Eleven

788  Lloyd Avenue, Ron Kirk High School, V'neck

Alice turned into a school parking lot. In the ancient past, cars of all makes and models would have filled it. Today, parents came on foot, horseback, or with bicycles. Cars were a luxury, after all. Alice always felt awkward when she rolled into the lot in the massive armored jeeps all higher Pack members had access to. She pushed aside the feeling of being watched, long used to it, and entered the lot, which was lined by blue metal fencing.

She parked the car near the front and searched the gang of children and teenagers. The children were running and laughing with innocent joy, hugging their parents as they met them. The teenagers were more conservative, trying to act cool, a few couples going off hand in hand. While things had changed, things were still the same for high schools. The species may have been utterly different, Orc and Fae children in place of the human ones, but children were children.

Alice squinted her eyes, looking for any sign of her target.

How did these kids all manage to look like carbon copies of each other? She sighed and picked up her walkie-talkie.

“Lana.” She said simply, pressing the button to speak, her eyes still on the

kids.

“Hello?” The voice said on the other side.

“Lana. It's me, Alice. Where are you?”

“Well, I know it's you. I can recognize my own sister’s voice.” Lana said. Alice could hear snickering in the background.

“Do you want me to go home or do you want a ride?” Alice replied, her voice suddenly cold. Alice knew her sister was only acting this way because she wanted to look cool in front of her friends but it annoyed her that she was being used as a puppet for the sake of what Lana thought was friendship.

She'll grow out of it.Alice reminded herself.

Lana paused for a moment, before replying. “Where are you?”

“In front of your school.”

“What car did you bring?” Lana asked her voice lower now.

“One from work.” Alice replied.

“Where? I don't see you.”

Alice spotted Lana in her school uniform, and long dark hair. Her group of friends surrounding her.

Lana was a tall girl, more so than her friends, and thin as a rail. She looked like the ballerina version of Alice, with willowy features and dancing legs where Alice had muscles strengthened by training, and pale skin in comparison to Alice’s sun-tanned skin. Even so, they both had the same almond-shaped, gray-colored eyes and full lips.

She rolled down the window to her vehicle and leaned out the window to call out. “Lana!”

Lana spotted her and ducked her head quickly. “You brought that?!” She whispered desperately into the walkie-talkie.

Alice looked around the massively armored vehicle, not seeing the problem. It was by far one of the most brutal and powerful vehicles in the city, capable of smashing through brick walls without a scratch. Perfect for travelling in safety. “What’s wrong

with this car?” She said. “Just get in. We have to go. I'm blocking other people.”

“No. I'll walk.” Lana said, already stuffing the walkie-talkie into her pocket and saying good bye to her friends.

Alice let out an exasperated sigh, putting the car into drive and following her sister.

Lana continued to ignore her even as Alice rolled the car next to her. “Lana, get in the car.”

Lana ducked her head down lower and started to walk faster. “Go away.” She said. She probably meant to sound imperious, but it came off whinier than she likely hoped for.

“It's a military vehicle.” Alice said in exasperation as the massive vehicle rolled along next to Lana like a mountain in motion. “You can't tell me I can't pick you up in this either. You’ve complained about every car I’ve brought!”

“Because you always drive tanks! You're so embarrassing!” Lana whined, taking longer strides.

Alice stopped the car, put it into park, and switched on the emergency lights. Lana began waddling away in what looked like her best penguin impersonation.

Alice exited the car and caught up with her in record time. Already annoyed at the waste of time, she wrapped her arms around Lana’s hips. She lifted Lana up with ease, but Lana wasn't going to let herself be taken so easily. She began screaming obscenities. She kicked, screamed and pulled. All to no avail.

It was Alice's turn to ignore Lana, though she took a moment to be proud of Lana’s feistiness.

She tossed her sister into the backseat and stood at the door for a moment as Lana glared at her. “What the hell, Alice?” Lana glared daggers at her older sister.

Alice smiled, a look of mock sympathy. “This way you can tell your friends you were kidnapped by the ugly tank.” And she shut the door, a smile still on her face.

Alice got back into the driver’s seat and drove out of the parking lot. Lana stayed in the back, refusing to admit she did anything wrong.

“You ready to come sit in the front?” Alice asked, looking into her rear-view mirror to look back at her sister.

Lana rolled her eyes and looked out the window. She held onto her anger for as long as she could bear before crawling into the passenger seat.

“We good?” Alice asked, still facing the road.

“No one else at school gets picked up in a fu--" Alice turned to Lana, daring her to curse. Lana grimaced feeling her sister's eyes on her, “--freaking military vehicle. I told you that you could pick me up, as long as you come in a normal car.”

“You act like picking you up is a luxury.” Alice looked over at Lana. “You realize you are also one of the only people at your school who gets picked up by a car, period?”

Lana cleared her throat, not saying anything for a few minutes before mumbling, “Sorry.”

“I think it's pretty cool.” Alice replied.

“What is?” Lana asked confused.

“This car.”

“You would.” Lana said rolling her eyes. “We're not all like you, Alice.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Alice asked, offended. Though she wasn't sure why she was offended in the first place. “And who is ‘we’? You keep using ‘we’. Are you French? Going, oui, oui, oui, all the time.”

“You don't seem to care what other people think about you.”

Alice laughed.

“Are you laughing at me?” Lana asked.

“No.” Alice said shaking her head, trying to hold back her laugh as Lana glared at her. “What? I can't laugh for no reason?”

“There's a place for people who laugh at nothing.” Lana replied spitefully.

Alice's phone rang interrupting whatever she was going to respond with, if anything.

She immediately became serious. No one but The Pack had her phone number. Cell phones were a luxury, one they were meant to use sparingly. She took the phone out and looked at the caller ID, becoming more serious.

She answered it, putting it on speaker so she could focus on driving.

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Oh, oh my...good...Alice. I called you. No I didn't. I meant to. Wanted to text, I mean, where are you?” A nervous voice said on the other side. The voice sounded horrified. “I don't mean to bother you… well, I wouldn't have had to, if you had just taken this job. You know, actually I do mean to bother you.”

“Spit it out, James.” Lana said annoyed, rolling her eyes for probably the thousandth time today.

Alice shot a look at her sister, before pulling the car over.

“Who...who said that? Is someone with you?” James' voice said, his voice going up a few octaves.

“No. It's just Lana.” Alice replied, removing the phone from speaker and instead putting it to her ear.

Lana tried to make herself look busy by looking through her backpack, but Alice knew her sister well enough to know that she was eavesdropping.

“What is it?”

James let out a long sigh, “There have been attacks recently and they've gotten close to the border. I sent men to check it out. Some have come back, but… Oh Alice it's bad. Really bad. Some have come back, but I've never seen anything like this.”

Alice glanced at Lana who was playing with a piece of string as she pretended not to listen, before turning her attention back to James. “What do you need me to do?”

“I know you asked me for one thing when you left, but I need you to come back. Not permanently, but just for now. I need you. I'm afraid you might be the only one who can deal with this...Oh Alice, if you had seen...” He stopped. The fear in his voice strengthened.

Alice pursed her lips, and scratched her head before putting her hand back on the wheel. Lana's eyes were now on her, her eyes that were very much like Alice's eyes. “Okay, I'll come.”

“Oh thank-. Good. Oh...I'll...I'll tell you...No, no...Better you meet up with them now...The trail is still hot.”

“Now?” Alice asked.

“Oh yes Alice, now is good.” He paused before continuing. “Now is very good.”

------

Border between V'neck and Valiant

“Are you sure this is where they told you to meet up?” Lana asked looking up at the wall that stood between them and the humans. The area was almost barren of buildings. No one wanted to live near the wall.

Alice glanced at her watch, “They're late.”

Lana turned to Alice, “What do you think it is?”

“What?”

“The thing, whatever James was freaking out about.”

“He's the Alpha, and he should be addressed as such.” Alice replied sternly. “And it doesn't matter. It's what the Alpha wants. So, we get it done.”

Lana made a face and kicked the gravel at her feet.

Alice glanced at her watch again and let out a sigh. It was already 5 P.M. Loki was usually good with time. Almost obsessive really.

Just then, a large military vehicle, bigger than Alice's, pulled in alongside them. Whoever it was opened one of the tinted windows and

peered out, a large smile on his face.

“Alice.” The man said, his voice rough. He had dark skin, and a beard so thick

it made his white teeth pop out. His smile had a mischievous air to it, which had given him his name.

Alice smiled. “Good to see you, Loki.”

“And you, friend.” Loki said with a nod. “Coming out of retirement, I see.”

“Well, you know me.” Alice replied with a shrug. “I can never seem to stand still.”

Lana snorted from behind her.

“Ah, Lana. Shouldn't you be home studying?”

“I was dragged here kicking and screaming.” Lana replied. “I'm not even being dramatic this time. She literally picked me up and brought me here.”

Loki chuckled. “I'm sure. I'd love to catch up, but we should get going. The rest of the group is waiting.”

Alice frowned. There had been a strange dip in Loki's voice. An emotion that she'd rarely heard from him had changed the tone of his words.

“Loki?” He looked at her. “What happened?”

His smile froze. He stared at her. Then he sighed, shaking his head. “It's bad Alice. Really damn bad.”

“Just tell me.”

“That's the thing, Alice.” He said putting a hand on the nape of his neck. “We didn't see it, but we did see the aftermath and let me tell you, it's not for the weak of heart.”

Alice turned to Lana.

“What?” Lana said angrily. “Don't tell me I'm too young to be here.”

Alice sighed before turning back to Loki. “Go on.”

“Thomas, you know him?”

“Yes. I know Thomas, we were in the same class.”

Loki let out an empty laugh. “Of course.”

“What about him?” Alice asked, worried.

“He was leading the team that went after the beast, for lack of a better word. None of them made it.” Lana let out a small gasp, while Alice became frozen, not quite believing what she'd heard. “By the time we got there, it was already done. There was nothing we could do.”

“All of them?” Lana whispered.

Loki turned to look at the teenager, and nodded once.

Alice put a hand to her head. “Who's tracking it?”

“Akinrinade and Elizabeth.”

“And you're sure it's the same thing that attacked Thomas' group.”

“Positive.”

Alice turned swiftly on a heel. Her face set into a grim line. “Then we

should get going. No time to waste.”