“At the age of six I was beaten by a man I once called my grandfather. He beat me and Nicholas to get the ‘devils’ out of us. Switches, whips, sticks, his bare hands, anything he could get his hands on. At first he would do it when our parents weren’t around, but then he started hitting us in front of our mother. She never said a word, no one did. Until one day the old lost his temper and hit me with a piece of word, busting open my forehead. Nicholas snapped and attacked him, shifting into his half dragon form. He put up a good fight, but the old man was ruthless. A steel bat brought Nicholas to his knees. I finally got to my feet and ran to defend my brother. I demanded that he run, after all, I was the older brother. Reluctantly Nicholas agreed and took off running, never to be seen by me again. Or so I thought.”
“Since I was still a child, I was no match for the old man. My dragon was still asleep and I was too human. He knocked me unconscious and swore to cleanse me. When I woke up again, I heard screaming. It was my father and other two brothers. They were chained to the ground, their bodies showing signs of a struggle. Where was my mother? My grandfather spouted off about cleaning me as Jesus was cleansed. That was when I realized that I was strapped to a cross. I screamed and begged and cried for him to stop, but the old man ignored me. He pinned down my hands and nailed them to the wood, then my feet. My screams of agony and pain were loud, but useless. My father and brothers could not break free from their bonds.”
“The old man placed a crow of barbwire on my head, then lifted the cross to stand in front of my siblings and father. A woman in a hooded cloak, a woman with my mother’s scent. It was my mother. My family couldn’t see her face, neither could I, but now I recognize her scent. She stepped in front of me and stabbed me with a spear made of dragon’s teeth, the only substance that could injure me and keep me from healing. My family screamed as I hung on the cross and bled out. The life faded from my body as I starred at my father, pleading for him to save me. He tried but couldn’t get free, he watched as the blood and life left me. However, when the last drop was gone, my body came to life. I became the devil they feared as the dragon came to life from the darkness of my body. Using it’s strength,my body pried itself free and dropped to the ground. The rest is just a vicious imagery of a demonic six year-old beating an old man to death, and drinking his blood.”
“With fresh blood in my body, my wound healed and my human spirit came back. The demonic dragon was caged and put to sleep by my father. my memories were locked away as well; to protect me from the monster inside. The was the first time I died.”
Jesse looked around the white room, he was alone. Who was he talking to? Why was he talking.
“How many times have you died?” asked a voice from no where.
“Four times including this one,” responded Jesse. He looked around again, but he was still alone. Why was he talking? Where were these memories coming from?
“Tell me about the second time,” demanded the voice.
“Fast forward, to the age of sixteen. I had a gang of friends I ran with all the time. We were ruthless, heartless savages. In our minds we were untouchable, we were gods. We killed whoever and did whatever we wanted too. At first we stuck to people who we deemed to be unfit to have a life. Child abusers and molesters, drug dealers, junkies, low life animals. The way we saw it, god had the right to choose who lived and who died, and we were made in his image, so that gave us the same right. Besides, god couldn’t be everywhere, but we could. Thanks to Clarissa’s father, we could be in any city on any continent. If someone stepped out of line, even once, we would be there to correct them. Three vampires, a werewolf, and a psychotic sixteen year old were-human who thought he was a werewolf. Together the three of us were unstoppable, or so we thought.”
YOU ARE READING
The Tenth Dragon: Death Of A Youngling
FantasyJesse Ruiz has had a rough twenty years of life, but as things finally start to settle down for him, he gets thrown into a hell that he could have never imagined. Joined by his fiance Rydar, friends Seaver and Clarissa; he must face his past to ens...
