Rise of an Alpha Female (Two Moons Book 1) Page 15

  ***

  Somewhere that is not Calla:

  This world is crazy! Metal carriages without horses, powerful fires concentrated in small glass globes, and the people! So, so many people!

  What kind of creatures are they? They don't smell like any werewolf I've known, ever! Some even smell sick or... by Calla when is the last time that lady washed herself? No amount of flower-water will cover that!

  Jena looks around and moves slowly, wondering how the builders in this world managed to find a rock for people to walk on, so long, and that can go left and right and between the flowers, then split and still keep going.

  And it's so leveled yet rough and hard to the touch. This is no ordinary rock. Even moving is odd in this world. Feels like I'm underwater. What am I thinking? This is wasting my time! I should just focus on doing what I came here to do.

  She sniffs around, focusing on her senses. The trace of the enemy wolf is there but faint. And it shouldn't be that faint. Not after only a few minutes.

  "Lana, can you come forward more and help me with the scent. It's faint," Jena asks her wolf.

  "I... ca... can't. So much... pressure... barely holding... you functioning..."

  "Really? It can't be that bad, can it?"

  "Try it!" Lana replies and lets Jena hold about half of the entire pressure the strange world is forcing on them.

  As she falls to her knees, hands on the odd rock under her feet, people around throw her odd looks but keep on going.

  "Esti bine, don'soara? Chem salvarea?" An elderly gentleman asks without coming closer, holding a little black box in his hand.

  "Ok Lana, I get it, I'm sorry. But I should hold a little more of it, though, so at least I can talk to you."

  "How's this?"

  "I can handle that. Now that I know about it. It's like wearing the training suit."

  "Jena, that man said something to you."

  "Right!"

  "I'm sorry? I didn't understand that."

  "He was wondering if you need help, or maybe an ambulance" a young girl stops to answer, helpfully.

  "No, I'm fine. I... I tripped. An ambu-what?"

  "Ambulance. You know, white car or van, goes nino-nino, has a doctor in it, takes you to a hospital so they check you out and heal you if there's something wrong?"

  "Oh, a healer carriage."

  "OK, don't think I ever heard anyone use that description before. Where exactly are you from?"

  "Ahmmm..."

  "Far away land," Lana helps.

  "I'm from a faraway land. Very warm. Lots of sand."

  "You mean like Africa?"

  "Why? Have you been there?"

  "No, just know about it from geography lessons."

  "Then, yeah that's where I'm from. Africa. Far away."

  "I thought your English accent was funny. You look exotic too like you are wearing a permanent tan. Never seen a blondie with your skin color before."

  "English accent?"

  "The language you are speaking."

  "Oh, so it's not the common language here?"

  "Nope. It's foreign. You know what foreign means right?"

  "Not from here. Like me," Jena says and smiles at the younger girl.

  "She looks to be 16 or 17 and a noncombatant," Lana provides.

  "Yup. So I know you are fine, but you look lost. Can I help you? I mean don't think I'm a freak or anything, I'm just really happy to practice my English."

  "What's a freak?"

  "How should I know? But better stop asking so many questions, so she doesn't think you're crazy," Lana says.

  "No problem. I was supposed to umm... meet my guide here, but he never showed up. I was looking for him."

  "Nice one, Jena!"

  "Thanks!"

  "So where are you staying?"

  "Nowhere yet."

  "Oh the guide thing, right. So you got any money?"

  "Money?"

  "Currency, you know the thing you give to get other things in return?"

  "I... I have brought nothing with me I'm afraid. I was really hoping to be done quickly here and go back to my Africa."

  "Well you are in luck, I'm in the city for studies, and my roommate is visiting her parents for a week and a half so you can stay at my place. You are not a serial killer, right?"

  "Serial killer?"

  "It's a joke. You look harmless. I'm sure you haven't killed anyone before."

  "I..."

  "Don't answer that!"

  "I'd never dream of attacking someone without them attacking my family or me first. It's not who I am."

  "Good to know! I'm Luisa," the girl says and holds out her right hand.

  "What do I do?"

  "It's a form of greeting. Come on Diplomat Jena remember your training! Do what she did!"

  Jena holds out her own right hand and smiles when Luisa grabs her and shakes it once.

  "So where are we exactly?"

  "In the Herastrau Park."

  "This is your settlement?"

  "No, silly. This is a park. The park is inside a city. Like a little piece of nature in a land of concrete. And a city is like way, waaay bigger than a settlement! There are like two million people living here. How many are in your settlement?"

  "Oh my... In my father's settlement, we have a little over 1600, and it's considered a big settlement."

  "So you are like a princess?"

  "A princess?"

  "Your father rules, so he is king and you as his daughter, are a princess."

  "I guess I was one. But now I also rule over a much smaller settlement. So I am also king."

  "Queen."

  "What?"

  "You are a queen. When a king rules, his wife is a queen."

  "NO. I RULE. I am king."

  "Hey don't get upset! There are plenty of Queens that rule by themselves on this planet. Like the Queen of England and... OK, that's the only one I know, but there are plenty more women here that rule by themselves."

  "I guess I can be a queen then."

  "Yay! Oh look, food! I'm hungry! Want a hotdog?"

  "If you say it's good. But I have no currency, remember?"

  "No worries. My treat. The least I can do for my new queen friend! After this we should go back to my place, it's getting kinda late, and I have to go to Uni at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Got a course in algebra to attend to."

  Unsure at what to do and overwhelmed by the exuberance of the younger girl, she allows herself to be guided, hoping to at least find more about this world where her enemy has run to with the help of her new friend.

  ***

  "Morning Jena! How long have you been up?"

  "Since your sun came up. Couldn't sleep."

  "Sleeeeep. I need more sleep, but I have Uni. I need my coffee! You want one?

  "I guess."

  "Oh my God! Did you clean up the entire apartment?

  "Not really. Only used the broom and washed the flooring. These square shaped polished rock slabs you walk on are very easy to clean. And I used as little water as I could, honest!"

  "It's just a sandstone tiled floor Jena, no big deal. And I already told you not to worry about the water. We have plenty of it here. Guess water is hard to come by where you live, being a desert and all."

  "Yes. Africa. Very dry. Water is valuable."

  "Here's your coffee."

  "Thank you. Ewe! This is very bitter. Is this medicine for something? I'm not sick right now."

  "Hmmm, OK let's try this," Luisa says and adds milk and three spoons of sugar, stirring the content.

  "This is much better. Still tastes odd though."

  "Sorry I take mine black, and I did the same for you and well, it looks like you are more of a cappuccino kind of girl. Give it a couple of days, and you are going to be addicted to it."

  "Isn't that a bad thing?"

  "Loving coffee? NO! It's like the best thing ever! Everybody loves coffee! Well, some don't, but I think they're just strange. Plus how are you going to go out
with a guy if you don't like coffee? He asks you 'Hey, would you like to go out for a cup of coffee sometime?' and you say 'No, I don't drink coffee,' and make a fool of yourself."

  "What a complicated mating ritual!"

  "What? No, it's not, it's just a way to spend some time alone with someone in a public space and decide if you like them."

  "Why not just say 'I want to get to know you better,'? And how can you be alone in a public space?"

  "Don't be silly, what you said is like inviting him to sleep with you directly, and I'm not that kind of girl, and you shouldn't be either. And in a public space nobody pays attention to what you are saying to each other. But if he tries to touch you or anything and you don't want him to..."

  "I break his hand."

  "NO! Oh my God, Jena you just complain loudly and he will stop or people will then pay attention and will tell him to stop. You don't break a guy's hand just for trying to feel you up. Maybe you slap him and dump your drink on his head or something."

  "I see. OK, I will do that."

  "And then again maybe you want him to touch you, maybe kiss you and have his arms around you. And nobody will say a thing if you don't act like it's against your will. Oh my, you are blushing!"

  "I am not!"

  "Come on, you totally are! Were you thinking of someone special?"

  "No! Maybe."

  "Who? Who is it? What's his name?"

  "He has no name."

  "Oh my God, Jena, I'm so sorry! I assumed... But maybe you are more into girls? I'm totally fine with that by the way, not judging or anything. So if you like girls, do you think I'm pretty like that? I'm into guys 100% but just curious."

  "Hehe, no, I prefer men. I just meant I haven't found him, my mate, yet, and you had me thinking for a moment there what that would be like."

  "I see. So when you say mate, you mean like a soulmate or something?"

  "Yes. Your other half. The one meant just for you."

  "Oh, Jena! You are such a romantic. Does he come with a white horse and a castle too?"

  "Why white and what's a castle?"

  "Silly me, I keep forgetting you are a foreigner."

  "From Africa."

  "Yes, from Africa. You don't have to remind me every five minutes, you know. Though I do act like I keep forgetting it. So you have any plans for today?"

  "I need to get back to that park. Have to find someone."

  "Your guide?"

  "Y... yeah. My guide. I need to find him; he owes me a lif..."

  "Don't say it!"

  "He owes me currency for not doing his job. I just need to talk to him."

  And remove his head.

  "Yes, Jena, but this helpful girl doesn't need to know about it. We don't know exactly what the rules are here in this world, and you need to keep her as a friend."

  "I know. I'm still taking his head when I meet him."

  "And I'll help as much as I can, but for now..."

  "I know; I have to be discreet. Thanks for all the help, Lana. I love you!"

  "Of course you do. I'm a part of you. And I love you too!"

  "Well, do you know your way there and your way back here to the apartment?"

  "Well no because we took that large carria..."

  "Bus Jena; it's called a bus."

  "That bus here and it was going too fast since all your buildings look the same..."

  "Yeah, the city is kinda boring. I know! You are coming with me to class. We can sit in the back, and if we aren't noisy, nobody will notice. Plus a lot of people don't attend all the classes."

  "But I need..."

  "I know; you need to go to the park. I have a two hours long window after that, so I'll take you. It's not far from the University campus."

  "OK."

  "Let me just pick up my backpack, and we can go."

  ***

  "That was one of the most boring lectures ever. I could barely hear the teacher, and his voice was so monotonous!"

  "I do understand why many of your fellow students refuse presence."

  "You want to say don't attend. But yeah, I totally agree. Thing is having attendance will actually matter when you get graded at the end of the year. Unofficially of course."

  "Graded?"

  "Examined, evaluated... they test you for what you've learned. Ring a bell?"

  "Of course. Thank you. We use a different system back home."

  ***

  "So this is the park. There's a map over there on that panel. If you get lost just head away from the lake until you reach the alley closest to the outer fence and keep going either left or right on the alley till you come back to this point. I'll pick you up in three hours after my next class. Oh, here is some money for food and some water."

  "Thank you so much. I wish I could repay you somehow."

  "Oh, you already did. I'd have to pay a lot more than a meal for someone to come to the apartment and clean it. I hate cleaning with a vengeance!"

  ***

  "Can you smell him?"

  "Not really. And I'm sure this is where I came in yesterday and felt his odor. Anything you can do to help Lana?"

  "Not with all this pressure."

  "But I need to find him! Can you give more of it to me so you can help with the smell?"

  "Not sure you can handle it. Last time you fell and made a scene."

  "Then maybe I should already be down," Jena says to her wolf and takes a seat on the grass, preparing herself for the added weight of the world.

  "OK, I'll gradually let you carry more but only until I have his scent."

  "And direction."

  "OK, here goes."

  "That's... you we... ren't... lying."

  "Told you. And that's not even half. GOT IT! That way. Let's go."

  "Lana?"

  "What?"

  "I... can't... move."

  "Oh, right sorry. Here you go." Jena can see her wolf in the back of her mind chuckling.

  "I got the scent now, and it's getting stronger."

  "But won't he also smell you coming? What if he runs?"

  "True. I am downwind from where we are going, though."

  "For how long? We need to cover our scent."

  "But do you see any horses around? Or ash?"

  "No. I don't know what to... By Calla, what is that awful smell?"

  "The old lady passing on your left..."

  "Right. I have an idea."

  "Ma'am, excuse me! Any chance you speak my language?"

  "Well of course I do, child. I was an English teacher for 42 years before I retired 12 years ago. And the proper way to ask that would be: 'Excuse me, do you speak English?' Because everything else you say is in vain if that person does not, in fact, speak the language. Anyway, how may I help you, dear?"

  "Well, I'm in a bit of a situation, and I could help but notice your sm..."

  "Perfume! Remember that thing called commercial last night on the box with moving images."

  "Perfume. It is lovely."

  "Oh my, thank you so much! You won't believe how happy this old lady is to hear that. I make it myself you know? I fancy myself an amateur chemist. You know what? You are such a nice young lady, here, have a bottle! I've got plenty more at home."

  "What amount of currency is required for it?"

  "No honey, you just ask: 'How much for the bottle of perfume?' But in this case nothing since it's been such a pleasure to use this beautiful language I spent my whole life teaching to younglings like you, because you know when I was a youngster, not older than yourself I think, I decided I loved two things more than anything in the world, besides my parents, of course, God rest their souls, and that was English and children. And what better way to do both than become an English teacher? So let me tell you a story about when I..."

  ***

  "Wow, that was..."

  "Sad right? But interesting at the same time. Poor lady probably has nobody to talk to and listen to her."

  "I was going to say something else, but I agree
; the people in this world don't cherish their elders enough."

  "OK, let's focus. Half a bottle should cover everything properly, right?"

  "You sure about this?"

  "Any other ideas? I'm listening."

  "No..."

  After dosing herself as best she could, and using almost half the bottle of perfume, Jena crosses the street and keeps following the smell of her enemy to a rundown building saying "Motel **" on top of it.

  "Hello! Would you like a room, miss?"

  "Actually no, I was wondering if a man arrived here yesterday, or maybe this morning."

  "Does he owe you money? Did he steal them from you? I knew no decent man walks around with that amount of cash on him and dollars nonetheless."

  "Dollars?"

  "You know American money, green papers with portraits of presidents on them? Where are you from anyway?"

  "Africa!"

  "Oh. That is like far away, right? As far as the North Pole?"

  "North Pole?"

  "Never mind. So this guy? What did he do to you? Should I call the police?"

  "No need, miss...?"

  "Raluca. But you can call me Ralu. My friends do."

  "It's more complicated than that I'm afraid."

  "So, what did he do? Knock you up and run off? Actually, don't answer that. So inconsiderate of me to pry into your business. Yes, he came yesterday evening and paid for a room for a week. And I am ashamed to say I was so happy for the extra money he paid; I didn't ask any questions. He is not here now, but he probably will be later today. You want to wait to confront him?"

  "No, thank you Miss Ralu. I'll just come back later. And please don't tell him I was here."

  "Sure thing honey. Maybe you should bring your father or someone else to kick his ass for what he did to you."

  "I wish I could, Miss Ralu. I wish I could," Jena says in a sad tone, and the receptionist smiles understandingly at her as she leaves the motel.

  Poor girl, so young and in such a predicament. Girls these days don't know how to protect themselves. But I guess I can see the allure; the guy looks good enough to eat and has the money to make you dream. Still, what a jerk! The receptionist can't help but scowl thinking of the mysterious man.

  Chapter 14 - Realizations

  "Common Jena, hurry up! I told you I have another class to get too and it's a seminar, I really have to be present and OH. MY. GOD! What is that awful smell?"