Behind The Alpha Book 8 ADAM

ADAM

“HEY! STOP!”

I raise my eyes to a bar and watch as a bunch of guys run up the sidewalk with some Enforcers right behind them.

Horns honk, glass breaks and people shout, scream and off in the distance, gunfire erupts.

What kind of hell is this?

I push off the wall I was leaning on and slowly navigate my way around Red Rocks night life.

At least I don’t stick out here. Leather clad bad guys seem to be in abundance here. As long as they leave me alone, they’ll be fine.

I am getting hungry though.

I need to focus on the lab before breakfast.

From my research on the net, the pack house is on the other side of town.

A minute later, I’m standing with my hands in my pockets, staring at a large white house. There’s a three car garage attached to the two floor house with a basketball net fixed above the garage doors.

I analyze it for a minute. The Alpha of this place doesn’t seem like the type for games.

I stride across the lot, up the steps of the porch to the front door.

I’ve only seen Luke once or twice when I was small. He talked with me once, but I didn’t respond. Had no use for him at the time, now, he’s the only person I need right now.

I knock on the door and wait.

The light of the porch comes on making me squint at it.

The door opens and I raise my chin to a red headed man with an abundance of jewelry on his face. Curiosity builds. Is this something people like?

“Can I help you?” He asks as he scans me head to toe.

“Luke Jackson.” I say as I cock my head and step closer to the door.

He arches a brow. “Can I ask who’s calling?”

“No.” My frozen expression doesn’t waver even though my lycan wants to take over. “Get him.” I order.

“Luke?!” The guy side eyes me as he calls into the house.

“Who is it?” Luke comes to the door. His eyes widen and he grabs the guys shirt. “Call Terry and get Enforcers here now.” He pushes the guy into the house.

I hold up a hand. “That won’t be necessary…” I eye him. “If you cooperate.”

“Right. I’m gonna pretend Oliver didn’t call with a warning.” He crosses his arms and scowls.

“It was…a misunderstanding.” I say.

He nods. “Ok.” He reaches behind him and pulls out a gun. “Like I’d trust a vamp.” He grits. He cocks the gun and aims it at my head.

I close my eyes and shake my head. In a blur, I relieve him of his weapon, slam him onto the porch on his stomach and place the barrel in the back of his neck.

“WHOA! JESUS!” He yells as his hands come out and raise. “I'M NOT INSULTING YOU! VAMPS ARE SHADY!”

I cock the gun. “I am not shady. You know who I am. Who my mother is. So tell me, again, that I can’t be trusted.” I growl as I lean down to him with a foot on his back.

“Ok. Adam. I may have said the wrong thing. I do that sometimes.” He chuckles to the wood slats.

“Yes. He has a big mouth.”

I turn and see a woman with red, curly hair standing in the doorway. I look down and she’s with child. I focus my sight and ear on her stomach. I see the hearts beat, see the blood flow. I hear them both. “Twins.” I mutter.

She rubs her belly. “Yes. How did you know?”

“I can hear their hearts. They are strong.” I say low.

“Yes, they are. Just like their father.” She smiles and motions her chin to Luke.

I glance at him. I’d say they were strong like their mother.

“How long?” I ask.

“Not long. A month or two.” She says.

“Ok. Babe. Can we not talk about the kids with the psycho that has a gun to my head?” Luke grinds.

She lets out a sigh. “Just apologize.” She snaps.

“I’m sorry!” He barks.

I step off his back, safety the weapon and spin it around on my finger to pass him the but of it as he stands, rubbing his nape.

He furrows his brow and snatches the gun from my hand. “Thanks.” He grumbles. “Lex. Let me talk to this guy. I’ll see you inside.”

She smiles again. “Nice seeing you again, Adam.”

I nod with a grunt and she retreats into the house.

“OK. What do you want?” He crosses his arms with an irritated look on his face.

I mirror his stance. “Alliance labs. Where is it?”

“What the hell is with this lab?! It’s supposed to be a fucking secret.” He shoves a finger on my face.

I smack it away.

“Ow.” He pulls his hand to his chest and glares at me. “Why do you want the lab?”

“That’s my business. Where is it?” I grumble.

He pulls out his keys. “It’s an electrical station downtown. I’ll have to let you in. Only I can access it.”

“What street?” I ask.

“Maple. The graveyard houses. You can’t MISSSS….”

I grab him and drag him with me in a vamp run.

I suddenly stop and he falls to the road and rolls.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?” He yells with a groan as he stumbles to a stand.

“I ran.” I say blankly.

“Warn me next time!! Fuck.” He looks himself over. He rubs his elbow as he joins where I stopped. “Now I got road rash.” He clenches.

“Sorry.”

He cinches his brows together as he shakes his head. He thumbs through his keys, finds one and sticks it in the lock that holds the chains around the gate of the chain link fence. In the small yard is a small shed like building with a single door. Next to the door is a keypad.

He opens the gate and walks in. “I don’t know what you’re looking for. The place was cleaned out. Whatever it is, the rogues must want it too.”

“Rogues.”

“Yeah. Attacked us a few weeks back. They wanted something in here. Like I said. The place was shutdown when I found it.” He punches the keypad and the light turns red. “Uh…maybe I got it wrong. Hold up.” He punches again and it turns red. “Weird. That should have worked.” He does it again and again it turns red.

“Let me try.” I growl.

My eyes turn yellow, my lycan rises and I ball a fist. I slam it into the keypad, destroying it and rip the handle off the door. It clicks open.

Luke side eyes me. “Do you know how expensive secret, scary lab doors are?”

I open the door. “Inside.” I narrow my eyes at him.

“Ok. Just saying. Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I think you need some A+ or something.” He says as he steps inside.

“How about yours?” I say to his back.

“No…No thanks…I’m….all cholesterol. You wouldn’t like me.” He chuckles as he rubs his neck.

“Walk!” I bark.

He steps to a flight of stairs and pulls out his phone. “All the power was cut to this place when the Alliance took it over. I’ll have to find the fuse…”

Just then all the overhead lights came on.

“What?” He questions as he slows his steps down the stairs.

“Someone turned it back on.” I mutter.

“No, shit. The question is who?” He says quietly as we get to the lab.

“That’s not my concern. Where’s the storage?” I ask.

“Down here.” He points to a hall on the left.

I leave him in a gust of wind and stop at a locked door. I break the lock and enter the above average sized room. There’s a bunch of shelves with boxes on them.

The place turns into a tornado of papers as I go through every box.

I stop in the middle of the mess. “Not here.” I look to the door.

In a split second, I search every room.

I stop in front of a glass medical room.

I tilt my head as I push open the door. Walking past the examination cot, I walk to the wall where deep claw marks sit.

I place my fingers in the grooves and close my eyes.

‘NOOOO!’

‘ADAM! ADAM, CALM DOWN! IT’S ME. IT’S DR. BLAKE!’

‘BLAKE?’

‘Yes. You’re alright.’

‘I…what happened?’

‘I’m sorry, Adam. We couldn’t stop it.’

‘You said you could.’

‘I thought I could, Adam, but the experiment failed.

‘YOU SAID…YOU COULD!!’

‘Adam, put him away. We can try again!’

‘NO MORE TRYING!!’

‘AHHHHH!’

I wince at the ghost of a thought I can barely remember. I don’t know why this triggered that particular thought. If the memory is true, I was trying to stop something and this doctor couldn’t do it. I feel like he died by hand. My lycan hand. What was he trying to do?

I turn to the bed and place my hand on it. I search my mind, but nothing comes.

“ADAM!”

I raise my eyes to the door and blur to Luke.

I stop behind him and he almost falls over in his chair.

“You need to really work on your landings.” He says with annoyance.

“What did you find?” I say as I lean a hand on his chair and the desk.

He’s opened a computer. “I’m not really good with sort of stuff, but I just search for anything that doesn’t really belong in a lab and found this.”

He moves out the way and my face falls. I lean closer to the monitor. The bane of my existence stares into my eyes. It’s black, eerie presence only reminds me of my fate.

It may only be a computer file, but the blackness of its eye sockets calls to me. It needs me to find it. To hold it once more.

“Where?” I whisper.

“I’m sorry, buddy. It doesn’t say. There’s only a number. 1757EDEN. I don’t know what it means.” He says.

I nod as I read over the file. He’s right. There’s no location. Only proof that, at one time, Alliance Labs had my skull.

“I’ve searched the lab. It’s not here.” I hang my head. I feel so close yet couldn’t be farther away.

“That sucks. Hey, how about me and you go for a BEEEERRRR….”

I drag him out of the lab, across Red Rock and drop him on his porch. He lands on his knees. He hands hold his thighs as he huffs breaths. “I think…I’m gonna…puke…” He stammers.

“Thank you for your assistance.” I nod.

He holds up a hand and chokes. “No problem.”

I break into a run, leave the town and head to the desert.

My mind is full as I stop in the next town, grab a homeless man and take my fill of his blood. My stomach fills as he tries to fight me off. My eyes glow green and my confusion gets worse. I drop him and he passes out. He’ll be healed by morning. I wipe the blood from my lips and continue on to Phoenix.

The skull. The lab. Miranda. The memory. What does it all mean? It’s times like these that cause me to want sleep. With the thoughts jamming themselves together like circles in square pegs, my brain actually starts to hurt and I need to shut it down to gain clarity.

Before I enter Phoenix City, I make a sharp left and run up the foothills a distance away. I stop and sit on a outcrop. Phoenix is lit up in the darkness of the vast desert and I must appreciate the beauty of it. Try to, anyway.

It's hard to appreciate anything when you know your fate. Even worse when you know that fate is getting closer with each passing day.