All That Remains

Day 9

"Where is it?" I mutter as I frantically search for a tie. The spring dance is in just a few hours, and I seem to have misplaced my tie. Again. I'm starting to think that this thing has a mind of its own. I go back to where I could have sworn I put it and look around again. Not on the couch. Not on the chair. Not on the bookshelf. Not on the box with weird mystic runes. Not on the... wait. Box with mystic runes? I turn around and look at the box like it is an alien thing that suddenly popped up in front of me.

I remember the box, but I thought I had put it on the dining room/kitchen counter, not in my bedroom on my desk. Picking it up, I notice that the brakcia are still in it, so I take them out. I am once again stunned by their beauty and intricacy. Whoever made them deserves a medal or something. As I'm going to put the box back on the counter, I notice my tie laying there. I snatch it up and head to a mirror. Upon arriving at one in the hall between the living room and guest room, I realize that the brakcia are still in my hands somehow. "That's strange," I think, "Didn't I put you back in the box?" Sadly, they provide no answer.

I set them on a nearby table and proceed to tie my tie. I've always like this one in particular. It is a deep almost metallic red with dark purple stripes running diagonally across it. In the center, gold letters pop out against the dark background, their color forever memorializing my mother. Shortly after her death, I was given this tie with her initials stitched onto it by a family friend. After approving of my appearance, I start to head toward the door when I remember the brakcia and decide that I should put them back in their box. I grab them from the table I had placed them on and gently arranged them in the box. Only then do I notice a series of symbols that resemble actual letters on the box itself. I took a closer look at the line of scribbled letters, straining to read them and learn their secrets. Finally I managed to decipher it. But they still didn't make any logical sense. All that I could read was "Razark and Chase." I kind of found it a little creepy that my name was on the box, but I guess it shouldn't surprise me. After all, it was delivered to my doorstep. Though who is this "Razark" person? And why is his name on the box next to mine? Eventually, I set all those thoughts away. I glance at the clock and realize that I still need to go pick up Ellie. I rush out the door without another glimpse at the box.

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"Ellie, wow, you... you look incredible," I say, more than slightly dumbfounded. I'm standing in her kitchen talking to her mom, Mrs. Rachel Helior, when she walks into the room. I swear that all of the lights in the room turned toward her to shine their light on her, just to give her that much more glow. Her dress is a deep blue one with beading all down the front. She wears a necklace made of gold and stunning red gems of various sizes, its length swooping down to almost reach the sweetheart neckline on the dress itself. On her left arm she wears a gold bracelet which winds around her arm like a pair of snakes. It spans the length of her forearm, sharply stopping at her elbow. In its center, a deep blue gem, matching her dress's color, rests.

Her brown hair falls in waves down her back, some of which is draped in front of her right shoulder. Her beautiful green eyes are slightly cast down when she first enters, only to rapidly make their way to meet mine. She smiles at my comment and my speechlessness. Mrs. Helior looks to her daughter and simply says to me, "You are one lucky young man."

I blush just a little as I respond, "That I most certainly am Mrs. Helior. That I am." I step forward to take Ellie's hand as we walk out the door.

"Have fun, you two! And be safe!" Mrs. Helior calls out to us as I start the engine of the car I borrowed from an old friend. I personally couldn't afford my own, but he was gracious enough to lend me this one for the night. Ellie and I ride in silence for a while. I notice her constantly glancing over at me and then turning away when I try to return the look.