Helenmollybooks

“Is this where we’re supposed to be? I’m not sure if I want to do this,” Lucy said. Huo walked through the trees and joined up with the group.

As they continued, Lucy looked up at the sky, which was turning gray-black. The wind began to blow suddenly.

The gated mansion grew closer. As it did, the sky turned darker and darker.

“Y’know what, guys? I don’t think this is such a good idea. I’m going to head back. Maybe we should call this off and do it another-“

“You can,” Huo said. “I’ll go, I came here to get my father.” Lucy looked dimly horrified.

“No, are you crazy? There’s no way you can do that by yourself.”

She stopped them and pulled them from the gate.

“Huo, maybe you should just-“

“No, my father’s in trouble,” The young mage said firmly. “I have to help him. I left him here all alone when I ran away from here without realizing it.”

Lucy looked even more horrified.

“You escaped from this place?!” She knew vaguely from her coworkers that it was a horrible place where death and experimentation took place. The authorities had been trying to find it for years, yet they never could. How did we find it, then?

“Simon, are you hearing this? She escaped from here!” She said.

Simon was leaning over, somewhat in distress.

Lucy looked at him with some concern.

“What’s wrong?”

The mage looked more uncomfortable, almost bending down.

“I-I don’t know,” he said. “Something-

Huo noticed something troubling. A red streak was slowly climbing up Simon’s arm.

Suddenly, the shouts of men filled the area. Huo disappeared into the trees faster than Lucy saw them. The Phoenix let out a terrible screech, flying up. Great balls of fire welled up as fire surrounded the masked men in a ring. They tried to get out of the fire, but failed. They screamed as the fire burned them. Lucy looked around wildly, trying to understand what was going on. Then she understood and knew what she had to do. It was all a trap to take Huo back. I-I have to help, but how?

“Simon?” Lucy asked. Her next words were cut off as she saw his eyes turn from brown to red as he threw her towards the woods. The half-werewolf crawled towards a tree as he sent a burst of magic. It broke the fire ring, and one of the men threw a net in the air. The Phoenix burned it up and flew higher. It blasted fire at Simon, who fired a magic burst back, and a magic battle ensued.

Lucy had no idea what to do. She looked from Simon to the trees, then to the mansion. We were supposed to eport this place and walk away, but what were we thinking? What was I thinking? I barely knew anything about this place.

The masked men suddenly ran into the forest. After a few moments, they came out with Huo tightly in their arms. The young mage fought vigilantly but couldn’t break free. The men forced them onto their knees while one grabbed a knife.

“We got ‘er,” he said, twirling the knife in his fingers. “Boss wants us to end her ’cause she’ll spill all ‘ur secrets, and she’s a big ole’ threat.”

He motioned to his white masked companion.

“Take care of that one,” he said, pointing to Lucy. “Boss doesn’t want anyone knowing about us.”

“You got it.” The white-masked man ran over to her.

“Well, ‘itch, you gonna die today.” The half-werewolf looked from the man to Huo and knew she had to do something right now.

When the masked man moved in for the kill, Lucy spun right around and kicked the man full force in the face.

“What the-“

The werewolf bit him on the arm with full force. The man screamed in surprise. Puffing up her chest and baring her teeth, she ran towards the crowd of men. One saw her and tried to warn the others, but it was too late. Lucy let out a long and soulful howl as she let her werewolf form take hold.

She quickly transformed into a large, white-furred canine. Saliva dripped from her sharp teeth as she growled at the men. Many backed away immediately, but one with the knife stood foolishly.

“It’s ‘ust a werewolf, can kill em easily.” Right as he said that, Lucy jumped up. And closed her fangs around his neck.

Simon fell back, panting from exhaustion as he was surrounded by a fire ring. The Phoenix flew circles around him, watching him with beady eyes. It seemed to be pondering something. It started to raise its wings again. By the mansion, the doors opened again. A man in black stepped out.

Huo crawled towards the woods desperately. No, no, no. It’s him, it’s him. The man who did so many terrible things to me. The man smiled and walked towards the scene as calmly as ever.

“Ah, there you are. Experiment 340, the one who escaped months ago. Come looking for your father, haven’t you? That darkana minon couldn’t kill you after all.” Huo tried to speak but couldn’t.

“Well, since you found us, the offer still stands. Your father’s life hangs in the balance, and you are the only one who can stop it. So how about it?”

Huo stared, thoughts racing. Lucy paused from killing men, and looked up, her mouth rimmed with red. No matter what our history is, I’m not gonna let Huo into that place!

She ran over and growled at the man.

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” she said, teeth bared.

The man just rolled his eyes.

“Oh, what a bore, and a disappointment,” he said. The man turned towards Simon with a grin.

“Eliminate the experiment, won’t you? I’ve wasted enough time.” He started to walk back inside.

Simon slowly got up. His clothes were torn, revealing bruises and open cuts over his body. He began to walk over to Huo, who still sat stunned.

“I’ve got you now,” he said, his voice distorted. The mage’s eyes were red, saliva dripping from his mouth.

Huo backed up, fear paralyzing their entire body.

As Simon powered up his hand to throw the blast. But then it stopped.

Lucy looked around, confused. The Phoenix walked towards its mistress calmly.

Simon tried to throw his blast again, but he stopped again. There was a voice behind him.

“Remember me, Sebastian?”

 Phoenix threw a blast of fire at Simon, and he was thrown backwards. The man from the mansion stopped his pace, looking back in confusion. Then he felt himself knocked back as a figure punched him in the face.

“What in the-“ Then his expression turned fearful.

“How did you escape?” The man protested.

“You foolishly left the door wide open, and all your guards left. Did you think it would hold me forever?”

Huo felt the breath go out of them. No, it can’t be. How?

The figure came into the dim sunlight.

Dad?

“No, that’s impossible!” The man from the mansion snapped. “I poisoned you and left you to die!”

“Funny thing about that poison,” the great dragon of the north stated.

“I burned the effects away.” He looked sweaty and pale, stumbling a bit.

“And I can’t let you kill my daughter, either.”

He grabbed the man from the mansion by the throat.

“Kill him,” the man yelled. “Kill him!” Masked men ran with electric wands surrounding the two.

Lucy gaped in complete shock.

He’s real?

She ran towards the masked men quickly and started to make work of them.

Huo sat, trying to figure out the situation. All kinds of thoughts ran through their head. I can’t believe my father’s alive. I thought…I thought I would never see him again. We have so much to catch up on. I- Their thoughts broke off when they saw a flash of blue behind them.

Simon. The young mage took a deep breath and hit him as hard as they could. He fell backward, momentarily stunned. Huo ran towards their father, who looked like he didn’t have much time before the effects of the poison returned.

Lucy held her own against the men with electrical wands but was hit.

She fell to the side, twitching from the intense electricity. She managed to get up after a few moments and run away.

“Lucy!” Huo shouted, running towards her. “Help Simon! I’ll take care of this!”

The half-werewolf tried to protest.

“There’s no time! Go!” The half-dragon said.

Huo rushed towards their father, who still held the man from the mansion by the throat. But they could tell he was starting to grow weak.

Lucy managed to go to Simon, who was crawling towards Huo.

The half-werewolf hit him hard upside the head.

The impact managed to bring him to his senses for a moment.

“I-I can’t Lucy, I- it’s too strong-” Simon said, gasping.

“You have always been weak,” The distorted voice snapped.

Lucy took a deep breath and struck him with her paw.

Simon came back temporarily again.

“Y-you’ll have to kill me, Lucy. I can’t fight this for much longer.”

“I’m going to try something crazy. It’ll kill you or bring you back.“

Simon crammed his hands into his head, panting from the effort to stay in his body.

“Do it.” Lucy raised her paw towards his head.

Huo ran towards their father, who was starting to stumble. The man from the mansion began smiling again. He nodded towards one of the guards. The masked man swung his electric stick towards the great dragon of the north. It sizzled and cracked as it hit a sudden heat source, knocking it off balance.

“-hat? ‘ho’s that-” The man’s words were cut off as fire rushed towards him. He tried to run away but was shoved to the ground.

The man from the mansion desperately waved his arms at the guards.

“Kill them! Kill the experiment! Why are you hesitating?”

Huo sucked in a breath, remembering everything that Fashi had taught them as they surveyed the scene around.

Their father held the man from the mansion by the neck, but his grip grew weaker still. The guards were closing in every second.

Lucy sat by Simon’s form, her fur stained red with blood. She nodded to Huo. The Phoenix bowed towards its mistress and flew circles around the guards, distracting them.

“ey, ‘hat is go’in on? ‘hat is this ‘hing!”

It’s now or never, the half-dragon thought.

The young mage rubbed their hands, a big ball of fire emanating from it.

They looked up towards the mansion, remembering everything that had happened there. With an even bigger breath, the half-dragon threw the giant ball of fire into the air. Then they rolled out of the way. The great dragon of the north released his grip on the man from the mansion, jumping to the side with his daughter. The Phoenix flew out of the flame, ruffling its feathers.

There was a moment of silence. Then it all came crashing down.

The fire rained down on the man from the mansion and all the guards.

The man screamed as he tried to move out of the way. But it was far too late for that. His clothes caught fire, and he screamed obscenities. Huo looked away from the scene and crawled toward their father.

He looked horrible. Torn clothing, pale skin, sunken eyes.

But he reached towards his daughter and pulled her into his arms.

Huo froze for a moment at the contact but hugged him back tightly.

Lucy walked up, holding Simon in her mouth by his coat nape. She gently laid him down and transformed him back into a human. Then the half-werewolf noted the scene of the great dragon and his daughter. She smiled to herself and sat down not far away. The Phoenix bumped its head against Huo’s arm, making them look up. The great dragon of the north grinned.

“Looks like you found my bird,” he said. “He’s been looking for me for a while, but he found you first. He’s gotten pretty attached to you.” Huo smiled despite the circumstances.

“I found him at the Half Breed Club. I-I forgot that you even had a familiar, it’s been so long.” Then their eyes turned watery.

“Dad, I-I’m so sorry I left you here,” they said. “I-I was just so desperate to escape that I didn’t even think about it and-” The half-dragon was cut off by their father hugging them tighter.

“No, don’t apologize,” he said. “I’m glad you got out of there. I only got out because that monster left that door open, thinking that you’d fall for his trick, only to find out that I was already dead. But I’m not…not yet. I figured out how to combat the effects of…the damage.”

He coughed, letting his daughter go.

“I-I think I should get some…help,” he said, tilting to the side.

Huo helped him lie down and looked towards Lucy.

“Lucy, can you get him to the nearest hospital?” The half-werewolf nodded as she transformed again. Then she looked towards the man from the mansion. He was burnt to a crisp, smoking and smelling like burnt ash. Yet he was slowly crawling towards them, his gaze enough to kill.

“Should I kill him?” she asked, her teeth bared.

Huo shook their head.

“No, he’ll die in prison, where he belongs.”

Lucy hesitated but relented.

“You take Simon, I’ll take your father.”

A few hours later in Wind Street Hospital…

“You did what?!”

Huo put their hands up, trying to explain.

“Fashi-“

The mage looked dumbfounded as he and his apprentice stood outside the great dragon of the north’s hospital room.

“I-I don’t even know what to say,” Fashi said. “I wasn’t…I didn’t expect any of this to happen when you said you received a letter about your father.”

Huo put their hands down.

“I didn’t either.”

Fashi pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Then he smiled.

“I’m glad everything worked out, and you got your father back.”

Huo smiled, then walked closer to their master.

“Not without you, I wouldn’t have.” She wrapped her arms around him in a full-body hug. Fashi was stunned but hugged her back.

“I’m happy I’ve been able to be your master.”

In Room 43, the man from the mansion rolled around his bedsheets. It was painful, but that kept him in the moment. He looked towards the open door; determination set on his face. I’ll get outta here, sooner or later. And they’ll know. They’ll know it. He took note of Huo smiling with Fashi right outside in the hallway. Sebastian grinned. I’ll let you keep your peace now, Experiment 340. But that won’t last forever.