Disclaimer: I do not own ADJL, or any of its characters. The only things I own are this story, my idea for the story, and my OC.
Author's Note: Edited on 08/05/12.
Chapter IV
Fora made her way into her apartment. The place was neat but cheap, meaning if she wasn't careful, she'd have everything stolen in an hour. So she didn't bring anything of value and hid all of it. Simple and easy. As Fora walked down the hall, she pulled out a key chain and flipped through the keys, looking for the one to her room.
Fora unlocked the door, slipped inside and re-locked it. She sighed and thought I'm going to need some pain killers and a lot of rest. Remembering the past always gave her a headache and made her tired. She turned to walk into the kitchen and froze. At first, she thought she was hallucinating. Fora stepped closer, a hand outstretched. She touched his jacket and then hugged him.
"Enrike, where have you been? I've been looking for you since…"
Fora looked up at him. He was still taller than her, a good foot or so. His eyes were brown, somewhere between mud and chocolate, his hair black and somehow shaggy and curly at the same time. He had a scar on his right cheek, where he had accidentally cut himself with glass when he was five.
"Quiet, Fora. I've been busy." His mouth turned to a frown and he pried her hands off of him. Fora stepped back nervously, giving him space. It had been a decade since she had last seen him, and wasn't sure what to do, what to say. Anything could set him off at any time, and Fora wouldn't know what it was she did. "I've had work to take care of. But I guess that you've learned about the family secret?" Fora nodded, and he chuckled. "Then I can do this without consequence." Enrike raised a hand a punched her. Fora staggered back, tasting blood. "It's time to say good night, little sister."
Rose sat on the ledge of an adjacent building, watching the two siblings 'reunite'. She was rather impassive throughout it all, until the boy struck his sister. She winced slightly; she had felt that hit before. Rose turned away from the ensuing fight and pulled out her cell phone. She scrolled through the list of contacts before choosing one and pressing the dial button. The phone beeped for a moment before the other line was connected.
"Hello?" the man at the other line said.
"They started fighting, like you said, Huntsman," Rose informed.
"Good. You know what you have to do."
"Sir."
Rose hung up and gave the two siblings one last look before getting up and walking away.
Fu Dog came into to the shop, angry. He stalked up the stairs and went into Lao Shi's room, where he knew the three teens would be. Jake was sitting on the floor, back against the bed. Trixie and Spud were sitting in some chairs that the old man kept in his room. Fu Dog shut the door, barely remembering not to slam it shut, before he told them what happened. He saw that Lao Shin was still unconscious, but it did nothing to deter him from his anger.
"They wouldn't let me in! They kept telling me 'No dogs allowed', even though the receptionist was a leprechaun! I mean, I was talking to him, and he still wouldn't let me in! The nerve of some people," Fu Dog grumbled. "It makes me just want to–"
"Okay," Jake interrupted before Fu Dog could tell them just what he would do. "Maybe Fora just needed some time alone. She got pretty upset because of the Huntsclan. Maybe they did something to her."
"Or her family," Spud thought out loud. "The Huntsclan aren't above using family members to influence dragons, right? So maybe they hurt her parents or something."
Jake and Trixie stared at Spud in awe. Fu Dog was too busy being upset at the leprechaun to notice.
"You're a genius Spud!" Trixie yelled.
"Thank you."
"Maybe we should go and see if she's alright," Jake offered. The bell downstairs rang, signaling that someone had entered the shop. "I'll go get it. Trixie, Spud, do you two think you can find where Fora's staying?"
"Don't worry Jakey. We got this," Trixie reassured him.
Rose opened the shop door and heard the bell ring, meant to tell the shopkeeper that someone opened the door. She stepped in and looked around. No one was at the register, but the shop was still open. Electronic junk was everywhere, not that Rose knew what any of it was for. Rose was about to head out when she heard someone coming down a set of stairs.
"Sorry, Jake said, coming into Rose's view. "I was upstairs and–" Jake stopped mid-sentence, shock apparent on his face. "Rose? Rose, you're back!" Jake yelled, running up to the girl. Rose had to stop herself from cringing when he hugged her, and forced herself to remember the mission. "How was Hong Kong?"
Rose smiled, and answered "It was okay. Not as good as the first trip, but it was okay." Jake hung back; Rose guessed he was unsure what to do. "Why don't you," she started, taking his hands in hers, "come up to my parents, and have dinner with us?"
"Isn't it supposed to be the guy that asks the girl out? Not the other way around."
Rose smiled again and walked out of the shop, calling out "I'll see you at seven, then." She saw Jake smile and wave goodbye.
Spud asked Trixie "So who do you think it was that came into the shop?"
Trixie shrugged. "I don't know; it could've been anyone."
The two had left through the back door, not wanting to distract Jake and scare off the potential customer. Then again, considering the shop's motto, 'Never had a customer, never had a sale,' a customer was rather unlikely. Still, there was a chance, no matter how miniscule, that the shop had a customer.
"Hey Spud, do you remember where Fora's apartment is?"
"Yes," he answered confidently. "Wait, no. Not at all," he said with the same confidence. "But I do remember the room number."
"That doesn't help us at all."
"Fu Dog said the apartment wasn't very far from the shop. And not many apartments have over three hundred rooms," he answered.
"So, what, she's staying in the Empire State Building?"
"No. She's probably staying here," Spud answered. He was pointing to a building just behind them.
"Huh. Convenient."
Fora turned into a dragon and flew outside. Thankfully the window was open, probably because of her brother. If it wasn't, well, it would have been rather painful. The dragon turned in the air and hovered. Enrike followed, turning into a dragon as he shot out of the apartment. He was rather similar in appearance to Fora, except his eyes were brown and his scales gray. Fora narrowed her eyes; gray scales either indicated a molting cycle, or sickness.
Enrike shot a fireball at Fora, interrupting her thoughts. She narrowly dodged it before sending one back. The two sparred like this for several minutes, each of them trying to feel how the other fought. Fora charged at Enrike, before getting slapped down to a roof by his tail. It happened to be the same roof Rose was sitting on, but Fora didn't know that.
The Greek Dragon grinned and stepped on his sister's throat. She gasped and clawed at his leg, but to no avail. Stars blinked in her eyes, and she took a last shot attempt at her brother. Fora launched one last fireball at Enrike. He was caught by surprise and hit directly in the face. It burned and stung, and got him to step off of her throat, but not soon enough. Fora lost consciousness as Enrike tried to put the fire out on his face.
When the last fire was put out, Enrike growled and glared at his sister. He wanted to hurt her for doing that, but it would go against his orders. He picked Fora up, who was still in dragon form, and flew back to base.
"We're looking for someone named Fora," Trixie explained.
The leprechaun raised an eyebrow in question. "No one here by that name," he said.
"You didn't even check the register," Trixie argued.
"Don't have to. I'd know if there was someone by that name."
"Look," Trixie said, lowering her voice. "I know you're a leprechaun. I can give you to the Huntsclan if you don't help us."
Trixie knew that was low, but she didn't want to deal with this. Lao Shi wasn't waking up, Fora went off somewhere and now this leprechaun wasn't letting them in. It was driving her crazy.
"H-here's the keys," he stammered. "She's on the fifth floor."
"That was pretty low," Spud told Trixie once they were out of earshot.
"I know Spud. But I can't take much more right now, I'm pretty stressed."
Spud nodded in understanding. They found the door and Trixie opened it with the key. The door opened, but no one was inside. Trixie frowned and looked through the rooms to see if anyone was inside.
"Hey Trixie," Spud called. "I think there was a fight. There's some blood on the floor, see?" The blood was staining the white carpet; how Trixie missed it, she wasn't sure. "Should we call 911?"
"Yeah, but we should probably call Jake first."
Enrike shifted Fora on his shoulder. Unconscious, she was nothing but dead weight. Rather heavy dead weight at that. Enrike had turned himself back into a human, so as not to arouse suspicion, and was now standing in an alleyway, waiting for someone to open the door he knocked on a minute ago. He grumbled and growled to himself. Finally, there was the sound of locks being slid open and the door itself opened. Rose stood in the doorway. Enrike shifted Fora again before kneeling.
"I have brought a dragon for you, mistress."
Lao Shi groaned and sat up; he had a minor headache, but that was something that could be worked through. He doubted he could fight, as it kept him from concentrating long enough to change forms. He slid himself out of his bed (when did he get in bed?) and opened his door. The building was quiet, so Lao Shi went downstairs to see if Jake or Fu Dog had closed the shop.
"I'm worried, Fu Dog," Jake said. "Gramps still hasn't woken up. What if he's sick, or has a concussion?"
"Don't worry Jake," the Shar Pei reassured. "He's probably just sleeping it off. He'll be up and at 'em in no time." There was a pause, and Lao Shi stepped forward, but paused when Fu spoke again. "Unless," he taunted, "you're worried about that girl."
"What? Why would I be?"
"Because you like her," Fu Dog teased.
Lao Shi decided that enough was enough. He came into the shop and glared at Fu Dog.
"Hello Jake," he greeted, turning to his grandson with a calm look. "Where are your friends and the girl?"
"Fora went off somewhere, and Trixie and Spud went looking for her. I stayed here because someone came into the shop. Turns out it was Rose," Jake explained.
I see," Lao Shi said.
The phone rang and Jake picked it up, because he was closer. Before he could answer, the person on the other end started talking.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Jake said. He hung up and quickly said what happened. "Spud and Trixie think that Fora was attacked at her apartment."
Jake ran into the room, yelling "Where is it?"
"There," Spud said proudly.
Jake looked down at the rug. "That's it? I thought there would be something… bigger."
"Well, we looked around and there was nothing else. Everything was kept neat and clean, except for this. And it still looks wet, which would mean it's fresh."
Jake ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, go and call 911. Something may have happened," he conceded. "If they ask about why we came here, this is what we should say…"
Enrike dragged his sister into the house. Rose led him into the basement, where a set of chains were set into the wall. Enrike touched one of them and hissed. They were infused with sphinx hair, one of the few effective weapons against dragons. He rubbed his hand to try and ease the pain. Rose looked at him and made a 'get going' gesture with her hand. Enrike managed to bind Fora without too much pain. He looked at Rose, who was checking another pair of chains. The room looked like an ordinary, with the exception of the chains and the unconscious girl.
"Mistress," Enrike tentatively started "what will you do with her?"
Rose didn't look up. "The same that has been don with you and the others like you. What else?"
After a few moments, Enrike worked up his nerve. "Mistress, how did the Huntsclan come back together? I remember that a spell was used to disband you all."
"And a spell brought us back together." Rose stood. "Go back and find the other dragons that have been sighted around here. Do not attack; observe only. At six thirty, return here and wait for further orders."
Enrike nodded and left the basement, back to the alleyway. He turned himself back into a dragon and searched for the others like himself.
"You haven't seen anything? You saw the blood here?"
"Yes sir. We saw the blood and called our friend Jake," Spud answered. "We wanted to be sure, and not call the police for nothing."
The officer was perplexed by Spud's attitude towards the situation. Jake and Trixie looked on, with Trixie holding in a few laughs. The officer scratched the back of his head and asked another question and received an answer that left him even more confused.
"Could you repeat that?"
"I think that she was abducted. You know, kidnapped? By gang members," Spud repeated.
"Why aren't you being questioned?" Jake asked Trixie, who shrugged in response.
"I think they'll get to me when they're ready. Since they're asking Spud all the questions first, it will probably take some time"
"And just how did you say this happened?"
"He fell down the stairs and broke his leg; the bone was…"
Fora woke up in a dark room. Her wrists stung, and when she tried to move them, the pain worsened. She bit her lip and looked around. There was barely enough light for her to make out a set of chains with manacles at the end. Looking down at her wrists, she realized she was in a similar set of restraints. Fora growled softly when she realized there was sphinx hair in the manacles. Sphinx hair prevented dragons from using their powers, and prolonged exposure would make them sick.
A door opened and an overhead light turned on. Fora blinked her eyes to try and adjust them to the light faster. A girl walked up to her and stood just out of reach. She had blond hair that went down her back, was wearing a white shirt and tan pants. It looked like she was wearing white Nikes, but the swoosh symbol wasn't visible on the sides. All in all, she was somewhat familiar, but Fora couldn't place her finger on how.
"You're awake? Good. This takes a few days, and you've got to be up most of the time. So try and stay awake." Fora glared at the girl, who pulled out a Huntsclan staff and placed the end against Fora's throat. "Or I'll make you stay awake." She pulled the staff away and started preparing for the spell.
Jake knocked on the door, and then fidgeted nervously. He and Rose broke up a few months ago; there had been no crying, no real sadness. Both had found the need to move on, but felt they could still be friends. Jake found himself hoping that Rose was just trying to be friendly, and that she didn't really want to get back together with him. He wasn't prepared to get into another relationship of that sort.
Rose opened her front door and smiled at Jake. "Come in. My parents are out right now, but they'll be back soon." She stepped aside and let Jake in. The door led right into the kitchen, and Jake could smell something cooking. "That's dinner; my dad was making meatloaf. Do you want something to drink?"
"Uh, sure, I guess."
"Is water fine?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Rose pulled out a pitcher of water and poured it into the cup while Jake looked around the kitchen. The walls were yellow, and there were basic appliances: an oven, a dishwasher, a refrigerator that doubled as a freezer. Rose handed the drink to him and raised her own glass.
Jake smiled at her and said "Cheers." He downed the drink, which tasted odd for water. His vision began to swim, and Jake saw double. "I feel dizzy," he mumbled before falling on the floor.
Fora looked up as the door was opened again. This time, the light wasn't so bright that it hurt her eyes. Enrike came into the room, with Jake on his shoulder. Fora shook her head. You love struck fool, she thought. Jake was obviously unconscious, otherwise he'd be putting up a fight. Enrike chained Jake to the other set of manacles, just as he did to his sister before.
"Enrike," Fora said. He ignored her, so she went on. "Why are you doing this? What could possibly make you work with the people that killed our family?" Enrike finished chaining Jake and left, shutting the door. "Why?" Fora asked herself.
Rose looked at the dragon; Enrike looked sick, with his gray scales. Rose, like all other Huntsclan members, had been taught that gray scales indicated a sick dragon, or graying scales showed a dragon was going into their molting cycle. Disgusting, Rose thought. But his scales were definitely gray, and Rose wasn't sure if she should be concerned. She didn't care for the dragon, but he was a useful tracker and sparring partner. He was almost as good as she was at fighting. Almost, but not quite.
"Go back out and see if you can find the two dragons. If night falls, come back around midnight. You can sleep then, but be back out at seven. We need to find the other dragons before it's too late."
Enrike bowed and left shedding several scales as he went. Rose reached down and picked one up, frowning at it then at the dragon in the sky.
Lao Shi paced in the shop. He had pulled down the blinds and turned the sign over to 'Closed'. Fu Dog, Trixie and Spud watched the old man pacing, unsure what to say. Finally, he sighed and faced the three.
"Jake has gone missing," he admitted.
"Do you want us to go look for him? Maybe the Huntsclan took him," Spud offered.
"The Huntsclan?" Lao Shi said incredulously. "They were destroyed with the Aztec Skulls."
"Apparently not," Trixie said. "While you and Jakie were out at that dragon meeting, a couple of Huntsclan members attacked us. We got knocked out, but Fu Dog said that Fora fought them and yelled at them to 'never come back'. Sounds a little cliché to me," she finished, with an odd look at the dog.
Spud asked Lao Shi "Would it be possible someone brought the Huntsclan back with some really powerful magic?"
Fu Dog rubbed his chin. "I don't know, but it could be possible. It would have to be someone that remembered the Huntsclan existed, though."
Everyone was silent as they thought about this. Fu Dog went to a book about magical artifacts to see if there was something that could reverse the magic of the Aztec Skulls. He flipped through the pages until it rested on the Aztec Skulls, where he started to read the information written there.
"Spud, you were sort of right," Fu Dog said. Everyone looked over to Fu Dog. "The book says that the Aztec Skulls can be restored, if one knows how. It says that the skulls can be returned using a ritual, blah, blah, blah, and upon restoration, the Skulls will regain their magical abilities."
Author's Note: By the way, when Spud is talking about the bone earlier in this chapter, he is talking about a made up event where Jake was pushed down a set of stairs by Brad (the school bully) and broke his leg. No one saw it happen except for Brad and Jake, so everyone believed Brad rather than Jake except for Spud and Trixie. Jake was not a dragon at the time, so he didn't tell his grandfather.
