58- Boxes of Dylan

Following Tau to the second floor, they entered the main bedroom, and began their search. Tau focused on the large set of dressers across from the bed, while Quayleigh made her way over to the walk-in closet.

Inside there was a well-organized selection of three-piece suits, each hand-tailored to a perfect fit, pressed, and of the highest quality money could buy. Beneath, was a row of several pairs of dress shoes, polished to a shine. Next to them were a couple of drawers, and above those were three angled shelves with motion activated lights that turned on when she got near. The bottom shelf had several coiled, leather belts, next to a variety of belt buckles, and on the tray above were the matching tie tacks and cufflinks. And on the top shelf were ties, neatly folded, and arranged in a rainbow pattern.

As impressive as the business attire was, it was obvious that nothing in that closet had been touched in very long time, as even with the climate control and ventilation, a very fine layer of dust had managed to settle onto nearly every surface. And above it all, sitting on the upper most shelf that stretched the length of the closet were several boxes, a couple of hats, and some pieces of random luggage.

Reaching up she pulled down the first two boxes, one after the other, and set them onto the closet floor. In the first was what appeared to be his personal tax returns and other important paperwork, including the realty documents for the condo, and the paperwork for his car. Setting that aside, she opened the lid on the second box and began to search through it when Tau came in to join her.

"I didn't find anything aside from more clothing and under his bed were cases filled with things, but I don't know what they are. Have you had better luck?"

"Yeah. This is a box of stuff from his childhood by the looks of it. A couple of old baseball caps, and some pieces of school uniforms. Here's a couple of awards for public speaking, and some sports medals. This one is a first-place medal in fencing of all things," she said as she handed him the gold-plated medal on a thick black ribbon. "Pretty impressive, winning a national level competition."

"Hardly," he rebuked as he dropped the medal back into the box. "If it was swordsmanship or jousting at a tournament level then I might be impressed."

"Really? Not even giving the kid some credit?"

"None. Compared to the warriors of old, his achievements are akin to a child playing with a stick."

"Oh, that sounds like it struck a nerve," she remarked with a giggle. "You know, the world's changed a lot since the days of sword wielding warriors, Tau."

"Of that I am aware. The ancient tribes of these lands were known as the Vonsahal. Even my shepherds wept at the fall of their empire. The loss of their culture is a devastation, a travesty, the humans of this time don't even know about. Generations upon generations of noble Vonsahal warriors, refined their use of sword and bows into dedicated schools of study. They weaved magics that echoed across centuries, imbuing their blades in the fires of the forges that birthed them. When my shepherds gathered the souls of their dead on the battlefields, they would roar and howl and march with a pride of unsung sacrifice and victory in a chorus so loud it would shake the very dirt beneath our feet. Ih shuk hon ni! On we must go. Thune hon mauton reev! In death we find peace. The thought of their voices still gives me chills."

"It must have been something incredible to invoke such a reaction."

"It was. If only I could share such an experience with you. It would easily move you to tears." He paused and shook his head, "I apologize for the tangent."

"Don't you dare. Those memories are precious, and I want you to share more of them. Don't you ever hesitate," she stated as she finished repacking the box.

"As you wish, but I've a lot of memories to share."

"And I'll let you know if I ever get bored of hearing them."

Tau smiled contently as he looked down at her. "Did you find anything else?"

"Just a box of legal documents, but the last box up on the shelf was too heavy for me to lift."

"Then allow me," he remarked as he pulled down the last box and placed it on the floor in front of her, before grabbing the others and putting them back up onto the shelf.

"Bingo," she stated as she lifted the lid to reveal a plethora of loose photographs filling the box to the brim. "I'm going to let you carry this downstairs while I take a look at those cases you found in the bedroom."

Quayleigh moved out of the closet to see the cases open and sitting on the bed, instantly recognizing what Tau had mentioned.

"This is camera equipment. High end stuff by the looks of it too. Between this and those photos, I'm thinking you were a bit of a shutter bug. Whether it was just a hobby or something more though, that remains to be seen. I'll put these back and meet you in the living room."

Tau carried the box out of the room, as she took a moment to look over the equipment before closing the cases and placing them back under the bed, before heading down to join him.

Tau was already sitting on the couch and had pulled a handful of photographs out of the box by the time she sat down next to him.

"Dylan isn't in any of these," Tau remarked as he flipped through the photos in his hand.

Reaching into the box, she pulled out a stack for herself and began to look them over. "It's amazing how many of these have Francesca in them," she muttered as she began to stack the photos onto the table. "There must be hundreds of them. And they go back years. This one's time stamp is from three years ago. I wonder why Dylan and her hadn't married yet. They seem to have known each other more than long enough. And the way she looks at the camera in some of these, you can tell Dylan's the one behind it."

"These look like the pictures from his phone," Tau said as he placed a couple out on the table. "There was a couple on his phone of them together. The same mountain is in the background."

"Did they look happy together?" she asked as she cleared the last of the pictures from the box revealing a large photo album at the bottom.

"Yes, to me they did."

Removing the album, she shifted closer to Tau and set it on his lap.

"Quayleigh?"

"Yes?"

"Would you let me take your picture?"

"Sure. Maybe. Not today. Wait until my eye goes back to normal. Okay?"

"Okay," he replied as he wrapped his arm over her shoulder.

Leaning against him, she opened the cover of the black binder-style photo album, to a title page of heavy stock paper, embossed with golden lettering.

"Sayer and Anquiliria's 40th Wedding Anniversary. This is from two years ago," she said as she turned the page, to the first photograph of a stoic, yet happy looking couple.

"Is that them?"

"Yeah, this is them. Dylan's mother and father."

"They look quite happy, don't they?"

"That they do," she replied as she turned to the next page finding a full family portrait. "There's Dylan with Francesca," she pointed them out on the left side of the picture. "Even though they weren't married it certainly looks as if they had embraced her as a member of the family. And if that's you, then those two are your older brothers, and I'm guessing that one is his wife. So, any idea whether Caoimhín is married or not?"

"Would that be something he would make public?" Tau asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Probably. And that leads me to my next question, what's the name of your other brother?"

"It's Kyffin, according to this," he replied as he showed her his phone, a text message displayed on the screen.

"I know I'm not your favorite brother, but I need you to text me back. Everyone is starting to get worried. Even dad. Stop hiding from your problems and come home," she read aloud. "Oh dear. It looks like your time away is going to have to come to an end sooner rather than later."

"I wish that wasn't the case. I haven't learned nearly enough about how to be Dylan, and if I speak to them, I'm now concerned about what that will do to you. I can't be without you Quayleigh, even if that means abandoning them. This body is mine now, and I don't care what Dylan has to deal with, if, by some miracle, he can be returned to it. This is his mess to clean up, not mine."

"I get where you're coming from, but it's not that simple. We have to stick to the story that your memories were erased. And to them, memories or not, you will always be their brother and their son. This is the family you inherited with that body."

"Then why should I not just tell them the truth of what happened?"

"Because they will try to destroy you to get him back! I won't risk you, Tau. Not for some snot-nosed rich kid who played with magics he couldn't understand. All of these pictures, this house, the car, the cloths, he always got what he wanted. He probably didn't even think about the consequences of what he was doing, because consequences don't apply to these people. At least not normally. That's why I love magic though. It doesn't care who you are, how much money you have, or where you're from, the price is always the price, and the consequences are all the same. I feel for his family, I really do, because I know how much it hurts not knowing where a loved one is. It will be easier on all of them if you play the part of their son, and just tell them that your memories are gone. Now that Cole has removed the tattoo, there is no way for anyone to figure out what Dylan was trying to do, and Cole will only give the real answers to us. We can tell your family whatever we want. Then all you have to do, is nothing. Just slowly fade from their lives. Show up when they ask but separate from them before they get to close."

"Is that what you did with Cole?"

"Seriously? What did that asshole tell you?"

"He said that you were close once but now you're not. Did you push him away so that he wouldn't get close to you again?"

"My situation with Cole is completely different," she replied as she closed up the photo album and put it onto the table.

"Please explain it to me," he prompted her as she pulled her legs up and leaned against his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, I spent three years with Cole as my teacher, but he was also my friend. More like a brother really. He gave me a place to relax and not think about what else was happening in my life. When I was with him, it was all about the magic and the possibilities of the future. He made me believe that I could really have one. He was the first person who didn't want anything unreasonable from me. He just wanted me to show up and be present. To study hard, and to help out around his shop. But he also asked me to always be honest with him, no matter what, and for three years, I had been lying to him. Then everything came out, and I knew he was disappointed in me. Even though he told me that he understood why I was doing the things I was, I could see that he had been really hurt by me keeping so much from him. Then I was taken into protective custody, and I hoped that he would try and help me, but he never came. He didn't even show up to the trial, and that was when I knew that he couldn't forgive me for what I had done. I was humiliated, embarrassed, and after I ran from my last foster home, I couldn't bring myself to face him. I still, to this day, can't find a way to bring it up to him and talk about it. So, I just let it be. As much as I want to know why he didn't show up when I needed someone I could trust, it doesn't matter. We moved on, and yeah, there are some things left unsaid, but bringing them up now, it will just dredge up all that pain again, and it isn't worth it. We managed to find a way to be friends again, and that's better than nothing. But I have to say, the past couple of days, minus the pain, have been pretty nice. I haven't been able to spend time with Cole that way in years. It almost felt like old times again."

"The pain will pass," he remarked as he set his hand to her cheek. "Relationships that matter, they are always worth the risk. You should speak to Cole when you have a chance. And I was wrong. Your situation is different from mine. What I risk is inflicting pain on others by not coming forward. It is unfair of me to leave them wondering." He sighed and kissed her brow. "My only concern since I found you has been you. Nothing else has mattered in comparison. I should be grateful to Dylan for giving me this opportunity and treat his family kindly to show my appreciation."

"I think that would be the right thing to do."

"Then tell me, how should I reply to my brother?"