Presents from Afar.

Sitting in a public transport, Shade had his head lowered.

It was now past 1 in the afternoon.

Just a few hours ago he had left his house to visit Camille.

The journey itself wasn't too short but he had no grasp of time so he doesn't realise when he arrives at his stop.

Even if his mind was disturbed he didn't want to waste any more time after the initial delay caused by his sister.

Throughout his whole trip he could only think of Chandler.

To Shade, he was a person who excelled in every field of life, someone whose successful future was absolutely guaranteed. 

A person who always knew what to do and would always go out of his way to help others.

Chandler was his role model and the only person Shade thought he could trust. 

This was the first time in a while he was overwhelmed by his own emotions, and the time he had spent over years with Chandler kept unnecessarily flashing before his eyes as the destination came closer by each second. 

The more he got close, the more it felt like entering a restricted area. Each step felt equivalent to the feeling of committing an unethical crime.

After finally reaching the place, Shade waits for a few seconds to gather enough courage before ringing the doorbell.

The person who sent the letter was Camille who had always been a cheerful girl with a joyful personality, unfortunately that wasn't the case at that moment.

As the door slowly opened ajar, he saw Camille's face dyed in a gloomy expression. Her eyes gazed down and red eyes clearly indicating she had been crying before his arrival. 

For a moment the tension on his mind eases.

He wasn't the only person who couldn't handle the dreaded news and he was surely not the person impacted the most about it.

Even after four days she was looking pale and tired but the moment Camille saw Shade, an unpredicted smile formed on her face. 

"Shade! You came!".

Sense of guilt enters his mind and he forces a smile on his face as he replies with a bold words.

"Of course."

"Please come in. I- I was honestly waiting for you."

The house was currently empty as usual but his eyes caught some glimpses of used teacups.

Maybe a concerned relative?

After a short exchange of greetings they start talking about the accident but seeing her mentally breaking down by just talking about it, Shade steers the conversation in another direction.

Silently listening to Camille talk about her situation and vent out her feelings he feels culpable for his narrow thinking before.

He was close to Camille as an acquaintance but at the same time he never tried to lessen that distance.

The words he spoke to her were well decorated ones, all strung together perfectly without any actual signs of genuine empathy. 

Despite knowing her for years he didn't know what to say that would make her feel better rather than hurt her more.

After talking for a while her mood visually lifted and he leaves soon after receiving the said presents from her. 

As he bid her farewell, Camille smiles wholeheartedly at him with a hint of regret mixed in.

~•~

On his way back home, Shade remained like a mindless ghoul carrying the boxes. 

His fist clenched tightly inside his pocket.

Goddamnit.

He couldn't explain it but he felt extremely frustrated.

As he travelled back home, he held back his urge to hit something with full force dumping out all of his pent up feelings while watching the said object scatter in pieces.

After returning home he gently places the presents down. 

There were two boxes wrapped up. He sat down on his bed and opened them one by one.

The first box that had a few letters in it along with a file and a little box with a bunch of colourful lights flashing through it, which was containing a... black dice? 

A weirdly clean dice without any board or pieces, the dice looked so lustrous as if it was made from a piece of glass, whereas it was also unnaturally hard and heavy as if it was made of a metal. 

What is this dice supposed to do? 

Shade then tries to open the second box but it turns out to be locked. 

"Did she forget to give me the key for it?" 

Again he didn't think much about it and starts reading the letter attached to it.

========================

Hey Shade, Happy Birthday! 

I hope you like the dice I sent for you, also can you do me a favour? I'm sorry that I'm asking for a favour today but can you help me with an online article I'm writing on. The name is something like - 'Fate and Supernatural phenomenons'. 

If you want a tiny bit of help try reading the biography of the new business tycoon Edward Thompson, I found one in the library I once gave you the address of.

Well if you still can't find any material just ask people of your age in the biography section, they may know about that book.

Thanks Bud! I may not be free until 3 p.m. but better do it before 4 p.m. by today.

========================

"Ha..haha…"

He couldn't help but break into a bitter laugh.

Without a doubt this was one of Chandler's unnecessary puzzles by judging those specific mentions.

One thing everyone who was acquainted with Chandler knew about was his puzzles.

He had always liked giving other people trick questions and tests which would require a lot of thinking. 

Few people gave it some time and thought while others just simply ignored it, regardless Chandler just got happy in both cases till he didn't get rejected from the front.

Even after his death he left Shade with another mystery to solve.

Leaving the second letter for the last, Shade then proceeded to open the file filled with documents. 

At first he thought that it would contain some sort of hint for the task mentioned in the letter. 

Chandler always liked to give small hints separately to direct the solver to the right path. 

But his thoughts changed as soon as he read the contents of the documents. 

The documents had articles and stories of disturbing topics like - commotion caused by late arrival of recent public transport, dissociative amnesia disorder and vehicular manslaughter.

Was this a prank from Chandler to stop thinking about clichés? Or maybe information that would later be required? 

I don't know.

Since he couldn't figure it out with this much information he moved on to read the second letter which was the last accessible item left among the gifts. 

========================

20th April, 2021.

4:00 p.m.

Hello Shade, the dice you received is a hidden item, lock it somewhere and make sure nobody touches it. My gift to you would not be a relaxing one.

Sorry and all the best, Shade.

========================

20th April…

It meant Chandler had made all of this a day before his death. 

Hide that dice? Is this supposed to be a hint? 

Shade organised the presents and wrappers while he slowly laid down on his bed, closing his eyes.

Sure he wanted to solve the last puzzle left by his friend but there were many problems.

The puzzle was supposed to be set for the next month on Shade's birthday. If something like a specific event was supposed to occur it won't happen at that time or worse if Chandler hadn't even completed the preparations for the puzzle yet.

Finally calming down after some seconds had passed by in front of his eyes. Shade felt peace.

Only for it to vanish within seconds of it.

"What the heck!" He screamed loudly in the silent room.

He jumped up from his bed and quickly picked up the letter again and stared at it, unconsciously crushing the sides of the paper with his grip.

Something had connected in his head that he wasn't trying to connect.

How didn't I notice it before?

He stared at the letter as if it was a ghost… No, as if it was from a ghost!

It was either a mistake from Chandler's part or a misunderstanding Shade had created in his head.

Nonetheless he was feeling something complex. An emotion mixed with shock, disgust and fear, all combined just because of the date and time mentioned in the letter.

'20th April, 2021.'

The answer to why that date's mention shook him up was simple.

Chandler died 4 days ago.

Since today was the 25th, he didn't think much of it but Noelle, his sister, received this letter yesterday.

That meant that Chandler died 4 days before yesterday, the 24th.

Breathing unsteadily he remembers Camille telling him about Chandler's death.

He was waiting for his bus at a bus station, when a car hit him. The culprit was still in the hospital because of severe head injury.

The articles from the document started resurfacing on Shade's mind.

'Commotion caused by late arrival of recent public transport, dissociative amnesia disorder and vehicular manslaughter.'

None of that was exact but somehow it didn't feel completely unrelated.

Everything just eerily connected to the words Chandler used as if he knew, as if it was planned…

Without complete access to the information he didn't know if the time of death was accurate or not.

But a single online message to Camille could answer that.

Before that though, he still had one thing to do.

The library he showed, biography section from 3 to 4 p.m.

It was currently 3:23 p.m. so he tossed the letters and the dice inside his table's drawer and locked it as he dashed out of his house. 

"I hope he is there."

As he said that he felt intense shivers all over his body, he was running late so he didn't pay any attention to it…