The Dragon Wars (Book 1)

Chapter 26: Dangerous (Joseph POV)

I looked at her a bit confused, and to be truthful I was a bit tired as well. I just wanted to go into my room and get a bit of sleep. I nodded to her for her to keep talking, but I did not like the look that she had on her face.
"We should go and see where your mother died, we can find out if what your father says is true or not. If he really did kill your mother." She said to me. I looked at her for a few seconds, I thought about it. It seemed like it could be a good idea, but then I shook my head when I remembered the story about dragons.
"Both of you lay down, there is something that I need to tell both of you. I was not hiding it from you, I just found out about this today as well." I said to both of them. Mariah looked at me a bit confused but Julia nodded and she sat down on one of the reclining chairs as me and Mariah sat down together on the sofa.
"By the look on your face, I am guessing you do not think that your father killed your mother..." Julia said to me. I looked
at her for a few seconds, remembering the story that he had told me about dragons and I wanted to say that it was him.
But he did love my mother, he had a weird way of showing it, I could not bring myself to believe that it were dragons either, I had always been told that it was a myth only used in stories. I looked at the both of them, they would both think I was crazy for actually believing the story.
I was not so sure whether or not I believed in the first place, but I decided I would tell both of them and they would have to make their own decisions. I looked at both of them making sure that they were both paying attention.
"My father... He says it was a dragon that did it-" As soon as I said it Julia laughed and shook her head at me. I could tell that she was not buying it, but I saw a weird look on Mariah's face, she looked as though she was a bit confused but still wanted me to tell her more.
"You wouldn't actually believe that would you? Dragons are a fictional story, everyone knows they are not real, your dad has gone psycho." She said to me. I did not like the way she had said that word but I just nodded to her, I could see why most people would probably think that about my dad right now.
Mariah stepped in first and she actually looked a bit upset at Julia for saying that about our father. It actually surprised me a bit because my father said he hated her and wished that he had never given birth to her on several occasions. Which was another reason why I was surprised that she would be listening to the story.
"Our dad has not gone crazy... Maybe now, if what he said is true. His mind is probably in another place. But he is never one to lie..." She said to Julia. Julia actually looked a bit surprised and a bit taken a back by the words that Mariah said to her.
I was proud of Mariah, she was always the girl that just let people say whatever they wanted about her in front of her face, and said things about her family but now she was growing up and stepping up for herself and the ones that she loved so dearly.
"Okay... Maybe so... He might have done it and thought it was a dragon... You never really know." Julia said to Mariah. Mariah looked at the ceiling for about half a second and then nodded. I could not roll out the possibility of that either. But there was something Padre had said to me.
"Okay can we continue where I left of in the story?" I said to the both of them. After they were both done giving each other stern glances the both nodded for me to continue on.
I looked at both of them, they would both think that I was going crazy, and maybe I was, all day I was seeing things that could not possibly be there. I shivered even thinking about it again. Julia would not believe the part that came to Padre and I knew that for sure. He held a knife to her throat.
"He told me, that they were just going on a normal walk, when they heard something and they saw something in the distance." I said to them, I stopped a for a few seconds making sure they were listening and trying to remember what my father had told me.
They both looked at me and they nodded at me for me to continue. I nodded back at them trying to regain my thoughts once again. What had I said so far? Where had I left of? After I remembered what I had said I looked at the both of them, my face had a very dark expression. And I could see it from the looks in their eyes.
"A black dragon, nowhere near as big as the ones in the stories walked up, our father told me that he spoke our language perfectly..." I said to the both of them. I could tell based of the look on Julia's face that she was not believing any of it. But Mariah had a bit of a surprised look on his face and for some reason a could see a bit of a grin twitching out.
"Then... He started talking to our mother, our father said it was almost like he knew her. They said words to each other then she looked at our father and told him to run." I said to them. Julia was completely lost and not believing any of it but my sister I could tell was paying full attention and nodding every now and then.
"Joseph... There is something I need to tell you but finish the story and I will tell you afterwards." She said to me. I looked at her and nodded, I wondered what it could possibly be. Did she know something that I did not? I looked at her but she showed me nothing on her face so I continued where I left off.
"Dad said he turned around, the dragon said he knew her and he killed our uncle and he's coming after us next." I told them. I saw Julia, she looked like she was about to laugh and she obviously did not believe as single word of the story. I would have thought the same for Mariah but she actually looked a bit interested.
"Well... I found our uncles journal now that you said that and he said he was going to hunt dragon. When our mom saw that I was reading it she said that our uncle was just writing a book. But he writes a book with themselves as the main character?" She said to me. I looked at her a bit surprised, I would have thought that she would have told me about that.
"Oh... That makes a lot more sense, wait til what you here about next." I said to her. She looked at me for a few seconds, I could tell that her mind was still on the part of our uncles journal. Once she realized what I had said to her she nodded to me.
"You don't actually believe dragons exist right?" Julia asked me, she looked at me dead in the eyes as if I was crazy. I would have thought that Mariah would have been the hardest pill to swallow, but Julia was the one that read stories, and she was the one not willing to believe any of it.
"I used to not... Wait til what I have to tell you next and you will understand." I said to her. She looked at me for a few seconds, she was smiling but it was more like a funny smile, like this was all some big joke to her.
"So... He said he ran and the dragon caught up, then a purple dragon threw him to the ground... He showed me the bruise on his back." I said to them. My sister nodded but Julia rolled her eyes, she still did not believe I word of what I was saying and she was wondering why I was believing what my father had said.
"That could be from your mother fighting back... That is a pretty lame excuse." She said. I looked at her, I was starting to get a bit annoyed at her for stepping in on everything that I was saying about the story. I could tell that Mariah was thinking the exact same.
"Our father cant burn her with gasoline while she somehow fights him while she is burning to death... Plus she would wonder why he had gasoline on him." She said to Julia. I looked at her and nodded to Mariah. It was well spoken but I could still tell that Julia was not buying it.
"He could have knocked her first and she fought back and he knocked her unconscious." She said to Mariah. Both me and her looked at her, I had not thought about it and now I could see Mariah taking her side. Things were starting to get out of hand.
"Can I just finish the story? You don't have to step in every word I say." I said to Julia. She looked at me and nodded but I could tell she was a bit upset from what I had just asked her. I knew that she would not listen to a single word I said and she would step in as soon as I got to the part with Padre.
"He was thrown to the ground. He said the dragons laughed at him, said no one would believe him and it was best to just let him live." I said to them. I was happy to see that Julia was not stepping in now but I could tell she still did not believe any of the story.
"After the purple dragon let him off... He ran back to my mother and was crying over her burnt dead body." I said to her. Mariah let out a bit of a ghasp and this time I could tell that part had really gotten to Julia's head.
There was silence for a few moments, Julia was staring at the ceiling and I could tell that she was thinking long and hard about what I had just said to the both of them. She knew that our father was crying beside our mothers dead body when the police had found them.
"So... It has to be true... The dragons are out there... They are looking for us?" Mariah said to me. I looked at her for a few seconds and then I nodded to her. Julia's mind was in another place and I snapped my fingers to get her to snap out of it.
"What is so special about you guys..." Julia said to me. I could tell she had a bit of a jealous look on her face. She had always wanted to tell me that she wanted to feel special by someone or multiple people... I could not blame her, but she did know that she was special to me right?
"Well... We were apparently part of a prophecy... But not only that, we also are dragon hunters... Julia I need you too not get too mad about this next part." I said to her, I looked her dead in the eyes, she looked at me for a few seconds I could tell she did not want to agree but she nodded in the end.
"I promise not to..." She said to me. I nodded to her, he promises always meant something, she would always tell me that she would never break a promise. And she had made many promises to me and she had never broken a single one of them.
"Alright... So Padre got out." I began. I could see the look of anger on her face. She still did not say a single word about it though, thankfully. Mariah looked at me a bit confused. I realized that I had never filled her in on that subject.
"Padre... He attacked us when we here just a few days ago. He got locked up, but you know gang members they don't get locked up for long... They usually come after the person that locked them up next." I said to her. It was all I really needed to say to her, I didn't need to explain it in full detail.
Mariah looked at me and then nodded, I could tell that Julia was very upset, she still did not say a word though, I could not blame her for being upset.
"Did he attack you then?" Julia asked me. I could tell that she was doing her best to hide her emotions. I shook my head and she looked a bit surprised but she nodded for me to continue.
"No... As it turns out, he said he was done with the gangster life..." I said to her. She looked at me and then rolled her eyes. She then laughed and then looked at me a bit surprised. She could tell that I actually believed it.
"Wait... Don't tell me you're trusting him?" She asked me. I looked at her for a few moments, my mind came back from the day he attacked us. I realized that she was right, I probably should not trust him, but then I remembered what he had said to me.
"I don't... But he was friend with our cousin Mariah... He told me some things..." I said to her. She looked at me for a few moments. Mariah was just a little baby when he died so she would not have remembered him, I barely remember him in the first place.
"Why did he attack you then?" Mariah asked me. I knew how to answer that question right away and I nodded for telling her that it was a very good question.
"He did not recognize me... The thing is though... He told me some things... He said our uncle told him about the dragons." I said to her. She looked at me for a few moments, I could tell that both her and Julia were both still counting up the possibilities of this being true.
"So... He doesn't remember you... That makes sense, but why would he tell you about dragons, did he even know what happened?" Julia asked me. I looked at her and then I nodded to her. I felt a bit sad as my mind went back to my mother, I shook it off of my thoughts.
"No... He found out though, and he learned about my father killing my mother, he said it sounded like dragons, and him and our uncle used to have deep conversations about them." I said to them. They both looked at each other and then they nodded for me to continue.
"He said, told Padre about the dragons. He says he believes that our cousin was killed by a dragon as well." I said to Mariah. Mariah looked at me for a few seconds, I could tell that she did not want to believe it in her mind but she was still listening and another side of her brain was telling her it was the truth.
"Do you actually believe him, he could have just done that to find you." Julia said to me. I looked at her for a few seconds, it was a dumb answer to all of it that I had just said to her, but I nodded to her and then I began explaining why I believed it.
"He could have attacked me there, but instead he sat on the bench and I could tell that something was off with him." I said to Julia. She looked at me and then she nodded at me, she still did not want to believe Padre and I could not blame her. It would be hard to believe a gangster that held a knife to my throat as well.
"So... He believes that our whole family has been killed my dragons?" Mariah said to me. I looked at her for a few seconds not really knowing how to respond to that question but then I nodded, she was right. Padre did believe it, and now so did I now that a replayed the story to them.
"Yes... That isn't all though... When I was in the bar, and Julia when your boyfriend attacked me." I began saying to her. She looked at me a bit upset which I was a bit confused and a bit surprised about. But then as soon as I said it she held me to a stop.
"He is my ex boyfriend now." She said to me. I nodded to her, making a mental note to myself to remember that, she did seem a bit upset when I called him her boyfriend. I could not blame her, he did not look like he had been a very kind boyfriend to her.
"Well, he fought me, obviously I won... Yes Mariah, that's why I had blood on my shirt..." I began saying then I noticed that Mariah was about to step in. I was tired and wanted to rest I just wanted to finish up the story and lay down and sleep.
"When I fought him, everything seemed to slow down, it is not the first time it has happened to me, our mother told us it was normal... But it isn't." I said to Mariah. Mariah looked at me and then she nodded to me. Our mother had told us a lot of lies, and she had done the same to my father. I was a bit confused as to why.
"That makes a lot more since, I wonder why our mother never told us that in the first place." Mariah said to me. I looked at her and then I nodded wondering the exact same thing. Then Julia stepped in, what she said made a lot more since.
"If dragon's are really out there, you guys were young and she did not want you to tell a bunch of people. She might have told you when you were older but she never got the chance." She said to us. I looked at her and then I nodded. Mariah did as well.
"Well... That is the reason our uncle became a dragon hunter, Padre told me that was the reason he was in the army." I said to them. Julia still looked a bit upset when I said the name but she nodded in agreement. Mariah looked at me and smiled but it was more like a smile of sadness.
"Well... I think the best way to find out, is to go and look in the woods." Julia said to me. I looked at her wanting to agree with her but I felt a bit afraid to even do it. Mariah nodded as well, she looked a bit excited but I felt a bit afraid.
"I don't know... That could be what the dragon's are waiting for. This could be dangerous."