Lockwood City: The Tale of Eloise

One

Calvin Harris, Rag n Bone- Giant

Eloise:

Music takes away the loud silence. It drowns out the ringing in my ears. It steadies the trembling in my body. It never stops playing in my headphones. I keep them around my neck and set them to whatever I feel like listening to that day.

I have a routine. Every morning, whether I've slept or not, I take a shower and prepare for the day. I stand behind the massive Lockwood letters that cover the bulletproof windows. The windows wrap around the entire building. This spot faces the east. Where the sun rises behind the boundless forest that makes up the outskirts of the city.

As the darkness of the night gives way to the daylight of the morning, I remind myself that today is a new day. That I've made it through the night. The darkness that surrounds me is over and I can go about the day to do as I please. Hopefully, today is one of the days I can.

"Good morning, Eloise," I look over at Victoria and smile. She's my nanny. One of them at least.

"Good morning, Victoria. How did you sleep?" I ask politely.

"I slept like a baby. Did you manage to get any sleep?" she asks motioning me to sit on my bed.

My lack of words must have told her that I didn't sleep at all. She takes the brush from my hand and begins to brush out my hair herself. Once she's done, she parts my hair and starts to braid it. I stand up and walk over to the small area outside of my room where my computers and books are.

I start everything up and turn on the two flat screens set up over my three monitors. On one screen, the Lockwood City news begins. On the other, the Lockwood stock stats along with other top-grossing stock investments. The surveillance footage to the training grounds comes up on the left monitor and surveillance to the pack town square to the right. In the center, I bring up my university assignments. I graduate this year. No more school for me. No more excuses.

"The alpha is here," Margarita announces as she sets a tray with my breakfast on the desk by the staircase. She takes a fruit cup from the tray and hands it to me. It's what I always start with. Margarita is my other nanny.

"Thank you," I say without reaching for it.

I prepared myself to welcome my dad. I look at the monitor to see it's Thursday, September 13th. Of course, he's here. My mother will then follow and throughout the day Victoria is going to bring me gifts. It's been this way since I was placed up here.

"Good morning," My body always tense up with the sound of his voice.

I think it's the authority in it. Maybe it's the grand presence of the alpha or the fact that he's six feet eight inches tall that scares the hell out of me. Whatever it is, I always feel like attacking him. It's a violent urge. A powerful one.

"Good morning," I greet him turning my gaming chair around.

His eyes don't immediately come to me. They look over the screens briefly but carefully. One after the other before his dark brown eyes meet my own. I love the color of his eyes. They're nothing like the gray I inherited from my mother. I find peace in his eyes because when I look into them, fear doesn't stare back. Comfort and safety do. It's the rest of him that I have a problem with.

He's usually dressed for business in a custom suit, with his hair slicked back, his expensive jewelry, and his fancy shoes. He looks like he's just gotten out of the shower. He's wearing basketball shorts, a T-shirt, and a windbreaker. His sneakers are ridiculous. Is that really what people wear now?

"What do you think about yesterday's stock increase?" he asks.

"It's going to drop about two percent of the twelve it rose yesterday. Melbourn and Howard are going to sell their shares and invest in Peterson," I point out mindlessly. I'm still disturbed by his sneakers.

"How do you know that?" he asks amused.

"That's what I would do if I were in their position. They don't deal with businesses like ours. They're going to make eight times what they paid,"

"You've really got a handle on this," he smirks.

"You sound surprised,"

His smirk turns into a genuine smile. "I'm not. I'm just stating the obvious. Come down and have breakfast with me. I have something for you,"

I nod turning back to my monitors. As I shut down the middle one, I noticed something on the right one. There's a woman standing right in the middle of the town square looking right at the camera. My dad notices my hesitation and comes over to me making sure he doesn't get too close.

Rapunzel. She mouths. I stand up backing away from the monitor.

My dad growls and soon the woman is surrounded by police wolves. I watch as they put her in handcuffs and haul her away. She never diverts her gaze away from the camera. Her smile never falters. My dad looks back at me and lets out a heavy sigh before he turns the monitor off. He motions me to follow him downstairs. It doesn't happen often but it does happen. Someone is always looking for me. Like they know I'm watching.

I shake the cold feeling off as much as I can and follow close to him. He likes it. We don't have a closer relationship because he doesn't have the patience to keep up with my heavy personality. I like to think before I speak and he often demands an on-the-spot answer to questions that shouldn't be answered that way. His go-to insult on that is, You're just like your mother. He's not wrong. It's also not an insult. At least, not to me. It makes her angry when he says it around her.

I live in a three-story penthouse suite at the top of the Lockwood Tower. This area of the building is only accessible by a private glass elevator that only my parents, Victoria, and Margarita have access to.

As soon as one exits the elevator, to the left, there is a luxurious kitchen equipped with anything anyone could ever need in a kitchen and a dining room table for four. Just outside the kitchen is the south deck. There's a baby pink BMW convertible parked at the far end of the deck. I had gotten the car for my sixteenth birthday. There's a metallic baby pink Lamborgini at the other end that I got as a high school graduation gift. In the center, is a Bugatti super sport bike that was a gift for my mother. One she didn't want and handed over to me.

To the right of the elevator is what had been my first bedroom when I was brought here after I turned thirteen. The bed, the dressers, the wardrobe, and the pictures are all still the same. Beyond the bedroom, is the northern deck where a small living room that no one but my mom ever uses. She sometimes sleeps in the small bedroom as well.

The west deck is a display area for my favorite art pieces that mom never put on display at her art galleries. There are a few paintings, lots of small sculptures and pottery, and some of her bigger statues. The east deck, where the Lockwood sign is, has a small gym area where I like to work out. Victoria is also my personal trainer.

I rarely come down here outside my workout schedule. When I do, it's usually someone's request. Like now, my dad asked me to have breakfast with him. Other times my mom asks me to come down so she can show me the latest addition to her work. When I come down here on my own accord, it's to spend some time looking at some of her work. When I miss her and she can't come over to hang out with me.

"Your mom wanted me to tell you that she's sorry she couldn't be here today," he starts.

"Right," I say remembering. "She has a show in L.A. I had forgotten about that,"

"That's right. Otherwise, she would be here," he says as if he feels guilty.

Like they both do. I hate that they do because if anything, I should be the one that feels guilty. I should be there with her. I should be anywhere other than here but I can't be. I've tried. I've tried time after time but there's no change at all. I can't bring myself to leave this hell. Maybe I'm not ready to leave it behind just yet.

"It's fine. You guys have a life outside of me. You shouldn't feel bad about living it. I completely understand," I sigh.

His eyes searched mine for a bit before he took a seat and motioned me to sit down with him. I take the seat to his left. I'm not ready to be too far away from him. Not after the woman in the monitor. I feel safe around him. I know he wouldn't hurt me or let anyone hurt me.

"Eloise, I know-" he stops, shaking his head. "That's not how I want to start today. I have something for you,"

"What is it?" I ask, glad that I have a moment to wallow in my own misery before he addresses the real issue directly.

Victoria comes over to him and hands him a black velvet jewelry box. The kind of box expensive necklaces is stored in. He places it on the table between us. I glance up at him before I look down at the box. It's not the first time they've brought me something like this but it has been a long time. I pick it up when he encourages me to. I open it to find a red collar adorned with diamonds and a name tag that reads, Sasuke.

"We thought, you'd like some company," he explains softly.

"You got me a dog?" I ask excitedly. He smiles liking my reaction.

"No, I got you a wolf," he corrects. I look up at him confused. A wolf?

"A wolf? Like a baby wolf?"

He nods.

"I was out on patrol last night," he had been the giant black wolf I had seen from my bedroom last night. "We came across a den. I think the mother had just passed because the pup is healthy,"

"Just one?"

"There were three others but this one was the only one that survived. I think he's the oldest," he waves his hand and Margarita comes over to us with a struggling pup in her arms.

I push my chair back and go over to them. When the pup's eyes land on me he stops struggling. His fur is pitch black. His eyes are a brilliant red. Magie set him down. He growls at her before slowly coming over to me. He sniffs my shoes. I get down on one knee holding my hand out for him to take. He sniffs it before licking the palm of my hand. He sits down in front of me before looking up.

I growl at him loudly showing him that I'll be the alpha from here on. He jumps back crouching low with his ears pressed to the back of his head in a threatening manner. I once again offer him my hand and he comes back. I take the collar out of the box showing it to him. He sniffs it before looking up at me. I put it on him, looping it through his face.

He shakes his fur out before falling on his side to try and scratch it off. I let out a warning growl to let him know that I don't want him to remove it. He lets out a little whine before he just slumps down defeatedly.

"I've never seen anyone interact with a wolf that way," Victoria breaks the silence.

My dad doesn't say a word about our interaction.

"You have to take care of him. Train him. He is now your responsibility," he informs me. I look up at him knowing exactly what he means by that.

"If I choose not to keep him?"

He glares at me. "Then he will be put down,"

The pup arches back to scratch the back of his ear. We don't bring the pup up again throughout breakfast. Sasuke follows me around the penthouse until my dad leaves. I set him up right outside my room. Victoria brings him everything I ask for including training pads so when he can't be taken outside.

Upside, I can teach him how to use the toilet. All I have to do is make sure the seat is always up. The downside, he's a wolf. A feral wolf who needs to go outside no matter what. He's aggressive. Male wolves usually are. I've established dominance over him and he's accepted it. No one else is going to be able to handle him once he's older.

I walk around the penthouse to show him his way around. When we get to the roof, he seems really happy about the fresh air. This had once been the top of the world in the pack. Before I was ruined, my birthday parties had been hosted here. My siblings all had their birthday parties here and the pack had been happy.

Now, it's all just a memory. Everything is just a memory and no matter how good they are, the ugly ones always weigh over them heavily. These are more than just that. I can feel them. They keep me up at night. They have created something just as ugly inside of me and I don't know how to deal. I don't know what to do with it. I don't know if it's safe for others to be around me. These distractions only go so far.

Sasuke's harness is sitting on my bed. It matches the collar my dad brought him. He jumps on my bed and starts playing with it making me smile. I haven't been around another living creature that requires this much attention in a very long time and my instincts are kicking in. It's something you don't forget. Like riding a bike or flinching.

"Do you like it here?" I ask him. He looks up at me probably because of the sound of my voice. His head tilts to the side before he starts playing with the harness again.

I take it from him. He tries to bite me earning him a flick to the tip of his right ear. He lets out a little yip but he comes at me playfully after shaking it off. He lets me put the harness on him. I pull a sweater on before going over to the monitors to see that there's no one outside the back part of the building that leads into the woods.

If not now, then never.