TW: discussion of human trafficking
Castiel stared at himself in the mirror. He'd put on the outfit his parents' requested of him. But, if he was honest with himself, they demanded under the threat of punishment. He didn't want to do that again.
"Hurry up, Castiel," Naomi called from the bottom of the stairs. "We have places to be."
She was Naomi now, at least in private. The only time he was to call her mom was when they were out in public. Since he manifested as an omega, everything was different. He just wanted his brothers back. Then, they would know what to do.
Castiel opened the door and cautiously tiptoed the stairs. Naomi said the hurry up, but he knew better. Making a sound was not allowed. Reaching the end of the landing, he stood there with his head down and his arms behind his back.
"Well, finally," Naomi sighed. "Zachariah, we will need to leave soon if we want to get there before everyone else."
"I'm right here. Just needed to get all this paperwork. It would be a mess if we'd forgotten it."
"We'd have found a way around it," Naomi said with a self-satisfied grin. "We always do."
The couple walked to the garage door, not looking to see if Castiel was following behind them. He knew the consequences if he didn't. Once there, he quietly sat in the back of the car, not making a single sound. If he did...
Zachariah hopped into the driver's seat and started the car. He and Naomi carried on a conversation about their plans for the day. Castiel didn't pay attention. It was better that he didn't understand. He gazed out the car window, watching the trees pass by, wishing he was out there instead of the prison where he was stuck in. There hadn't been a sign for miles, but that was for the best. No one to come around snooping into business they didn't need to concern themselves with.
Zachariah heading into the forest at a small dirt road, the slow drive continuing making sure nothing was out of place on the road. It soon opened to a vast expanse, revealing a parking lot and shiny building, entirely out of place for the middle of the forest.
The couple got out, with Castiel quickly following behind without being told. They walked through the front door and were greeted by a receptionist.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Novak. How are you today?"
"Quite alright, Uriel," Naomi greeted. "Do you know how many people are coming in today?"
"We're expected to have a full crowd."
"That's great. How's the merchandise?"
"We've had a few problems..."
"What sort of problems?" Zachariah cut in.
"We've had a few problems with the most recent shipment. It got a little beat up on its way here."
Naomi nodded with a slight frown. "We'll be sure to check in on. Make sure it's still up to par with our standards. Thank you for letting us know."
"Of course, ma'am," Uriel finished before sitting back down in his chair.
Naomi was quick to turn on her heel as she headed toward the elevator before calling for it. Once all three were inside, she selected the button for the basement before pressing numbers into a keypad. As she pressed enter, the elevator descended along with Castiel's stomach. Nothing good ever happened down here.
There was a small room when the doors opened. It was thick and ominous. Naomi typed in another password and the door opened with a loud buzzer. Walking into the room, Castiel knew that he should keep his eyes down, avoiding the gazes of those around him. Unfortunately, he couldn't help staring into the helpless, dead eyes of the other omegas locked in the cages along the walls. He was roughly pushed forward by Zachariah, falling directly on his knees. Punishment for stopping in the middle of the walkway. Castiel pushed himself off the floor and scurried to catch up down the ominous hallway with the only sound coming from the clacking of Naomi's heels.
They soon reached the other end. There was another heavy-set door that the three were quick to walk through. On the other side, yelling was evident. They walked farther into the room and found a mostly naked man chained to the concrete walls, screaming at the men who were standing in front of him with bored looks on their faces.
"Let me go, you assholes," the omega demanded. "I want to go home."
"What seems to be the problem?" Naomi asked.
"Let me go, you bitch."
"He is very adamant that we let him go, ma'am," one of the other alphas, ignoring the screaming. "Been screaming since we grabbed him. We had to knock him out with chloroform until we got out of town."
"But you did keep him in good shape?" Zachariah asked.
"Yes, sir, we didn't touch him."
"I think this will still work," Naomi mentioned. "Some of our clients want one that's not so compliant. Want one with some fight left before they break. Are we still out of the inducer?"
"Just got some in this morning."
Before continuing, Naomi looked at her watch and seemed to be estimating timing. "Inject him now. By the end of tonight, he'll be releasing heat hormones. That will definitely drive his price up. So we'll save him for last. Make sure the medication is truly in his system."
The alpha nodded at another one of the men, this one a beta, to go fetch the inducer.
"I believe that is all," Zachariah said, looking at his watch. "Let him scream all you want; just make sure he's not marked."
The three turned to leave, Castiel hiding to make himself smaller. He wished that he didn't understand what happened. Behind them, the sound of screaming continued and got louder as Castiel assumed the omega was getting injected. Then, with the door closing the last little bit, all sound ceased except for the footsteps along the concrete floor. They walked back through the long corridor. This time, Castiel didn't look at the omegas surrounding him. His knees still burned from last time.
Once at the elevator, they went to one of the upper floors, far away from the entrance. The room was designed so that no one could hear what was coming from this floor. There also was no way to get an electronic signal through. It was quiet and cold. At least it was for now.
Naomi and Zachariah continued walking down the hallway, but Castiel knew what was expected of him. He walked into a large room filled with many chairs facing a stage. He sat in a chair in the back corner, staying silent. He knew he was not to make a noise. He knew that the only reason he could leave was to go to the toilet. He was told that soiling himself would show Naomi and Zachariah in a bad light, which was not tolerated. He could still feel the pain in his bottom from the last transgression against the two: speaking out of turn in front of clients.
Castiel sat there for hours, imagining a world away from this. On TV, the omega would be courted by a sweet beta or alpha before finally mating, and having children, and living happily ever after. It was a lie. The only thing alphas did was abuse omegas, force them to mate, and hurt them whenever they did anything wrong. He'd seen the looks on some of the omega's faces when they came back here. They were even more desolate and withdrawn as they watched their alphas auction for yet another omega. Castiel felt tears run down his face but quickly wiped them away from his face. Showing despair was not tolerated.
The sun was starting to set when the first group of alphas came in. They looked Castiel up and down before going to their seats. They knew he was off-limits... for now.
The room slowly and steadily and filled overwhelmingly with the stench of alphas. Once the first omegas came, he knew it would get worst. Then, as Naomi and Zachariah call it a full house, a hush fell over the room. Castiel looked to his right and saw his "parents" walk in, nod for someone upfront to begin. A man in a smart suit walked up to the front and began to greet everyone in the room. Naomi and Zachariah sat next to Castiel, listening to the day's proceedings.
Soon omegas were brought out one by one before the entire room. Numbers were thrown around, which Castiel learned early on were dollar amounts. Castiel dissociated, doing everything he could not think about the scene in front of him. He remembered when his older brother, Gabriel, would sneak candy into the household, knowing they were not allowed to eat it before dinner. Lucifer took him to the library to pick up books that he wanted Michael to read to him. He missed those days.
Castiel was brought out of his thoughts by the smell of burnt sugar. He looked toward the scene in front of him with horror in his eyes, knowing he wouldn't be allowed to show it on his face. The omega he saw earlier was brought out, slightly sweating for the heat hormones that had started up, but was still kicking up a storm trying to get rid of the two betas that were holding him on stage. The scent of alpha pheromones picked up a considerable amount. Even larger numbers started to be thrown around until there was no one else speaking. The omega was taken off stage while the host thanked everyone for coming and those to hold back so they could pay for and claim their purchases.
Naomi and Zachariah stood up and made their way out of the room. Zachariah would make sure all of the money was in order. At the same time, Naomi would greet their guests and network, trying to expand their reach. Castiel just sat there feeling empty, knowing that this was going to be his life one day.