Silver

The Illusionist: Part I

My hair, curly and silver, shining like moonlight upon lake water, was caressed by the candlelight as I examined my physique in the mirror. I looked into my blue eyes and at my unnatural, ghost-like, pale skin and combed through my hair feeling its tangles and disorganization. The mirror was almost perfectly clean, but there were a few drops of crimson candle wax ruining the otherwise beautiful mirror. My room was horrendous; clothes were covering the chair of my desk and stains in my once-grey carpet. The window was covered by a heavy black curtain to keep the sunlight from entering my room throughout the day. There was a single candle by my mirror on a wooden shelf. On the shelf were stacks upon stacks over books and old sketches I used to draw as well as a few old letters that of which the names had already faded the envelope and my memory. There was also a necklace hanging on the door of my closet. It had two wires encapsulating a beautiful blood-red crystal and was hung by a black chain.

Once I had finished combing my hair, my attention was drawn to my phone, which sat on my messy bed that was cluttered with books, pens, pencils, and a video game controller. There was a thick, dark-blue blanket, nearly falling off of the bed, and a pillow with stars on it. I collapsed on top of the bed, strategically dodging all the excess mess on the bed and picked up the phone and unlocked it. I scrolled through my social media feed and liked a few pictures of guys and my friends and the occasional animal playing some sort of instrument. After getting off the app and looking through my notification panel, I noticed that I had gotten a voicemail from my Jacin. I reluctantly clicked on it, worried that he was only going to complain about his art classmates again. I began to listen to the voicemail, which was unusually short.

"Hello? Hey. I need to sh-show you somethin' later. I-I recorded it." His voice sounded uneasy, almost terrified. He continued, "I don't know what to do. If you're too busy, I can just text it to you. It's ok." The uncomfortable tone in his voice made me feel equally as nervous, but I lacked genuine concern because Jacin wasn't a very adventurous person, which meant that he must've been over exaggerating. That voicemail was from July 19th. It had been two months since he first sent me this. Two months without receiving another voicemail at all. Jacin usually called me every-so-often to tell me something that happened at school, but never enough to know if he was doing good or if something unpleasant had occurred that day. However, he had stopped doing so about six months before I got the voicemail. Aldez explained to me that he wanted to become more independent.

Suddenly, a knock broke through the silence of my house and I exited my room. The rest of the house was well-lit with natural lighting flowing in from the windows and a scent of fresh linen danced around my nose. The beige carpet was clean and felt like a cloud beneath my aching feet. The door was a light-brown wooden color and the doorknob was made of brass. I reached for the doorknob; it was ice cold and felt as if it were burning my skin. I twisted it and looked into the person's hazel eyes; it was Aldez Elure, my closest friend. Her tight, brown, curly hair fell just barely over her shoulders. She was wearing a denim skirt with an adorable sunflower shirt. She wore rounded glasses and she had an eager look in her eyes.

Aldez looked me up and down (I had only been wearing sweatpants) and said, "Oh looks like you forgot to put all of your clothes on again, dude!" She laughed a little bit and I blushed, and then she continued, "Hey! Are ya gonna let me in or are ya gonna keep starin' at me like a creep?"

"Ope! You're the one who showed up unannounced. So don't you dare snap at me!" I replied in a hostile, but friendly manner.

"Okay let me in!" Aldez demanded. She pushed her way through the door and, on her way in, she kicked my shin and laughed. Then, Aldez collapsed on the couch as if she had been dodging sleep for days, although her eyes were still as ecstatic as ever.

"So what brings you here?" I asked. She stared at me as if I had asked the most absurd question ever.

"I'm not allowed here or somethin'? Since when did you start cleanin' up? It smells so much better in here. Toldja." Her excitement seemed to flow endlessly. She began tapping her foot and looking around.