IV || [BL | MxM | Sci-Fi | Romance | Mystery]

The Ghost, Epilogue

He stopped to glimpse at the photos on the wall on his way downstairs. He knew the contents by heart, of course, - those frames have been there since he could remember himself - but he was curious what caught Iv's attention yesterday, and it's been a while since the last time he saw them, too.

The framed pictures didn't feature any family photos - previously the wall of glory at his father's office, they showcased various megastructure projects he designed, including the construction site of Serendip, the first extraterrestrial city in history, peaks of Noctis Labyrinthus looming in the horizon behind it. Another frame had a handwritten note scratched with a blue sharpie, 'I am here' with an arrow pointing at a minuscule human figure on a gargantuan platform in the middle of the ocean.

But Ray's eyes were glued to the smallest frame - unlike the rest, it featured a flat empty spot of land, with some trees in the distance and barely visible remnants of an old house buried under the vines. 

His father's last, dream project - building their family vacation home on this small spot he inherited from his family in Paraguay, which he never got the chance to start. Ray remembered Damian always dismissing any calls to put this land to proper use, saying he didn't move out of one farm to live on another.

He wondered whether there still were the blueprints for this house somewhere.

His gaze slid back to the frame with sharpie text, and then, the guitar next to it - it used to be his father's, too; Ray borrowed it occasionally for the hike trips or family gatherings. The last time he played it was Jake's birthday, and he suddenly wondered if he still remembered the chords to that song; then the thought that Iv never heard any live music struck him, and he took the guitar off the wall and checked if it was still tuned, determined to give it his best and play something in the evening. 

The strings sang a gentle intro, bringing an array of memories out of every crack and dent on the weathered lacquered wood. 

He put the guitar back on the nail and saluted to the frames as he marched towards the stairs.

"Thanks, Dad. Love you."

"Let's visit Erica first, it's on the way," mother's voice distracted Ray from his thoughts, and from observing the eight lanes of traffic stuck on the bridge.

"Huh?"

"Dee asked to take care of her before he left, so I've been doing it since."

"Ah, yes, sure," he rubbed his forehead, then reached to reset the navigator. "So that's who the flowers were for."

The spot was only a short stroll from the parking lot, but this five-minute walk across the deserted cemetery bathed in sunlight felt like a soothing journey to the gardens of Babylon to him. 

For a while he watched his mother planting roses, and then remembered to check the inbox that he'd been happily ignoring since he arrived, - no, came back home. 

To his surprise, the latest message was from Max, - a panorama of a snow-capped mountain with giant clouds crawling over it, several human silhouettes painted golden by the dawn, and a sole line "She said yes!!" accompanying it. He couldn't help but smile.

"Aw.." 

"Are you ok?" He rushed back to his mother.

"Yes, it's just a little thorn..."

As he reached for her glove, his eyes caught the familiar set of digits right above the rose bush.

He almost gasped but quickly got ahold of himself; having taken care of the thorn, he turned back to the inscription, pinching himself on the arm just to make sure he was not hallucinating.