Charlie found out after a long vacation the surprise the music teacher mentioned last year, when he received the schedule of classes he noticed there was an additional class; it was the music one that is no longer optional. Later, the teacher explained that the school last year received a higher funding from the government due to the high success rate of students that reflected the power of the school's educational system; she saw the opportunity and mentioned the absence of the musical instruments, the responsible took some time before agreeing and now they have instruments they can learn more efficiently that is the real surprise.
Charlie was delighted when he thought he could finally start learning properly to play the violin, but when he found out the class is just twice a week and the violin will not be taught every period he felt disappointed.
His birthday was after two months, usually his aunt call his parents to remind them to throw a small party and if she couldn't come, she sends a gift and video call them and attend virtually like this time. It was Sunday, he woke up excited knowing its his birthday, even if he didn't invite his friends he will get to eat a delicious cake, make a wish and open presents that he spent the whole week thinking what they could be. When he went down stairs he heard his aunt talking to his father through the phone that was on speaker, "You give it to him after he sees your present and I am warning for the last time; don't you dare touch it again or think about selling it. Believe it or not I will come personally to break your arm. "
His father defended himself quickly: "I don't gamble anymore, you know I learned my lesson. ". Of course he won't dare; after he lost the house he lived in to pay the debt and after getting beaten up by his younger sister before she gave him the keys of her house and thinking about the possibility of his family being homeless because of his dumb decisions he want to beat himself.
Marie saw Charlie standing by the stairs from the phone and changed the topic, "Here comes the birthday boy, Happy birthday!! "
Charlie took the phone from his father and sat on the couch to chat with her, "Good mourning aunty."
"What a sweet little boy, good morning. Are you going to blow the candles now or wait until the evening? "
"I will do it now, what do you think I should wish for? "
"Anything you want, I am sure you though about it for the whole night. Can you tell me? I promise I will keep it a secret."
"It is only one wish a year, of course I have to think it thoroughly. Buy I can't tell you, what if it doesn't come true? "
"OK, I won't ask anymore. ", then she shouted for her brother to bring the cake. He put it on the table in front of Charlie, and lit the candles.
Charlie looked at the burning candles still arranging the words in his mind, he closed his eyes and wished in his heart that he can have a violin and be able to play it like professionals then he blew the candles.
His parents took him to the back yard to discover the gift they prepared, when he saw the red bicycle shining under the sun he felt a great joy, he can go to the park in a short time now!!
" Although it is used, it works just fine."
"Thank you!"
"Your brother was the one who painted it; he said you will like it better if it is red."
Charlie looked at his brother who avoided his gaze and thanked him. They went back in after he played with the bicycle for a while. Then his father brought a bigger box he had seen the mailman deliver a few days ago.
Marie said: " It's the gift I sent, give the phone to your mother to hold so I can see properly when you open it."
The box had a fragile notice on it so Charlie held it carefully after giving the phone to his mother. In front of his eyes lay a familiar black case, he thought it was impossible for his wish to happen so soon but when he opened it he saw a wooden instrument. He was in loss of words and caressed it gently, Marie's voice woke him up from his daze.
"You like it? I asked a friend who collects them to choose it for me, I was afraid I will get a bad one. So how is it?"
Charlie took the phone and answered, "Wonderful.". Then added, " I will make sure to take care of it."
"One small thing left, from now on you will have violin lessons on weekends, is that good? I told your parents and they agreed, my friend recommended a teacher from your city and I contacted him, you can start from the next weekend."
Charlie looked at her on the phone not knowing how to express his gratitude and just repeated the same words, "Thank you, thank you soooo mush! Thank you. "
From the day he got his violin he cherished it and fell deep in love with learning it; practicing everyday to be able to play the first concerto he heard. He played when he was happy, sad, angry... The violin became his resort that shield him from loosing himself even after the death of his father. Later he occasionally played with the local orchestra since he was busy with college, he chose to study finance in order to leave the violin as his shield he knew if he specialized in it, it may lead to stealing the support the violin offered him and the joy he felt while playing.
Alan and Razel entered the concert hall, the first held the card of the soul in his hand trying to spot any difference in color while the second looked at the stage looking for any signs of resentment energy.
Razel detected a faint resentment energy and the white card in Alan's hand turned into a light gray color.
"Is he here?", since Alan can only see the change of the color he didn't know what Razel saw.
" Maybe; the energy is coming from the back stage we should go there to find out "
" And who should we take the identity of this time? Only staff is allowed, what about the conductor?"
"The conductor may be good since no one will stop him but what if someone asks about the upcoming show or ask about something we don't know?"
"What about pretending we are looking for someone plays in the orchestra? "
"We are looking for someone but we don't know if he is there."
"What about those who are moving things here and there? I didn't see anyone talking to them, we can just wear the same clothes and enter."
"No need to wear, I got this.They will think we are wearing the same thing."
They walked hurriedly to the back stage and circled around, suddenly the card turned a darker gray and Razel saw a faint resentment in the corner.
"We found him!!", Alan almost screamed from surprise.
" We didn't find a thing; he was here earlier but he left. When we are very close to him the card should turn completely black. The soul may not stay in one place all the time, so when it goes to a place it will leave some energy behind that dissipate with time. The resentment is almost faded, so maybe he was here before two days approximately."
"Let's go to the next place then!"
"Wait, we won't just be going here and there. We need to find clues, such as why he was here?"
"Didn't his soul shatter? It is written in the book that when souls shatter they usually don't have complete memories, so maybe he remembered this place and wanted to see if he can remember something when he comes here.", After saying this, Alan realized he can do the same thing to remember and know the truth behind his suicide; he will need to think if any details from the missions are similar to his and connect the dots to uncover the truth. From the moment he knew he had committed suicide, he thought something was wrong. He didn't feel like he was someone who will let go of their life because of simple problems but someone who cherished his life. So the reason may be more than he can imagine.
"Maybe, but we have to look further. Watch and learn."
Razel started looking through the cabinets to find any clues. When he saw an employee coming their way he said loudly, "I don't know where I put it, help me I need to find it quickly. ", then he winked at Alan signaling him to play along.
"Ahh, where can we find such a small thing? Just forget it, notify them and they will contact you if they find it."
The employee approached them and asked, "What is the problem?".