Inferno (an Alpha fic)

i

Go to the protest, they said. It'll be fun, they said.

Okay, so maybe that's not actually what Aliyah said when she convinced me to go. Her and my brother are the reasons I'm here in the first place, though.

A couple days ago, my brother Elijah attended one of the first DC protests where the cops were allowed to use rubber bullets, flash grenades, and tear gas. He was on the front lines of the protest, leading chants and marching beside his own best friend, Afriye.

Both were shot at. Eli told Afriye to run ahead of him because, as a black man, they were more likely to gun for him first. He was trying to protect his friend. Afriye made it out with only a couple of bruises, but my brother wasn't so lucky. He has multiple broken bones and a severe concussion from the "rubber" bullets, one of which hit him directly in the skull. Since then, I've been wary and haven't followed the protests as much. I certainly haven't been to one; Eli would kill me if he knew I was here without him.

My best friend is paralyzed from the waist down, but even if that wasn't an excuse for her mom to keep her home from the protests, she would never be allowed to come. Her mom might be the most overprotective and strict parent there is. She's legally an adult, but to her mom, that doesn't matter. 

She wanted desperately to come. She's always been so passionate about politics, especially ones to do with African-American rights, seeing as it applies to her, too. But her mom hasn't let her go to a protest since she was a teenager, and I'd be lying if I said she doesn't have a good reason for it, as unfair as it is.

When Aliyah was fifteen, her mom let her go to a protest with her uncle- a Black Lives Matter protest, no less. It basically turned into a full-blown riot, and she was separated from her uncle and trampled by the crowd. That's why she's paralyzed in the first place. Everyone was so worried, but the first thing she wanted to do was go to another protest. Her mother refused, as she always has since then.

I thought maybe, since things have been getting so much worse, she might finally let her go. Instead, it's an excuse to keep her even closer. So Aliyah called up her last resort- me. 

"Please," she'd practically begged. "I know you don't like going to the protests-"

"Of course I don't! In case you've forgotten, your life was ruined at one, and my brother's was almost taken at one, too." I'd argued.

"Which is why it's important to me. To both of us. Please, just one. You know I can't, I already asked and she shot me down before I could get three words out. Out of all three of us, you're the only one able to go right now." The line had gone silent. She knew I wasn't all the way convinced. "For me? I'll be your best friend?" 

Finally, I'd caved. "Fine. Is there one today?"

"Yeah, I'll send you the information. Thank you, Andrea, really." I could already hear the happiness in her voice. If she couldn't go, at least her best friend was. 

"Don't mention it."

Except now, people are yelling and screaming and thrusting signs into the air so hard that their arms might go flying too, and it's entirely overwhelming. I've never been one for loud crowds, but I'm determined to stick it out. For Aliyah and Elijah. This is what she wants, so I'm not backing out.

The crowd surges around me, and I'm uncomfortably close to the line of police. Aliyah had given me the wrong time, so I'd gotten here an hour early and now I'm extremely close to the front of the protest. It's aggressive, but at least it's not a riot.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I fish it out, rolling my eyes at Aliyah's text. 

boo: Do you see him?