Chapter 3 - 3: asterisk

Asea's

"Oh." The salty man muttered.

"Yeah, oh," Aeria repeated, looking at her incredulously as Asea just blinks slowly, not even defend herself. "I killed it. I'm sorry." She told Roo who just laughed. Roo gave her a potted plant a few months back and she was too tired to lift herself out of the bed that she just lets her mom get it for her. And of course, she can't be trusted to keep a living plant from dying. It has a name, of course.

Iwa-chan. Like his favorite character in an anime. She loves greeting it every morning but it seemed to be infected on the bottom down. And now it's dead. She wouldn't say that she cried when it really died.

And there is more to it than just is.

"I'm not even surprised that it is," Roo said gently, staring back at her glassy guilty eyes. "It's fine, don't worry." She didn't answer. 'It's not fine, of course. I really can't be trusted.'

They were stopped by a sound, almost like a distress signal when tsunamis are evident. That. It was horrifying and just plain creepy. It came out from the outside. Azrael was fast enough to go to the door and in one pull, it finally opened. They got up suddenly as they looked outside.

A living room. With a kitchen. That when Roo tried to go there and find anything that they can use to defend themselves, there's no knives or anything. The food is stacked up in the refrigerator, the alarm is still sounding. They can feel their nerves tingling in fear but they wouldn't say it out loud. "Is this like...Big Brother or something?" Jace asked no one in particular. Maybe, who knows.

"Morning." The alarm stopped at the word and they looked by the couch. A really beautiful beta girl was there. Maybe like their age. She's a bit looking like Roo's high school crush as Asea tried not to say it loudly to them in this situation when the girl can do something to them that she shouldn't. She's wearing a white dress. Simple but goddess-like. Fucking unfair.

"You can sit here for a while, I'll explain something to you." She said, pointing at the couch. Whoever their perpetrator is, they're very smart. These kids can just hurt anyone who poses as from the other side, and yet they thought of getting a very beautiful girl who no one will ever think of hurting.

Wow. Again, fucking unfair.

They clambered on the couch, actually calm. Smart enough to be calm as the girl smiled and the guys were blinded momentarily. Oh my fucking god, I want to kill her for existing. Asea hates herself for thinking like this.

"See, you're here for a reason." For some reason, these kids know that being calm is the answer right now. For now.

"Can you like...tell it to us straight up?" Yasser asked patiently as the beautiful girl kept her hands behind her.

"We'll provide everything for your stay here." She smiled lightly. "This whole property is locked from the outside, going out will cost you your life."

😐😐😐

Em's

Emerald may look calm on the outside but on the inside, she's close to screaming her head off until this nightmare stops. It's like they got pulled inside the television and made to act a role they never wanted in the first place. They were trapped here by insane people.

She and her friends love watching movies like these, where people get trapped in a place and try to survive while getting tortured repeatedly. They love laughing at their idiocy and the desperate things they do to live more. Ironically, here they are. And she didn't have to hear more of what this girl has to say to know they're deeply in danger. Aeria's warm arm touching hers is the only sane reason she's not freaking out. Of all things, she has to be calm, to be understanding, to clear her head so she can think about how to get out of here with her friends.

"What the fuck is this?" Ethan asked, his eyes darkening on the girl who smiled. Instead of answering that, she bent towards the table and dropped five white rolled paper the size of her nail. She pointed at the alphas and Emerald thinks if they're going to be trapped here, not with alphas, please. Alphas can be...uncontrollable. And yet, Trey looked at her instinctively as she blinked slowly, confused. His bright, innocent eyes smiled a little as he gets one of the rolled papers.

"Here." She said, dropping another five from her left hand. She and her friends did the same.

They're playing with them. And even being a usually non-violent person, she kinda...want someone to just stand up and beat that girl up just to make them pay on whatever it is they're doing to them? Ugh. Since when did you become this violent? Well, ever since she was kidnapped and trapped with alphas, she would consider being feral in the right opportunity.

She opened the slip and saw a typewriter font printed on paper.

yellow

"Who got asterisks on their paper?" She feels like an overly joyed teacher teaching kindergarten kids to make them pay attention but still trying to be calm. "I don't...what is this?" Yasser asked, confusion and frustration all over his face. He held on to his hair and closed his eyes, calming himself. "Who got asterisks on their paper?" She repeated, uncaring about the possible mental breakdown the people around her can have.

"Me," Trey said, the usual spark on his eyes wavering a little as he looks at the girl.

"Who else?" She asked. Yasser sighed and briefly raised his hand. "I did," Roo answered as Jace nodded, signifying he has one, too. "Me, too," Asea added. It's Trey, Yasser, Roo, Jace, and Asea. What's with the asterisks? Marking them for what?

"Great!" She clapped, can't hide her excitement anymore. Crazy. She's crazy. "Just.." Jace started, sighing as his eyes searched the girl's whose smile faltered. "Let us out, please? We won't tell anyone about this...we won't.." He was stopped on the return of the girl's smile.

"I can't. Not until you take the hint." Hint? What hint? What are they supposed to do here? Kill each other? Cool. Is this like Jigsaw, with the end goal of realizing social justice and morality? She wanted to shout at her or something but she couldn't do anything. Like she was just frozen in her seat and unable to do anything.

Powerless. Trapped.

Just the thought itself makes her want to bash her head against the wall so she would wake up with her mom scolding her because she slept too long. Her siblings are fighting downstairs and the smell of food in the pot wafts in the air. She wants to wake up, badly.

"It would be nice if you know each other, I mean," She said, looking at them one by one. "You would be here for a long time." Her smile changed into a smirk and she walked towards the door, as it opened fast and before they can even react, she's gone.

A tensed silence settled on the air. The scent, sweet and strong, nature-like mixing in the air but there was not the time to panic on the fact they have alphas with them here.

"W-we're really kidnapped," Aeria said as Yasser leaned back, covering his eyes with the heel of his palm. Ourie was just staring at the paper like words would come out magically and tell the answers to all the questions they have in their head. "Shit... Wake me up." Ethan muttered to himself, slapping his hand on his face to no avail. No one woke up and they're still here in this well-lit, actually comfortable house. She wonders how they can get out of here. Are there cameras here to tell what they're doing? What hint? If they really found out what it meant, would they really let them go? Are they going to get killed even if they don't attempt to go?

All of them are confused, tensed, and afraid. Ethan's hands are starting to shake, his eyes searching for something around him. Roo's muttering under his breath, a mantra to keep his head up. Jace covered his mouth, staring off to space. Trey's eyes found hers and she relaxed a little, finding his bright eyes despite everything. "What are your colors?" He said, snapping them out of their reverie.

"Yellow." She answered as his eyes widened a little. "Yellow, too." He said, showing his own slip. She got more confused. Trey got yellow like her. And then?

"Purple," Jace said, his eyes looking around as Ourie smiled. "I'm purple."

"What else?" Roo asked, his voice more urgent as they fixed their seating, piecing out whatever clues they gave them. "What's your color?" Azrael asked Roo, fixing his glasses. "Blue."

Ethan puts his slip down the table, the side showing them. The word blue typed on it. "Green." Even Aeria whose favorite color is green can't get excited at the fact that she got her favorite color. "Me, too," Yasser said shortly as Aeria's eyes slightly widened. Oh. She took note of what she saw and realized this is not the time to tease her best friend.

"Which leaves both of you the same color," Ourie said, pointing at Azrael then Asea who was just thinking. "What do the asterisks could mean then?" Aeria asked, looking at her own slip of paper, asterisk-free.

"Dunno. Maybe they'll get killed or they'll be the safe ones." The playfulness of Ourie's voice is evident. His humor's out of place but if this how he copes, how could she judge him?

"We won't know anything unless we look around," Ethan said, standing up now as they followed suit. They looked around. It has three rooms, with two queen beds on the first two rooms. And the third room was like the first two rooms, bare white walls, drawers, and bathroom, and yet, has a king-sized bed. In Ethan's words, they lifted up every bed but there's nothing else to see. Pulled every piece of furniture. None, too.

No cameras. No anything. It's a plain, completely furnished house with three rooms. Yasser found the knives at the top cupboard. There are food supplies in the refrigerator and pantry that could last them a week or two. There's a laundry room by the kitchen, a big closet full of white blankets, mattresses, and pillows. No windows. The only door where the girl came out from is sealed tight with a metal door.

There were two long couches facing each other with two more single couches, a coffee table in the middle. The living room is wide, and near the rooms is an exercise area. Two treadmills, two elliptical bikes, and rolledmats. "Guys!" Trey called out from the laundry. "Look!" He said, pulling out ten luggage bags. All with their names.

Creepy. Fucking creepy.

And that intensified when Emerald found clothes for herself. All based on her style. Comfortable and casual. Almost like they stared at her while she was sleeping and thought, oh this girl doesn't really like short things and she can pull off any casual clothes. Fucking creepy.

She heard Aeria coughing and blushing hard when she saw a small bag of underwear and brassieres, of her size. Emerald can't help but close her eyes in trying to calm herself. Her head felt spinning. To have someone she has no idea about choosing clothes for her, worse, underwear, freaking underwear! is creepy. Plain horrifying.

"I'm surprised they know even the brands I only wear," Trey told his friends.

They heard a stomach grumble and an embarrassed laugh. Jace. Jace is hungry.

😅😅😅😅

Jace's

"I'll cook," Roo announced, closing his luggage and standing up. He rolled the luggage by the wall and got to the pantry. "I really think we should figure out how to get out first." Jace heard Azrael telling his friends. Ourie puts his arm around Azrael's shoulder as the latter scowled. "After we eat, of course," Ourie muttered, his eyes catching his as Jace looks away immediately.

Jace knows he can be sociable when he wants to, but he will never be comfortable around alphas after the reputation alphas ingrained in the human race for centuries now. It was a problem before and it's still a problem now, just masked by omega rights and fake justice. He looked around and saw Em looking at Asea and Aeria who's closing their luggage bags, too.

"We can't stay here. It's dangerous." Asea whispered as he inched closer to them. He can understand Asea's uneasiness. Every omega was schooled to be afraid of alphas. Asea won't show she's afraid but her worried eyes are evident.

"Hey." They looked up to see Ourie sitting down comfortably in front of them. The red-haired guy, surprisingly, too level-headed. If only I'm just as level-headed as him. He looked away when he caught a whiff of his pheromones.

Smoke. His pheromones smelled smoke and fresh cilantro, yet not overbearing. More like the smell of the fire crackling on a camp. It gives off a nostalgic feeling of being warmed and threatened at the same time. Wait what.

He smiled and looked up slightly, as if looking at his friends who gathered by the other room, one of them with salt and pepper hair named Trey bouncing on his heels towards them, too.

Trey's relaxed smile paved way for his pheromones, too. Sea breeze and firewood. Salty but wooden. Airy but warm. Aeria swallowed and slightly hid her face behind Asea's shoulder. Their pheromones are not threatening, it's safe, he thinks, and as of now, they haven't hurt each other. Maybe because they're both on the same page? Both victims?

And that Yasser guy, too, helped Aeria snap out of her omega drop. Offering his calming pheromones without having an idea of who she is. Trey seemed loud, gentle, and childish, while the other two seemed prickly and under stress which is pretty normal and understandable. And this Ourie guy who seemed to have a permanent smirk plastered on his face is slightly creepy but thinking about it for a while made him think that he got immune to that kind of humor with Asea and sometimes, with Aeria. He has no right to judge. But he's been glancing at me for the nth time now. I'm not an idiot.

He's been feeling his stares, glances for a while now. At first, it was fine, he doesn't mind, not. He does mind, the hell. He's often a laid-back and chill person but getting pushed inside this nightmare made him more anxious than he would ever be. He always prefers to plan things earlier, doing things way before the deadline. He's not one for improvisation, out-of-script situations like this.

Asea told him once, your life is boring, too linear.

And he thinks, it's fine and quite thankful for the fact that his life is nothing incredible enough to write a story about. Yet sometimes, when he lies awake at his bed at night, he wonders, is this all there is? Asea's words started making sense but like he is, he likes to keep things simple. Don't think too much, let things happen by steering his life in his own way.

Only then that this happened. Then this guy reminds him how he is usually, minus this. Like the world mocking him, bitch, too linear? Come again? "This is pretty creepy right?" He watches Trey plops down comfortably beside Ourie. He puts his feet flat on the floor, knees aligned, his legs perfectly angled upright like a mountain as he hugs his knees to his chest. He looks like some kid who's already tired of their life.

"I really think they would let us out once we get what they meant with the hint." Ourie's voice is surprisingly sure. He tilted his head to the side. "How are you sure?"

His eyes widened a little as he relaxes, staring at him back. "They didn't hurt us even if they wanted something from us. All they wanted is for us to get the hint then we're good to go." Makes sense. Aside from smoking them inside that cafe, they did nothing to hurt them. For now.

"Okay. What do we do then?" Aeria asked, looking at them now. "Hmm." Ourie looked back to the room where his other friends are, like he didn't want his own friends to hear whatever it is that he's going to say. "My friends are all into finding a way out from the house, not that I'm feeling hopeless but I really think that whoever put us here wants us to work together to get that hint."

Jace tried not to smile at that. He's teaming up with them, thinking that they're not bound into thinking how to get out from this thing. Ah, interesting. What makes him think they're not plotting something just to get away from them? Asea looked at them as Trey nodded. "I really think so, too. These are clues for instance." He said, showing his own slip. Emerald's eyes widened on something she thought up and the alpha's eyes widened, albeit excited at the fact that Emerald, seemed to have gotten it.

"I think they're pairing us up." Trey's smile widened, nodding fast, actually elated that someone got his thinking, too. Not surprised since Emerald's clever, their circle is clever in their own ways and he wouldn't say out loud that he's proud of that fact.

"I'm paired with you then." Trey told Em who nodded, relaxing a little then tapped Ourie's shoulder. "Ourie is to Jace." Paired up with Ourie, he still has no idea in what way. What are they supposed to do? Fuck each other? Hell. He didn't even blush at that because it's fucking ridiculous.

"Jace," Roo called out. He's finished cooking.

😋😋😋

Aeria's

The house is fully furnished, except they seemed to have forgotten to put a dining table. Roo was kind enough to cook rice porridge for the alphas, too. Always the one nice enough like Emerald.

They agreed on eating by the couches, using the coffee table as the table but since they're many and the coffee table's too small, some sat down on the couch and ate with their bowls in their hands. Aeria, Emerald, Trey, and Ourie at the coffee table itself while the others settled on the couch.

All the while, Trey explains something to all of them. "We talked about this while Roo was cooking. What if we were paired up using the colors and we're supposed to do something together so we'll be able to get out?"

The rice porridge's simple, with shredded chicken breast and hard-boiled eggs, it's scrumptious and filling. Even the alphas who seemed to come from a rich background have nothing to say against it. Or maybe, they're just too hungry to say anything.

"Okay, but for what?" Yasser asked, getting another ladle full of the soup from the pot in the middle of the small table.

Trey shrugged and ate another spoonful. "Dunno. But Ourie's quite sure that if we just find out what the hint is, maybe this will all be done."

Ethan's eyebrow arched perfectly, hating the younger's suggestion. "And you think, people like this are reasonable enough to just let us go unscathed?" Cynical, fucking cynical, Jace thought.

"Why not? They haven't hurt us." Ourie argues. "Why does it sounds so easy for you?" Azrael asked, frowning at Ourie's laid-back persona even on times like this. Ourie looked back and smirked. "Cause what if it's easy? These slips are not nothing. They paired us up for a reason."

"Hey," Yasser called, his face neutral, making Jace and his friends look up to him. "Are you all.." Somehow, they knew what he would be asking, and yet, Jace still feels a cold shiver running down his spine on the situation they're in. Alphas with omegas whose patches would soon run out of effect. "..omegas?"

"Well, you're all alphas, right?" Emerald's gaze turned a little serious as she returned the question with her face, also neutral. Yasser nodded, actually, the question seemed useless. Their faint scents are in the air. Asking it seemed polite but if it comes from an alpha, even if he's kind enough to help Aeria out of her drop, it still felt dangerous. Like there's always something else or the society just fucked their perspective to alphas so bad it's quite hard giving them the benefit of the doubt? But really, overgeneralizing is bad in itself, so maybe, I should just calm down?

"Then that answers your question," Emerald said, with no particular tone as she resumed eating. "Em?" Aeria tugged at Emerald's sleeves as she leaned to whisper to the latter. He was beside Aeria that he heard it. And sensed it.

"I need to change my patch..." The familiar sweet scent of tea tree and summer rain stopped being faint and wafted through the air. Her patch lost effect. It's not that she's completely vulnerable with her scent wafting through the air. It's fine if one's in their own house where the walls are blocked and protected from the outside. Just, the omegas were taught that after getting presented, scent blockers should be worn around strangers and in public, at all times.

It's almost taboo, omegas feel naked and they were always given dirty glances, mostly embarrassed by betas who can see them. Reckless omega, if one just delayed a few minutes of taking it again in public, since their scents are disgusting and should be covered at all times.

Aeria's face is all red, quickly lowering her head in embarrassment and fear. "Uhm.." Yasser quickly said but Aeria's hands are already on the side of her sweat glands, covering it as if it will make her scent faint again.

"Don't worry, it's fine. W-we're used to these scents." Although he stuttered, his eyes are worried and kept on Aeria who didn't move as Emerald wrapped her arms around her. Their patches weren't gone along with their phones. They didn't have to bring it. Scent blockers such as patches have 24 hours as its effectivity, they just have to be home by the end of the day to put it on their body again. Yet it seemed like, they slept too long.

"Aeria." Aeria flinched and looked up, her eyes still tearful and afraid, embarrassed that her scent's wafting in the air with all these alphas around her. It's like being splayed out naked for everyone to see, that's how omegas were ostracized by society.

Her tearful eyes found Yasser's kind ones and said, "We're used to these scents. Trey has an omega sister and I'm bonded, no one here would make you feel weird. Don't mind us here." His voice is gentle and firm. And it made Aeria stop. Not completely relaxed but ease up.

But she could also feel her heart breaking at those words.

I'm bonded.

🤪🤪🤪

Roo's

"They stole my patches," Asea told them after checking her bag and getting back to her place. "Patches are...how long does it last?" Ourie asked. Emerald and Asea managed to calm Aeria down and made her resume eating.

"A day," Roo answered, his own answer dawning on him. Which meant, his time's almost up, too. The alphas don't seem to mind like what Yasser said. They grew up with an omega, and he's bonded, of course, he's used to an omega's naked scent.

"So...when you were in the cafe, how long was it?" Ourie asked again. "Aeria, how long was it?" Em asked silently to Aeria. "Two hours." They were silent as they quickly figure it out. Two hours, and then, they're almost awake for two hours tops. Which means, they're out for almost twenty hours.

"We don't have windows, no way to tell the day" The salty man said, crossing his arms. Their watches are just time, not really telling them what day is it today. Still, the fact that they couldn't see the sun unnerves them.

Didn't even say thank you unlike his friends on what he cooked for them. Not that he needed it, the salty man just proved himself as an asshole among his friends. Even Azrael said thank you when's he's as salty, almost, as this salty man.

The metal door clanked open and they looked back. "Who got the asterisks?" The door quickly closed as a tall man wearing all white with his hands behind him, smiled at them.

"Who got the asterisks?" He repeated as he started advancing towards Asea who's at the side of the nearest couch at the door. They have no idea what's happening. Until he bent down on her level and held her left hand. His eyes are dark in something they don't want to know about. He turned Asea's hand, thumbing her wrist as she flinched. "Let her go." Roo warned.

"You?" He asked, smiling as he takes his other hand from the back and revealed a scalpel, quickly stabbing her wrist.

The whole house went quiet.