Salvage The Kingdom

Chapter 2

The phone ringing throughout the house is what woke Alfred up.

He groaned rubbing his eyes then staggered out of bed to the kitchen where the phone on the wall sat.

"Hello," he answered still half asleep.

"Alfred." It was William. He sounded pretty serious compared to his usual joking tone.

"Meet me at the coffee shop." It wasn't a question, more like a demand.

"What? It's too early for this."

"Please, Alfred. Just get down here as fast as you can."

"Alright, I'm coming."

He hung up and went to get dressed.
Once he was ready, he hurried out the door.

His mother had already left for work. Just the two of them being in the house gets pretty lonely when one of them is gone. That's one of the reasons why Alfred hadn't moved out. He knew how lonely it could get with just his mother there.

Honestly, Alfred resented his father for leaving. How could he just leave the two of them by themselves? So many questions he had but none with any real answers.

He reached the coffee shop and saw William through the glass.

William sat alone at a table and hadn't ordered anything.

That was unusual for William to sit alone. He usually would strike up a conversation with random strangers.
Alfred walked in and took a seat across from him.

"Hey." Alfred greeted.

"Hey." Even his voice was unusual. Just like on the phone, he sounded serious. Too serious.

"Why did you want to meet?" Alfred broke their silence.

"I just wanted to talk, don't you want to talk to me?"

"Yeah, but usually not this early."
William let out a snort.

"What's really going on, William?" He asked sternly. "You sleep in on our off days and you don't ever come to the coffee shop."

"I just-" He started but didn't finish. "What do you know about your father leaving?"

He was taken aback by his question.
"I don't know anything." He replied. "Why would you ask me that?"

William didn't answer. He darted out of his seat and ran out of the coffee shop. Alfred followed in pursuit.

He followed him into an alley that had a dead end.

William spun around. He had a wild look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Alfred." He yelled. "They chose you."

"What?"

"They chose you, Alfred. They chose you."

Before Alfred could process what was happening, he felt two strong arms wrap around him and his vision suddenly went white until it faded off and he was left standing in front of a huge stone castle.