The Alpha King Is Mad

Episode 2

TRACY

"We haven't spoken in six months," Justin said, his voice laced with concern. "And I don't feel... I don't think that's alright at all."

I cleared my throat before speaking. "Good thing we are speaking now."

I didn't know what to say. Over the years, my relationship with my brother worsened as we grew. I had one issue with him: he was unserious and never took anything seriously. I guess he fit the picture of a billionaire's kid more than I ever could. All he did was to waste Dad's money, living his life as though it was one big party.

That was pretty much all it was, though.

The issue was that he was spoiled and had so much money and no supervision whatsoever— well, let's just say it made a huge mess out of him.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

He replied immediately, though his voice was unclear. "I'm good too."

We managed to speak on the phone for three minutes before I hung up. Those minutes felt like three days because we had very little to say. All he managed to get across was that he was going to come and see me, so I should text him the address of my home. I guess he really wanted to see me. Couldn't understand why.

Justin should still be in school but he dropped out some years ago. Dad found out a few months after he quit school, but well, Justin still didn't go back, so you can guess how much Dad did to put him straight.

Justin was about nine years younger than me. I remember very well how I used to brag to my classmates that I had the most adorable brother. He was a toddler then, and sadly, that was pretty much when he stopped being adorable. He grew to be everything that he shouldn't be. He was lazy, disrespectful, a little unstable, and often violent. I once heard that he was a h****n addict; no one could know how true that was because no one looked after him.

And yes, he was just fifteen.

We used to hear more from each other, but he continued to draw away from me because he didn't want anyone telling him that his whole life was going to turn into something even he couldn't want.

Right now, as I looked at him, he appeared to be a changed person now. To some extent, at least.

I took Justin off my mind and concentrated on that farm where a cave had allegedly appeared. I took all my work stuff and put them in the boot of my SUV and then relaxed in the back seat as my driver drove me to the farm. My driver was also my bodyguard and seemed fine to do both jobs. He was paid reasonably for doing both jobs anyway.

The farm was barely a fifteen-minute drive. In fact, I knew the farm though I had never been to it.

A tall woman spoke to me when I got to the entrance of the farm. "Madam, we can't allow you into the premises now. It's not accessible to the public right now."

Feigning a polite smile, I persisted, saying, "I'm only here to see this so-called cave and take some photos. I can't cause any issues, can I?"

"I don't know how to answer you, Madam. But I would suggest you move so we won't have to move you."

"Super nice," I said under my breath, hissed, and got back into my car.

She must be fun at parties. She didn't even give me a chance to feign friendliness with her so I could talk my way How unfair!

"Where to, Tracy?" My driver asked.

"Home," I replied.

Why did the authorities quickly take over the property and chase the farm owners out? Fishy, but I guess we might never know.

I phoned Aidan, a man who worked for me, and told him to offer money to the farm owners and see whether they could get us in. Even if it was for two minutes— that was time enough to take pictures.

I didn't have my hopes up. There was a good chance that even the farm owners wouldn't be allowed onto the property. In fact, I was sure that this was some made-up nonsense, and in time, everyone would know this.

As I got home, I realised that I had nothing to do today. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. That wasn't a problem, was it? I brought a book that had been on my TBR list for weeks, and soon found that I didn't enjoy the book. Since it was a dull day, I decided to see a horror movie. I did that for a good five minutes before turning it off and putting on an epic romance I had seen at least seven times before.

After seeing the movie, I saw that I had hours before nightfall. It took me two minutes of watching a popular comedian online making jokes to fall fast asleep. I woke up three hours later and decided to treat myself at a fancy foreign restaurant, not far away from my home. I was bored and that would help liven up my day. Besides, it was five in the evening and the sky was beautiful— what better reason was there to get into a dress?

It took me less than ten minutes to get into a green velvet dress that was strapped halfway with a black leather belt.

I couldn't recall how many times I have been to this restaurant though I still couldn't pronounce the name properly. The name was foreign though I couldn't tell what language it was either. The restaurant itself was run very well and the attendants were very nice and hospitable.

Tina, one of the waiters, ushered me to a table. "Didn't expect you to be here today, what a pleasant surprise!"

"You say this every other day, you know?"

She laughed, almost embarrassed. "It is always good to see you, Miss Clarke."

Stella, my closest friend, rang me up.

"Wanna come over? Or should I?" Stella asked.

Stella was a single mum who worked five days a week and barely had any time for herself— especially since Devin, her little son, was still young.

"I'm not home at the moment," I said to her, and then told her where I was.

"I will be there in five minutes," she said.

Guess what? She was at the restaurant in five minutes. The woman was bored.

"See who's all dressed up?" She joked as she sat across the table. "It's unlike you to stay alone at a table."

"It's all bald heads in the room," I responded, my glass of martini almost glued to my lips.

"Well, you look breathtaking, as usual."

I crossed my legs and dramatically made a face at her. "You know I can't help myself."

We both laughed at that.

Stella was one of those people who had a great life but wasn't aware of it. I know being a single parent was demanding, but she seemed to handle it quite well. However, complaining was all my dear friend did. It was always one thing or the other— the woman's mind was restless.

Sadly, as her friend, I felt obliged to listen to her rants. This definitely wasn't what I signed up for when we became friends.

"Don’t worry, the new designer will find a way to fix a chandelier in your kitchen," I tried to comfort her. "Perhaps Deborah can help you find one."

Stella began to tell me how she had supported Deborah to get ‘that marvel of a car'.

I was beginning to question the kind of friends I kept.

Stella left a while later and I was alone again.

Aidan called and had some news for me. Somehow, he had managed to get in touch with the owners of the farm and had learned a few things— after greasing their palms, of course.

Aidan told me that the farm was owned by a large family. They told him that they had been sleeping one night when something that looked like a cave appeared in the middle of their farm. They were so scared and confused that they had alerted the authorities immediately. When the police arrived at the farm, they were equally confused because the cave-like structure looked so strange. And it vibrated too, according to the new information.

Of course, it was particularly strange because it wasn't there before.

"This is pure fiction," I said, letting out a sigh.

"I haven't gotten to the part that's literally mind-blowing," Aidan stated.

Aidan began to tell me that the farm owners were informed a few hours before he spoke to them that the cave had vanished. Yes, it disappeared! No one can understand why that happened, but then no one understood why or how it came to the farm in the first place.

The family had returned to the farm to get some of their things and they saw for themselves that the cave was no longer there. There was no explanation. Just as it came, it left.

I exhaled noisily. "I don't know what to make of this, it is unbelievable. Even more so now."

"Why do you say so?"

"Well, for one, the story screams stupid. And now, it has disappeared. Convenient... won't you say?"

"I spoke with the owners of the farm and they didn't... I don't think they are lying."

"Aidan, so you're telling me you believe that a cave appeared out of nowhere and now it's gone?"

"I honestly don't know what to believe, Tracy." He continued, "But even the kids who lived in the farmhouse said the same thing."

"Did they take pictures?"

"Uh... pardon me, you said?"

"Did they take any pictures of the said cave?" I asked..

"I thought the same and I questioned but they claimed they were too scared to think about that. The mother said it was like taking a picture of a shark that was about to devour you."

Rolling my eyes even though Aidna couldn't see me, I said, "That is not even remotely the same thing. The cave allegedly vibrated, didn't it? According to this fable, it vibrated. Did it chase them too? Why wouldn't they take pictures? That's the first anyone would do."

This story was as fake as the 'feelings' Kane Hamster swore he had for me, and equally a waste of my time.

"I don't know. They claimed they were too terrified to take pictures. One thing though... how could I forget? They told me that in front of the cave was a little wooden chest."

They had seen this chest when the cave appeared. According to Aidan, the chest was incredibly heavy, though it was only a few inches long and tall.

"Why didn't they hand over the chest to the police?" I wondered aloud.

"They thought there were some treasures in it and that they could make a fortune from it."

"So they couldn't find time to take a bloody picture, but they could hide a chest from the police? This story doesn't have even a spark of credibility."

"Tracy, don't act like you don't know how much people love money."

"What did they find in the chest?"

"They had been under constant questioning from the police, so they couldn't get to the chest which they had hidden at a neighbour's home. Now that they were free, they were they were scared to even touch the chest because they have heard about the disappearance of the cave. They think it's cursed and won't touch it.”

What was this all about? I still wasn't buying any of this, but if there was a chest, I wanted to have it. This way I could get some sort of proof and debunk this lie online.

Clearing my throat, I said, “Tell them that you want the chest and bring it to me.”

Aidan kept mute for a while before speaking. “What if it's cursed?”

“Aidan, are you for real? There's no such thing as curses.”

“I will drop the box at your home tomorrow.”