Tennessee Dragon Chapter 7

Tennessee Dragon

Chapter 7: Loosing Control and The Skyler File

(Author’s Note: Skyler’s description will be from his point of view)

After Juan finished explaining to Lee and Mrs. Meeks that his parents knew of his powers, they all went inside Lee’s house for the night. Once inside, Lee thought up a devious plan. “Let’s see if what you’ve said is true,” Lee suggested.
“What have I said?”
“You don’t remember what you said about NFS: Carbon in the chatroom?”
“I don’t have a clue.”
“You said that you could easily beat me in a race. Let’s test that theory!”
“What? Its 3 a.m. and I want to go to bed,” Juan said, followed by a long, dragonic yawn.
“Come on, I’ll even let you use that Cuda I made for you.”
“Well……” Juan pondered, “ok.”

They tiptoed (as good as dragons can) quietly to Lee’s room to use the advanced graphics card of the PS3. When the game had loaded, Juan saw the car. Lee had made it months ago by his description of his (then fictional) dragon form. It was like putting himself in the movie Cars. Lee then began searching through the masses of cars he had made. He came to a stop on a familiar SLR McLaren. ‘If this happened to us, then could it be that he……..’ Lee thought.
“You gonna pick that car or just stare at it?”
“Huh, oh, yeah. I was just thinking of something.”
“What’s that?”
“If we got these powers, then do you think….”
“Others got them? Yes, I do.”
“Do you think that….he did too?” Lee asked, pointing at the black and red supercar on the screen.

Juan shrugged and the races began. Lee won the first few rounds but something strange began happening. His car began to swerve wildly, as if it had a mind of its own. Lee, being the good driver that he was, soon began to be able to predict these happenings in a way he couldn’t quite explain. It felt like there was some psychic link between the car and himself.

They played through the night, neither noticing the hours slipping past. Hunger struck both dragons at 9a.m. and they cut their little tournament off with a score of 55 races to 35 in Lee’s favor. They gathered and ate breakfast. Juan saw the time and decided he needed to get home. “I really should be going,” he said.
Lee was a little disappointed by this and said, “Well, ok. I guess I’ll see you tonight on DA. Wait, do you have a phone number?”
“Yes, but you remember what I’ve told you about my parents.”
“They probably wouldn’t appreciate me calling at 4a.m.”

As Juan flew off, Lee could faintly hear his signature “laterz”. Lee still thought about the car last night. He knew that the coke had caused his transformation. He also knew that the Coca-Cola was an international brand. He wondered if their little experiment extended to outside the U.S. , and if so, did any of his DA friends receive them? Lee decided to let the thought slide when he decided to get a little sleep before his family awoke. Changing into human form and putting on some regular clothes, he crawled into bed.

It was raining hard when Lee got up. Thankfully, he had stayed within the time parameters for his human form. There was a severe thunderstorm warning so school was cancelled for the moment. He was pushing for time and as he grabbed the phone, Lee’s tail erupted from his shorts. He ran to his closet, phone in claw and still transforming. By now, Lee had made several sets of clothes for his new form but he waited until the change finished before getting one.

He had forgotten about the phone and now picked it up and dialed a number. Lee figured Skyler wasn’t doing anything due to his quick reaction of 3 rings. “Hey Lee,” Skyler said when he picked up.
“How’d you know it was me?”
“Caller ID, how else?”
“I don’t know with all the weirdness lately.”
“I need your help.”
“Why? What happened?”
“My parents are kind of……..out cold.”
“What did you do?!”
“Let me just tell you the whole story.”
(Skyler’s POV)

I was on the computer when I heard the car pull up. I’m not sure where they went but apparently mom and Sam fell asleep coming back. I guess dad figured he’d let them rest as he was the first one through the door. I had just gotten up from the computer chair when he saw me. He grabbed the fire poker and began to slowly move toward the kitchen. I cautiously followed, trying to explain the situation, but he kept telling me to keep away. Evidentially, he got what he what he was after and charged at me with a huge steak knife. I ducked the blow but it hit me in the back. Thank heaven my scales deflected the blow and bent the blade. I grabbed dad by the shoulders and headbutted him hard enough to knock him out, but not do any permanent damage.

All this commotion must’ve woken mom and Sam since I heard 2 car doors shut. I was in the process of laying dad on the bed when they came in. I can only find one explanation for how mom reacted at first: she thought it was a dream. I expected her to scream and covered my ears. She just brushed by me saying, “Excuse me Mr. dragon, but I need to get to bed.” I’d assume she thought dad was asleep since she just lay down on the bed next to him. Sam probably didn’t see me because he just went to my room to find, and annoy, me. I poked mom in the shoulder to rouse her. She rolled over, most likely expecting to find her human son, only to see a dragon there instead. That’s when reality set in on her. I thought her scream would shatter the windows as she ran into the bathroom. The door had no lock so she was leaning on it to keep it closed. I knocked and she yelled, “Go away you…you animal!”
“I am no animal.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m your son, Skyler.”

2 clunking sounds, a bad sign. I opened the door to find what had made the noise. The toilet seat was cracked where mom’s head hit it and she was now lying on the floor. I picked her up and carried her to the bed and wrapped her and dad up tight in the sheets. Sam, failing to find me in my room, came to the bedroom about then. His initial reaction was an open-mouthed stare. After about 5 minutes of this staring, it got old so I said, “I’m a little busy here Sam. What do you want?”
“Skyler?!”
“Yes Sam, what do you want?”
(Back to 3rd person)

“So what did he want?” Lee asked.
“He just bugged me all night. He’s been treating me more like a pet than a brother.”
“Sucks to be you.”
“Smart-ellic.”
“And proud of it!”
“Anyway, what should I do about my parents?”
“They still out?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m not really sure what to do. You should ask Saphire. He had a similar situation when his parents found out his secret.”
“What secret?”

Skyler never got an answer as Lee’s power cut off and the rain suddenly stopped. An ominous feeling befell Lee and his dragon instincts kicked in. He literally grabbed his mom, dad, and brother and carried them to the closet under his lower staircase. He kept himself and his family quiet to listen for a sound he hoped not to hear. He heard it. At first, it was a distant roar but within 15 minutes, it sounded like a freight train was barreling toward the house. They all began screaming and yelling as the tornado passed over the house. After 10 minutes, the ordeal was over as the twister ascended into the sky and the sun came out. It was as if nothing had happened. It was a very different situation when Lee looked outside….