Her Forbidden Threeway

Chapter 2

The afternoon was foggy with a heat that implied an impending rainstorm. It was thick, suffocating and caused Reade to sweat into a puddle that was deep enough to wake her from her sleep. Her fingers were stiff from the cramp of having spent a sleepless night doing research in front of her computer and she continued to muse, as she stirred in her damp sheets.

“Who knew mythology could be so eerie?” She thought to herself as she stretched her sore muscles with a groan or two. Her head throbbed, her eyes stung as if she had stood in a sandstorm and her mouth ached with sores from bites. “And painful,” she tacked on.

Reade released her lower lip from her teeth as she allowed the thought to pass. She escaped from her bed and decided to chug a glass of water with the hopes of hydrating herself back to tip-top shape. Every muscle in Reade’s body screamed with protest as she dragged herself to the fridge, finally pouring herself a glass of water.

“More,” her body screamed at her, causing her to spin the tap for another refreshing glass.

The house was quieter than it usually was. The wooden floors and poorly painted walls were creaky and loud with even the smallest of vibrations. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for Reade to investigate her father’s whereabouts. It was evident that even in her state of exhaustion; she was still determined to find out just what was happening.

After the events that had taken place yesterday, all of Reade’s inhibitions when it came to entering her father’s forbidden room had dissipated and she easily waltzed into the area. She took it upon herself to flit her gaze around the room, assessing it carefully for any signs of disturbance.

“Dad didn’t come home,” she pondered, her brow furrowing as she mentally sifted through ideas.

Reade shrugged her slender shoulder slightly and she set her glass of water on the edge of the desk, completely forgetting about the layer of dust. There was an aged computer buried beneath stacks of old newspapers and books that hadn’t been touched in years and she sat down before it. Reade’s nose crinkled prettily as she clicked the curser just once, causing the screen to brighten before her.

Displayed on the screen was a prompt for a login, the username already remembered and visible.

AXEL_MOORE

“Axel Moore?” Reade repeated aloud, confusion painting over her features. “Who’s that?”

The bones in Reade’s fingers cracked loudly as she pressed down on her knuckles, trying to alleviate some of the stiffness from last night so she could type. She inhaled a deep breath of air and moved her fingers to hover above the keyboard, typing in potential passwords. In the little box, she tried their address, her father’s date of birth, her name and her date of birth. After the fifth try, she entered in the name of her preschool, which seemed like a random whim at the time and watched helplessly as the system locked down. The screen darkened and her obviously frustrated expression stared back at her as if it were mocking her.

Reade relaxed back into the dirt covered, but obviously leather chair and emitted a heavy sigh. She was exhausted, but she had found so many things and there was something deep inside of her, which was urging her to continue. The day before had been the most interesting, albeit weird, day of her life and left her with nothing but confusion. Everything from Jackson and Scott Moffatt, the Drakon store owners, to her father’s peculiar collection, to the dream she had didn’t make sense to her.

The dream.

Reade had almost forgotten about the dream. The darkness of exhaustion having taken her so quickly in the early morning.

In her dream, the elderly woman from the store, with her fingers of bone and lips of paper held a vial that was the color of crimson blood and fire. And then there was the crystal from the shop, the one they had called Dragon’s Fire. The grandmother had launched it dangerously into the air, causing the gem to explode into a fog of red, black, orange and yellow. Out of the mist of color, a dragon that seemed higher than the sky itself had appeared, blowing breath that turned to fire. The thick flames coated her body in gruesome blisters.

The dream hadn’t caused Reade to waken up straight away. Her mind seemed to have blocked and blurred out the night terror. Occasionally, Reade’s mind was her own worst enemy but when it seemed like she needed it to step up its game for survival, it did. She had managed to sleep in peace while her heart slowed.

Though the dream was something that Reade had forgotten until that very moment, she continued to sit in the chair in her father’s study. The silence enveloped the room and left her to a train of her own jumbled thoughts.

Through all of the extensive research Reade had done the night before, she discovered next to nothing. The bulk of the online sites she found consisted of nothing but movie and book reviews and sarcastic information. With a touch of an occasional weapon to be used in Dungeons and Dragons. Though there was one page that had piqued her interest. It was dedicated to dragons and their true form. Apparently, like the legend that is Wolves and Bears, a mythical creature could and would shift between its disguise and real body. Human and beast. “It’s not just something you read in books.”

Reade had laughed when she first read it. There was such emotion behind the words printed on the screen, that she couldn’t help it. Not to mention the ridiculousness of it all. Though, after the wrath of her terrifying dream, she found barely any humor in it whatsoever.

“I need to do more research,” she thought to herself. “Deeper research.”

From corner of her eye, Reade spotted the box that had fallen over but a day ago and she scurried over to it where it rested. She rooted inside until she found a large book that was sealed with a crest that was blue and green in pigment. She ran her thumb over the crystal emblem, the leather enveloping the yellowing pages together. Reade’s features contorted with a display of sheer focus as she tried to pry the cover and back apart, wishing to see what was inside, though her attempt was fruitless.

“Locked,” Reade sighed in exasperation, blowing a stray hair out of her face. “Locked and full of secrets. Just like everything else around here, it seems.”

Reade slumped back against one of the many bookcases and rested her chin on her knees. She felt confusion like never before. The paranoia that was rising up seemed to suffocate her along with the desert heat. It was becoming unbearable.

Where was her Dad? Where did all of this come from? What did the dream mean?

The questions that were circulating through Reade’s mine were endless and she shook her head in frustration. She clambered to her feet and stormed out of her Father’s office with the compelling book tucked safely beneath her arm. She fished through the bag beside her laptop and her mouth titled upwards in a slight smile when she found what she was looking for. Inside, there was the business card she had found for Drakon.

“It’s time to make a call,” she said to herself as she pulled out her cell phone, dialing the number that was printed in black ink.

“I knew you’d call…” A familiar voice, croaky and rasped from age answered almost immediately.

It was the woman. The grandmother.

“I need to speak to Jackson,” Reade demanded, much to the woman’s discuss. “Now, please.”