119 The dragon (1/2)

”Huh... Wha- What happened...?”

A woman of the age of fifty suddenly woke up in the middle of an empty dark area while tied up to a chair by what appeared to be some kind of rope drenched in the color of green.

”What the... What's going on...?”

She was wearing a dark blue suit, her favorite clothing choice to teach at school, and had long black hair that reached all the way to her shoulders. She used to like having long hair since it seemed to be really popular among her students, but after seeing her daughter enjoying her short hair so much and thinking about how much easier it would be to take care of it, she was starting to consider cutting it as well.

”Hello?? Anyone there??”

She was planning to go home earlier to meet with her daughter so that the two could go to a salon together, but once she arrived she found her whole place completely destroyed while her daughter's maid was laying on the floor with red marks on her neck and talking to a young girl with very strange eyes.

”HEEEEY!! ANYONE?? HELLOOOO!!!”

She remembers the girl pouncing on her for some reason while talking about sticks or something and before she realized, she had lost her consciousness and woken up in this strange place.

”What are these things?? Are... Are these vines???”

The place was very wide but completely filled with darkness all around her, with the exception of one source of light aiming right from above her head, literally putting her in the spotlight. She tried to free herself but someone had tied her up too tightly.

”Evlin?? Detra??”

”Shhh... Stop yelling...” answered what appeared to be a girl somewhere close by.

”!!??”

For a moment the woman started to assume she was all alone but suddenly she heard a voice coming out of the darkness. It was the same voice she heard before being knocked out in her apartment.

”You!!”

”Hello, stick-momma...”

It was the girl from before, a young child who seemed to be about twelve with black hair tied up in twin ponytails. She was covered in some kind of red robe as if she was about to take a shower. Her skin appeared to be black but for some reason, it was possible to see her veins and they had a soft tone of green.

On top of that, her eyes were glowing in the color green. The woman could swear that the girl had dual-colored eyes before, but now, both of them were drenched in green, much like the vines tying her up and the veins crawling up her skin.

”Who... Who are you...?”

”... Me...? That's a good question, to be honest... I've lived for so long and have changed so much over time that I'm honestly starting to forget who I even was to begin with... It's one of the downsides of being unable to age I guess...”

The girl answered while holding her chin but the woman in a suit just looked lost.

”What...? I don't... I don't understand what you're talking about...”

”It's fine... Your role is not about understanding anything... It's about being the prize.”

”The prize...?”

The girl smiled and continued to talk while raising her arms.

”Yeap! You see... We are playing a game of make-belief right now... You're the captured princess, and I'm the big bad dragon that needs to be defeated so you can be free... And at this moment... Your role is to wait for the hero dressed in shining armor to come and save you!”

”The hero...? What hero?”

”You can call her by any name you want, your cute little daughter, the crossbow girl, the recreation girl, the mage girl, or, and this is my favorite one, the stick-girl!”

”My daughter?”

The woman started to think about her two daughters and tried to guess which one this weird girl was talking about. Considering that she had come to her house and she was talking with her maid, she assumed that there was only one option.

”Evlin...? You know Evlin??”

”Kinda... I know who she used to be... But she changed... She became normal, weak, bland... I want to bring her back to her former glory... The way she used to be when she lived in my world!”

Once again the woman just felt lost. She then noticed that the girl had taken out a phone during her speech and was playing with it.

”By the way, the video of her fighting on the streets that leaked int the internet is getting a lot of views! You wanna see it?”

So many things were confusing this simple school teacher right now. She tried to reason with the girl while still trying to make sense of the situation.

”You said your world...? I don't understand what's going on or what you're talking about but please just let me go... If you want money or something I can just give you... Just please-”

”I don't want money... I don't need money... I need something that only your brat can give me...”

”Wha... What...?”

”I want her power... And you and the rest of your family will help me get that.”

The woman then suddenly started to shake in fear after hearing these words. She didn't know why a little girl was scaring her so much but something about her just seemed wrong.

”What do you mean... The rest of my family?”

The girl snapped her fingers and two figures dropped right in front of the woman also tied up by vines. A woman who appeared to be in her early thirties wearing glasses with long black hair just like her, and a man with brown hair and a beard. Her daughter and her son-in-law.

”Ashley!! Carlos!!”