The New York Mystery Crew: Jackson's Past (book 2)

Chapter 4: Attacked

Jackson's POV: Third Person

On March 8, 2018, as Jackson and his older sister, Lisa, walked into their school, they found that it was eerily quiet. At least until Jackson's friend, Phil, came sliding down the stair rails. Jackson rolled his eyes, playfully, when he noticed those wings growing on Phil's back again.

Why are those wings growing on Phil's back anyhow? Jackson asked himself. Then, just as fast as they appeared, they were gone. "Jack, why are you looking at me like that?" Phil asked, snapping Jackson out of his thoughts. "Looking at you like what?" He asked back.

"You were giving me this really weird look." Phil explained. "Strange." Jackson muttered, mostly to himself. "Come to think of it, Mason was giving the same look earlier." Phil remembered. Jackson suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped.

It was Mason.

Mason had an amused expression on his face. "Why are you so jumpy?" Mason asked, his expression never faltering. "That would be part of the things we would rather not talk about just yet." Lisa replied. Jackson, meanwhile, remained silent.

"Noted." He replied, switching his attention to Phil's wings, which had now returned. "Why is everyone looking at me like that?" Phil asked.

"Hey guys!" Caleb called, making Jackson jump once again. He turned his attention to Lisa. "Hey babe." He said, flirtatiously. "What's with the wings Phil?" "What wings?" Phil asked. "For the past couple days, we've been seeing wings growing on your back." Mason explained with an embarrassed expression. "Why didn't you tell me?" Phil asked. "We didn't know whether you were aware of them or not." Jackson piped in, slowly. "We also didn't know whether it was a sensitive topic for you or not, and we didn't want to bring them up if it was." "Well, seeing as how I didn't even realize I had wings growing on my back." Phil replied. Jackson looked down at the ground in response.

"What's with the bite?" A familiar voice asked. "Bugger off Gavin!" Mason replied. "Guys, I don't understand why you don't like Gavin." Phil commented. "He's mean." Mason responded. "He's a jerk." Caleb agreed. "He's a bully." Jackson replied, softly. "What did you just call me?" Gavin asked. Jackson shrank behind Lisa, causing Gavin to back off once he saw the fear in Jackson's dark brown eyes.

"To answer your question Gavin," Phil begun. "I was bitten by a dog last night. No big deal." "Being bit by a dog is a big deal Phil." Mason replied. "You could have died." "I didn't though." Phil responded. "That's the important part." "Still." Mason replied, crossing his arms.

"Honestly guys, I'm fine." Phil said once Mason was done checking him out. "You can never be too careful when it comes to bites that get through the skin." Mason replied. "Why don't you get that checked out by the school nurse just to be safe?" "Fine." Phil responded, obviously knowing he was fine. However, Jackson didn't say anything. He knew Mason well enough to not protest against things when he's made up his mind. Mason may be chill most of the time, but he could be threatening when he wanted to be.

"Where is everyone?" Lisa asked after Phil left for the school nurse's office. "It looks like it's been abandoned." "Apparently school is optional today." Caleb explained. "Several kids got attacked by a giant dog on their way home yesterday including Phil." "Phil's the only one of them who still came to school today." Mason continued.

"It's just us and Michael." Gavin commented. "Michael's here?" Caleb asked. "Seriously?" "Yep." Gavin replied, obviously not very thrilled about the idea that Michael actually enjoyed school.

9-year-old Michael Smyth was one of the school pranksters, and he didn't get along very well with Caleb, Mason, Gavin, or Jackson, and Lisa and Rachel weren't big fans of him either.

He was also one of the many people who got frozen over a year ago. Jackson remembered.

"I'm honestly surprised you're agreeing with us on this Gav." Mason commented. "I don't even like Michael." Gavin responded. "Who does?" "Everyone except for us and Rachel." Lisa answered. "I don't understand how he's one of the most popular kids in the entire school." Caleb agreed. "It's because nobody else knows how much of a fake face he is." Jackson explained with a dark expression on his face.

Gavin took a step back. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Fine." Jackson spat. "Than why are your eyes glowing red as if you're a demon?" Mason asked. Jackson blinked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He asked back. "And than suddenly, they're back to normal." Mason said, throwing his hands up in the air. "Are you okay Mason?" Caleb asked. "I'm frustrated!" Mason replied, half-yelling into Caleb's face.

"Clearly." Gavin commented, rudely. "Why?" Lisa asked, brushing past Gavin's rude comment. "First, Michael is somehow better than me in science, then Phil somehow has angel wings and a dog bite and now, Jack is acting as if he's being possessed by a demon!" Mason complained. "It sounds to me like your confused and frustrated." Jackson responded, flinching at Mason's loud, harsh tone.

"Bad news everyone." Phil said, making them all jump, causing Jackson to give him a glare. "That bite is not a dog bite." "Well then, what was it?" Caleb asked. "The nurse said she didn't know." Phil explained, shrugging off his friends concern. "But it was an animal for sure."

"You don't know what it was?" Mason asked, forgetting about his temper tantrum he had had just a second ago. "No." Phil responded. Then he paused. "She did say it had traces of human saliva as well as wolf DNA." He added, scrunching his eyebrows. Mason's expression changed from confusion to guilt, as if he was the one who bit him. "I won't die though." Phil finished once he saw Mason's guilty expression. There was a quick flash of relief in Mason's sky blue eyes before they went back to being concerned and feeling guilty.

Why is Mason feeling guilty for Phil's bite? Jackson asked himself. Is he responsible for it? If so, where did the wolf DNA come from?