Chapter 2: Death still finds me

•CALEB•

I didn’t realize how much a place could hold you until I had to leave it. The bus moved slowly at first, pulling away from the station like it was giving me one last chance to change my mind. One last chance to stand up, grab my bag, and run back to everything I just destroyed with my own hands.

I didn’t move. I sat still instead staring out the window, watching the city blur past me in pieces.

Familiar streets. Buildings I had walked past a hundred times. Corners that held memories I didn’t even know mattered until now.

Twenty four years.

That was how long I stayed here.

Twenty four years of pretending I was normal. Of laughing, loving, living like I belonged in a world that would never accept what I truly was. And just like that, it was over.

Gone.

Not because I wanted it to be.

Because it had to be.

My chest tightened as the bus picked up speed, the city slowly fading behind me, turning into something distant. Something I was no longer part of. I pressed my forehead lightly against the glass, my breath fogging it slightly.

This was home. Or at least… it used to be. Now it was just another place I had to leave behind. I swallowed hard, forcing my thoughts away from the image of Luke.

His face.

His voice.

The way he looked at me like I was still his. Like I hadn’t just broken him in the worst way possible. I shut my eyes briefly.

Don’t think about him.

Don’t think about anything that will make you go back.

Because going back is not an option.

It never was.

My fingers tightened around the edge of my seat as another thought slipped in.

Omega.

The word sat heavy in my chest.

Not just any omega. A male omega. Something that wasn’t supposed to exist. Something my mother spent her entire life protecting.

She told me stories when I was younger. Not bedtime stories and definitely not the kind that made you sleep peacefully.

Warnings.

Truths wrapped in fear.

“In our world,” she used to say, her voice low, careful, like even the walls shouldn’t hear it, “male omegas don’t get a life. They don’t get a chance. They are killed the moment they are born.”

I didn’t understand it then.

I thought she was exaggerating. I thought she was just trying to scare me into staying close to her.

I was wrong.

She didn’t run away from that world for nothing. She ran because she chose me over it. Over everything. And now she was gone. Because of that same choice.

My jaw tightened as the memory hit me again. The night everything changed when they found us.

I lost count of how many times I’ve been attacked.

Lost count of how many times death came close enough for me to feel its breath on my skin. And somehow, every time, someone else paid the price.

Five of my friends. Five innocent people who didn’t even know what they were caught in. All dead.

Accidents, they said.

Wrong place. Wrong time.

But I knew the truth, they weren’t meant to die. I was. My chest rose slowly as I forced myself to breathe.

And then my mother.

The one person who knew everything.

The one person who never left.

The one person who stayed even when she knew what it would cost her.

Gone.

Because of me.

I let out a shaky breath, rubbing my hands together like I could somehow shake the weight off.

“I still don’t get it…” I muttered under my breath.

How am I supposed to be safe there?

In a place that kills people like me just for existing?

It didn’t make sense.

None of this made sense. But it was her last wish. And I had nothing left except that.

“You look like you’re running from something.” The voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

I blinked, turning slightly to my side.

An old woman sat next to me, her eyes sharp despite the wrinkles that lined her face. She had been quiet since the beginning of the trip, but now she was watching me like she had been studying me the whole time.

“I’m not,” I said quickly, forcing a small smile.

She didn’t look convinced.

“Hm,” she hummed softly, adjusting her shawl. “People who aren’t running don’t look like they’ve left their entire life behind.”

My fingers twitched slightly. I didn’t respond. Because she wasn’t wrong.

“Where are you heading?” she asked after a moment, her tone lighter now, like she was trying to ease into conversation.

“Texas,” I replied almost immediately. “Vacation.”

The lie came out smooth.

She smiled. But it wasn’t a warm smile. It was knowing. “That’s interesting,” she said slowly. “Because that’s not exactly what your ticket says.”

My stomach dropped. I turned to look at her fully now.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice more controlled than I felt.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes studying me in a way that made something cold crawl up my spine.

“I mean,” she said calmly, “you’re not going where you think you are, young man.” The air around me suddenly felt heavier.

Before I could respond, before I could even process what she meant… The bus jerked violently.

A loud crash echoed through the air, and everyone around me was screaming for their dear lives. The entire vehicle shook as something hit us hard from the front.

“What the…” The driver cursed loudly, trying to regain control, but the wheel spun wildly under his hands. The bus swerved.

My body slammed against the side as panic filled the space instantly.

“Hold on!” someone yelled. The old woman beside me didn’t scream. She didn’t even move, I could feel her eye fixed on me in calm way that was frightening. Like she knew this was coming.

The bus tilted and my heart slammed against my chest as I grabbed onto anything I could. We were losing control. I could feel it. The road was gone.

All I could see through the window was empty space.

A cliff.

No…

No, no, no… dear lord not today.

The bus went over. Everything happened too fast. Glass shattering and bodies colliding And in the middle of all that chaos…

A single thought slipped through my mind.

A bitter, almost broken laugh escaped my lips as darkness started closing in.

“Even now…” I whispered weakly.

“Death still finds me.”

Everything went black with me hoping to end up with my mom at least.