Chosen By The Dragon Kings novel Chapter 4

“Grandma, get up, we need to leave. They are going door to door,” I whisper, slipping my holey boots on my feet and quickly doing the laces. I pull my hair into a ponytail, so it doesn’t get in my face. Slipping my contacts in, I hear more screams coming from outside and people fighting.

“Come on, grandma get up,” I tell her, pulling on her arm. She shakes her head before pulling a small knife from the coffee table drawer into her lap. She looks up at me with a sad look on her face.

“Run, Elora. I won’t allow them to know. I will only slow you down. You need to leave without me,” she whispers. I looked at her, panicked. What is she talking about?

“No grandma, come on. We need to leave now,” I tell her, trying to get her to her feet. She shakes me off and shakes her head.

“I promised to keep you safe. I can’t if you don’t go now.”

“What are you talking about, grandma? Promised who?”

“Remember the stories, Elora. You need to remember the stories. Now run.”

“No, I am not leaving without you.” I tell her, feeling tears running down my face. Before someone bangs on the door so hard, I thought it was going to smash off its hinges.

“Please grandma, we have to go.”

“I love you, Elora,” my grandma whispers before raising the knife and slashing her own throat. I scream and clutch at her neck, trying to stem the bleeding.

“Run,” she gurgles out. Just as they kicked the door in, my hands coated in her blood. Adrenaline kicks in, and I take off out the back door, through the criss-crossed streets of the city. I start jumping fences and running up alleyways. My body screams at me as I throw myself over another fence to land in another alleyway.

I can hear the panicked screeches of people in the neighbouring streets. Running behind a dumpster, I quickly squat low, listening intently. I can hear a soft sobbing only to realize it was coming from me as hot tears run down my cheeks at what my grandmother just did. The images forever burnt into my memory.

I clamp my hand over my mouth, trying to stop the noises I am making, my breathing erratic. My heart is pounding so hard I can hear it. Looking over the dumpster, I duck back down behind the dumpster when I hear a man call out, pointing in my direction.

“You there! Stop!” I don’t listen; instead, I take off running. I run to the end of the alleyway to find it is blocked off by a building and a brick wall making it dead-end. I see a dumpster and climb up on it, trying to reach the fire escape ladder, my fingertips gripping the bottom run and I pull it towards me. Hearing someone crying behind the dumpster, I look down only to notice a little girl dressed in rags. I pull the ladder down and reach my hand down to her.