“HELLO DAD. What’s up?”
How a little boy tells his Dad, an alpha, “What’s up?” is just beyond me.
“He wants to speak to both of us.” Jake said, then he put the phone on speaker mode.
“Is Jason there now?” Alpha Jamie’s voice sounded strained and cackled a bit. Maybe it was because of the network service.
“Yes, Uncle.” I answered.
“How are you boys?” His voice was considerably less strained than before.
“We’re just fine, Dad. Alpha Andrés has been terrific to us.”
“That’s good. Do you boys feel okay there in Brazil?”
I nodded, then remembered he can’t see me. “Yes sir.”
“Do you mind staying there for a few more days? We’re trying to round something up over here.”
Joy swelled in my spirits.
“There’s no problem, Dad. When do you think we’ll be able to come home?”
“I can’t say just yet. But soon”
“Alpha. What’s going on in our Pack?”
He made a gruff sound in his throat before he said, “It’s nothing, boy. It’s nothing we can not handle. There’s no need to bother yourselves over something not your concern. Just enjoy yourselves and think of this as an impromptu holiday, okay?”
“Okay sir.”
“Stay safe boys.” And then the line went dead.
Jake snorted and said, “There’s definitely something serious going on.”
“How can you tell?”
“It’s in my Dad’s voice. He’s stressed.” Jake said, walking out and dropping the phone on Pedro’s desk.
I followed him as we walked into the dim lit hallway and down some stairs. And then we found ourselves in some glum library with dry air.
“Nope.” Jake said and rushed back out, through the door.
We entered an elevator and passed the button for bottom floor. But this elevator didn’t go down, instead it moved to the left. It was taking us to the opposite wing of the house.
We frantically pressed a stop button. It finally stopped after almost going halfway. We got out in another unfamiliar hallway. As we explored the building, I found out that from the it was built more like a flat of apartments. Some looked bigger than others. Some looked unoccupied, like there was no tenant living there.
We found a stairs and just started going downstairs. We must have gone maybe 500 stairs before we entered the hall leading to the breakfast room. I went into the room and collapsed on a chair with Jake beside me.
“Got lost, eh?”
I turned to see Toby, the pack deranged wolf. He was chewing on something slowly. His watery eyes were wavering over me, like they could not stay in one place to focus. Just like that of an albino.
I nodded my head I was out of breath and was taking deep breaths to normalise my heart rate.
“There’s warm pancakes in the microwave. I microwaved it for the little kids. They’d be back soon.”
He didn’t sound mad to me.
I went over to the microwave and placed 4 pancakes in a plate. The microwave was so big I wasnt sure jf it should be called ‘micro’
I bit into one pancake and it was very good.
“This is very good. Mr…” I waited for him to say his name.
He looked at me. Or through me like I wasn’t there. “Don’t pretend. I heard the girl tell you about me.”
Blood rushed to me face. I stuffed another cake into my mouth.
“Where did you see that?” Jake came up beside me.
I pointed to the microwave.
“Wicked.” Jake breathed and his eyes widened as he saw the microwave. He bundled over there and must have placed ten cakes.
“Your name is Toby.” I said.
He nodded. “Atleast that’s what I think it is.”
“What happened to you? Was it really a Vampire? An Elder Vampire?”
“Not just any elder vampire. The Eldest. Henri.” He said, nibbling on one side of pancake.
“What did he do?” I asked carefully.
“What did he do?” Toby echoed me with a sharp laugh. “He fried my mind is what he did.”
“Wha?”
“Tell me, boy. Do you have any siblings?”
I nodded. “Yes. A younger brother. Harry.”
“And is Harry a wolf?” He asked. Shockingly, his eyes had stopped wavering and were laser focused on my face. Right in my eyes.
I nodded.
“Why did the lycan gene skip you? Why are you just human?”
I shrugged.
“Unless, you’re not human.”
My heart must have entered my mouth because I choked on what I was eating.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve watched you, child. You are always tensed up. Always on your toes. Always guarded and watchful. What are you hiding?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Toby.”
“Did I tell you my name?” He asked.
I shook my head.
“Then how did you know it?”
“Elsa told me. You said you heard when she did.”
“Who is Elsa?”
“The girl.”
“Which girl?” He asked.
We were going about in circles now. He gestured me to come closer. I shuffled closer and he said in whispers, with a conspiracy tone, “My name is not Toby.”
I looked at him. His blue pupil seem to fill the whole eyes as they wavered vigorously. He looked madder than ever.
“What is your name, then?” I asked.
“It’s Toby. I heard it when that girl told you.” He gave a short loud laugh now. He sounded madder than he looked.
I got embarrassed and scared. “Um, I should get going. Thanks for the pancakes.” I got up.
He grabbed my hand. “Stay away from Henri, boy. Hear me?”
“Y-yes.”
“And Rosetta too.”
Familiar name. I wanted to ask more questions about the Elder Vampires but I just nodded quickly and left.
Little children started trooping in. They came in twos and threes.
I walked out, eager to get into the sunshine after that disturbing encounter. I was feeling depressed. First the Fey Watchers. Then the Centaur. Then mother telling me about a war started because of me. Now a mad wolf telling me about Elder Vampires.
I wandered about in the yard until I found myself in the garage. And it was an impressive sight to behold. It had underground floors.
Different types of cars. Antique cars. Sport cars. Luxury cars. Mini vans. Utility vehicles. On the far end of one floor, I saw a separated chamber. It was lined with dark tinted glass. I figured this was the Alpha exclusive vehicles. I walked over and pressed my face into the glass. I couldn’t see anything. I walked to the door handle and pulled. It didn’t budge.
Then I saw the alarm panel on one side. I looked at the button and had an idea. I ran with record breaking speed back to the yard, grabbed and pile of sand and dust from the floor into my hand and ran back down the garage.
I sprinkled the dust on the buttons, with hope that it would stick to the frequently used buttons. Before I could look closely I heard a voice.
“You are one smart boy. But a boy as smart as you should know how to rein in his curiosity.” Alpha Andrés walked towards me.
I didn’t have anything to say to defend myself. I looked at my shoes.
He stopped beside me and placed his fingers underneath the alarm panel. The glass doors slid, soundless, opened.
“If you did that, nothing would have happened. It’s linked to my biometrics.” He gave me a small smile.
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t when move, until he said, “You wanted to enter here. Come on in.”
I tentatively took small steps and looked into the room. It was bigger from the inside than it looked from the outside and more breath-taking too. About 7 Cars of different models were lined inside.
I could not help but breath in and my eyes widened. I rushed in, touching every surface I could place my hands on. The cars were shiny and weird looking. Some looked vaguely normal, some looked like the first car models ever created, some looked like something from the future.
I saw a long car with a very slim bonnet. The bonnet was thin and long with just one seat at the far back. It was a one seater car and it looked astonishing.
I ran over to it and rubbed my palm on the shiny surface. “Its…”
“beautiful?” Alpha Andrés laughed. “It’s a Bugatti type 41. Only seven of its type in the world.”
“Wow.” I breathed and then looked at him. “How did you mange to get it?”
“I bought it. With influence, chico, you can get almost anything.” He said softly.
There was an F1 racing car there too. Alpha Andrés saw me gazing at it. “That’s a 1970 Porsche.”
I ran over to it, feeling its sleekness. “Is this the Porsche Carlos wants to drive?”
“God, No!” The Alpha laughed. “Those boys have always been in love with Cars even before they could walk.”
“Sir…” I asked hesitantly.
He looked at me. “Ask on, chico.”
“Do you ever drive these cars?”
“No.” He came to stand beside me. “They were not even driven here. I had them carried on a truck.” He rubbed his hand on the side of a round looking car. “I might drive one or two of them someday.”
“Where do you hope to drive them to?”
“When we get admitted as a single Pack into the Meeting. I might just drive one to the venue, if its drivable.” He said. “We’re not a big pack. Not as big as the pack you came from, as you must have noticed.”
I nodded. “But I prefer it here.”
He looked at me. “Why would you sat that, chico?”
“I can’t explain why.” I said. And I was telling the truth, I felt more welcomed here. I walked forward and bent down to study the side vents of a car. “You are all just like a big family.”
“Every pack is like a big family.” Alpha Andrés said softly. “Let’s go outside.”
I stood up and looked longingly at all the cars again then I followed him out.
We walked outside and I hadn’t realized how much time had gone by till we entered the mansion and saw the place was rowdy again. Most of the kids had come back from school. Toby still sat where I had left him.
“Remember what we talked about, okay?” Toby called to me.
I nodded and gave a tight smile with a thumbs up.
“I see you’ve met Toby.” Alpha said beside me. We went into an elevator and I felt it move sideways. To the left.
“Yes sir. He’s a little mad.”
“A little?” Alpha Andrés asked. “You should have seen him when we brought him in as an Omega. He was a raving lunatic. Its his wolf and the bond between us that’s keeping him alive and a little sane.”
I was quiet for a while. “What happened to him?” I asked.
“Henri happened to him.” He said.
The elevator opened with a Ping! sound and we stepped out.