by Abby Gale
“It seems like a bracelet. What’s wrong with it?” Alex frowned. He was confused and it made me question myself.
I turned to look the back of the bracelet again. To remind myself why I was shattered in pieces.
Dawn. Angel. Forever.
“Do you recognize this bracelet, Alex? I found it in your bathroom cabinet,” I tried to keep my nerves under control and stay calm.
I passed the bracelet to Alex but immediately felt the loss of it in my hands.
Alex examined it for a few seconds and then smiled.
“Yeah. I remember this bracelet. It was…what was her name? Angela? Yeah, it was Angel’s.”
“Why is it in your bathroom?”
“Why are you asking these questions, Violet? Are you jealous, gorgeous? You don’t need to be.” Alex sincerely smiled at me.
He didn’t understand anything that was happening in this moment. He thought I was jealous?! No, I was getting angry.
“Alex. I’m not jealous, but how do you know Angel and why is her bracelet here?” I asked loudly.
“Whoa. Calm down. Let’s sit for awhile, okay?” he offered cautiously.
“I don’t want to sit down. I want to know the answers. I need answers, Alex,” I sobbed. I was breaking apart and my voice sounded desperate.
“Wait, you know Angel?” The confusion was so clear in his voice.
“Yes…yes, I know her…she was…is… my sister. My step-sister,” I breathed out. I was trying to control my emotions and my confusion.
“Fuck me!” Alex murmured.
“Alex…I need answers…please.”
“First, let me get you a glass of water, okay?” As he walked out of the room, I sank to the ground near the bed and wrapped my arms around my bent knees. When Alex returned with a glass in his hand, he found me rocking back and forth.
“Here. Drink it, Violet. Please. You look so pale.” Alex whispered. I looked at him for a second but his eyes were full of pity that I looked away because I couldn’t stand it any longer.
The lump in my throat didn’t let me drink much, but I sipped from my glass as much as I could.
“How do you know Angel? When was the last time you saw her?” I asked Alex. My voice wasn’t louder than a whisper.
“Wait…I need to remember, first. Okay? Be patient with me,” he said and I nodded at him even though I wasn’t sure if I could be patient. This bracelet and the information Alex was about to share were the only clues I’d come close to learning about Angel for the past two years.
“Okay…I saw her at the club, on the terrace and I went out there to get some fresh air. I remember she was nervous but she was quite a sight. I didn’t know why she was nervous and I didn’t ask. I just thought her face was so expressive and that I could capture such depth and emotion in photographs. When I approached her, she acted startled and panicked at first. I asked her if she was interested in modeling and she refused the offer almost immediately. But she didn’t protest as I wrote down my number on her...umm,” he fidgeted.
“What, Alex? Keep going, please.” Nothing he could say would bother me, assuming he didn’t have a part in her absence.
“Okay. I wrote my number on her boob. Anyway, I didn’t see her after that for one or two weeks, I think. Wait. It was January 16th when she called me. I remember it because it was just two days before my birthday,” he took a deep breath, his forehead still wrinkled from concentrating.
“Why did she call you? Wait, you said 16th? She disappeared a day after that,” I murmured.
“She disappeared?” Alex’s head jerked toward me.
“I’ll explain more to you later. Please, you said she called you. Then, what happened?”
“Okay, okay… I didn’t remember her at first because when she hadn’t called me the next day I didn’t think she was interested. But when Angel called, she said she wanted to meet me at a café to discuss her photos. She didn’t want to model, but rather she wanted me to take her photos, just for her. I was angry at first. You know, I am not some kind of amateur photographer but then, she convinced me to do it. She was one hell of a crazy chick,” he chuckled.
“She was always crazy and she didn’t take no for an answer,” I smiled solemnly.
“So, she just wanted you to take some photos. Why? Can I see the photos?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t give me any reasons but actually her request seemed weird. I mean, she didn’t really pose or anything, instead she made me move around the city, then she would abruptly stop at random locations to be photographed.” Alex shook his head, frowning.
“Where are the photos?” I asked.
“I mailed them to the address she gave me.”
“What? Don’t you have any copies?” I exclaimed. Those photos were my only hope. I had a feeling she might have given me some signs in those photos.
“No. We moved around the city for the photos and I only had my Polaroid camera with me. I didn’t upload anything to my PC. She wanted me to send the photos and I did. I didn’t ask any further questions about her motives.” Alex said.
“Where did you send them?” I asked, hoping for a concrete lead.
“I don’t remember the exact address, but it was somewhere on the University Street. She said it was her apartment.” Alex said.
“What? Fuck!”
“What’s wrong now?” Alex turned fully to me.
“She must have sent them to me. We lived together on University Street, but I don’t have anything because the police took everything as possible evidence,” I mumbled.
“Violet. You need to tell me everything. I don’t understand all of this. Angel is your sister and she disappeared. Now, you need to fill in the blanks for me.” Alex groaned. He pressed his fingers to his eyes.
“Okay, just one more thing and I’ll tell you the story. How did this bracelet end up in your bathroom?”
“She was playing with it the whole day but when the fastener came undone, she gave it to me to put it in my pocket but she forgot to take it back. I wanted to send it with the photos but apparently I forgot to do it. So here it is.” Alex shrugged.
I nodded and took a sip of water from my glass.
“First, my name isn’t Violet.”
“I already knew that, Flame. So tell me, what is your name?” Xander walked into the room.
“Xander, this is something big we’re dealing with here.” Alex told Xander in a deadly serious tone.
I looked up toward Xander. He was frowning but he didn’t say anything and just sat on the other side of me. I was about to talk when Xander, to my welcomed surprise, grabbed me by my waist and put me on his lap.
“What is your name?” he asked again.
I took a deep breath and started to talk.
“My name is Dawn Darcia.”
“My name is not Violet Garcia. My real name is Dawn Darcia. Violet was the middle name of Angela. Angel…my sister.”
I took another deep breath.
“I don’t know where to start, how to tell you this. My mind is a mess,” I groaned and put my head in the crook of Xander’s neck. His strong and musky scent helped me to focus.
“Alex? What is this all about?” Xander asked. His voice was confused and I got the feeling that he wasn’t okay with being confused.
“Her sister, Angel disappeared and I met her just a day before she did. She wanted me to take some weird photos and then disappeared. This is all I understood,” Alex answered him back.
“Flame, why don’t you tell us from the beginning? Everything…” Xander whispered to my hair in his soft yet commanding voice.
“Okay…yeah…from the beginning, okay,” I breathed out.
“My parents had tried to have a baby for five years but though there wasn’t any medical problem, they couldn’t have a baby. The day that they decided to adopt Angela, the ten months old baby, my mom fainted and my parents had learned they were pregnant the same day,” I started from the real beginning of everything. I didn’t
know why.
Maybe just because I wanted to tell my story to someone. Or maybe I just wanted to feel close to someone since Angel.
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.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call my friend in the police department to find some information about the employees in the club. Will, the boss, is so careful to clear everything that is related to the club. He doesn’t let anyone mess with his job. But I’ll get whatever I can find,” I massaged my temples.
“Uggh… and I need to find those photos. Angel didn’t use to like taking photos. If she wanted you to take some, it must have meant something to her. I need to find out what,” I added. My headache was getting worse.
“I’ll get an investigator for you to do the research for you. About the club, about your co-workers, whatever you need. I have some connection in the police department and high places. We’ll find out what happened. But now, you should get some rest.” Xander said determined.
“Climb the bed, Gorgeous. We’re sleeping.” Alex clapped his hands like a kid at Christmas to cheer me up and he attempted to take me in his arms but Xander tightened his arms around me.
“Let’s go to my room. Your room is so messy.” Xander said grumpily.
“Okay, grumpy ass. Go, I’m coming.” Alex called out behind us. Xander carried me down the hall like I weighted nothing.
“Flame? Do you need anything?” Xander asked and brushed his lips to my temple.
I didn’t know what I needed so I just leaned closer to his chest.
“Flame? You’re shaking. Are you cold?” he put me on my feet but didn’t let me go. His arms were my anchors. If he didn’t hold me I would fell.
“No…no,” I said with my chattering teeth.
“Lie down on the bed,” he ordered and pulled the comforter aside. I did as I was told and curle
d onto the bed, still covered with the robe Xander gave me.
I felt the bed sank behind me.
“Come here, Flame.” Xander pulled me toward him. I felt his warm and hard body behind me as his arms wrapped around me, making me feel safe and secure once again.
I silently lied in his arms for a while.
“Why are you still calling me Flame?” I asked him with my raspy voice.
“Because I want to,” he whispered back to my ear.
“I told you why he is calling you Flame, sweetheart.” Alex came to the room and jumped into bed next to me.
I remembered his words…a moth to my flame…
“Don’t believe whatever that bastard told you.” Xander said toward my hair.
“He didn’t say anything bad,” I said with a sad smile on my face. But I was glad they made me smile nonetheless.
“Yay! She is smiling.” Alex threw his fist to the air.
I shook my head at his childish behavior.
“I cannot believe he was born just five minutes later than me. He acts like he is twelve.” Xander groaned.
“Seriously. How old are you?” I asked. It was weird that I didn’t know anything about them yet, I was feeling so comfortable with them.
“I’m twenty-nine. He is forty-five.” Alex winked at me.
“I take that you are twenty-nine, right, Xander?” I turned my head slightly to catch his eyes.
“Yeah,” he answered as shaking his head to Alex. But he preferred to focus on me instead.
“You okay?” he whispered.
I took a deep breath and nodded.
“I’m feeling better. Thank you.”
“I can make you feel much better than this…if you want.” Alex said with nervous playfulness.
“Alex! Not the right time. Sleep.” Xander commanded angrily.
“Are you really offering me sex, right now?” I rolled my eyes at him.
“I just want you to feel better, relaxed. I just want to make you forget all the shitty things for awhile.” Alex murmured. He looked so guilty, innocent and cute at the same time.
“Alex! Quit it. Keep your dick in your pants and sleep.” Xander snapped at him.
