The Heart of the Dragon

By the time it was next Saturday morning around 9 am, Angie and her friends were up and ready to go as they met up with Jackson and his dad in front of their private jet at the airport with their bags. But alongside the two was a man Angie has never seen before, it was an older man dressed in a military uniform.

“Morning” Jackson’s father greeted them with smiles.

A man in his early 50′s with slight gray hairs in his dark roots, William Monroe looked exactly like he always does in his books. Dressed in proper hiking clothing, it appeared he stepped right out of his books.

“Hi, Mr. Monroe” Angie greeted back at her crush’s father.

“You all ready to go?”

“We sure are” she smiled while gripping the straps of her backpack.

“I see you all are dressed properly” Jackson observed their outfits.

She looked down at her clothes which consisted of a fitted purple shirt, a beige vest with pockets, denim shorts, and a pair of hiking ankle boots. Her blonde hair was also tied back into a low ponytail along with a simple charm bracelet on her wrist.

“Gotta be prepared right?” she replied as he nodded in agreement.

“Before we go, I’d like you all to meet my boss, Commander Mike Darabont. He’s the one who assigned this expedition.”

“Nice to meet you all” his boss smiled at the teens who smiled back “I hope you all are prepared for what’s to come.”

“I hope so” Tammy responded, “But we got some smart people here, so I think we’ll be fine.”

The commander gave a small chuckle before turning to Angie.

“You must be Angela Brighton” he pointed out as she nodded “I’ve heard about you and your struggle to make enough money for college. Well, I promise you, if this expedition succeeds, I will be glad to help you with that.”

“Yeah, Jackson told me about it” she replied with a smile, “And I really appreciate you trying to help.”

“I will be splitting the money with your friends” he put in “So don’t worry, they won’t be left out.”

“Wow,” Eli remarked surprised “Thank you, sir.”

“Now, as much as I would love to keep talking, you all should really get going.”

“He’s right” Mr. Monroe agreed “Come on, let’s get inside.”

After saying goodbye to Mr. Darabont, everyone headed inside the jet where they were amazed by how luxurious it was.

“Whoa” they all gasped with astonishment.

“Talk about living the rich life,” Tammy remarked as they all admired the fancy details.

“What do you guys think?” Jackson asked with a grin.

“Can I keep this?” Eli asked, still feeling amazed.

“Sorry man, but no.”

“Hey just be happy we’re flying for free” Tammy told him as they began to take their seats.

Once everyone was settled, Angie could feel the excitement rushing through her blood as she looked out the window. Soon she will be on an island away from her home for an adventure she’s been looking forward to since her childhood.

“You excited?” Jackson asked while sitting in the seat in front of her.

“I am” she smiled “I’m really looking forward to this.”

“I hope you are” he acknowledged with a smile when he soon spotted her bracelet “I can see you’re wearing that bracelet of yours.”

She looked at her bracelet with a leather strap and a pendant of a vintage compass.

“I noticed you wear it all the time” he noted, “Is it special to you?”

“It is actually,” she answered with a smile “My parents got me this on my 16th birthday, they told me that the moment they saw it, they knew it was perfect for me.”

“Well, they are correct.”

She smiled once more as she looked down at her bracelet again, she may not have had it for long, but it was really special to her.

“Whoa hold on a second” Eli suddenly spoke while looking at his phone, “It says here that the weather in the area we’re going to, there’s a chance of thunderstorms.”

“Wait, what?” Tammy’s eyes widen.

“Don’t worry” Mr. Monroe affirmed, “Where we’re going, the storm won’t reach us, there may be some rough turbulence, but we should be fine.”

“We better” Eli declared “If we crash into the ocean, I’m not getting eaten by sharks.”

“In that case, wish for a speedy death” Tammy suggested while patting his leg “I know I will.”

Now that she knew there was a chance of bad weather near them, Angie began to feel a bit worried. If their plane were to crash into the ocean, would they be able to get help in time? But not wanting to think on the negative side, she brushed the thought aside just as the jet began to move. With their seatbelts fastened, everyone got ready as the jet took off into the air.

“Well,” Tammy spoke once the turbulence had died down “Time for me to go to sleep.”

She pushed her chair back and kicked the footrest out as she closed her eyes and drifted off.

“Well, she’s gonna be missing some views” Jackson pointed out.

“She won’t mind” Angie assured, “Whenever she wants to sleep, that’s all she cares about.”

He chuckled before getting up to talk to his dad. They would arrive at their location later that night, so to past time, Angie put in her earbuds and listened to her music while gazing out the window and into the view. And after a couple of hours, she soon drifted off into sleep.

She had already lost time on how much time had past, but that didn’t matter when Angie was suddenly woken up by a rumble coming from outside. After rubbing her sleepy eyes, she glared out the window to see that grey clouds had surrounded the plane when she heard the rumble again.

“Was that thunder?” she questioned, already beginning to feel a pit in her stomach.

“I think so” Jackson replied already getting out of his seat and looking out the window “Although I’m sure it’s nothing.”

At that moment, it began to rain.

“It’s just a little rain” he added with a nervous smile when lightning suddenly flashed.

“You were saying” Tammy frowned.

“Okay let’s not panic” Jackson advised as he hurried to help the pilot.

“I thought the storm wasn’t supposed to reach us” Angie mentioned.

“Uh oh,” Eli suddenly spoke while looking at his phone with a look of shock on his face “Looks like the storm is moving in our direction.”

He showed them the radar, and the storm was, in fact, moving towards them.

“Okay, that’s it” Tammy’s eyes widen while tightening her seatbelt and hugging a pillow “I’m ready for death.”

Just then Jackson and his father came out from the pilot’s room and took their seats while fastening their seatbelts.

“Is everything okay?” Angie asked them.

“I hope so” Jackson breathed just as the jet began to shook causing everyone to shriek.

“It’s just a little turbulence” Jackson stated, trying not to sound nervous.

Pretty soon the jet shook again as the rain began to pour down harder and the thunder became louder. Angie’s fingers gripped onto her seat as she looked out the window and saw flashes of lightning. Her heart was beating rapidly with fear, if lightning struck their plane, it would surely be the end of them.

“Mayday! Mayday!” she could hear the pilot trying to call for help on the radio.

As soon as she heard those words, she knew they were in deep trouble. Her fingers had already turned white from gripping the armrests too hard, and her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She looked around and saw that her friends were freaking out as well, Tammy was still clutching the pillow and Eli grabbed one too to do the same. Angie decided she’d do it as well as she quickly grabbed a nearby pillow and hugged it against her body tightly.

“Everyone, remain seated” Mr. Monroe ordered, “I’m sure we’ll get past this.”

But just when things couldn’t get any worse, everyone’s worst fear came true when a bright flash of lightning blinded everyone as they heard a loud crash from behind. In a split second, they began to descend from the air with everyone screaming at the top of their lungs. At this moment, Angie was ready for her fate, she knew there was little chance of surviving a plane crash, and if she were to die, she only hoped it’d be quick.