A Dragon's Life: It Lives In The Woods

Disclaimer: I do not own Spyro or Choices or any of the characters in them.

Here's a bit about this series. It'll feature three story series from within Choices. Those three series are It Lives, The Freshman, and Hero. This series follow my OC, William Kelley, the biological son of Abraham Kelley from It Lives Beneath. Will's mother had died after he was born, which devastated Abe. After a week with the baby, Abe gave him to a couple in Westchester for adoption. This couple are the parents of the MC of It Lives In The Woods, who was the same age as Will when the couple took him in.

Author's Note: This story, as well as the rest in the series, will be told from the point of view of either Will or the 3rd person

-Will-

I wake up to my phone buzzing.

"Mmmm... What...?" I ask myself then feel around the bed for my phone. When I find it, I see a text from someone I hadn't heard from in years.

"Will? It's Dan." The text reads.

"Dan? Long time." I send back.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm in the woods. I have to know."

"Know what?"

"If HE is real."

"He's not, man. He never was. We've got school in a few hours, so I'm going back to sleep."

With that, I set my phone down then close my eyes. A few minutes later, I hear a scream from the room across mine and sigh so I walk to the bedroom of my sister.

"Selena, I swear if you tell me a raccoon is in there..." I say as I open the door then see Dan by the window. "What the hell?"

"Can I come in, guys?" He asks.

Selena and I look at each other before before she opens her window and Dan climbs in.

"You've got some explaining to do though." She says. "First off, how'd you get to my window?"

"Yeah, pretty sure this is the second floor." I say.

"I climbed." He says.

"...Okay, Spiderman." I say with confused sarcasm.

"You sounded freaked in those texts." Selena says.

I look at her. "You too, sis?" I ask.

"'Too'?" She asks.

"It's nothing. Let's go get the others." Dan says.

"What others, man?" I ask.

"Lucas, Ava, Andy, Stacy, Lily, and Noah." He replies with a smile. "I wanna show you guys something." He adds.

"Dude, we haven't talked to them in years." Selena says.

"Yeah. I mean, after Jane-" I start.

"But that's the rule." Dan says. "Everyone has to be there."

"You're kinda freaking us out, Dan." Selena says as her phone buzzes.

"Like I said, we have our first day of school in a few hours." I say as she and I look at her phone. She gets two more texts from Dan. I look up from her phone, claws slowly extending from my fingers in my left hand.

"We have to go back there, guys." 'Dan' says then the lights flicker once then they go off and Selena looks up from her phone.

"...Dan?" She says, but he grins and it stretches pretty far.

"Will. Selena." He says then grabs her wrist. I try to pull him off of her, but I get thrown off him and hit my head hard on a wall and black out.

When I come to in the morning, I see Selena out cold and rush to her and shake her gently. "Wake up, sis." I say and she jumps awake. She rubs her neck then winces and I frown when I see bruises on her neck.

"The hell?" She asks.

"Let's just get today over with." I say then go to my room to get dressed. I put on a white T then a red long sleeved shirt then I put on a gold necklace, jeans and boots.

I soon see Selena wearing a light grey top that shows her bellybutton under a gold leather jacket, two necklaces over her top, black jeans and boots.

"Quick breakfast, sis?" I offer.

She nods with a smile. "Scrambled eggs and toast?" She asks.

I nod then we head downstairs to the kitchen and I fix breakfast for us.

When we finish eating, we cautiously peek out to the woods near our house then slowly step out.

"Dan couldn't have seen...him. That was make-believe." Selena says. "...Right, bro?"

"Honestly...I have no clue." I say.

"Hey, neighbors!" Our neighbor, Cid, says as we walk down the steps.

"Hey, Cid." Selena says.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Just finishing our walk. Look who's here, Hilda!" He says then a dog with black and white fur and an orange bandana around her neck comes bounding to my sister and I. I pet Hilda's head while Selena rubs Hilda's stomach. She howls happily.

"Aw, it's nice to see you too, cutie." Selena says.

"I haven't seen your folks around this morning." Cid says.

"They're overseas handling Selena's great-aunt's estate or something. They'll be back in a couple weeks." I say.

"Quite a long time for two kids to be by themselves in a house that big. Especially after...three years ago." Cid says, causing me and my sister to tense up a bit.

When I was fifteen, Selena and I saw a small meteor crash in the yard one afternoon. Inside was a strange purple gem shaped like a rhombus. It attached itself to my chest and burned a bit. That evening after dinner, Selena, her parents, Cid, and I discovered the gem gave me various powers and turned me a purple dragon with orange wing membranes, crest and pointed tail tip, a yellow underbelly and matching color for my wings' bone structure.

I push that memory down and look at Cid.

"We just turned eighteen." I say. "We can do our own laundry."

"I've gotten good at mac and cheese too. I've only set off the smoke alarm...three times this week." Selena says.

"And I make a mean spaghetti." I say.

"They grow up so fast." He says with a smile. He then walks to a small pile of loose dirt and pulls something out. "Wonder what this is." He says then shows us a glossy black stone with a strange rune on it. "This either one of yours?" He asks and Selena and I look at it. I notice it's got a crack in it.

"Wonder where this came from." Selena says.

"I wonder how it broke." I say.

"Looks like a paperweight or something." Cid says.

I take one whiff of it and gulp, smelling the scent of dirt and blood mixed on the stone.

"Smells kinda..." Selena starts.

"Weird." I finish for her.

Cid nods, dusting his hands.

"Well, I'll let you guys get to school. Let me know if either of you need anything. Door's always open." Cid says.

"Will do, Cid. Thanks." Selena and I say at the same time then the two of them head to their house while I look at Clara.

"If what we saw last night was real, this could be a clue." Selena says. "Where should we store it?"

I glance at the shed. "Why not there?" I say and she looks at the shed.

"That works." She says then we head over to the shed and I push it open, the rusty hinges making noises.

"When's the last time someone was in here?" She asks.

"Hell if I know." I say as she sets the stone on the table. "We could probably fit all kinds of things in here."

"Probably." She says then turns off the light and we leave for school, shutting the door once outside.

We then leave to head to the school. A vintage black Camaro soon comes up beside us and Selena and I take a look at the driver to see it's a guy with blonde hair to the his shoulders and gray eyes. From what could be seen, he had on a leather jacket over a blue shirt.

Something about him seems...familiar...

He pulls up to us and then stops. "Hey, do we know each other?" He asks.

"I think we do." Selena says.

"You go to Westchester High?" I ask.

"Not anymore, thankfully. Left there a couple years ago." The driver says.

"You're lucky, dude." I say

"You guys will be out of there before long." He says. "I gotta get to work. Catch you guys later." He adds then drives off before we get his name. We then keep going towards the school.

We see a thin crowd of students when we arrive. We head to our lockers, which are beside each other, when we see an old friend at the locker on Selena's right.

"Hey, Ava." Selena says.

"Sup." Ava says.

"Nothing." Selena answers.

"Was that always your locker?" I ask. "Never seen you use it before."

"Reassigned." Ava explains then shrugs her bag onto her shoulder after shutting her locker. "Oh, it's Lily."

Selena and I see another old friend nervously clutching a textbook.

"...Hi guys." Lily says

"Hey." I say.

"Hi." Selena says.

"How was your summer?" I ask.

"Good. Got home from a coding camp in Portland." She replies. "I got invited by one of the girls to collaborate on a game she's working on!" She adds with a smile.

"Awesome!" Selena says, smiling.

"Let us know if you need a couple playtesters." I say with a smile on my face then lean on my locker, groaning.

"Will?" Lily says as I get pulled into a vision that shows something bad happening during the pep rally that starts in a few minutes then the vision fades.

"You okay, bro?" Selena asks.

I nod. "Yeah. I'm alright." I say. "These damn visions are gonna be the death of me." I think to myself and Selena.

"You're a lot tougher than you think." She thinks back to me.

Lily soon lowers her voice after glancing around. "I wanted to talk to you two about something."

"What's up?" Selena and I ask.

"I got some weird texts last night. Did you both...?" She starts then I see her glancing at Britney, a cheerleader and not to mention the school's most hateful girl.

At her side are her two friends, Jocelyn and Cody. If I could describe both of them in a few words, I'd say Jocelyn definitely doesn't use her head for...well, anything really. As for Cody...well, one thing I'd like to do is beat his freakin' face in.

"Wow. The guy I've been ghosting for two weeks just asked me out for coffee again." Britney says.

"Just when you thought high school might be the terrible chest pain you remember..." Ava groans.

"Tell me about it." I say

"Yeesh. Desperate much?" Cody says to Britney while laughing.

"Maybe he's scared of clowns and not ghosts." Jocelyn said.

Like I said, Jocelyn's a serious airhead. I'm actually amazed Jocelyn even made it this far in school.

"...Joss, do you even know what...?" Britney starts and I see Lily walking to her.

"Hi, Britney!" Lily says. Britney stops talking and looks at Lily appraisingly.

"Great sweater, Lily. How come nobody told me Baby Barn had a quadruple XL section?" Britney says.

"I...just wanted to say hi." Lily says sadly.

"And I want a red Ferrari for a birthday present, but I'll settle for not hearing you talk with that whiny voice again."

"A Ferrari would be a good fit for you, Britney." I say as I stand next to Lily, getting Britney, Jocelyn, and Cody to look at me.

"...Really?" Britney asks.

"Yeah." I say with a fake smile then it quickly melts away. "Because your mouth runs about as fast as a Ferrari goes down the highway."

"Ouch!" Ava laughs. "That's gotta really sting." She adds as she and I fist bump.

Of all three of them, Cody looked the angriest at my burn.

"And basing your fashion sense on what the wannabe models wear on Pictagram is way cooler." Selena says sarcastically, backing me up.

"No one asked you, Selena." Britney scowls.

"Didn't hear anyone ask for your opinion either." I tell her. "So take your unsolicited advice on fashion to someone who'd actually give a damn."

"Do not piss me off, Will." Britney says.

I scoff. "Like I'm scared of a prissy little girl in a skirt carrying pompoms." I say.

"Well..." Jocelyn starts.

"Witty comebacks are not something you're good at, Track and Field Barbie." Ava says.

"It's Cross Country." Jocelyn says.

"I said the wrong thing just to piss you off. Keep up if you can."

"Go find some other hallway to haunt, freak." Cody says.

Ava looks at Cody then picks up a stray hair from his shoulder before talking about a new curse she found and wanted to try out. She mentioned a burning sensation in his eyeballs and I see Cody looks shocked as Ava walks off.

"What's gonna happen to your eyeballs, Cody?!" Jocelyn asks, sounding freaked.

"Chill, Joss. That weirdo reads too many horror novels. With her luck, she'll flunk and end up living alone like Pritch the Witch." Britney says.

"Maybe we should call her...Ava the Witch!" Jocelyn says then cackles like a hyena.

"...Good one, Joss." Cody says.

"I'm officially done with..." I start then gesture to all three of them. "...whatever this is." I finish then turn around, only to feel a rough hand on my shoulder.

"You're done...when I say you're done." Cody says as he turns me to face him.

I look at him blankly. "Ever been in a coma, asswipe?" I ask.

"No." He says.

"Well, you've got to the count of three before that changes unless you let go of me."

"You can't hurt me."

One of my boots connects to his man parts and he lets go of me. "You might wanna rethink that." I say with a small smirk as he makes his way back to Britney and Jocelyn.

"O.M.G. That a hickey?!" Jocelyn asks them pokes the bruise around Selena's neck.

"Get off me!" She says as she pushes Jocelyn back.

"Yeah, ever heard of boundaries, Wu?" I snarl.

"Like anyone would chew on this social reject." Cody grins.

"How I got it is none of your business." Selena says.

"You on your period or something?"

"You just have that effect on people." I tell him.

"You'd best shut up." Cody scowls.

"I ain't scared of Britney or Jocelyn and I sure as hell ain't scared of you."

"How about we change that?"

I pop my neck joints. "Only if you wanna wake up with serious cuts and bruises." I say, only for Selena to put a hand on my shoulder. "Please let me hurt him, sis."

"No. Despite how much he deserves it, I won't let you do it." She says then leans to my ear. "Don't do something that'll expose you..." She whispers.

I sigh then spit in Cody's eye. "Now scram, otherwise, I'm yanking the leash out of her hands."

"Whatever. I need to get ready for the pep rally." Britney says then walks off, Jocelyn dragging Cody with her as they follow, but not before she shoulder-checks Selena hard.

"See you around, Selena." Jocelyn says.

I retaliate by discreetly giving her a slightly powerful shock.

She shrieks a bit and I pick up my bag.

"Off to a great start, this school year." I grumble.

"Should we report them?" Lily asks.

"Yeah. Maybe this time, they'll actually get in trouble." Selena says sarcastically as we walk to the gym.

We hear the music from the speakers and I see Selena is panicked and her mind flashes back to last night.

"Sis?" I say.

"You okay?" Lily asks.

Selena nods. "Just a bit crowded in here." She says. "You guys see anywhere to sit?"

Lily notices a couple spots, but they're next to Ava, who drawing in her sketchbook. A couple freshman move to sit next to her, but she hisses at them and the scramble to get away. When she notices we're looking at her, she smiles and nods at the empty seats.

"Is she...?" Selena starts.

"I think she is, sis." I say.

"Maybe Ava could help us know a bit more about...whatever that thing was last night." I hear in her head.

"Wouldn't hurt for me to talk to her about my own little...predicament." I think to her.

"You guys go ahead... She kinda scares me a bit..." Lily says.

"You sure?" I ask.

Lily nods. "I see a seat by Mr. Cooper." She says. "Oh. Thanks for earlier, by the way, you guys."

"No problem." I say.

Selena nods with a smile. "Later, Lily."

We head to the top and look at Ava.

"One of these seats taken?" I ask.

"Next to me is my ghost friend, but it doesn't count because he's incorporeal." Ava says.

Selena and I laugh until we see that Ava isn't.

"Sorry." Selena says.

"Yeah. We can't tell if you're messing with us." I say.

"Part of my mystique." Ava says.

Selena sits next to Ava and I sit next to Selena.

"Bold, Selena. Sitting in someone's lap before you've even been introduced." Ava says with a smirk.

"Maybe we can get coffee later." Selena says with a smile about her and the ghost.

Things get quiet after that.

"You having fun dismembering the bench or are you gonna tell me why you're so freaked out?" Ava asks Selena.

"Yeah. It's just...kind of weird." My sister says.

"Weird is my middle name."

"Really?" I ask.

"No, it's really Dolores. Tell anyone that and you guys will find eyeballs instead of food."

"Noted." Selena and I say. Selena then tells Ava about the thing that attacked us last night and how it first looked like Dan before it changed.

"Sounds like a golem to me." Ava says.

"Like the humanoid creatures made of living clay?" I ask.

"Sounds like it."

"It knocked me out and when Selena and I woke up, it was gone." I say.

"Why attack then run?" Selena asks.

"My knowledge of golems isn't as deep as it should be, but maybe whatever it was that animated the golem was temporary. Either that or it possibly was a dream." Ava says.

"Sadly my back tells me otherwise." I say.

"Same with the bruises on my neck." Selena adds.

"Actually, there are beings who can enter or even affect your dreams. One of them could've used your dreams to hurt you two." Ava informs us. "You guys could be under a curse, too. I've read a lot about cursed dreams."

"What, for fun?"

"If you wanna think that."

"You're a little weird." I tell Ava.

"You wound me, Will." She jokes.

"Okay, then you're the weirdest person I know." I joke back.

"Thanks for hearing us out, Ava. We didn't think anyone would believe us." Selena says.

"Well, jury's still out on that." Ava says. "You guys could be making all this up to try and screw with me."

"Do people do that often?" I ask.

"They try, but they fail because of my strong kung fu."

"Then thanks for listening to us without immediately dismissing us." Selena says.

"Cool." Ava says. "Well, I think I'm done."

"...Done with...?"

"Being nice. I've got this whole bitter misanthrope thing happening. By seeing this people, may think it's okay to talk to me."

"Can't have that, can we?"

"I'd literally die."

Selena heads off, but I stay where I am.

"You and your sister aren't as big a pair of tools as most people." Ava tells me with a grin.

"That means a lot coming from you." I say with a grin.

She nods then things get quiet again for a few minutes.

"Actually, Ava, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. I'll make it quick." I say.

"Sup." She says.

"...How's your knowledge on...dragons?" I ask.

"Mmmm...I'd say 50/50. Why?"

"Have you ever read anything about dragons being able to change back and forth between their scales and human flesh?" I ask.

"...If the human is in possession of a something like a dragon scale or a strange gem, yeah." She tells me.

I fight the urge to gulp as my mind sends me back to the night I found my gem.

Before I can say anything more, the lights start to flicker. "Crap..." I whisper.

The lights go out and Lucas tells everyone to stay seated before static cuts him off the music soon fades out. The gym doors are flung open by a cold wind gust as the lights come back on.

Thanks to my heightened sense of sound, I hear what sounds like whispering before the music dies and the lights shut off completely, leaving the voice.

"Everyone... plays... together..." It says.

That's chapter one. I hope you guys like this story. Review and I'll post more chapters.