Savannah’s Alpha

Missing

Greg dropped Savannah off in front of her dorm building. The car ride back from the flume had been mostly silent, aside from some speculation about what had been howling in the woods. Greg seemed to think it was a coyote. Savannah didn’t know but she was shaken. “I’ll see you tomorrow after class” she waved as she shut the car door.

“Yeah, I’ll see you then” Greg replied, looking slightly disappointed. Their moment earlier had clearly passed. Interrupted by a howling neither could forget. But they still need to rehearse tomorrow if they wanted to perform at Neon Moon on Saturday.

Climbing the stairs to her room, Savannah thought about the events of the day. It had been a really weird day from start to finish.

She threw the door open to see Gabby sprawled out on her bunk, alternating between scrolling her phone and typing maniacally on her laptop. “Hey beauty” Gabby looked up from her devices. “Where have you been?”

Savannah had so much to tell her. “I went for a hike with Greg. I think we almost kissed but then we.. we heard..”

Gabby sat up suddenly, interrupting Savannah’s stammering story “No way! What do you mean you almost kissed? Tell me EVERYTHING”

“Gabs, something was in the woods. It was an animal or something. It was howling super close, like it was right beside us”

Gabby’s face dropped.

“We ran out of there as fast as we could. Greg thinks it was a rabid coyote or something. It was still light out! Do coyotes even come out during the day? Or wolves? What the hell?! It was so wild and super scary. I’ll never go out there again.” Savannah rambled on.

Savannah stopped to look at Gabby, whose face had gone a bit pale. She dismissed Savannah’s fears with the wave of her hand. “It was probably a lost animal, you’re safe, nothing to worry about. There are a lot of animals in these woods, city girl. Now tell me about this ALMOST kiss”.

…

Savannah took a hot shower and tried to calm her nerves. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep after the adrenaline filled hike, but she had to try. She had the neuromuscular disorder test tomorrow, clinical hours at the outpatient physical therapy clinic, and rehearsal with Greg.

She towel dried her hair and braided it down her back. Tucking her shower shoes under her bed, she turned to Gabby. “Hey, did you ever hear back from your cousin Jameson?”. Savannah had almost forgotten their encounter from the morning.

Gabby didn’t respond. She appeared to be already asleep.

Savannah didn’t think she’d be able to sleep, but the adrenaline crash was kicking in, and she closed her eyes.

She dreamt of wolves.

They surrounded her, closing in. She tried to scream but no sound came. The largest wolf stepped toward her. It was gray with honey colored eyes. She tried to back away but the wolves behind her pushed her forward. The gray wolf dropped his head, as if inviting her to pet him. She raised a shaking hand, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. A menacing howl stopped her from going further.

Savannah woke in a cold sweat. The alarm clock read 4:02. The dorm room was dark and she felt disoriented. She glanced over at Gabby’s bunk. The bed was empty. Gabby was gone.

…

Savannah jumped out of bed and entered the common room. It was dark with no one around. She did a quick check of the bathroom, but no one was in there either. She returned to her room to get her phone and dialed Gabby’s number.

Gabby’s phone buzzed on her desk. She had left without her phone? Panic set in as Savannah thought of the possibilities. Unsure of what to do, she dialed campus security.

Security arrived within minutes. Savannah met them at the front door of the dorm building. She tried to remain calm as she told them about her missing roommate who had disappeared in the middle of the night without her phone.

One of the security guards, a tall guy with a thick beard, seemed unconcerned by Gabby’s sudden disappearance. “She has family in the area. She probably went home”

“In the middle of the night, without her phone?!” Savannah practically yelled. She was growing frustrated with the lack of concern from this man.

The security guard narrowed his eyes. “This is a college campus. Students are free to come and go as they please. If she doesn’t show up for classes tomorrow, we can reach out to her emergency contacts. We appreciate your concern, but I suggest you mind your own business”

The other security guard looked hesitant but nodded in agreement. With that, they left and Savannah stood alone. Something wasn’t right here. Gabby was missing.

…

Savannah paced the floor of her dorm room. It was 7:30am and still no sign of Gabby. She had tried to unlock Gabby’s phone but was unsuccessful. She could see some notifications on the home screen but nothing provided any insight to Gabby’s whereabouts. She had to get ready for class and her test, which she hadn’t studied for at all. She pulled on a hoodie and leggings, then wrote a note for Gabby.

CALL ME

She left the note on Gabby’s bed and headed across campus to her class.

Savannah checked her phone after the test, but nothing from Gabby. She texted Jade: have you heard from Gabby?

She wanted to text Emily too but didn’t have her number. Savannah didn’t have a car, and Gabby had been driving her to her physical therapy clinical site. She headed back to the dorm, which remained empty with her note untouched.

Jade had texted back: not since yesterday, why?

Knowing Jade didn’t have classes on Fridays, Savannah called her. She relayed the story to Jade rapid-fire, but Jade had the same nonchalant attitude as the security guard from earlier. “She’ll turn up. She has class at noon I think”

Savannah remained unsettled but asked if Jade could give her a ride to her clinical site.

…

Five hours later, Savannah waited on the sidewalk outside of the physical therapy clinic for Greg to pick her up. Still no word from Gabby. Jade wasn’t responding to her texts anymore either. Savannah thought about calling the police but dialed campus security first.

Greg pulled up during her call with campus security. The day shift security team had no knowledge of Savannah’s report from the early morning hours. They agreed to check on Gabby and report her missing to the police if they couldn’t locate her.

“What’s going on?” Greg asked when Savannah hung up the phone.

“My roommate is missing. She was asleep in the room and I woke up at 4am and she was gone. She left her phone! I called security and they pretty much told me to mind my own business. No one has heard from her. I need to get there now”

Greg nodded “Wow”. He drove them back to the front of Savannah’s dorm, rehearsal now the furthest thing from their minds.

Savannah slammed the car door and fled to the entrance of her building. Campus security was parked out front and a crowd of students had formed to speculate on their presence.

Someone stepped out from the crowd.

“Savannah! Do you know what’s happening? Someone’s missing?”

…

It was freaking Gabby. She stood there, seemingly unaware the missing person was her.