No more dragons

Chapter one

I walked through the streets of New York. People were all in a hurry to get out of the rain. I walked slowly. I was already wet, so why should I hurry. Plus, I wasn't in a hurry, getting back to the foster home. The sky was grey, almost white above me and everyone else in this city. The foster home was in a part of the city with less traffic and less people. To me it has always seemed quite... deserted. I know that it lives an elder women in the house across the street. I've catched her watching me through the window before, but when I see her she always move away from the window. She's a strange woman. Her house is always lit, even in the middle of the night. I woke up in the middle of the night once, because of a nightmare and saw her sitting by the window, looking out on the street.

I was so lost in my own thoughts, I didn't see the guy walking towards me on the street. I didn't see the way he targeted me with his eyes and aimed in on me. I didn't really think twice about him until he pulled up the gun and talked to me. "Give me your money, boy. Now." he said and pointed the gun at me. A hood covered  most of his face, but I could see that he didn't like this more than I did. Getting pulled out of my thoughts so quickly, my brain couldn't quite process what was happening. "What?" I squinted. "Give me the money." he repeated, slowly and held the gun against me. I held up my hands. "Wow, calm down. I don't have money, I'm just a foster kid." I tried to explain as the door to the house across the street opened. A man stepped out with a garbage bag in his hands. Everything happened really fast after that. The man looked at us. He looked at the way I held up my hands and saw the gun the guy pointed at me. The guy with the gun looked at the man and then at me. The man started yelling and ran inside the house. All of a sudden the guy with the gun got in a hurry. "Give me the money NOW!" he demanded. Just as the man came running out again with a phone in his hand and another door to another house opened and another person came out. I could see the guy's terrified face as the men came running against us.

I'm not quite sure just how it happened, but the gun went off, I was on the ground and the guy ran off. I don't even remember falling to the ground. I saw the lights from the city and heard sirens right around the corner. But it was all so far away. I didn't even feel the bullet. It got hard to breath. And then it all darkened a little bit. You know how they say that we see our lives flash before our eyes before we die? I was waiting for just that. And it came. Sort of.

You need to hang on. A voice clearly said to me. It sounded so familiar, I could almost see the face... An elder man. His face was harsh, but his eyes friendly. He looked worried. His hair was grey and short and he was unshaved. His clothes were a little strange. It looked like he was reaching out for me... or wait, what was that in his hand, the tip of it lit up. All of a sudden the light blended me and what I saw changed. I couldn't place the scene. Was I.... flying? Roof tops and pipes flew by me. They almost hit me or I almost hit them, I don't know. The night sky made it hard to see much, but this was not New York, that's for sure. Then I saw a sign. A V and an upside-down V with a line crossing over and a circle around it. And again it changed. This time, I was holding one of the things in my hand with a glowing tip. Was it a wand? I think I held it up like a weapon against something or someone, but I couldn't see the threat. What? I.... I fired something from the wand, I... Now I could see more of the threat. It looked like shadows or ghosts. Something like that, they flew around me. I could feel my heart race, even though I had no idea what these things were. They were getting closer and closer. It was too many of them, it felt like they swallowed me whole. It all got dark. I tried to use the wand again, but it wasn't in my hand. I tried to look around, even though I couldn't see. But just as it got dark, the light came back to a different scene. It came more of these... visuals. Things that gave no sense to me. Wasn't it suppose to be memories and not... fantasies?

Then it all disappeared. It was replaced by the pain. I opened my eyes. At first I was blinded by a strong light, but then my eyes got used to the light. I was in a hospital bed. Alone. How many people are alone in a hospital. What exactly happened? Was I really shot? I looked down on myself, but then I thought, I don't want to find out by looking at it if it's going to make me pass out. I pressed the button to make a nurse come to my room. She got there quickly. "I see you're awake. Should I tell the police they can come talk to you now or do you want to talk to someone else first? The doctor can come and talk to you about your condition in a few minutes." she said. Police? Oh, yeah. To catch the guy who shot me. I'm surprised I actually took this as easy as I did. "Just send 'em in." I said. She nodded. "Your foster home has been informed, but no one could come right away. They'll be here later. " she said as she walked out.