Faze

Chapter 20: Safe

Chapter Twenty

The next day, Mackie woke up feeling better. He drank the rest of his tea after his call with Zephan and even got a full night's sleep, which was slowly starting to feel impossible. He didn't wake up with a headache and even his runny nose had stopped, which he was thankful for. After leaving his room, he told Elijah that he would be home in a couple of hours. Mackie had one thing in mind, and that was checking in on his dad. He knew that he was lonely, and sad, and had probably woken up on the living room floor with no memory of the previous night. Mackie was worried about him and he would be lying to himself if he said that he didn't miss him too.

When he got there, he didn't bother knocking on the door. He knew better than to expect his dad to open; he was probably passed out on the nicotine-filled couch, or cooped up in his room with no desire to see anyone. Mackie looked around the house and it looked the same since he had left. He didn't miss it, well, maybe a little, the familiarity of it, the good memories. He heard dishes in the kitchen so he walked through the messy living room to the sound. "Dad?" He said.

"Who's...there?" His dad's voice slurred, although it was morning. Mackie didn't say anything. He walked into the kitchen and stopped when his dad saw him through his thick eyebags, but recognition was not in his eyes. "Who're you?"

"Mackie," Mackie said, feeling his heart start to drum faster. His dad forgot him a couple of times before and it always ended up in an argument that Elijah needed to take over.

"I don't know no Mackie," His dad shook his head and took a long swig from the clear bottle in his hand.

"Yes, you do, I'm your son," Mackie shook his head too, and crossed his arms for comfort.

"No, Elijah moved out and left me and so did my wife."

Mackie sighed, "Your other son."

His dad looked him in the eye and stilled, his hands dropping to his sides, the bottle clinking against the counter. The room was quiet for a moment. "I don't got another son. Hey, where's my daughter, have you seen her?" He said and then pushed himself off the counter. "Have you seen my wife? She–she probably knows."

"Dad," Mackie watched him walk into the living room that had bare walls. Mackie knew why he never put up any childhood photos. He followed his dad but kept enough distance between them. "Mom left years ago and you don't have a daughter, you know this."

"What the hell are you...are you talking about?" He slurred and took one lousy step towards Mackie. "What did you do to my daughter? I know you-you're lying. I know you've seen her. Where is she!"

Mackie took a step back. "She's not here anymore!" He yelled, never before raising his voice at his dad. His heart started to pump louder when his eyes flipped to anger, no longer distressed over his long-long gone daughter. "Would you just stop drinking!"

His dad's grip tightened on the bottle in his hand and before Mackie could react, it smashed against the wall next to his head. His hands trembled, "I don't know who you are. Get out of my house!"

Mackie didn't hesitate, not even for another second. He ran through the backdoor, tears brimming his eyes, and he ran, hardly able to see what was in front of him, but he ran. He could hear his dad's voice yelling from the door. Some yells were still telling Mackie to leave, and some were calling for someone who was no longer there.

Mackie's eyes were still cloudy, some tears had fallen on his face or blew away with the speed of his run. He couldn't see where he was going, where he was, or the stick that was inches from his face. He ran into it, twisting his ankle, and falling to the ground where he caught his breath. He wiped his eyes, realizing that he hadn't even put his shoes on. His feet were covered in mud and bruised from the sticks he stepped on.

One stick snapped in the distance and Mackie held his breath. Then, he realized that he was in the woods, the one place he promised he would never go back to, and for the reason that was now standing in front of him: a wolf.

This wolf was black all around and his eyes were brown and green, with a small hint of gold that was hardly there. Mackie stared at him, yet he could breathe just fine. The wolf wasn't attacking him or growling. Mackie knew that he was safe, he was on Pack Rose's territory after all.

"Get...Get Zephan," He said, his voice trembling. The wolf let out a noise like a bark but not strong and then howled through the trees. The sound travelled far and goosebumps ran down Mackie's skin. In minutes, footsteps were heard.

"Theon!" It was Zephan's voice. He yelled and Theon made another quiet noise. "Jeez, I ran as fast as I could, no time to shift. What happened?"

Mackie watched him come into view and Theon sat down on the ground, not making another noise for Zephan. He didn't need to because Zephan looked at Mackie and froze. "Mackie?"

Mackie sighed and wiped his wet face, yet when he stared into Zephan's eyes he saw something different–he felt something different. Mackie felt safe.

Just to clarify, I purposely didn't hint that Mackie was trans to make it seem normal, because it is. Mackie is just Mackie. Also, his dad isn't against it; he's just a very emotional drunk who's stuck in the past. Also, he's my first trans character so I wanted to take it slowly if that makes sense.