Playing With Fire

Chapter- 4

Bestie aka Phoenix: Good morning, kitten.

I opened my eyes to my phone dinging and when I saw that text my day was suddenly made.

It started off better than it ever had. A text from Phoenix.

We didn't get to hang out today but tomorrow we were going out to eat.

Unfortunately,  I was still going through with my plan to follow Phoenix into the woods today.

Technically I wasn't keeping my word to him about being a 'good girl.' Would he forgive me if he found out? I honestly couldn't say. I was going to be as careful as I possibly could. Be as quiet as a mouse.

If Erin decides to come with me, I needed her to do the same. I needed her to stay calm. Maybe I'd just tell her to let me go alone.

He scared her so she would be on edge the entire time. All the scenarios of how it could go wouldn't end well with her accompanying me.

After texting Phoenix back, I jumped into the shower and then got dressed. As usual my father wasn't home. He left a note for me on the kitchen table along with my lunch money.

Although I felt happy and good about today I had a nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong. My subconscious was scolding me about my plans to follow Phoenix.

He told me never to pry.

And now I was pretty much spying on him.

Fück it. I was doing it. Nothing was going to stop me, not even my own dàmn self.

I was invested in this guy.

I drove to school with my music blasting. I was trying to shut out any bad thoughts that might try to surface. I caught the attention of Phoenix as he was already in the same spot as yesterday and I pulled up right beside him.

Quickly turning off my car, I grabbed my backpack and got out.

"You seem happy." He mused. And he most likely knew why I was. He seemed happy too and I really liked him like this.

"I am, are you?"

"I am. Who knew that becoming friends with you would change my mood so much. I'm usually grumpy in the mornings but it actually felt good to wake up today."

Well, I wasn't expecting him to say anything like that. He was being so honest.

"I'm glad I could help."

He didn't say anything else as we both walked into school together. I honestly wanted to say more but it didn't feel right. I knew it just wasn't the time for more conversation. He would say more when he wanted to.

And he did just that. Right when we both had our lockers open.

"Lilith..." Oh no, he was using my full name.

"Y-yes?"

"You promise that you'll be good today?"

What in the name of... hell.

My eyes met his and it felt like he was looking into my soul. Maybe he was. I wouldn't be surprised honestly.

"I told you I would be."

He shut his locker at that moment to turn and step closer to me. I almost let out a squeal but I refrained. "Because if you're not... well let's just say, I'm good at handling bad, little girls."

Can't. Breathe! Body on fire! Freaking dying over here!

"I-I don't.."

"You do kitten. You do." He was only inches away from my face now and I had no idea what he was planning to do to me.

It felt like he was reading my freaking mind! I didn't have any words, none.

"Is... is everything ok?" Erin's voice snapped us both back to reality and I wasn't sure if I wanted to thank or slap her yet.

"Everything's just fine." Phoenix answered, stepping back from my face. I watched his expression as his eyes landed on Erin's face.

He was glaring. Oh fück.

But she didn't look scared this time and I was terribly confused...

"You have a pretty smart friend, blondy. I hope you're as smart as she is. Don't tempt her." With that he was walking away without another word to either of us.

My heart was hammering and I felt frozen to the ground. I had never seen Phoenix act like that before. How was he acting exactly? I couldn't tell. I had no idea why he had that outburst. Why he even talked to Erin. What did his words mean?

"What crawled up his àss?" Erin asked in an irritated tone. Irritated. Not afraid and her voice wasn't even shaking.

"I-I uhm... I don't even know what that was."

"I do. He's acting like he owns you now. Did he ask you out? He's not boyfriend material, trust me on this."

"Erin, we're just friends. But I don't know what he meant when he told you not to 'tempt me.' Honest."

"Is there anyway he knows about our plan today?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea anymore..."

She scoffed rather loudly, making me jump. "Screw that Lil, we are going. I want to prove to you that he's bad for you, once and for all. I have a bad feeling about what he's doing in those woods and we are going to find out so you finally STOP hanging out with him."

Why was she so angry all of a sudden?

"What if he catches us Erin? What if he catches us and he's not doing anything bad at all? He'll think I betrayed his trust. I promised him I wouldn't pry into his business. He's telling me things and talking to me, I don't want him to stop."

"You honestly worry to much Lil. He's not that great. Just because he's good looking and has a motorcycle..."

"Hold up! Are we in an alternate universe? What happened to him being scary and you being afraid of him?"

She began to laugh, throwing me completely off guard. Could I trust no one in this place?

"I was jealous. I didn't want him to steal you away from me. I've known him for... a very long time and he is bad news. You could honestly do way better. Please just trust me on that. And we ARE going to follow him today. I guarantee you'll find proof to corroborate my information."

She was jealous. Really. Jealous. If that was true, she was an amazing actress. The fear she showed me was real. If it wasn't, she was mighty talented.

I had this weird feeling that I couldn't shake. About Phoenix, Erin, spying, her lies... his suspicion.

'Don't tempt her.' What did he mean by that. It was directed right at Erin. It was way too coincidental that he said that when we planned to spy on him today.

It was way too coincidental when he told me 'to be good today' and that he could 'handle little, bad girls.'

It felt like they were both in on some elaborate scheme and they knew each other more than they were both letting on.

So what if Erin had faked being afraid of him, she definitely didn't like him that's for sure.

"You know what, fine. Fine, let's do this. But if it's all for nothing and he stops talking to me I'll never forgive you."

Again she laughed and shook her head. "You'll see Lil."

We went to gym together and she didn't bring up Phoenix again. As we both ran together around the track she talked about Mr. Kirkpatrick and how he was AMAZING in bed. She told me that 'having sèx with that alpha is the most energizing, most invigorating activity on earth.'

I didn't know this girl. Not really anyway. She definitely wasn't who she had pretended to be when I first met her. Why did she want me to be her friend in the first place?

Maybe she just needed to warm up to me before she let her true colors show.

Don't get me wrong she was a cool person and I really liked talking to her I just didn't like her trying to talk me out of who I should and should not hang out with.

I didn't belong to her, she had no right to be jealous that I was hanging out and talking with Phoenix. She could make an effort and sit at lunch with us sometimes. No matter how much she didn't like him.

Come lunch, I was eagerly heading to the cafeteria and getting in line to get food. I glanced over at our table and was disappointed to see that Phoenix wasn't there like he usually was. It added to my bad feelings.

He was ALWAYS here before me. Waiting and smiling, watching me walk to the table.

Instead, you guessed it- Erin showed up. For the first time in over a month and in Phoenix's absence, she ate lunch with me. She talked my ear off the whole time, I barely got two words in.

And then come the end of the day when I was walking out to my car, I noticed that his motorcycle had dissapeared. He had left.

Like I said before, I like change but all this today was way too much. The conversations, the revelations, the warnings. I felt like I was setting myself up for disaster and I didn't know how to stop it.

I mean obviously I could choose not to go spy on Phoenix today but I was going to prove Erin wrong. Prove to her that he was not bad like she said he was. Maybe ruin my friendship with him in the process but just maybe he would let me explain. Because honestly, I was tired of her bashing him.

I followed Erin over to her house. When we got there I was thankful to find her parents not home. She told me that they both were gone for the week on business trips. Lucky me, I didn't have to pretend to be happy when I was cleary not.

She ordered a pizza and we ate as she yet again blabbered away. I wondered how she could talk so much in such a short amount of time. Apparently we 'didn't get to talk enough' so she was 'catching up' again.

It was mostly about her love life. About the hardships of dating one of your teachers. I got it though, she had no one else to talk to about it. I mean this wasn't just a normal relationship, it had to be kept a secret. I was the only person she trusted and really talked to for that matter.

I knew she didn't want to hear about my relationship with Phoenix and how I liked him. But I did want to know how she knew him.

"Erin, how long have you known Phoenix? Really?" She was grabbing us cokes from the fridge when I noticed her freeze mid-step.

Sore subject much.

"I've known him for five years. I only started going to school with him as a freshman though."

"How did you know him the first year?"

She grew silent for a few moments while she got our drinks and came to sit back down with me at the table. "My older brother was friends with him."

Oh... I didn't know she had any siblings. "Where is your brother?"

"Ezra moved to England. He was offered work so he left. I haven't seen him since the summer and I miss him already. But if you want to know, yes, I did have a crush on Phoenix and yes he did turn me down. But that's not why I don't like him. He completely stopped talking to my brother and it hurt him. They were good friends Lil. I mean like, they were BEST friends. I have no idea why he shut him out like he did. Ezra wouldn't lie to me, I highly doubt he did anything wrong."

I think I was finally getting somewhere with her. But it didn't explain why she thought he was doing bad things in the woods behind her house.

Was he dealing drugs? Meeting up with a girl to have sèx? I mean how bad could it really get? I just couldn't think of anything else. I couldn't see Phoenix in a bad light no matter how 'bad guy' he looked. Image didn't make a person.

"Wow, why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't think it mattered because I didn't think he'd ever talk to you, yet alone be friends with you. He doesn't like people Lil. He has his group of friends but people at our school aren't good enough for him, they've never been. He's never even had a girlfriend, that I've seen anyway."

"Maybe he's gay?"

"I doubt it, the one night he slept over here my brother threw a wild party and he took five girls into the guest room with him. Let's just say, it was a realllly LOUD night. Loud and freaking LONG."

The innuendo was so obvious it made me sick to my stomach. "You saw IT?"

"I walked in on IT."

I couldn't help but to laugh and she laughed right along with me. Finally, a happy moment. But then I thought about him being a player and a manwhore and I felt nauseous again.

"It's 5:15. We need to head out now, or we'll miss him."

I nodded hesitantly and we were leaving the house. I didn't realize how thick the woods behind her house were until we were walking through them. I almost tripped a couple of times before I finally felt I had my footing. I had to be quiet. She had to be quiet.

"Erin, I don't want him to catch us, ok? We need to be stealthy."

"You're taking this too seriously."

"You're not taking it seriously enough." I whispered yelled, fed up with her attitude.

"Ok. F.I.N.E."

We continued through the trees. It felt like we were walking and getting nowhere... there were so many trees.... so many.

Im pretty sure we had been walking for hours...

"Do you know where we're go-" At that moment, the edge of my flat sandal decided to catch on something stuck in the ground and I went flying forward.

Stealthy my àss.

My head hit the ground hard and I groaned.

It stung. My freaking head stung and I knew that, that wasn't a good sign at all.

Slowly, I pushed myself up on hands and knees. "E-Erin?"

My vision was blurry for a few moments as my eyes refocused on my surroundings.

And those surroundings didn't include Erin.

I was suddenly filled with dread. She wouldn't leave me, would she? Did he see her and scare her off?

But if he did see her, he would have seen me and he wouldn't leave me on the ground-

I touched the side of my head. Bleeding-

I felt around for a deep gash but found none. What I could feel didn't feel like that big of a cut. It was at the corner of my hairline, sitting to the side of my eye- thankfully not right above it or my eye would be stinging as well.

"Erin?" I raised my voice a little louder, noticing that it was now incredibly shaky.

I was alone, I was bleeding and I was terrified.

It took some effort to stand, my body was throbbing from the impact with the ground. I knew I'd have some bruises. Hopefully nothing worse than that.

Like a dumbàss, I continued on through the trees. I didn't have to take too many more steps before I saw it.

A log cabin.

A fücking log cabin in the middle of these freaking weird àss woods.

The only thought that came to mind right after that was: Phoenix. Was this his? If it was I'd say I got lost and needed help.

Maybe Erin didn't notice me fall as she went ahead to check it out. Oh shït.

I forced my body to move as fast as I possibly could in the pain that it was in. I seriously needed some Tylenol or something.

As I neared the cabin I noticed it was near a clearing. Damn, we really did walk for a long time. It took awhile to get here.

Finally I came up beside the structure and purposely avoided the window by me. I wasn't quite sure what exactly I should do. If this place wasn't Phoenix's, who knew who it could belong to.

A serial killer perhaps? I shivered at the thought.

I did know that I needed to find Erin. Another thing, I noticed my phone wasn't in any of my pockets. And finally, I didn't know if I could make it back to Erin's alone in the shape I was in.

I'd probably end up lost to be honest. Lost and bleeding out. Ok maybe not but it would be hard in the pain I was in.

In that moment a light clicked on inside of the cabin, shining brightly out of the window I was now standing next to.

My first thought was 'run' but I didn't dare.

Had someone heard or seen me approaching? I wanted to try and catch a glimpse of the person or persons inside.

I need to find either Phoenix or Erin.

After arguing with myself, I finally made the decision to peak in and see what I could find.

As soon as my body leaned over and my eyes caught sight of the grizzly seen inside of the cabin, I had to cover my mouth and pinch myself to keep from screaming.

It took a lot of effort. I held my breath for longer than I had ever in my whole entire life. I think I actually forgot how to breathe.

There I found Phoenix and Erin.

Erin was on the floor in a pool of blood.

Phoenix was holding a rather large, shiny looking knife, covered in the red substance as he slid his tongue along the blade.

The red disappeared as he went and I felt my heart skip in my chest. He looked like he was ENJOYING it.

Erin's eyes were open. Her face was frozen over in terror.

She was frozen. She was no longer moving, she was dead.

I could tell by the way her body was positioned, she had no time to react to him attacking her. He must have... did she even see him coming?

She most likely heard him.

And there I was, being a bad, little girl.

Erin had tempted me and she paid with her life.

As the thought brewed in my mind, Phoenix's head tilted upwards and his eyes connected with mine.

It took a moment for me to realize my gaze had automatically shifted from the ground up to him.

Slowly, a devilish grin spread out across his face and I felt every hair on my body stand upright. He was fücking GRINNING at me, with the knife in his hand, over Erin's dead body AND I COULDN'T MOVE.

The only thing separating the two of us was this window.

Without explanation, said window pane slowly slid up in front of me. It just slid open on its own.

It had to be automatic or something....

I swallowed hard as Phoenix chuckled for my benefit. It did what he wanted it to do, scared the living daylights out of me.

My body may have jerked from the sound of it but I still couldn't move a muscle.

I could see that he was about to say something, until the words literally got stuck on his tongue as he opened his mouth. As soon as they did, I watched him take in a deep breath. His chest rose and fell as he dropped the knife at his feet.

"You're bleeding." It wasn't a question. As soon as he said it, his eyes found the blood on my face.

Did he just... smell it? In the air...

What the hell.

I couldn't speak. I didn't know what to say. He had killed Erin, which obviously didn't mean anything to him. He caught us snooping... caught me snooping. Would he kill me now too?

I should of honestly been more upset than I was, I couldn't explain why I wasn't crying. Did I feel bad that she was dead? yeah but I just couldn't cry.

Was I scared that Phoenix might kill me? Yes but I didn't think he would. Punish me for lying and spying, most definitely.

Maybe it was because I hit my head that I was imaging him smelling my blood and the window magically opening.

"Kitten, I told you to behave. You're really testing me here. I'm trying to take things slow with you. And what do you do? You follow me out here. And not only do you follow me out here, you come to me bleeding. BLEEDING, kitten."

What..

I watched him walk over Erin's body and lean out of the window. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and my body suddenly felt light as fücking air.

I saw his lips moving again but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

My eyes fluttered shut for a moment before I forced them back open.

As I watched his face, a look of worry crossed it and he was stepping out of the window.

In that moment my body felt incredibly hot and the last thing I saw before darkness washed over me was his lips mouthing the words, 'I got you, baby.'