> Flame of a Dragon > by Raven Blackwood > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > My "Other" Self > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear diary, Over the past couple of years, I’ve finally made great progress in improving my grades in high school. I don’t know if what I’ve been doing so far is going to help me get into my dream schools, but I hope to continue to give it my all and ensure my success when classes are done. Some of the teachers have told me that my grades should definitely give me the chance at any high-ranking college and university in the country, but I feel like I’m doubting myself in wondering which one I should enroll in. There are so many roads for me to choose from, but only one that I can walk on. Got to decide soon. Time is scarce with how much I have left in school. I can only hope that the right choice I make in my career will be the best one for me. Either being a musician in music theory, or maybe just becoming a school teacher. There can be other paths for me to take, but these are the only ones I feel passionate for. If it happens, I can’t wait to meet Adele! Your best friend, Victoria Alex A sigh escapes me as I lay on my bed, having my diary in hand, pen in the other. “What am I going to do with my life?” I continue to ask this question over and over again. My mom tells me that I need to go into the business field to ensure that I live a good life. I don’t like to, so she continues to add pressure on me, telling me that music isn’t going make me a proper ‘salary’. Since her side of the family has continued staying in the business field and not thinking to break away into something that might be a more suitable path than in uniform from generation to generation, I decide to be the first of many. Business is always this and that with her. I have to make the decision on my own record, but she hasn’t stopped adding more pressure with how long I have left in high school. And I can’t stand her for it! Why does she always have to try to control me like I’m some type of puppet for her? Why can’t she understand that business sucks ass and that nobody in the damn world wants to do that? If she thinks I’m just going to get on my knees for this, she’s dead wrong. Because I know that out there, people have made it to the top and I plan on being one of them. Being overconfident when it comes to looking at what my parents work in isn’t overbearing. I mean, my dad’s a fucking plumber. Why would I be into shit? And I’ve been told that some kids didn’t like working in the jobs their parents were in too. One of my friend’s mom works construction and tries to get her into that. I still remember shaking her hand after two months of that and her hands were hard as a rock! So it’s really important that I don’t fall into that category being stuck in something that I don’t like. I close my diary and get the key from the drawer beside my bed, locking it safely away from prying eyes, to the point of making sure that it won’t be too obvious for my parents to uncover. Sometimes, you just have to keep things under a lock and key to ensure no one knows of your secrets. Looking up to the ceiling, going through the stipple pattern of it tells me there has to be something for me to do today. It’s Saturday, one of the two days I’ll ever get away from school. One of the best days. Sundays aren’t enjoyable, that’s just the first school night to another gruelling week in high school. “... I’m bored.” I get off the bed and make my way to the door, opening it to be met with warm air. Living in Hawaii, I can say that it hasn’t gotten as hot this week. The last several weeks have been boling, but it looks like this time hasn’t been blistering. Closing the door behind myself, I casually meander around in the front yard and just enjoy the weather. At least I’m one of the few kids out there who so happens to love nature and not get too fixated on Facebook. It’s good to distance myself from what goes on, even from the drama that blows up on it. Not like I would want to get involved in it. Let the people who start the drama get destroyed from their own crap. It’s cool if I feel like talking to my friends on it, but it can get boring because that’s all I do. I stay in my room during my free time and waste my weekends with it. That and when I have to get my projects done for my classes, the ten thousand word essays and all that. You know, bullshit. Now that I think about it, there’s going to be a big project for my math class in Statistics coming up soon. God help me that I don’t bomb it. With my assigned savior, someone has to tell the story of who achieves more for the same credit! I hate free-riders who won’t put any effort to ensure everyone in the group doesn’t get their grades obliterated in the end. If one student doesn’t do anything, it affects everybody else. I’m holding a high ‘B’ in the class, and I just can’t afford to see my grade go down just because someone wants to be ignorant. We can’t have two failures! That’ll be a recipe for disaster. And I don’t want to fail even one class. I drop back first on the grass and brush it off, closing my eyes to the warm rays to let my mind be at peace, enjoying precious time away from my life as a high school Senior. Feels good. One hour later… My mom called me on my phone, saying she has to work overtime due to some employees calling off sick. Well, at least that actually brings me some more time in being alone. I’m not even expecting Dad to come home. Might be working late on a shit pipe or something at the neighbor's house. I don’t have anything against my parents, but they always seem to care more about their jobs than me. We’re in good financial standing. It’s not like we’re in a big black hole and trying to crawl our way back to the surface. So, why aren’t we connecting? Ok, maybe I’m stretching it just a little bit. But the point is, I just hope they’ll come to a realization that family is more important than work. The sun is slowly going down in the horizon. Leaning against one of the lush trees in the yard, I remember when I used to persuade my parents to let me stay outside a little longer, wanting to enjoy the gorgeous sunset. Don’t know why, but that was my obsession back then. I guess we all have our own piece of nostalgia for things we like most in life. Okay, time to go back in! I walk back to the door of my house, but before twisting the knob I notice the mail truck coming from down the street and stopping in front of my house, specifically UPS. Must be something mom or dad ordered. Eh, wouldn’t hurt picking it up. I turn around toward the deliverer and meet him halfway at the walkway, spotting a small cardboard box in his hand, scanner in the other. Did my parents buy something for me? Getting closer, he doesn’t seem to notice me coming toward him while looking at his scanner. I decide to make contact with him first. “Aloha!” He flinches from my soft voice and lifts his head up to see me, surprised. Pretty funny how he got so. “Oh!” He says, chuckling. “I didn’t see you coming.” I roll my eyes, smiling. “Well, I can assure you I’m no ghost.” Looking down at the brown box in his hand, my curiosity grows. “What’s the box for?” “Oh? This?” He looks at it. “This!” He looks at the label. Come on, dude. “Are you by any chance ‘Victoria Alex’?” Hesitant with my words, I answer. “... Yes, that’s me.” Did my parents actually buy me something? Is this a sign that they might actually be caring for me more? Hooray? “Phew! I wanted to make sure that I didn’t screw up with delivering packages to the wrong house again.” Again? “I ended up doing that one time and I became paranoid in double-checking addresses and names of people.” My goodness. “Well, since you’re here,” he hands over the box to me and I recieve it, signing my name off his scanner. “Might want to be extra careful with that box.” He warns, getting back in his brown truck. “It might be glass or something.” I giggle. Now he warns me about it? “Thanks for the heads up. Have a good evening!” “You, too.” He drives off down the road, hopefully to succeed his delivery once again. Good luck to him. I look at the parcel, trying to figure out what’s in it. ‘What did my parents buy for me?’ I thought. Not wanting to waste any more time, I go back into the house and go to the kitchen to get a small knife from one of the drawers. Going back to my room and closing the door, I sit on my bed with the knife tightly gripped in my right hand, cutting through all the tape that keeps the box secure. Through the last piece of tape, I open up the sides to see a light blue box inside. Judging by how small it is, it looks more like for jewelry or perfume. Probably a necklace or a ring, rather than perfume. Thanks, my wonderful parents! Ugh, I wish it was a guitar. I take the box in hand, tossing the cardboard overboard. The brand name for it and its motto in the center takes my interest. Dragona Jewelry Unleash the fire from within!™ “Dragona Jewelry?” I say to myself, raising an eyebrow. “Never heard of this company before.” I practically know almost all jewelry companies in existence, but this one is new to me. Must be a new company that opened up for business sometime ago. “Hmm...” I take the lid off the box and am surprised to see what’s under it. It’s a necklace, but… I can’t seem to figure what to think of it. It displays an ember gemstone in the center of what looks like a dragon wrapped around it. The dragon has eyes the same color as the gemstone, the expression on its face showing aggression. Dark and light blue makes for the outer scheme, with spikes from front to back... Its beautiful to say the least. Clearly a work of art, but this doesn’t look like it’d be something my parents will spend money on for me to have. Deciding it won’t hurt, I take the necklace out the box, the gemstone glowing bright like fire. I can almost see what looks like fire inside. I put the necklace around my neck quickly, getting off the bed to get to my dresser on the opposite side of the room; seeing how it is definitely the perfect fit for me, I have to see how it looks overall. Clean cuts and smooth edges makes this necklace astonishingly beautiful. I’m not sure what everybody in school is going to think when I show them this, but I’m for certain that this will definitely catch attention. I shake my head, telling myself to not go on bragging about it. Not like everyone will have something like this coming their way; some of the school kids come from poor parts of Libertywing. I’m just glad my family and I aren’t in that crappy situation. I try to think of something else, looking back in the mirror… and gasp from what I find within. A dragon. Taking a few steps back from the mirror, the dragon happens to copy my every movement perfectly. I’m taken aback by this, at the point of testing to see if it will follow me when going forward, and when naturally swinging my arms. I start to walk towards the mirror, seeing how the dragon is walking in complete sync with me. I get back to where I stand, seeing this… dragon in the reflection. I... I don’t even know how to comprehend this. This isn’t natural! The dragon doesn’t look like some ordinary Toothless, or your next Spyro. Instead, it walks on two legs just like a person does. This dragon looks exactly like the one on the necklace, but this one has two white horns that are on the sides of its head. The drake seems to be more ‘furry’ scaled due to how its displayed. It doesn’t have anything on to cover her scalie body. Her breasts look to be the same size as mine. I raise my hand to see the dragon following suit. It appears to show the exact number of… claws? Sitting on my bed, raising my leg up to see the dragon continue to do what I am doing proves fruitful to my curiosity. Its feet consists of three toe claws, eyeing how sharp they are to easily kill someone. And it even has purple wings! As I stand back up and turn my body to the right, it appears to also have a long tail, the tip of it having blue hair. And it has some thick thighs, too. I walk around a bit more, taking in more detail, the muscular build showing off for the most part. If I am thinking of this correctly, maybe the necklace is trying to go through my mind to figure out what my desires are. I always want to add a little more muscle to my body, something to at least attract boys. That can be what the necklace is trying to analyze or something. Another one coming loose; perhaps the necklace is trying to show a parallel universe that might be of me in dragon form. But that’s just a theory. A dragon theory. Minutes feel like hours as I simply look at my ‘other’ self in the mirror. Every time I blink my eyes, the dragon does it at the same time. This feels like a dream, but its not. There’s something that comes to mind when looking at the drake. As an old saying that my dad once told me. ‘Seeing is believing.’ I want to see if there’s anything else I should do to get a better understanding of this dragon. But suddenly, I hear the front door opening from in the living room. It makes me turn my head to hear the sound of someone walking in the hallway close to my room. “Victoria!” That’s my mom calling out to me. I must’ve been too fixated on the dragon that I just wasn’t able to hear the sound of her car coming in! I take off the necklace and put it back in the blue box, sliding it and the parcel under my bed to prevent it from being seen. I hope she doesn’t find it. Otherwise, I’ll have to explain to her what I got... maybe she’ll already know about it if she and my dad are involved. Once I got that taken care of, I walk over to the door and open it to see her having almost done so herself. “Hey, Mom!” I say with a sheepish smile. “Sorry for not knowing you were coming home. I was…” I try to make a good excuse to her. “... listening to some music on my laptop.” She seems to buy into my lie and responds. “It’s okay, Victoria.” She tries to cool herself down. “I need to tell you that me and your dad are going to be super busy for next week.” She continues to elaborate. “You’re probably going to be alone more often than usual. He called me and said that he has to attend a conference with the rest of his co-workers. Some sort of meeting they have to be in for the next couple of days. I seem to be in the same predicament as well.” If you don’t unclog a toilet, you’re both fired? “It’s fine, Mom.” I try to not to sound like I am angry, to which I am. “I can watch over myself without a problem.” She’s clearly the type of person I’ve known to try and set everything straight with, no matter if its showing manners or anything else. But really, I sorta rebelled against her a few times when I was younger. But, at least I know how to not show a temper tantrum against her or my dad. I can tell by her expression that she knows that I’m not trying to show any signs of anger. However, it seems this time she doesn’t say anything else to me. Instead, she walks away from where I stand, heading back to the living room without anything else to say. An annoyed sigh escapes my lips low enough that she can’t hear. She treats me like I don’t know any better. I may be a teenager, but at least I know how to do things on my own without her help nor dad’s. Looking behind me, I notice that my alarm clock shows 10:34 PM. I’m not surprised that it's night already, given the fact that I’ve sat in my room all evening seeing myself as a literal dragon in a magic mirror on a wall. I look at the mirror again to see the dragon no longer there, just my usual self. Where did it go? Did it just get frightened when my mom started talking? It’s a good time to just go to sleep and think about the crazy moment. Me getting a necklace from a company that I never heard of and with it showing me a dragon in my mirror? That’s pretty good. I put my pajamas on and turn the lights off, getting into my covers to slumber. What will tomorrow bring me? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to wear this necklace again! > A Dragon's Eyes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Ah! Radical!” Luther says in amazement. He’s clearly stunned beyond belief, seeing the necklace around my neck. “I can’t believe you got yourself something that awesome, Victoria.” He and several other friends of mine sit in some of the concrete benches, me being next to him. I didn’t want to do reveal it until my English Arts class was done. Couldn’t risk having the whole school wanting to see it, even though I’m afraid by the time tomorrow sets in, everyone will find out one way or another. The majority of students have been picked up by their parents while only a small handful remain on campus. Good thing I have my own car to get back home. Even though I happen to have just a learners permit that restricts me from wanting to drive at night. Sometimes… I wish the people who came up with these rules decided to allow teens my age to be blessed with the ability to drive without a time limit on driving. Why do the other kids get driver’s licenses, but not me? It’s bullshit to be honest. Another one of my friends ask me a question regarding the necklace. “Did your parents give it you?” Michael inquires, sitting on the far side of the bench. He’s been one of my best friends since elementary school. He’s been one of those students who happens to be laid back. Not the type who stresses over a lot of crap. Though, I’ve seen him stand up for some of his friends throughout the years since I’ve known. Guy really stands out in the world. Same goes for Luther. He’s really known to be more of the relax type of guy. I’ve known this since middle school. Guy always has a plan, no matter what goes on. “That doesn’t even look like a cheap necklace, in my opinion.” “I’m afraid I can’t really give you the right answer,” I try to explain. “I don’t believe my parents bought this necklace for me.” “What do you mean?” Jill questions. “Don’t your parents love you? After all, something like that should clearly be a dead give away that they care for who you are.” I met Jill back in middle school. She tends be very concerned when it comes to seeing how her friends are doing. Though, I’ve seen her try to get out of the toughest situations when it comes to being a student. Mostly when it comes to passing her classes, she tends to think more about school work, rather than going out to enjoy life. I’m sort of like that myself. I continue to tell them that I never heard my parents discuss about giving me anything for this month, especially since my birthday is in August which is four months from now. Not only that, but I would’ve at least heard them even while in my room. It’s not like I’m deaf or anything. Come to think of it, neither one of them talked about trying to find where the necklace went from Saturday and Sunday. They never said anything; not a word about it. I’m beginning to question if maybe someone at the school will know, but I don’t think that will be the case. Nobody that I’d know would just spend insane amounts of money in purchasing this type of necklace. I ask my friends about if they ever heard of the company that produced this necklace. “I’m curious.” I put a finger on my chin. “But, have any of you ever heard of the jewelry company known as Dragona Jewelry?” All of them shake their heads. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that company before,” Kevin says. “Sounds to me you got that necklace from a new business.” “I haven’t heard of it.” Jill answers, scratching her head. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry.” Even Luther can’t think of any company with that name. None of them know about this business. “Though,” Jill speaks. “Sounds like its a place that sales dragon-like stuff, hence to why your necklace depicts a dragon wrapped around that gemstone of yours.” I give her a nod while looking down at the necklace. The gemstone appears to be showing a calm fire, remaining in this state like how I first laid eyes on it. “I’m officially jealous that you managed to get something that awesome in the mail.” Luther sees the gemstone glow brightly. “I’m telling you Victoria, a necklace like that should be something you cherish for the rest of your life.” “I agree.” Jill crouches down to get a better view of the necklace. “We might not know of that company, but they clearly decided to give you a quality necklace that sure does make you more noticeable.” I laugh softly from her statement. “Yeah. I didn’t want to show a lot of people when school was still in session.” Having a huge audience probably wouldn’t be good for me. I tend to be shy when having a huge crowd wanting to talk to me. Good thing I only have just three of my friends here. Otherwise, I might as well have tried shrinking myself on the bench. Imagine me talking to a major crowd like it was a pep rally or a presidential address. That’s going to be a nightmare ready to happen. “Hey,” Jill pulls out her phone. “Mind if we have a group picture with you having that necklace on?” I really want to say ‘no’, but I can just tell that Jill is eager in wanting to take a picture when it comes to this. Everyone else is going to find out, eventually. Though the more I think about this, it might be best to just get it over with. Before wanting to tell Jill that it’s alright to take the picture, I see two other students coming over to us. The first student appears to be wearing a JROTC uniform used by the Air Force. He happens to be wearing a lot of decorative ribbons that appear on top of his right shirt pocket, and his name tag on his left pocket, stating his name as “Kim.” His uniform is spotless, while his black shoes remain unscafed from dirt. Kim’s hair is blond and his eyes brown, with a tan skin tone. The other student that is right next to him doesn’t seem like he’s from Hawaii. He has black hair, brown eyes, with being a little more tanned compared to Kim. He wears casual clothes, just blue jeans and a gray shirt. Kim looks to see Luther sitting on the bench. “Hey, Luther!” Kim says in glee. “I thought you were already heading back home for today.” “Nah, I’m just sitting here with some friends and talking about Victoria’s necklace.” Oh, boy. This is where things take either a good or bad turn for me. Kim turns to see me, noticing the necklace. “Oh, wow! That’s what I call ‘unique’.” “It… truly is.” I make a sheepish smile. At least he’s not going through a dozen questions for me to answer. “... Oh!” Kim introduces himself. “I’m actually one of the students in JROTC who works closely with two of the teachers who work here at Elemental High School.” He then gestures his hand over to other student. “This is Katuo. He’s currently in his junior year here and one of the few foreign exchange students we’ve gotten so far from Japan over the years. Katuo seems to not talk, but simply bows his head to us. He seems to not be much of a talker. Maybe he’s shy when talking to others? “He’s still trying to get adjusted to being here.” Kim explains. At least there’s someone in this school who I can relate to. Jill gets by me. “Hey Kim, would it be possible for you to take a picture of Jill with the rest of us?” She really wants to be in the picture. I can’t blame her. Kim didn’t expect to get a request like that, but he nods. “Of course. I’ll take the picture.” Jill smiles and looks like she’s about to say ‘yes’ outloud, but happens to be keeping her excitement from taking over her actions. “Hey, Katuo.” Kim turns his head to where his friend should be. “You want to b- huh?” He notices that his friend is no longer next to him. Where did he go? “Oh, wait.” Kim scratches his head. “Forgot that he’s taking ninja classes here. Guy tends to easily disappear like a ghost.” How did I not notice Katuo vanishing before me? He was right there, but I must’ve been paying close attention to what everyone else was doing. Talk about having a ninja student attending our school. That’s actually awesome, to say the least. The rest of my friends also didn’t seem to know where he went either. “Katuo is actually good at being sneaky when it comes to whatever he’s doing.” Kim elboarates as Jill gives him her smartphone. “Hope he thinks of joining the military. That guy would be good for covert operations.” I Guess Kim wants Katuo to join him in the military. He would be a great asset, but I wouldn’t get anywhere near that. Too much blood and violence for even Quentin Tarantino to compete with. “Alright...” Kim gestures Jill to get into the group to get the perfect picture. She complies, walking behind the bench to not blow our view. Kim gets closer. “... on the count of three, I want you guys to say ‘cheese.’” We all nod our heads with him getting phone in front of him to see that everyone is in view. “One, two, three! Say ‘cheese’!” “Cheese!” The light on the phone flashes. “Let see…” Kim looks at the picture. “... Oh, yeah. Picture definitely came out fine.” He goes over to Jill with him giving her back her phone. “Luther, I’ll see you later. I gotta go home, man.” “Start chilling, dude.” Luther puts his hands behind his head, relaxing. “Ain't like we’re stressing over school work.” “I can only hope inspection day for Wednesday doesn’t become a slaughter like it was for today.” Kim laughs while walking away, heading to the parking lot in front of the school. I think having my picture taken in terms of wearing the necklace isn’t that bad the more I think about it. Maybe I’m just overreacting on something that’s so small that it really doesn’t need to be looked at seriously. Once this whole necklace thing cools down, maybe my life being here in school won’t be an utter shitstorm like I thought it would be during the weekend. But… I’m not sure what to think about the whole me seeing a dragon in the mirror thing. That’s something I have yet to tell Luther or the rest about. Ten bucks says they’ll think I’m some crazy teenage girl who lost her mind in the matter of a few days. Maybe, just maybe… I’ll tell them when I feel like the time is right. This is still my secret, and I need to just wait it out for a little while longer. “Hey, Victoria.” Jill puts one hand on my shoulder. “Do you want me to just send the picture to just the four of us? If you feel like wanting it to be on Facebook, then that’s fine by me.” “Well, maybe it's for the best that it’s only us who gets to see the picture. I really feel like it might be too risky to having everyone in school to start shaking my chains in wanting to see the necklace.” Jill understands where I’m coming from and simply nods. “Do you think maybe in a week or somewhere in the future, you want one of us to put it on Facebook or IG?” Michael chimes in. “Probably be best to maybe wait for a little while to where it feels comfortable for you.” “That would be the best.” I finally say to all of them. “ Actually, just send through our group chat. They all nod their heads. Ok. Perhaps things will go well for me. As long as nothing horrible happens in my last few weeks in school, everything should play out for me in the end. A few hours later… I have so far done nothing but listen to one of my favorite bands on my phone, that being Starset. There music gives me such excitement while my parents aren’t home, with what my mom told me from yesterday regarding these long meetings. Listening to My Demons, I turn over on my side, giving out a relax moan to see the dragon in the same position that I am in. We look at one another, with its ember eyes looking straight at me. There’s something about me wearing this necklace that is still bothering me. I mean, how is it possible for a necklace like this to even create this other ‘me’ while I have it around my neck? This shouldn’t be too difficult for me to understand. Well, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just not understanding how science works from what my science professor had told us a few weeks ago about the parallel universe theory. Scientists continue to think they know how the whole universe operates, and how there might be a multiverse of some sort in different dimensions. However, it’s really difficult for me to fully understand how physics work in terms of understanding how the universe could work in what scientists say. Theories here. Theories there. Sometimes I wonder if the parallel universe is, in fact, real? Maybe it is, but I’m not going to just accept it just by seeing a dragon in my mirror. Someone would have to almost show me if I have somehow found something that could lead me to a whole new world that I never knew would even exist beyond my imagination. I’ve even watched some science channels that have Morgan Freeman and Stephen Hawking who happen to have a better understanding of how the whole universe works, no matter it being about black holes, aliens coming to earth, or that parallel universe stuff they explain to viewers about on The History Channel or Science Channel. Trying to ignore my thoughts on the whole inner-dimensional theory stuff, I go back to lying on my back, continuing to listen to my music. Before I could get a chance to just close my eyes and drift away from the real world, I hear my phone make a noise. I just got a text message. Sighing… I go to my dresser where I had put my phone on, taking it in my hands to see who wants my attention. Jill sent you a text message. Jill? Wonder what she wants. I go back to my bed, sitting on it to see what the message says. I read what the message says, it seems Jill is concerned for… me? “Hey, Victoria. I’m not sure if you noticed something wrong about the picture, but… are your eyes alright?” My eyes? What is she saying? My eyes haven’t bothering me. At least, not to my own knowledge. I reply back to her message. “What’s wrong with my eyes? Idk what you’re talking about.” I press send and wait for what she’ll say. While waiting, I go in our group chat to look at the picture of us earlier. My heart suddenly skips a beat. My eyes… they don’t even look human! Instead of seeing my emerald eyes, I see what looks like ember eyes. My pupils are slits, rather than being… what??? A chill goes down my spine while looking at the picture. I want to reply to Jill, but my brain is still trying to process what it’s just seen. The way my eyes look… I see what Jill says. “Your eyes look so reptilian. wtf” I… I’m not sure how to even reply to her message! This… this isn’t even natural! This shouldn’t even be possible! How the fuck can something like this even come close to being real?! How?! I take the necklace off, looking at the mirror to see the dragon no longer present. Just my human-self replacing it... With my eyes no longer human. They are now draconic, with me seeing what Jill was talking about. Making a quick about-face, I grab the phone and send another message to Jill to confirm her statement, rushing in doing so. I’m getting scared! “Jil I dn’t know wha to say, but I m freaking the fuck out rit now!” Remain calm, Victoria. You know what? Maybe this is just temporary. Yes! Temporary. Maybe you just need to relax and not have a panic attack. My parents haven’t come home yet, so just don’t go crazy because your eyes have changed to that of the dragon you’ve seen in the mirror with the necklace on you! Another message comes from Jill. I read it. “REMAIN CALM!” Damnit, Jill! How can I with this happening to me?! “Try and think of something that might solve this! I’m not an eye doctor, but please don’t go insane on me! Think of anything!” … Fucking what? Looking myself in the mirror again, I see how my eyes are still in their current state. Closing them, I try to get myself under control. Remain calm, don’t lose control of your actions. I take deep breaths to get my heart rate back to normal, inhaling and exhaling ever slowly. Get back to your normal state. Remain calm. Remain… calm. It feels like an eternity trying to calm myself down. I can feel my heart rate getting back to normal I open my eyes. They’re… still draconic? D-did… It didn’t even work! A huge sigh of despair leaves my lips as I fall to my knees. Is this what my life has become? To see myself in the mirror as a dragon, and then my eyes turn to reptilian? What of this necklace that I’ve got from that company? Does it have something that maybe I’m not fully understanding? Is it trying to inform me of something that is supposed to happen in the future? All I can do now is put my hands on my face, giving a quiet sigh… I almost feel like crying. “I really don’t want to do this… I really don’t...”