Animals in cages, dead things hung on walls, electric units hooked up to different things, experiments in those greenish water cylinders...

Cornelius, in dragon form, tied down to a large metal table, seemingly unconscious.

Avery, sitting in a metallic air tight cage away from all water, attached to an oxygen tank.

Cassie, in a wooden box.

A liger, on a leash sitting on a chair in a cage watching us carefully.

I screamed and looked back at Aaron who cringed. I went over to Cassie, breaking the wooden cage. I untied Cornelius who unshifted and fell to the ground crying. I smashed the lock on the metallic cage and saw Avery's wide eyed expression. She pulled the oxygen mask off and breathed in, falling to her knees.

I looked at the liger, who looked confused at me.

I didn't snap its leash because I didn't trust the vibe coming off of it in waves.

I turned around to see Aaron looking around at all the things in the room.

"This is what you call a holding room?!? It looks more like a torture room!" I yelled and he sighed, looking at the liger sitting on the chair in the front area of the room.

"This is my father's work. Not mine." He said, sighing once again.

"Aaron, is that you?" Someone shouted from behind a closed door.

A younger girl walked out, probably about 16 or 17, looking around the room.

"Andrea, you know father doesn't like you in here. It's dangerous." Aaron said sternly and she sighed, then looked at all the commotion I had caused.

"Who is she?" She questioned, looking at me with hard eyes.

"I'm Amanda, your brother's mate." I said, and looked at her more in depth. She did seem human, but there was something definitely off about her.

"Cool." She said, then looked at Aaron.

"Dad find me a stupid protector yet?" She questioned, obviously un-amused with the idea of having to be protected.

"You know he's only doing this because you're human right?" He questioned and she sighed, looking at me.

"What makes you so special?" She sneered and I groaned internally. This girl was going to be an in-law.

"She's... different." Aaron said, and I smiled.

"I'm like Kathy, your cousin." I said, shifting invisible. I went over to a book and picked it up, walking over to her.

"That's interesting. There is only supposed to be like, one of her in a millennia, but two... That's odd." She said, and I looked at her funnily. She must know a lot, being a human stuck in our messed up world.

"May I see your hand?" I questioned, then looked at Aaron for approval. Avery stood up, coughing.

"Sure..?" She said, and I went over to her slowly, feeling her aura.

It was strange. Everything about her seemed abnormal, but she wasn't showing anything of the sorts.

"You're not human... Your aura says differently than what you appear to be.." I said, getting a feel for the air. I had picked this gift up from an old wizard that used to live at the dorm way back when.

"If my aura says differently, then how come I'm not different?" She questioned angrily, ripping her hand away from me.

"I believe you need to see one of the elders in my old cave town." Cornelius spoke out, looking at us standing around.

Avery shot water at Aaron who froze it mid air. He gave her a 'don't-do-that-again-or-I'll-throw-you' look and she cowered slightly. I walked over to Cassie who stood up and grabbed the electricity from the air.

"She might need a jump start. Like a dead car." She said, getting ready to fry Andrea. I grabbed her hand, powering her down.

"That could kill her." I said, then looked at Cornelius.

"Where's this village you speak of?" Aaron questioned and I looked at Cornelius with curiosity.

"Where the mountains all form a circle around a small village." He said and I knew where he was talking about.

"You mean the dragon village? Near Samantha Benever's old town? The shapeshifter who didn't know how to stand up for herself?" I questioned and Aaron looked at me sideways.

"Yes, that place." Cornelius said and I sighed.

"Fine. I guess that's where we are going to go. You need your powers so you don't need to be protected." I said and she glared at me.

"Why would you care anyways?" She questioned and I turned, looking her right in the eye. Aaron put his hand on my shoulder before I could do anything.

"She cares about you because I care about you. We're family, whether you agree or not." Aaron said and she sighed, knowing Aaron was right. But that wasn't what I was going to say. I wasn't actually going to say anything. I was going to shift into a massif beast and scare the crap out of her so she'd stop being stupid.

"Okay, let's go then." I said, grabbing Aaron's hand and dragging him along with me outside the room.

He didn't seem to mind me dragging him around so I continued until we were outside. Avery and Cornelius were walking closely, their shoulders touching and their hand intertwined. I sighed, and looked at Aaron. He seemed quite concerned about this little trip but I didn't give it a second thought. We were going, and that was final.

Cornelius shifted and Avery climbed on, along with Cassie. They flew up into the sky and led the way. Aaron signaled his driver to come to us and Andrea and I hopped inside. Aaron sat in the passenger seat and we took off after my friends.