𝐀𝐳𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎

"it's the happy memories that hurt"

☘︎

"Go to my wardrobe and on the bottom shelf, you will see a big but not quite big box."

"Huh? How am I supposed to know what box that is?" I gave Azrael a questioning look.

"There's only one box in my wardrobe. You're smart. I'm sure you will get what I mean," He grinned.

"And if I don't find it?"

"Odelia... you will find it. I believe in you."

I did what Azrael told me in my last dream and dug out the box from his wardrobe.

It's really here... He's real right?

"What are you doing...?" Elijah questioned, his voice filled with scepticism.

"Doing what Azrael told me to do..." I mumbled as I lifted the lid slowly.

The three boys and Verena crowded around me as the box contents were revealed. Inside the box were a few scattered items, each carefully placed as if waiting for us. The first thing that caught my eye was an old, worn-out wristband, its faded colour showing years of use. I picked it up and handed it to Matthew. "For you."

Matthew's fingers brushed over the band, almost reverently. 

"I gave this to him during my first win against St. Augustine's High," he murmured, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I thought he lost it after the game... but I guess he kept it."

He clenched the wristband tighter and stared at it as if he was reminiscing about the moment.

I reached into the box again, pulling out a small, hand-bound journal, the cover worn and soft with age. I flipped through the pages and found scribbled notes and a few doodles that instantly reminded me of Kieran.

"Kieran, this is for you," I said, handing him the journal.

Kieran blinked in surprise, taking the journal from my hands and opening it slowly. His eyes grinned as he recognised Azrael's messy handwriting. "This was during the times when we were in class and we were just passing notes to each other since we were bored in class... We almost got caught by Mr. Thomson."

Kieran chuckled softly, the sound a mix of fondness and sadness. "He kept them all," he murmured, running his fingers over the scrawled notes and half-drawn doodles. "I can't believe it." He carefully closed the journal, holding it against his chest as if it were something fragile.

Verena shifted closer as she glanced back at the box. "There's more," she whispered.

I reached back into the box and pulled out a broken game controller, the buttons worn down from too many late nights spent gaming. I held it out to Elijah, who stared at it for a long moment before finally taking it from my hands.

Elijah's breath hitched. "I thought we'd lost this..." he said quietly, turning the controller over in his hands. "We were playing till dawn in his living room and it broke right in the middle of the final level. We promised we'd fix it together... but I guess we forgot." His voice cracked at the end, and he bit his lip.

As the boys took their turns holding their pieces of Azrael, the room grew heavy with silence. Memories hung in the air, swirling around us like ghosts.

"He wants you all to have this stuff," I said softly.

"You really met him in your dreams huh?" Elijah said quietly. I nodded.

"Did he tell you anything?" Matthew asked.

I shook my head. "He won't tell me much about himself. He just keeps asking me about everyone I guess..."

"Sounds like he's the same Azrael we knew... always keeping his darkness to himself and spreading joy to others..." Kieran mumbled.

Matthew nodded, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "He always had a way of making everything better, even when things were tough. I guess he's somehow still doing that, even now."

I put the now empty box back into the wardrobe. 

Azrael, I have accomplished what you had told me to do. 

A few minutes later after composing ourselves, we decided to head back to the car. Mrs. Greyson thanked us for coming and hugged each one of us. When she hugged me, I could feel the weight of her grief pressing down on her shoulders. It was as if she needed this embrace more than we did, trying to draw strength from us as we did from her.

Verena drove us back to Matthew's house. 

"Don't scratch my car," Elijah warned.

"I'm a good driver," Verena rolled her eyes as she settled into the driver's seat. Matthew mumbled something about "stop scaring my girlfriend" before we all settled into the car.