Taking Down the Alpha King

It Begins

Two Months Earlier

I WAS STUFFING my backpack, ready for Dad to drive me to school. It was early still, the sun not yet breaking into the sky. The high today was only thirty, and I was already dreading it. Living here, you’re supposed to acclimate and not complain about cold temps until the high was ten degrees… But I was always cold. I can’t put on weight to save my life, and I keep getting taller, so my BMI is like… twelve percent or something crazy. Anyways. I wear multiple layers a day to keep from shaking through school.

“You about ready?” I yelled up to the house. I had been standing outside for near five minutes, and I could already feel my toes wanting to curl. Bouncing back and forth, I wondered if it would be worth it to go back inside and wait.

Probably not. If I did that, I’d cave to the warmth of the house.

I saw my dad stick his hand out the front door, wildly waving at me to shut up. He was on the phone.

Again.

Huffing out a steamy breath, I stuck my hands in my pockets. He always left the keys in the ignition, but they weren’t there today. The car needed to be heating! I was going to get another tardy, and that old mean crow in the front office was going to give me yet another speech on timekeeping and the importance it will have one day when I’m “out in the world.”

“Dad!” I shouted, really working to not die of hypothermia.

“I’m coming!” He hollered, slamming the door and locking it behind him.

Odd…

“Why’d you lock the door?” I laughed, wondering if my house key even turned the lock anymore.

“We’ve had a series of break-ins around town… can’t be too careful.” He slipped the key into his breast pocket, a careful smile resting on his lips.

My forehead wrinkling under my beanie, I shot him a look. “Break-ins? Here? This isn’t Anchorage, Dad.” I laughed. “Heck, we’re not even in College for that matter,” I snorted, thinking he was off his rocker.

“Laugh all you want,” he said, reaching into his truck to crank the engine. “But whoever is breaking in is taking all the weapons they can find. That’s all that’s been reported. You know that arsenal I keep in the basement… I can’t afford for some creep to get his hands on those.” His jaw was set, his tongue clicking against the back of his teeth as his eyes went black with worry.

“I’m sure it’s just some meth head strung out and looking to pawn. Don’t worry about it.” I tried to clap his back, but he wasn’t in the mood.

“Got your stuff?” He absently asked as he swung himself up on the sidebar.

Waiting to answer, I watched my breath puff around me. “Yup.”

He was silent the whole thirty-minute drive to school. I tried turning on the satellite radio, but every time I changed the station, Dad would just shift in his seat and grunt. Giving up, I turned the whole thing off, content just to stare out of the window with him.

Since we lived further than most due to his job, it gave us a view of the slide on the way down. This country up here was untainted. I kept a camera in my backpack, always hoping to find a good shot of something that seemed out of the ordinary. Ever since my mom passed, it had become almost like an obsession. It gave me something to do so that my head stayed busy. I didn’t want to dwell in the pit I found myself in most mornings.

Everyone had warned my dad to look out for the anger that was sure to possess me at the death of my parent… and at first, I was angry. I bargained with the sky, I don’t know how many times, to get her back, just to be met with the great white of silence. But now, it was like I didn’t have that fight to be angry left in me. It was replaced with something much less aggressive.

Numbness.

I just didn’t want to feel. The cement walls that had gone up inside my head were enough to keep me contained from everything else. That’s why I looked forward to school so much, I guess. It made me get out of that space and feel half alive; feel something rather than nothing.

Dad got in the line of trucks waiting to drop their kids, his hands gripping the steering wheel. “Be careful today, Logan. I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel something in my gut warning me. Keep your eyes and ears open, all right?” He had broken the quiet to preach to me, his giant body looking weary from the weight it carried.

Feeling awkward, I shrugged in my seat. “Yeah, OK.” I mumbled, ready for him to snap out of this mood.

“See you at home tonight?” He questioned; his eyelids heavy.

“Yup.” I chirped, climbing down.

I watched his truck roll through the rest of the parking lot, trying to shake the dark mood that he had put me in.

“Hey! Logan!” I snapped around to see Ben lumbering towards me, his body completely bundled under his giant parka. “Wait! Wait!”

“I haven’t moved?” I shot back at him, laughing as he moved closer. “Dude, you look like a Cheechako.” I pushed my hand down the folds of his jacket, wanting to see if I could find him under the fluffy snow gear.

“I know.” He moaned, the fur of his hood blocking his eyes. “My mom got a credit card…meaning I am now the proud new owner a wardrobe that would put any proud teenaged boy to shame.” He moaned sarcastically, his thumb coming up to point at his chest. His tongue flicking across the top of his braces, his eyes rolling in defeat. “I mean, I’m glad she’s happy and all, but I swear, man, she’s gonna spend every dime Dad left her in three months with the junk she’s going through.”

Perking at the idea, I asked him. “Does that mean you'll potentially get a truck?” I wiggled my eyebrows, fantasizing about the freedom we would have.

“As if.” He huffed, moving his hood from his face as it flopped with each step we took to the doors. “She’s buying stupid stuff. Like, stay up all night and watch the shopping network stuff. That reminds me,” he paused as he pulled his backpack to his front. Reaching inside, he pulled out a rose gold contraption that had metal blades circling the top. “My mom got this for you. She said it’d help with the peach fuzz around your chin.” He laughed as my hand came up to grasp at my chin.

“Hey! This beard is coming in nicely! You tell her to keep her insults at your house.” Irritated, I stroked the few hairs that were lying against my skin.

“Yeah, right.” Ben brushed past me to get to the door. Swinging it wide, he stepped back, allowing a few freshmen in ahead of us.

OK. Freshmen girls.

They giggled as they looked at Ben’s coat, their eyes bouncing back and forth between the two of us as they whispered down the hall. Annoyed, and wanting to make a comment on how it was rude to whisper, I followed behind Ben, his eyes never leaving the shortest girl in the group.

“Come off it, man.” I mumbled. “She’d never even notice you if you two were the last people on earth.”

“I know.” He sighed, his feet aimlessly padding across the tile.

“See you after class?” I asked, splitting from his company around the corner.

“Sure.” I watched him peel out of the oversized down comforter of a jacket he had, sweat already present in his pits.

Chuckling to myself, I sat in my assigned seat in Mr. Robinette’s English class. We pulled out our pencils and paper, waiting for him to make an appearance. The minutes on the clock ticked by, everyone restless and up now.

“Where is he?” A voice piped from the back.

“For real. Should we go get someone?”

“I’m going to the bathroom. If he comes in while I’m gone, let him know.”

They were all talking at once, the thirty-some kids shooting comments back and forth, but nobody actually moving to go. Standing at my desk, I waved. “I’ll go.” I volunteered, shrugging as I stood at the door.

Shuffling in the hallway, I saw a very upset Mrs. Wilkins storming down the hallway. “Mr. Mitchell.” Her stern voice carried, echoing off the lockers. “Where do you think you’re going?” Her eyes looked up, scolding me.

“I drew the short straw. It was my turn to tell you that another teacher didn’t show.” I joked, watching her shoulders relax and she motioned for me to turn around and follow her back.

“I’m aware,” She muttered. Shooing me back to my spot, she stood in the front of the class, her throat humming as she cleared it before she spoke. “Class,” she began, her hands clasping together on her front. “Mr. Robinette will not be at school today.” Her eyes were looking at the floor, her chin jutting slightly as she tried to control her emotions. “I wanted you all to be the first to know, before you heard it on the news tonight, that Mr. Robinette is considered ‘missing.’”

As soon as she spoke the word, the class was in a frenzy. “What do you mean?” Was almost asked in unison. Boys were shooting out of their desks and pacing the aisles. Girls were starting to tear up and comfort each other.

“Apparently over the weekend, Mr. Robinette’s home was discovered empty. He has been gone for almost forty-eight hours. We need to pray that they find him, or—” her voice broke before she could finish the sentence, her lip trembling as she stuttered. “T-they are a-asking for information, f-from anyone that may have it, good or bad.” She wrapped her hands around her large waist, her wilting curls slowly slinking in front of her face.

I sat dumbfounded. First, Dad mentioned the break-ins, and now one of our teachers was missing. I pulled my phone from my pocket, shooting Dad a text about what was going on.

“They have the Rangers on the case, of course,” she nodded towards me. “They and the police have been looking frantically. We hope that he is found.” She wiped her eyes, plucking a tissue from the desk to tap the end of her nose. “For the rest of this period, I want you to read in your books where you left off. We will hopefully have a sub by tomorrow.” She pivoted, traveling behind the desk to employ the empty chair.

We sat quietly the rest of that period, everything we could’ve said seeming dim in light of the knowledge we now had.

I met up with Ben after class, his sullen face telling me all I needed to know. “You heard?” I asked.

“Yup.” He kicked the toes of his shoe against the floor. “Sucks. You know what they say.”

I nodded. “I know.” The admission was quiet, but the reality of the situation was ringing through my head. He was dead. We all knew it was the most likely thing. You couldn’t survive winters here in the open; not like that. It had been too long for them to get to him…if they found him.

“Let’s go.” I slapped his back, pushing him to our joint economics class.

Choosing to sit in the back, we plopped down. I held my head in my hands, the throbbing behind my temples warning me that I was about to explode.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Excuse me?” The voice asked.

Looking up from my crouched position, I saw a pair of the most brilliant green eyes I had ever seen.

Smiling at me, she flipped her long silver hair over her shoulder. “Is this seat taken?” She asked, pointing to the desk in front of me.

Gulping down a wad of spit, I shook my head no.

Slinking into the seat, she whispered a thank you before turning to the front.

Slinging my body to look at Ben, I mouthed, “Did you see that??”

“Oh my gawd!” he mouthed back, his face full of unbelief. “Who is she?”

Silently flinging my arms, I motioned that I had no clue. Pointing to her back, I scribbled on a piece of notebook paper. “I’m going to find out.”

Smirking at me, he crossed his arms across his chest. “Do it.” He mouthed.

“I will.” I wrote underneath the last note, underlining the words several times.

I couldn’t stop staring at the back of her head. She was unlike any other girl I had ever seen. There was something about her that was mysterious, cool.

I wasn't sure what the tingling in my gut was telling me, but I sure wanted to find out.