Double Life (pt 3)

For once this story actually relates to the prompt.

This entire series was inspired by Ivy Carter and Lone Wolf, here are their links, go check them out they are so amazing!

Ivy Carter: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/carter/

Lone Wolf: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/536b84/

“Bye mommy!” I shout as I burst out the door, my bag full of party supplies. I skipped the field and ran straight towards the entrance of the enchanted forest, my heart fluttering in excitement. As I crossed the barrier, a shiver went down my spine. Something was wrong, I could feel it, so I sped up my pace.

I arrive at the pond, but the water seems a bit murkier than usual. It is said that the enchanted forest can sense when something is wrong, but it was also said that the animals were dangerous and mystical. Only thing I’ve encountered is Wolfie, and she’s not dangerous… although she could be.

“Wolfie!” I shout, roaming the area around the pond. After a few minutes, I give up and sit down by the pond, washing the dirt from face. I gaze into the murky water, an unsettling feeling wshing over me. I get up and grab my bag, walking through the forest to Wolfie’s cave. 

As I near my destination, I hear shouting, and I instantly start running.

“Wolfie!” I shout, adrenaline shooting through my body. I recognized some of the voices, fathers of the little kids in the field that would come home with bags full of

wolf meat.

I sprint through the forest, my bag banging against my back as I nearly run into one of the hunters. Startled, he lowers his crossbow, his eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“Abigail! What are you doing here?” he exclaims. I glance forward to see Wolfie backed up against the cave, growling at the 5 hunters that surround her. 

“No!” I shout, lunging forward. A pair of hands hold me back, and I struggle against them, screaming to let me go. I look behind me to see my bleary eyed mother, sadness and fear etched on her face.

“So it’s true, Abigail?” she mumbles, her voice cracking. “You’ve been running off every day to spend time with this- this- monster!”

“She’s not a monster!” I yell. “She’s my wolfie mommy!”

She gasps, her green eyes glistening with tears. “Don’t you speak such nonsense, Abigail!”

“Don’t worry, Ivy,” says one of the hunters, his crossbow trained on a growling Wolfie. His eyes seemed oddly familiar, bright and amber-like, his black hair spilling in front of his face. Behind him I see another pair of amber eyes that quickly duck behind the hunter’s legs.

“You!” I shout at the boy, recognizing him as the one who would always watch me when I was in the field. “Why are you here?”

“I’m the one that told them,” muttered the boy. “I followed you every day into the forest.”

My blood ran cold, tears spilling down my cheeks. I thought nobody knew, I thought I was careful…

My mother holds me by my bag now, the straps wrapped tightly around my shoulders. The hunters train their crossbows at Wolfie once again.

“Get out of here, Alaska,” she growls, her bright blue eyes cautious and unfaltered. 

“No!” I yell, struggling against my mother’s grasp. “I can’t leave you!”

“You don’t need me,” she hisses. “Go, scram!”

At that moment, an arrow whizzes through the air, and the world seem to go in slow motion. I wretched myself out of the straps and run towards Wolfie, whipping my head around to face the hunters right as the arrow pierces my body.

*****

I groan, my head aching, fingering the thin fabric draped over me. I instantly shoot up, then lay back down as a rush of blood floods my head. A sudden pain shoots through my arm, and I look down to see bandages wrapped around my shoulder. I glance around the small infirmary, sunlight peeking through the wooden walls.

“Mommy!” I shout, tears spilling down my cheeks. The door instantly opens, my mother’s worried face red and puffy. 

“Abigail!” she cries out, wrapping her arms around me. I wince as she touches my shoulder, and she backs away, her face flushed. 

“I’m sorry, honey. Are you okay? Does it hurt? Do you need more herbs?”

“It’s okay, mommy. It doesn’t hurt that much,” I lie. 

“Oh, good,” she says, slightly relieved.

“Mommy, where’s Wolfie?”

She sighs, running a hand through her already messed up brown hair. 

“Mommy?”

“I’ll… bring it in,” she mumbles, walking to the door.

“Her.”

“What?” she asks, turning around.

“She’s a her. You called her an it. She’s not an it.”

“Right,” she says. “Her. I’ll bring her in.”

I nod as she leaves the room, tracing the bandages on my shoulder. A few moments later, the door opens, and I smile as Wolfie’s bright blue eyes peek through the door.

“Wolfie!” I exclaim. She sits down next to my bed, her face emotionless.

“Are you okay, Wolfie?”

“Mhm,” she responds. “Perfectly fine. After you got shot, your mother jumped up to help you. They decided to let me live, since you trusted me so much.”

“Oh. But look, Wolfie!” I exclaim, pointing towards my injured shoulder.

“That’s going to leave a nice scar,” she comments. 

“Yeah! I’m going to have a scar just like you!”

She nods, a hint of a smile on her face. “You are a trooper. Grown men would be whining more than you are right now.”

“That’s because I’m strong! And I’m only 9 years old!”

“That’s good,” she says. “Listen, Alaska…”

“Yeah?”

“Your mother says you can’t go into the forest to visit me anymore.”

“What?!” I exclaim, tears threatening to resurface. “But what about our party?”

“That’s why I brought this.”

She pulled out a small bag from underneath the bed, cups and plates spilling out of it.

“My party supplies!” I exclaim, bending down to set it up.

“I don’t know why you brought so many cups,” Wolfie mumbles. “Not like I can use them.”

I giggle, stuffing some red berries into my mouth. The door opens, the amber-eyed hunter standing in the doorway. The little boy stood behind him, cowering behind his father’s legs.

“Time to go, wolf,” he grumbles.

Wolfie walks towards the doorway, her tail low, her ears droopy. 

“Goodbye, Alaska,” she says on her way out.

“Goodbye, Wolfie,” I whisper. I stuff the party supplies back in the bag, then feel something smooth and round. I smile as I pull out the small blue fruit, and I hold it in my arms as I drift off to sleep.

*****

My shoulder is healed, although I cannot fully lift my arm nor sustain too much weight on my left hand. A ban was placed on wolf hunting in the enchanted forest, and I take great relief in knowing Wolfie is safe. I go to the field everyday now, and I’ve learned to play with the other kids. The whispers of gossip have stopped, and now they take great joy in asking countless questions about my arm.

But every so often, when the moon is full and the night is dark, I sneak into the enchanted forest to meet with Wolfie. We sit near the pond and stare at the moon, exchanging conversation during the few hours we have together. And whenever I head home, I always find a small fruit in my bag, blue and round just like Wolfie’s eyes.