Chapter 15: Of Haunted Cats and Magic Lakes

Five teenagers, an old man, and an ugly dog walking into a Starbucks in New York City.

In all likelihood, it was probably a very strange sight to see.

The sight most likely got a little stranger yet when the dog proceeded to stand up on two legs and order a frappuccino.

"Yes I'll have a mocha frappe please, hold the whipped cream," Fu Dog gave his order to the slightly frightened young woman behind the counter. "I'm trying to put off a few pounds," he patted his belly.

"I don't think Starbucks is going to help that, mate," Fred stepped aside along with Fu Dog.

"Oh boy what do I want?" Spud tapped his finger against his chin. "There are like…so many choices…I don't know what to choose."

"Seriously, Spud," Jake folded his arms across his chest. "What do you usually get?"

"Oh!" The variety of foods behind the counter stole his attention immediately. "I'll just have that brownie!" Spud pointed to the giant chocolate brownie behind the counter.

Spud handed her a five dollar bill and the lady gave him the brownie along with his change.

Once everyone had their coffee (or brownie), they pulled some extra chairs around a table and sat down.

They had chosen to come to Starbucks for two reasons. One, they all wanted coffee, and Starbucks had sounded really good! Jake, Rose, Trixie, and Spud hung out in this particular Starbucks all the time, and they thought that it would be a good place to go. The second reason was simply because they all wanted to get out of the shop for a change. After all, since none of their magical talk was a secret anymore, they could go talk wherever they wanted.

"So Jake," Rose broke the silence before taking a sip of her coffee, "you said you had something important to discuss with us?"

Jake's mind drifted back to the dream he had had the previous night. Even now, it seemed so real to him. The more he thought about it, the more he started to believe that it meant so much more.

"Well," he began slowly, "I had a really weird…dream…last night."

"No way, bro!" Spud cut in almost instantly. "I had a weird dream too!"

"Spud that's-"

"Want to hear about it?" Spud interrupted and proceeded in explaining his dream without giving anyone the chance to even answer the question.

"Okay, so…there was this haunted cat," he began ignoring the eye rolls coming from everyone else, "and it was wondering around on the streets of New York right outside my house. It was really starting to freak me out…So I killed it and buried it in the woods somewhere."

"But then," he held out his hands dramatically. "It came back to life! And it returned to wander around outside my house. So I killed it again…and it came back again! And I killed it again…and again and again…and it just kept coming back! And then, at the end of the dream," he paused dramatically, "I woke up, and it was in my BED!"

After a moment of silence, Trixie spoke. "Spud…how did your mind EVER come up with THAT?"

"I don't know, I've had some pretty weird dreams before," Fu Dog came to his defense. "I once had a dream that I was being chased by a giant pair of nail clippers."

"That's pretty weird too," Jake smiled a little, "but I still think the zombie cat dream is pretty crazy."

"Jake! It's a HAUNTED cat…not a ZOMBIE cat," Spud corrected him.

"Okay," Rose interrupted, "now that everyone has had a chance to share their weirdest dreams, can we please hear about Jake's dream?"

Everyone became silent and turned their attention to Jake.

"Okay," Jake began. "So there was this girl with long black hair, and I couldn't see her face. She had Chang's necklace. The time turner thingy. And she threw it into a lake."

"That's…that's it?" Fu Dog asked.

"Dude, that is SO not cooler than my haunted cat dream," Spud added.

"I don't think you guys understand," Jake replied, slightly frustrated. "It was so detailed. I could tell you every single little detail about it. It was nowhere near as vague as most of my dreams…it almost seemed like a…a…"

"Premonition," Lao Shi finished for him.

Jake hesitated. "Is that possible, Gramps? Aren't oracles the only ones with the ability to do that?"

"Any creature or being of any sort with magical blood is capable of seeing visions of the past, present, and future," Lao Shi explained. "Oracles see common visions for the most part. Simple things in life good or bad, and occasionally, they make a prophecy."

"Typically, when a dragon has a vision, it holds a lot more meaning than when an oracle has a vision," Lao Shi continued to explain.

"Take Kara and Sara for example," Fu Dog cut in. "Most of the stuff they spit out is just silly stuff."

"Like that Trixie and I are going to tie the knot!" Spud blurted out.

An awkward silence followed his little outburst before Jake spoke. "Yeeeeeah," he said slowly. "Stuff like that. Anyway, Gramps," Jake motioned for him to continue.

"This dream of yours could have very well been a vision of great importance, young dragon," Lao Shi continued. "I strongly encourage you to keep an open mind and perhaps meditate on what it could mean."

Jake nodded as silence fell over the group once more. This matter was becoming more and more serious. Even members of the human world were beginning to pick up some sort of tension going on in the magical world. Jake had a feeling that this conflict, whether they win or lose, would be over within a matter of days.

"You know," Spud finally broke the silence, "I also had a dream that I raced Chuck Norris in a track meet and won."

XX

Chang took a look around at the creatures that consisted of her army. It was truly pathetic that with of their numbers, they still managed to let the American Dragon escape.

That was why she and Yanak had spent the last few days training up the army to become even better.

Her moment of victory was coming close, but she had to be patient. In order for her to succeed, she needed to make sure that nothing would stand in her way.

There was, however, one thing that had been bothering her for the past few days. Her necklace seemed to be missing.

She wasn't entirely sure at what point she had lost it, but she knew that she needed to get it back. She had a part of her army on the search for it, but something told her that it had somehow fallen into the possession of the enemy.

And if that was the case, she would need to get it back. Her life depended on it.

However, as she looked around the room at the army she had managed to build, the worry began to fade. Everything was going exactly as planned, and if it continued to be that way, she would get her necklace back.

The American Dragon would fall.

XX

Wow…I see they changed the review button…again. Lol. Sorry that this is a little on the short side.

Thanks again to everyone who has stuck with me on this one…I appreciate all of you readers and reviewers. :) I will update Insider before I update this again. Hopefully, and Insider update will be coming within the next two weeks. :D

Thanks again!

~ada