Conquering America

Chapter Five

Netanya and Natasha would be gone for days on end. The back of their station wagon would have the seats folded down and have a small amount of boxes packed together. Jacob sat on his front steps and stared at the now empty car. Without even twitching to the side a bit, he asked Seth, “What do you think they’re moving?”

“I don’t know—”

“They only take a few boxes at a time. They should just take everything at once.”

“I guess—”

“Unless they’re trying to not be suspicious…”

Seth got up from the stairs and stood in front of Jacob. “What are you even talking about?”

Jacob shrugged, “I’m just saying that it’s a waste of time to move anything by three boxes at a time.”

“What does it even matter?”

“It seems important,” Jacob spat.

“Why?” Seth suddenly shouted, “Why are you so obsessed? Not everything needs you to get involved, okay?”

“Something is going on there!” Jacob shouted back while springing onto his feet and getting in Seth’s face. “Too many tragedies have happened to those girls and something is clearly happening!”

Seth sighed and took a step back. “One of those girls is a woman. And she doesn’t need you, Jacob. You should spend some time asking people if they’re okay rather than just inserting yourself into their lives.” Seth started to walk away, but then he turned and said, “You’re not the heroic vigilante you think you are. You’re just a regular guy here.”



Jacob sat at his small kitchen table, mulling over his earlier conversation with Seth. “Of course I need to intervene in people’s lives here,” Jacob thought to himself. “I’m the alpha in these parts. And I don’t try to do anything in the lives of others. I’m the alpha here and it’s my job to get nosey.”

There were sudden noises coming from next door. Jacob perked up a bit and listened deeply for more noise, but the chaos unleashed itself from behind closed doors. He watched while Netanya yelled at her father and Natasha packed up their car, only this time to the rim. Natasha rushed into the passenger seat and locked all the doors except for the drivers’. Jacob stood up to intervene, but Billy rolled out and yelled at Calvin to back off. Netanya took her chance to jump into her car, lock the door behind her, and drive off. Jacob ran out just as Calvin approached Billy, screaming, “This is none of your damn business!”

“Don’t you yell at my father!” Jacob shouted and put himself between the two men.

“Or what?” Calvin shouted at Jacob, quickly closing the space between them.

Jacob almost violently shoved Calvin into the ground and growled at him before saying, “You’re talking to one tribal leader and one pack leader. I suggest you learn your place.” Jacob turned and quickly stomped away while wheeling Billy up to their front door.

Calvin yelled back at them, “I’m a grown man! I don’t need your punk ass to try and define my place!”

Billy looked over his shoulder and responded; “Something tells me that it won’t be us to put you there.”



Jacob made a habit of sleeping on the cramped couch so he could fall asleep to and wake up to Carl and Calvin’s house, which paid off. Several nights later, Netanya came back without Natasha or any other boxes. She didn’t load anything else into her car and she came and went during the nights. Until, finally, she arrived two weeks later, in the morning, with her little sister. Jacob woke to the laughter of Seth and Natasha. Jacob got up and crouched at the open kitchen window to hear their conversation.

“You’re really poetic.”

Natasha chuckled. “I mostly just copy what my sister says. She’s the real poet.”

“Well,” Seth stumbled a bit, “it sounds really poetic when you talk.”

As if to fill Jacob in on what he missed while sleeping, Natasha said, “I don’t want to die, I’m just hating this type of life; we’re going to leave and not bring along any strife.”

Seth sighed with appreciation. “That’s so deep and casual all in one breath.”

Jacob stood up and sighed while rolling his eyes at Seth’s comment. He mumbled to himself, “Clearly they’re up to something. They must be moving. Netanya is almost eighteen.” Jacob could feel Seth’s eyes burn into him from across the front yard, but he continued to the front door of his house anyway. Seth kept talking to Natasha, but watched Jacob as he walked to Netanya’s front door.

Jacob made eye contact with Natasha and said, “Hey, it’s getting kind of late—”

“The evening sun is still twinkling—”

“See?” Seth yelped, “You are poetic!”

Jacob cleared his throat and continued, “Shouldn’t you be getting inside?”

“No,” Natasha rolled her eyes and focused her attention back onto Seth.

Seeing this defeat, Jacob knocked on the front door and waited for an answer, but after a few minutes of waiting, he let himself inside. Natasha saw and hollered at him, but he continued on anyway.

The house was oddly quiet, especially considering it being filled with people who hate one another so much – “Oh my God!” Jacob screamed and slammed himself backward against a wall. Billy ran over Carl’s legs and was keeping him pinned down; Netanya had Calvin restrained and was, somehow, quietly beating him nearly to a pulp. She stopped for a second to look up at Jacob, quickly went back to her work, and then froze from shock. She snapped her had up and angrily whispered, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Jacob gulped and rushed out, “I—I thought that maybe something was wrong—!”

Netanya sprinted up from the ground and slammed Jacob into the wall. “Get away!” Jacob shouted as he could feel himself tense and start to turn. Netanya screamed in his face while starting to shake herself. Billy wheeled off of Carl’s legs and tried to help him up, but he shuffled away from Billy, so Billy shouted at his son, “It’s you who needs to get away!”

Jacob stared into Netanya’s widening, reddening irises and gulped.

Netanya’s voice was an amazing, and deeply frightening, mixture of animalistic rage and strength. Her grip was becoming inescapable as her whole body started to shake and her screams became the loudest howls Jacob ever heard. He thought he was going to snap under the pressure of her grip, but she suddenly let go and stepped back. Her whole body shook violently; her skin started to ripple as thick layers of muscle and fur bursted through. Everyone backed away as far and quickly as they could as Netanya’s usual frame grew into a ten foot, humanoid wolf.

Jacob resisted fainting at looked at his father. He scanned the rest of the room and returned to his oddly calm father. Billy quickly wheeled himself over to the figure and whispered, “A, a true alpha.”

“What?” Jacob whispered in a near squeal.

Billy reached his arms up to her and spoke so softly Jacob almost missed it. “You could heal me if you deemed me worthy.”

Netanya – her creature form, stared down at Billy without making a single noise. Her posture went from around five foot to a definite ten feet; rather than being on all fours, she remained a gigantic creature on powerful, animalistically curved, two legs; her otherwise sharp facial features were replaced with that of a hellhound, wolf-beast; her usual curved build was replaced with numerous massive muscles; her smooth skin was covered in midnight black fur that looked more like daggers than a coat; her eyes burned the color of hellfire; her hands and feet gigantic and armed with long, curved claws.

Netanya’s massive body didn’t quite fit in the house; she was bent forward in an unnatural curve, but she quickly and powerfully straightened out her body, tearing away at the roof of Carl’s house. She howled so deeply and with so much power that the remainder of the house shook. When she was done calling whatever hellbeasts could be in her pack, she looked down at Billy. Her voice was a horrifying and lovely mix of her usual, indifferent melody and the Devil’s growl. “You forsake me yet expect favors?”

Jacob jumped toward his father, transforming in midair, but Netanya easily swatted him away. Jacob slammed so hard into the wall that he took down the first two layers. He shuffled around, desperately trying to get out, but was stuck; he howled for his pack as Netanya snatched his father, ran through the house and into the night.