Chasing the Omega

by Jessica Edwards

  Again, Ryder says nothing.

  ‘You disappoint me Ryder, just like Alice here.’ Mr. Edmund waits a little longer at Ryder’s desk then strides towards Bane’s desk.

  ‘And what about you Bane? Will you be the one to tell me what I said yesterday?’

  Bane looks at him with distaste, ‘Nope.’

  Mr. Edmund chuckles and walks to the classroom door, ‘Seeing as this lesson has not gone to plan, class is dismissed.’

  Students begin to gather their things and rush to leave the classroom. I look at Sam in confusion to see her smiling as she gets up from her seat and leaves the room, she's probably waiting for me outside the class so that she can beg me to go to the party with her tonight.

  Just as I get up from my chair, Mr. Edmund closes the door so all that’s left in the classroom is me, and the four wolves.

  ‘You three can keep me company at detention starting from 2:30 in here.’ He then looks at Kellan and Silver. ‘You two clearly know how to listen better than these three.’

  He smirks as he opens the door. ‘Hopefully this time you won’t forget otherwise, there will be serious consequences.’

  I couldn’t eat during lunch break, the thought of eating anything made me feel nauseas. Sam kept begging me and begging me to go tonight and after continuously saying no to her she just wouldn’t give up. I gave up after the hundredth time and told her that I would go, but only for a little while. To say that she was happy was an understatement, she screamed so loud in the cafeteria that everyone was staring at her.

  After lunch, Sam told me that she’d be leaving early in preparation for tonight because she wants to look perfect for Bane even though she looks pretty good in absolutely anything.

  At 2:30, I arrive in our English class where detention is being held. I open the door to see Mr. Edmund already in his chair. He indicates for me to enter and have a seat.

  I take my usual seat in the front and wait for further instructions.

  After last night, I thought a part of me would feel different, like I’d be able to hear and smell things that no ordinary person could do, but nothing.

  The door opens and in walks Ryder followed by Bane. Ryder pulls the chair out placed next to me while Bane sits on his own at another desk.

  Mr. Edmund stands from his chair and stares at each of us individually, ‘Yesterday, you three decided to disobey my orders by leaving this very classroom, therefore you will stay here until the end of the day. I will allow you to speak but you will not I repeat not be allowed to move from this room. Do I make myself clear?’

  Neither Bane or Ryder say a word.

  I quietly murmur, ‘Yes sir.’

  As Mr.Edmund sits, I take out my notes for Biology and pretend to look over them to make myself look busy. Ryder lounges in his chair with one leg propped on the other while Bane puts his head on the desk.

  ‘You okay?’

  I swivel my head towards Ryder. ‘I’m fine.’

  A moment of silence, I turn back to my notes.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Mhm.’

  Another moment of silence.

  ‘Are you just gonna sit there and ignore me?’

  ‘I’m not ignoring you, I’m just revising for my test.’

  He scoffs, ‘Sure, I know what you’re doing.’

  ‘And what exactly is that.’ My focus remains on the paper.

  ‘Don’t even pretend that last night never happened because it did.’

  I face him, my voice rising a little, ‘Nothing happened so just forget about it!’

  Mr. Edmund’s head rises from the papers in front of him. ‘Shush!’

  ‘Keep telling yourself that Alice because we both know you wanted me.’

  ‘It was a mistake!’ I hiss.

  Ryder looks angrily at me, shoves himself out of the chair and throws his chair to the back of the class. Mr. Edmund remains seated in his chair with a look of boredom on his face.

  ‘Get the chair and sit down Mr. King.’

  ‘Nah screw this.’ He calls Bane and they both leave the classroom.

  I sit in shock just as Mr. Edmund casually walks to the front of my desk.

  ‘Let today be the first warning Alice because disobedience is not tolerated in my classroom. Ever. Those two will definitely not be returning to this class after their behaviour this evening. I would carefully advise you to think about who you surround yourself with.’ He turns back to his desk, ‘You are dismissed, Alice.’

  I quickly gather my things and rush out of the classroom.

  At the end of the day, I decide that I would surprise my mother at the hospital with an early supper. My mother adores Chinese but working night shifts, she barely has the chance to eat any. I stop by at the reception to give them my name and my reason to being there when I see a recognizable face reading a magazine.

  ‘Max?’

  He pauses for a minute then decides to look up at me. I’m taken aback when I don’t see any bruises on his face or any sign of the crutches he had with him yesterday.

  ‘Oh...hey Alice.’ He remains seated in the chair.

  ‘You look much better than you did yesterday.’ There are no words I can manage to formulate, Max was beaten to a pulp yesterday and he looks very much unscathed.

  ‘Yeah my mom has healing powers.’ He nervously chuckles.

  I look down at his leg to see no cast either, ‘And your leg?’

  He shrugs. ‘My mom can fix anything. I told you yesterday that it was nothing to worry about. Look at me, I’m fine.’

  I frown, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation on how he’s gone from looking like a beaten up rag doll to looking completely fine….but I come up empty handed.

  ‘So what brings you here?’

  I show him the Chinese that I’ve brought to my mother, ‘I’ve brought my mom dinner, what brings you here?’

  ‘I’m giving a ride home to my mother.’

  I nod in understanding when I hear my mother calling my name. ‘Alice! What a surprise!’

  I hug my mother tightly, ‘Yeah, I brought you your favourite Chinese seeing as you never have the chance to eat on the weekends.’

  My mother smiles, ‘Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.’

  ‘When do you get off work?’

  ‘Late sweetie.’ She takes the bag from me and kisses my forehead. ‘Do you have plans with Sam tonight?’

  ‘There’s a party tonight and I told her I’d go but…’

  ‘No buts! You’re going! It’s the weekend and you deserve to have some fun, alright?’ I nod.

  She hugs me again and leaves.

  ‘There’s a party tonight?’ Max asks from behind me.

  ‘Yeah but it’s at Ryder’s house.’ I face Max as he stands from his chair.

  ‘Do you think I could come with you?’

  ‘For someone that was beaten up by them, you don’t seem that bothered.’

  He shrugs. ‘What’s the harm in attending their party right?’

  ‘Are you sure you wanna go?’

  ‘Yeah! Why not!? It’s not like anything is going to happen!’

  And so we both leave.

  Chapter 13

  The first thing I do when I leave the hospital is text Sam for the address of the party. The sensible side of me would be to not text her and go home where I can sit down with a good book or catch up with homework. After this week, I feel that going tonight to the party and having a few drinks couldn’t hurt anybody because for once in my life, I can let my hair down and enjoy myself.

  I won’t have to worry about changing unexpectedly, I’ve proven all that I needed to prove, so for that I won’t let anything stop me from having somewhat of a good time.

  ‘So whereabouts is this party?’ Max asks as he takes out his car keys and twirls them around his fingers.

  I shrug, ‘I don’t know but I’ve texted Sam to ask where it is cause she’s probably there right now dancing on the tables or something.’
<
br />   He chuckles, ‘Is that something she does at every party?’

  I shiver against the gust of wind that passes by which makes me rub both of my hands together, ‘She likes to have fun which is the complete opposite of me.’ I sigh and shake my head in despair, ‘I don’t even know why I’m going to this party, I mean I hate social activities.’

  Max takes off his leather jacket and places it around my shoulders, ‘Here, this will keep you nice and warm.’ He presses the button to unlock his black Range Rover, stands on the passenger side, places his hand on the door and looks at me, ‘You’re going tonight because you wanna look out for your friend, and that makes you a good person. Maybe you know deep down that she needs someone to look after her.’

  I consider his words and slowly nod.

  He opens the door of the car and waits for me to sit so that he can close it behind me. In that moment I get a text from Sam with the address, I show it to Max as soon as he closes his door.

  The first thing I notice when we arrive closer to our destination are the cars lined up along the pavement and the people scattered everywhere along the property. I see people dancing, drinking and even some already passed out.

  I get out from the car and walk alongside Max towards the house, the music playing so loud I can recognize the song from inside.

  The house is hidden like the trees are purposely hiding it from view.

  I look around to see nothing but trees that instantly makes me wonder what lurks beyond these woods.

  Max and I follow a path that leads further into the woods, I place my hands in his jacket to keep warm when suddenly I inhale the intoxicating aroma of musk and pine needles overrunning the fresh air.

  I walk a little farther, come to the clearing of the woods when I see the flickering flames of a campfire, I look at each person individually but see no recognizable faces. We pass the campfire without a backward glance and slowly reach the house.

  Wow..

  The only word that comes to my mind when I look at this house is utterly breathtaking. The house is surrounded by glass and from the exact spot to where I’m standing, I can see everything. From here I see people dancing together, playing beer pong and some even doing body shots.

  Hopefully Sam isn’t embarrassing herself in there!

  I decide to go inside before changing my mind and take the stairs two at a time. Max can choose whether to follow or stick around outside, but I have someone that I need to find. I push through the bodies that are in my way to which I receive dirty looks and murmurs that are too quiet for me to understand. I finally get myself into the living room where I see a lot of people kissing and some doing things that I wish they could take outside. People dance in the middle of the room, but Sam is nowhere to be seen. I look behind me to see Max pushing his way through with the look of annoyance on his face, I call out his name but it’s drowned out by the sound of music.

  Having looked around the living area more than once, I decide to look for Sam in the kitchen and the first thing I see is a stunning girl propped up on the steel counter wearing a tight silver dress covered in sparkles. The minute Silver’s eyes meet mine she rolls her eyes.

  ‘If you’re trying to get Ryder’s attention he won’t spare you a glance dressed like that.’ She takes in my black skinny jeans, the band t-shirt and leather jacket.

  I ignore her and get right to the point, ‘Have you seen Sam anywhere?’

  ‘Why would I care about where your annoying little friend is?’ She picks up the solo cup next to her and drains the whole thing.

  ‘Because I’m trying to look for her and I’d really appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction?’

  Silver gets down from the counter and sways seductively to stand in front of me.

  ‘Sure I’ll point you in the right direction. Go find Sam yourself, leave this house and stay away from what’s mine, otherwise I’ll kick your ass.’

  I look at her in confusion, ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Stay away from Ryder.’

  ‘I couldn’t care less about him, all I want to do is find Sam because she came on her own, and I just wanna see if she’s alright.’

  ‘Look little wolf, you have no business here so take your blonde trash ass and get the hell off my property.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere until I find Sam.’

  She sighs, ‘You never listen do you, she went upstairs with…..’

  Before she has a chance to finish talking, Max comes to joins us into the kitchen with relief written on his face.’

  ‘I didn’t know how to get through without pissing someone off.’

  Silver sneers at Max, ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’

  ‘What?’ Max looks aback.

  ‘Who said you could come to this party?’ She places her hands on her hips.

  ‘Well I thought that if someone’s throwing a party then everyone’s obliged to come.’

  Silver tuts, ‘You thought wrong new guy, and for that you better watch out before someone really shows you how things are done around here.’

  Max squares his shoulders and approaches her.

  ‘Silver, isn’t it?’

  She arches her brow in confirmation.

  ‘See, where I come from, people don’t usually talk like that and get away with things. I may not be good enough to pass as being a cool or a tough guy, but at least I have the decency to treat others with respect. Fair enough if you don’t like me because truth be told, I’m not utterly fond of you either, so the next time you threaten me or anyone I care about Silver, you won’t like the outcome. That I assure you.’

  Silver shakes her head and murmurs, ‘You’re dead.’ Then walks away.

  He turns back to me with an expressionless look on his face.

  ‘Did you find Sam yet?’

  I shake my head.

  ‘We’ll search the house, I’m sure she’s fine Alice.’

  Knowing Sam she’s probably somewhere really obvious because she blends in so well with these people. Maybe she’s found some guy to spend the night with and doesn’t want to be disturbed, but as a concerned friend I just want to see for myself that she’s okay.

  ‘I think I’m gonna look for her upstairs to see if she’s in one of the bedrooms, do you mind checking outside?’

  ‘Sure, we’ll meet up in a few minutes by the campfire?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  I rush out of the kitchen and make my way up the stairs. People are sat on the steps which makes it extremely hard for me to pass. I slither my way as quickly as possible to reach the second level of the house and to my left I see three doors, one of which is open, one ajar and one closed completely. I look to the right and see another three doors, two of which are open and one closed.

  With my new ability, I try as hard as I can to reach out to hear Sam’s voice but fail to hear her for I have no idea on how to use my new skills.

  With a disappointed sigh I walk to the left side of the house and come face to face with the door that’s ajar. The room is cast in blackness and the first thing I notice is the distinctive smell of marijuana and deep male voices. I open the door slowly only to see Bane and Kellan playing what looks like a first person shooting game, but the moment I step foot inside both of their heads turn in unison to my direction, it takes them awhile to realize who I am. Bane looks at me for a second but loses interest and carries on playing the game, Kellan however smiles and gets up from his position on the couch.

  ‘Alice! Didn’t know you’d be attending our amazing party?’ He picks me off the floor and crushes me tightly to his chest.

  I scowl even though it’s pretty hard to breathe considering his strength and the unmistakable smell of weed. ‘Please let go of me, you stink like something illegal.’

  Kellan just chuckles, ‘I might be high as a kite right now but I’m still happy to see you.’

  He lets go of me and goes to sit back on the couch and picks up the controller, I take this as a
n opportunity to ask if either of them have seen Sam.

  ‘Hey guys, have you seen Sam anywhere? She said she’d be at this party but I can’t seem to find her.’

  Kellan thinks for a moment then nods, ‘I saw her a few hours ago but she was more interested in our big sexy beast over here.’ Kellan nudges Bane suggestively but receives what sounds like a menacing growl in return.

  ‘Where is she now?’

  Kellan shrugs, ‘I have no idea, one minute she was all over Bane and the next she ran off crying.’

  What could he have done to make her cry?

  ‘Bane?’

  He doesn’t acknowledge me.

  ‘Bane? What did you do?’

  I wait a few seconds to see if he’ll say anything but when I realize that he won’t answer me, I march up to the TV and switch it off.

  ‘What the fuck is your problem!?’ He roars in agitation.

  ‘Right now you’re my problem asshole. What did you do to Sam?’

  ‘Who the fuck is Sam?’

  I can’t believe this is the guy Sam’s pining after, I can’t stand being in the same room with him for more than two minutes.

  ‘Sam? The girl you were with that ran off crying.’ My patience is starting to run out.

  ‘I make a lot of girls cry, that’s why it makes it easy to forget their faces.’ Bane dismisses me as he gets up from the couch, and looks out the window to watch the people outside enjoying the party.

  ‘This is not a joke Bane, just please tell me where she went because I’m starting to think that something bad has actually happened to her, and with the murders going on....’

  He sighs and turns to look at me and Kellan, ‘Relax, she followed me up here but I told her to leave me alone cause she was trying too hard to get my attention, she chose to ignore that and started groping me that may have had me insulting her.’

  ‘Yo man, I thought you liked it when women get a little frisky with you,’ Kellan winks jokingly at Bane.

  ‘Shut your damn mouth Kellan before I do it for you!’

  Kellan might be amused but I certainly am not, ‘So after you insulted her she ran off? Do you know where?’