Hunters: Rise of a Dragon Demon

2. Hot surprise

Two hours past midnight.

Kevin's sleep was disturbed by intense heat. Hot nights had become a common thing in the dormitory ever since the air conditioner was damaged last two weeks. The students were used to it, but not when the heat was this intense.

Although Kevin was awake, he kept his eyes closed, trying to ignore the heat. But it kept increasing on his body, forcing sweat out of his body. Because he easily perspired, his pajamas were already drenched with sweat. He rolled to his other side.

To make the matter worse, a choking scent filled the air, replacing the fresh one. The scent became stronger every second. Suddenly, a scream echoed which forced him to sit up and open his eyes.

He sneezed due to the choking scent. All he could see was large blurry orange color around. He rubbed his eyes to clear his eyesight. He looked again and what he saw nearly made his heart break free from his ribcage. He gasped, turning his head around swiftly.

"Ah!" The person screamed again. Students were fleeing from the dormitory for their dear lives. He got shocked when he saw fire on some of them. The hostel was on fire.

Thick flames scorched some of the bunk beds, lockers and the ceiling with so much energy, emitting thick black smoke. With the way the fire burned the objects, Kevin knew that this fire won't spare a human.

"Kevin, get down from there. Are you insane?"

It was after he heard Darrin's voice that he realized that he was still on his bed, watching other students save their lives.

After he jumped down from his bed, a loud ringing sound blasted into his ear. Someone had switched on the fire alarm.

By now, only four students have remained in the dormitory including them. Meanwhile, the fire kept intensifying. They sprinted for the door. The doorway was open and free of fire.

The other two students fled first as they were closer to the door than Kevin and Darrin. As soon as the two students left, fire flared up obstructing the doorway. They halted before they'll hit the fire wall. They were trapped.

Suddenly, the fire increased in their intensity greatly, burning vigorously anything that hadn't been burned. The fire came closer to them.

Soon, the fire encircled leaving an unburned circle space with them in the middle. The fire alarm had stopped ringing.

"Help, help us." Darrin screamed with all his might.

Kevin couldn't utter a word because of the fear that had made his way to his heart. Whenever he had thought of his death, he always imagined dying in an old age. Getting scorched to death didn't cross his mind at all.

‘No, I can't die’, he cried in his mind. He was too young to die. He hadn't even achieved anything yet and death wants to take him already? His eyes became watery.

As the fire crackled, pouring heat and black smoke into the air, Kevin knew that it was only a matter of time before the fire encloses them. He didn't want to die but what can he do to save himself? The fire extinguisher was outside and the other students, for some reason, didn't use it. There was nothing here to quench the fire and even if there was, the fire had already covered most of the things here.

He closed his eyes. No one was coming to their rescue. A tear slid from his eyes then more followed.

"No no, this isn't the time to cry." A voice echoed.

Kevin frowned and looked around. Did he just hear someone speak?

"What was that?" Darrin asked, which made him believe it wasn't Darrin who spoke. But it was only the both of them that were in here.

That was what he thought before someone emerged from the fire. Kevin gasped in shock as he saw Scott.

Seeing his life flash before his eyes must be making him imagine things. How can a human being just walk out from this rampaging fire unharmed? This wasn't Scott's dormitory, so how did he get here? And this can't be real. How on earth did Scott develop orange skin with fiery eyes? If he had horns, Kevin would have mistaken him for the devil. He looked really strange. His imagination is pretty wild.

That was also what he thought until he saw Darrin looking at Scott with widened eyes. He could see him? It's either he was imagining the same thing with Kevin or....it wasn't an imagination at all. His eyes widened.

Scott smirked seeing his reaction. "Shocked to see me huh?"

Smoke puffed out from his mouth as he spoke. "I told you will regret your actions. Are you surprised by my hot surprise?"

"You did this?" Kevin asked in horror, hot sweat sliding down his face.

Scott chuckled. "I can be very dangerous." Then his expression became serious. "Now prepare for your death."

Kevin trembled in fear and took a step back as he kept crying.

"Somebody help us." He shouted.

"No one is coming to your aid. So we are doing this without any disturbance. What's the problem, Jones? Not feeling confident like always?" Scott sneered.

Kevin stared in bewilderment. How would he feel confident in a situation like this?

Darrin walked and stood in front of Scott. "Stay behind me Kev." He said defensively. What was he going to do?

Darrin tried to raise his hand in the air for a reason which was unknown to Kevin but Scott saw this and instinctively flung his hand. A fireball rolled from it so fast and hit Darrin's chest with a hiss.

"Ah." Darrin bawled and fell.

"Darrin." Kevin shouted and bent down next to him. A portion of his pajamas on his chest had burned black and was hissing.

"Are you okay?"

Darrin groaned as he was in pain and didn't respond. Then he stopped moving.

"Darrin, Darrin." Kelvin slapped his cheek. "Please say something."

Darrin didn't respond in any way.

"No." Kevin cried. "Why are you doing this Scott? Is it because I insulted your girlfriend? Is it because I hit you? Fine, I'm sorry. Just stop this madness."

"You and I know it's too late for that." Scott replied. "Now it's your turn. Get ready to meet your friend." He snapped his finger.

The fire responded to the snap and started coming closer, enclosing the circle space.

‘Goodbye Darrin, goodbye mum, goodbye world.’ Kevin thought, probably his last thought on earth. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for what is coming as the heat increased. The fire enclosed and...

All of a sudden, he could not hear the crackling sound of the fire anymore. He wasn't feeling intense heat on his body and face which felt dry like he never sweated or cried. The air smelt fresh again and something soft was on his back.

Hesitantly, his eyes fluttered open and saw traces of white coming from the dormitory's white ceiling in the darkness.

He was on his bed. He sat up and looked around. No fire. Everything was just like it was before he went to sleep. He looked down at Darrin's bed. Darrin's chest was moving upward and downward steadily, an indication that he was still breathing.

Kevin's face twitched in confusion. What the heck just happened?