Come At Me Alpha

Chapter 17

  The back stage was filled with other dancers who were praying for luck, twiddling their fingers, and eying the competition. I rested upon a stool, next to Ms. Claudette who was busy filling out forms and glancing at her phone. I took deep breaths, calling out to Thor to back me up. "Tyler Calypso, you're on in five!" The woman with the headset yelled over. Ms. Claudette grabbed my hand and squeezed.

  "You'll do amazing as always darling! Don't worry about it!" She cried, tears flooding her eyes.

  "Ms. Claudette, why are you crying?" I embraced her, rubbing her back soothingly.

  "It's just that, you're all grown up and ready for college so you'll be leaving soon! I don't want to lose you, as selfish as it sounds; you're like a daughter to me! And there are talent scouts out there waiting for you because I called them and told them how great you are, but now I just want to take it back so I don't have to watch you leave everything behind."

My eyes widened, "Talent scouts!?"

   She tensed, "Oops... I wasn't supposed to tell you..."

  "Tyler Calypso, one minute!"

   "Oh god!"

   "Tyler listen," Ms. Claudette said, "you're going to do perfect! Put on the brilliant grin of yours and dance your heart out!"

The voice in my head laughed humorlessly. She has no idea that you really are.

What? What are you talking about? I asked the voice but she didn't answer.

"Tyler Calypso! You're on!" The woman yelled. I hugged Ms. Claudette one last time before running out to the stage. I can do this, I thought.

The music started, so u stalked my way to the stage. Once at center stage, I stopped. I body rolled and kicked up, to the narration of the song. Finally, I gracefully rounded my leg back before I flipped through the air causing applause to erupt.

I went back up again and spun around, sufficiently flipping again. I moved to the left, showing off a number of moves to the count of the music. Jumping up, I did a split in the air before rocking my hips from side to side. I did countless rolls back to the other side of the stage.

I moved to the beat, pointing my fingers like a gun to the sound affects of the song. Then it started to speed up. I did a few back hand-springs to the right stage, getting a reaction from the audience again.

But that's when I felt it. The drop in my stomach, the pounding of my heart in my chest, the lightheadedness. I broke out into a cold sweat, but I couldn't stop. Not now.

I grew weaker by the second, making my dance moves less powerful. I leaned back until I successfully touched the floor and kicked my leg up. I was getting tired, my head ached in pain but I kept going. My heart was pulsating like a jackhammer.

I just had to finish the song, that's all I had to do. I twirled and kicked, and when I accidentally fell I made it look like I did it on purpose, adding a few new moves to my routine. When I got to the final part of the dance, I jumped and landed on the ground as the song ended. Only, when I went to get up, I couldn't.

The audience went nuts, and I searched the crowds. As soon as my eyes met Logan's, I knew he knew something was up. I pleaded for help with the look I gave him and I knew he got the message because he got out of his seat and ran. Ms. Claudette came on stage and helped me up, hugging me. "Alpha mind linked me, don't worry I got you." She helped me limp off the stage.

As soon as we got back, I fell right back down. "Help! Call 911!" Ms. Claudette cried as I grasped at my heart. Pain filled my body as any strength I had was now gone. I was on the ground when Logan slid down next to me.

"Tyler, baby! Look at me! I need you to hold on!" My eyes began to close. Logan's fingers felt my wrist. "She has no pulse!" He tried doing CPR but I knew it wasn't working; I was already starting to feel numb and cold. I wasn't breathing, just suffocating. My blood wasn't flowing, my mind was in a final frenzy. "Tyler please! I can't live without you! Even if you choose to be with the vampire, I will still love you! Do you hear me, Tyler? I love you! Please! Stay alive!" He cried.

A stray tear slipped from my eye as the world faded to black. I guess I really did dance my heart out...