Omega

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  Everyone wants to be an Alpha. They look at us and they think being able to read people’s emotions like a book and to toss cars would fulfill their dreams of being a comic book superhero. What they don’t see is the fear, the constant paranoia that someone is always ready to stab you in the back, just for being different. They say alphas are the next step in human evolution. Personally, I would be fine with staying at the bottom of the stairs. I am different, I am not Human, I am Alpha.

  Jake leapt over the fallen log. He was breathless, not in exhaustion, though several hours of running for his life had worn him to the bone, but from fear. He looked over his shoulder for his pursuer. “Woah!” He yelped. The ground suddenly gave way and he tumbled down a steep hill. A few months ago, the fall might have killed him. Jake just sat up, and shook his head. He took a moment to look around. Enormous trees towered over him, and a thin mist hung over the muddy ground and the green bushes. It would have looked peaceful if not for the menacing growl. He hugged the wet dirt and huddled underneath a bush. Experience told him it would never work, but his mind froze with fear. Jake looked up towards the top of the hill and silently observed his stalker.

  He supposed one day it might have been a grizzly bear; though with Alpha mutation you could never really know. For all he knew it could have been a chipmunk. It was about as big as a rhino, and mossy green and brown, with thick stock forearms and hind limbs. Its hide was covered with pus-yellow boils and black spines that looked like Satan’s version of a porcupine. Its short, pig-like snout was dripped an unidentifiable green liquid and was inhabited by mossy black and green teeth. He could smell it from the bottom of the hill.

  It bent over on its forearms and sniffed the ground. Jake knew it was following his scent; it had been for two days. Whatever it was had horrible eyesight, but its sense of smell was impeccable. Strange, considering how bad it smells, Jake thought to himself. Maybe it won’t smell me this time though. As if it had a sense of irony, the ugly troll roared. Jake’s eyes snapped to it; its beady, black eyes stared right at him. They held their gaze for several seconds, before the troll roared again, shocking Jake out of his trance. The troll started loping down the hill.

  Jake unsteadily sprang to his feet and took off in the opposite direction. His head start wasn’t enough this time. He could almost feel the troll’s hot breath on his neck. Suddenly Jake saw something at the edge of the woods, to his left. He couldn’t be sure, it seemed too far away even for his vision as of late, but it looked like a house, a mansion actually, at the edge of the woods.

  He veered toward it sharply, the ground slipping out from under him. The only reason he survived was because the troll had an even worse time changing directions than he did. It tried to pivot and turn, but instead it slid on and slammed its side into a tree. It roared in pain and anger. Jake knew that wouldn’t slow it down long. He raced away from the troll, exploding out like an Olympic sprinter out of the starting blocks. His limbs flooded with adrenaline and hope, sanctuary was only a few hundred yards away. The monster was right on his tail though.

  Jake exited the woods. He couldn’t help it, but he let out a whoop of elation. He had been right! He was safe! Again, the monster chasing him still had an uncanny ability to read his mind. It blindsided him and knocked him to the ground. Jake slid on his chest for twenty yards before stopping. He flipped onto his back and was about to get up when everything went wrong.

  The troll planted its enormous right limb on his chest. Its head hung above him, its gaping maw held wide open, filled with teeth that looked like flinders of sharp rock, covered in black paint and moss, dripping that same green spit. Jake thought he could see cruel happiness in its eyes, the look a cat gets in its eyes when it catches a mouse.

  This isn’t fair! Jake raged. He was so close! Safety was literally four hundred yards away. He was going to end his fourteen years as breakfast for a jumped up, mutant chipmunk! It should have made him scared. He should have wet his pants. Instead, he got mad.

  Jake’s right arm was still free and he brought it up around the troll’s massive left forearm. He laid his hand across its meaty forearm and squeezed. He lifted up and away from his chest. The troll looked at him with a mixture of incredulity and rage, like it couldn’t believe the mouse was trying to beat the cat. Jake grinned. He started twisting the troll’s forearm. Interestingly, the monster was too stupid to bring up its other arm.

  There was a loud snap, like someone had broken a handful of branches over their knee. The monster howled in agony. It slammed its other meaty paw into his chest, smashing him into the ground, but he didn’t give up his grip. In a burst of manic energy, he batted it aside like he was swatting a fly.

  Jake saw his opening. He released his death grip on the monster’s left arm and jumped up, his outstretched fingers wrapping around the troll’s throat. The troll toppled over onto its side and Jake flopped on top of it. The monster tried to bat him away with its one remaining good arm, but Jake’s grip was like iron. Rage filled him and he bore down on the monster with all of his strength. His fingers tightened around its throat and his thumbs punched through its thick, green and brown hide, and dark blue blood squirted out. The monster’s roar turned into a groan, which died away into coughing and gagging, which finally gave way into a long, slow hiss. The monster’s limbs slowed their motion and went slack. The monster gave one last cough before its body went limp. Before releasing the troll’s throat, he gave it a final sharp twist, satisfied only when he heard the sharp crack of its snapping neck.

  Jake stood up, his legs and arms trembling. He stared at the troll’s limp carcass, which was already starting to dissolve into blue ooze. Jake placed his shaking hands on his knees, laughed once and heroically voided the contents of his stomach.

  He turned around and started shambling towards the mansion. Each step was an effort and his body shook like he had hypothermia. Out of the mist and the shadow of the mansion, he saw two figures running toward him, carrying something that looked suspiciously like swords. “Help,” he croaked, before letting his legs give way. Jake looked up at the stars and noticed the edges of his vision starting to darken.

  “Mark, help me with him. We need to get him inside,” Jake heard a girl’s voice say. “Here, grab his legs.”

  The last thing Jake saw was a girl’s face hanging over him.

  Alpha

  Jake slept like a Medusa victim. It felt like he slept for decades and all he remembered was an inky blackness. Even Rip Van Winkle had to wake up eventually. Slowly, but surely Jake’s eyes fluttered open. He took a deep breath and sat up. A blanket fell off him. Jake squeezed his eyes tightly shut, trying to clear the sand from his eyes.

  He looked around the room. It was pure white, almost painfully bright from all the white paint. There were half-a-dozen equally white beds along each side of the room. Jake was the only one in the room.

  “Ah, you’re awake,” Jake heard a deep voice say. He nearly jumped out of his skin. Jake looked to the edge of the bed, expecting to see a man in a wheelchair, so he was somewhat surprised when he was greeted by a tall, broad shouldered man who looked like he could tackle a brick wall. Jake might’ve been scared, but the man had soft eyes and a kind smile. He had midnight black hair and a beard the same color. His deeply tanned skinned was wrinkled, but it was obvious there was a bank of powerful muscles beneath his old skin.

  “Sorry if I scared you. You must’ve had quite the night young man,” the old man went on.

  Jake laughed nervously. “I’ve had a pretty rough few weeks,” he replied. The old man chuckled.

  “I imagine so,” the old man agreed. “Hopefully, you will be
much happier here.”

  Jake looked around the room again. It looked like a hospital. “Where is, here, sir?” Jake asked, wanting answers.

  “Well, to answer that question requires a bit of background. First of all, my name is Xenophon,” old man, AKA, Xenophon, replied cryptically.

  “Second of all, do you know what Alphas are?” Xenophon asked, not patronizingly at all.

  “Of course,” Jake replied somewhat indignantly.

  “Well, why don’t you tell me what you know,” Xenophon prompted.

  Jake frowned and thought for a moment. It’s like he’s asking me to provide exposition for a novel, Jake thought. He inhaled slowly and began, “Alphas are a new step in evolution. Generally, they occur in the human chromosome, causing alterations in said human’s DNA. Usually these changes manifest themselves as changes in the brain’s structure. Occasionally, if the mutation is strong enough, the alterations can extend to the human body, resulting in enhanced “abilities” ranging from an eidetic memory to Olympic level strength.” Jake paused and drew another breath. “However, unfortunately, sometimes these changes cause catastrophic damage to the Human DNA. In the best case scenario this manifests itself as a mental disorder. In the worst case scenario, it causes incredible transformation into animalistic creatures with little to none of their former self’s human intelligence.” A shudder passed through Jake as he thought of the monster he’d been forced to kill. “In addition, for reasons as of yet unknown to science, these Alpha mutations sometimes inhabit non-human species, usually with disastrous outcomes. It is theorized that this is because the Alpha mutations enter a host body via some kind of modified virus, which then alters the host’s DNA. The prevailing theory among scientists is that this virus evolved from a certain animal to inhabit humans, like swine flu, or vice versa.” Jake took another deep breath while he thought to see if he had missed anything. He couldn’t. “And that’s it,” he finished.

  “Very good young man,” Xenophon congratulated him.

  “Jake,” Jake replied.

  “Jake,” Xenophon corrected. “Well, you are entirely correct. Alphas are the next stage in human evolution. Unfortunately, Alpha mutations often manifest themselves in extraordinary powers. While these powers are most often benign, many are very potent, and the majority of the Human populace views these specific Alphas as extremely dangerous. So to that end, and to help prepare Humanity for what I believe to be their eventual future, I created this school.”

  Sounds like X-Men, Jake thought. “So, I’m at your school?” He asked. “So what do you do here?”

  “Well, as you may have learned rather recently, the more animalistic Alphas find themselves drawn by some sort of predatory instinct toward other Alphas. They hunt us. As such, except for the more benign Alphas, the life of an Alpha is extremely dangerous. I built this school to protect and shelter those Alphas and to train them to defend themselves from those threats,” Xenophon replied.

  “So it’s like the unholy fusion of Camp Half-Blood and the X-Mansion?” Jake asked.

  Xenophon cut out a full belly laugh. After several seconds, he responded, “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it an ‘unholy fusion’ but essentially, yes.” After another chuckle, Xenophon continued. “Are you feeling up to walking? Normally our new arrivals are treated to an orientation day, but you’re arrival was anything but normal.”

  Jake took a deep breath and swung his legs out of bed. He stood up, his legs shaking. Xenophon reached out an arm to steady him, but Jake waved him off, determined. “No, I can do this.” He gulped and took a deep breath. He started slowly forward. More strength returned to his legs every second. He took another deep breath and stood up straight. “Well, I’m tired,” Jake quipped.

  “To be honest I’m surprised you are. You slept through most of the day,” Xenophon chuckled. “Now, come along.” Xenophon walked toward the exit, keeping a slow pace for Jake’s still unsteady legs. Xenophon didn’t say much during the tour. He didn’t really need to. Most of the house was self-evident. The long hallways with multiple doors were obviously dorm rooms, in fact most of the mansion looked like a small college campus. It had dorm rooms, several huge common living areas, and an enormous kitchen and dining room. Of course, that was the surface.

  “So, where do you teach Alphas?” Jake asked. Xenophon just smiled. Xenophon guided him to a large floor to ceiling window. Jake looked out. The wide open field that Jake had stumbled across last night was bustling with activity. Kids of all ages, from middle school to college, scrambled all over the green field. Jake could see a race track, a shooting range, something that looked like a boxing ring. “Wow,” Jake couldn’t say anything more. He’d never seen something like this.

  “Xenophon?” Jake heard a voice ask. He turned. A girl stood about ten feet away watching. She looked like a stereotypical prom-queen; tall, tanned skin, chocolate brown hair, thin waist, but not Barbie like. Her eyes ruined it though. They were icy blue, piercing. They were pretty, but hard and cold, like they had seen too much bad in the world for a fourteen-year old girl.

  “Ah, Brooke,” Xenophon said with a smile on his face. “Jake, this is Brooke Waters. Technically she is a student, but she has been attending so long she might as well be an instructor.”

  Brooke smiled restrainedly. “I’ve still got a lot to learn Xenophon.”

  “Everyone does Brooke, but as of late, you have had more to teach than to learn,” Xenophon replied. Then he turned to me. “Jake, I have classes to attend to. Brooke will continue your orientation from here.”

  Jake turned to look at Brooke, who was staring at him like she was measuring him for his coffin.