AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I took another breath and continued.
“Other parents would give up adopting a kid but my parents adored Angela. They thought it was her miracle, so they adopted her and after seven months, I was born. I know this part from what my mom told me, of course. Angela and I got along very well. We both knew we weren’t biological sisters but we didn’t care. She was my sister, my best friend, my partner in crime.”
There was a lump in my throat. I tried to take another sip from my glass.
“We were always close but when our parents had an accident when I was sixteen, we got even closer. We tried to stay out of the system—it wasn’t so hard since Angel turned eighteen that month. And after I finished high school we moved to Seattle for college. But truly, we moved here to start over. We lost our parents and it was so hard to keep going in California while everything reminded us of their loss.”
Alex took my hand in his and caressed my knuckles in a comforting gesture as Xander gave me comfort even with his silence. As long as his arms were around me, I didn’t feel alone. Even though I didn’t know how to explain it, I felt the security I couldn’t have since my parents passed away. I looked at Alex first and he smiled at me. Then, I looked at Xander and his eyes were intense, almost encouraging for me to go on. I did.
“In college, Angela and I studied English. I was a journalist, she was a writer.”
“I wish we didn’t choose English,” I huffed. Till this day, I still think those choices were the reason for everything that happened. It was silly, really, but I needed to blame something, someone, for what we’ve been through.
“In her last year of college, Angela wanted to experience different facets of lives. She started the job as a dancer in the club. She thought it was the best way to meet more people, to observe them and to become someone else. She thought it was an amazing idea that would make her a really good author and everything was great for almost a year.”
I put my head in the crook of Xander’s neck again and squeezed Alex’s hand, using them as my anchors. I swallowed the nerves in my throat and continued.
“But two years ago, on January 17th…Angela got lost. Disappeared.” My voice was shaking.
“And after six months of searching, the police accepted it as “cold case” with meaningless words: ‘There is no sign from Angela Darcia. She’s considered a missing person. And the possibility of her being dead is pretty high. I suggest you to keep going with your life. We consider this as a cold case. We’re sorry.’ Could you believe what they said? ‘Keep going with your life’ that’s all,” I shook my head. Anger and pain mixed each other.
“And they stopped looking for her. They couldn’t find anything. Neither a clue nor a body. Nothing. I’ve got nothing,” I sobbed as I continue.
Xander wiped my tears from my face as Alex got closer to me and soothingly drew circles on my leg. But I couldn’t stop. I lost all of my control.
“I lost her. I lost everyone in my life. My parents, my sister. I had nothing and no one left,” I was shaking with uncontrolled sobs.
“Shh…we got you, babe. You’re not alone. We’ll help you.” Alex also was hugging me in an awkward threesome hug. He kept telling these things again and again till I stopped sobbing.
“Before she disappeared she was shining bright. She was the happiest I’d ever seen her. I thought she might have found someone and wasn’t ready to talk yet. Then, something happened. She wasn’t smiling anymore. She acted weird before she disappeared. She was jumpy, nervous. She didn’t sleep very well and was so scared. But I didn’t realize it then. I asked her repeatedly what was wrong but she blew me off and I let her.”
I couldn’t shake the guilt I felt off of me.
“You think something happened in the club? You think the club has something to do with her disappearing?” Xander asked.
“I don’t think. I know it, Xander. I feel it. She was always a badass kind of girl. She didn’t ask for help, she didn’t complain. She talked about fun stuff, never let anything to let her down. She was still the same when she first started to work in the club—she always talked and laughed about it. She didn’t give me any names or any details just to keep everything anonymous about her job but at least, she talked to me. Then...she stopped telling me things, she stopped talking to me, altogether. She’d only do that if she thought she might put me in danger. She had a problem and tried to solve it by herself. I was too stupid to realize it then,” I said with a raspy voice I couldn’t recognize. It was edgy and raspy due to my sobbing.
“And now you’re working in the same club, Flame. How stupid is that?” Xander asked. He was angry but he was controlling his anger.
“What else should I have done, Xander? No one blames the club. No one tried to investigate the club. Will covered it up pretty good. Police gave up on her. It’s a lost case for them,” I wiped my tears with the back of my hand before continuing.
“I haven’t been working since Angel disappeared and I cannot afford a private investigator. I’m not even sure if an investigator would believe me and work for me. What else I could do?” I cried out.
“That is what you’re doing in the club? Are you trying to find Angel or what happened to her?” Alex asked softly.
“I don’t believe she is dead, Alex. If she were dead, I believe the police would have found her body. I want to believe she is somewhere and waiting for me to find her. I don’t know where she is or how she is, but I promised myself to find out what happened to her. I owe it to her, to myself. Otherwise, I’ll go nuts. I cannot live my life without any closure,” I answered him.
“Is that the reason why you do Krav Maga?” Xander asked slowly.
“Yes. That’s why, Gary, my personal trainer cares about my training a little too much. He was the only one who knew my motives. He was helping me to be ready for possible danger.”
“Did you find anything about the club so far?” Alex asked this time.
“No…I’m sensing something suspicious but it may be just my paranoia, I don’t know,” I groaned.
“Shh…don’t worry. We’ll find a way. I won’t let you be alone in this.” Xander said.
“Thank you,” I said and rested my head on his shoulder.
