Page 5 of The Long Lost Omega

Once we slowed down, all of us a little out of breath, we found that we were at the same flat stone I’d been napping on earlier. “This is it!” I cried out, jumping down off Jax’s back. I looked for the path that had led me here. I couldn’t find a trace of it anywhere. “There was a path! I know it!” I said, my voice getting high and distressed. The boys immediately tried to comfort me, and I felt better knowing they weren’t planning on leaving me.

“They shouldn’t be too far then. Come on, let's look.” Jax said as he pulled out his phone to light the way. We walked, but it felt like we were going in circles. We searched in every direction, but there was no sign of a campsite. I kept wanting to look further, knowing when I eventually found them that Lisa would be furious. Soon, it was past midnight, and we returned to the flat rock overlooking the city.

I sat down on it, curling my arms around my knees. “I just don’t understand. There were people here earlier, I swear!” I said while the boys sat down around me. The city lights were sparkling below us, and the view would be magnificent if I wasn’t so worried. Tony wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Safira. We will find them. I promise.” He whispered, and I nodded, looking out at the city below.

“It’s late.” My words were an understatement. It had to be close to one in the morning now. Jax was on my other side, watching the city with me.

“It’s too dark to hike down now. We’ll stay here and search again in the morning,” he decided, and I leaned into him instinctively. His warmth provided a comforting sense of security amid the uncertainty. Kaden and Tony sat near me, and soon I felt my eyelids getting heavy. It was warm enough outside to sleep, but I’d still never done anything of the sort. The boys circled around me as I lay down, resting my head on my arm. I could barely believe we were out here in the woods so late. My stomach felt wracked with guilt that they would get in trouble for helping me.

Kaden sensed it somehow. He looked at me as he rested on his back. “Don’t worry, Safira. We won’t get into that much trouble. Anyway, we come from packs full of alphas. So we will be fine.” He smiled with confidence at his words. I had no idea what he meant, but I was too tired to talk anymore. I started to nod off, curling up on the rock under the stars. But before I got too tired, I had to be sure of something.

“Please stay until I find them.” I asked quietly. Kaden reached for my hand, holding it tightly.

“We won’t leave you, Safira. You have us now.” He said as the other boys murmured their agreement. I barely heard him speak as I laid back and let my exhaustion take over. For the first time in a long time, I went to sleep happy.

*****

The next morning I woke up to my name being called. I pushed myself up to a sitting position, sleepy and bleary eyed as the sun broke through the trees. “Safira! Where are you!” The voices were sharp, like they were whispering loudly. I felt disoriented, looking around as my body struggled to wake fully. Something was wrong. The boys were gone. I looked around, searching for any trace of them, but there was none. “Safira!”

“I'm here!” I croaked, and I saw Ralph and Hailey as they trudged through the woods. They spotted me and started walking over quickly.

“She's over here!” Ralph yelled behind him, and as they reached me, I knew I was in deep, deep trouble. Ralph looked angry, but didn’t say a word. Lisa finally came out from the trees, and when she got to me, she grabbed my arm, her nails poking into my flesh as she dragged me up.

“Where were you!” She hissed, and I flinched at the look on her face. “Do you know how irresponsible you are for running off? We were searching all night!” She spat at me as she took me back to our tent, which was inexplicably only a ten-minute walk away. Years later, my cousin let it slip that they hadn’t actually noticed I was missing until that morning. Lisa’s panic was likely due to the fear that she and her husband would be the ones in trouble for neglecting me if anyone found out.

I was grounded for the rest of the summer. It didn’t matter, I had nowhere to be anyway. But I always wondered where the mysterious boys had gone. They promised to stay with me, and I thought for sure they meant it. But when I tried to call the number, smudged on my arm the next day after our adventure, the line didn’t exist.

When I was older, I tried going back to the campsite and finding the old, abandoned plane. It was useless. So was my search for the diner. No matter how hard I tried, I never found any trace of it. No one had ever heard of such a place near the campsite, but I was sure it existed somewhere.

The years passed and my family never believed my story that three cute, nice boys had taken me under their wing and wanted to be my friends. They seemed to have vanished. But it didn’t matter. At that time in my life, when I’d needed it the most,they proved to me that I wasn’t weird. I wasn’t strange or sad or a loser. They’d given me hope, something to hold onto as I tried to survive a new school and the merciless tyranny that only teenagers can inflict on each other.

From time to time, I’d see someone from behind and think it was one of them. My heart would race as I wondered what they would look like now, and if they would remember me and the impact they’d had. But I never did find them, and the number they’d given me never led to anything. My memory was real, though. And I held onto it as tightly as I held onto my cherished necklace, the only physical reminder of my parents that I had.

Chapter 3

Safira

“Safira! Come upstairs!” Lisa’s voice grated my nerves as she called down to me. It was late afternoon, and most of the household should be back by now. I grudgingly got up and made my way to the living room upstairs, wondering what she wanted. When I arrived, the rest of the family was already there, and Lisa seemed to be holding back her excitement.

“We have something to celebrate today.” Lisa stated, and that got everyone’s attention. I stood completely still, almost in shock. Had they finally remembered my birthday? Maybe I’d been underestimating them. Lisa clapped her hands together. “Everyone, go take a look outside.” She smiled smugly as her kids ran to the door. “You too, Safira! Go on!” she said, shooing me along. I walked outside, with Lisa and Ralph right behind us. My mouth dropped open.

There was a shiny car in the driveway, with a big red bow on it. I could only stand there in awe. Lisa walked up with a pair of car keys in her hands. Each of the older family members already had a car, even Jeremy who was still a high schooler. But this was a nice car - it looked brand new. I turned to Lisa, my heart beating. I had no idea what to say.

“I think we need to acknowledge someone today.” She said as she walked up. I swallowed, but then Lisa walked past me, heading straight toward Hailey. “Hailey here has just finished her second to last semester at college, with a three-point GPA!” Lisa exclaimed as she handed the keys to my cousin.

Hailey started shrieking, jumping up and down as she hugged her mom. I stood there stunned, my heart racing at what I had just witnessed. “Hey, I want her old car then! It’s not fair she gets a new one!” Jeremy whined as Ralph walked over to congratulate his daughter. I stood there, not sure what to do. I didn’t have a car at all. I took the bus everywhere, even to the grocery store. Lisa turned to look at me.

“Safira, aren't you happy for your cousin?” She frowned as ifIwas being rude.Me.

I looked at them all, then the emotions I’d been bottling inside of me for most of my life finally boiled over. “Are you kidding me?” I yelled, feeling the years of their cumulative actions overwhelm me. “Did you really think I would be happy? It’s my birthday! I got nothing!” I yelled, and Ralph’s face started to turn angry as Lisa looked shocked. Ralph pointed his finger at me as he started yelling.

“Listen here, young lady, you do not get to ruin our special moment onourproperty!” He practically howled at me. “It’s Hailey’s achievement, not yours!” He continued as Lisa shook her head at me.

“How can you act this way? After everything we’ve done for you. So ungrateful.” She commented as she hugged Hailey, looking at her husband as if I was something to be ashamed of. I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran inside, then down to my room and grabbed a duffel bag, throwing in clothes and several blankets. I needed to get away from them. After I quickly grabbed a few necessities, I ordered a rideshare, knowing exactly the place I wanted to go to cool off. I hadn’t been back in forever, but it was far away from all this, far away from all of them.

I waited until the car pulled up, then ran outside, passing by everyone as they huddled around Hailey’s new car. “Hey! I need a word with you!” Lisa shouted as I went up to the waiting car and opened the door, ignoring her. I knew I’d be in big trouble later, but I couldn’t face them now. Not when I was still shaking with emotion. The driver pulled away, and I didn’t even bother to look back. No doubt the family would spend the rest of the night alternating between gushing over Hailey’s new car and complaining about how ungrateful I was. I sat back into the car’s seat, letting out a long, low breath. The driver looked back at me.

---