Jessie is now back in the woods, on her way back to the spot where she left Brandon to watch over her car. The gas can in her hand. The gas can filled with gasoline.

She is huffing a bit, because she is tired of walking so much. God, that was a LONG walk.

I didn't even figure that the gas station was THAT far away, and it felt even further just by walking there!

Guess it's no wonder that people drive all the time, they don't like walking on the side of the road! And I'm one of those people!

I've been gone for such a long time this morning, and I think it was about...A few hours ago...Maybe. I think I've lost track of time!

I guess I should've asked Brandon to do this for me, he would be better at this than I would.

She sighed as she strode. I hope that Brandon is not mad at me for leaving him alone for such a long time.

Then Jessie put on a smile. I know he won't be mad at me. He's actually a really nice guy.

Better than the guys that I usually hang out with. He's different than them. He's kind and sweet. Makes me wish I have gotten to talk to him in school before we met at the bar back at Leon. I can't believe I never even talked to him!

I just feel sorry for him. That the reason why he ran away with me, is because of his mom's boyfriend Gerry. I really feel for him.

Well I'm just glad he came along with me. He doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. And I can't believe that his mother would just defend that guy.

But hey, we're both just a couple of runaways and we both want to be happy. We both want to get away from everything.

Jessie could see her car up ahead. Seeing that she's almost there.

She continued to walk to her car. Well at least I have gas for the car. That's a good thing.

As soon as I'm done filling the car up with gas, me and Brandon will spend the rest of the day together in the woods. Just for me to make it up to him for leaving him alone for such a long time. I'm sure he'd love the idea.

Then tomorrow morning, we'll both leave for San Diego. That sounds like a good plan.

Jessie sighed. When I think about it, I can just imagine mom and dad have already called the cops on me by now.

They just don't get it. I don't want to live the life like they do.

I want to live my own life. I'm tired of being the rich girl.

I'm not going back to that life and I'm sure that Brandon won't go back to his.

Jessie finally got close to her car and dropped the gas can near one of her tires. She let out a breath as she was so tired from walking. Whew! I finally made it.

She was leaning against the car and she was taking some deep breaths as she looked down at the ground. Jessie hollered, "Hey Brandon, I'm back!" She laughed, "Sorry that it took me so long. I thought the gas station wasn't far away from this spot, but as it turned out it was. But I'm back now and I want to make it up to you."

Jessie finally looked up from the ground and looked at the log that she and Brandon used this morning. Then she slowly moved her head to look around the area. Then she began to realize that Brandon's not here. She's alone.

Jessie frowned. That's weird, where did he go?

She started to walk close to the log and she hollered for Brandon, "Brandon? Are you here?"

No answer.

Jessie then cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted through them, her voice echoing the woods, "Brandon?! Where are you?!"

Still no answer.

She removed her hands off her mouth and she hummed to herself. That's strange, he's not here. Where did he run off to? Where did he go?

I guess he must have went for a walk just to kill the time waiting for me. I wouldn't blame him for that. There's nothing to do here.

Jessie sighed. I'll just wait here for him.

She strode to the log and sat down on it. I'll wait here until he comes back, at least wait for a little while.

And he doesn't come back by then, then I'll holler for him again. Or at least go look for him.

Then Jessie started to get a weird feeling and she started to rub her hands together, as she got nervous for Brandon.

I hope he's okay. I hope he wasn't hurt while I was gone.

Oh he's not hurt. I'm sure he's fine. I need to quit doing that to myself.

I'll just sit here and wait. I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later.

*****

I'm still hiding behind the big wooden shelf inside the cave, hiding from the black dragon. I don't even know how long I've been hiding behind here.

Even from in the cave, I could hear the crickets outside. That means it must be getting late outside. I let out a sigh. I must have been in here for hours.

I decided to peek around the shelf to see the dragon and I could see it in plain sight. Laying on its stomach on the furs. Its long tail curled around it. That thing has been sleeping for such a long time. Good, it still doesn't know that I'm here.

I continued to stare at it, in shock and awe. I can't believe it. I still can't believe my eyes.

A dragon. A REAL dragon. A sleeping dragon in the cave.

I don't understand it. I thought that dragons don't exist. That they only existed in stories and movies. Not in real life.

But I know that for certain that thing's real. I wonder if there are other dragons other than this one? Or if it's the only one in the world?

Those dreams that I've been having before I ran away from home, were they going to come true after all?

Well this cave is different than the one in my dream. There's no chamber with dragons depictions on the walls. so why did I dream about that place?

I guess I'll never know, because what's happening right now is not a dream. This is pretty much REAL.

And there's really a dragon in the cave with me.

I hid behind the shelf again and let out a small quiet breath. I wonder if Jessie came back to the car already? She's....Probably worried about me.

I had a determined look on my face. I can't stay here anymore, I got to get out of here.

I have been staying behind this shelf, waiting for that thing to wake up from its nap and leave the cave. So that way I would after it leaves.

But now that I think about it, this maybe my only chance of escaping this scary cave and never come back.

I have to do this. Jessie might come looking for me and then she'll find the cave and...I don't want to think about what ifs.

I can't wait anymore. I'm getting out of here.

I took a deep breath and let it out. Then I walked slowly out of my hiding spot and looked at the dragon again. Still sleeping peacefully.

I took another deep breath and let it out slowly. I got to do this. I clenched my fists tight, as my fear was clawing at my chest. I got to do this.

All that I have to do is sneak past it and out of the cave. Shouldn't be a problem.

I hope.

Alright....Here I go.

I tip toed away from the wooden shelf, ready to make my escape. I was trying to be as quiet as possible, trying to not make a loud noise.

I was close to the sleeping dragon, standing beside it, I could hear it snoring. It didn't even hear me. I gulped a bit looking at the black dragon. My heart was pumping real fast in fear. Trembling a bit, as I was having second thoughts about this.

I can do this, I can do this. Don't Back down. Don't back down.

I held my breath, trying to push down my fear and I started to tip toe again. I'm not giving up. Not now.

I saw its head moving a bit and I gulped again. I froze where I was at. But it wasn't awake, it was just moving its head, trying to get comfortable on the furs.

I let out a quiet breath and pushed on. I finally snuck quietly away from the dragon, just as I was looking at it as I was sneaking and it still wasn't awake.

I smiled a bit. So far so good. I looked ahead and I could see the corner of the cave ahead. If I could get around that corner, I would see the mouth of the cave straight ahead.

I knew I could do this. Despite the fear, I'm almost there!

I was tip toeing to the corner of the cave, until my foot accidentally kicked a rock. I gasped a bit, as it made a loud noise. Shit! 

I whirled around to look at the dragon. And I could see it's now awake. I saw its eyes opening.

The dragon rose its head off the furs, looked at the direction of the noise and saw me. It narrowed its eyes at me and growled. My eyes went wide. Oh crap!

The black dragon immediately got up on all fours and was now trekking toward me in fast strides. I whirled back around and started sprinting away from it. Not looking back.

I ran around the corner and I could see the mouth of the cave up ahead. I ran real fast to the opening and finally ran outside. The sky about to sunset. From outside the cave, I could hear the dragon letting out a very loud roar. My eyes went wide, as I ran.

I ran into the trees and the bushes, running as fast I could. I ducked below a low tree branch as I ran toward it. I went under it and sprinted again. My heart thumping as my adrenaline was kicking in. 

I cried out as a thorn from a bush scratched my arm. But it didn't slow me down.

From behind me, I could hear the bushes and the tree branches being moved. I began to realize that the dragon is now chasing me.

I looked back and saw the big black form chasing me. The dragon used its head to smash away the high tree branch that was in the path of it chasing me. It still had its eyes locked on me.

I looked ahead and screamed, "AHHHHH!!!!"

I jumped over a shrub and sailed over. I landed on the ground and kept running.

I was trying to figure out where I'm going. Trying to figure out where the car and Jessie are at. I hope she came back to that car. We need to get out of here!

I was pumping my arms as I ran, and I could still hear the dragon still after me. But I didn't look back again.

I ran out of the trees and onto a dirt trail. I used that trail before I ended up getting lost around here. I could use that trail to get back to the car.

I sprinted on the trail, my chest feeling hurt from all the running. Sweat dripping down my forehead. I was wheezing, but I still had some energy left to run.

I looked back to see if the dragon is still after me. I don't see, but I didn't want to find out. I looked ahead and continued to run on the trail.

I ran and ran, until I could see the car up ahead. I smiled as I ran. Almost there!

I ran to the car, until I was close to it. I could see Jessie sitting on the log that we used this morning. I yelled for her, "Jessie!!!" I then bent down my body, my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. I feel pretty worn.

Jessie shot up from the log and whirled around to see me. Her eyes went wide with fear and concern. She ran around the log and run up to me. When she got close she asked with concern in her voice, "Brandon? What's going on? Why were you running?"

I was wheezing still and spoke while I was still out of breath, "We...We...We need...To leave!"

She frowned, "Why? What's wrong?"

I grabbed her shoulders and finally had enough breath to tell her, "We need to leave, right now! Something's after me!"

Her eyes went wide again and she asked, "What's after you?"

Then we both heard a roar and I whirled around, Jessie hid behind me and looked over my shoulders. My eyes went wide with fear. Shit, it's here!

The black dragon strutted fast towards us, with a furious look on its face.

Me and Jessie both screamed really loud, "AAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

When the dragon got close, it swiped a paw at us, knocking us away. We both cried out in pain as we flew about ten feet from that swipe.

Me and Jessie grunted when we landed with a thud, both of us rolling on the ground upon impact. We stopped rolling and Jessie was laying on her stomach, as I was laying on my back.

Jessie moaned and tried to lift her head off the grass, but then she fell back down. She's unconscious.

I lifted my head off the ground to get a look at the dragon. It was strolling casually toward us. Not taking its eyes off of us.

I groaned as I was starting to feel dizzy. Then I laid my head back down on the ground, staring up at the sky. Then my vision started getting cloudy and everything went black. As I was starting to lose consciousness.

*****

The sky is about to sunset, over the small town of Leon.

At Diana's house, Diana is in the kitchen with her cell phone near her ear, trying to call Brandon. But after several rings, all she has gotten was his voice mail. Brandon's voice mail box said, "Hey this is Brandon, I can't come to the phone right now. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you, thanks." Then it beeped.

Diana sighed and she started leaving the voice message, "Brandon, it's mom. Uh...Where are you? I thought you went to school when I was going to work, I didn't see you this morning. But the school called and said that you didn't show up. Is there something wrong?" She pinched the bridge of her nose and went on, "Look, if you get this message, call me back. I...I'm really worried about you. Please, call me. Bye." And with that, she hung up the phone.

Diana sighed and laid the phone down on the counter. Then she saw Gerry come into the kitchen and he said, "Hey good lookin. What's up?"

Diana looked at him and said, "Brandon's not answering the phone. The school called and said that Brandon didn't go there today."

Gerry looked at her and shrugged his shoulders, "Well he's probably being a punk ass kid, knowing him. He's probably in jail right now." He went to the fridge and opened it up. He picked up a can of beer and popped it open. He took a swig of it and shut the fridge door.

She shook her head, "Brandon has never done anything like this before. He...Just disappeared. He's not answering his phone, and-"

Then Gerry threw the can of beer at the wall. She screamed as some of the beer spilled upon impact. Gerry sneered at her, "Why don't you stop worrying about him?! He's just being a punk ass right now and you're falling for his bullshit."

She shook her head again, "He's not like that, Gerry. And...I don't think he's in jail, I think he ran away from home."

He frowned at her and asked, "Why would you think that?"

Diana looked down at the ground and she sighed. She looked at his face and said, "Gerry, I think we need to go to the cops."

Gerry sighed, with full of annoyance, "Oh my god."

She held out her hand, "I mean, we go to the cops tomorrow and then we'll see if they find Brandon. Please Gerry."

Gerry stared at her for another moment and he shrugged, "Alright fine. We'll go to the cops tomorrow. Let the law enforcement do their job and find him."

Diana smiled and nodded, "Great, that'll be great."

Gerry narrowed his eyes at her, "I wouldn't worry about him, he probably has a girlfriend right now. That's what punk ass kids do, they bang chicks and get them pregnant." then he heard the TV from the living room. He groaned, "And great, thanks to this conversation, I'm missing WWE right now! Thanks a lot." And with that, he ran into the living room. Leaving Diana alone in the kitchen.

She had a sad and nervous look on her face, as she looked out the window, staring up at the sky.

Please Brandon...Come home.

I don't want to lose you. Like I lost your father.

*****

I moaned a bit and I slowly opened my eyes, my vision coming back. I groaned as pain was kinda evident in my chest. But it doesn't hurt too bad.

I started to sit up on the...Pile of furs. And my eyes went wide as I looked around where I'm at. I'm back in the cave. Sitting on the pile of furs where the black dragon was sleeping on. I saw Jessie laying on her back beside me. She's unconscious.

I'm...Not dead. We're both not dead.

Why? I thought that dragon was...Going to kill us.

What's going on here?

Did it bring us here?

I started to stand up on my feet and looked around the cave. The dragon's not here.

Where did it go?

I heard Jessie moaned as she regained consciousness. She sat up on the furs and saw me. She said in a low voice, "Brandon?"

I looked at her and asked with a voice full of concern, "Are you okay?"

She shook her head and placed a hand to her forehead, "Ah, my head's killing me." She removed her hand off her head and asked, "What happened? What was that thing that attacked us?" She looked around the area around her,  "And where are we?"

I said as I stared at the cave wall, "We're in its home."

Her eyes went wide, "What?"

I nodded and said, "And what that thing was....It's a dragon."

She sucked in a breath, "A dragon?" Then she frowned, "I don't understand, why didn't it just kill us? Why are we here?" Then she had a frightened look on her face, "Oh no, that thing's going to eat us, that's why we're here."

I looked at her and held out a hand to her, "Come on, it's not here. Lets get out of here before it comes back."

Jessie nodded and she clasped my hand. I helped her up on her feet and we both started jogging away from the furs. Making our escape.

But it didn't last long though, as the tall black dragon came around the corner and we both stopped in our tracks. We both gasped. Our eyes wide with fear. Damn it! 

The dragon looked down at us with a glare. It started growling down at us. The dragon then strode slowly towards us. Not taking its gaze away.

Me and Jessie backed away from it, I was holding her hand. That thing has us here, what are we going to do?

Me and Jessie continued to back from the dragon. Jessie was crying right now, as her own fear was eating away at her.

Both of us backed into the wall of the cave, no more space to back into. That thing had us cornered.

The dragon stopped and it still had that look.

Jessie was just sobbing a bit, while I didn't take my gaze off of it at all. What does it want from us?

The dragon started lowering its head to our level. I said to it in a serious tone, "Get away from us."

When the dragon's head was close to Jessie's, Jessie put both hands to her head and let out a high pitch scream, "AHHHHH!!!!" Then Jessie ducked low to the ground.

Jessie's scream made the dragon rise its head off of our level and it closed its eyes. As the high pitch scream was getting to it. It was gritting its teeth and it actually spoke in a human voice, "Arrg, stop screaming like that! You're hurting my ears!"

Me and Jessie both sucked in our breaths. It...It talked! Jessie rose of the ground and stood straight, with a shocked look on her face. She can't believe it either.

The dragon let out a sigh and opened its eyes, "Well at least you're not screaming anymore." It put on a grin, "That's better."

I frowned at the black dragon. It really can talk.

And judging by the sound of the voice, it sounded like the dragon's female.

It's a girl dragon.

I said out loud, "You...You can talk."

The dragon narrowed its eyes at me, "Of course, I can talk. I'm not surprised that you're talking to me too, you know."

Jessie eyes went wide and she shook her head in disbelief, "But...You're a dragon!"

The dragon groaned and she said, "Of course, I'm a dragon. What did you expect? Did you not see all the scales on me and the wings on my back?" Then she moved her tail to the side of her body, "Or maybe you didn't even notice my big long tail, hmmm?" Then she shot up her head, "Humpf, guess you guys really are blind."

The dragon put on a glare and asked, "Alright, enough with this conversation. Now onto the questions that I want to ask." She put her accusing gaze on me, "What were you doing in my cave?"

I tried to form words and then I said incredulously, "Hey wait a second, why are we still alive? I thought you wanted to kill us." I narrowed my gaze at the dragon, "Why are we alive? What do you want from us? And...How are you here in front of us? I thought dragons only exist in stories."

Jessie shook her head, as a few more tears came down her cheeks, "Please let us go. Please don't eat us!"

Then the dragon slammed her paw to the ground to shut us up. We both yelped in surprised. The dragon snarled, "Enough!" She hissed at us, "I get to ask the questions and if you interrupt me like that again, I'll swipe at you just like before. And only I give the orders human, got that?"

We both stared at her and then the dragon nodded, 'I'll take that your silence means that you agree to my terms. Good, I like the looks of this now. Makes it pretty easy on me."

The dragon sighed and asked again, "What are your names?" Then she focused her gaze on me again, "And I'll ask you again, WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN MY CAVE WHILE I WAS SLEEPING?"

She lowered her head to my level, I gasped as her head was close to my head. The dragon then repeated the question, "I said, what's your name?"

I said, "Uh...Uh..."

She growled again, "Are you that dumb? I just asked for your name, now quit doing that and answer my question."

Jessie cried out, "Please don't eat us!"

The dragon took her gaze on Jessie and gave her a glare, "I told you to be quiet!"

That's when a small bout of courage popped out of me and I got in between the dragon's head and Jessie. The dragon pulled back a bit. I glared at the dragon, "You leave her alone."

The dragon glared right back at me, "Are you standing up to me? You against a dragon?" She shook her head, "I wouldn't try that, if I were you. You'll lose this fight."

I said to the dragon with bravery in my voice, "I won't let you hurt her."

The dragon said, "Then don't give me a reason to hurt you. And I'm not going to eat you, I wasn't planning on eating you. If I did, I would've done it by now. But I didn't." Then she snarled, "Now answer my questions! And don't waste anymore of my time!"

Jessie was very close to my back, holding herself against me. I looked a bit over my shoulder at her. Don't worry, I'll protect you.

I looked at the black dragon and answered one of her questions, "I'm Brandon. My name's Brandon."

The dragon asked Jessie, "And you girl, what's your name?"

Jessie said while she was still behind me, her voice trembling with fear, "Jessie....I'm Jessie."

The black female dragon hummed and said our names out loud, "Brandon and Jessie." The dragon raised her head off of our levels, "Hmmm, I've heard a lot of human names anyways, so it wouldn't surprise me."

My eyes went wide at that statement. Wait? Has she met other humans before?

Then the dragon asked, "Now for the last time, what were you doing in my cave, while I was in my slumber? And please, don't ignore the question again."

I shook my head, as I softened my gaze at her, "I...I just found it and I wandered in it. I...I didn't know about you." I pointed at the wooden shelf nearby, "I was hiding behind that thing when you came into the cave. I was in here for a long time, and I tried to escape while you were sleeping."

The dragon frowned and she lowered her head to my level again. She started sniffing me as her nose was very close. Her breathing from her nose blowing some of my hair. Why is she sniffing me?

I gently pushed her nose away, "Hey, cut it out."

The dragon raised her head and narrowed her gaze at us again, "I knew I smelled something when I came back from hunting. I thought it was my nose playing tricks on me, since I haven't smelled something like that in here before. But now...I know that there really was something in here and it's YOU."

I said to her in a calm voice, "Look...Whatever your name is. Wait, do dragons have names?" The black dragon just looked at me and I went on, "Look, I wasn't going to hurt you or anything." I gestured to Jessie with my thumb, "And neither was she. Look please...Just let us go. We won't tell anyone about you, if that's what you're worried about."

Jessie looked over my shoulder and pleaded with tears still in her face, "Yes, we won't tell anyone about you. We'll leave, and you'll never see us again." She begged again, "We're sorry, but please let us go. We already answered your questions."

I nodded after Jessie said that, "She's right, we did answer your questions, we weren't going to hurt you or anything. Please...Don't hurt us, just let us go."

The dragon still stared down at us, not changing her expression at all. Finally the dragon lowered her head to our level and said, "No."

Jessie gasped and I glared at her, "What?! But we answered your questions!"

Jessie begged, "Let us go!"

The black dragon rose her head off the ground, "No...I don't trust you to leave yet."

I was just staring at her in total disbelief. But somehow, I had a feeling that she would say no. We're just total strangers to her.

But what is she going to do to us? I don't like it one bit now.

The dragon said, "I won't let you leave, until you two prove to me otherwise. You could be lying to me right now and you'll leave and bring more humans here to hurt me. I'm NOT taking that chance."

Jessie shook her head, "We won't tell anyone, please let us go!"

The female black dragon slammed her paw to the ground again, "I said be quiet, human!" That shut Jessie up immediately.

The dragon said with annoyance in her tone of voice, "I won't let you go, not until you two prove to me otherwise. You two might betray me behind my back and I won't take that chance. Not to mention you might escape, while I'm sleeping. And there's only one way to settle this." She narrowed her gaze, "You're coming with me."

I frowned at her, "To where?"

"To where my kind lives. Since you two are involved in my life now, you two are going with me to the mountains. Where you'll never look for any other humans who will fight against me."

I stared at her, hiding my surprise as she brought up about her kind. So there are more dragons like her. And her kind has a place to live. She went on, "And since humanity hasn't seen any dragons for a long time, you might alert them about us. Well you're coming with me, RIGHT NOW."

Jessie protested, "I'm not going with you! I won't tell anyone, I swear!"

The dragon shouted, "Then perhaps, you should tell your friend here not to wander in dark caves and spot dragons." She glared at me again, "Am I right? You did this to yourselves."

I stared at her as the truth came to me. She's right. I did this to me and Jessie.

The dragon raised her head and said, "Now I want you to follow me outside, now." She whirled around and her tail swung over.

Me and Jessie ducked down below the tail, before it hit us. I screamed at her, "Hey, watch your tail!"

She was near the furs and the dragon looked back over her shoulder at me, "Then mind it." She then picked up something that looked like a bag with her paw and tossed it to us, "Here, I believe this belongs to one of you. I'm sure you have all your things in it."

I looked down at the floor and saw that it's my bag that I carried with me as I ran away from home. I guess she must have found it on the ground.

I picked up the bag off the floor and swung it over my shoulder. Realizing we don't have a choice, but to go along with her test. A test of trust. I guess if we go along with the dragon and stay with her a little while, and if she trusts us, she'll take us back home.

Well what home? Me and Jessie don't have a home. Well I guess me and Jessie we'll go along on our plan just like before. To go to San Diego.

I looked back at Jessie and whispered to her, "Lets go."

She shook her head, "Brandon, I don't want to go."

I grabbed her hand comfortingly, "Listen to me, if we go with the dragon and if we do what she says for a while, we'll go back home. We'll keep going to San Diego just like before."

She was about to protest, "But there are more dragons at where she lives, I-"

I said to her with more honesty than ever before, "I'll protect you. If anyone tries to hurt you, I'll protect you." I know that I will.

Jessie stared at me for awhile and she finally slowly nodded in agreement. Then I looked at the black dragon who was sitting on her haunches waiting for us. The dragon said, "You done yet? Lets go outside." And she glared at us in accusation, "And if you try to run away from me again, I'll hurt you. And you might die next time, keep that in mind." She got off her haunches and walked away. We both trotted after her. Following close behind her.

This is pretty crazy! But we don't have a choice. We have to go with her.

She won't let us go, unless she trusts us.

I hope she doesn't change her mind and kills us.

I can't believe it, she's intelligent. Like a human.

I just hope the rest of her dragonkind is just as intelligent as she is.

More dragons....I can't believe it.

I can't believe this is happening to us.

Me, Jessie and the dragon were now outside the cave. It's nighttime, the crickets making loud noises as we entered the cool night.

The dragon whirled around to face us. She sat down on her haunches and gave us a mischievous grin, "Hope you two aren't afraid of flying."

I stared at her and then I decided to just beg, just to see if she'll change her mind, "Please...Let us go."

Jessie cried out, "Don't do this to us! Let us go! Please, don't do this!"

Then she reached down with her paws and snatched us both off the ground. We both cried out as she pulled us close to her chest. The dragon said, "Better hang on." Then she started to flap her wings and soon we were off the ground.

I gasped as we're off the ground. Holy crap, we're...Going to fly!

I hope I can handle this, I've never flown before.

Soon we were over the trees, and then the dragon with the burst of speed flew forward with me and Jessie in her paws. Jessie let out a high pitched scream as we flew fast, her hair blowing because of the wind. Meanwhile I was just quiet, looking down at the ground. My eyes went wide. We really are high. High in the night sky.

The dragon as she flew then let out a very loud roar over the lands, her roar echoing over the woods.

And we were off, on our way to where her kind lives.