Chapter 5
CHAPTER 005
The last few weeks had been a whirlwind. With training, watching Max, and keeping my true intentions hidden, I hadn’t noticed how long it had been since I’d seen the other girls who came here with me. I couldn’t ignore it any longer, I had a nagging feeling growing in the back of my mind.
I went to the servants’ quarters, where most of the girls had been assigned as pack maids. It was a building, sitting at the edge of the compound, tucked away like a secret the pack didn’t want anyone to notice. The window were opened and I could hear the faint sound of laughter and soft chatter, but there was something to it that just... wasn't right. It wasn’t the sort of noise that made you feel comfortable.
Inside, I did step, and the faint scent of soap and damp linen brushed by me. It was a busy room. Folding laundry, scrubbing the floors, making trays of food were the things girls were doing. I recognized some faces and smiled slightly in hope I blended in.
“Aurora?”
I turned to the voice and saw Mia walking my way, a warm smile with a tiredness to it on her face. She tilted her head and wiped her hands on her apron. “What brings you here? “You don’t come around much anymore,” we say.
I said, my voice light, “Hi, Mia.” “I just wanted to check in. It’s been... busy.” My stomach twisted and I glanced around the room. “How are things here?”
Mia shrugged. “Same as always. Work, eat, sleep. Repeat.”
I frowned at her answer, but I tried to keep my tone casual. “Where are Clara and Dalia? I don’t see them around.”
Mia’s smile faltered. Confusion flashed across her face as she blinked. “Who?”
My stomach dropped. “Clara. Dalia. When we got here, they were with us. She was quiet, had short brown hair, and Dalia—she was always keeping to herself.”
Mia shook her head slowly. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, Aurora.”
I nervously laughed, looking around the room. “You’re joking, right? Come on, you remember them. They were part of our group.”
Ruby, who was sorting linen and looked up, was another. “When I’ve been around since the start, I don’t recall the names of those guys.”
I stared at them, my chest tightening. “You have to remember. Clara was assigned to laundry and Dalia to the kitchens. You must have seen them.”
Mia looked at me sympathetically, the way you look at someone who’s confused or losing their mind. “Maybe you’re just tired, Aurora.” ‘You’ve been under a lot of pressure lately,’ he said.”
I stepped back and said sharply, “No.” “I know what I’m saying. They were here. I talked to them. I... I know them.”
Uneasy glances went back and forth between the girls, and Mia stepped forward, in a soft voice. “Probably you should get some rest.”
My heart pounded and I turned away. “No, I don’t need rest. I need answers.” I left the quarters without another word, their confused whispers trailing after me out the door.
I paced the floor in my room, my mind racing. This wasn’t a prank. It was real, the way they looked at me, the confusion in their eyes. Clara and Dalia, they didn’t remember. But how could that be? I remembered them. I saw their faces, I heard their voices. So why didn’t anyone else?
I decided to investigate. I asked everyone I could over the next few days without raising suspicion. I casually slipped their names into conversation with other maids, pack members, even some of the guards. Every time, I got the same response: It usually brings confusion, blank stares, or just dismissive shrugs.
No one remembered them.
Frustration clawed at me. It didn’t make sense. People didn’t just vanish. If they did, how could no one notice? How could no one care?
One night, late, I slipped into the packhouse’s records office. The room was dim, the odor of paper and dust barely there. My fingers trembled and I dug through files, I pored through logs looking for any trace of the missing girls. But there was nothing. There was not a single record of Clara, Dalia, or any of the others who had come with us.
Twelve girls. I could still picture twelve faces in my mind. Twelve names I would never forget. Yet, it was as if they had never been.
I rubbed my temples, my hands trembling as I sat back. A heavy weight pressed down on my chest and my thoughts raced. This wasn’t normal. It wasn’t natural. There was something very wrong here.
I left the records office feeling a prickle at the back of my neck. I turned and saw the Gamma standing in the hallway, his eyes on me. I straightened, trying to look calm, my breath caught.
He also asked, his voice low and sharp, 'What are you doing here?'
I forced my voice to stay steady and said, “I could ask you the same thing.”
His mouth twitched at the corner, but there was no humor in his expression. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t be poking around where you don’t belong?”
“I wasn’t poking around,” I said quickly. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d take a walk.”
His presence suffocating, he stepped closer. “Don’t lie to me, Aurora. “I know you’ve been asking questions,” I say.
My pulse quickened. I just wanted to know what happened to some of the girls who came here with me. That’s not a crime, is it?”
His jaw clenched and for a moment I thought he might strike out. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper instead. “Don’t look for things that can get you in trouble.” You don’t want to know what happens when people don’t listen.”
I looked in his eyes, fear and defiance mixing in my chest. “What does that mean?”
He said, his tone icy, “It means some questions are better left unanswered.”
He took a step back, his cold eyes still on mine, and then turned and walked away. His warning stood there, the smoke, the suffocation, the impossibility of ignoring it.
I locked the door behind me and leaned against it, my breath shaky when I got back to my room. I thought of all the possibilities, and they were all darker than the last. The Gamma knew something. He knew more than he let on, his words, his tone, he was involved.
I took my notebook and sat on the edge of my bed, opening to a blank page. I wrote down every detail, no matter how small, of everything I’d learned so far. I never knew my hands could tremble as I wrote, and never knew my frustration could bleed through to the pen strokes.
I couldn’t do this alone. Running through the beginning of my life, I barely had begun to scratch the surface of the pack’s secrets. I didn’t want to end up like Clara and Dalia, forgotten, erased.
I reached down and pulled out my phone, and typed a quick messages to my undercover partner.
It's worse than we thought. We need to talk.
After staring at the screen for a moment I hit send, my heart pounding in my chest. I had no idea what I was heading into, but I knew one thing, this pack was hiding something. I was going to find out what.
What were they trying so hard to bury? How far would they go to stop me?
