The Dragon King

Chapter Twenty Eight

Riverton

    Finally the bell rang signaling the end of another school day. Levi bolted from his seat, not paying attention to what his math teacher was going on about formulas, and headed straight for the front doors. He hated school. He had way to much to be worried about and focused on to pay attention in class, but Raven had insisted he continue to keep his mind off of what happened to Stella.

    He laid awake all night thinking of her. Every time he would shut his eyes, her dead image appeared more vivid then that last. He kept thinking about how nice she had been to help him regain his memory. How she was so willing to help him from the day they bumped into each other. How she was so quick to leaned a helping hand when he was too numb to deal with Elyssa that day. And now Stella was gone. He would never see her again.

    That lead his mind off onto a rabbit trail thinking about Elyssa. Wondering how she was doing. Was she still alive? Being air lifted to a different hospital was never a good sign. She had been a strange girl, that was for sure. Acting like she knew him, but did she? He could still recall the image of her in his mind, but he couldn't remember where he would've seen her at. Maybe before all of this nonsense happened.

    And then there was Raven. He couldn't help but notice how protective of that locked door in the kitchen she was. What was behind there? Something important? Something secret? Something that she didn't want anyone finding? Raven had seemed like such a nice girl the moment he met when he woke up in the hospital, but now she seemed... odd. Like she wasn't the same girl he had met a week ago.

    That's when a new thought struck him rendering him no sleep. What if Raven was hiding someone behind that locked door in the basement? Daniel had been the one to tell him that Elyssa was moved, but what if it was all a lie? What if the receptionist he had talked to was paid to tell him what she did? What if Elyssa was locked up behind that door, chained and in agony? It would explain why Raven was so protective over it.

    He laid staring at the ceiling the rest of the night formulating a plan to get behind that door.

    Levi burst through the double doors, and glanced around the front yard at the kids who piled around. He small hint of sadness washed over him when he didn't see Imani anywhere. But it was a good thing. He had told her to stay away, and at least she was.

    He lowered his head, and took off down the sidewalk to the Noble's house. He was thankful Daniel wasn't here. Daniel had been pretty worried when Levi told him this morning that he wanted to walk home alone. He knew the dangers out there. Someone was out to get him. That wasn't something he was taking lightly, but he couldn't handle being around people and possibly get them hurt too. No, for now on, he had to do everything alone.

    He walked down the sidewalk as cars passed by on his right. He remained with his head down, watching his feet as he walked, hoping that no one would notice him.

    He suddenly stopped and glanced to his left at the window of an antique shop. He squinted his eyes as he took a step closer. Through the reflection, he noticed a girl walking a few paces behind him on the opposite side of the street.

    He turned around to face his stalker as she adverted her gaze when he realized that it was Imani who was following him. His brow furrowed. What was she doing? "Imani!" He called out to her knowing she'd seen him look her way.

    Imani raised her head, and gazed at him as her shoulders sank. She looked both ways across the road before running across the pavement toward him. When she reached the other side, she lowered her head as her shoulders drew inward toward her chest. "Hi, Levi."