Dragon's Heart

Chapter 1

The date was March 5, 2010. 

Matthew woke up to the bright sun illuminating his bedroom window. He and his sister Sally had been trying for several days to find the perfect birthday present for their mother, Anna, but to no avail. Regardless, they were going to try again today, and the next day, and the next day, until they obtained it. Anna's birthday was on March 10, so that didn't really leave them much time. He went and woke his sister as well, and they both headed downstairs for breakfast. 

"Good morning, you two," Anna greeted them. To the siblings' surprise, Anna had already managed to set the table by herself. It seemed she had gotten used to the routine. "You know what to do," Matthew whispered aside to Sally. She nodded in response. They finished their breakfast rather quickly, and then as they left the table, Sally was the first to speak. "Thanks for the breakfast, Mom! Matthew and I are heading down to the library to do some research for a school project!" Anna tried to protest. "Again? You two have been doing that for days! How long does this assignment take to put together?" "Oh, it's very complicated," Matthew replied. "We have to make a timeline of several presidents and vice presidents, clearly labeling when they were sworn in and when their terms ended, as well as if any of them got impeached or not." "Don't worry, we'll be back by lunch!" Sally called back as they went into the hallway to Matthew's bedroom to make the final preparations. 

Sally packed her and her brother's backpacks while Matthew grabbed his wallet and retrieved some cash that he had saved up over the past few weeks as allowance from Anna. "What are we going to do today?" Sally asked. "We're running out of places to look!" "I know a good oddity shop just down the street. And Mom is an avid jewel collector, so maybe we can find something rare to give to her!" Matthew told her. "Sure, whatever you say....." Sally responded. Accumulating various jewels and gems of many kinds had initially been George's hobby, but Anna took unofficial ownership of the collection after George passed away. For nine years, she had never added to it, but at the same time she never took anything out. She was afraid to even touch the case. The siblings both thought that a potential addition to the gem case would make for a good present. That, and it would do Anna some good to see the collection again. Who knows, maybe it might bring back fond memories of her husband. 

The two of them got on their bicycles and rode to the oddity shop. "Hey, are you sure this place has what we're looking for? Couldn't we just, you know, pick up a small rock from the sidewalk and paint it purple or something?" Sally asked, half-jokingly. "Say it's an amethyst?" "Nah, that'd be too easy. Besides, I already know what we're going to buy, and I'm sure they have it. I arranged beforehand for them to put it on reserve, in fact." Matthew said. "Wow, really? What is it?" Sally asked. "It's a genuine, solid, brilliant red ruby that has said to be preserved and kept safe for many years. There was something a little confusing, though. When I called the shop owner and requested more information about it, he wouldn't say anything. He only agreed to sell it to us." Sally was confused. "I wonder if it's actually real or not. Also, won't that thing be expensive as heck?" Matthew chuckled. "Nah. The shop owner and I have a history. I accompanied our father to the shop several times in the past, when he was off-duty. I saw the owner a lot back then, and him and I got along pretty well. So, I convinced him to pull a few strings for us." "How come I never knew about any of this?" Sally thought aloud. "Probably because you were too busy helping our mother around the house to even notice anything we were doing." They both laughed. 

They finally pulled up at the shop's lot after what seemed like forever. Sally was taken aback by the shop's rather antique look and its rather odd smell, since she had never been there before, while Matthew, on the other hand, had a nostalgic feeling about it, as it had reminded him of the time he spent there with George in the past. "Let's go!" he said. "The counter is at the back of the store." "Ugh....can we make it quick?" Sally replied. "This place smells disgusting." Ironically enough, even though Matthew knew the place better, he was the one who got distracted by all of the trinkets, toys, and other objects on the shelves while Sally had to constantly remind him that they were supposed to ask the shopkeeper for the ruby. 

After arriving at the counter, they were greeted by Mr. Buzby, the shop's proprietor. Matthew was the first to talk. "Hello, sir! My name is Matthew Glover. I'm the customer that arranged that deal with you over the phone a few days back. You might recognize me as the son of George Glover, one of this shop's former regulars? This is my sister, Sally." "Ahhh, yes, your father loved coming here in the past, and he started coming more often after you were born. You know, George came to this store once to pick up a packet of fake vomit to pull an April Fools' prank on your mother. It really was a hilarious thing." Mr. Buzby said in reply. Matthew and Mr. Buzby laughed for several minutes, but Sally felt like throwing up upon hearing the rather nasty story. "Yes, my boy, those definitely were the good old days. I'm deeply sorry for your loss, though. You two lost a father, and I lost a very close customer." Mr. Buzby glanced at Sally for a while. "Which is why I have decided to help your brother here with this task. Your father helped me with my business, and it is time I returned the favor. The ruby you asked for is in the storage room just to my right. I kept it safe and out of sight from other buyers so that they wouldn't be tempted to get their hands on it. And, just in case they got nosey and sneaked in, I also had it encased in a glass box, with a combination lock on top of that." He handed Matthew a small slip of paper. "Here's the combination, my boy. Now you two go and make your mother proud." "Thank you, sir!" Matthew exclaimed. "Great," Sally added, the boredom practically dripping from her tone. "Let's grab it and get out of here." "Right!" Matthew said. He opened the door and let Sally through first. 

The ruby that Matthew talked about was right in front of their eyes. It was protected by a glass box, as Buzby had mentioned, and the combination lock was firmly hooked to its loop. "Okay, let's see here....25, 31, 11...." Matthew muttered as he spun the dial back and forth. As he operated the lock, Sally walked around the storage room looking at the other items Buzby had stored back there. Among them was a tarantula, thankfully sealed safely in a cage, several medium-sized pirate ship models, a rusty old telescope, and a few globes. This Buzby person is a strange fellow, she thought. This shop doesn't look that appealing to me. Oh, why did I let Matthew drag me to this?

"I got it!" Matthew exclaimed. He grabbed the ruby and hauled it out of its glass casing. "Here, come over and hold it! You expressed doubt earlier about how real it was, correct?" Sally reluctantly came over and held the gem as well. As soon as both of them had their hands on the ruby, the room began spinning. It started out slow at first, but got faster and faster and faster. The two siblings did not even have time to say anything about the situation as they became dizzier with every passing second. 

And then they blacked out.