Seized By The Alpha

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Bethany Witmore 

I threw on another layer of molten hot, gooey fudge and watched it slide down the side of my French vanilla ice cream scoops. 

"Zoo wee mama, that's alotta  chocolate, Anny," My nephew, Gabriel, exclaimed, smiling up at me. His blue eyes were filled with excitement. I smiled back, messing his head of blond hair a bit. "I want mines to be like that." He said, handing out his small bowl of ice cream to me. I giggled, taking his bowl of Rocky Road  and smothering it in the piping hot choclate sauce. He jumped up and down, holding onto the railing of the sauce counter. 

"Beth, you know how unhealthy that is?" My friend, Delaney, said. I turned to her, handing the ice cream to Gabe. Delaney was leaning up against a counter with her nose turned up in disgust. 

"Laney, don't ruin his fun. I brought him here to San Francisco for a reason." I said, grabbing spoons for me and Gabe. I scooped up a chunk of chocolatey, sugary goodness and stuffed it into my mouth. I wasn't afraid of anyone seeing, as this was a children's joint for ice cream. A place called Gismo's Creams. 

"I'm not ruining his fun, Beth. You're ruining his health." She said, taking out her Samsung Galaxy and scrolling. I rolled my eyes. 

Delaney was a total health nut. She didn't eat anything that wasn't natural or that she didn't make at home. She didn't eat meat. She didn't eat fish. She was the epitome of Veggie-Tree Hugger. I mean, I respected her beliefs, but She didn't even drink milk!

"Come on," I placed my hand on Gabe's back. "Let's go find a table." We walked through the crowds of kids, parents, and grandparents until we found an open spot. I really liked that place because the seats were bananas and the tables were Ice Cream tubs. It was pretty cool, especially if you're a person like me. 

When I say that, I mean someone who is a child at heart. Nothing pleases me more than ice cream, throwback video games, and all of the Disney movies. 

"So...where to next?" Delaney asked, "It's only..." She looked at her phone. " three." I contemplated, looking over at Gabe. He was completely oblivious to our conversation, scarfing down his fudgy dish. I ate another scoop of my ice cream, still thinking. Somehow, the genius mixture of vanilla and chocolate did that for me. It helped me think.

"Oh, we can go to the Wax Museum! I love that place!" I exclaimed feeling proud and Delaney smiled. 

"Oh yeah, Gabe would totally love that place. My parents used to take me there almost every year." She said, examining her unpainted nails. 

"Anny, I-I'm done now." Gabe said, his mouth full of ice cream, and a stream of chocolate coming from the corner of his mouth. I turned to Delaney and we both laughed uncontrollably. 

+++

The Wax Museum was everything I expected. Gabe had an amazing time, he made me walk him through everything twice--except for the scary portion. He was too afraid. But, during the third round, he somehow managed to get over his fear. 

"Are you sure you wanna go, Gabe?" I asked, watching as he contemplated. He nodded his head slowly and his tiny hand tightened around my own. I smiled. "It's not that scary, Gabe. Everything's fake." I said into his ear and we walked into the Horror room. They had almost every single horror movie antagonist there ever was! Boogeyman, Pinhead, Jason Vorhees, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, and even Beetlejuice. I marveled them all. There was just something so spooky about the smoke filled room. I couldn't shake this ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something bad was about to happen. I looked down to my hand to see if Gabe was okay but he wasn't there. 

II quickly looked on the other side to no avail, then I turned to Delaney. "Delaney, where's Gabe?!" I questioned, in a panic. She looked around confused. 

"I swear he was right her-"

My head snapped back in the direction I had come from. I searched for his little brown cardigan and head of fair-colored hair, but he was nowhere to be found. I started running, calling out his name but there was no answer. I exited the Horror room, and I could hear the sound of Gabe's laughter. 

I followed the haunting sound of the laughter through the several halls of wax figures until I finally saw a man standing with Gabe. The man was about six feet tall, with sandy brown hair, and a set of plain brown eyes.

"Hey! Put my nephew down!" I shouted. I rushed to them, pulling Gabe out of the man's hands. The man smiled at me. 

"Hi, I'm Levi. Is this your aunt, little guy?" He asked and Gabe nodded enthusiastically. The guy had an extra thick Southern accent. I mean, it was Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump thick.

"Her name's Bethany, but I call her Anny. Only I-I can." Gabe said out of breath. I rolled my eyes, cupping his mouth. I narrowed my eyes at the guy..Levi.

"Why were you holding my nephew like that?" I asked, "What are you a pervert or something?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow and waiting for a reply. 

"Oh, no. I saw the little guy all by himself and he wanted a rocket-ship ride and-" 

"And you just decided to pick up a little boy without a guardian around?" 

"Mam, if you're his guardian, why weren't you around?" He asked, annoying me even further. I rolled my eyes, turning my head and sashaying away back into the horror room, where I'm sure Delaney was waiting and worrying. I held Gabe close to me, rubbing soothing circles into the fabric of his chocolate brown cardigan. 

"Don't ever do that again, Gabe. I thought I'd lost you." I kissed his forehead, and he pulled away to look me in the eye. 

"I would never leave you, Anny. You give me hot chocolate sauce...and ice cream...and-and canny and cheetos!" He sounded excited just thinking about some of his favorite foods. I rolled my eyes. 

"Oh, so you wouldn't leave me only because I give you sweets!" I yelled playfully, and he laughed, his small chest vibrating against me. 

"No, Anny." He said, pulling back again with a wide smile on his gorgeous face. "Cheetos aren't sweet." 

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Love, Janay'