Tired of congested traffic, shady people, and rude taxis, Brooke told Johnny about an empty beach house her aunt lived before she moved to Vienna.

Brooke's recent vision showed her a wooden house surrounded by sand, liberated animals, and a vast ocean spreading for miles. 

Next to the house is a piece of paper detailing the address. An ecstatic Nessa jumped at the opportunity, telling Johnny that they should live on the beach. 

"Think about how much fun we'll have!" she says gleefully. "We can swim, play with sea animals, and here is the best part: NO RULES!" 

She pumps her fist in the air, grinning like a mischievous child. But Johnny, on the other hand, shakes his head in dissatisfaction. 

"I don't know, Ness." he begins to say. "What if the cops might see us sleeping there?"

Lowering her bag of vegan chips, an amiable Brooke politely shakes her head.

"Don't worry about the cops, Johnny," she reassures. "The pigs are probably in the city, arresting drug dealers or something."

Extracting his cap off his head, Caleb rubs his sweaty forehead with the back of his right arm.

"Brooke does have a point," he agreed.

Johnny frowns in astonishment, "you know Brooke's beach house, Caleb?"

"I have been to her aunt's beach house before," explained Caleb sheepishly. 

"Really?" Nessa cranes her neck so she can see his face. "What's the beach house like?" 

Caleb squints his eyes, trying to recall a small detail.

"I remember the beach house having a lot of room," he described. "It has a game room, five guest bedrooms, a bathroom, and a huge basement."

An astonished Nessa switched her brown eyes in Brooke's direction. 

"Holy cow, Brooke!" she remarked. "I didn't know your aunt is rich!"

Brooke's entire face flushed a brilliant red, twiddling her thumbs. "Well, my aunt used to be an actress in that show Family Matters."

"Used to?" Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Why did she stop being an actress?"

"I don't know," she answers with a confused shrug. "My aunt never talks about it."

Once again, the car unexpectedly got quiet.

Nessa devoured her Hot Cheetos, smearing her fingers with spicy powder; Caleb gazed at the window and rests his head on the cushion. 

Navigating the vehicle with his slightly painful right hand, Johnny stares at the peaceful road just over the hill.

"Where is that beach house?" Johnny mutters to himself.

"Just turn right," Brooke instructed, gesturing her greasy finger at the driver's windshield. 

"I think that the long road will take us to the beach house." 

Bobbing his head silently, Johnny swerves the car past a large, black Mustang. 

The tall palm trees replaced skyscrapers and buildings as Johnny encounters small traffic in Venice Beach, California. 

Excitement ushered the parks, malls, and other establishments. Irrational teenagers cruise their skateboards along extended sidewalks and white-dotted lanes.

Vibrant, colorful graffiti grab the children's attention as it smeared across abandoned markets, stores, and bleak concrete walls.

As traffic lights switched bright green, Johnny proceeded forward. 

Sea salt and citrus savored the clean air. 

DeBarge echoed from a bright yellow Bugatti EB110. Inside the cars are attractive girls dancing to the music.

A few gawked in Johnny's direction and smiled; however, the boy didn't pay any attention to them.

Instead, he asked Brooke to tell him about the adventures she had in the beach house. 

"Huh?" 

"What did you and Caleb do in the beach house?" Johnny asked unexpectedly. 

Just then, the young couple's cheeks burned like fire.

"Oh, well," Brooke chortled nervously. "Caleb and I. .had spent some time together."

"You two spent some time together?" Nessa repeated, feeling awfully confused.

"Yeah," Caleb smirked, scratching the acne scar near his bottom lip. "It was kinda nice."

A smile spread across his face as Caleb takes off his sunglasses and winked in Brooke's reflection in the mirror.

Catching his attention, Brooke suppresses a cute giggle.

She and Caleb have been dating for one year, ten months, and seventeen days-a world record. What I always like about this couple is their communication, trust, and respect for each other.

Not to mention they have an exquisite taste in music. 

But like Bonnie and Clyde, Brooke and Caleb craved excitement, action, and danger more than the deadly Phoenix siblings.

So while Caleb is the fire, Brooke is a single book of matches willing to be tossed in the excruciating heat. 

"What did you guys do at the beach house?" Nessa pressed. "Did you play games? Watch TV?"

Twirling her loose, black hair with her index finger, Brooke stuttered: "No, we just hung out, that's all."

She sneaks a peek at Caleb, whose cheeks are scorching red. 

"Yep," he agreed in a nervous voice. "We hung out."

"Where? In the Game Room?"

Brooke and Caleb didn't respond. They sat awkwardly in the car, staring at their sneakers.

A naive Nessa snorts: "See, Johnny? Caleb and Brooke think the beach house is safe and sound."

"The pigs are too busy caring about the shit going on in L.A. than a bunch of kids taking a road trip."

Unconvinced, Johnny glanced up at his driver mirror, then asked his ex-girlfriend once more if the beach house is safe. 

Brooke bounces her head with certainty. 

"I am positive," she affirmed. "And besides, my aunt gave me the house keys before she left." 

To prove it, Brooke reaches into her soft brown shearling jacket, pulls out the bundle of keys, and dangles them like tiny silver bells. 

"Whoa!" Caleb gasps as he turns his head to see his girlfriend holding the keys to the beach house. 

Through the reflection of the driving mirror, Johnny's eyes widen like golf balls whereas Nessa squealed in excitement. 

"Thank you, Aunt King!" she exclaimed. "Put the keys back in your pocket, so we wouldn't lose it." 

Brooke tucks the keys back in her pocket, crosses her legs, and informs Johnny the location of the beach house.

"Okay." he sighs reluctantly, veering around the curb. 

Johnny navigates past cars and a couple of pickup trucks. His vehicle burped out a thick, black vapor, causing Caleb to wrinkle his nose. 

"Gross!" he groaned. "It smells like putrid garbage."

Nessa circled her eyes in annoyance. "Maybe you shouldn't roll the windows down." 

Caleb swerves his head to stick his tongue at Nessa, who prompted to do the same. 

"Guys." Brooke kindly reprimanded. "Please behave yourselves."

"What?" Nessa points her index finger at Caleb. "He started it!"

Brooke's boyfriend made a face in the rearview mirror. "She asked for it, okay?"

Johnny exhaled a tired sigh, staring at the road ahead. 

What's strange about this area is that there are no trucks, cars, or skateboarders blocking the gray concrete floors.

Skyscrapers, extravagant restaurants, and other stores all disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Clouds drift along the sky, blocking out the scorching sun. 

The white smudge on the clear window grew in the glass until it consumed Johnny's reflection.

"Good God!" he switched on the wipers and tries to peer through the white steam. "Hey Brooke, do you know where we are?" 

She closes her eyes.

Brooke's parents are powerful mediums who travel around the world to help those in need. Similar to their daughter's powers, they can see the future and relay them to their friends, presidents, young politicians, and wealthy governors.

However, they would only help their clients if they have good intentions.

Reopening her eyes, Brooke sighed. "Sorry, I don't see anything suspicious." 

"It's fine," Johnny smiles. "But I just have this strange feeling about that place-"

Caleb interrupts Johnny by nudging his elbow on Johnny's shoulder. 

"Oh, come on," he urged. "We deserve a little vacation time. After all, it is winter break."

"And yet it's still foggy out," Nessa noted, squirming in her hot seat. 

Brooke nods until her eyes widen in horror.

"STOP IT!" she cried out loud. "STOP THE CAR!" 

Surprised, Johnny slammed onto the breaks, throwing the kids off-balance. 

"What the heck?" Nessa breathed, dropping her chip bag.

Her Flaming Hot Cheetos soiled the black carpet.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Caleb came to his girlfriend's aid, comforting her and asking what she saw. 

His hands caressed her curly hair; Caleb's soft brown eyes locked onto Brooke's. He tries to console her, but she was crying. 

"Brooke, what's going on?" Nessa demanded. 

"What the hell did you see?"

Johnny wipes the moist surface with his hand, peers into the glass, and gasps at what he saw: it was a carcass of a lifeless dragon.

"Oh my God," Brooke cringed at the awful sight.

Blood flowed between its eyes until the trail ended near its long snout. As for its' wings, they were severed with a blade of some kind. 

For centuries, dragons were considered to be more valuable than priceless diamonds. They were rare in Japan, Ireland, England, and the United States.

Therefore, most museums in California were willing to add collect dragons and put them in their exhibits. 

So they would hire poachers or bounty hunters to travel around the world find, hunt, and bring dragon wings, skin, and even sell their ivory teeth to the highest bidders. 

Alarmed by the sight of the dragon, Nessa suggests that they drag over to the sand and bury it. 

But Johnny thought she was crazy. 

"Don't you even think about touching it!" he shrieked. "What if there are maggots and flies crawling inside it?"

Nessa rolls her eyes. 

"You are such a baby, Johnny!" she scoffs."We need to help it!"

Shaken by the confrontation, an aghast Brooke tells her friends to sit back in their seats. 

"What?" Caleb gawks at his psychic girlfriend. 

Brooke puts her finger on her lips as two men came out of the fog.

Dressed in plaid shirts, dirt-smeared jeans, and brown cowboy boots, the men wielded double-barreled rifles.

"Oh, God." Johnny shrank underneath the dashboard. "It's them."

Dragon bounty hunters move their feet towards the children's car. Blue eyes examined their youthful faces as the first poacher raps Caleb's window with his fist.

Brooke can see Caleb reaching his hand into the glove compartment for his gun, but Nessa's glare forced him to rethink his options.

"Are you four lost?" the first bounty hunter asked in a raspy Southern accent. In his mouth was a small piece of chewing tobacco, making his breath smell disgusting.

A tattoo of the Confederate flag stained his beefy neck. His strong hands were caked in dirt and dragon's blood-not an attractive image.

Johnny clears his throat, pulls his head underneath the dashboard, and sighed, "We were just taking a shortcut home."

"Yeah," Nessa agreed in a hoarse voice. "Our parents are worried about us."

The other bounty hunter flicks his gaze at Brooke's direction, then begins to lower his firearm. 

He appears to be in his late teens, but he had bad acne, long facial hair, and dirty blonde hair drenched in sweat.

What disgusted Brooke more is that this boy had the nerve to flirt with her. "Hello, Beautiful."

Brooke stares at the glass but didn't say a word.

"What?" the guy peered into the glass, observing her irritated face. "Can't you talk?"

She drifts her brown eyes away from her window and focused on the Hot Cheetos settling on the floor.

In the meantime, Nessa gives the boy a long stare.

"Leave her alone, you creep." she snapped.

"Was I talking to you?"

"Do I care?" Nessa snarled. "Brooke is happily in love with someone else."

The teenage bounty hunter snorts in disbelief.

"Really? Who?"

"Someone who is better at flirting than you."

Offended, the young dragon hunter points his gun at Nessa when the old man stops him from pulling the trigger.

"Kyle! Calm down!" he snarled. "Drop the gun! They are just kids!"

Kyle flashed his green eyes at the old man.

"But Dad-"

"Drop it!"

Reluctantly lowers his gun, Kyle asked his father what he wants to do with the children. 

Inside the car, everyone was shaking their pants.

Johnny looks like he is ready to throw up, Caleb gripped Brooke's hand, and Nessa wants to leave the car. 

Casting the children threatening glares, Kyle relents and moves to the side.

A grateful Johnny starts the car and steers around the dead dragon. Caleb, on the other hand, clasped his seatbelt in the backseat comforting Brooke.

"You okay?" he asked her. 

"Yeah."

Studying her precious eyes, Caleb sighed, "I wish I hurt the asshole who disrespected you."

A benevolent Brooke kissed her boyfriend on the lips, then rubbed her nose against his. 

"As much as I love watching you kick ass," she began. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

Touched, the benevolent Caleb was about to kiss his girlfriend's forehead when Nessa let out an irritating groan.  

"Oh my God, will you two lovebirds get a room, already?!" she moaned. "No one wants to see you guys make out every twenty seconds!"

Looking directly at his rearview mirror, an annoyed Johnny tells his younger sister to leave them alone.

Nessa rolls her eyes, but luckily she didn't sprinkle salt on Johnny's wounds. Instead, she left the young couple to themselves. 

"Anyway, that was close," Brooke remarked, changing the subject. "For a moment there, I thought we were going to get killed."

"Me too," Johnny agreed, accelerating the vehicle. "But that poor dragon deserves better. Do you think we should turn back?"

Caleb blinked at his best friend in horror. 

"And see those two psychopaths again?" he cried. "No fricking way!"

The fog hung over the car like a soft cloak, suffocating the window, wheels, and yellow headlights. 

How odd, Brooke wondered. Where the hell is everybody?

After the tense encounter from the bounty hunters, she expected the fog to clear away so Johnny can see where he's going. 

Now it seems like it doesn't want to leave.