Chapter Nine

Oliver

 

 

 

The guard isn’t gentle as he hurls me into the room. Luckily, I land on the bottom portion of a bunk bed. Then, he pulls out of a tube of scent blocker and sprays a little in the air.

 

I’m pressed against the wall and feel a twinge of pain in my stomach. It’s not nearly as bad as before, but I worry that’ll come back. The guard’s eyes focus on me. I stare back and can see the undeniably hungry look on his face.

 

“That king up in your pussy?” he asks.

 

I want to throw up—and not just from the nausea I’m beginning to feel in my stomach. Did he really just say pussy? This guy seems dimwitted but strong. He has one of those primitive-looking faces with the thick brow, square jaw, and underbite.

 

I decide not to answer him. However, I don’t shrink away. I just stare back in my own defiant way. He smiles a bit, revealing a few fractured teeth. I’m sure that he’s gotten in his fair share of brawls.

 

“I can smell you, lad,” he says with a wicked grimace. “I wonder if omegas feel as good as everyone says. Do you know?”

 

“How would I?” I say back.

 

“I thought you all jimbly jabbled?”

 

“Jimbly?”

 

“Yeah, you know, all stammering and shit?”

 

“Well, I don’t stutter.”

 

“Maybe I can make ya.”

 

The guard stomps toward me, and I don’t even have to imagine what he’d do. His scent mostly smells like five-day-old sweat. I feel even queasier now, but I can’t allow this guy to win… I can’t allow anyone on this ship to win.

 

Time seems to move in slow motion as this creep comes at me. I think about Benson and how I’ll probably never see him again. It’s a tormenting thought. My only way out is it get to grab a lifeboat and—

 

Suddenly, the ship shakes violently. I hold onto the posts of the bunk bed as the boat sways. The guard loses his footing and I take the chance. I push my feet into the wall and topple over the bunk.

 

The guard screams as the bed falls on him. Quickly, I climb over the mattresses and onto the top of the bunk. The guard struggles, groaning in pain. His arms reach through the bars of the bunk as he attempts to grab me.

 

“You little fucker!” he yells.

 

I jump on his hand with my bare feet. He screams again as I jump through the opening of the door and kick it closed. I hear a thud and realize that the door has just slammed into his head that’s wedged in the opening.

 

The guard has passed out with his mouth open. He looks even dumber when he’s asleep. I pause and feel that the ship is still swaying a lot. I wonder what caused this motion.

 

Carefully, I move through the halls, steadying myself against the walls as I go. The ship shakes again, and I can hear something beneath me. It’s as if the pipes are bursting and the engine is failing. There’s a loud sputtering sort of noise.

 

Upstairs, voices scream, so I head the other way. I’m sprinting now, not thinking about the growing pain in my stomach. I find the elevator, but the warning lights are all blinking outside of the doors. It doesn’t seem like a safe bet anyway with the vessel rocking this much.

 

There’s a door next to the elevator—the stairs. I push it open and jump inside. The ship jolts again and I nearly fall over, but I grab onto the rail. I try to think about where the lifeboats are. They never gave me safety instructions when I first made it onto the ship. I’m not sure if I can drive a lifeboat—do they even need a driver?

 

Either way, I need to find a way out. I sniff the air and pick up a scent—it’s Benson’s. At first, my eyes light up. Has he found me? Then, I notice how stale the room is. This is just his scent that’s lingered in the staircase. He hasn’t been here in some time, but always preferred the stairs over the elevators…

 

I linger for a second, both to balance myself and to be with his scent one last time. With my legs shaking, I move as quickly as I can up the stairs to the next floor. I stop and sniff—more rooms.

 

I keep going, sniffing and moving up the ship until I realize that I’m gone too far. I think the lifeboats are somewhere near the middle of the ship. Are they? I can’t remember seeing them…

 

Finally, I smell the savory scent of cooked food wafting from a room. There’s also another smell—fire. I shove into the room and see the dining room. It’s a mess. No one is around, but the tables have all turned upside down, and some of the candles on the tables have started to catch fire.

 

Too much of the flame has spread for me to put it out. So, I quickly run to the window and look outside. We’re too far away from shore now, and I can’t see the lifeboats. I touch my hand to the glass and watch the castle fade into the distance.

 

“Hey!” someone yells from the other end of the dining room.

 

I turn and see Calius standing there with an angry scowl.