The Alpha’s Enchantress

NYXARA. “Mom, look at this.” Donning on a yellow duck outfit, I flapped what seemed to be my wings and wiggled my tail, earning a laugh from her that instantly warmed my heart. Mom has been down for days for reasons unknown to me and that was my little attempt at cheering her up. This morning, I forced her to go to this boutique with me. As they say, shopping is every girl’s therapy. Mom had the sweetest smile, I swear, especially when her dimples would peek out so suddenly. It made me want to make her smile at every chance I got. I wiggled my butt-- what seemed to be my duck tail-again and she laughed hard. “I want to try that on too!” “No, it’s mine.” I argued, and she chased me through the racks of clothing hung around in an attempt to get the outfit from me. I ended up tripping. She tripped too, atop of me, we both stared at each other and burst into a laugh. And then the air suddenly changed between us with a pin drop silence, pulsing with eerie foreboding as if the world itself held its breath. The ominous energy was everywhere, like a heavy shroud of doom clinging to us, spreading fast, too fast. Mom’s brows knitted together. I could hear her heart rate picking up too, as an alarmed look entered her eyes and she whispered with urgency, “s**t! He found me.” She remained still and when I tried to ask her what was wrong, she pinned my lips shut with her hands, fear appearing in her eyes briefly as I saw how her ears literally perked up as if listening out for something. Her eyes widened and just when she moved, a man appeared above where we were crouching. He was a big man, with beards covering half of his face and his head completely bald. What was strange about him were the fangs protruding out of his mouth. I wondered what character he was playing. A vampire perhaps, but he didn’t look too much like it. His stylist must’ve done quite a bad job. “Found ya.” He whispered, his tongue slithering out to lick his lips. He reached out his big hands to us and Mom immediately rolled us away. A gun appeared in her hands out of nowhere, and she shot at the man. Her aura had changed completely, replaced by something fierce and feral. I heard the earth-shattering sound of the gun firing, twice, the smoke that whirled out of it and I realized this was real. This was some f*****g serious s**t! How did Mom get a gun? No, that wasn’t the question. Who was this man? Why is he still able to stand when a bullet just went through his head? To my horror, I saw the huge hole on his forehead caused by the gun enclosed slowly, leaving it to seem as though nothing of that sort ever happened. This cannot be real. Maybe a dream, yes. Wake up, wake up, Nyx. But it wasn’t. It was real. Mom dragged me with her, where we hid under another rack of clothing, and she reloaded her gun with different kinds of shiny bullets. I couldn’t ask any questions. I was too stupefied, too stunned to. Or so I thought. “Nyx.” She called me, and I turned my head to her, still unable to speak. It was that sweet charming smile on her face again, but this time, there was a tinge of sadness. One that instantly made me feel my heart break into tiny pieces. It was as if I already knew deep down in my heart that this moment was one that’d end in a tragedy I would never forget. “I need you to listen to me, okay?” she said, jumping out right at that moment to shoot a bullet at the man who had already gotten close to us. This time, he screamed out in pain, but Mom cursed, seeming like she missed her intended target. “Just wasted a f*****g precious bullet.” She hissed but didn’t waste any moment before dragging me with her into another corner where we crouched. “Do you remember how I said I was going to give you a gift on your twentieth birthday?” She asked me. I tried my best to say something, anything but my lips were stuck, my voice gone as no words would leave my mouth. “If you turn the ballerina’s toy in my room upside down, an underground case will reveal itself.” She whispered, “There’s a green safe box hidden—" a scream cut out from my throat when that bald man suddenly appeared in front of us. He was quite a distance away one moment and the next, he was in front of us with one of his arms burnt away, which I noticed was where Mom’s last bullet had lodged itself. “Long time no see, Elaris. Is this how you have decided to greet me?” “Go die!” Mom roared, firing her gun again. This time, it lodged into his eye and Mom cursed again, apparently missing her target. I could instantly smell the burnt flesh filtering into my nose. Mom grabbed my hand, and she began to drag me towards the boutique’s exit and that was when I saw it. The floor. It was painted in red, the blood of all the workers and customers. They were killed while we were in there. No wonder everything suddenly stopped. It explained the silence and that foreboding air I felt. Who was this person? He wasn’t human. What was he then? “Nyx!” Mom shook me as if to get my attention away from the dead people. “The box…” she started, but it was as if she was too disoriented to continue. She gathered herself though, throwing open the window as she swiftly tied some clothes to it before forcing me to climb. “That box is yours, Nyx. It is very important. Do not let anyone take it from you. You need to protect it as it is yours. You’re the only one who can open it. "You’ll know everything when it is time.” She said to me, but I couldn’t focus on her words. I was shaking my head, desperately trying to form some words. I do not know why I couldn’t. It was as if something was tying my tongue, something was restricting me. It was as if I wasn’t in control of my body any longer. I was listening to her orders even though I didn’t want to. I was climbing the ropes that would help me jump out. Leaving Mom here would be the last thing I’d do but my body just won’t f*****g do as I wanted, my lips won’t move either. What the hell was going on? I looked up and caught Mom’s eyes. There was a slight purple glow in them that made me realize she was doing this, she was controlling me, and I was… powerless. Unable to shake her off. What kind of sorcery was this? Who was she? How does she have this kind of power? All of these questions were unnecessary when I saw that man appear behind Mom with a creepy smile and Mom pushed me down. At the same time, I saw her being dragged away by her hair and blood sprayed in the air. And then her last words which she yelled at me. “Find your Uncle Tom!” I still couldn’t say a damn word f**k it! Mom was going to die. He was going to kill her like he did to everyone in that boutique. I needed to go back, to save Mom, I needed to… I couldn’t do anything at all. I landed on my back, on the concrete, falling from the second floor. I must’ve broken my leg because they hurt so bad. Despite that, my body could only think of one thing. I was quickly on my feet in no time, but I wasn’t going to save Mom. I was heading east, To find uncle Tom. Against my will. …….. “Uncle Tom! Uncle Tom!” I was already shouting at the top of my voice even before I got to the house. Panic surged up to my throat. The door opened quickly, and Uncle Tom was right there, c*****g a brow at me in a silent question. His eyes first took me in before they shifted, as if he had just realized something. I didn’t even need to explain myself. I could barely find my voice as I watched Uncle Tom’s expression shift to that of terror, running towards me. “Where is your mother?” he shook me so hard I felt the organs inside me shake too. “Where is she?” “Someone… a man… came… at the boutique… he… Mother…” the tears were falling out of my eyes uncontrollably. “Stay here, Nyx. Don’t go anywhere.” He pushed me into the house, locked the door. And before I could say anything, before I could protest, he had already disappeared. I stood there, stunned, wondering if I’d just also imagined the glow I had just seen appear in his eyes, meant to compel me. Of course, I couldn’t sit still when mother was out there with that monster. I needed to go back for her, but then I couldn’t move. I f*****g couldn’t move a muscle. It was as if something was stopping me, invisible hands tying me down. I wanted to scream at the frustration of it. What was all this? Magic? I didn’t dare think that out loud. It sounded insane, absurd that something like that even existed. But I had seen mom. The glow in her eyes. And even Uncle Tom just now. Was it all in my head? Or was it all real? One hour was a torturous time to wait with my body not being fully mine and my mind in a shamble of mess, panic and fear. Fear that the monster had gotten my mother. I’d seen him drag her by her hair. I saw the blood that sprayed out in the air. And it definitely wasn’t the monster’s blood. I heard the door open just then and Uncle Tom walked in with a saddened expression that instantly made my heart ache and race with fear. His eyes were gloomy, the light gone from them. “Nxara.” He called softly. “I—” “Release me.” I demanded, a sudden anger pumping through my veins. “I said Release me, Uncle Tom!” He swallowed hard, and his expression softened. The invisible hands holding me down disappeared at once, and I could feel my limbs once again. “Where is she? Where is my Mom?” “I couldn’t find her,” he told me. “Whoever took her—’ I didn’t wait to listen to him. I hurried to the door, determined to find her myself, but Uncle Tom appeared in my front in the blink of an eye, blocking my way with a speed too fast for a human. My eyes widened, staggering back away from him. “W-who are you exactly?” “Nyx, I promise to explain everything to you, but we have to leave right now. Whoever took your mother will come back to take you. It’s you they really want.” Confusion laced my gaze, watching him like he was some stranger. “I have looked for your mother. I saw the mess at the boutique. But I didn’t find her. I also can’t tell if she is alive.” No. No. No. She has to be alive. “Come with me.” It wasn’t a request, but an order. I followed uncle Tom down a basement as he began to pick up several weird items into a bag. “You know who that man was. The man that took her.” “A werewolf.” He answered simply, as if I was supposed to know what the hell that was. As if he’d just said the most normal thing ever. “What is a werewolf?” “Evil shape-shifting creatures that derive joy in hurting our kind.” “Our kind?” I c****d a brow in question and Uncle Tom cursed under his breath. “Help me pack up, will you? I’ll explain everything on the way. We don’t have tim—” We heard a loud crash upstairs, and then footsteps. So many of them. It looked like people had broken into the house. “Shit.” He cursed again. He was zipping up his big bag one moment and the next, he was holding my hand and dragging me out with him. We got into a car that had been hidden by leaves. And very soon, we were driving out of the compound. As I turned around to look behind us, I saw one of the men that had broken into the house. He stared at us from the window upstairs, illuminated by the light and then, he smiled widely. Like some f*****g psycho.