Page 51 of Collateral Omega

“No…no…no…” Holi cried, wading through the mess. He picked up every piece of his case trying to find the chip. He had to find it. His whole life depended on it. The more he didn’t find it, the more frantic he got. Holi dropped on his knees and picked up piece after piece of the destroyed case, mumbling to himself.

“I have to find it…I have to find it.”

“Holi? What are you doing?” Blaine asked, rushing into the room. “You shouldn’t touch anything. Master Gab connected with the authorities. They’ll be here soon. You shouldn’t be in here when they arrive.” Blaine pulled his arm and tried to lift him up.

“No!” Holi screamed. “I have to find it…I have to find it.”

“Find what? You can’t find anything in this mess.”

“It can’t be gone. I can’t let him win,” Holi said. “I have to find it.”

“Who? You look crazy right now. Get up,” Blaine snapped. But Holi ignored him and ran his hand over the floor searching for the chip. Blaine loudly groaned and dropped to his knees. “You drive me crazy sometimes. What exactly are you looking for?” he asked, looking around them.

“My credit account chip. It has all my credit. I can’t lose it,” Holi screamed, panicking.

“Okay,” Blaine said. “I’ll help you look.”

Together they searched the floor, but it wasn’t there. It was gone. All his credit was in there, and it was gone. Holi looked around him helplessly. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he was too tired to stop them. He cried, wailing like a cub.

“Shit, Holi,” Blaine groused, but he wrapped his arms around him. “Shh…it’s not the end of the world. Stop crying please. We have to get out of here before the authorities come.” Blaine helped him to his feet and Holi let him. They walked out of the house to find the driveway full of other pods.

Sinna rushed to them and took Holi’s other arm.

“Is he okay?” Sinna asked as Blaine sat Holi down on the ground a few paces from the door. Holi pulled his knees to his chest and tried to pull himself together, but the tears kept coming. Sinna sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around him. “Don’t cry. You’re making me sad.”

“I’m sorry,” Holi whispered. He held his breath, hoping the tears would stop, but that only made him feel faint. Holi blinked his eyes, gasping for air. But dark spots exploded around his eyes before he felt himself falling.

“Holi!” Sinna screamed.

***

Holi

“He’s awake!” Blaine shouted. Holi groaned and opened one eye to stare at the omega hovering over him. “How do you feel?”

“I think I would feel better if I didn’t have to look up your nose,” Holi said.

“Fuck, you,” Blaine said, hitting his arm. “You must be feeling better if you’re back to your prickly self.”

Holi sat up and looked around. Bunk beds lined up the walls of the large room. Omegas, young and old, sat on their beds staring at him.

“Where are we?” Holi whispered.

“It’s creepy, isn’t it?” Blaine said. “It’s a recovery room of sorts. The health facility is full, so they put you in here with them. They’re a little bit off. I wouldn’t look at them in the eyes if I were you.”

“Why are we here?”

“Don’t you remember? We got robbed. Our dump of a house was trashed. I told the authorities that your credit account chip was missing. They tried to block your account, but they’d already cleaned you out. I’m sorry. The thieves did the same thing next door. The owners came back to find everything gone. I hope they catch those bastards.”

“Is master Gab coming back for us?” Holi asked. He looked down at his clothes and cringed. He was still in his dirty unform.

Holi’s question was met with silence.

“Blaine?”

“Master Gab left as soon as they showed him the medical bill. He took the other omegas with him,” Blaine said. His voice sounded weird. “They were with him the longest. He said we brought him bad luck, or something like that.”

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