Alpha

Carter end his work day by attempting to stop a mugging. Later, he sees a shooting star and his life changes forever.

There are times in everyone’s life where they feel like no matter how hard they try at something it just doesn’t make a bit of difference. At least that’s what I told myself after having scrubbed the popcorn popper for an hour and a half with no real results.

 

Suddenly there was a tap on my shoulder followed by a hand pulling out one of my headphones. As I looked into the dark brown eyes of the much older man in front of me I realized that the lines under his eyes must have meant he was as tired as I already felt.

 

“Carter, I’ve never met anyone like you. That popper is not going to magically get any cleaner by you scrubbing at it all night. I’m going home son, and I suggest you do the same.” He said groggily.

 

“I’ll head out soon Mr. Winchester; I’m just going to finish this up first. Have a good night.” I replied cheerfully.

 

My eyes followed him as he left the lobby heading towards the exit doors on the left. There was no noise at all. The lobby was empty, and I could hear the gentle hum of vacuum cleaners meaning the night crew had already arrived.

 

“Another day in paradise…” I whispered to myself. After reinserting my headphone I decided to try scrubbing just a little bit longer.

 

My mom had always said I was a stubborn child, but this need had nothing to do with how stubborn I was. I don’t remember where, but I once heard “If you have to do a job, do it right.” That quote stuck with me through the years, and I have made it my way of life. Unfortunately after working at this theater for four years, I seemed to be the only person who genuinely cared enough about this place to do the hard jobs.

 

The music helped me forget all about the time, and before I knew it the popper looked brand new, well slightly used and refurbished at least. After I had placed everything back into its original position, I walked out and into the lobby.

 

It’s strange how much people effect places, for example during the day this place is busy with happy faces, and a pleasurable feeling of welcome. At night however it feels cold and empty like the feeling you get after losing someone you love.

 

Since I had already clocked out before I started cleaning the popper, I headed straight for the exit door. The night air was warm and above me the stars were bright in the sky.

 

Stars had always fascinated me, ever since I was a child I looked up at them in wonder. In my mind they had always signified life. Although I was never sure if it was the life of a million eyes all bearing down upon the earth as one omnipotent being, or the life of millions of other planets, trillions of other similar creatures to me all looking to that one sky for answers.

 

 

Regardless of the reason, my usual fascination kept my eyes trained on the sky for several minutes, until my thoughts were interrupted by a low beep.

 

I didn’t need to pull out my phone to know I had missed a call from one of two people. One missed call from Sebastian at 1:30AM. My first thought was he was trying to get me to go for a late night work out session again with him; however the voicemail he left was clearly pointed in another direction.

 

“Carter! You should have picked up your phone man! I just got two fine looking girls numbers, and the night is still young my friend! You’re missing out dude! Call me!”

 

The message was a drunken mess. I couldn’t help but let out a small sigh. Sebastian has been my closest male friend for quite a few years now. Unfortunately we have almost nothing in common; he loves partying and “getting laid” whereas I enjoy reading, writing, and spending time with Liz.

 

The missed call wasn’t the only thing I had, four missed texts accompanied it. A smile touched my lips, they were all from Liz.

 

Just as I pressed the view button a small scream caught my attention. It sounded like it was coming from the back alley behind the building. I walked to the back and spotted two guys in hoodies trying to force a girl into their car.

 

One was short and lanky and the other was taller and muscular, however both dressed about the same.

 

My heart began pounding in my chest because I knew she needed my help, but I had never been in a situation like this before. The first thought I had was to turn and run to my car to call the cops in safety. What kind of person would that make me? I would be a coward, and that girl could be seriously injured or even killed because of it.

 

“Let her go!” I screamed across the alleyway.

 

The two men turned to look at me and began to laugh, loud enough for me to hear it perfectly from across the long alley. Neither of them stopped what they were doing, clearly I didn’t pose a big enough threat to them.

 

“You think this is funny?! You think hurting people is funny?! You two are pathetic!” My voice was stronger this time, my words having the correct effect.

 

The men let her go, and she used the opportunity to run leaving me to deal with the two of them. I let out a sigh of relief before taking in my surroundings. If I tried to run then they might decide to turn their attention back to the fleeing girl, and even if they didn’t I doubt I would make it far in my current health. No, running would not work.

 

“Well if flight is out of the question, all that leaves is to fight…” I whispered to myself.

 

My eyes wandered across the alley trying to find something anything that might be used as a weapon. All I can manage to see are shreds of trash, a few plastic bags and a huge two by four past the two of them that is probably too heavy for me to wield anyway. Looks like it’s just a straight up fist fight, unfortunately I had absolutely no experience.

 

The first few steps forward were slow. Fear coursed through my chest like artic waters, numbing everything they touched. When we were finally face to face and only a few feet apart the smaller of the men spoke.

 

“You think you a tough guy or something? You think some fat f**k like yourself is a hero?”

In my head, I was on fire with rage, these two needed to be taught a lesson and if some loser like me had to be the one to do it then so be it. I stood my ground and chose not to speak.

The small man looked amused as if my silence was somehow a joke.

 

“Is you serious right now? You actually think you stand a chance against us in a fight? Yo Felix just take a step back I can handle this punk b***h.” The small one cackled while gesturing to the big man to take a step back.

 

My teeth ground together as I brought my fists up, a small guy like him wouldn’t be too hard to fight alone.

 

Logical thinking had always been my strong suit, and in a fight like this the first hit would be incredibly beneficial. Now that I had a second to think, this whole thing in itself was highly illogical. Logic was thrown out the window the second I decided to take matters into my own hands instead of calling the cops.

 

My right fist darted forward, but the small guy was quick and dodged my right hook with ease. However I had left myself wide open and his left fist caught the side of my face hard sending me staggering a few steps back.

 

I was able to regain my footing, and even managed to send out a left jab before being met with another blow. Although he was small, he was quicker than me, and more importantly he was more experienced.

 

The rest of the fight continued about the same, and I didn’t manage to land a single hit. My face was covered in bruises, cuts, and sweat and yet I refused to back down.

 

Unfortunately my body didn’t share my unwavering courage. It could only take so much before I eventually just fell to my knees overcome with pain.

 

“Are you already done? B***h, you called us pathetic look at you!” screamed the small man.

The sole of his foot connected with my chest hard sending me flying back and into the ground. My breath was gone and I couldn’t move an inch.

 

I didn’t try to fight back when I felt a pair of hands grab my wallet and take the cash from it before throwing it back down at my face. The last thing I could hear was the sound of a car peeling away as I lost consciousness.

 

It felt like I had been out for hours, but when I was finally able to stand and check my phone it had actually only been about half an hour. My head was on fire, so it took me a few minutes to remember where I had parked my car but at least it was still there and in one piece.

 

This theater job didn’t exactly pay the best, so I was pretty limited on choices when I bought this old beat up mustang. It was jet black and everything about it screamed clunker. Well almost everything, I had saved some money for a while in order to get a new sound system for it.

 

Unfortunately I hadn’t put the most thought into my vehicle purchase. Genetics are an easy thing to blame my obesity on, I mean I was born 9 pounds, however in truth it was half genetics and half stagnant life style.

 

As I squeezed my 300 pound body into the tight car and put the keys in the ignition, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. The stereo blared to life and blinked the time at me in a brilliant neon blue design. It was already 3am, which explained why I was so tired. It probably didn’t help that I had just gotten my teeth kicked in by a guy half my size.

 

This was turning out to be a terrible night, and it was time to really check the damage. I opened up the overhead mirror and turned the light on in the car. My face was a mess, with a few cuts on each cheek an already blackened left eye and bruises everywhere.

 

A small sigh escaped my lips as I closed the mirror and pulled away into the night. The highway was the quickest way home and the night air whipped gently across my face. The breeze was so soothing on my fresh wounds.

 

The drive home was a short one, but when I pulled into the driveway and stared at the empty house I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. This was the same house I had lived in for years, ever since I entered the first grade. I’m an only child, so I had always been very close to my mom who raised me by herself. Shortly after I turned 18 she passed away, there was a little money after her passing and I used it to finish paying off the small house.

 

As my gaze lingered on the house and various memories filled my head I decided it best to get out. After wiping away my tears I started walking.

 

Texas is a beautiful state, and even though I had never been particularly fond of the place, I took the time to enjoy the warm night air and the beauty of the trees swaying in the light breeze.

I’m not sure when I decided where I was going I only knew that after about five minutes of walking I had arrived.

 

There is a park not far from my house, and I visit it frequently when I’m upset about something or if like today, just too filled with bitter memories to enter my own house.

 

My thoughts drifted back to the first time I had come to this park. That day at school I told Liz that I liked her, and she had rejected me. The thought made me laugh, because I was only in 7th grade and yet I somehow knew that she was the love of my life.

 

That day like today I couldn’t just stay inside, so I started walking. I didn’t even know this park existed, and I spent the next few hours playing and exploring. Since that day any time something really bad happened in my life I would go there, it was my sanctuary and while I was there nothing could hurt me. That night just like every other night, the second my foot touched the parks edge my chest relaxed a little.

 

My favorite place in this park had always been the “tower car” as I liked to refer to it in my head. The tower car wasn’t really a car at all; in fact it didn’t even remotely resemble one. It had four sides, one that faced the rest of the park, one side had a giant yellow slide that during the day you would always see children sliding down, there was the side I always used which was a giant red staircase that led to the top, and the last side had a long blue fire man’s pole that you could slide down.

 

As I got closer the big red tower loomed over me, and even though it was only really ten feet or so high my heart still pounded faster as I took the first step up. Ever since I was a kid I had been afraid of heights. It had been an irrational fear, a phobia to the point that I would get dizzy if I was too close to a ledge only a few feet from the ground. Like always when I reached the peak that fear was there waiting for me.

 

There was a big steering wheel was on the right facing out to the majority of the park, and it was right next to a ten foot drop off. Not much for most people but enough to make me wary.

As I stepped slowly up to my usual spot behind the wheel something caught my eye in the sky. At first I assumed it was a plane, but one of the lights seemed to veer off course and head in a different direction.

 

I felt a smile touch my lips, because I had always wanted to see a meteor shower. Somehow seeing such a beautiful light streak across the sky made the rest of the night okay. Now it didn’t matter that my face was bruised because the universe knew I helped someone, and this was my reward.

 

As I watched intently, I noticed that it seemed as if the meteor was heading right for me. I figured it must just be the angle at which I was viewing, but it also seemed to be gradually slowing down.

 

The meteor drew closer to the point that I could make out an outline. It wasn’t a meteor at all. The object was a perfect sphere with a metallic silver sheen surrounded by a glowing energy.

 

This isn’t possible. These three words repeated over and over in my head. If I had been watching a science fiction movie this would all seem normal. Flying mechanical spheres that had force fields and were sent to harvest human life for study, and somehow I was the first victim. This was real life though, so it must just be a mixture of fatigue, the lighting, and my imagination causing me to see this.

 

My eyes were fixated on the sphere, and it took a while for me to really grasp the gravity of the situation. There was a large mechanical sphere coming straight at me and it would be here any second. I knew it was too late to run but I turned anyway and was hit by an arc of dizziness as I looked down at the drop off.

 

I gripped the sides bracing myself for the long jump that might save my life. Hastily I turned to see the sphere directly behind me. The entire sphere itself was much smaller than I imagined, just about the size of my chest. There was a gentle hum emanating from it as well.

 

Without thinking I slowly reached out and touched it. There was an immediate reaction. The center of the sphere opened up to show three circles that formed a triangle. The top circle had some sort of trident symbol etched into the metal.

 

Since the strange sphere did not seem as harmful as I had first perceived, I let my curiosity take over. My fingers lightly brushed over the perfect etching on the smooth metal. To my surprise there was a soft hiss as the miniature metal circle was ejected into my hand revealing a complicated lens underneath.

 

Before I could examine the piece of metal in my hand, a brilliant blue light projected out from the lens that had just been uncovered and swept across my body in slow arcs. It almost seemed to be examining me.

 

The piece of metal was heavy in my hand so I slipped it in my pocket. It wasn’t until I felt the weight of the metal against my thigh did I realize that my heart was pounding in my chest, and deep down I had the overwhelming urge to run.

 

Just as quickly as it had appeared the light faded.

 

“Scan complete. Identification verified.” The distinctly female voice emanated from the sphere.

 

Panic washed over me like ice in my veins because it had been looking for me specifically, and that wasn’t a good sign.

 

What I couldn’t understand was why it chose me? I mean it’s not like I’m anything special. There are plenty of better human specimens to choose from and capture.

 

“What do you want from me?” I questioned the mechanical entity.

 

“The Alpha has been acquired, awaiting further directives.” It was the same female voice from before, being projected out of the sphere.

 

The sphere must be malfunctioning, if it was looking for an alpha male from the human species it definitely found the wrong guy. If I order it to leave that might override its current objective and then I might have time to escape.

 

“I command you to leave…” I tried to make my voice sound firm but instead it was shaky and unconfident.

 

The two remaining holes in the sphere opened and two long arms slid out. It seemed they were made of the same metal, and I took a step back till my feet were touching the edge of the tower.

One arm had three long metallic claws that formed into a hand of sorts, while the other brandished a large injector. It had a foot long needle on one end and on the other end was a clear canister holding a strange green luminescent liquid.

 

“Orders confirmed, beginning procedure.” The female voice called out into the night.

 

The sphere flew at me and I was barely able to put my hands up in time. Somehow I was able to catch both mechanical arms, but the machine was too strong and it quickly pushed me off the tower.

 

My body fell to the ground hard hitting the wood chips that covered the area. Before I could catch my breath the sphere was on me again.

 

“Carter you have been chosen to lead the human gifted as their Alpha. Everything you need is in that medallion.” The sphere said, almost with emotion.

 

The claw arm grabbed me by the throat and pinned me to the ground. Before I had the chance react the needle entered my chest. It pierced my heart, the pain was like nothing I knew existed, and as the liquid pumped into my body I grew numb.

 

Liquid ice trickled through my veins as I tried, to no avail pushing away the sphere. After about thirty seconds it had already distributed all of the liquid. The arms retreated back into the sphere and the wound on my chest seemed to clot and heal instantly.

 

My brain was fuzzy, and before I could really process what happened the sphere was gone. It was shooting across the sky once again, back in the direction it had come. A new pain began to simmer through my body.

 

The simmering through my body was growing more intense. I knew I didn’t have much time before I passed out from this agonizing pain. Maybe I thought to myself if I can just make it home I can call an ambulance. My teeth ground together as I used the rest of my strength to push myself off the ground and begin the short walk home.

 

By the time I reached my house it felt like my body was on fire from the inside out. My hand fumbled with the keys, and when I stepped into the house and locked the door behind me I was already in too much pain to stand. My legs gave out and I crawled slowly to the right dragging myself down the hallway and then into my living room. I used the last of what little strength I had left to pull myself up onto the couch.

 

As I lay on the couch, breathless, I could feel my body beginning to change. Subtle at first, yet unmistakable. First I would be cold and shivering, the next minute my body would be on fire, and all the while my muscles and bones ached. Something was happening inside me, and it had only just begun.

Author's Note

Any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated.