Abducted

~ Chapter 7 ~

    It has been a week since the party and things were still pretty much the same as they were last weekend.  Ben was still hiding in his room.  Madison was still out sick.  I just wanted things to go back to normal.  I was sitting with Stefanie on the bus on the way home from school.  She had the window seat again and was listening to music on her phone while she looked out the window.  She was doing her best to ignore Xander who kept trying to get her attention.  I heard my cell phone chime.  I pulled it out of my bag and saw that it was a text message from Madison.

            Mads:  Hey, you busy?

            Me:  On the bus right now.  How are you feeling?

            Mads:  Ok.  Can we meet up when you get home?  We need to talk.

            Me:  Ok, lmk where and I’ll meet you there.

            “Everything ok?”  Stefanie asked.  I turned off my phone screen and put it back in my bag.

            “Yeah, everything’s good.  I’m excited for the weekend.”  I replied.

            “I’m not.  I’ll probably spend most of it at home avoiding Xander.  He won’t stop trying to talk to me.”  Stefanie said.

            “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to him?  If you do, he might finally leave you alone.  I’m sure he just wants to make sure you’re ok.”

            “Whose side are you on?”  Stefanie asked.

            “I’m not taking sides.  You are both my friends.  You’ll eventually have to sort this out between the two of you.”  I told her.

            “Traitor.”  Stefanie replied with a smirk.  She returned to looking out the window.  I got lost in my own thoughts for the rest of the bus ride home.

            When we got off the bus, my friends all went to hang out at the packhouse.  I made and excuse to go home instead so I could meet up with Madison.  I pulled out my phone.  There was a reply from Madison.

            Mads:  Clubhouse.  Come alone.

            Me:  Omw.  I replied quickly to let her know I would be there soon.  I quickly walked home to drop off my backpack and change into some workout clothes.  I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and then jogged through the forest to the clubhouse.

The clubhouse is a small building at the edge of our pack territory that our group of friends built when we were kids.  We used to go there to play all the time.  We would even camp out there during the summer.  It was little more than a shack that we had built, but we were proud of it.  I had not been there in years.

            When I got there, I could not tell if Madison was there or not.  The place looked even more run down than it was the last time I was here.  How did we ever play in this thing?  I though to myself.  I approached the door and gave our secret entry knock before opening the door.  It was silly to think I still had to do it, but you know; rules are rules.

            Madison was sitting on a blanket inside.  As I looked around, everything looked the same as it did the last time I was here.  It looked like she had been here for a few days.  As soon as she saw me, Madison burst into tears.

            “Oh my goodness, Mads, what’s wrong?  Why are you crying?”  I asked her.  I went over to her and gave her a hug.

            “I’m so scared.”  She replied.

            “Why, what’s going on.  Mads, talk to me.  I’ve been so worried.  Stef said her mom talked to your mom said you’re really sick.  That no one could see you.”

            “Sick!  Ha, what a joke!  I’m not sick.”  Madison said.

            “Well, don’t leave me hanging.  If you’re not sick, what is going on?”  I pressed.  She sat for a couple minutes.

            “I shifted.”  Madison finally answered barely above a whisper.

            “What do you mean you shifted?”  I asked, making sure I heard her correctly.

            “You know what I mean.  I shifted.”

            “What?!?  When?  Why?  Who?”  I had so many questions.

            “Slow down.  I’ll explain what I can.  Just let me get it out in my own way.”  Madison told me.

            “Ok….”  I said and motioned for her to continue.

            “Well, you remember at the bonfire last Friday, I told you I felt off.  We thought that maybe the punch had been spiked or something?”  She began.  I nodded.  “Well, it turns out it was my wolf waking up.  I felt feverish and jumpy all night at the bonfire.  I didn’t want to leave though.  I don’t know when I finally fell asleep but when I woke up you were gone.  I felt like I had bugs crawling under my skin and I started to scratch.  Xander was watching me and noticed.  He took me home.”

            “Ok, I knew about him taking you home.  Stef mentioned it.”

            “It was weird, you know?  Where our skin made contact the itchy feeling went away.  I was still itchy everywhere else.  When I got home, I jumped into the shower to try and get the itchiness to go away.  It didn’t work.  When I was done Kelsey was waiting for me.  She recognized what was happening and told me I was going to shift.  She told me to pack a bag and go somewhere I could be safe.  I didn’t want to go, but she was insistent.  So, I went into my room and dumped my books out of my backpack and filled it with clothes and grabbed my sleeping bag.  When I got downstairs, Kelsey had packed our picnic cooler with food.  She pressed it into my hands and shoved me out the front door.  She told me she would cover for me with our parents.”

            “Wait, hold up!  She kicked you out of your house?”  I asked.

            “Yeah, I still have no idea why.  She wasn’t making any sense.  She just kept saying, this can’t be happening again.”  Madison said.

            “Again?  Like this has happened before?  Have you shifted before?”  I asked, completely confused.

            “No idea what she was going on about.  I didn’t know where to go.  I wasn’t sure where you were, so I came here.  I got my bed set up and I just sat here waiting.  Saturday night the itchy got a lot worse and I started to get a really bad headache.  Then I was hit with the most excruciating pain I have every felt all over my body.  There was a loud crack and then my joints started to pop.  I somehow managed to take my clothes off and crawl outside.  It took hours.  I wanted to die, it hurt so much.  And I was all alone.  Then when I didn’t think I could take it anymore it was finally over.”  Madison paused.  I was just staring at her.

            “A strange voice in my head started talking to me.  I figured out it was my wolf.  We got up and ran through the forest.  I have to tell you, there is nothing like running through the forest on four legs.  I can’t even describe it.  We ran for hours before we finally stopped beside a stream.  I slowly walked to the water and caught the first glance at my wolf under the moonlight.  My wolf is beautiful.  She is a light caramel colour with white paws.  Her eyes are crystal blue.”  Madison told me.

            “What is your wolf’s name?”  I asked.

            “Topaz.  Do you want to meet her?”  Madison asked.

            “O-ok.”  I said hesitantly.  I had never met anyone’s wolf before, so I didn’t know what to expect.

            “Ok, hold on.  I’ll see if Topaz will talk to you.”  Madison closed here eyes and got very still.  When here eyes opened again, they were crystal blue.

            “Hello.”  A new voice spoke to me.  “My human said you wanted to meet me.”

            “Yes, I do.  Madison told me your name is Topaz?”  I asked.

            “That is correct.  I know you from her memories.  You are Alyssa, her best friend.”  She told me.

            “Yes, that’s right.  We’ve known each other forever.  It is nice to meet you Topaz.”  I said, trying to be polite and not show how nervous I was.

            “I wish it were under better circumstances.  Why are we here?”  Topaz began to question me in an accusing tone.

            “Better circumstances?  I’m not sure what you mean.  We are at the clubhouse because Kelsey kicked Madison out of their house.  Did Madison not tell you that?”  I asked.

            “I am one with Madison, we share thoughts, so she didn’t have to tell me anything.  I already know her mind.  I mean here, it this place.  With this pack.”  Topaz stated.  Again, I was not sure what she was talking about.

            “I still don’t understand what you are asking then.”  I told her.

            “I’ve said too much.  I must go now.”  Topaz said.  She closed here eyes.

            “Wait, what did you mean?”  I asked again, but when she opened her eyes, it was Madison staring back at me.

            “What’s going on?”  Madison asked.  “What did Topaz say to you?  When she has control in human form I can’t tell what is happening.”

            “Nothing that made any sense.  Then she disappeared without giving any answers.  Do you have any idea what she was talking about?  She kept asking why we were here.”  I told Madison.

            “Weird, she’s never asked me that.”  Madison replied.

            “I’ll just add it to the list of growing questions that I have then.”  I stated.  “So, how long are you planning on hiding out here?”  I asked.

            “I don’t know.  Not sure what to do now.  I mean, I think I’m ok to go back home.  But how do I explain my absence?  And who is my mate?  The only way I would turn early is if my mate was nearby and had already turned…. WAIT!!”  Madison yelled.  “It’s Ben isn’t it!  Ben is my mate!”  She was getting excited.

            “Damnit, that’s what Kelsey’s problem was!”  I exclaimed.

            “Huh?  What are you talking about?”  Madison asked.

            “Ben is not your mate Mads.  I promise you that.”  I told her.

            “How do you know for sure?  I haven’t seen anyone but you since I shifted.  It has to be Ben.  He’s the only one it could possibly be.”  She said as she worked through her thoughts aloud.

            “Trust me when I say, Ben is not your mate.  But I think I know who might be.”  I told her.

            “If it’s not Ben, who is it?”  Madison asked.

            “I think Xander is your mate.” I stated.

            “It can’t be Xander.  What about Stef?  She’ll be devastated!”  Madison exclaimed.

            “You’ve been gone all week.  Some stuff has happened.  And honestly it just makes the most sense now.  Out of all that’s happened since last weekend.”  I told her as I started to piece things together in my mind.

            “What do you mean?  What have I missed?  I couldn’t have missed that much.”

            “I can’t tell you everything because it’s not all mine to tell.  I’ll fill you in on what I can.”  I began.  “Last weekend on Saturday I went to the packhouse to hang out in the afternoon.  I was out at the pool with Stef.  Kelsey showed up all angry and assaulted me, screaming some nonsense about Ben that didn’t make any sense until just now.”

            “What do you mean Kelsey assaulted you?!?!”  Madison exclaimed.

            “Exactly that.  She walked up to me and slapped me as hard as she could across the face.  Then she yelled and slapped me again on the other side of my face.  She used her wolf strength to do it.  I was lucky she didn’t break my cheekbones.  I still have bruising.”  I explained.

            “I was wondering why you have almost healed bruises on your cheeks.  Damn Kelsey.  She has serious issues.”  Madison said.

            “I think she thought she was protecting you.  You said she knew you were shifting.  Knowing that now, her yelling at me about Ben staying away from you makes more sense.  She thought you were going to be his mate.  Same as you did.”  I stated.  “I’m not saying what she did was ok, but it makes more sense at least.  Doesn’t matter what her reasons were.  She was caught and punished for it.  I think she’s still in the holding cell.  Not sure exactly how long they gave her.”  I continued.

            “Ok, so what else happened.”  Madison asked.

            “Well, this part I’m sure you’ll find out very soon anyway as our group all know already.  Monday at lunch, Xander and Stef went to talk alone.  Xander came to class alone and I didn’t see Stef again until after school.  She had been crying.  She told me that Xander told her they are not mates.  He knows who his mate is and it’s not her.”  I explained further.

            “So you think that Xander is my mate because of this?”

            “Partly.  Also because you just told me that the itchy feeling you were experiencing last Saturday went away where your skin was making contact with his.  I think it was your mate bond calming you down physically.  You just weren’t aware of it because you didn’t know what was happening.  Plus, I noticed that Xander was watching you all night at the bonfire and Stef was annoyed with him because he wasn’t paying attention to her.  No matter what she did, he kept getting distracted by you.”  I told her.

            “Huh, I had no idea he was doing that at the bonfire.  I guess I never thought about him calming my itchy skin either.  Your theory makes a lot of sense when you put all of those pieces together.  I’ve never considered Xander as a mate before either.”  Madison said.

            “So, what are you going to do?  Are you going to come home with me?”  I asked.

            “I think so.  I just don’t know what to do.  Do I pretend I haven’t shifted?  How do I act around Stef?  I just don’t know.”  Madison replied.

            “Well, all we can do is take it one step at time.”

            “Hey, Yyu never told me why you’re sure Ben isn’t my mate.”  She quickly said as she remembered.

            “It’s one of the things I can’t say.  It’s not my information to share.”  I told her.  She pursed her lips as she looked at me, debating whether or not to press me further.  Her eyes flashed to blue as Topaz took control again and stared at me for a few seconds.  It was making me nervous.  Madison finally blinked and here eyes finally returned to her chocolate brown colour and she said,

            “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being shoved out of my own head!  Topaz says to trust you though.  That you’re not lying.  So I’ll believe what you say and that you’ll tell me when you can.  I would have believed you anyway, but it’s nice to know Topaz does too.”  Madison said.

            “Thanks!  Are you ready to pack up and go home?”  I asked.

            “Yeah.  Let’s go.”  She replied.  I helped her pack up her things and then we walked home together in peaceful silence.  It was peaceful at least until we made it back to Madison’s house.