Phoenix's POV
"Well, s**t," Jackson muttered under his breath as we both slowly backed away from the creek and the black beast that continued to creep forward. I swallowed softly, trying to stop myself from shaking. I've been in these woods several times in the past couple of years and I have never seen a wolf before, nor did I ever expect to.
"I got an idea," Jackson spoke again and I glanced at him for a moment, scared to take my eyes off of the wolf for any longer than a second.
"Yeah?" I questioned, my voice a little shaky as I spoke. I wanted to run, but I can already see my head being a bit off from behind as I run. Turning my back towards the wolf definitely isn't a good idea. Although, I don't think staring at it is any better.
"Set it on fire."
"What!?" I yelled out, but as soon as I did the wolf darted towards us without a second thought. I gasped and tried to run backward, but tripped in panic as the black beast loomed over me, baring his sharp white teeth. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. I held up my hands and let the fire consume them, still panicking. The wolf seemed startled and jumped off of me. I quickly scrambled to my feet and continued to hold my hands out, not dropping the bright burning fire.
"S-stay b-back," I stuttered out as the wolf backed up itself.
"Jeez, Nix! You scared the s**t out of me," Jackson hissed near my ear, now by my side. I never even noticed him get close to me until now.
"Sorry," I said, still keeping my eyes on the wolf and its dark eyes stared back, but it started to back off.
"Keep that up, maybe it'll leave us alone," Jackson whispered as he gently pulled me backward, I didn't realize that I was stopped in place until my feet started moving again. The wolf stopped moving and just glared at us as we slowly made our way to the clearing and back into the forest.
As soon as we were a good distance away, I dropped the fire and grabbed Jackson's hand before running off in the direction that I knew all too well as the way home. Jackson didn't oppose and just ran with me through the dense forest, ignoring the snaps of twigs breaking beneath our feet. The beat of my heart matched the thumps on the ground from our feet as we ran. The sound kept getting louder and louder... Wait, that's not- Jackson was tackled to the ground in an instant by a large wolf, but it wasn't the black one from before.
Jackson cried out in pain whenever his body collided with the ground and the wolf towered over him with its mouth wide open, ready to bite his head off. He growled back at the beast and tried pushing it off of him, but it wasn't helping. I was so in shock I froze, trying to process what was happening. But now was not the time to do that.
I jumped onto the back of the wolf and lit my hands on fire. The wolf yelped as the fire burned its sides and it jumped back, throwing me off of it. I hissed in pain as my back hit a tree trunk hard. Jackson scrambled to his feet and ran over to me, pulling me up from the ground.
"Are you okay?" He asked hurriedly. I nodded in response, not really too concerned with the growing ache throughout my entire body. I just wanted to get us out of here and far away from these wolves. Jackson kept a hold of my hand as we started running once again with me leading the way. I couldn't tell if the loud thumping was from the sound of the wolves running behind us or the sound of my heart pounding in my chest. Either way, I didn't stop running and neither did Jackson as we burst through the last row of trees and to an open field.
My heart lifted a little when I caught sight of the single house by the gravel road that I called home. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see it. I knew that if we could make it inside we would be safe.
"Hey, hey they stopped!" Jackson yelled to get my attention as he tugged on my head to get me to slow down and take a look back towards the forest. Even though a small part of me was scared that I would see another wolf pouncing on top of me, ready to tear my head off. But there wasn't. The black wolf from the creek and the grey one was pacing at the edge of the woods, snarling and watching us, but they didn't stray away from the trees.
"We, we should still keep going," I said, a little out of breath from running. I think that's the most I've ran in a few months. I guess when you're running for your life though, you don't really care until after. Although, it's not quite over yet. If they decide to break away from the woods, we're dead.
"Good idea," Jackson agreed and continued to run with me to the only house in sight. I glanced back at the woods again to see the wolves no longer there. I sighed in relief as I stepped onto the porch, not only glad to be home but that the wolves are gone. A small part of me was scared that I didn't have them insight. What if they show up again when I'm not looking/ I don't think my heart could handle that happening again.
My knees felt weak and I just wanted to drop down right there on the hardwood, but I didn't want to do that till I was behind the wall and a locked door. I led Jackson inside, realizing that his hand never let go of mine and I never tried to let go of his. As soon as I shut the door behind me, I dropped down onto my knees with a heavy sigh.
"Phoenix!" My mother yelled worriedly as soon as she saw me and quickly ran over. She crouched down in front of me and examined my face all over.
"Mom," I said a little breathlessly, trying to catch my breath from running so far.
"What happened? Why are you out of breath? Why-" she cut herself off as her eyes trailed away from me and up to Jackson, finally taking notice of his presence. "Who are you?!" My mom squeaked out in surprise as she pulled me close to her. Mother's protective instincts I guess.
"Uh," Jackson stated, looking a little confused as he looked between my mother and I. "My name's Jackson, I'm Nix's friend."
"Friend? Phoenix doesn't have any friends," She said and I felt a small sting in my chest. That kind of hurt that my mother said that but I've never had friends before and I didn't tell her that I became friends with Jackson. So I guess it's my own fault.
"A-actually, Mom, I forgot to tell you that I made a friend," I said quietly, looking down, but I could already imagine the look of disappointment on her face.
"Is that so? Phoenix, come with me. You," She said, looking at Jackson now, scanning as if she was checking out a new enemy. I hope she doesn't see him that way, he's a good guy. "You can go home."
"Uh, Mom, he's actually here because we were chased by wolves. I don't it's safe for him to-"
"Wolves?!" She exclaimed a look of horror on her face.
"No, it's fine Nix, I don't mind being attacked again," Jackson said in a sarcastic tone. My mother did not seem to take it too kindly and she narrowed her eyes at him. Uh-oh, I can feel their tension rising from here.
"No, stay here, I'll take you home in a minute, I need to talk to Phoenix. Alone," She said as she grabbed my arm and helped me back to my feet and led me to the kitchen, and shut the wooden door behind her. I don't know how much shutting the door will help, these walls are paper-thin, he'll probably hear us either way.
"Mom, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was just worried that you would freak out or make us move or make me stop talking to him," I said. She just shook her head at me, not having any of it.
"We'll talk about that later. I'm not in the mood to. What I want to know about is the wolves you two mentioned," My mom said and I swallowed softly. She scared me when she talks like this or when she dismisses something. That means I'm either in big trouble or she's going to do something herself and I won't find out until later.
"Jackson and I were sitting at the creek I usually go to since he doesn't live too far from it, and this big black wolf showed up. Then we ran away and we thought we got away from it, but then a grey one showed up and attacked Jackson<" I said, remembering the terrifying moment again as it replayed in my head. I specifically left out the part about me lighting it on fire to get away. If she ever found out that Jackson saw that, she would definitely move us without a second thought.
"How did you get away?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at me. It's almost as if she's waiting for me to say that I messed up. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and tried hard not to bite my lip.
"I grabbed a nearby branch and hit it on the back then ran away to the house with Jackson," I responded, lying to her again. I feel so dirty. How many times have I lied to her over the past couple of weeks? I'm not sure exactly, but I know it's more than it ever should be.
"You're not allowed to go near those woods ever again," She said sternly and I nodded in response. Honestly, after that, I wasn't planning on going anywhere near those woods for a while. That does make me a little sad though, that was my favorite and only place I could really be alone and relax. "And you're not allowed to hang around that kid anymore. He smells like trouble."
"What? But, Mom, Jackson is a good person, in fact, he's the only person that's ever been nice to me in that stupid school," I argued. She just shook her head.
"School isn't stupid, hanging around people that stray you from your education and get you in trouble is stupid," She defended.
"But he started helping me study since I don't understand most of what they teach. He's helping me," I said and she stopped for a moment and hummed in thought.
"Fine, he can help you with school, but you guys can only study here and you can't go anywhere except home and school from now on. I don't want my son being eaten by a wolf or teenagers," My mom said.
"What if he can't come here to study," I say.
"Then I guess you'll only be seeing him at school," She said, crossing her arms. I know I won't be able to change her mind so I sigh softly in defeat.
"Fine," I mumble and walk out of the kitchen to see that Jackson made himself comfortable on the couch. I'm glad he didn't stand by the front door the whole time; I would have felt worse. I still feel bad about this whole situation though. I sighed again. Now I have to talk to him, too.