Back and Stronger: Alpha's Daughter

Sophia walked through the double doors of her school. When the doors clinked shut behind her, it was like being locked in a tomb. A negative sensation rippled down her spine, and her step faltered. An oppressive feeling of doom washed over her like a cloak of darkness. She shook her head. “Nope, not today, Satan.” She said so quietly that none of the other students could hear. Standing at her locker, she quickly grabbed her books, slammed it shut, and went to class. On the way, she felt eyes on her. Everyone’s eyes were on her. Even the eyes of the bouncy fluff brains were on her. They were watching. They were all watching. The hair on the back of her neck prickled. Her shoulders tensed. She swallowed the knot in her throat that had built the second she walked through the doors. Determined to let nothing ruin how well she had been feeling lately, she rolled her shoulders and succumbed to a shiver. Then she blocked them out. She blocked everything out with such a deep level of consciousness few could grasp. A level she taught herself long ago to help her cope with the abuse she suffered daily. Surely it couldn’t be worse than any other day in that hellhole.

Besides, it wasn’t unusual for her to be watched. More like it was unusual if she hadn’t been watched. Occasionally, she’d be ignored, which was her preference, but regardless, she was used to being watched, sneered at, or pitied. There was something different about that day, but she hadn’t been able to put her finger on it. It wasn’t any specific thing. It was just a feeling. A feeling that they knew something, saw something, heard something. She scanned her surroundings, looking for anything out of place. Anything that seemed different, or off. There had been nothing. Everyone looked the same. The halls were just as confining as they normally were. She lifted her eyes to the signs that hung lop sided on walls to support the Tigers. The scents and sounds were the same as every other day, except... Sophia shivered again. Was it? Other than the oddity that students weren’t engaging with each other. Every one of them stared. At her. Some with pity. Some sneered. But they did not speak. Okay, she said to herself. So, it’s just another day in paradise. She snorted at her own facetiousness. Footsteps of the students resounded on the floor and echoed in her ears. The sound, the walking down a long, quiet hall. She had the strongest sensation that she had experienced this in the past. Or that she would in the future. She couldn’t actually place which. Deja vu or a premonition, either way, her limbs started to tremble. She pushed it back. Why can’t I have just one fucking day, she thought. Just one entire fucking day without something happening. She reinforced her mental resolve and marched to class.

She sat in science class with her head in her hand. Her elbow rested on the desk. It would occasionally slide and jerk her attention back to the incessant babbling of the teacher. She knew without looking that nobody was paying attention to the teacher. She felt their eyes on her like thousands of Daddy long legs crawling all over her. Even the teacher had given a very broken lecture, pausing, and looking at her with pity.

“Velocity is another term that is often used to describe how fast an object is moving. The terms speed and velocity can be used interchangeably in everyday conversation, but there is an important distinction between the two regarding science.” The lecture dragged on. And on. And on.

Sophia’s eyes felt heavy, and she struggled to stay in the moment. As if her surroundings and the people in it were growing further and further away.

“Speed is a scalar quantity that describes how fast an object is moving without regard to the direction of motion. Velocity is a vector quantity that describes how fast an object is moving and which direction the object is moving...” was the last thing she heard as her eyes drifted close and she fell into a slumber.

The sound of the train horn blaring pierced the night. Once, loud and long. Then a second. Sophia looked around the front of the station. It was like looking through a haze or walking through dense fog. The people moved in slow motion, their faces static from all emotion. She looked down at her clothes. She wore her school uniform, except it was clean. And it fit. No buttons were loose on her unwrinkled white shirt. Her shoes had no holes in the sides or on the soles. There were no bruises on her legs or arms. There was no residual pain to be felt anywhere in her body. She reached her hand up and smoothed her hand over her hair. It was clean. She looked down again and noticed the brown suitcase at her side. Huh, she thought. Shrugging, she picked up the suitcase and walked into the station. It was like no one saw her. She was invisible. Reading the signs, she went down two flights of stairs. People milled about or were coming and going. Still, no one noticed her. Following the people in front of her to the turnstiles, she was overcome with a surreal sense of reality. She walked through and went to stand on the platform. She did not know where she was going, but she knew the train would take her to a place where humans lived. A place where she would have to hide who she was and what happened to her every month. She could never try to find another pack. Since she was the daughter of the alpha, they would be duty bound to return her, or suffer the consequences of starting a pack war. This was her chance. She could finally escape this hell. Absorbed in thinking about the fear of the unknown, she jumped when the train sounded again. It pulled up to the boarding platform. The doors slid open, and people stepped on. When it was her turn, she hesitated.

Leo... Could she really leave him to their father’s temper, without her there to protect him? And what of Neil? There was a reason he was in her life. She firmly believed that. She just didn’t know what it was. As it stood, he was the closest thing she had to a friend since she was twelve years old. And what if she was in danger out there? She’d be even more alone there then here. They had been told tales their entire life about how cruel humans are to their kind. And how there are other kinds of beasts and shifters that would see her as an enemy. She needed to decide. She bit her lip and tears welled in her eyes, blurring her hazy vision even more. The train horn blared its warning...

Sophia jolted awake to the sound of the bell. Shit, she fell asleep again. She’s going to get bitched on the way out, she thought. With a sigh and a shrug, she loaded her books up in her arms and waited until last to head to the door. When she walked past the teacher’s desk, a hand snaked out and grabbed her forearm. She looked at the hand, then lifted her gaze to the teacher, expecting to get scolded or berated. Instead, she saw a tear in the teacher’s eye and saw compassion. Genuine compassion. She let her arm go and Sophia walked out of the classroom. What the hell was that about? She thought.

The warning bell sounded, and she had to hurry to math. She rushed down the hall and skidded through the doorway with only seconds to spare. She dropped into her seat and then it registered. Total silence. The tic tick of that damn clock is the only sound that bounced off the walls in the otherwise silent room. She looked at the teacher. Total avoidance. Her gaze skimmed the students she could see. Not one eye was on her. Not one. Funny, she thought. For the last three hours all they did was stare and now they won’t even look at her. She turned sideways in her seat and looked at the students sitting properly behind her. They cast all their eyes down at the shiny desktop in front of them. She slowly moved her head to the left until she met Matthew’s cold, vindictive eyes. Eyes so demonic she couldn’t have imagined them in her worst nightmare. Her stomach rolled, and she broke contact. She turned back to the front. Even after she was no longer looking, the frost of his gaze made her shiver and tremble.

She counted the minutes and the ticks until the class was over. Feeling Matthews eyes on her for the entire class, was too much. Feeling the hatred and loathing that drilled into her back for the entire class had filled her with intense fear. She fought against it and failed. She sat in her seat with her leg bouncing a mile a minute and sweat running down her face. Her chest ached, and she struggled to keep her breathing regulated. She knew she was having an attack. She knew it could get bad if she didn’t keep it under control. When class ended, she darted out of the door so fast she didn’t have to worry about who was in front of her or who was behind her. All she knew was she needed to get away from Matthew as fast as she could. Unlike other days, nobody tried to stop her or slow her down. And that scared the hell out of her.