ALPHA RAY
Year 2006
(Winter, Howling Five Kingdom)
"M-Mozzo, p-please, let me go! I-I can't be here," whimpers the frightened prince, his mind secretly summoning his wolf: come out and cut me loose, or we'll both die!
"How many blasted reminders do you need?" Mozzo says calmly, a rock hopping in his open palm. "Muck-mutts don't tell the children of the Moon what to do."
Ray wants to shout: but I'm a child of the Moon too! But that rock is the size of his head! His useless almost-human body instantly simulates the damage it will cause and immediately wriggles in fierce desperation.
"I didn't mean to— I— I'm sorry, Mozzo— ARGH!"
Pain explodes in Ray's right eye, piercing his skull, almost knocking out the other eyeball from its socket. A shock that silences him. His lungs claws desperately for air, for an ease.
"What are you sorry for?" mutters Mozzo, his voice low and deadly. "Answer it well. And I won't crack your head wide open."
Through the swollen eye and bloody veil, Ray catches another rock hopping and screams his lungs out, "I'M SORRY I WAS BORN! I DON'T DESERVE THE GODDESS' GIFT—!"
POW!
"That's right, muck-mutt." The bully chuckles.
The other side of his head nearly burst open. This time, Ray screams from his throat, as though his head's being torn from his neck, and a roaring applause of joyous victory erupts from his bullies.
"The deity has spoken!" cries Mozzo— a signal for the storm of angry rocks and livid curses.
"Die, you human infested dog!"
"The Goddess hates us because of you!"
Just—bear with it. It'll be over soon. Ray tightens his muscles like an armour. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt…. He deserves all this so he must bear with it!
What child of the Moon would reject his own wolf— the deity's gift? That's turning against the Goddess!
But what choice does Ray have? The so-called gift is actually Ray's curse— as soon as it shows, it starts draining Ray's life force till he dies!
He tried. Really. But it's too much.
In gasps and pants, Ray begs for mercy. "Please—Please, Mozzo. It's not that— I do want to— I want to summon the wolf—." His energy is draining.
Did his wolf come out?
Ray looks down at his feet and screams inside. Please, Wolf, come out. Please, please, please!
"Go on then. Your muck-mutt mother can't shift at will but your brothers and sisters can. Because of the King, of course." Mozzo's encouraging smile is as creepy as his murderous eyes. "So shift."
"Okay, okay… I'll do it." Ray closes his eyes and talks to his wolf. You heard the mutt. Come out now! You're not scared of them, are you?
"Look at him, praying like a blasted human." Mozzo's voice is thick with disgust.
Another rock slams into Ray's shoulder, and Mozzo shouts over Ray's piercing screams. "Since you're three times the human, this place should feel like home. Rest in peace, Ray Hook!"
No, please! He can't die like this! Come on, wolf, only you can cut me loose! Get me out of this, please!
If he could get out of this on his own, his brothers and sister would finally see him as an equal. His father would be proud, and everyone wouldn't hate him!
"He's as good as dead, Moz. Let's just leave him here, eh?"
"If the King catches us, our heads will be ripped off!"
Mozzo goes off like a wolf with rabies. "Deity's arse— why do you think we bring him all the way here?! KILL HIM!"
"F-for real?"
Mozzo strikes that boy down.
But another boy hastily steps in.
"Come on, Moz! Let's just leave. We don't do well in snowstorms and— and the gate's leaving! Besides, not our fault the prince wanders off into the human world and gets lost there, right?"
Ray gets anxious again: they can't leave; they need to take him with them!
"Loris is right. We go now, and the eleven Hooks won't have anything against us!"
The last resort: his father's words. Ray's surprised that he recalls them. Hastily, he starts chanting secretly: ball of fire… focus, Ray, focus… get the wolf out… you can't die here! Come on, it's in here somewhere—!
Ray lifts his heavy face and his bullies are disappearing between two trees one after another.
"G-Guys, wait up!" Ray blurts out. "I'm shifting, for real… I– I can feel it…."
Mozzo is a few steps from the gate when he halts and scoffs. "You don't shift, Ray Hook. You hate your wolf."
"I don't hate it, Mozzo," whispers Ray, mustering a smile. I'm just afraid of it.
"We, the children of the Moon, don't hate our wolves." Mozzo glares over his shoulder. "You're the filth we can't ever get rid of. So do us all a favour, Ray Hook, and just die."
"B-but I'm a child of the Moon too, Mozzo, just like you." Ray widens his smile at Mozzo's back to appeal to the bully's conscience. "Let me down…please, Mozzo. I– I really can't be here…."
Mozzo pauses just in front of the gate—a space between two trees—but doesn't turn back. "Shift then. Work that essence. Get yourself out. Maybe then, the Goddess will not let you die."
"I will… I will… watch me—Mozzo?— Mozzo! Wait for me!"
Ray watches in helpless weariness as the last bully vanishes.
PHWOOP!
His white fur flutters mischievously in the cold wind.
"You stupid wolf," growls Ray.
*****
Your wolf doesn't talk to you. That's what everyone says. Even the Alpha King, his father. But Ray swears he hears it sometimes.
And now, it's chuckling with satisfaction.
Ray goes ballistic. He snaps about like a mad crocodile. He wants to sink his fangs into that vile creature and finish it off once and for all. So what if he dies along with it? Justice must be served! This blasted wolf has been the core of all Ray's sufferings since he was born!
"Die, you muck-mutt! Die!" He chomps the gushing cold air as though it was the wolf. "What? Protesting, are you? Well, I hate you too! You're supposed to be a gift! Oh, I'm not worthy of the Goddess' gift, huh? That's what you're trying to say? That's why you're acting like a complete arse!"
And it laughs harder.
"Blasted wolf!" Ray snaps the icy currents. "You want to finish me off, don't you? Do it! Take all of it—.'"
As though under that darn wolf's orders, the snowstorm breaks in.
Ray can't breathe. His lungs are freezing up, his veins solidifying. Even the white fur is turning into icicles. Manacles of despondence wrap around his heart, pulling him down like an anchor. He can barely lift anything. Even with his eyes closed, he can feel himself turning into a popsicle.
And his stupid wolf is drinking his life force like a mutt who's been trapped in the desert for months.
Ray can't feel a thing now. He's lighter than air. This is it, he sobs quietly inside as memories of his life flashes by. The sadness in his mother's eyes. The helplessness in his father's gaze. The vacant look of his brothers and sisters.
They'll do better from now on. Without me. Ray feels a tiny corner of his mouth curl up in relief.
He's ready. Finally, it's all over.
….
….
….
Hot air is roaring in his ears.
The warmth of life fills his lungs, springing them back to action. Blood gushes, heat rushes through his veins, his temperature returns. The tree's pushing his back and the ropes pressing his chest. He tries and his paws move a little.
The wolf's still here.
Oh Goddess. He's dead. The sweet deity has finally had enough and made a kebab out of him. She's roasting him nicely, bringing out the juices of his fatless flesh, and he's fully awake to witness his own death. She must really hate him.
Wake up, little one, a voice whispers.
And Ray did.
His eyes flew open.
And a human house—no, a mansion—was on fire.