"Sure," I mumble.
He leaves, and a moment later the message disappears. An image appears on the screen, a figure seated in front of another camera. The person is turned slightly to the side, as if speaking to someone off-screen, but at the sound of a soft chime, they turn and look straight at me.
I stare for a few seconds, completely unable to process what I am seeing.
The person smiles shyly and lifts their hand a little, wiggling their fingers in a hesitant wave, like someone greeting from a distance.
"Hi, Salt…"
The next moment, darkness crashes down on me, and I slide out of the chair.
When I open my eyes, Eliano’s arms are around me, warm and grounding.
"Salt, open your eyes, open your eyes, baby…"
I blink slowly, confused, trying to understand why I am lying on the floor. Nothing makes sense.
Hesitantly, I glance around and realize I am still in the small room, and on the screen, the same person is still there, looking at me with open concern.
"What is this? Eliano, where did you get this recording? What kind of sick joke is this?"
"Salt," Eliano says patiently, "this isn’t a joke. This is a real live connection, not a recording."
I let out a shaky breath. "What do you mean…?"
He smiles gently. "I’ll leave you here now. Try not to lose consciousness again, okay?" He winks.
Then he slips an arm around my waist and effortlessly lifts me off the floor, settling me back into the chair. I still feel unsteady, but my eyes lock onto the screen again.
Eliano quietly leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
"I’m sorry to shock you like this," the person says softly. "But I had to see you, and today I was finally ready. Only now am I healed enough to talk about all of this with you."
I say nothing. I cannot even open my mouth. I just stare, stunned beyond words.
"My heart broke when I found out what happened," the person continues. "That you tried to avenge me, that you killed those men, and now you’re imprisoned yourself—"
"Who are you? Why are you hurting me? Are you his imposter?" I blurt out hoarsely, tears threatening to spill.
"No, Salt. I would never… It’s me. Senu."
"Senu?" The word leaves my mouth like it is rising from underground, barely recognizable even to me.
He slowly nods. His face seems so different, radiant, as if I were speaking to a ghost or an angel.
"What does that even mean?"
"Simply… that I’m alive."
"Alive? How is this possible?"
He takes a deep breath. "He took me to his underground dungeon. I was there for several months with a few other omegas. It was…" Senu trails off and looks away, then gathers himself and meets my gaze again. "It was really hard for me, but it ended well. You could say a miracle happened, because—"
"I don’t understand any of this. I thought you were dead. I thought they killed you!" I shout, still unable to grasp what I see, whom I see.
"That was how Tanner collected omegas. In front of his brothers and associates, he pretended to kill them by choking, then claimed he would take the body to the shredder. In reality, he took us underground."
It still does not feel real, though I can sense cracks forming in the surface of this so-called dream.
