Aloura West | ✓

Chapter Twenty Nine

Aloura pushed open the apartment door, a dwalm feeling permeated her body. She felt confused, lost even. It seemed like every time she uncovered something new, it only complicated matters more. Aloura shut the door behind her, before leaning against it, her eyes tightly shut. Something she wished she could do to the world around her.

Elias turned into the corridor after hearing the door open and no one walking in, he frowned at the sight of the stressed girl; his heart breaking into a million pieces. "Aloura?" he called out as he took steady steps towards her. His eyebrows knitted together when she made no efforts of concealing her dejection. She was fine at work, what could have flipped her mood so suddenly? "What wrong?" he asked, placing two hands on her deflated shoulders and looking down at her in worry.

Aloura exhaled and looked up at Elias, who could have sworn he could almost hear her brain spinning with thoughts. Aloura swallowed, "I spoke to Annie about my parents." She started, and Elias suddenly made sense of her behaviour, his heart going out to her. Sure, he had lost both his parents too, but he knew they were never coming back. Losing a parent to something other than death leaves room for yearn and hope, entrapping one into a cycle of disappointment. "She uh told me some stuff."

Elias nodded again with soft eyes, and Aloura placed her hand on her head, she needed to sit down, and Elias could see that. "Do you want to sit and talk down?" he offered and Aloura nodded, so Elias guided them to the couch, before taking a seat. "You told me about a Dr Lee on the rooftop that night." Aloura told him, Elias nodded, although it wasn't a question. "Dr Lee is my dad."

Elias' world stopped spinning and for a minute, and his eyebrows furrowed. He wanted to stand up, and swipe the table clean, ask Aloura how long she'd known this. But what difference would it have made. Would he have not taken her in because of her father's actions. Would his heart not miss a beat at the sound of her name had he knew. So instead, he closed his eyes and inhaled. Aloura reluctantly spoke again. "He used to gamble and took a loan from the Dute gang."

Elias' eyes flew open, and he sat up right. "How do you know about Dute?" his voice was low, but only because he was scared. For himself, for Aloura and for whatever future they had, whether it be separate or apart.

Aloura sniffled, "they killed my mum." Elias had always known they were a brutal gang, after all they had threatened Kalian and Aloura life before, but he hadn't ever heard of a story where they followed their threats. Probably because they didn't live to tell the story.

That's how boss knew Aloura Elias thought. He turned his attention to Aloura, as if asking her why. Aloura shrugged at his silent question. "That's what I want to talk to my dad about."

Elias reluctantly nodded, not wanting a replay of last night events. "We have to stop them Elias." Aloura said after a moment, Elias' head snapped to hers, he scanned her face for a moment, in search of any indication of her joking. But he found none. Was she going crazy?

"They're an entire organisation Aloura, we wouldn't even stand a chance." Aloura knew this, so his words did nothing to deter the girl, instead, she just shrugged.

"On the rooftop we said we'd go to college; you want Kalian here. Don't you? Anything is worth what we stand to gain. What do you have to lose? A life that's not even yours because of them?" Aloura told him, she now sat at the edge of her seat, her hands grasping his forearm.

Elias looked down at her hand, and back at her, "we could die Aloura."

"Anything is worth what we stand to gain."

"Do you have a plan?" He asked after a moment of silence. He trusted Aloura, what she was saying was right. If they don't do anything now, Kalian will never come home, and Elias and Aloura would never go to college.