Chapter 31 - Nic

I don't know what it was exactly that woke me up, but I'm wide awake now, and to my dismay, still in the cave. But my captor is not in the cave. Daylight is breaking over the horizon. The firewood has burnt down to embers, so the cave feels terribly cold. I hug myself to stop myself from shivering.

In the dim light of the day, a large part of the cave is still thrown in darkness. I force myself to stand up and walk to the mouth of the cave. Perhaps I'll finally get my bearing. Perhaps I'll even be able to escape.

When I'm at the mouth of the cave, I crane my neck and try to get a 360 degree view. Red-brown layered rocks are all around me, stretching for miles upon miles. Not a single soul is in sight. Below is a sheer drop as I had surmised the night before. I think I'm in a canyon. The Grand Canyon? Perhaps. The landscape certainly looks like it. How the hell did I get here from Pittsburgh? Even though I kept drifting in and out of consciousness, I know it that it hasn't been more than twelve hours since my kidnapping. So how the hell did I get to the West Coast so quickly?

I might never be able to figure it out, just like I might never be able to escape from here. A sense of deep despair overwhelms me. I consider climbing down the mouth of the cave, but it is too risky. If it were only my life I was worried about, I might even have done it, but I have my baby to consider. Lex's baby. Tears prick the back of my eyes when I think about Lex. I wish I had given him the news face to face. That way, I would have at least been able to see him one last time.

Through the tears blurring my vision, I see a large figure hovering in the distance. Sunlight is glinting off its translucent silver body. It is long and has wings. I know what I am seeing but my mind refuses to accept it. As if sensing my gaze, it turns its head to look at me, then starts flying towards me.

I scramble to my feet and rush inside the cave, trying to find something that might serve as a weapon. But strangely, while my mind is scared, my heart knows that I am not in any danger. The large dragon is flying rapidly towards the cave. There is no way that something that large will fit in this small cave. I'm safe after all.

But before my very eyes, the dragon gets smaller and smaller, till it transforms into a human shape, which rolls into the mouth of the cave. The figure is clad in a black wetsuit. It gets to its feet and turns to face me.

It's Lex! Lex is the dragon! How can it be? Have I finally lost my mind?

"It's okay. I've got you," he says, taking me into his arms and pressing a kiss to my forehead. It is definitely Lex, but he is a dragon?

I suddenly lose all strength from my limbs and I feel myself slipping into unconsciousness yet again.