“Is that with a C or a K?
“Does it matter?” The handler asked, not exactly unkindly.
“I have to know who to look for with the pictures are posted, don’t I?” The cameraman fiddled with his camera, adjusting it for a moment before clicking a button. The bright flash caused me to jerk back and bright spots to dance before my vision.
“K. One of a kind of Omega. Sweet and obedient. Likes a bit of pain.”
A bit of pain?I hated pain, yet that’s all I got here. Lasting pain that was more than skin deep.
I heard the soft shuffle of shoes before I saw anything. The cameraman moved to stand in front of me, causing the air the shift in that way that told me he was looking too closely at my flaws.
“Hey,” he said softly.
My heart lurched. No one here said, "Hey,” not like that here. I was alwaysan Omega, Boy,or some other random name that wasn’t my own. Yet, I always responded somehow. Either mentally or physically. I was obeying when I called.
I kept my gaze glued to the floor, as there were no orders to do anything.
He stepped closer, his shoes coming into view. “Kasey, right?” His voice was softer than before, almost warm. “You’ve grown.”
A cold ripple went through me.
Grown?
How would he know?
I swallowed hard, keeping my face blank. But he didn’t stop. For all I knew, he could easily be the one that brought me to this place, leaving me begging and pleading for Mama to come get me.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” He asked, voice dipping lower, like he was trying not to be overheard.
My pulse hammered. Questions weren’t allowed. Not from us. Not to us.
I shifted my weight before I could stop myself. It was only a tiny, instinctive movement, but I regretted it immediately.
“Hey, it’s okay.” He took half a step closer. “I’m not trying to scare you.” His eyes flickered over my face again, searchingfor something. Recognition maybe. “I’m Ev- “he started, then stopped himself, jaw tightening. “Never mind. Just…hold still for a second.”
I froze. Not because he told me to, but because that’s what I was trying to do already.
His gaze lingered on me once more, too soft, and it made my skin prickle with a different type of fear.
Being invisible here was safer. Being seen felt dangerous. And this man saw me.
He leaned in just a little, voice low. “Kase.”
No. Just…no.
There had been one person, so long ago, that called me that. And this man looking at me, in my space, wasn’t that man.
Tears gathered in my eyes, and I quickly blinked them away.
“Is there a problem?” The handler asked, voice clipped and cold.
I was never once thankful for a handler interfering, but this one time I was.
The cameraman straightened too fast, the warmth in his tone vanishing as if it had never been there. “No problem. Just confirming details.”
The handler stepped closer, boots stopping inches from my line of sight. “Details don’t require conversation.”
My stomach twisted.
