The Dragon Hunter- and the Lost Soul -

Chapter 3

After what seemed like several hours, Amanda woke suddenly to the sound of her alarm clock. She rolled over to look at the time, only to realise the sound had stopped and the alarm wasn't even switched on.

She stared at the time for a moment, which clearly showed that it was 12:00 in the morning. Slowly sitting up, Amanda rubbed her eyes and stretched slightly. It was weird, she found, to have woken up exactly at 12 on the dot, with the vague sound of an alarm going off in her head.

Shrugging it off, she lay down again, rolling over to face the wide, open window. She wanted to get back to her dream before it completely slipped from her memory.

Just as she was drifting off, she rolled over again, trying to get comfortable. It took her a while to notice the clock on her desk once more, which clearly said 11:47pm now.

She lay there, her eyes drifting slightly until she was suddenly hit with realisation. Startled with alarm, she quickly sat up. It was absolutely absurd but it seemed her clock had gone back in time.

Amanda was so confused as to what could've happened, that the idea of a simple malfunction slipped her mind.

It would explain the alarm she heard and the changing of the time.

She rubbed her eyes, tired and exhausted.

I'll have to ask dad to fix it in the morning, she thought, slowly walking back to her bed, yawning as she went.

It was later on when she woke again.

The sun was only just awake, so she knew it was actually the right time to wake up now.

Hopping out of bed, she got changed before heading down for breakfast.

It was a while later when her mum and dad came from their room as well, walking towards the kitchen.

Her mum sat down opposite her daughter, as she reached for a bowl and cornflakes.

"Where's Robbie?" She asked, looking about the dining room.

"Still asleep," Amanda remarked, spooning another lot of cereal into her mouth. Then she changed the topic. "When did you get back last night?"

"Way after you went to bed," she replied as her husband came and sat beside her, bringing the milk from the fridge. "You went to sleep really early last night. Dad was going to get you to wash the dishes, but realised you'd gone to bed," she continued, laughing slightly.

Her dad suddenly let out a sign of annoyance. "Can someone get that boy out of bed, he doesn't get to sleep all day."

"Dad chill. It's like only 6am, give him a minuet."

He grunted, sitting down next to his wife as he poured himself his own bowl of cereal. "Yeah, well a minuet is all he's getting."

Ignoring him, Amanda jumped into her own story. "Oh, I almost forgot," she began, "my alarm clock was doing the craziest shit last night."

"Excuse me?" Her mother exclaimed rather suddenly.

Amanda shot a hand over her mouth, realising she'd just sworn in front of her parents.

"Umm, well... er..."

Her father rose from the table, attempting to ignore the situation. "Alright, his minuet is up," he announced as he stormed towards Robbie's room. 

The room fell silent for a minuet, Amanda half expecting to get a lecture from her mother, but thankfully, she didn't press the matter. 

"So, what's this about your clock?" Her mum asked, pretending nothing had happened. 

Amanda eyed her for a second before responding just to be sure she wasn't about to get her head bitten off. 

"I'm not sure. It was doing weird things last night."

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Weird things?"

Amanda shook her head. "I'm not sure how to explain. I woke up exactly at 12am this morning because I thought I'd heard my alarm going off, but when I checked the clock and my alarm wasn't even switched on."

"Weird."

Amanda scoffed. "That's not all. About half an hour later, just as I was about to get back to sleep, I glanced over at the clock again, and it said it was 11:47pm! It's like it jumped back in time somehow."

Amanda's mum scratched her head, quite confused. "I'm sure you were either getting the order you woke up wrong, or maybe the clock reset over night."

"Option one doesn't explain the alarm I heard at 12am though."

"True. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. You've had that alarm clock for years now. It was bound to have something go wrong with it eventually."

"Yeah, I guess so," she replied, trying desperately to ignore the unreasonable concern building up inside her.

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That night, after having having dinner, Amanda found herself standing by her bedroom window again, feeling the same urge to explore as she'd felt the night before.

It was like her mind and her heart were fighting with each other. One; desperate for fresh air and freedom, while the other attempted to straighten her mind and get rid of the feeling.

Amanda sided with her mind but felt sick disagreeing with her heart. It was the first time she'd experienced this kind of internal battle before.

But it wasn't to be the last...