The Omega Bond (Book Five in the Omega Game series)

Chapter 17

Fair

The Yellow Islands

One hour ago…

The knocks at my door made me open my eyes and groan.

It was still dark outside and the night air smelled fresh, as if only a couple of hours had passed since I’d fallen asleep. My body felt perfectly warm and relaxed while I curled around the pillow I liked to hold to my chest. Who could be knocking at my door? I hardly believed Baobao would be up to talk at this hour. I groaned again, covering my head with my pillow when whoever was outside knocked at the door again. It was probably some servant who had mistaken my door for their own. I nodded in agreement to my own reasoning, telling myself I should keep sleeping and ignore whoever was outside. I’d already closed my eyes when stronger knocks slammed against the wooden door, making me wince and lean up.

“Open the door Oladia! Open it now!”his voice sounded strained and slurred, like a drunk would sound. That was clearly a man’s voice. One I definitely didn’t know. And who was Oladia? Wait…I screwed my face, pushing my hair up in a messy updo and jumping out of the bed. In my rush to get to the door I slipped over the floor, barely holding tight to the frame of the bed and pushing my weight up with another groan. The hard knocks came to a sudden halt when I opened the door, breathing fast and staring dumbfounded at the man in front of me.

A pair of golden eyes stared back at me in confusion.

Clearly, I wasn’t the girl he had come looking for. The man comically looked back at the number in the door, then at the room behind me and back to my face. He scratched his head, taking a sip from his rice wine bottle and then blinking hard. The man in question was probably the same age as Nira and the others. He looked young enough to be my older brother even if his tired, drunken eyes hinted at a hard life that had left him weary and worn out. His empty scent clued me in to the fact he didn’t belong to any dynamics, which made his entire presence even more intriguing.

Could this man be related in some way to the girl that died? Did he at least know her? Soon I realized I had no idea how to start that type of conversation with a total stranger. A drunken one at that. One simply didn’t ask drunkards if they happened to know dead people, that was just a horrible conversation starter. The man sniffed, drying his wet nose with the back of his arm and dangerously balancing his weight back and forward, as if he was about to faceplant on the floor. Cursing in the Maccana tongue I reached out for him, passing an arm around him to help him walk inside of my room.

“Wait…wait, where are you taking me?” he asked, moving his head to the sides, as if staring at invisible enemies all around him. I swear, drunks were not fun to deal with, I would slap my own face if I ever ended up drunk like this guy. Nira would probably disown me if she learned I couldn’t be a good drinker like her. Although that woman’s tolerance to alcohol left even the strongest Alpha impressed.

Grunting, I helped the man to my bed, letting him fall heavily over the thin mattress. The bed groaned under his weight. Through groans and whimpers the man grew comfortable, blinking at me with narrowed eyes.

“You are not Oladia,” he stated, making me snort. That was without a doubt the clearest statement he had pronounced since I’ve met him. Gently I took the bottle out of his hands, paying special attention to not dropping a single drop of the wine on my sheets. The man groaned in mortification, staring at me with an irritated glare before speaking, “You are nosey like her, though. Can you give me back my bottle? I paid good money for it.”

I sniffed the bottle and felt my own nose wrinkle in disgust at the strong smell coming from it. Good money… my left foot. That wine smelled like acid or rat poison, I seriously couldn't understand why people liked to drink alcohol when it smelled so bad. Sighing I looked down at the man and raised my eyebrows at him.

“What is your name?” I asked him, looking pointedly at his golden, slanted eyes.

“Why do you f*****g care?” He spit back at me, making me roll my eyes and glance up to the ceiling, hoping to have more patience to deal with this impossible man. I decided to change tactics and move on to the big questions that were plaguing my mind since the moment I heard him knocking at my door.

“Who’s Oladia?”

At my question his face darkened and the white in his eyes grew red, as if he was holding up his tears. The man sniffed again, opening his mouth and inhaling a big chunk of air, breathing in it slowly, little by little. Without saying a word he opened his hand and waved his fingers at me, gesturing at the bottle in my hands. I frowned, shaking my head and opening my mouth only for him to click his tongue in reproach and take the bottle from my hands. He took a long drink and then stared at me, looking sadder than before.

“She is the girl that used to live here,” he said then, making me listen to every single one of his words attentively. That man had referred to Oladia as the girl that used to live in my room, not the dead girl, as everybody else called her. This man, whoever he was, had known Oladia. I smiled a little, finally feeling some type of peace at knowing that somebody had known her, that somebody missed her and drank at her memory. Slowly, I took the chair that I’ve left against the wall and took a seat, staring at the man while he slowly started telling his story, “I’m Yihan, from Ty Island. As you might know, Ty Island is famous for being extremely proud of their Alphas. Four out of five newborns are Alphas, only one ends up being a Beta in Ty Island. Is the way it has always been, the majority are Alphas, the minority are Betas and humans are…the very bottom of the social ladder. We are the scum, the homeless, the hungry, the poor.”

“Oladia came from Ty Island , running away from that fate. We met here and became fast friends. Is funny how the place you are born determines the friends you have. She was just like me, trying to make ends meet, keeping our heads low, surviving day by the day, you know. She had this dream to start a business, a flower shop or something like that. I started saving money to help her out but Oladia'sa wanted to have more capital so she could invest in a good place for her shop near the old temple, where all the businesses are respected. So, she accepted a job, a bad job that ruined her.”

“What job?” I asked right away and the man sniffed, shaking his head a little.

“I’m not sure what it was, they only accepted girls, human girls,” he corrected, lifting a finger in the air and then taking another drink of his wine. With a sad laugh he looked down at the floor, his memories obscuring the profile of his face while he seemed deep in thought, “I told her that type of job was a hoax. I mean, what kind of job would only hire human girls? Why? Nobody wants them, only the crown, and at times not even the king can’t save us from others dynamic’s prejudice. Even after I tried to stop her, Oladia accepted the job. I asked her what kind of job she had to do and she said it was something easy, nothing that required too much handwork. Just give her blood.”

“Giving her blood?” I pinched my chin, feeling a little bit at loss at this revelation. I’ve never heard of any type of job in which you had to give your blood. Not even doctors required that type of service from others. Was that something normal to do in the Yellow Islands? Yihan sighed, shrugging at my surprised face.

“I didn’t believe her at first either…and then I saw the bloodletting marks in her arms,” his eyebrows furrowed, forming a single line, “She said the Hand was helping humans find a solution to our problems. That only he understands the true potential that humans have. The more she worked for him the stranger she became. Her speech sounded weird, like a script or something, she would repeat the same things over and over. True potential. Blood of the first mother. End of the hierarchy. I truly thought she was insane.”

“What happened then?” I asked worriedly, sensing Yihan was starting to reach his limit. Tears were now flashing in his eyes and he seemed lost, staring around the room aimlessly, as if he was looking for the ghost of the girl that had lived in those four walls before me. His yellow eyes focused on my night table and narrowed, studying the stack of books I’ve left on top. His hand moved fast, snatching a piece of paper and then snarling at it.

“Why would you have this?” he asked me, showing me the advertisement the human girl had given me back at the harbors. I felt my eyebrows arch in surprise at his question. Why would he get so angry after seeing that advertisement? It was just a piece of paper, nothing out of the ordinary…unless. I sat straight, scurrying to the very end of my seat and watching him closely. The human girl had said something about the Hand too. She had said something about a man called the Hand that was helping human girls. I thought harder, finally remembering her exact words. The Hand doesn’t sell our bodies. He is a good boss and only hires human girls to give them a chance to work. We do all sorts of odd jobs but nothing illegal.

Could all of this be related somehow? I felt a rush of energy passing through my body. Maybe I had a chance to figure out why Oladia had died. If the Hand was behind her death, I needed to stop him before he could keep harming innocent girls. Running a hand through my hair I looked up at Yihan, who was still waiting for my answer. I wetted my lips, holding on to the excitement of being closer to the truth of what had happened to Oladia'sa, “Yihan, is this the same advertisement that Oladia received? Is this the same type of job?”

Yihan winced at the mention of Oladia’s name. The pain that rained over his face made me wonder if this man even realized how in love he had been with her. It was clear like water to me, maybe only Yihan didn’t know, maybe it was too painful to acknowledge now that it was too late. Yihan got on his feet and pointed a finger at me. His reddened face tensed in a serious scowl.

“If you know what is good for you then stay away from the Hand. Humans like you and me will only die because of him,” Yihan took a sip from the bottle and then frowned, reading himself to go. There was this obstinate expression in the set of his eyebrows, as if he was getting ready to go to battle. To my surprise he pushed my chair out of his way and started walking to the door, “I need to stop him once and for all.”

I jumped after him, trying to stop him, “Who? Who are you going to stop? Yihan, stop! Yihan!”

Yihan maneuvered himself away from my hands and ran outside my bedroom, making me curse under my breath. Where was he going at this hour? I had no time to wonder before changing my clothes and grabbing my gray hat on the way out. I thought I'd lost sight of Yihan once I emerged from the human dormitory. Looking to both sides of the streets I realized my best bet to find Yihan was to jump over the large bridge that connected the servant’s quarters and search for him around the streets that collided with the city. It was a good thing that Baobao had taught me so many shortcuts, little streets and back alleys that seemed to interconnect like thin veins. I emerged from underneath the stone bridge panting and out of breath. I’d been fast and Yihan was drunk, there was no way I could lose him.

My eyes connected with a swaying figure that marched slowly, while taking sips of a bottle of wine. There! I could see Yihan, making his way down a street that I couldn’t quite recognize, yet. I was getting closer to solving the mystery of Odalia’s death and once I did there would be no more innocent girls dying, not under my watch. Smiling, I ran after Yihan, moving through the crowd of nocturnal people while I felt an absolute purpose stirring inside of me. I would protect the weak ones from then on, and there would be no one, and nothing that could stop me.