The Last Dragon Prince: A Dark Fairy Tale
Chapter 1

Jericho’s POV

“Oh, baby, I missed you,” Nichole says as she throws her arms around my neck and kisses me the moment she sees I'm in the hallway. She is always ready to put on a show for all eyes to see; to make her look more important than she really is.

I let her kiss me, but I don't kiss her back. I don’t really know why I am with Nichole; maybe it’s just convenience. I thought I liked her when we were younger. Back when she was kind and happy… But now… She is a spoiled, rich brat and she treats everyone like trash. Its all because she has daddy's money. I don’t even like her anymore. And I completely loathe her attitude.

Is this really what I want?

I look down at her. She has bleach blond hair pulled back in a perfect ponytail, and blue eyes that I’m pretty sure are just colored contacts. Her lips are painted cherry red and her makeup is way overdone. Her perfume burns my nose. Her clothes are a tight and low cut dress. I didn’t even think this made it in the school's regulations.

I am one-hundred percent sure I could pick any other girl in this entire school, and she would treat me much better than Nichole ever has.

This pretty princess treats me like an object she can show off around school, but doesn’t give a crap about what it is I want or how I feel.

So I ask myself again… Is this really what I want?

I am about a half second away from breaking it off with her when I notice something scurrying across the other side of the hallway. Or, should I say someone?

I haven’t seen her before, but from her reaction to Nichole, I’m guessing it’s just because I either haven’t been paying attention, or the fact that Nichole hangs on my arm like a monkey, she’s made her best attempt at avoiding her like the plague.

She would be really pretty, if she didn’t have a slightly sickly look about her.

I take a deep breath, and I can breathe in her sickness. She doesn’t have much longer to live… I wonder if she knows she will be gone in less than a month…

That thought cuts like a knife through my heart. Why isn't she at a hospital? How come she is in school when she should be getting treatments? I know it is expensive, but it would at least ease her pain!

I don’t know this girl, but there this gravitational pull I feel for her. It's a feeling I’ve never felt before, for any other person … I feel like I need to protect this girl; to care for her… To love her… To SAVE her.

Nichole looks over to see what’s caught my attention, and she smirks like she has found something to amuse her now, besides me.

“Watch this, baby,” she coos at me.

Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard. There really is nothing appealing about this girl other than she used to be my friend, and she told me I should date her because she is head cheerleader and I am on the football team.

Little does she know, I’m on the football team to keep all my pent up energy from getting out of control. I can’t tell anyone what I am, but I can pound out all of my frustration on the field and not get in trouble for it.

The only one who knows what I am is Erik, my guardian. He gave me the whole story of who and what I am, and why I am cursed to grow up without my family. It sucks, but there was nothing I could do about it back then or even now. I was only a baby when this all went down, after all. What could I do?

I don’t have the power to resurrect the entire population of dragons. All I can do is live my life the best I can, just like my father sent me away to do. So I guard my secret with my life.

“Heidi,” she calls across the hall to the poor thing trying her best to remain hidden among the other students lounging around in the hallways. I have a feeling if she had the ability to turn invisible, she would do it right now!

The girl came to a sudden stop and held still as a statue. I can hear her heart rate picking up like a mouse trapped by a cat. Her breath is coming out in short pants, and her body is visibly shaking like a leaf in a gale.

Heidi… It’s cute.

Why have I never seen her before?

“Nichole, leave her alone,” I growl.

I know exactly what Nichole is playing at. She can’t stand the attention to be off her for more than a second, and if anyone does manage to steal the spotlight from her, she will punish them for it.

This girl is seriously mental! Like, she definitely needs professional help, kinda nuts!

She saunters over to Heidi, who hasn’t moved a muscle since Nichole called out to her.

And then she slaps the girl across the face, making her fall and cry out in pain. The funny thing is, that I could feel the girl's pain as if it was my own. I guess it’s not funny, exactly, but more… Surprising.

And now I am seeing red! Literally! Heidi has blood dripping down her forehead and from her lips.

That’s it! I can’t take it any more! I’m done turning a blind eye to this psychopath!

“We’re done, Nichole. I never want to see your ugly face ever again. I am so sick of you treating people like trash. You are such a spoiled daddy's girl! I have no idea why you think you are so important, because you are not! You’re just an attention seeking little wench,” I growl out in her face.

Her entire face turns pale. The look of disbelief is purely priceless! Has no one ever put her in her place before? Well, I am happy to oblige.

“But- but- Jerry…” she whines.

“Get over yourself, Nichole. The only reason I haven’t smacked you across the hallway, just like you did to her, is because I don’t like hitting girls. But I swear, if you ever do that again, I won’t be responsible if you end up in a coma!” I shout at her.

I hear her whimpering and begging me, for what I have no idea, because my full attention is on Heidi, who is sprawled out on the hard shiny floor, with blood dripping down her face.

I don’t know what came over me, but I pick her up in my arms and gently rock her back and forth. Her touch seems to calm the storm raging in my system. It’s like she has a magical touch. I crave it; ache for it.. I need more of it.

This close to her, I can smell the putrid stench of decay that is quickly consuming this beautiful body. I can’t let that happen! I need to protect her… And I know I have the power to save her… I just can’t do this in front of an audience.

“Are you okay?” I ask softly.

She looks up at me with deep brown eyes... Eyes that are slowly being drained of life. Her pretty face is pale and covered in cute little freckles that stand out against her skin.

I run my hands through her limp blond locks at the back of her head, looking for damage. And then I find it.

She winces as I delicately trace the painful bulge. A large knot in the back of her head. It’s where the poison that is slowly killing her is spreading from.

She nods her head looking into my eyes. I’ve never seen something so sad.

“Th-thank- y-you,” she stumbles on her words. Her voice is light and airy. I could listen to her voice for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

“Would you like me to take you to the nurse?” I ask. I really think she should be looked at. Her cheek is swollen where Nichole hit her, and blood is leaking from her head and the dried and cracked lips…

Lips that make me wonder what they would look like after I kissed them... My thoughts are thrown on a completely different path than what I had originally intended. It’s funny how this girl can completely derail my train of thought, and she has only said two words to me.

This pounding in my heart won’t calm down until I know she is safe.

Vaguely I hear Nicholes' annoying voice screaming at me, but I pay her no mind. She is not important. Definitely not as important as this small girl still cradled in my arms.

“I- I’m okay,” she tries to smile up at me, but winces in pain as her lips pull tight, causing more blood to spill down her lip.

I shake my head down at her. I feel like I'm a parent about to chastise my child, telling my toddler not to touch the stove or they will burn their fingers. She needs someone to take care of her, even if it’s to protect her from her own low self worth.

“No, you aren’t. I’m taking you to see the nurse, and then I’ll walk you to class,” I insist.

I stand up with her still in my arms, like I am carrying a small baby. She is so small, she doesn’t seem to weigh anything at all. Does anybody feed this poor girl? I wonder grumpily.

People stop and stare as I stomp my way to the nurses office. I can hear the whispers, wondering how Nichole will take this, but I don’t really care. I could care less about what she thinks. She doesn’t control me, and I’ve never really cared about what she wants.

I finally push through the door to the nurses office. I don’t wait for anyone to come, I just call out. “A little help please?” I bellow.

A short, plump woman scurries out from behind a door and rushes up to me.

“Oh, my. What happened?” her grandmotherly demeanor soothes my frayed nerves. Surely she will be able to help me take care of Heidi.

“Nichole slapped her and she fell and hit her head. She has a bump on her head…” I rush to fill her in. As soon as I can give the quick overview, the faster we can take care of her.

“Oh, you poor dear. Hold on a moment, I’ll get you an ice pack, and a ChapStick for your lips,” the nurse said over her shoulder to a little freezer in the back.

I sit down with Heidi in my arms and wait.

Just having her in my arms seems to calm my racing heart. In fact all thoughts of Nichole being her usually needy, show off self, are completely replaced by this small bundle in my arms.

“I’m so sorry about Nichole,” I whisper.

She shakes her head. “It’s not your fault. She… well,.. I’m used to it…” she trails off.

“There is no reason for you to be “used to it!” “ I insist. “Don’t worry, though. I won’t let her hurt you anymore!”

The nurse returns with a small tube of a lip balm she hands to Heidi and hands me the ice pack.

“Thank you,” I say to the nurse.

“No problem, hun. You take care of this one here!” she says with a wink.

After a few minutes of holding the ice to her face and switching it to the back of her head, I lean into whisper in her ear.

“Do you know you are sick?” I ask.

She nods and tears fall down her pretty face. “I think my parents can’t wait for me to die… “ her voice breaks off in a crack.

“That can’t be true!” I can’t even explain the anger that explodes in my heart. How can a parent be so heartless?

She just gives a small nod. “They don’t want me,” she tells me in a small voice, and now my heart is completely shattered.

I look around the room and realize this is not the place to have this discussion, so I will have to wait. But I won’t be able to wait long… I can’t if I want her to live.

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