The Night It All Changed

"Born of dragon fire and witch's blood, the girl shall awaken with power that cuts across realms to save... or destroy."

It should've been just a prophecy...

But I should've known... god, I should've known...

****

AVA

You've probably heard about the shifter's tale.

For me, it was a bedtime story...

Until it became my reality.

"Listen, Ava—" My mother would start once my father left to scout the area where we had decided to lay our heads for the night.

Not that we were poor. No.

We were camping. Or so I thought.

"There are vampires. There are wolves. There are fairies, bear shifters, witches and many others. But the greatest amongst them all are the dragons."

I'd heard tales from my friends about tales their parents told them on camp trips, so to me, this was something to brag about.

Also, anything was better than staring into the night while trying not to starve to death.

The first few nights, I had listened with wide-eyed wonder, pelting questions at her.

Honestly, I was fascinated.

We were merely humans. Like most people, a small family of three.

Although I was the only child, I grew up knowing so much love and care I had no idea what loneliness was.

I lived as a disciplined child who attended a super expensive school on weekdays and a spoilt child who got whatever she wanted on the weekends.

But Sundays were different—

Bad different.

We were atheists, yet my parents made sure we regularly attended the first church mass. I mean, it was obvious they had no idea what they were doing.

Still, it was a ritual.

My mother would stare at me with some sort of longing, tears spilling from her eyes as she desperately prayed.

Why was Mum crying? Why won’t they tell me what’s going on?

I'd clutch my father’s hand harder. My face scrunched up, with a sad pout on my lips as I watched him mirror her worry.

He was a strong and hard man, yet he'd stand still, glaring at the giant statue like he was threatening him to give answers to his greatest desires.

Back then, I had no suspicions. I could only see a mixture of what I'd come to understand as desperation and fear in their eyes.

But now, I was sure of one thing:

Whatever they were scared of—

It had begun.

By the fourth day, the magic of the storytelling had begun to fade.

I no longer cared about the details of shifting forms and heightened senses. They blurred with the lines of familiarity.

Each day, my responses became shorter, and sometimes I even found myself mouthing the words along.

So it wasn't a surprise when her misty eyes met mine on the seventh day.

"Today Ava, I'm going to tell you something different. It's about hybrids. The powerful ones formed from the combination of two or more supernaturals."

Tuning her voice out, my gaze drifted to the forest lines beyond the firelight. Once again, my father had left hours ago, and he was yet to return.

Since it was her only cue to end this torture, I knew we'd be going at it for a while.

"These hybrids are stronger than normal supernaturals..." she continued. "...wanted by both the humans and shifters. The last one was born a thousand years ago, and it nearly destroyed an entire continent. Ava, are you listening?"

I jerked at the sound of my name.

"Please..." she said softly. "Please listen attentively."

How could I?

I was tired. Fed up with whatever this was.

A week ago, I had fallen asleep with a smile on my face, replaying the expensive ninth birthday party they had thrown me.

I was going to bask in its glory the next day at school, but it was snatched away with just five words:

"Wake up baby. We're leaving."

I just wanted to return home... to where it was comfortable... to my fr—

"Ava, are you listening to me?" Her desperate voice snapped me out of my thoughts again. "The prophecy says, another would be born but powers like that should stay hidden. For the betterment of everyone. Don't you think?"

I couldn't suppress my yawn as I asked instead.

"Mum, isn't Dad coming back?"

He never stayed this long.

She paused, glancing in the opposite direction before pulling on a tight smile.

"Soon. He went to get us something to...

To what?

I waited. "Mu—"

"Shh!"

Her gaze became distant, her lips moving silently... rapidly, but I couldn't hear what it was.

It wasn't until a deer sprinted by a few seconds later that her shoulders relaxed, and if I noticed the way her eyes glazed over from a bright blue to their usual brown,

I didn't say a word.

Like I also never questioned why my father  returned every night, with freshly roasted meat and the metallic stench of blood reeking all over him.

I was trying to be patient, but I couldn't ignore the overpowering chill that gripped my heart every time her lips began to move and the colour of her eyes changed.

Do they think I do not notice?

How she does this everytime we settle for the night, and as soon as we pack up the next morning?

I was a child, not a fool.

Even I knew it was absurd to leave a perfectly fine and luxurious life in the city only to start living like fugitives in the woods.

Yet, I never said a word.

After a while, she breathed deeply, then turned to me.

"Did you feel that too?"

There was hope in her eyes. Another thing she did that confused me.

Apart from being bored and tired, I didn't understand what exactly I was to feel, but she had said those words to me more times than I could count since we left home.

Her eyes would sparkle with excitement and fear... like she was waiting for something good... something new.

A piece of news that would make her happy but destroy her entire world at the same time.

Still, my reply was always no.

And as usual, my lips parted to crush her hope when I felt it—

A surge of unexplainable heat... spread through my veins, burning me up from inside. It shouldn't be a surprise.

I was always warm despite living in Australia's coldest parts.

But this was different.

I yanked off my jacket, wanting relief from the cool air.

"Ava?"

Was this what she meant? What expected me to feel?

Before I could ask, swirls of different colours burst into the air, branching into a thousand emotions.

I gasped as they hit me all at once, clutching at my chest.

What was this? What is wrong with me?

The rush of emotions... Grief. Anger. Joy.

They felt ancient... foreign... random. It was like a bunch of people were talking in my head all at once.

Were they all mine?

Meeting my mother's worried gaze. I realised:

No. They weren't. At least not most of them.

The lines of disappointment... I could see them wound tightly around her.

She already concluded it was the same.

"It's okay, baby. Give it some more time. It will come."

More time for what?

Her heart was racing, pounding dramatically against her chest. A big contrast to the calmness on her face.

I could taste her fear in the air.

"Mum... are you alright?"

It skipped a beat and she glanced away for a second.

"Yes, baby. Why won't I be?"

Lie.

"And Dad?" I pressed.

"He went to get us food. He'd be back soon."

Another lie.

I didn't notice before, but she was anxious.

What was really happening?

Most importantly, how am I able to know this?

My eyes flickered to the subtle tremor in her hands. The way her voice catches slightly when she speaks. The unnatural brightness of her eyes, that I didn't see before.

My god.

It wasn't just fear. It was terror.

Her heart was screaming at me. Begging me to be safe.

But from what?

I shouldn't have asked. Because at that precise moment, the air shifted.

And this time, I was the first to freeze.

Her lips began to move again as her eyes frantically darted around. Unlike the previous times, I could hear the words...

No. Not words.

A chant in a foreign language, yet I recognised it.

Protection.

What?

The forest was getting darker.

Protection.

Whatever was out there, it wasn't a deer.

Protection.

I could smell the stench of death.

Protec—

"Protection from what?" I yelled in confusion.

I couldn't hold back my curiosity any longer.

Her eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "Ava... You... you heard me?"

I gasped in disbelief. "That was you?"

The trees around began to rustle. Leaves began to rise... I could feel the ground shaking. As well as my courage.

My lips quivered, "Mum, what's happening?"

"You're fine, Ava. Just... Sh*t. Where's Timothy? I can't... I can't do this alone..."

She was fighting back tears just like I was.

And as if hearing my father's name was the trigger, my breath hitched.

"He's... here."

I choked out. My eyes trained on the sight a hundred yards away from us.

He was fast. His gaze, wild.

And he was getting closer at a maddening speed.

But there was something else.

Something he didn't need to say because I saw them in his rabid eyes.

Yet, in a low, shaky voice, he whispered,

"Run."