Chapter Three

A Chapter by booksniffers

ELORA

I open my eyes to see a woman with short raven hair sitting next to me. I feel that I recognize her.

"Mom?" I say weakly.

"Oh dear you are awake. Thanks God. " the woman says trying to ignore my comment. She is not my mother. My mother is prettier than her, with her sweet musical voice that takes you to another world, filling your head with light and music. Of course she is not my mother. I remember everything now. I remember what I did. My biggest fault. The one that will keep its traces on every single part of me keeping me in the dark shadows of regret, looking for light for the rest of my life.

"How do you feel now?" She asks.

I can feel a severe pain in my shoulder.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Well, you were shot in your left shoulder and lost a lot of blood. So it is very important that you rest and eat well. In fact, we don't have much food but don't worry, I promise we will take care of you. What's your name? " she says, smiling.

"Elora. Elora Matilda Barsha." I say. I wonder what kind of name I have. Like seriously, what happened to my parents when they gave me this name?

"You have an interesting name Elora. I'm Catherine." the woman says, smiling.

"How long have I been here?" I ask.

"Three days. But don't worry you are fine now." Catherine assures me."Umm... I hate to say this but...but we have to know everything about you. You know we can't just let anyone in here." She continues.

"And what if I don't want to share my story with you? You will kick me out? You think I am a murder or something? Okay, fine then. I don't-"

"That is not what I meant. Look, I'm sorry. I know it hurts and it hurts a lot, but you have to tell us. At least tell me. I need that information." She says interrupting me. She does not know. No one does.

"Promise me you are not going to tell anyone." I say, after a half-minute silence.

"I promise."

I went back with my memory and supported her with the necessary details, and every time my tears appeared, I fought them back. I promised Mom. I promised her once that I won't show them my tears.

After what I assume two hours, Catherine came and handed me a black t-shirt and plain black pants that fit me perfectly and a pair of black converse, so I was all dressed in black. She then takes me to a place I assume is the girls dorm. It's a large room with plenty of beds and a small closet with a drawer next to each one.

"This is our new friend, Elora." Catherine says smiling, just like how Mrs. Pruitt introduced me to the class when we moved to Alice Springs five years ago.

"Hi Elora." all the girls say. They are a lot, I lose count.

"Take good care of her, girls. She is injured" Catherine says.

"I'm fine." I say, offensively.

"If you want anything, just let me know, okay? This is your medicine. You have to take it every eight hours to reduce the pain in your shoulder." She says handing me my medicine. She kisses my forehead and taps on my right shoulder "Take care dear. See you around." Catherine says smiling, and I nod thanking her.

I choose a bed next to the window. Five girls approach me while the others stay where they are, wearing I-don't-give-a-damn face. They tell me about the safe haven, the system, the rules, the meals and support me with details I need to know.

"What are your names?" I ask.

"I'm Isabelle, and those are Amy, Claire, Angela and Kate." Isabelle says pointing at each one of them. She has her beautiful red hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her blue eyes gleaming with happiness. She is longer than I am. Well, everyone is. "Tell us about yourself."

"I'm Elora. Elora Matilda Barsha and I'm eighteen."

"Wow. What a name!" Amy says with a wide smile. "You are so pretty Elora Matilda."

"Oh thanks dear although I'm not really sure about it. And call me Elora, or El. The name Matilda causes me nausea." I say, and they all laugh.

"Come on girls. It's time to prepare lunch." A middle aged woman with short black hair shouts from the doorway. Amy, Claire, Angela, Kate and some other girls go with her while Isabelle stays next to me on my new bed.

"Well, lucky us." Isabelle says, "I haven't figured out what to work yet. And you are injured, so they won't mind. Come on I'll show you around." And I follow her down the stairs that lead to where most of the people are sitting in circles. She leads us to a small group of people.

"Brooklyn, this my new friend, El. El, this is Brooklyn, my brother." Isabelle says with a big smile on her face. I shake hands with Brooklyn that looks so much like his sister, except that he has brown hair. Good genes must run in their family.

"Hello El. Welcome to Alice Springs safe haven where most of the people are homeless and depressed. Enjoy!" he says and we all laugh. It's the first time I think about it this way. I'm homeless.

"Those are my friends, Albert, Christina, Jeff, Mia and Jawad." Brooklyn says introducing his friends. I shake hands with almost all of them, but when I reach Jawad, he puts his hand on his chest with a small smile on his face. "Sorry, but I don't shake hands. I'm Muslim." And I stand there like an idiot with my hand extended in front of me.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know." I say putting my hand on my chest like him. "Don't worry." He replies, still smiling. He has a sharp jaw line and a very small beard that grows on his light brown skin. He has broad shoulders with muscles covering them. He is so handsome, it hurts. And as I stare at his beautiful strange colored eyes, something deep inside tells me that he would be an adventure better than anything I've went through, better than anything I've heard of, and better than anything I've read in all my books combined.

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© 2015 booksniffers

Author's Note

Hope you are enjoying the story. Don't be silent readers :D Comment your thoughts and tell us if we should change anything. Have a nice day! :)

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Reviews

Kyle Wynn

Good read, a few grammatical errors. Like when you say 'I need those information.' it would probably be better to say 'I need that information.' Other then that I thought it was good! Keep it up!