The Phoenix girl

The Gods, who are they? Who invented them? Where do they come from? Or why do they exist? In ancient times, they were worshipped, obviously there were different Gods for each thing or culture, until a moment in my life I thought I was a simple human lover of supernatural stories, I never thought that one day everything would change in my life or even worse that a few simple words could destroy me and with it all those I love.

Sleep is the only thing I feel sleepy and even more sleepy I want to stay here all my life, I don't care that this seat is made of wood, right now it's the most comfortable thing in the world.

—Eli —I hear a voice in the distance, almost imperceptible if it weren't shaking me as if I were in a tornado.

—Uh-huh —I say with the last strength I have in my body, it weighs on me, maybe I should exercise, maybe on Monday some year I'll start, but not today, I just want to sleep and kill whoever is calling me, damn it, I want to sleep.

—Eli, Eli! —they shout closer to my ear, that makes me jump.

—Yes, yes, I'm awake —I say to whoever was calling me when I see that it's Aldo, I feel like killing him, I love him, but I think that today the school population is decreasing, one more one less that could happen, he smiled at the stupid things I think.

—You don't change.

And he still smiles, you have to be very unfortunate to do so much evil to a poor teenager, he ruffles my hair leaving it worse than it already was, taking me out of my dramatic thoughts.

—Leave my holy hair. —I try to be angry because I always end up pouting and nobody takes me seriously, I try to fall asleep in my seat again, I don't know, although it will seem repetitive, but this wooden seat looks very comfortable to sleep for a week.

—No, no, come on, classes ended like fifteen minutes ago.

—I don't care, my brother Batían, he didn't let me sleep all night because he wanted me to play video games with him. That son of a bitch always does the same thing to me, but how can I say no to him, when he loses he throws tantrums and mom consoles him with cookies, nothing would be strange if my brother wasn't fifteen years old.

—No, I want to sleep, let me —sleep wins over me, I don't want to do anything, not even move a nail.

—Come on, don't you remember that Karla and I have to show you something in the forest, stop being a crybaby, come on —Yes I do remember, but I'm too lazy to get up and I don't care if I say I'm a crybaby.

—Yes, yes, whatever you say, but I don't want to, I'm sleepy and I don't think my feet want to cooperate —I didn't even finish saying it, I feel like they're weighing me down, I open my eyes in surprise, I hadn't even realized that I had closed them.

Aldo takes me towards the forest, nobody says anything, since it is not unusual to see us like this, an example was on my birthday Karla and I put on a tuxedo and he put on a very pretty evening dress; nobody said anything to us, since they are used to us behaving like this.

—Come on, Eli, wake up well —he teases me, I should have eaten more this morning, at least it would have been difficult for him to get me up.

—I don't want to be apart, you are carrying me and the truth is I don't know how you have so much strength if you and I are the same height —I said pouting like a little girl.

—Stop asking, you will have your answers —he says while pretending that he is going to throw me, I think I saw my life pass before my eyes very well, I realize that most of my life I spent eating, I do not regret anything.

—Hey, be careful! —she yelled at him and the bastard just laughed— Stop laughing, I also wanted to know if your girlfriend is going to go to the place, are you taking me or will it just be the three of us —my words come out with annoyance, it's just that I don't like the chick Karla says she's a witch and I agree with that.

When he says that his laughter stops, my friend wants us to accept Dinora as his girlfriend, but I can't stand her and I've always shown it, I just don't like her.

—You know I want you two to get along, you're important to me and I want you to be friends, besides I think she's my mate —I don't think we'll get along, the chick is irritating, it makes you want to rip out her extensions when she's near, let's say I get a little aggressive.

—Hey, you already lost me with that mate thing —when I tried to investigate what it was, only mythology things came up and I made the mistake of asking the guys, but they gave me excuses.

—Wait, we'll be there soon, he tells me —I'm sleepy again, I've decided to start exercising, I just need a good incentive, but I don't know which one.

—You know, the other time I saw a movie similar to this, the girl ended up with her head hanging from a tree —I like to tease him because he hates those movies, he scolds us like a literal father, he frowns and puts his hands on his hips to scold us, or rather he looks like a mom.

—I've already told you not to watch those movies, it's not good for them to watch them, you know very well that I wouldn't do anything to you —he tells me in a scolding way trying not to laugh if I think I got dramatic again.

—Well, I was saying, so it's just the three of us? —I was a little distracted looking at the trees until he decided to answer me.

—No, there will be someone else too. —I don't know how he can handle it, I'm not that thin, I'm a little overweight, but they could blame me, the food my mother makes is too delicious to leave on the plate, anyway, now I'm very curious about who Aldo is talking about.

—Tell me, who is it? Please. —I give him puppy eyes to see if he tells me who it is, he always does when Karla and I make that face, but it seems today will be different.

—It's a surprise, so shut up and wait. —he tells me smiling.

I look around, a while ago, we left school and a few people looked at us strangely, but what are we going to do to him is not the first strange thing we've done.

—Yes, dad —I say and he hugs me more, anyone who sees me will think I like him. The truth is that yes, I was in love with him for a while, but that was a long time ago, now I only see him as my older brother because he is a year older than me and Karla is a year younger than me.

We walked for about half an hour, I don't know how it is, but I fell asleep again when my brother challenged me in video games, I will be a good loser and I will not ask for revenge. That's why in the morning we looked like zombies and we got a tremendous scolding from mom who told us that next time she would cut the TV cables and the lady keeps what she promises, sometimes my mother is scary.

—Well, we have arrived — Aldo tells me and I half opened my beautiful eyes, I saw Karla and someone else, I was so happy that my dream disappeared, I jumped from Aldo's arms and threw myself into his.

—Fer!, Fer! You don't know how much I missed you —Fernando, Aldo's older cousin, is also my friend, only a year ago he went on a trip to look for someone, he never knew who, but I hope he found her.

—I missed you too, my favorite redhead. —She messes up my hair more than she was, Aldo's cousin must be, they look a lot alike, except Fernando is taller than Aldo, I don't know anything about genetics, but my friends look like tall models; black hair, eyes like emeralds, muscular bodies, well, Fer more and Karla is not far behind, she is taller than me, brown hair, slender figure. Anyone who sees me next to her would say that I didn't fit in with our group, but I never felt bad or intimidated next to her, mom taught me to love my body.

—Hey, don't mess up my hair, otherwise I could conquer some handsome and sexy guy from the forest, you never know what you could find. —He always gets angry when I tell him that, Fer and I were boyfriend and girlfriend, but we didn't last long, since on his birthday we broke up over a mate, he never told me what that was; that night he got angry the next day we broke up.

Leaving that aside, Fer and I remained friends; however, I never told the boys that I cried a lot, they thought I had gotten sick or at least they understood that I didn't want to talk about the subject until I could get over it and see him as a friend if Fer's happiness wasn't with me I wouldn't force him into a relationship. Now I'm surprised that he came out as a kind of grunt, that threw me off a bit.

—Stop saying that —He really got angry if he didn't know that everything is already over for both of us, I would think he was jealous.

—Because if some handsome lumberjack-type guy from the woods tells me, come with me and live in my cabin while I chop wood and we'll live together forever —I say it in a dramatic tone, which makes my friends laugh at me.

—If you were my mate —I heard him whisper very quietly. I preferred to make him not listen because if I ask they won't tell me anything.

—Well, what was this meeting in the woods for, maybe he'll tell me why you've been acting strange lately. —I point at the three of them, that makes them become serious, as if I hadn't noticed Aldo's drastic mood swings. He was about to be expelled for fighting with a teacher, the same thing happened with Fer before we finished or that he disappeared.

—Well, first I want you to tell us if you believe in the supernatural. —I don't know if the question is serious.

—I think you know the answer to me, I've always liked stories of the supernatural, so yes —I tell them firmly and I don't lie, sometimes I wish Twilight was real, but I wouldn't want the vampire, but the wolf.

—So what would you say if we told you that we are werewolves —said Aldo while pointing at Fer, Karla and him.

I laughed seriously, I thought it was a joke, but I shut up when I saw their serious faces, it couldn't be true, they are not werewolves, they were my friends. I've known them since I had baby teeth, they have been with me through thick and thin, I know their parents and they, I honestly didn't want to believe my mother, but their faces showed me that they weren't lying.

—It's not a joke —more than a question it was a statement, I instinctively took a few steps back trying to understand what they told me.

—No, it's not a joke and please don't be afraid of us, we would never hurt you —their fear is noticeable and Karla's words showed me that, but I wasn't afraid of them, obviously I was a little wary of the news, but I don't, I love them too much to do it.

—Show me —I tell them— show me if they're telling the truth —I try to sound very calm, although the truth is that I'm dying of nerves knowing that everything they tell me is real.

Now I understand what my dear mother says, *curiosity killed the cat and you my dear Eli seem like you live off gossip* or something like that, it's not my fault that I want to be informed.

—We can't —Aldo says— we haven't reached the age of majority.

—What? —I put on a confused face.

—You'll see a werewolf, his transformation comes when you come of age, it's the moment when the spirit of the wolf chooses you as its bearer —this time it was Fer who spoke, I think I'll investigate more about this, it sounds very interesting.

—Then you can prove it —Fer nods.

—But please don't be afraid, I would never do anything to you —Fer says again, almost begging me not to fear him.

The second he says that I watch him throw himself to the ground, you can hear his bones breaking and he changes little by little, he leaves his human form to take on a very different one. He no longer has arms or legs, only paws and hair, when he finishes writhing on the floor he gets up revealing a large and imposing brown wolf. What happened next I think neither my friends nor I expected, especially me, because I ran to hug that wolf who claimed to be Fer.

—He's very cute —I hug him, it's like hugging your dog, I don't think I'll tell you that part, I don't know if it's insulting to you that I compare you to a pet—. I believe you now and please if you have things to explain, say it now and the main thing would be to tell me, what is mate? —I look at them.

—We will, we will tell you everything, but wait for Fer to come back —I let go of my friend when Aldo tells me and I see how Fer becomes human again, what I didn't expect was to see him as he came into the world, I stay a while examining his statuesque body until I feel my eyes covered.

—Eli stops being so perverted and almost eats my cousin with her gaze.

Karla and I burst out laughing, Aldo always gets angry with us, but what can I do if my ex is so handsome.

—What?!, it's not my fault that time has been good to Fer and has left everything in its place! —I'm just saying this to annoy Aldo, since we met they've been my best friends, although Aldo took on the role of older brother with us.

—Stop seeing him as a piece of meat —he scolds us again.

—Leave Eli alone, you know he only says this to annoy you —a smiling Fer appears dressed.

—Well, now you're going to explain to me what this thing about mates is —they look at each other as if agreeing, whoever explains it to me was like that for a long time until one of them decided to speak.

—If you look, in Celtic it's known as soul mate, in our language it's translated as soul mates, although for humans it's known as the red thread, but for werewolves they're their life partners. It's the person who is chosen by the Moon Goddess so that she loves you and you love her, that bond is the most sacred that a werewolf has —explains Karla.

—What happens if you already have someone and you find your mate? —the question comes from me, I think I know why Fer and I broke up.

—Most of them end that relationship and go with their mates, but there are some who reject them, that causes unimaginable pain, some can't stand it and die —now I understand everything, I don't think I blame Fer, he has to be with his mate.

—So when do you find them and how do you distinguish them? —I already seem like an old gossip, when you give him new information I need to know completely, otherwise I won't be calm.

—We found them when we turned eighteen and we distinguished them by their smell —it makes me laugh a little, the three of them give me the information as if they had learned it as a lesson.

—So that's why you went to travel the world to find your mate? —the question goes to Fer.

—Yes. —he says with his head down, I see sadness on his face— but I didn't find her —we remain silent, this is difficult for him.

—Don't be sad, you'll see that you'll find her —I hug him, I don't want to even imagine what it would be like to know that you have someone destined for you and you can't find her. I stayed hugging him for a long time, at that moment I remembered something that I've had in mind all week and with all this I forgot about.

—Aldo, tonight is not your birthday party —my friend understood what I wanted to tell him, since I spoke so quickly and disorganized.

—Yes, Eli, today is my transformation at midnight —he says— also today I hope to know if Dinora is my mate —his excited face makes me feel a little sorry, because he will suffer a lot if the one he loves is not his mate.

—I don't want to spoil your fun, but Dinora isn't your mate, what are you going to do? —I see him so stunned by the chick that I don't know what to believe, my friend is very unpredictable.

—Well —he scratches his head— I think I'll reject my mate —I'm serious, I'm not even surprised by his answer.

—Aldo, you can't do that, you know very well what it means if you reject her. —Fer tells him angrily. If this doesn't sound good to me, I think a lot of things will happen tonight and they won't be pretty.