The Dragon's Daughter

Chapter 13

Saturday 3:45 p.m.

WARNING: This chapter mentions the word "pedophile". It also discusses suicide but not in great detail. If you feel suicidal, please seek help. You can always call the national suicide hotline at (1-800-273-8255)

When we finally pulled into Main Beach parking lot, the ocean was as gray as the overcast afternoon sky. One thing they didn't advertise about the sunshine state is that it rains most every afternoon.

"What now?" Jess asked as Hector parked the car. The place was almost empty, but apparently, even a magical apocalypse couldn't fully separate man from beach.

"Let's head to the gazebos," I suggested, "never know when it'll start to pour."

There was a silent agreement, and we began walking, stopping at the first one we came to. I plopped down on one of the wooden benches lining the sides. The smell in the air was nothing less than divine. The ocean before a rain had always felt powerful, no magic required.

"So we just wait here for that dragon kid?" Hector rolled his eyes.

"Yeah." I shrugged. The idea made me nervous. We were literally sitting ducks if he decided to turn us over to whoever had kidnapped Sy. My eyes stung with tears at the thought of Sy, somewhere alone and afraid, waiting for help and we were all he had. Once upon a time, I could have counted on help from my father, but that was no longer the case. Perhaps that man had never loved me. Had only watched over me because I was something too dangerous to be turned loose in an unsuspecting world. I turned my head and pretended to watch the waves. I wiped at my eyes as though the saltwater was stinging them. And it was true as far as it went.

"My parents don't love me either," Hector's sympathetic voice came out of nowhere.

"What?" Jess pried.

"I'm just saying, it's a hell of a thing to find out when you first read minds."

There was heavy silence, and I turned my head to gape at him.

"I thought they cared, you know?" He shrugged. "In their own way. But my father just had kids because my mother wanted them. And my mother wanted them because they meant my father can't get rid of her without paying a lot of money."

"Wait. Wait. I thought you said your dad was out of town and your mom was on a cruise." Jess was trying to remember what he had told us when we first adopted him from by the side of the road.

"I lied." he shrugged. "I just didn't want you to call them because I couldn't stand reading their minds anymore. It was so awful. To hear how I was unwanted by the people who made me. A burden to them both. They buy me things to keep me out of their hair."

I had nothing to say to that. Nothing that would possibly console him. Part of me wasn't sure why I would even want to. By the look on Jess's face, she was stumped too.

"I hate brains so bad," Hector said, and he stood and began pacing.

Jess and I shared a glance. I felt for the first time that maybe I got why Hector acted out so much. Here I thought he was a kid who had it all.

"I thought you had it all," he told me, scoffing.

"Me!" I jerked at the absurdity.

"Yeah, you. Everybody always gave you so much attention cause of your disability. They were always so worried about you. Nobody ever worried about me like that."

I literally had no words. Did this moron actually want my life? Did he want all those surgeries and hospital stays? I had nothing to say to him. I turned back around to calm myself before I just started saying horrible things. Things that would have been wasted on him because he so clearly didn't get it. I closed my eyes and listened to the ocean, and I breathed. In. Out. In. Out. My self-soothing was interrupted by Hector's own chanting.