The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

-Oliver-
I couldn't quite believe what was going on. I ended up eating with Jaden and his friends by complete accident. I was so occupied talking with Jaden that I didn't even realize I went to sit down next to him. My lord, when I realized I hadn't even asked for permission, I felt really embarrassed, but thankfully, none of them seemed to mind. Tilly even thanked me for the chocolate.
"So," Tilly spoke once she had gulped down her food – the rest of us were still halfway. "How are you?"
I was nervous when they all looked at me. "Good?" I said timidly.
"Good," she repeated and nodded. She stared at me for a moment, like she was trying to read my mind. "You have a really calm nature."
"I do?"
"I mean you're accepting all of this surprisingly well," she said.
"That's what everyone keeps telling me..." I muttered. "I just... have this feeling that this is how it's supposed to be... If that makes any sense."
"What do you mean by that?" Arch asked quietly, and leaned closer to me.
"Like I already knew about you. About everything," I told them like I told Jaden the day before. "But it just... slipped my mind..."
"Huh..." Arch breathed out, and pulled back to stare at me. "Like amnesia?"
"Yeah," I nodded slowly. "Maybe someone told me when I was little? Or I heard something... Or..." I tried once again to poke my brain to remember if anything weird happened in my early years, but nothing.
"There's spells that can do that," Tilly said quietly.
"Or trauma," Jaden said just as quietly, and they all turned to look at me.
I placed my hand on my shoulder out of pure instinct. The memory of that day when I got my scars tried to invade my mind.
"I see," Tilly muttered, and the atmosphere was changing. "Someone hurt you."
I shook my head. "I had a wild imagination when I was a child. It got me in a lot of trouble..."
"What kind of imagination?" Arch asked, acting casual and all, but I had the feeling he was trying to piece together the puzzle that was me.
"I had a lot of imaginary friends," I said, moving my hand away from my shoulder. "I was always having amazing adventures with them... Even a stroll around the store was like invading a dragon's lair..."
"Well, that could explain why you feel like you knew already," Tilly said. "It sounds like a fun childhood if you ask me."
"It got to the point where everyone thought I was crazy..." I trailed off. I really didn't want to talk about what happened in the last foster home I was in, but then again... Maybe they could help me figure out what was going on. "I was fostered a few times, but none of them could handle me and my imagination..." I spoke, shutting off my emotions. "In the last one, I was... I didn't like the real world, so I spent a lot of time in my imaginary worlds, causing trouble, and... I broke something valuable one night. I sneaked out of my room and climbed a big bookshelf, and I dropped this vase. My foster parents got really mad, and I... I thought they were like bad ghosts or something. They didn't look like humans at all... I was in a mental hospital for a while after that, and they never tried to foster me again, which is why I still live at the orphanage."
"Ghosts?" Tilly repeated.
"It was just my imagination," I explained. "I was so deep in the imaginary world..."
"What happened next?" Jaden asked.
"I stopped seeing things after that night," I said quietly. "I abandoned the dream worlds I was in, and I never had imaginary friends after that."
There was a long pause of silence in our table. When I looked around, I saw that we were almost the only ones still in the lunch hall. My food had grown cold already.
"That does explain why you have the feeling you already knew about us," Tilly then spoke. "I'm sorry about what happened to you."
"Can I ask..." Arch cleared his throat. "Why did you ask me about the Echoes?"
"Oh, I heard one of my caretakers talk about it. And I heard that word in my dream," I said.
"She knows about our world, but I'm sure she's a human too," Jaden said.
"She also mentioned one of my imaginary friends... Like he's locked up somewhere," I said when I remembered her words. "And she talked about removing something out of someone..."
"Really?" Tilly breathed out. "That's odd..."
"Then there's the fact that you heard my voice when I was shot. From miles away," Jaden spoke.
"What?" Arch said sharply.
"I heard him calling my name, inside my head. But it happened only that one time," I explained.
"And then there was that dark presence Jaden sensed next to you," Arch said with a heavy sigh, leaning back in his chair.
"You can feel it too?" I asked, looking at Jaden.
"Once. I could feel it right behind you," he said.
"It's uh..." I spoke, but once again, when I even thought about it... that darkness... "I can't say it out loud..."
"What?" they all asked at the same time.
"There's something I need to tell you, but I can't say it out loud. I physically can't, or I start seeing bad things..." I said, while the darkness grew stronger around me.
"It's happening right now," Jaden said with a dark voice.
"Don't think about it," Arch said sharply. "What's your favorite food?"
"What?" I asked, trying to keep my head together.
"What's your favorite food?" he asked again.
"Uhh... Chicken... with rice..." I spoke, and the darkness started clearing out.
"What's going on?" Tilly asked.
"That's some kind of spell," Arch said. "It prevents him from talking."
"Well duh," Tilly scoffed at him.
"I'm sorry I brought it up. I wanted to see it for myself," Arch said. "Just, don't think about it, and you'll be fine."
"What's wrong with me?" I asked quietly, still trying to recover from the ugly darkness.
"Hey," Tilly said soothingly, placing her hand on mine. "Don't you worry about a thing. Arch here is the brainiac – he'll figure it out soon."
"Why would you care?" I asked – the darkness was still affecting me, making me feel weak and hopeless.
"Because you're one of us now," she said with a smile. "And we protect our pack until our last breath."
I stared at her for a moment. To think I used to believe she was a cold person... "Thanks," I whispered.
"Don't worry about it," she said.
I nodded, and felt a hand landing on my shoulder, so I turned to look at Jaden. He was watching me as well, and it was clear he was trying to piece all the information together. The rest of the darkness vanished when I looked at him. I felt much stronger again, like I always did when he was around.
"We won't let anyone hurt you," he said quietly. "I promise."
I smiled at him, placing my own hand carefully on his.
And he didn't move his hand away.
I didn't get a chance to talk to them after that. Our classes seemed to be at other ends of the world, so our paths didn't cross, not even once. I was sad about it. I really enjoyed their company.
Once I got home from school, I went to ask Miss Washington if she knew when Mrs. Bundt was coming back, since the two of them seemed to be good friends even outside the orphanage.
"She's having a family emergency. I have no idea when she's able to come back," she said apologetically.
"Okay," I muttered, feeling disappointed. "Is it all right if I go for a walk?" I asked.
"Of course – just keep your phone with you, okay?" she said with a smile.
"Sure," I nodded, and went to go change my clothes to something warmer.
Once I was back outside, I started walking to nowhere. I had been thinking about my own story for the rest of the day, and I really needed the fresh air. I couldn't figure things out on my own anyway.
I was still amazed that Jaden had changed his mind so quickly about hanging out with me. I really enjoyed their company, and I wished it meant I didn't have to be alone anymore. Having friends, that is... I had never had any friends. Not real ones at least.
And then there was that one thing... I was supposed to be Jaden's mate. His... mate. I blushed at the thought. I had never even thought about relationships before, and now I was destined to be... his. I had no idea what to think of that, to be honest. He was nice, and he did look good, but I didn't know much about him! He didn't have any idea what to do about it either... but he didn't seem to hate the idea either. But why? Why me? What was so fascinating about me?
I stopped walking, when I felt something in the woods. I smiled, and stepped in, starting to walk deeper. Once I was far enough from the street, I could feel something coming towards me – fast.
"Oh, no, no, no, no...!"
I was suddenly lying in the snow, under a cloud of white fur, smothered with wolf-kisses. I laughed as I tried to get her off me so I could breathe, but she was too excited to notice it. She kept barking at me with high-pitched sounds, wagging her tail like a maniac as she kept jumping over me. A moment later she finally started calming down, and lay down on top of me, pushing her head against my chest.
"Silly-Tilly," I chuckled and tousled her fur. She snorted loudly at the nickname, letting out a displeased grunt. "I know – I'm bad at giving nicknames."
Now that she was calming down, I could see Jaden and Arch standing close by. I patted the ground next to me, and both of them came to me. Tilly growled playfully when they got too close, and suddenly I had three big wolves having a wrestling match on top of me.
"Guys! Human! Squeezing!" I gasped between my laugh, and they took their little battle off my lap.
I pushed myself to sit up and watched them burning their energy. I felt really small surrounded by them. I would have peed my pants if I didn't know them. Their flashing fangs and intimidating growls were almost scary to watch, especially up close.
They played for a while until things finally started to settle down. Tilly lay down right next to me, sniffing my clothes, still wagging her tail. The boys were still playing lazy tag around the trees, growling at each other when they got too close.
"I guess you never went home after school," I said, scratching Tilly behind her ears.
Jaden jogged to us and sniffed my cheeks for a moment, before he sat down, panting heavily. Arch followed him shortly after.
"Had enough?" I chuckled. Jaden barked at me as a reply. "Okay – do you guys want to go for a walk?"
Tilly groaned, but Jaden and Arch stood up. We had to wait for the snow-white drama queen to stop whining at us. Every time I tried to get her up on her feet, she whined louder and rolled on her back, but eventually, she gave up.
"Come on then," I said cheerily, and started walking deeper into the forest with three wolves following on my tail.