Chapter 20 – Disappearance

-Earth

The sleek subway was running over the railway so fast that the world sliding by the window became a hazy blur. Inside, people were invading each others’ personal space, jostling back and forth each time the vehicle accelerated or slowed down. As the windows were whistling, sucking in the stale tunnel air, there were small movements among the passengers. Most periodically checked their phones, playing a game or reading texts. Others read books, did crosswords or simply watched the passing scenery through the shaking windows; anything to avoid an eye contact.

As a voice announced the next stop, a young man stood up from his seat. From afar, he looked like a proper adult. However, up close, there were still some childish facial features betraying his young age.

“Alex? What are you doing?” Another passenger asked.

“I’m getting off,” the young man announced.

“Already? That’s not your stop.”

“I have to go somewhere today.”

“Is that so? Well then, see you tomorrow!”

“Yeah.”

The brakes squeaked and everyone became careful not to fall as the subway came to a stop. The doors opened with a gasp of air and passengers arrived and departed, jostling one another. In the rush hour, the subway station was a seething mass of impatient people. It was a challenge to navigate through the crowd with so many people, each heading to their respective destination.

Once out of the subway, Alex moved along in the thick crowd, orienting himself by intersections. The city was a maze of streets and alleys. Tall buildings were smudged by a sunless sky filled with smog and the streets were so busy that you could hear the incessant honking of the vehicles even from the darkest alley.

The young man trudged along the street at an unusually slow pace, somewhat nostalgic. The scraggy clouds were rolling in and he had no motivation or energy. It was a day of melancholy. He was not the kind of person who was always sentimental and thought about the past a lot, but today was a special day, so he couldn’t help but revive childhood memories.

It was her first anniversary of death.

Recalling the days when she was still here, before he knew it, Alex had arrived. He was now facing an apartment complex. The building was large and made with old-fashioned bricks, making it look as if it was ancient. Among the modern buildings made of glass and steel, the complex looked out of place. On the ledge, pigeons were peering down at him. Used to being fed by some of the tenants, they were probably waiting for him to drop something to eat.

22 Haven Street. It was here.

The elevator had been out of service for a couple of days now. The residents were forced to climb the stairs and there has even been a few cases of elders falling, forcing the landlord to take action and invest in renovations. Fortunately for him, Alex was only going to the first floor. Yet, his brain was still struggling to tell each foot to take the next step. He wasn’t tired or anything, but his body just refused to go further.

One year was not enough.

The young man was still not ready to return there and face the reality. But no matter how slowly he walked, he still arrived at his destination. Next to the door he was facing, a mailbox was fixed on the wall, with a single name written on it.

‘Woods’

A little apprehensive, Alex rang at the door and waited. Only a few seconds later, he heard the approaching of footfalls. There was the noise of a key in a lock and the door opened. Standing before him was a middle-aged man. His eyes were bleary; Alex could tell he was exhausted, both physically and mentally. This man was his uncle, David Woods. He was in his late fifties, but life didn’t go easy on him and he aged much faster than he should have. He looked much older than his real age.

“Hello Alex.” He said, as he invited the young man to come in with a weak smile.

“Hello,” Alex responded. “Sorry for being late, there was traffic congestion.”

“It’s okay, I’m grateful enough that you decided to come.”

“Is Aunt Helen here?”

“Yes, she was waiting for you.”

Closing the door behind him, the young man noticed the bare walls devoid of the usual framed pictures and the boxes full of clothes and other stuff replacing the furniture that once stood there. He had always thought that this place was small, but now that it was empty, he could see how large it really was.

His uncle and his aunt were moving.

It has been a year since their daughter passed away and after grieving for months, it was time to move on. However, they couldn’t do it by staying here. This place and this city were full of painful memories. Down the street, there was the school where she once attended. A little furthermore, there was her favorite restaurant, where they used to go every week-end. Next to the shopping mall, there was the playground where she learned how to ride a bike. It was as if the whole world was conspiring to remind them of her. So they decided to leave and today, Alex came here to help them pack up.

Entering the kitchen, the young man saw his aunt Helen seated at the table, looking at a sketchbook with a melancholic, yet amused smile. Just like his uncle, she seems drained. As Alex approached, Helen finally noticed him.

“You’re here? Sorry for bothering you, you must be busy.” She said with a gentle voice.

“It’s fine. I was the one who proposed to help after all.” Alex answered.

The young man leaned across the table, trying to take a look at what his aunt was staring at so emotionally. “What are you looking at?” He asked.

Helen didn’t respond. Instead, she just handed him over the sketchbook.

It was a child’s drawing. In the middle, there was a stick figure wearing a cape with random hearts drawn around it. Alex couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. The figure had long braided hair, big eyes framed by long lashes, and was holding a rose in its hands. Right next to it, there was something that looked like an animal. Judging by the single horn drawn on its head, he was guessing that it was a unicorn.

“What is it?” The young man asked, squinting at the sketchbook.

“Her Prince Charming,” Helen sneered.

This was Prince Charming? Alex winced, as he tried to take another look at the drawing. But no matter how he looked at it, it just seemed to be one of these androgynous guys that you could find in Otome games. And a unicorn? Obviously, his cousin had a terrible taste.

“And here I thought she hated cheesy romances…” Alex said with a sarcastic tone.

“It hasn’t always been the case,” Helen mumbled, as a sad smile drew on her face before she fell silent again.

The young man could tell that she was struggling to hold back the grief. It was just a stupid drawing. Yet, this one stupid drawing was enough to evoke old memories. And one memory aroused another, until there was nothing to remember. Her smile, her voice, the warmth in her eyes… Everything was slowly wilting away from their memories. Realizing the finality of death, Helen suddenly remembered that she was not ready to say goodbye, even though her daughter was already gone.

As tears started to silently flow down on his aunt’s face, Alex knew that he had to say something. Still, he couldn’t find the right words. In this situation, there was nothing that could make her feel better. One year was not enough.

“She is in a better place, now.” A voice suddenly spoke up.

Turning in the direction of the voice, Alex noticed his uncle David. Walking into the room and stopping at his wife’s side, David started to pat her shoulders.

“She is in a better place now,” he repeated with a forced smile. “There is nothing to worry about.”

Once again, Helen didn’t reply anything. She just kept looking at the sketchbook with tender eyes, as if it was her own daughter. There was no way to comfort her, not today, so Alex decided to give her and his uncle some time alone as he silently left the kitchen.

Wandering in the house, thinking about what he could do to help, the young man eventually stopped in front of a wooden door. It was giving access to a small room, her room –or at least, it was supposed to become her room, but she never got to use it. After hesitating a bit, Alex pushed the door.

The first thing he saw was a figure sitting on the floor. For a split of a second, he thought –hoped- that it was her, but it wasn’t.

“Hey.” The figure simply said with a husky voice.

It was a young boy, dressed in the usual torn jeans and hoodie of teenagers, whom Alex immediately recognized. It was Jonas, one of his cousin’s friends.

“You’re also here to help?” The boy asked.

“Yeah.” Alex replied. “What can I do?”

The boy shrugged. “Don’t know. We’re supposed to sort out what can be kept and what needs to be let go, but there is just paper here. Mountains of paper.”

Jonas was right. The room was fairly new and lacked some personality. There were barely any personal belongings here. With only a bed, a desk and a closet, it looked more like a cheap hotel room than a teenage girl’s room. The only things that were out of the ordinary were the scent of paper in the air and the piles of notebooks and sheets everywhere. Drawings, mostly, but also some texts. The only things that she left behind.

Sorting things was never an easy task, but when the stuff you had to sort all had the same sentimental value, it was even more difficult. Considering the amount of paper there was, it was clear that not everything could be kept. But how were they supposed to choose what was to be kept and what was to be thrown away when it’s all the same thing? Should they keep the oldest drawings or the most recent ones? The most detailed or the most beautiful? The only one who could tell was no longer here.

Unable to choose, Alex took a glance at Jonas, trying to determine how he was coping with the situation. He was silently chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

As the young man approached, Jonas shifted his attention on him and showed him the sheet of paper he was looking at, still chuckling. It was another drawing, slightly better than the one Alex saw just before. Stick figures again, except that this time, there was also a dragon. The reptile seemed angry, breathing fire in the air and holding a girl. Next to it, a man was wielding a sword. He had a crown drawn on his head, so he was probably a king, or a prince. And on the bottom of the page, a single word was written in capital letters: ‘CHARIZARD’

“Can you believe that she was the one who drew this?” Jonas asked with a mocking grin.

“Well, she hasn’t always been good at drawing.” Alex responded, unable to hide his smile.

“Yeah, I can see that. Why Charizard, though?”

“Who knows?” The young man shrugged. “At some point, she used to be quite obsessed with Pokémon. Do you know what was the first thing she wanted to do after being discharged from the hospital?”

“Eating a hamburger?” Jonas tried to guess.

“Worse. Playing Pokémon Go.”

The boy widened his eyes, clearly no believing what he just heard. He knew that his friend has always been a little special, but he couldn’t believe that the first thing she wanted to do after years of being bedridden was to hunt pixels in the streets. For a few seconds, he just blankly stared at the young man, trying to guess if he was being serious or not. However, the awkward silence did not last, as they both soon burst out laughing.

Alex and Jonas never really got to know each other. They met for the first time a year ago, at the funerals. Back then, they didn’t talk much. It wasn’t exactly the best day to make new friends. After that, they bumped into each other several times. When you lived in the same part of the city, it wasn’t that rare to see a familiar face. Still, their exchanges had always been brief, and somewhat awkward. Not wanting to evoke painful memories, they avoided talking about her. However, since they didn’t know each other personally, they soon ran out of things to say.

Today was different. Maybe because it was her death anniversary or because they were in her room, but the mood didn’t seem as heavy as usual. The two boys kept discussing for a moment, while continuously browsing in the piles of paper. After avoiding the subject for a year, they started trading stories and sharing memories about her. In the end, they spent more time looking for weird drawings to make fun of than to actually sort things.

“Uhm? I think I got something.” Jonas eventually said, as he took out a small box, mostly hidden among the piles.

There was some dust on it, but even though it seemed like an ordinary cardboard box, Alex immediately recognized his handwriting on it.

“Congratulation, you’ve found me. What does it mean?” Jonas asked, reading the message written on with a broad tip marker.

“It’s a gift. For her hospital discharge.” Alex explained. “I had completely forgotten about it. I hid it here for her to find, but well, you know…”

“Oh…”

Jonas didn’t add anything. He just kept staring at the box in silence, like a curious child. Alex could tell by his eyes that he was eager to know what was inside, but he didn’t dare to ask, feeling that it would be rude, since it was originally meant for her.

“You know, you can open it if you want.” The young man finally told him. “It doesn’t really matter anymore.”

As he said this, Jonas drew his head backwards, before a slight flush appeared on his face, showing his embarrassment as he clearly didn’t expect me the young man read through him.

“Okay,” he mumbled, trying to hide his reddened ears.

Using a pair of scissors, Jonas sliced the tape at the ends of the box and down the middle, being careful not to damage what was inside. Once the tapes completely removed, he unpacked the box and revealed its content. It was a small device, delicately wrapped in a piece of cloth.

“No way!” The boy exclaimed. “Is that…”

“A Galaxy S7 Edge.” Alex interrupted him. “Pretty cool, isn’t it? There is even the Gear VR included.”

His mouth agape, Jonas stared at the young man with an almost stupidly dumbfounded face. “You bought her a cell phone?” He asked.

“I didn’t.” Alex replied, shaking his head. “Her parents were the ones to buy it, I only chose the model.”

“Dude, she would’ve loved it! It’s too bad she never got to use it…”

“Yeah,” the young man mumbled with an almost inaudible voice.

His cousin never had a phone. The hospital forbade the use of cell phones since apparently, their signals could potentially disrupt medical equipments. Seeing so many teenagers using them, her parents always felt guilty not being able to offer her one. So once they learned that she would be discharged soon, the first thing they wanted to buy her was a phone. However, his uncle and his aunt were not familiar with all the new technologies, so they asked him to choose for them instead.

Alex did not have that much knowledge in phones either, but he was still in a better position than them to pick something that she would like. He ended up choosing a model that was popular among his friends. As long as it had a long-lasting battery life and a processor strong enough to run Pokémon Go, it was enough.

After that, David and Helen saved some money, and somehow managed to purchase the phone second-hand. It did not have its original packaging anymore, but it was still in perfect condition. Then, together, they decided to surprise her by hiding it in her room. Finding a surprise gift after returning home. It would have been the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, life decided otherwise, and they all forgot about it.

“Is it still working?” Alex asked. “It remained here for over a year after all.”

“Wait a second, I’ll try turning it on.”

Jonas pressed the power button of the phone for a while. Just when he was starting to think that the battery was dead, the logo Samsung appeared on the screen, indicating that the phone was loading.

“Looks like it’s working!” He exclaimed, a huge smile drawing on his face.

It took about a minute for the device to boot up, before the lock screen appeared. As he saw the phone’s wallpaper, Jonas slowly shifted his gaze on Alex.

“Is that her?” He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

The young man nodded. “Yeah.”

The phone’s wallpaper was showing a family picture, taken in a restaurant. A couple and a little girl, who looked about five years old, were sitting at the table –David, Helen and their daughter. The little girl was turned away from the table and seemed distracted, not looking at the camera. Helen was trying to make her seat properly, and David was rearranging his posture. They didn’t look very well organized, but they all looked happy.

“She looks so different here!” Jonas exclaimed. “The Ails I knew was depressive, never smiling and had this gloomy aura shouting ‘don’t come near me’ around her. I wish I had known her then. How was she like?”

“Brighter,” Alex answered, after thinking for a while. “Always smiling and running around, to the point that it was almost annoying. If you took your eyes off her for a second, she disappeared the next one. And once you found her again, she was almost always in trouble…”

Remembering the days where he had to run after her, the young man let out a loud sigh. Amused, Jonas chuckled. For him, who has always known her as a calm and indifferent person, it was hilarious to imagine her younger and hyperactive version.

As his chortles subsided, Jonas returned his attention on Alex, showing him the phone. “So, what do we do with this? I’m guessing that we’re not throwing this away, right? It’s still in a good condition.”

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, pondering. “I’m not sure… I see no point in keeping it. It’s just an ownerless cell phone.”

“So… Sell it?” The boy suggested, tilting his head to the side.

While their daughter was still alive, David and Helen contracted a lot of debts in order to pay for her treatments. The insurance money wasn’t enough to pay back all the loans, so selling the phone was not a bad idea. They needed money, even a little. Besides, even if they were to keep it, neither David or Helen would be able to use the phone. Theirs was digital, so Alex knew that they would not know how to use a smart phone. However, he was still a bit unwilling to sell the phone, considering that it was originally meant for her.

“Uhm… I guess I’ll just ask my uncle and my aunt.” Alex finally said. “They were the one who bought it after all. They might want to keep it, since it does have a sentimental value.”

“Like everything else here,” Jonas added before letting out a complaining sigh.

Ignoring the boy’s last remark, Alex headed to the door. “I’ll be right back, so don’t make a mess,” he said, half joking.

Without uttering a word, Jonas simply replied with a wry smile.

The young man left the room, closing the door behind him. Assuming that his uncle and his aunt would still be where he left them, Alex headed to the kitchen. However, he barely had the time to take a few steps when he heard a huge crash coming out of the room he just left.

‘Just when I told him not to make a mess…’

Retracing his steps, the young man returned to his cousin’s room.

“Jonas, you okay?” He called out, as he approached the door.

No answers.

Alex pushed the door, and as it opened with a creaking sound, a blast of cold air streamed past him. Without warning, he was suddenly blinded by the whitest light that he had even seen. The light seared into his eyes before he had even the time to close them. Out of reflex, the young man brought his hands before his face, in a useless attempt to block the light that was assaulting him.

After a few seconds, the flash disappeared. Alex blinked several times, trying to recover his sight. He closed his eyes for five seconds, and then opened them briefly before repeating the operation a couple of times. Slowly, the loose forms of colors became clear, and Alex regained his vision completely.

Confused, the young man looked around him, trying to understand what just happened. However, all he could see was just the same room a before. White walls, a wooden floor, a bed, a desk, a closet and endless piles of notebooks and sheets. Did he imagine it?

An unsettling feeling growing in his chest, Alex kept inspecting the room. After a while, as he started to think rationally again, he finally noticed something missing –someone.

“… Jonas?”

Gone.

He was there just a few moments ago, but now, he was completely gone, leaving no trace behind. He just simply disappeared.