Captured By The Dragon
Episode 67

Dylan

Agony and b***d. I could feel nothing else—I could see nothing else. It was like circling in my own hell over and over while hands and pliers poked at me until I tried to throw them across the room. Then I was held down even at my weakest. They couldn’t control me—

I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear anything—all I could do was feel it all happening to me. Not even sleep would relieve me of that. I wondered if it was because I deserved it. I deserved to feel every ounce of hurt for all I had done in my life. Hadn’t I made up for all the wrongs I ever did? Everyone lived with their own bundle of wrongs—was this my final price for those mistakes?

My mind fell away from me and came back more confused each time I tried to remember something. I don’t know why I felt so much pain, but at the same time I remembered all of it as if it was happening in that moment.

Eventually, I went in and out of consciousness and that shifted the way I thought. The brief glimpses of light were not the ones I wanted to see. I called out for Patara and Ethan—but somehow I knew they were only whispers on my tongue. They couldn’t hear me at all no matter how loud I wanted to be.

Erik assured me they were safe and nearby, but I wanted them here now. I wanted them closer and I wanted them by my side to pull me back to the light with them. It seemed I would have to do that all by myself, again. I would pull myself back to the light and let the darkness fall away behind me.

The pain was thick and blinded me to anything else. I hated those damn shifter weapons. They hurt like a bitch and took days to wear off from the pain. It made me delirious and a little out of my mind.

It always made me want to search the world for every single one of them until I could destroy them all. I wasn’t even sure how I was still alive after three blows—I should have been dead in the ground by the second. Perhaps love was the strongest thing, the only thing I needed to survive all of this.

“Dylan…?”

A familiar voice said to pull me out of my racing thoughts. Not the voice I was hoping for, but still nice enough to hear. Erik came into my blurry sight and sat next to me. I tried to reach out to him, but my hand fell against my chest and laid flat.

“How are you feeling?” He asked. Even through my haze, I knew he sounded drained. He looked like it too.

“Go home, Erik. I know Cindy misses you.” I muttered. Half of me wondered if he could even understand what I was saying. “I’m home now.”

“You know I couldn’t leave your a*s until you woke. You might have choked on your tongue or something while you slept.” Erik joked, though his voice wasn’t very light at all.

I gripped his wrist and looked him in the eye as best I could. “I owe you, Erik. For all you did for me.”

Erik patted my hand and brought it back to my chest. “Get some rest and don’t you dare move from this couch. I’ll write up a list of things you can buy me in the morning.” Erik offered a small smile and stood. I didn’t notice the room was entirely empty until he left.

The house was dark and quiet. I struggled to get up but the pain went through me like a fresh bullet.

“Patara?” I called. I knew she was here, I could feel her close by. My side hummed for her and soon it traveled through my whole body.

Still, she said nothing. I forced myself off the couch and stumbled out of the room. I gripped the walls and felt my body pull closer to her.

I reached one of the guest rooms and opened it to find Patara fast asleep next to Ethan. Ethan sat up and stared at me as I entered the room. He was so observant and watchful, I didn’t know what to do as I neared him.

“Hey, buddy.” I whispered and sat on the other side of him. I took it as a good sign that he didn’t try and move away from me. I lightly reached out to smooth his small dark hair from his eyes. “This can be your room now if you want. I’ll get you toys and clothes in the morning.”

He blinked at me as if I was speaking another language. I knew he wouldn’t understand me. He didn’t understand any of us yet. Normally shifter children developed their skills fast, but he had been locked in a cage since birth. He didn’t get to develop like a normal child.

While he should have been saying our names, instead he refused to say a word.

I laid beside him and lightly laid him back as well. We stared at each other for a long moment. Patara slept peacefully on his other side. I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her and pull her tightly against me. I needed to touch her like it was some sort of addiction to feel her skin.

Instead, I listened to my tired body and stayed where I was.

Ethan kept watching me, even when the lights went out I could feel his eyes on me. I felt the bed shift as he moved closer and a small hand reached out to touch my face.

My heart stopped in my chest and I held my breath. Ethan moved his small hand down my face slowly as if he wanted to feel every bump in my face. I closed my eyes and let his small touch glide across me. One wrong move and he would be scared away.

I wondered if he thought I wasn’t real—if he thought this wasn’t real. Did he think he wasn’t actually safe? Did he silently fear that it would be taken from him if he didn’t reach out to make sure it was there?

Slowly, he pulled his hand away and I opened my eyes to see him lay his head close to Patara. There was a bond there. New and fresh, but still growing.

She went through hell to bring back her baby. I didn’t doubt for a second that she would have moved mountains for him too. I moved my aching body a little closer to them both and crawled beneath the covers with them.

This was my family. This was what I craved and what I fought for. I thought I would have been so angry at Patara for what she did, but now I laid my arm across both of them and pulled them against me.

I wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring for any of us. But I was ready to face it if I had them.