The Blue Blaze: Chapter 4

Keith stared at the floor hunched over, tapping his foot repeatedly. “So. My best friend is a dragon.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say a dragon per se. I’ve never fully transformed.” My exposed scales and eyes had turned back to normal.
He looked up at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was scared of your reaction.” I sighed. “I didn’t want you to think I was a freak or anything like that.”
“Now, why would I ever call you that? I’d be surprised at most, but I would never call you a freak.”
“You wouldn’t tell anyone either?”
“I might’ve felt a little tempted, but I'd respect it if you didn’t want me to.” He gripped his knees. “It’s not like anyone would believe me anyway.”
“Yeah… I’d prefer you didn’t. Don’t think a dissection table would be comfy.” I leaned back a tiny bit and put my hands behind my head.
“I won’t. Not sure if I can say the same thing about Troy, though.”
“Shoot. He did see me, didn’t he?”
“You’re acting pretty calm after being in a life-or-death fight.”
I shrugged. “Maybe it’s my dragon-ish blood. Or maybe it’s the adrenaline. Both? I don’t know.”
“Or maybe it’s the fact you didn’t kill anyone.”
“...Maybe on some level, I did want to kill them. All of them. I don’t think anyone would care much if they were to have died in that alley. I would’ve loved to make them suffer.”
Keith looked at me and saw a murderous gleam in my eye. “Stop it. Stop thinking that way. That’s how serial killers are born. ”
I sighed and looked at the living room. “Those guys are probably gonna come back and finish what they started, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, probably. I don’t think he’d be ballsy enough to attack you again on the same day, though. You gave them a pretty good beating. And that was only by yourself.”
“And I only got this.” I pointed at the slit that scabbed over.
“Good thing that’s all you got, not a bullet.”
“Don’t know if my scales would be able to block that. Even if they did, the hot lead fragments would go in my eye anyway.”
I looked at my ripped shirt and frowned. “I’ll be back. Make yourself at home.”
Walking into my room, I took off my shirt and looked at it. “Guess I won’t be using this one anymore.” I tossed it to the floor and picked a new one from my closet. Looking into my mirror, I flexed my bicep, noticing a small bump. “I don’t think Muay Thai put much muscle on me, but I look leaner. No ripped abs, though. Shame.” I said as I put on my new shirt.
As soon as I left my room, I heard my mom’s car drive in. She was early. It wasn’t anywhere close to 6. I looked at Keith as I walked into the hallway leading to the living room. “Not a single word about the fight, got it?” Keith nodded.
When I opened the door, I saw my mom with a small bucket of ice cream. “You’re home early,” I commented.
“They let us get out early today. How was school?” My mom hugged me.
“It was good. I wish it weren’t the full period, though.”
“Well, some schools can be like that. Oh, hi, Keith!” She waved at my friend.
“Hi, Ms. Duran. Is that ice cream?”
“Yup!” she set the ice cream on the table. “You guys want some?”
We nodded and grabbed some bowls and spoons.
“So what’s the occasion?” I scooped a sizeable portion of cookies and cream into my bowl.
“Can’t a mom get some ice cream just because?”
I looked at her. “Not with us. We don’t eat too many sweets unless it’s pan dulce.”
“I wanted to celebrate you getting past another semester. Just one more until you’re off to college.”
“Well, there’s still summer. I hope you don’t plan on kicking me out of the house and into college as soon as I turn eighteen.”
“Of course not, Ethan!” my mom raised her eyebrows. “I’d be happy if you stayed here for your entire life after college. And when you find a wife, I can ask someone to build a room into the house.”
I chuckled. “We’ll see what happens.”
My mom turned to my friend. “Do you like cookies and cream, Keith?”
Keith scooped a couple of balls into his bowl. “I like it alright. I think I like mint and chocolate chip the best, though.”
“Apparently, people hate it because it tastes like toothpaste.” My mom commented.
Keith shrugged. “I guess I like the taste of toothpaste then.”
“Mom, some people hate cilantro because they think it tastes like soap. There’s a bunch of crazies out there.”
“True.” She nodded.
Keith took his spoon and started to dig into it. “I don’t think it tastes like soap,” he said.
I smiled. “That’s what makes you an honorary Mexican.” Keith grinned before he ate.
Before I knew it, the ice cream in my bowl was gone. I felt my hand move toward the ice cream scoop as if it were magnetically attracted.
“Your dad loved this flavor too. Couldn’t get enough of it. I remember he finished a whole tub of cookies and cream in one day, yet he still didn’t get any weight. I felt pretty jealous. Come to think of it, he always got nearly eight or ten plates of food whenever we went to buffets. Most of them had more meat than anything else. Steak, lamb, salmon…”
She had a glimmer in her eyes as she kept talking about my dad. The cookies and cream tasted bitter. I still didn’t like hearing about him. Whether he was dead or off with some skank, it still hurt not having a father around or a good father figure, at the very least. It looked like my mom was still in love with the man, even after all those years.
My mom looked at me. “What happened to your eye, Ethan?”
“Oh, it was a paper cut. I just grabbed a sheet of paper, brought it too close to my eye, and cut myself just below it.” I was surprised by how easy it felt to lie at that point. Maybe because it didn’t feel like too big of a deal.
“You have to be more careful. I don’t want a call at work saying you cut your eye with paper.”
“I will.” I nodded.
After we finished our ice cream, my mom put it back in the freezer. “How about a movie, boys?”
“A movie sounds good.” I looked at Keith.
“That’s fine with me,” he said.
After going through a selection in our online subscription service, we decided to put on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Even though my mom didn’t care for the violence in the movie, she did like the message behind the lion. I enjoyed all of it, though I heard the book was better. But what series or film isn’t better than the book it’s based on?
It was near sunset. We sat down on the couch to watch the movie, and midway through the film, I heard the sound of glass shattering in the backyard, along with a slight fwoosh.
“What on earth?” I said.
“What’s up?” Keith tilted his head at me.
“You didn’t hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Glass shattering.”
Keith shook his head.
“I’m gonna go check it out.” I said as I got up.
“I’ll come with you,” he was about to get up also.
“I’ll be fine, you stay.”
“Alright then…” He sat back down.
I opened the sliding glass door and saw a small fire by a pile of dead leaves.
Oh crap! I thought as I rushed to throw dirt on the fire and smothered it. It was difficult to see in the dark, but I saw a towel and a shattered bottle of beer near where the fire used to be. A Molotov? Who and why would- My mom’s scream from inside the house sprang me into action. “Mom!” I shouted as I shoved the door open. I saw my mom standing behind Keith as he stood in a fighting stance. “What’s going on!?” There was a loud thump coming from the wooden door.
“I have a sneaking suspicion Troy actually is ballsy enough to attack you on the same day!”
My mom looked at me. “What?”
“We’ll talk about this later, Mom. Right now, call 911!”
My mom reached into her pocket and fumbled for her phone.
The door was kicked down, revealing Troy, William, Amanda, and a couple of other goons, all armed with knives, pistols, and the like. Troy slid on some knuckle dusters. “I told you this wasn’t over. You picked a bad day to pick a fight with me.”
“Ethan, what is he talking about?” Asked my mom.
“Later!” I barked.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Troy snickered. “Your son decided to fight me and my friends, and Keith there gave one of them a cracked skull. He’s dead now.”
Keith flinched at hearing that confirmation, and my mom gave me a horrified look.
“It’s not what you think!” I pleaded. “He instigated me and tried to beat me up again. I ran away until I couldn’t. I defended myself.”
“Ethan. I told you never to get into fights! What happened to forgiving him and moving on!?”
Troy laughed, “You should’ve listened to your mom, dude. Maybe none of this would’ve happened if you had just gone with it.”
“Screw you!” I charged at him until I heard a pistol cock, and one of his goons aimed at me.
“Ah. Ah. Ah. You may know some fancy moves, but you can’t stop a bullet.” He shook with laughter. “Now you’re gonna stand there as I teach you, your buddy, and your mom a lesson.” More Molotovs were thrown inside the house, igniting on impact with the floor.
When a fighter says something like: “When I see red, it’s over!” they usually can’t fight, and it’s just a bluff. I don’t know what color I saw that day, but I was pissed. Attacking me after school is one thing but in my own house? Putting my innocent mom in danger? I saw something.
Troy nodded to his goons. “Get them.” They all rushed in, the gunmen staying back.
“Stay back, Ms. Duran!” I heard Keith shout as my mom talked into the phone with the operator.
I heard a shot fire, and looking back, I saw that my mom’s phone was destroyed. “Wouldn’t want any of those pigs in blue to come and spoil the fun, would we?”
I felt something hit my face and heard a crack around my jaw.
“Look at your opponent! Doesn’t your kung fu school teach you that!?”
I growled, and my eyes morphed. Throwing a body hook to his injured rib, he doubled down a bit. I took that opportunity to grab his head and bash my knee into his face, but just before I could connect my knee, I felt something hard hit my left shoulder. I stumbled back a bit, and my shoulder began to feel warm. Troy took that chance to grab me at my waist and took me to the ground. I may have known about the standup fight, but Muay Thai isn’t a martial art used for the ground fight. All I could do was cover my face as much as I could from his blows. I glanced in Keith’s direction to see how he was doing. There were already two on the ground, and it looked like Amanda and William were the only ones fighting him.
I felt my body start to change and heard something rip from the rear end of my pants. I looked at my arms and saw that scales were growing on my arms, and my teeth felt sharper. I slipped my tail between mine and Troy’s torso and yanked him off of me, still holding him.
“There it is! You freak!”He crinkled his nose.
I clenched my teeth and threw him into one of those pesky gunmen. I need to deal with those before I fight anyone else! I dashed into the line of gunmen, shots firing at me, but I didn’t go down. They felt like a hard punch, but it was as if they were bouncing off of me. Grabbing the barrel of one of the guy’s pistols, I slammed an uppercut into his chin and bashed my tail into another one’s head. They both fell to the ground and didn’t get back up. I assumed they were knocked unconscious. I rushed at the last gunman, and he fired again, but all his shots whizzed right past me. He’s so scared he can’t aim properly! I grinned. Good. As soon as I got close enough, I kicked into the joint of his right knee. He howled in pain. I got closer and delivered a right diagonal elbow strike and sliced the skin at his forehead, knocking him down. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, I finished him off with a punch to the throat.
Running back into the house, I saw Keith standing his ground against William and Amanda, but his arms were all cut up by their knives. “Keith!” I shouted, “You alright?” Stupid question!
He took a slight glance at me. “I could be better!” As William came in with a stab, Keith teeped him away, but his leg got stabbed in the process.
I ran closer to William and low-kicked him behind the leg, sweeping him like Keith did Jason. He fell and dropped the knife. I kicked it out of his reach so he couldn’t get to it quickly. William was still conscious and tried to kick me in the crotch. I was able to block the kick with my shin. I began to kick and stomp on William, over and over again, not letting him stand up, not giving him any mercy even if I heard cracks. I felt a grin starting to rise.
“Ethan!” I heard my mom shout, breaking me out of my trance. My mom was in a headlock by Troy, William’s knife to her throat.
I bared my teeth. “Let her go, you b-”
“Settle down now, freak!” Troy brought the blade closer to her neck. I saw the slightest trickle of blood. “Or I’ll cut her. I swear I’ll cut her!”
Keith and I stepped away from our opponents.
“You made a mistake fighting me today. My gang and I are spread throughout this city. Your friend’s parents are being attacked as we speak.” He grinned.
Keith balled up his fists and stepped forward. Amanda took a nearby flower vase and swung it. Keith dodged, but another shot rang, and a bullet struck him in the leg. Keith had no choice but to kneel down. Amanda took that moment to smash it over his head. Keith let out a grunt and fell, his head starting to bleed.
“Keith!” I breathed rapidly.
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, right?” Amanda placed her hands on her hips.
Another Molotov was thrown, presumably by the gunman who I threw Troy at. I heard steps behind me and firm hands on both sides of my head. My legs began to shake, my friend was down and I was about to lose my own mom. “Please! Don’t do it!” I begged.
Troy pressed the knife closer to her throat. “Any last words?”
My mom looked at me. “Ethan,” she sobbed, “I love you!”
The adrenaline was wearing off, and I was starting to feel immense pain in my shoulder, even in my partial transformation. “I!” I choked, “I love you too!” Tears started to stream down my eyes.
“Aww. How sweet.” He raised his eyebrows and dragged the blade across her neck, blood spurt everywhere. Troy let her body fall as she convulsed.
“Nooooo!” I screamed and sank to the floor in a sobbing mess. I heard footsteps approach me and a violent tug at my hair. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll see her in the afterlife, heaven, or wherever you believe people go when they die.”
My sadness began to turn into rage. No….No… I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him. I’LL KILL HIM! “DIE!” My shout turned into a roar as I felt my entire body transform. Golden wings sprouted from my back, my nails turned into sharp claws, my nose elongated, I felt my spine stretch, and my tail grew a golden spike. Several bones snapped and moved into place. The pain was excruciating, but it was gone in a second. I bucked the man who held my head into the air, and he was skewered by my horns. I threw my head to the side and slid him off my horns. His body hit the wall with a loud thump, breaking midway into it. Looking at William still on the ground and clenching his body, he stared at me in horror. I drew my claws and slashed his head, killing him. Drawing my head back, I breathed in and roared. Out flew a jet stream of scalding water out of my mouth. Amanda was hit and split in two by the torso as I swayed my head around the room. The water caught on the Molotov fires, and a giant fireball engulfed the area. Troy dodged the water by hitting the deck. I looked at Keith’s unconscious body, and he looked fine. Growling and baring razor-sharp teeth, I slowly stepped and drew my face closer to Troy, rumbling deep in my chest. “Any last words?” I asked the same question he did my mom.
Troy’s breathing was shallow. “Die, monster!” He slashed the knife at my face and shot a handgun that he kept hidden. The blade snapped as he tried to drag it along my rough scales, and the bullets only bounced off of my face. I opened my jaws and bit down on his knife arm, biting it right off and spitting the blade out before it cut my tongue more. He howled in pain, begging me to stop. “Oh, this is only getting started!” I took the majority of his gun arm into my jaws and clamped down, avoiding the gun.
“Please! Stop!” Troy begged.
“Please? You mean how I begged you to please not kill my mom?” Troy looked at me. “YOU DESERVE NO MERCY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” I slashed my claws along his stomach, making him howl again. I bit his legs off one by one. I took delight that he was in horrible, excruciating pain. You deserve this. You deserve everything! “And now.” I looked into Troy’s eyes. “Go to Hell!” I bit and tore off his head, only to spit it out.
My rage-induced blood lust was satisfied, and I looked at Keith. I hurriedly walked over to Keith and coughed. The smoke was starting to get to me. Crap! I hope I didn’t take too long! I looked at the shoulder that was injured while I was human. It was still bleeding but not as heavy as it would be in my human form. I gently grabbed Keith by his shirt with my teeth and placed him on my back. He only slid off. So I caught him with one of my paws, careful not to cut him with my claws, and walked out of the house. I placed Keith on the ground and put my ear to his chest. I could hear a heartbeat loud and clear. Oh, thank goodness! “Let’s get you out of here.” I gently grabbed him again and turned to look at the burning house. “Mom… I’m sorry I was such a failure to you. I went against your wishes, learning how to fight… and I couldn’t even protect you.” I felt tears streaming down my eyes I’m a failure. I thought. With that, I took off, but I could feel my body begin to ache and grow weaker. I fought through it, careful not to drop Keith.
As I flew, I heard sirens and saw police cars and fire trucks. “Oh! NOW the police arrive…” I grimaced.
I was nearing a forest of trees by the mountains, and my body was getting heavier. Blood kept streaming out of my shoulder. I couldn’t help but start to fall. Turning onto my back, I placed Keith on my chest, making sure he wouldn’t get more injured during the fall. I crash-landed into the pine trees, and the branches tore into my thin wing membranes. The pain was horrible, but it was soon all over, and I landed on soft dirt. In pain from having my wings badly injured and nearly fainting, I mustered all of my strength to roar and shout, “Help! Somebody! Anybody!” I felt my eyes begin to shut. “Anybody…” I could only see darkness from the night sky, and my eyes shut.