It was a normal day in New York City. Also loud. It was obnoxiously loud. Earlier in the day, there were several car wrecks that blocked many of the main roads. It was the only thing my classmates at school would talk about. Strangely, each of the crashes involved a black 2017 Hummer H4, the newest model. “Maybe the cars were faulty in some way,” said my best friend Layla as we walked home from school. I couldn’t have cared less, so I just shrugged her off and kept walking. A few minutes later we arrived at her house, and I continued home on my own.

Because nearly all of the roads were overcrowded, I had to take a lot of back alleys to get to my street. I walked past overfilled dumpsters, abandoned boxes and papers, and the occasional homeless person. Gross. I was in the middle of an alley a few minutes from my house when a car pulled in front of the exit ahead, cutting me off. “Rude,” I thought to myself as I turned around to find another route. But the way I had come from had been blocked by a car as well. There was no way out. I was puzzled by the sudden appearance of the vehicles, but then I noticed something about the cars: they were both black 2017 Hummer H4’s, the same cars that caused the accidents, blocked the roads, and forced me to take this obscure route home, only to be boxed in by the same kind of cars. My blood ran cold. It seemed too intentional to be a coincidence.

Things were getting really bad really fast. Out of each car, three men got out and started walking towards me. And these weren't small guys either. Oh no, these guys looked like they belonged in the secret service or something with matching suits, dark sunglasses, and grim, determined expressions. I backed against a wall, but there was nowhere to go. There was no way I could fight past six grown men. I reached into my pocket for my phone to call for help, but before I could, a thick hand wrapped around my wrist and hoisted me into the air until my toes barely touched the ground.

There was a seventh man behind me, having materialized out of nowhere, now holding me in the air like I weighed nothing more than a doll. The man had a squarish head with beady eyes and a large mouth that was pulled back into a wicked sneer. He was also dressed a bit differently than the others: his suit was darker colored, his hair was slicked back, and he had a gold tooth in his mouth.

I tried to pry myself from his grasp, but he had a steel grip on me. It felt like he was cutting off the circulation to my arm. I could hardly move my fingers. He reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and smashed it onto the ground, where it shattered into a million pieces.

  The other men had now surrounded us. Even if I had been able to break free of this one guy’s freakishly strong grip, I wouldn’t get very far. “Is this the one, boss?” and one of the men in a raspy voice. The guy holding me pulled a device from his coat and held it up to my face. It looked like an old-fashioned cell phone with a screen on it. As it got close to me, it started beeping wildly, like some sort of alarm clock that had ten expressos too many. Three words began flashing on the screen, two of which were a name. My name.

KIRA MITH LOCATED

“This is definitely her,” the man said, tightening his grip even more. My brain kicked into overdrive. They were here for me. I could feel my heart racing. I had to get out of that alley. Now.

Looking back, I’m not sure how I did any of what I did. I had never taken any self-defense classes, so I didn’t know how to fight. It was like I was operating solely on some primal instinct. But nonetheless, it happened.

I kicked the guy holding me in the stomach as hard as I could. He immediately doubled over, loosening his grip just enough for me to pull free. I fell to my knees as two guys rushed at me while the others helped their boss. I quickly spun on my hands, stuck out my feet, and swept their legs out from under them. Using the momentum, I leaped back to my feet and took off towards the exit.

A third guy tried to grab my shirt sleeve, but I snatched his arm, twisted his hand, and threw him over my shoulder into a nearby dumpster with a loud crash. How I had been able to not only lift, but throw a fully grown man was beyond me, but at the time, I was also beyond the point of caring. I started sprinting towards the end of the alley, but I didn’t get three steps before I felt something sharp pierce my shoulder. I turned back to see where it had come from.

The boss of the group was kneeling on the ground with one hand still clutching his stomach where I kicked him. The other hand now held a silver pistol with smoke lazily drifting from the barrel. My eyes widened. I reached over my shoulder, scared that I would find a bullet, but what I pulled from my skin was worse. It was a small dart. Oh no. Suddenly, the world began to tilt. I fell to my knees, grasping for anything to support me. My vision spun. Then dimmed. Then darkened completely.
        *      *      *

“Are you sure this is her? She doesn’t look like much.” I moaned and turned my head towards the voice. My arms and legs felt as heavy as lead. I tried to stretch, only to find out they were tied down.

“I’m certain,” said a second voice, a woman's this time. “We scanned her DNA and found the dormant gene. This is the one we have been looking for.” I attempted to speak, but my mouth wouldn’t work right and all that came out was was a muddled groan.

“She’s waking up,” said the first voice. “We must begin before she regains full consciousness, otherwise the task will become even more arduous.” I opened my eyes, blinded by glaring fluorescent lights right above my face. I was strapped to a metal table in a small room with no windows and only one door. Around me, two scientists worked. The man checked multiple screens with data streaming on them at a speed that seemed way too fast for comprehension, while the woman filled a syringe with some clear liquid.

It all rushed back to me. The alleyway, the men, the fact that I had kicked some serious butt. I struggled to break free but to no avail. Whatever the straps were made of, it was strong. The scientists noticed my movement and quickly rushed to my side.

“Where am I? Who are you people?” I asked them, my voice bordering on panicked. The male scientist grumbled something I couldn't hear and turned to the woman.

“We don’t have any more time, Sylvia. We’ll have to do it now,” he said quickly. The woman, Sylvia’s, face shifted to terror.

“But that is extremely dangerous,” she shouted. “The results could be catastrophic. We need to proceed with caution and -”

“I don’t care!” the man cut her off, screaming in her face. “If we wish to keep our lives, we need to complete the procedure now!”

“Do what?” I yelled from my position on the table. “What are you two talking about? Let me go!” The man shook his head in frustration and snatched the syringe from the woman’s hand. He grabbed my head and turned it away from him, exposing my neck. I struggled against him, but just like the men in the alley, he was freakishly strong. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him point the needle at me and jab forward.

“Maverick, no!” screamed Sylvia, but it was too late. The needle plunged into my neck, the contents of which were injected into my body. I shrieked in pain. It felt like there was liquid fire coursing through my veins. I thrashed my body back and forth, trying to escape. I could see the two scientists in a corner of the room several feet away. Sylvia seemed horrified at what was happening, but Maverick looked proud, even seeming to enjoy how much pain his actions were causing me.

But then I did something that caused the blood to drain from his face. With a sharp jerk, the restraints holding me down split with a loud snap. I rolled off the table to the floor, landing on all fours. My head reared back, and out came a roar, deep and primal, like a tiger’s roar multiplied in volume by ten.

Then I began to change, growing in size and shape. My clothes were completely shredded as I grew too large for them. My hands and feet morphed into claws and talons, my teeth became razor sharp, and when I turned to look at myself, large leathery wings and a long tail had sprouted from my back and tailbone. My new tail thrashed around the room, shattering glass cabinets and smashing the metal table behind me.

I stared at the broken glass at my feet, witnessing the change in my face. My mouth and nose fused together into a cat-like snout, horns grew just above my eyes, the latter narrowing until they were little more than two black slits on a blue background. Scales grew from my nose, down my neck, and across my skin until they covered my entire body.

Gradually, the change stopped, leaving me a confused pile of claws and scales writhing on the floor. The two scientists were still in the corner, exchanging terrified glances. I imagine they might have run sooner, only they had chosen to hid in the corner of the room opposite to the door with a large, scared dragon between them. Maverick was the first to make a move. He shoved Sylvia to the ground and make a break for the exit. But his plan had a flaw: his movement attracted my attention.

I turned in his direction a let loose a fiery breath from my mouth, hitting him in the middle of the back. He shrieked and rolled onto the floor, trying to smother the flames, but to no avail. He opened the door and took off down a hallway, his screams echoing through the corridor.

I turned my attention to Sylvia, who was still cowering on the floor. I walked towards her clumsily, trying to get the hang of my new appendages. “Okay, you are going to tell me what the heck am I doing here, where the heck here is, and what the heck you’ve done to me,” I said menacingly, my words coming out in loud growls. I didn’t actually want to hurt her (I still couldn’t believe what I did to Maverick), but I wanted to get the point across that I wanted answers, then and there.

“W-w-we’re in a top secret facility owned by Frost Enterprise located on a private island off the coast of Buffalo, New York,” she stuttered. “You were brought here because deep in your genetic code, you contained a recessive DNA strand we call the Draconian Code. It’s inherited from parent to child. Possessing this piece of DNA means that somewhere in your family tree, you have an ancestor who was a dragon. The formula that was injected into you was meant to, ahem, bring it to the surface.”

I had heard of Frost Enterprise. It was run by Herald Frost, who manufactured and sold a good portion of the technology in the world. Were they really behind all of this? But Sylvia wasn’t finished yet.

“Frost Enterprise has recently taken interest in this genetic code, mainly for the creation of a super soldier to sell to anyone who will pay. Maverick and I were brought in to perform the procedure and threatened for our lives, we had no choice. We were supposed to make other preparations before we attempted to extract your DNA, but Maverick got restless and injected you too early, resulting in your... mutation. I swear, if I had known what would have happened, I never would have-”

She was cut off by a blaring alarm coming from an overhead speaker. Maverick must have raised the alarm. “There isn’t much time,” Sylvia said quickly, rising to her feet. “They must not get the Draconian Code. If they do, they’ll be able to develop the ultimate army, who’ll they’ll then sell to the highest bidder, regardless of morals or reasons. If you can get through this wall and the other two behind it,” she gestured to the wall to the left of the doorway. “It should lead outside. Fair warning, we’re about five stories up, so I suggest you figure out how those wings work before it’s too late.”

“What about you?” I asked, panicking. So much information in so little time. Sylvia patted my neck gently.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll pretend you overpowered me and made your escape on your own. Now go!” she shoved me towards the wall. I nodded solemnly and turned back towards the wall. I lowered my head, tensed my legs, and charged.

The wall crumbled easily, but my momentum carried me through the other two as well. I had to reach out and grab the edge of the new hole to stop myself from plummeting five stories onto the unforgiving concrete below. As I hauled myself back into the building, I heard the footsteps of people running down the hall. Sure enough, a moment later ten soldiers armed with guns rounded the corner into the room with me.

They were dressed in all black, with a pin of the logo of Frost Enterprise on the bulletproof vests meant to protect them, and facemasks that obscured their details. But masks or not, I could tell they all had the same shocked expression on their face. They were distracted. It was my only chance.

Without a second thought, I leaped through the broken wall, wings fully extended. The wind buffeted me wildly, but it filled my wings and soon enough, I was gliding. At first, it was difficult as I tried to get the hang of steering and balance, but I soon found out that it was easier if I just went on instinct instead of trying too hard. So, without a single glance back, I beat my wings and flew away as fast as I could from that wretched building.

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