a few errant tears to escape her eyes and run down her face.

  After a few long minutes with still no firm plan in place, she heard the tap of heavy footsteps, and she looked up, apprehension making the palms of her hands sweaty and her heart hammer. A tall, burly man was standing at the entrance, keys in hand. He said nothing as he opened the grate and indicated that he wanted her to come out.

  Bella hesitated. What was he planning on doing to her? Her mind sped quickly past a few dozen scenarios, and she gulped. She slowly stood as the man began to impatiently point again. She nodded, grabbed her knapsack and slowly walked out onto the darkened corridor. Up close, she could see that the man sported a dirty, long beard and a long, equally begrimed tunic and pants. Bella shot him a sidelong glance, noting that he was holding the keys loosely in his left hand. A plan began to form as Bella sauntered nearly past him. She took in a deep breath and, decision made, struck out with her right foot.

  The man was surprised. He gave an “oomph” as her foot made contact, and she followed up with a punch to his gut. He doubled over, and Bella snatched the keys before making a run for it. She sped up a darkened staircase and out into a sunlit hall. She raced down the corridor to a set of locked double doors. She pushed against them uselessly before cursing hard. She took out the keys, quickly trying two of them before one successfully opened the door. She sprinted out and through another set of doors, out into the sunlight. She ran full tilt across a courtyard filled with geese and chickens and past a group of shocked women gathering water near a well.

  Bella’s legs were pumping hard as she continued her escape, only for her to run into a hard wall of muscle. She tumbled to the ground and felt dazed for a few moments before looking up into the hardened steely gray-eyed expression of a man with a chiseled face, who sported long and intricate blonde locks that
were braided and beaded. His broad chest and heavily muscled body was encased in a simple tunic outfitted with leather armor and pants laced up along the sides. A belt hung low on his hips, showcasing a variety of weapons, including an axe and a dagger. He looked down at Bella, an impassive look upon his face as Bella’s jailer ran up, breath coming out in winded spurts and his voice raised and angry.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Bella looked up and over at the man she’d stolen the keys from and blanched. Her jailer was yelling now, and the strange language with its melodic nuances washed over Bella without any of it making any sense to her. She looked helplessly from her captor to the man before her, unsure of what to do.

  The man was ranting and gesticulating wildly. The other man seemed to listen and then nodded. Other men came walking up behind the large blonde man, and Bella shrunk back in fear. Her captor continued to yell, and the blonde man came forward; he looked at Bella intently before reaching into a small sack on his side and placing what looked like coins in the man’s outstretched hand.

  Bella’s captor threw a look of loathing Bella’s way and turned to walk away, leaving Bella at the mercy of her unknown savior. The man said something that sounded harsh and guttural to Bella’s ears, and she stood reluctantly, part of her debating whether to make another run for it. The man before her seemed to intuit what she was thinking, however, and his men began to surround her. He repeated his entreaty; he wanted her to follow him.

  Bella had no choice but to comply and walk behind him. She noticed that the villagers were giving the men a wide berth, and many were even peeking from around doors and window slats, abject fear and hatred written across their faces. What in the world was going on? Bella thought for perhaps the thousandth time that day. She and the mysterious group of men walked on toward a caravan of horse- drawn wagons.