The Alpha's Daughter

Truth

Chapter 4: Truth

“I’m your father.”

I froze as the words came from the strange man’s mouth. My father? “That’s impossible.” I said shakily. “My father ran off a long time ago.” He took another step forward, watching me cautiously, as if I were a wild animal.

“It’s true. My name is Victor Black. Your mother was Sophia Simmons. You were born June 21st, 1994, on the day of the summer solstice. You are so very special and your mother and I loved you so much, but I had to send you two away.” He said, his voice breaking at the end. He had a sad look in his eyes. Almost like he was telling the truth. “Prove it.”

He held one hand up as he used the other to reach into his back pocket and pulled out what look like an old, beat up wallet. He opened the wallet pulled out what looked like an old photo. He unfolded the picture and handed it to me. I took the photo with one hand, still pointing the knife at him. My eyes widened a bit as I studied the picture. In it was my mom and Victor, but much younger. It looked like they were standing outside of a house. They were both smiling and Victor had his arm around my mother’s shoulders.

I focused more on my mother. Not because of her smile, or because of how happy she looked in the photo, but because of what she was holding in her arms. It was me, but as a baby.

I set the knife down and held the picture closer with both hands. I flipped it over. Sophia and Victoria, 1994. I looked up at Victor in disbelief. “This,” I said holding the picture up, “Doesn’t prove anything. Only that you knew her.” I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned back against the counter.

Victor just stood there staring at me for a few minutes. His eyes flicked to my left shoulder and he c****d his head to the side. He got a quizzical look on his face. “What?” I asked. “That birthmark on your shoulder.” He said pointing to the crescent moon shaped mark on my shoulder. “What about it?” I said glancing down at it. “I have the same one.” He said, tugging back the collar of his shirt, revealing a crescent moon shaped mark on his shoulder. “Victor Everyone in our family does.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. I tried to form a coherent sentence, but my thoughts were so scattered, I couldn’t even speak. My mouth just sat hung open. Victor opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, someone came crashing through my front door. “Victoria???” I recognized the voice as Calliope’s. “I’m in the kitchen.” I yelled to her. I could hear her footsteps as she came running into the kitchen. She came to an immediate halt before almost tripping over the body on the floor.

Shit. I forgot about the dead guy in my kitchen.

She looked from the body, to Victor, then to me. She stepped over the body and walked over to Victor. “What happened here?” She asked him quietly. “He found her. He broke in right before she got here. He was likely going to kill her.” He whispered. “s**t, Victor.” She said, letting out a loud sigh and rubbing her temples. “What do we do now?”

I c****d my head at them curiously and began to wonder. The way they regarded each other, the way they spoke to each other, it was like they knew each other. Because they do know each other. “What the hell is going on? Do you two know each other?” I asked loudly. My outburst snapped them out of their conversation. They shared a worried glance at each other before looking back at me. Victor walked up to me, “For right now, Victoria, I want you to go ahead and pack a bag or a two. You’re gonna come back to my home with me, in New Orleans.” He said, placing his hands on my shoulders and rubbing the sides of my arms. “What about Calliope?” I asked. “And why do I have to run? What the hell is going on? You just show up and kill a guy in my house, and then claim to be my father and just expect me to just pack up and run?” I finished my rant angrily.

He let go of me and let his arms hang at his side. “I promise I will explain everything, but for right now, we need to go before more guys like him show up. And Calliope will be fine. She’s going to stay behind and keep an eye on things for me.” I glanced over at Calliope. She nodded and smiled. I looked at Victor before pushing past him and jogging up the stairs.

Once I got to my room, I changed out of the black dress I had been wearing and tossed it into my hamper. I put on a simple blue T-shirt and jeans. I grabbed 2 duffle bags from my closet and began to stuff them with different clothes from my closet and dresser. After I had packed a sufficient amount of clothes, I grabbed a framed picture of me and my mom off my desk. I looked at the photo for a moment, reminiscing about the day we took it. She had her head thrown back in a laugh and I was standing next to her smiling with her arm around my shoulders.

I touched the picture and smiled before shaking myself out of the memory and carefully tucking the picture into one of my bags. I grabbed my bags and headed for my door. I stood in the doorway and took one last look around my room before closing the door and heading down the stairs.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I was met with a waiting Calliope and Victor. Victor reached over and took my bags. “I’ll meet you out in the car.” He said, before giving Calliope a nod, and heading out the door. I turned to face Calliope. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around her. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but please be careful.” I felt her arms tighten around me. “I will Victoria, I promise.” She pulled back from the hug, holding me at arm's length, smiling.

“What are you going to do about the dead guy?” I asked, looking down at the dead body that was still laying on the floor. “Hey,” She said, pulling face to look at her. “Don’t worry about that, ok? I will take care of it. Just go with your father and get some place safe.” I nodded and gave her one more hug before leaving.

I went outside and hopped into the passenger side of Victors car. “Ready?” He asked, before pulling out of the driveway. I took one last look at my house as we drove away. Something tells me we’re not coming back.

I rested my head against the back of my seat and watched as the trees and houses passed. Exhausted from the day, everything became a blur, and I slowly fell asleep.

When I woke up, we were stopped at a little run-down gas station. I could see victor from inside the car, at the counter inside the gas station. He walked outside a few minutes later and got into the car. “Sorry.” He said. “Had to stop for gas. Got you some snacks and something to drink though.” He handed me the little plastic. Upon looking in the bag, I discovered Cheetos, Snickers, and Gatorade.

“Don’t worry.” He said as he started to pull away from the gas station. “We’ll be there soon. Maybe 30 more minutes?”

I just gave a simple nod as I reached into the bag and grabbed the Cheetos. I sat in my seat quietly as I thought the events that had unfolded today. My mother's funeral, meeting Victor, watching a guy die. My mind circled back around the watching Victor break the strange man’s neck. And yet here you sitting in a car with him, heading God knows where. I chuckled and shook my head at the thought. Maybe I’m crazy.

We had been driving about 15 minutes when Victor turned down a side road. After driving only a few minutes down the side road, we turned down a dirt road. It wasn’t long before we were at the end of the road, pulling up to a beautiful wooden cabin.

“This isn’t home.” Victor said after parking. “It’s more of my getaway house. So, I guess, in a way, Welcome home?”

I guess so.