From Street Trash To Dragon Lord

09

Find him. Bring him to me. Or don't bother coming back.

These were the words of Thomas Ashford to his son, Marcus, his daughter, Sophia and his brother, Richard, when he heard that Ethan, the young, mysterious man who'd miraculously healed him, was nowhere to be found.

And so the race began.

For them, it wasn't just about finding Ethan. It was about pleasing Thomas Ashford. The man commanded a lot of power and being in his good graces or being seen as an effective and beneficial fellow could yield some great dividends.

Richard, being the faster of the three, dashed out through the door of the VIP ward and raced to the end of the hallway, the genesis of a descent of stairs. Looking down at the base of the staircase, he spotted Ethan, in his tattered clothes, holding his mother protectively. They were both walking towards the elevator

Richard raced down the stairs, managing to avoiding tripping and falling a couple of times, and caught up with Ethan.

"Hey, Ethan, wait up!" He called out, nearly breathless.

Ethan stopped and turned to look at him with a lackadaisical calmness. Then he gently sat his mother down in a chair. She was perfectly fine, now, but Ethan still held and petted her like she was an egg.

"Give me a minute, mom, I'll see what he has to say. My guess is it's nothing worth my time but there's no harm in it."

Richard, hearing this, boiled. He hated the guts of this young man, but was willing to condescend. For now.

"Hello, Richard. Let me guess, the old man is alive and well, yes?"

"Yes", Richard held his hands up in a "you win" posture, "He is. Sorry for almost getting you locked up."

Ethan didn't even flinch. "Like I was going to let you. Well, what do you want, now?"

Richard swallowed his anger and continued, learning humility forcefully.

"My brother was, and is, amazed at the treatment. I mean, we all are. And he wants to see you. He'd like to thank you and appreciate you personally. And, you know, he is Thomas Ashford, he has the resources to appreciate a man so much so that his bank balance appreciates."

Richard flashed a smile after saying this, confident that he'd said something good. It made Ethan laugh.

This was the first time Richard had seen Ethan laugh and because he didn't recall saying anything hilarious, it was insulting to watch.

The laughter suddenly disappeared and Ethan's straight face returned.

"The normal expectation is that after seeing your brother in such a helpless state despite all his money, you would come to the understanding that money is not everything. As a matter of fact, money is nothing. But sadly, you have not seen that, yet."

Richard scowled. "I came here to make you an offer that could change your life and give a chance at luxury to that woman," Richard pointed at Ethan's mother, who was seated on a nearby chair and watching the two men, as he said 'that woman', "and you can't even show any appreciation?"

"Appreciation?" Ethan shot back, "I think you're getting it twisted. From where I'm standing, you should be the one appreciating me."

"For what?" Richard replied smugly, "For saving Thomas? If you didn't do it, someone else would have."

Ignoring the second part of Richard's question, Ethan responded to the first, in his usual calm manner.

"For not probing into you like I did to your nephew, Marcus. But, you see, you and I both know that he's not actually your nephew, right? That's just another lie you've packaged underneath your three-piece suit."

Richard looked confused while Ethan smiled. The latter reached out to sarcastically adjust Richard's tie and then said:

"Interfere with me again and I'll expose your little secret… Richard Branson."

Richard's eyes shone with shock, guilt and shame. How did he know that?

Leaving the man to recover from the big blow he'd just delivered, Ethan took his mother and headed to the elevator.

Marcus, who'd been watching and hoping that his uncle would fail to convince Ethan, gladly seized the moment and ran past his stunned, shaken uncle, towards the elevator.

Ethan, through the closing doors, saw him coming. Unwilling to have a conversation with Marcus, Ethan laid a hand on the door. The glow from his hand lit up again and sped up the door's motion, so by the time Marcus arrived, Ethan and his mother were gone.

"Fuck!"

Marcus yelled, banging his fist on the shut doors.

***

While the two men were stuck in the hall, Sophia Ashford watched strategically from the surveillance room. When her uncle and brother had gone chasing after Ethan with no plan, she'd gone to work with her brain. From what she'd seen with Ethan's interactions with her uncle and brother, she'd deduced a few things:

Firstly, he was not interested in money. He needed it but he didn't care for it. Strange as it was, it was true. But actually, Sophia knew, for a man with his abilities money would be the easiest thing to get.

Secondly, he was afraid. Of people with power. Not fear as in what they could do to him directly, but how their involvement in his life could ruin his world. And that brought her to the third observation:

His mother was his world. She didn't have any special abilities, from what Sophia could see. She was, therefore, his Achilles heel.

"Bull's-eye," Sophia said to herself as she marched out of the surveillance room and towards an exclusive elevator that would take her straight to the parking lot.

She knew what to do.

***

Ethan and his mother were outside the hospital, in the process of flagging a cab and heading home when a silver Toyota Rush SUV pulled up in front of them, all windows wound up.

Instinctively and protectively, Ethan stepped in front of his mother, already sensing a familiar presence. Unlike when Marcus and Richard tried to convince him to go see Thomas Ashford, both of whom he'd sensed before they even saw him, this presence didn't feel like danger.

It felt… Safe.

Then the front passenger window slowly slid down and Ethan saw those gentle but investigative eyes. The same ones that had taken a chance on him back at the hospital in Thomas Ashford's ward.

Sophia Ashford.

Even though he didn't feel like she was a threat, he wanted nothing to do with her and her family and so he immediately began to speak:

"What do you want, Sophia? Can you leave us al-"

Sophia raised a hand to cut him off, without even looking at him, and focused her gaze on his mother, smiling sweetly and then saying:

"Hello, Sarah, my name is Sophia and I heard about your recovery. I know you're better now but please allow me the honor of giving you a ride home."

Ethan was dumbfounded. The strategy was impressive.

He looked at his mother and saw her returning Sophia's smile, even waving. He proceeded to decline the offer.

"Thank you, Sophia, we're fine."

His mother's response threw him off his feet.

"Sophia, Ethan may be comfortable walking under the heat of this sun but I'm not… I'd love to join you in the car."

Ethan opened his mouth to speak but no words came out as he watched his mother climb into the front passenger seat, beside Sophia, who was smiling satisfactorily.

"Care to join us?" She asked him, looking him dead in the eyes.

Grumbling, Ethan also hopped in, having to sit at the back seat and listen as the ride began and Sophia and his mother conversed like long lost friends.