The Alpha King's Mate

Chapter 1: DREAMS

Oh God’ No!

Watch out!

Katie! Katie! Are you okay?

A loud alarm wakes me up. I’m scared and sweating profusely. I am covered with sweat all over, my shirt clinging to my body. I dreamt about it again. That is why I really hate my dreams. I hate remembering about that day, that incident, that whole experience and every time I dream about it I relive that experience, I go through the pain again. My heart is still throbbing very fast in my chest. I try to calm down and take long breaths.

After collecting myself I look at the clock. It is already 6:15. I quickly get off of the bed and run to the washroom. After taking a shower and dressing up I go directly to the kitchen so I can prepare breakfast on time and avoid the whining of my aunt. I make some pancakes for myself, my aunt and her daughter. I brew some coffee too because it helps me very much in the mornings. I try to finish my work before any of them gets up because, they despise me and every time we see each other things kind of turn even bad.

I don’t like living with them either but I don’t have a choice I have to be here and face this torment till I am 18. Thank God! That this torture will be over soon. Soon I will turn 18 and move out. I will go as far away as possible from these people, from these problems, miseries and those memories.

After putting everything on the table I get my stuff and leave for school. Before I go out of the house I hear my aunt Cassy’s door open. It creaks loudly whenever someone opens it. So we know when she goes in or comes out of her room.

I reach the bus stop just on time and sit in the second last row near the window. It is my seat, I always sit here. I like to watch the surroundings when the bus starts moving. It looks like the whole world is left behind and you are moving ahead, ahead of everything and everyone. I wish I could do this in real, leave behind all those memories and people, and to start anew in a far and strange place where no one knows me and I don’t know anyone. I think it will be peaceful not knowing anyone, not having to put on a show for them. Smiling at them, talking to them when you don’t even want to see their faces.

Before I could know we reach the school. The school. I hate it but not as much as I hate the house I live in or should I say I stay in because I am barely living. Some of the people here are very mean to me and I have no idea why. I mean the girls in my class I have never even talked to them but still they hate me as if l have done something really terrible to them. The boys on the other hand are always nice to me and try to be helpful if needed and I know why, because of how I look. I have been asked out by them so many times but I can’t accept it whether I want it or not. I don’t have time for dating. I have to concentrate on my studies so I can get into college. I was always a good student but that incident shook me completely it affected me so much that I still can’t focus on anything else.

I go and sit on my bench waiting for the day to be over soon. I try my best to concentrate in class but every second moment I lose the track of what is happening in the class and space out. The bell rings and I am glad that it is over. I collect my stuff and go to library to get some books for the assignment we were given today. The library is nearly empty with only four to five people there. Everything is so quiet here, the lights seem to be dim. The atmosphere here seems very cozy. I used to love it before but now it kind of scares me bringing back some feelings. The cozy environment makes me nostalgic about the time I used to spend with my family. I quickly pick the books I want and go to the librarian to issue them. After putting the books in my bag I leave to catch the bus on time.

I arrive just in time for my shift at the local restaurant. It’s been almost two years since I started working here. The owner is a lovely elder woman, she is very nice to everyone who works here and it makes my time here bearable. Only other person who is nice to me here is Maddy, she is also a highschooler and works two jobs to support her family. As it is almost winter where few people come to the restaurant, it is not crowded so we don’t have to work much. I go to my table to take order from a couple. They order coffee with a chocolate dessert. As I’m about to bring their order the boy pulls out a ring and propose to the girl. The girl’s eyes and mouth are both wide open and she stays like a statue for a while confusing everyone around but then says yes and they both embrace each other. They seem to be in so much love. Love, a feeling I will never understand. The idea of falling in love with just someone surprises. I’m not completely alien to this human emotion, I mean I love my parents. I love them so much that still a single thought of them bring tears to my eyes but they are my parents. How can you just love a random person you met? How can you be so sure it is love and not simple attraction? It seems I will never get answers to these questions. They both get back to their seats and I serve them their order. They look very happy together all smiles and giggles. As the time passes and my shift nearly ends, he comes again and sit at my table. I don’t know who he is, what is his name and what he wants from me but he scares me. The way he looks at me and his menacing smiles gives me shiver all over my body. But it is my job and I have to attend his table. I gather all the courage I have and go to his table. “What would you like to have sir?”, he looks up at me from the menu and give me his ugly smile “the usual” he answers. He always takes a cup of black coffee. Every single time but always reads the menu carefully giving the suggestion of ordering something from it. I get his coffee and as I’m putting it on the table, he again smiles at me, as a courtesy I return that smile. He is very terrifying to look at, his face is huge with big green eyes, there is a scar over his left eyebrow and very hideous yellow teeth. It seem he has never brushed them once in his life. His skin is completely burnt, probably from to much exposure to sun. He again looks at me. He always starts looking at my head then makes a short eye contact in which he smiles at me and checking all my body ends at my feet. Everytime he does that it gives me goosebumps and my whole body kind of freezes for a moment. I hate every second of being near him. As I place his coffee on his table I instantly go as far away from his stares as possible. He is finally done with his coffee, pays his bill with a wide grin on his face and leaves. Finally, peace. My shift ends too and I have to go back to the house. I hate going back to that house but I have no other choice, where else can I go. According to my aunt I should be grateful to her for letting me stay with them or I’d rather have been a victim of s****l assault or serial killers. She says she has given me a great favour my letting me live in her house. But she said in the court that she would love to have me and take care of me as I’m the only thing left of her sister and the court agreed to let her keep me. They even pay her for it and my parents had savings and insurance too. She is the only family I have and I thought she really loved me because she was always so nice to me. Whenever she would visit us on Christmas or on my birthdays, she would always being lots of gifts for me and would treat me with so much love. But after that incident and when I started living with her, she changed. Now she is a completely different person. A complete stranger, someone I had never met before. Maddy and I both leave for the bus station together. “How is your studies going”, Maddy asks. “Good”, I lie. “I know how hard it is for you but you have to focus on your studies, it is the only way you can get out of there and get into college” she says. I know , I know exactly how important school is for me but I can’t concentrate on my studies at all no matter how much I try. My grades are going down and I have to do something about it but I don’t know what or maybe I know what but I am unable to do it. It is crazy how your grades decide your entire future. I wish they all would give us a break. A little break for what happens to you outside the school, a little break to deal with other stuff, to deal with life but it looks like no one cares. No one cares if your life is falling apart, if you’re shattering. All they care about is submit the assignments on time, be prepare for the quizzes and examinations. You are the one responsible for your grades, no one cares about your mental health, even the bullying that happens inside the school building is none of their concerns. If it is not too serious or too extreme. “I know, I am trying. It is just too hard to handle everything” I answer. “ I know, I mean I can’t even imagine what you are going through but I’m always here to listen. Anytime you want to talk about I will be there. You really need to talk about it” Maddy says with genuine concern in her eyes. “I know and when I am ready I will talk to you about everything”. I hate talking about it. Actually I can’t talk about it, it brings back everything. It makes it real and I have trained my mind to think of it as a nightmare and nothing else. So whenever someone talks about it or wants me to talk about it. It makes it real and I cannot deal with it being real. After that incident, I was in therapy and they tried their best to make me talk about it but they could not because I refused to utter a single word. The bus arrives and get on it. I go and sit in the same place I always do, again looking at the world being left behind as the bus speeds up.