Alfa E-Book

Katie Haus

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Alfa is sent to Earth as a punishment, but when the portal breaks down, she has 31 days to fix it until she's stuck forever. But while she's there, she discovers truths things that ruin everything...

Leseprobe

Katie Haus

Alfa

This is dedicated to my family, who helped me a lot.BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

PART I - CHAPTER 1 - ALFA

I almost died. 

My name is Alfa. I am 17 years old. In my life, I almost died many times; but I’ll start from the first time I almost died.

My birthday is August 31, 9:10 a.m to be exact. The birthday ‘curse’ started on my second birthday. It was August 31, 9:09 a.m. My mom was feeding me little pieces of cake, cooing.

Then the clock struck 9:10.

And then suddenly, just as it was 9:10, my mom’s face fell flat on her cake piece. And behind her stood either the ugliest or the handsomest man in the world. Hey, I was 2 back then, give me a break. I’m not even sure how I remember all this. Well, I mean, I learned a lot over the past few years about my life. Anyways, that ugly/handsome man strode over to me. I didn’t know what was going on, of course. I just assumed Mom was taking a nap.

“Cake,” I demanded. “Cake!”

“Shh,” the man ordered. I did understand, but I didn’t know how dangerous he was. Again, I was only 2.

“No! Cake!” I yelled stubbornly, pointing a stubby finger at my cake. I willed myself to cry; I mean, it worked on Mom. But of course it didn’t work on some stranger who just barged into the house on my birthday without permission.

He clamped a hand over my mouth, muffling my wailing. He put a cold blade on my neck, drawing blood. At the pain I screamed louder.

“Shush or I’ll kill you,” he said. And though I was only two, I shut up

immediately. “I’ll be giving you a new home.” And he took me away, leaving my mom with cake in her face. And that life was paused for a long time.

And so I got one. Since I had been only 2 then, I quickly blended into my new family and I thought my new mom was my actual mom. I also got a new name, Alfa.

I can turn into animals. And so can my adoptive mom. And so can my adoptive dad. So can a whole tribe that my not-really mom and dad have come from. And that tribe is from a world named Beth’o. 

We lived in a mythical world called Matyla. I live in one of the villages there, Beth’o, that only existed because earth-humans believed we existed. Well, the Bethonians existed. But for now let’s include me too, because I grew up there. 

Some people that aren’t Bethonian live there too, and call themselves Bethonian. Some like to think that Beth’o is a seperate world itself.

For example, if a kid believed that these people with powers to turn into animals existed, boom! They existed in Beth’o. But then, if later no one believed that Bethonians existed, we wouldn’t exist anymore. Life was that way in Beth’o. Our (eh, not mine) lives depended on humans. Which is really sad. Oh, by the way, in Beth’o we call everyone by their first names, because we have no last name. And yes, we call everyone by their first names, including adults. 

In Beth’o I made a friend who was a vampire. She had- eh, still has- red hair, pale skin and dark brown eyes. Her lips are blood red and she has fangs. Also she can turn into a bat. But no worries, in Beth’o no vampire drinks human blood. Only animal blood. 

In contrast, I have chestnut brown hair with a streak of blue since birth (you’ll hear more about it later) and green eyes that are flecked with gold. And I like making trouble. Which brought me trouble. Wanna hear one of my crazy adventures? (Even if you say no, too bad)

I was 9. And for a nine year old, I was pretty crazy. But then, I had been raised in a world where monsters existed.

I’d ran into The Woods. The Woods is a place where many blood-thirsty and crazy monsters lived. No one in Beth’o dared to even go near it. The last person who did disappeared and was later found dead and ripped up. Well, at least remains of his form were found.

Anyways, as a thoughtful 9 year old I was (cough cough) I charged into The Woods. And met my first monster that actually wanted to kill me. It was a giant spiksa. Weird name, huh? The spiksa was taller than me, covered in spikes (now you see where the name came from) that dripped with acid. Its glowing yellow eyes turned to me and hissed. I just stared blankly at it.

“ ‘Sup,” I said, dumbfounded. The monster took a step closer. I stepped back. It stepped closer. I stepped back. It roared again, seeming to enjoy this game of it advancing.

“Easy, boy,” I said. Its eyes flashed. It shook its body, sending acid flying everywhere. One drop landing on my shoe. Steaming and bubbling, it quickly started creating a large hole. Screaming, I threw the shoe off of me. And watched it stick to a spike. The acid melted it in a second, but it annoyed the monster. It screamed a challenge and charged at me. As it ran towards me, the acid flew everywhere, splattering trees and causing them to break. In panic I turned into a bird and flew up to safety. Below me I saw trees breaking and acid splattering. And then one drop flew high enough to reach my wing. The pain spread from my wing to my whole body and helplessly I spiralled back down to the monster, who was eagerly waiting. Then another monster tackled it. It was a 7 foot tall monster that looked like a dinosaur. But since my life was at stake I just ran away. So I can’t describe the monster that tackled my predator. Sorry (not).

I mean, I wasn't gonna just stand there soaking in the information until one monster dies and the other kills me. Then later I was 10. And then last year my whole life twisted. 

Ok, so, here comes the beginning of the crazy turn that changed my life forever. (hehe I read that phrase from books so I decided to use it)

CHAPTER 2

Ok. Last summer.

I was hunting as a wolf. I like them, they’re cool. Okay. So I caught a rabbit and ate it. It was good, by the way. Yes, I ate it raw. Going back to Aella who was waiting near my favorite pond, I turned back into a human.

“So,” I said, sitting down on the grass, probably squishing lots of bugs with my butt.

“So what?” Aella asked, running a hand through her hair.

“I dunno,” I said. “I was asking you,”

“Wait, no,” she replied, “you weren’t exactly,”

“Nah, I think so,” I said, grinning.

“You got blood on your chin,” she told me. “What did you catch this time?”

“See, that’s what you were supposed to say,” I said, wiping my chin with my sleeve. 

“Now you have blood on your sleeve,” she said. I shrugged.

“Meh,” I said. “Life is good.” I can be really random sometimes.

“Mmmm,” said a voice behind me. “I don’t think so.” I stood up, dusted my pants, and turned around to the newcomer. I groaned inwardly. My mom. Er, my adoptive mom.

“Hello Clove,” Aella waved.

“Mom,” I acknowledged. She looked pretty grim. She put a paw- sorry, forgot to tell you she was in bear form- on my shoulder.

“You’d better go talk to your father. He has made a big decision.”

. . . . . . . . . . .

“What?!” I yelled. “No way,” (Awesome intro, by the way)

“I’m sorry,” Dad said. 

You certainly don’t sound like it, I thought.

“Tell me this is a dream,” I demanded. Dad frowned, not understanding that it was just a rhetorical thing.

“This is a dream,” he said.

“GAH!” I yelled again and paced around the room. My dad, who was in the form of a lion, turned around and around to keep looking at me.

“Stop,” he ordered.

“What,” I asked.

“Pacing,” he said. “You are making me dizzy.” I stopped.

“Please, Dad,” I begged, turning into a cute puppy and shooting him my cutest face, which, by the way, never worked. “Can I please please pwease stay here and not go to earth?”

Yeah. I didn’t want to go to earth. Why? ‘Cuz from what I heard, it stinks.

“Eh, no.”

“Why?” I asked again for the thousandth time that day. “Why?”

“You know why,” he replied for the thousandth time that day.

“No, you tell me directly why.” 

“You are trouble,” he said. Ouch.

“Hey-”

“You stole our gem.” There had been a gem that the Bethonians were proud of. I’d just been curious.

“But-” 

“AND you LOST it,” he intercepted.

“But-”

“You set my office on fire,” he said.

“No, that was-”

“You also killed one of the animal-turners,” he continued.

“I didn’t know-”

“And ate him,” he said. 

“I DIDN’T KNOW-”

“You also broke down a family’s cabin.”

“It was old-”

“And it had a kid in it.” Aw man, he was on a role.

“Dad-” I tried. I really did.

“YOU ARE GOING TO EARTH,” he roared, baring his fangs, “AND THAT’S IT!” And he stomped out of the room.

I stuck out my tongue after him. And then after waiting for Dad to get out, I ran out. It was awkward because there was only one exit and entrance and Dad was still walking out as I ran out and bumped into him.

“Sorry,” I muttered and kept running. “Not,” I added later. Aella was waiting for me beside the pond.

“So?” she asked.

“What so?” I asked.

“Alfa,” she said sharply. Sighing, I explained. When I was done, she looked excited.

“What?” I asked. 

“It’s great!” she exclaimed.

“WHAT?” I made a face at her.

“I always wanted to go to earth,” she said, ignoring me, “and now you can go FOR ME!”

“For you?” I was dumbfounded.

“Yeah!”

“What do you mean?”

“You can tell me what is happening and stuff and yeah!” she said.

“NO!” I said. She looked confused. 

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Wait, you mean you won’t tell me during the trip?”

“No, I mean yes, I mean-” I  looked at the sky and almost screamed. “I don’t want to go to earth!”

“Why not?” she asked, still confused.

“THIS IS MY HOME,” I yelled. She took a step away. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself. “Sorry, it’s just…” I burst into tears unexpectedly. I don’t know who was more surprised- me or her. I’m not a crier. And she’d been my best friend long enough to know that. She tentatively put a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I didn’t know.” Sobbing like a maniac I nodded.

“I’m fine,” I assured her, “I just got something in my eyes.” She snorted.

“I don’t believe you.” And so I cried like that for years then dehydrated so I died.

Just kidding. 

. . . . . . . . .

I shouldered my backpack. Somehow Dad had gotten me to go. It’s called Dad Power, kids.

“Bye,” I said, hugging everyone. When I reached Aella, I smiled weakly. She hugged me, and when she did, she slipped something into my hand.

“A miralle,” she said. “That way you can talk to me!” We parted. Her face looked like it was glowing green in the light of the green portal. Turning back, I turned into a bird. I mean, everyone’s going to see it if I just fell out of the sky. Hopefully no one noticed a sparrow falling out of the sky. 

And I lept. And died. Again, just kidding. I almost did, though.

It felt like someone put a vacuum in my face. It felt as if my skin would tear off. And my feathers. But all intact, I felt myself flying through the air. And with pain I crashed onto the ground. Eyes still fuzzy, I could make out a playground. I was near bushes. And then pounding footsteps. I looked up to see two boys coming.

“Yo, man,” one said. He was scrawny and shorter than the other, pale blonde hair and reddish-brown eyes. “See that bird?”

“Dude, I’m not blind,” Number 2 said. He was lean and tall, curly brown hair that looked unruly but that somehow looked good, and warm brown eyes that did not at all match the smirk he had. A sudden thought said, ‘he’s very cute.’ I chirped. Well, not really. It was like a squawk humans make when surprised. 

“Hmf,” Blondie said. 

“I dare you to touch it,” Smirk said.

“Nah man, I’m good,” Blondie replied, shaking his head so vigorously I thought it would fall off.

“Scared?” Smirk’s smirk deepened.

“Jay!” Blondie complained. “But, it’s wild.” But even as he said it he got a weird gleam in his eyes.

“You are scared,” Jay said. “Also, I told you my whole life my name is Jared!”

“Jay,” Blondie smirked.

“Touch the bird,” Jared said.

“Fine!” Blondie snapped. Grabbing a stick, he prodded me. Pain spread from my left wing. 

“Gah!” I said. Oops. Blondie looked at Jared. Blondie smiled triumphantly, for some unknown reason.

“Say something?”

“No…” Jared looked suspiciously at the bird. I tried my best to imitate a bird’s cry.

“Caw!” I cried. “Caw caw! Squeak squeak!”

“Dude, this bird is creepy,” Blondie said.

“Touch it, Matt,” Jared said.

“Fine,” Matt said. He reached out. But hey, I wasn’t gonna let some stranger touch me just for a dare. I snapped at his hand. Matt recoiled. 

“Caw! Squeak!” I cried again. If that was even bird language.

“Didn’t touch it yet,” Jared crossed his arms. Wincing, Matt reached out again. I snapped at him again.

“This bird even has green eyes,” Matt said. “Flecked with… Gold?”

“We’re not bird experts,” Jared said.

“Let’s go,” Matt said, pulling at Jared’s arm. Jared shrugged.

“You’re scared.” 

“No I’m not,” Matt snapped.

“You lost the bet.” And bickering, they went away. I snickered to myself. But first things first. I managed to crawl under a bush. Thankfully, I heal really quickly. So I healed. And turning into a cat, I sauntered away. Earth had so many buildings and hardly any trees compared to Beth’o. It was overwhelming.

. . . . . . . . . . 

I rang the doorbell to my rental house. An elderly woman opened it. She smiled and I winced when I saw no teeth.

“Welcome! Are you Alfa?” she asked. I nodded. She gestured for me to enter and so I did. The house was warm and cozy and smelled like grandmas. The grandma took me on a tour, and when she was done, she walked away to the kitchen. And I followed her, curious. I mean, we already saw the kitchen. 

To my surprise, she opened the cupboard and took out a bowl that looked like it was about to break apart. To my greater surprise she opened the fridge and took out a milk cartoon. Prying open the lid, she poured, eh, well, not exactly poured, it was literally chunks of jelly-like milk substance- into the bowl. And she drank it. 

“You already used these stuff?” I asked. Please no no no no no no no no- Gulping down the last drop, she nodded. I almost threw up. I didn’t want a granny-used house. Yeah, I’m rude that way. Deal with it or go away.

“Well yeah, hon,” she cackled, “I lived here. Wanna sip?” she asked, handing the bowl to me. There were chunks of milk left, mold, and slimy liquid where the grandma’s mouth had been. I gagged.

“No, thank you,” I managed. She shrugged and put it back in the cupboard. I gave myself a mental note to throw it away later.

“Call me when you need help,” grandma said.

“Sure, tell me your phone number,” I said. She looked at me strangely.

“Phone? Nah,” she said, “just come over to my house. Like, 30 min on a car?” Great. I didn’t have a car.

“What do I call you?” I asked.

“Grandma.” she said. 

“That’s your name?” I asked, mortified. What a name. 

“Honey, no,” she said, wrinkling her face even more, “just everyone calls me that.”

“Oh. Ok,” I said, “cool…” I guess.

“Well, have a nice stay!” she said, and shuffled away and slammed the door. Immediately I took out the disgusting bowl and threw it out the window. I ran to my dorm and plopped down on the bed. Taking the mirralle out, I called Aella. And as if she had been waiting right next to the mirralle, she answered.

“Alfa!” she said. She attempted to hug the mirralle then realized I wasn’t there literally. She stepped back, embarrassed.

“ ‘Sup,” I replied.

“Ya settled in?” she asked.

“Sure,” I answered. There was shuffling. Then suddenly the screen went black. 

“Sorry,” I heard her say. “Your parents are here and if they see this- you…” And then angry noises in the background… Then Mom’s nose appeared on the screen.

“What’s this,” I heard her say. “Is this… Alfa?”

“Clove,” I heard Aella start. “It isn’t what it seems-”

“You took a mirralle there?” Mom said angrily.

“Mirror, Marror, Mi- whatever,” I said. Mom squished the mirralle closer to her nose. “Yuck, Mom,” I complained, “I don’t need to see your nostril.” She pulled back.

“You know you weren’t supposed to take this,” Mom said.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. I felt so much braver because I wasn’t exactly with her. In the background I saw Aella nervously fidgeting as Mom and Dad glared at the screen.

“What if-” Dad started. Mom interrupted.

“What if someone sees? What if someone steals it? What if-” 

“Clove, calm down,” Aella said, “it only activates when it sees Alfa’s face.” Dad put a bear paw on Mom’s shoulder. She gave him a bear hug. Literally a bear hug. I could hear sobbing. What for?

“I’m fine, I’ll be fine. Besides, it was Dad’s idea to send me here,” I glared pointedly at Dad. He scratched his head. “So if anything happens, you know who to blame.” Dad roared at that.

“Hey! It was for your own good, if you’d stayed-”

“Jaylen,” Aella squeaked. “Um, could I talk with my friend privately for a moment?” Dad- Jaylen was his name- glared at her.

 “And you! You gave her the mirralle, so you-”

“Let’s go,” Mom pushed Dad as a rhino. Grumbling, Dad strode away, Mom at his heels. Aella waited until they were gone then spoke up.

“Bad news,” she said. I motioned for her to go on. 

“Vuqaan is there in the U.S. with you.” Boom. Aella sure knew how to make my day worse. Oh, you don’t know what a vuqaan is? A vuqaan was a monster that parents tell you about to get you to behave and stuff. (I know, right? What an idea. Just scare your child to death, right, and they’ll obey you, of course.) 

They had red eyes- no pupils- that would paralyze its prey. The eyes were like glowing balls in the midst of a ball of fur. It basically looked like a bear with red eyes. It was about three times stronger than a human. The only advantage was that it was very dumb and slow, due to its enourmous size. Not that all big creatures were dumb and slow.

One vuqaan always had a company of a small rodent-like creature that was deadly. When it was running, it was too quick for a human eye to follow it. But Bethonians and people from other worlds could. It stalked its prey, and if it saw any sign of weakness, they attacked; so like in 1 second you’d be dead. They were the thinkers for the vuqaan, since they were pretty smart- much smarter than a vuqaan. They had no particular name. Some places called them strikers others called them eloras.

“Wait,” I said, “Is there an elora with him?”

“Well duh,” Aella shrugged, “It was nice meeting you.”

“Hey!” I glared at my friend. “Not too soon.”

“Meh, well,” Aella shrugged again. “There is no one in history who survived a vuqaan attack.”

“Thanks for that encouraging note. I’ll keep that in mind,” I said sarcastically.

“It’s hurt, so try to stab it in the right arm before you die. That way we can track it down easier,” Aella replied. 

“What a friend,” I grumbled. Aella gave me a wry grin.

“Vuqaans can sniff you down quickly. Some kind of magic will cover it up, so humans can’t see it.”

“So if the vuqaan is killing me, and I’m wailing and fighting back, to the humans I look like I’m crazy?”

“Right.” 

“Awesome. More people would think that I am crazy,” I said. 

“I mean, you are, kind of,” Aella said with a smirk. 

“Are you my friend or not?” I raised an eyebrow. 

“I’ll miss you,” Aella said suddenly. I made a face.

“Dude,” I said, “I’m not dead yet.”

“Not yet,” Aella said. 

“Gee, thanks,” I replied. “How soon will the vuqaan reach me?”

“So far, it hasn’t located you yet. You are in California and it is in Minnesota. It just knows you are in America, that’s it,” she told me. My head went blank. I frowned.

“So that’s a good thing?” I asked. Hey, I’m not that good in geography. Aella rolled her eyes.

“What do you think, dummy?” she replied. I shrugged.

“Yes…?” I guessed. She rolled her eyes again.

“What if it locates me?” I asked.

“Then in one week it will be there to tear you apart,” Aella said.

“Great,” I muttered.

“Just enjoy your life before you die, okay?” she said. “Also, there’s a dude who will teach you self-defense through the mirralle.”

“Well, awesome!” I said sarcastically. “I will die knowing I learned self-defense.” Aella snorted.

“Eh,” I said, “why can’t you just teleport me back to Beth’o?” Aella’s face turned grim.

“Another bad news.”

“Oh, joy,” I said, “you really are making my day.”

“When you teleported, the portal broke. And so if we don’t fix it in a month, aka 31 days, including today, you will be stuck there forever. Assuming, of course,” she added, “that you’d be still alive.”

“Thanks for believing in me,” I mumbled.

“Got to go, bye!” and the screen went black.

“Jeez,” I muttered, putting the mirralle back in my pocket. Tomorrow was summer school. And school meant one thing that mattered. Humans. I climbed into bed with a troubled mind.

CHAPTER 3

30 days left. 

I pulled my hood lower and pushed my way through the stinky crowd of high-schoolers. Surprisingly there were a lot of kids in summer school. If only no one noticed me-

“Yo! Newbie!” a familiar voice called. Refusing to look, I kept on walking.

“Rude,” another familiar voice said. 

“Gosh,” I muttered, shoving my hands in my hoodie pockets. My leggings and combat boots looked out of place in this whole school. A hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Newbie!” familiar voice number 1 said. “You’d better learn to be more polite.” A murmur of agreement came from the crowd of kids- wait. A crowd was watching us. A CROWD. 

“Dang it,” I muttered again.

“Look up,” Number 1 said. It was Matt and Jared. Shoot, I thought,  if they saw my eyes, they could recognize me. I stomped on his shoe and ran. Bad idea. Too many people. Just before they came up, I got an idea and slipped on some sunglasses. I took a deep breath. Matt grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. Seeing my sunglasses, he smirked.

“Are we doing some fashion show here?” he asked. 

“Lol,” I muttered.

“What’s your name?” Jared asked. I raised my chin definitely to show I was no chicken.

“Jade,” I lied. The name was very familiar, though I couldn’t place it. It had been the first name to pop up in my head. “Yours?” I added, to make sure they weren’t surprised if I said their name accidently without even learning it.

“Not for you to know,” Matt said. I already know, I wanted to say. I shrugged.

“Don’t care.” 

“Jeez,” Jared said, “no need to be rude.”

“Jade, take the hoodie off. No hoodies in schools allowed,” Matt said. I shrugged again and slipped my hoodie off.

“Nice highlight,” someone in the crowd called. I instinctively reached up to finger my blue streak of hair.

“Thanks,” I said, “whoever that was.”

“Shut up,” Matt said. For some reason Matt seemed tired.

“So guys,” I called out to the crowd, sounding casual, though I was panicking inside. “who’s these guys?” Silence.

“Matt is the scrawny one, Jared is the cute one,” a girl’s voice called out. said. Matt whirled around.

“Who was that?” he demanded. No one answered. Like they would.

“I’m cute?” Jared lifted his eyebrows in a cute way and he smiled for the first time. No smirking, a genuine smile. And a dimple appeared on his right cheek. I suddenly noticed a group of cheerleaders vying for his attention. And I felt a pang of jealousy. Snap out of it, I told myself.

“Who says?” I asked. Me, and the rest of the girls, I thought.

“Never mind.” Jared grinned. I felt myself blushing. I wanted to slap myself. At my blush Jared grinned wider. 

“Never knew,” he said, “never knew.”

“Shut up,” I snapped. He just grinned. Matt, seeing the spotlight taken out of him, looked mad. And suddenly he lunged at me. So random. A fist came flying through the air at my face and thousands of thoughts happened in my mind. 

What’s he doing? I first thought. Everything was slo-mo. He’s gonna punch, I thought next. What should I do? After, Wait, what? The fist is closer… Then, Duck! And then I fell to the ground, his fist connecting with my cheek. People rushed forward and pulled Matt back. I just lay there on the ground, tasting blood. And I felt a wound on my cheek. I winced. Great. I already started a fight on the first day of school. Then the bell rang, and everyone rushed to class.

. . . . . . . . .