Once upon a time, there was a town called Red Dragon. Tamara and Adam just moved in to this town and everything was new to them. They were interested in the history of the town. It was said that centuries ago, this town was the home place of big creatures called Red Dragons.
The town was near a beautiful big jungle. The beautiful waterfall in the jungle encouraged them to stay there.
Tamara had just had a beautiful little boy, so she was on maternity leave. She and her husband Adam were both doctors. Only Adam went to work for the time being, and Tamara stayed home to take care of their newborn baby. Tamara was so afraid that something bad would happen to her son John, and always doubled checked him at night.
Her fear heightened because of a series of disappearances of little children. Everyone were in panic mode, and they were terrified their children disappear into thin air. After a while, even some grownups disappeared. And, this made things worse for people in Red Dragon.
Adam was worried about his family and he thought they should leave this town. Tamara accepted. Moving houses was very difficult for them, and now they had to do it again because of a fear they had of the disappearances. They did not want any harm to come to their little john. It would destroy them.
Adam locked all the doors and they started packing. They were sad to leave their beautiful home, but it was a done decision. As they were packing, suddenly Tamara felt she was being pulled towards another world, and she disappeared right in front of Adam’s eye. Adam reached out to catch Tamara, but she was gone.
Tamara found herself in front of an ancient creature: a majestic red dragon. She landed on a cave like place with a lot of big stones situated on top of each other, making a mountain.
“My name is Neido. Welcome to my world, Tamara. Today I decided to take you,” Neido said and then laughed so hard that blazes of fire came out of his mouth, but didn’t hit Tamara because she jumped on a different stone. And, she was moving fast, trying to find a way out.
“There is no way out from this place Tamara, you are stuck in the in-between world,” Neido said with a cracked voice.
Tamara was in denial that she was chosen by Neido to be taken to such a dark place. She couldn’t breathe from all the jumping she did on the big stones surrounding Neido.
“Now, hold your horses, I don’t want you to die, not just yet!” Neido said, letting out a blaze of fire from his mouth.
“What do you want from me?” Tamara shouted, out of breath, she slowly was coming to the acceptance that she is stuck with Neido for a while.
“Centuries ago, your kind put a spell on me and chained me to this stone. They wanted to stop me from killing people in this town. They took away most of my magic. I can’t move from here. I am stuck in between my world and your world. I was hungry at that time, what can I say. But years have passed, and I no longer want to feed on humans. I have changed, everything changed. People no longer are that fearful of me, they know they can fight with me and beat me. I don’t want the hassle and hate anymore. I just want to get back to my world and live with peace,” Neido said, ashamed of his old ways, his head down out of regret.
“Then, why did you take all those people and children? Where are they? Are they hurt? Are they safe?” Tamara asked with impatience, as if she was losing precious time.
“They couldn’t bring me the key to my chain! They are frozen in time in a cold place near the key,” Neido said, needing to explain his situation more. So, without any questions from Tamara he continued “the key to my chain is not far from here, only the bravest can touch the key, one who has confronted all his/her fears. Those who have fear and touch the key, get frozen body and soul, they can’t move. ”
“And you want me to bring you this key?” Tamara asked, knowing the answer.
“Why did you take children then? You thought they can bring you the key?” Tamara asked another question, this time waiting for the answer.
“Yes, because children are like clean slates, they know no fear in their hearts, they go after what they want and 90% of the time, they get what they wish for,” Neido replied convincing himself.
“But, they couldn’t bring you what you want and here I am in your filthy lair having to do as you say!” Tamara said with an anger she didn’t experience before.
“Silence!” Neido exclaimed.
“You will bring me the key, I am sure of it! You are different with everyone else,” he continued.
“Where is this damn key anyway?” Tamara asked forcefully.
She challenged Neido, and he was not happy about it. He explained to Tamara the way to the key. She had to cross some big stones and move upwards. There were stone after stone tangled to each other, and the atmosphere was dark and damp. Without so much as a word, she started moving upward and when she was half way she looked down and saw how far she came through. She had visions of his son being kidnapped, but she knew it was all a lie, and this place is heavy with negative energy. But, she knew she had to keep going. She saw children and adults frozen on the way to the key in between the stones. When she looked down, she saw Neido’s velvet eyes staring at her, hoping she could be the one who saves him from the chains.
The shining reflection of the golden key was visible to Tamara now. The key was stuck in between two stones.
“Almost there,” Tamara whispered to herself, panting.
She tried to get the key out, but she couldn’t.
When she stretched her hands to take the key, some chaotic thoughts invaded her mind and she felt cold. So, she quickly took a step backward. She realized the key has a sort of negative energy, and when a person approaches it, they are reminded of their fears.
“This is not going to work! If I touch it, I will get frozen like the rest of people, I have to think of another way! But what way?” Tamara whispered to herself.
“There is no way, but to be brave, I have to approach it with bravery! That’s the only way!” Tamara said and once again got near.
She took a deep breath and took the key from its place.
For a moment she thought she was frozen, but she wasn’t. She was standing there holding the key. She quickly rushed down towards Neido with the golden key in her hand.
“You did it, I am so glad I finally found someone who can help me!” Neido roared happily.
“Unchain me! Unchain me! Let me be free!” Neido cried with so much joy.
Tamara was hesitant. She was not sure if she can trust Neido.
She held the key and said, “I don’t trust you! I won’t unchain you! You let all these people and children freeze, first you have to tell me how I can free THEM from this place, then we will talk about unchaining YOU!”
“The bravest of them all, the holder of the key, has to give them a pat on the shoulder, and tell them to wake up. A door appears to transport you all to your world once I’m gone to my world. You see this place is in-between my world and yours, it doesn’t have much to offer and the energy here is too dense, you can’t breathe in it properly,” Neido said, trying to hide his anger. He couldn’t wait anymore, and the blazes of fire from his mouth showed his fury.
Tamara did as Neido said, and they all woke up. She explained everything to those people.
Tamara came closer to Neido, she could hear his nervous breathing. She opened the locks with the key and Neido was free.
Neido embraced his new-found freedom and was happy from the bottom of his heart. He thanked Tamara for her help.
An invisible door appeared, fire blazing out of its frame.
“Now, before I get tempted to destroy you, I may go to my world, which I miss so much,” Neido said and went through the invisible door and disappeared.
“You won’t hurt anyone! I will make sure of that! Go to your world and never come back!” Tamara said, sure of herself.
Another door appeared in the thick air of that place, and they all went through it.
“I am home, finally” Tamara said with the golden key in her hand, and raced upstairs to check on his son. He was safe sleeping.
Tamara closed the door and closed her eyes for a moment, processing everything. It was indeed unbelievable what had happened to her. She put the key in a safe place.