Chapter 5
Savannah
W hen we reach the top of the stairs, Lucy says goodnight and lets me know she can't wait to get to know me in the morning.
I’m excited because I have real people to talk to now, not just the voices in my head for once.
Shocked isn’t really the word I’d use to describe what I’m feeling. Maybe something closer to denial?
Like, I refuse to believe any of this is real. Ha, knowing me and my life, I bet this is all some drug-induced dream triggered by one of the guards knocking me out.
Next time I open my eyes, I'll be lying in my bed, still trapped between the smothering four walls.
“Lucy’s and my room is on the third floor. Most of the other guests are on the fourth. But I thought you might feel more comfortable on the first floor.”
“Why's that?” I ask as we walk down the hall. The walls are white with pretty paintings on them, and the floors are marble, like the main floor. It’s lined with doors that have gold-plated numbers on them.
Duchess’ heels click against the floor with every step. I frown down at my soggy sneakers and grimace. I can’t wait to get out of these. I hope they have something I can change into.
“Because you’ve just spent five years locked up in a tiny room with only the four walls to talk to.”
“And the voices in my head,” I point out with a grin. She smiles back.
“Those, too.” She laughs. “I don’t want you to feel trapped. With being on the first floor, you’ll have lots of room. There’s no cramped stairwells, no elevators, just the stairs we came up on, free to leave whenever.”
“Huh,” I murmur. “I never thought of the possibility that I would feel like that. Of feeling trapped.” I shrug. “But thank you. It means a lot that you put that much thought into this.”
“It’s not my first rodeo. There have been Omegas in the past who’ve felt that way. So, I thought I’d offer.”
We stop in front of a door with the number twelve on it. “This is your room.” She holds out a key. “Here is your key. No one will be able to get into your room without that key. Including me.”
Staring down at the cool little piece of metal in my hand, my throat thickens, and my eyes sting. Why am I feeling such a strong wave of emotion?
It’s heavy against my palm, feeling like the weight of the world. Does she know how much this means to me? To be in charge of my own freedom. To know that once I go into that room, I’m not going to be trapped; that when the door locks, it’s from the inside, not the outside.
Not only can I keep myself in, I can keep other people out.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “I–it’s—”
“A lot to take in, huh?” she asks, giving me a soft smile. “I know. It’s going to take time for you to believe in everything you see around you. But I promise you it’s real. You’re out of there, Savvy. You’re free.”
“Free,” I croak, looking back down at the key before closing my eyes. I don’t want to cry. It makes my head hurt, my eyes puffy, and my nose run.
“Go on,” she says, walking towards the door. “Unlock it and see for yourself.”
Taking in a shaky breath, I slip the key into the keyhole and turn. There’s a click, and then I grab the handle, twisting it. Pushing the door open, I gasp.
“I hope it’s to your liking,” Duchess comments, stepping in behind me to move towards the center of the room. “There’s no kitchen in here, but there is a mini fridge. It’s stocked with snacks and bottled water. But if there's ever anything you’d like to eat, the kitchen is open to everyone at all times. Meals have been prepared and stored in the fridge for you to grab at any time. There is a chef who makes breakfast, lunch, and supper every day.”
She continues to talk, and I do listen, I’m just unable to stop gaping at the room.
“There’s a bathroom through here. It’s got a separate shower and tub. There’s toiletries under the sink—everything you might need, plus fresh towels and washcloths,” she informs, pointing towards a door. “In the dresser, there are some clothes. But we can do some online shopping for something that’s more your style if you like. Lucy and some of the other girls pick things out for any potential Omegas. We keep the rooms stocked at all times.”
She’s kidding, right? Like I’d complain about anything that I wear, apart from the god awful, ugly white dressing gown I’ve been sleeping in for years. It’s all I ever got to fucking wear. And when it wore out, they would just swap it with the same damn fucking thing.
“If there’s anything else you need, there’s a phone right there.” She points to the bedside table. “It doesn’t take any incoming or outgoing calls, just to the front desk we passed on the way in.”
Wait, that thing had someone sitting at it? I didn’t even notice. This place is like a luxury apartment had a baby with a high-end hotel.
Licking my lips, I try to take it all in, but I feel dizzy. It’s too much. I’m getting overwhelmed. I’m not sure how to process all of this. It’s like the adrenaline I’ve been feeling since I was pulled out of my cell is starting to come to a stop, and I’m about to suffer the crash.
“Are you okay?” she asks. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask her to stop asking me that, but instead, I throw myself at her, wrapping my arms around her neck.
I’m not sure if this is going to get me stabbed or not. She’s a taken Alpha, and even I know touching someone else’s mate is a big no-no.
It’s just everything she’s done for me, saving me, giving me a place to stay, helping me, it’s all more than I could have ever asked for. I don’t know how to repay her. To thank her.
“Thank you.” I choke back tears. It’s been two weeks since I’ve cried. After two full days of losing my mind every second of both days, I shut down and wiped my eyes, turning the sorrow into rage and channeled it into the motivation I needed to keep going.
She wraps her arms around me, and I have to hold back a sob that wants to slip free. When was the last time someone touched me like this?
I never realized how touch-starved I’ve been. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want her to leave me with my thoughts.
I’ve already been alone for so long.
Still, I manage to pull myself away from her, not wanting to be disrespectful towards Lucy when it comes to her mate. She’s also a stranger.
“You’re more than welcome, Savvy. You don’t have to thank me, though. This is something I live to do.”
“Question,” I say, throwing her a curveball and going way off topic. “Are you in the mafia?” I’ve watched movies that had mafias. What she described sounds a lot like the things they did, only they didn’t care who they killed. Duchess does.
She gives me a smirk. “Goodnight, Savvy,” she says with a wink before turning around and walking towards the door.
“I knew it!” I shout back. “So fucking cool.”
She laughs before opening the door and closing it behind her.
I rush over to it, flicking the lock.
Turning back around, I lean back against the door and take a look around again.
There’s a queen-size bed against the right side of the room, and a TV on the opposite wall. Below the TV is a dresser, and to the side of that is a mini fridge.
A wave of dizziness takes over me. Fuck, I’m still in my wet clothes. Walking over to the dresser, I pull a few drawers open.
It’s stocked with bras, underwear, sleepwear, jeans, sweat pants, leggings, shorts, short and long sleeve shirts, and crop tops.
“Holy fucking shit balls,” I breathe. There are too many options.
Playing it safe, I grab a pair of cute blue panties, a pair of fuzzy socks, a long sleeve sleep top, and matching bottoms. Both just as fuzzy as the socks.
With my change of clothes in hand, I head towards the door Duchess said was the bathroom.
Flicking on the lights, I nearly have a heart attack.
Yup. A dream. This is a sick, cruel dream. Cruel because I don’t want to wake up from it.
I’m used to cold, damp cement showers stalls with no shower curtain. Something you would expect from a prison, despite the fact that the rest of the building had a net worth that was probably in the millions, if not billions.
This bathroom is nothing like that. It’s white marble like the rest of the house, with splashes of black and gold.
Dropping my clean clothes onto the sink’s counter, I start to rid myself of the dirty ones I am wearing, tossing them into a wet heap on the floor.
Fully naked, I walk around the bathroom, checking everything out, knowing not a single person can see me right now.
Privacy. That's what I have.
That's something I’ve never had.
Looking up, I’m suddenly on edge. She wouldn’t have put cameras in here, would she?
There’s no way for me to know right now, but something tells me she wouldn’t do that.
Walking over to the massive mirror on the wall above the sinks, I take a good look at myself. A really good look and groan.
My brown hair is a mess, tangled up in knots. My eyes look heavy, with dark circles lining the underside of my eyes. I look like a hot mess.
Or an Omega who’s running for their life.
My eyes trail down my body. I’ve almost forgotten what I looked like. The only time I'd really seen my reflection was on the black screen of my TV.
I’m thin. Too thin to be considered healthy. How the hell am I still even alive? I look mostly like skin and bones.
Honestly, I’m surprised I had the energy to do anything today. I’ll give that credit to the boost of adrenaline from escaping and getting the fuck away from that hellhole.
Now all of that is fading, and as each second passes, I feel more and more weighed down.
Ignoring the mess of an Omega in the mirror, I bend down and look under the sink. “Holy shit.” I pull out item after item and place them onto the counter. There’s a hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, lotion, body scrub, just to name a few.
Grabbing a bottle of shampoo, I pop the cap and inhale, moaning as the scent makes my nipples hard. What the hell is that kind of reaction?
Looking at the bottle, I read that the scent is licorice and vanilla. Whatever that is, it smells amazing!
Before hopping into the shower, I grab a scrubby sponge looking thing and a bar of soap.
Snatching the toothbrush and toothpaste off the counter, I head into the big walk-in shower.
The tub is calling to me like a lover's seductive voice, but knowing my luck, I’ll fall asleep and drown in the damn thing.
Placing the bottles on the little shelves in the shower, I turn on the water and gasp as the cold spray hits me.
I quickly turn it to warm and groan as the heat soaks into my cold, aching limbs. It burns a little, but I don’t care.
Closing my eyes, I allow my body to enjoy it. When was the last time I was able to enjoy a hot shower?
The ones I always had were just warm enough not to send my body into hypothermia.
My eyes start to feel heavy, and I know if I don’t wash up now, I’ll fall asleep in here.
Forcing my heavy limbs to move, I manage to get myself decently clean. Once I’m done rinsing off, I grab my toothbrush and toothpaste and brush my teeth. It’s one of the rare luxuries I was allowed. Even if it was in my own room, I had to spit in a cup and rinse with a bottle of water.
Guess Corbin didn’t like the idea of fucking an Omega with bad dental hygiene. Win for me.
Once all that is done, I get out, put the toothbrush and paste on the counter, and grab one of the big fluffy towels off the rack, wrapping it around my body.
I moan at the softness, rubbing my face against the fabric.
Drying off, I get dressed in the new clothes, a small smile on my face at how warm and comfy they are.
Using the brush, I get to work on the rat’s nest that is my hair.
After battling that hot mess, excitement fills me knowing I get to sleep. My body really needs it.
Rushing into the bedroom, I slide to a stop and pause.
I take in the massive bed with all its open space, and I’m instantly filled with unease.
Chewing on my lower lip, I think.
It’s too much space. Too open. I don’t like it.
While I might have hated being trapped in that tiny cell, the only silver lining is that Omegas crave small, safe places.
This feels too exposed.
Grabbing the blanket off the bed, I head over to the closet and pull it open. It’s small, but with it being empty, it has just enough space for one person. This will do.
Quickly, I make a little nest of my own, grabbing the pillows off the bed too. Something I’ve never been able to do before because I’ve never had enough materials to make a nest.
And while this is nowhere near as awesome as the nests I’ve seen on TV, as I lie down in the plush blankets and pillows, I sigh heavily in contentment and bury my face into the soft fabric.
It might not be much to most, but this right here feels like winning the lottery.
As I lay there in the silence, I start to grow uneasy. I hate the silence. I hear voices, sounds, and everything becomes amplified. It makes my brain feel weird.
So I do what I always do, and hum, drowning out the sounds in my mind.
I don’t know the song, don’t remember where I heard it from, but for as long as I can remember, it’s been inside my head.
It’s comforting, making me feel as if there was something better before all of this.
Maybe now that I’m free, I’ll be able to figure out if that's true.
The way everyone’s been acting tells me I wasn’t just some random Omega. I meant something to someone.
Jerry said something about my father and how he tried to ruin Corbin, so he ruined my father tenfold.
Who is my father? Does he miss me? Does he want me back?
What about my mom? Do I have any siblings?
I hum louder, trying to drown out my racing thoughts.
As little images I can’t decipher flash through my mind, I start to drift into the state of unconsciousness. They land on a sweet little face. A smiling, giggling, happy face.
I smile. My sweet boy.
At least when I’m asleep, I get to dream about him and what our lives would have been like. He’ll always be with me, in my heart.
I’ll get our revenge, baby boy. Mama won’t let you down.
––––––––
I jolt up out of sleep , heart racing, head spinning.
Where am I?
Blinking my eyes open, I find myself in pitch black darkness. “What the fuck?” I frown. Did Corbin cut the power or something?
Feeling around, I frown harder. I don’t remember this soft blanket. When did I get that?
Sniffing, I grow even more confused. There are smells I don’t recognize.
Getting to my knees, I fumble around, my hand meeting a flat surface. Am I in some sort of box?
“I swear to god, if I’m in some kind of shipping container on a boat in the middle of the fucking ocean, I’m going to slaughter every person aboard this ship,” I growl, pushing at the wall.
It gives way, and I tumble forward.
Groaning, I push my body into a sitting position and open my eyes.
I let out a disbelieving laugh. “Well, fuck me good and call me a donkey. I really wasn’t dreaming?”
Jumping to my feet with a massive grin on my face, I look around and remember where I’m at and everything that happened the night before.
Was it all real? Getting rescued and leaving that life of hell behind.
“Eat a bag of dicks, Corbin.” I laugh. “I hope that Russian dude you sold me to gets pissed off and slits your throat.” I frown. “Wait, no. I want to do that for myself. Scratch that. I hope he at least kicks your ass. I’d pay good money to see you cry like a little bitch.” I laugh to myself.
Then, I realize the light illuminating the room isn’t from the bedroom light. Pure excitement floods my body, and I run across the room to the window.
Ripping the curtains open, I let out a sob, my hand going to my mouth.
The sun. It’s the mother fucking sun!
I smile as tears fall down my cheeks. My eyes dart around, trying to take everything in. I can see buildings, a few trees... the outside world.
But it’s the bright sunshine that has me sobbing like a little baby.
Taking off, I run out of the room, not bothering to put anything on my feet.
I toss the door open, not wasting any time closing it, and head for the stairs. I take them two at a time.
“Savvy?” Duchess asks. “What's wrong?” She sounds concerned, but I ignore her, running for the door we came in through last night.
She calls after me as I pull it open and race down the hall towards the exit.
With each step closer, my heart beats faster. I don’t stop, trembling hands making quick work of the locks.
Grabbing the handle, I yank the door open and rush outside.
Stumbling to a stop, I take in heaving breaths of fresh air and cry harder.
“Savannah!” Duchess’s frantic voice has my eyes snapping over to her. “What's going on? Are you okay?”
“Okay? I’m better than okay. Duchess, it’s the sun!” I laugh like a crazy person, grinning from ear to ear. I raise my hands above my head and close my eyes, angling my face up to feel the warmth of the sunshine. “The mother-fucking sun!”
Opening my eyes, I find her closer to me. I rush over to her, not caring about the little stones poking at my bare feet.
I grab her shoulders and shake her. “This is amazing! The sun. It’s the sun.”
I repeat over and over again, laughing and sighing happily, just overwhelmed in all the good ways.
“Yeah, Savvy.” She smiles. Are those tears in her eyes? Is she crying? Maybe she enjoys the sun as much as I do. Because right now, big, fat, happy tears are sliding down my cheeks. “The sun is pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
“The best,” I whisper, looking up. “Oh fuck.” I groan, snapping my eyes closed. “And bright. I think I’m blind.”
Duchess laughs. “How about we refrain from staring at the sun. Unless you wanna go blind.”
“Good point.” I grin. “Can’t see the life drain from my enemy’s eyes if I’m blind.”
She laughs harder. “I like your mindset, Savvy.”
“Thanks.” I give her a beaming smile.
“How was your night?” she asks, crossing her arms as we continue to stand in the middle of the dirt parking lot. I love that she’s letting me have this, not asking to go inside just yet.
“It was good.” I smile.
“How was the bed?” she grins. “I bet you enjoyed that.”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “I’m sure I will at some point, but it’s too big. Too open.”
Her face falls, and she curses. “Shit, I didn't even think about that. I should have known better. Of course, you're not going to want some big open space. We can change rooms, one with a nest.”
“It’s okay,” I assure her. “I’ve already made my own in the closet. My first nest.” I grin hard. “It was the best sleep of my life.” I don’t care if it was on the floor; it was amazing.
“Are you sure?”
“More than sure.” My stomach growls, and we both look down.
“Let’s go get you something to eat,” Duchess suggests.
I hesitate.
“See up there?” She points to the roof of the house. “We have a whole setup: a fire pit, places to sit, a barbecue. It’s a hangout spot. Any time you wanna come outside, to feel the sun against your skin, you can go up there.”
“Can we eat up there?” I ask.
“Yeah, we can. What do you want?”
“Anything,” I answer as I follow her inside. “Anything is better than the crap I’ve been eating.”
An hour later, I’m stuffed full of pancakes and bacon. If I didn’t feel like I’d puke all the tasty food back up, I’d keep going.
We’re up on the rooftop, sitting on a comfy couch. The longer we’re up here, the warmer the sun is. I fucking love it.
Duchess says that if I’m going to stay up here any longer, I’ll need sunscreen. Guess years of not seeing the sun makes someone very pale. I’ve never noticed but I do look pretty white. Almost like a ghost.
We’ve been talking. She’s answered a million of my questions.
So far, I’ve found out my name really is Savannah Banks, and my father, Jonathan Banks, was a senator of New York. We are currently in Los Angeles, California.
I’ve been missing for five years, and it was a worldwide story. My father had everyone looking for me, spent years and millions trying to find me.
Knowing someone cares so much about me to spend all that time and money looking is overwhelming. I want to meet him. When all of this is over with, I want to see him again. To show him I’m okay. I want to thank him for not giving up on me.
Duchess said he’s not doing so well. He lost everything in his pursuit to find me. His money, power, and status. He was removed from his position of power just a few weeks ago.
She said the same thing Jerry did. Corbin got what he wanted from my father: to see him lose everything, and that's why he was done with me.
I’m going to make sure Corbin pays for that, too.
After hearing all that, I told her I didn’t want to know anything else about my old life. I don’t remember anything, and it’s frustrating me. I want to so badly, but every time I try, it’s blank. I don’t even know what my first memory of being locked up is. Over time, days begin to blend together, and you don’t know what's left or right anymore.
“We’ll have you see the doctor today. Once we know more about what's going on with your body, we'll be able to put you on a meal plan, get you all fattened up and healthy.”
I grin. “Sounds like a good time.”
She laughs. “When you're ready, we can start your training.”
My smile falls. “I’m ready now. I don’t want to wait. But maybe I should. Just another week.” My body has been through so much in a short period of time, I should let it heal a little bit longer before taking on more. “I want to learn everything you're willing to teach me. The sooner, the better. Every day that passes is a day those vile beasts have the chance to hurt more people,” I growl.
She nods. “You're right. I like your fire.” She smiles.
“There's more where that came from.” I grin.
“I can’t wait to see what you've got. You're going to be amazing, Savvy. I can see it now.”