Alan looked from the window as Razel stopped the car in front of an unknown house.
"Is this the house of his violin teacher?"
"No, tell me what you figured out before we ring the bell. One sentence; no need to waste time."
"He was looking for his violin. Is this his house? Didn't you already came here?"
"Yes, he is looking for his violin most probably. This is the house he lived in for years before going to college, he may come here to search since this house should occupy a not very bad part of his memories even if his soul had shattered."
Before Razel could ring the bell, Alan asked so he could prepare himself, "his family lives here, right? I need to pretend to be his classmate again, what about you?"
"I will be a classmate too, we are going to say that we didn't know he died until his music teacher told you and we came to visit his family as his good friends and give our condolences."
"You need to change your appearance again; you don't look young enough. By the way, are we going to enter without bringing anything? Flowers will be good."
"Not just me; you think I will let anyone see your real face? What if you knew them before you died and they recognized you?"
Alan finally understood why the employee from the concert hall didn't doubt them; Razel should have changed their appearances to look like one from the actual temporary workers.
They had to go to a flower shop to buy the flowers since Razel can not teleport them because he doesn't have ones suitable for this situation in any of his houses.
"Which ones are better?", Razel was hesitant in front of the multiple flowers.
The florist noticed they are struggling to chose so she offered to help, "May I help? Are you looking for something in particular?"
Alan was in a daze looking at the different red flowers before the florist's voice brought him back to reality. His instinctive attraction to the flowers made him think he must have loved flowers in his last life.
"Yes, we want to take a bouquet to visit the family of our friend who passed away recently."
"I am sorry for your loss. I recommend tulips, they are a beautiful choice to show your sympathy as they symbol hope and encouragement."
Razel took out a debit card and gave it to her, "We'll get two bouquets, thank you."
On their way back, Alan couldn't help but ask, " You have a credit card? How?"
"Didn't I say we have a few identities here? If I have multiple houses and identities why not a debit card? It is for the missions.", and my personal hobbies like the beautiful car they just used, he added silently.
After they ringed the bell, they heard some slow footsteps before the door was opened. A lady with a pale face and her eyes reflect a deep sadness, stood by the door.
Alan took the initiative to be the spokesperson this time, "Hello, is this the house of Charlie's family?"
When the women heard the name the emotion in her eyes seemed to deepen, "Yes, please come in."
They put the flowers on the table before sitting on the couch and beginning to talk.
"We are Charlie's classmates, we just heard the news from his primary school teacher. I am sorry to hear of your loss. Wishing you peace during this difficult time.", Alan's word came out without thinking, he didn't know he could be this experienced.
Razel interfered using a sincere and genuine tone of voice to lead the discussion since he didn't notice any resentment around, "We are grieving with you in this painful time. His memory will be kept alive in your and our hearts."
The lady smiled and said: "We are grateful for friends like you at this time of sorrow. His mother is still bed sick, wish she could hear you to know that her son was not just a good son, he must be a good friend for you to come all the way here rather then just sending a note of condolences. He was always a sweet kid... By the way I am Marie; his aunt."
Alan and Razel took turns to talk to show their support, "Hope she gets better soon."
"Nice to meet you Ms Marie. I hope we could have met in a better situation. As you said he was indeed a real friend; always there to help."
"He was a nice person, the teacher told us he often went to the school to teach the kids to play the violin. He was really talented, i was amazed when he played for us before."
Marie was happy to hear others praising her loved nephew and her face seemed to be less pale, "The violin was his passion since childhood, he was always excited to make others see its magic, he was over the moon when a little girl's parents allowed him to teach her. He told me he was sure she is going to grow up to be a world wide known violin soloist. The violin... Even when taking his last breaths he was worried about it." Her sighs seemed to make the surrounding even more gloomy.
"Is it convenient to tell us what happened? We just know he passed away, and have no idea what was the cause. "
"You know he lived in that old building, although it is summer he hadn't came back here; he had some rehearsals and didn't want to be late because of transport problems since the center is far from here. The building had an old and poorly maintained electrical system, a fire came and burned most of the building. He called me before he passed away, he was breathing heavily and I knew something happened but he didn't answer me when I asked and just kept repeating the words: violin and luthier. Later after we knew about the accident, I was sure he will fell lonely without the violin so I went to the luthier's workshop to look for it, the city is small and there is only one workshop. The owner recognized me since I was the one taking Charlie there often to repair it since he was still a kid. I got it back and put in his room, and I told him when I visited him yesterday."
They talked for a few more minutes and left; they need to head to the luthier's workshop before it closes.
Charlie left the burned building but didn't know where to go. He chose a random direction and tried to ask someone to help but no one looked at him. When he circled the streets near the building, he heard someone talking about attending a music show and followed him until they entered a huge hall. The place seemed familiar, he got closer to the stage and followed a man to the back, saw he reached to one of the cabinets in the corner and took out a flute. He concluded that they put music instruments there and hurried to search all the cabinets but found no trace for what he wants.
He gave up and sat on a bench in the park nearby looking at children playing together and adults walking or sitting like him. An image came to his mind, he has been here before! With... the face was blurred in his memory but the warm and soothing voice seemed to be lingering around and muting the screams and laughs of the children around. It was the same voice that he promised to, to take care of the violin. He stood, walked around then followed the road in the vague memory where he was holding a warm hand leading the way. He found himself in front of a workshop with a violin engraved beside its name. He was happy, he is going to find it then... then what? Let's find it first and then think what is after. But he was disappointed after looking around; there are a lot of violins but none of them is his, although they look the same but he is sure his violin is not one of them. He stayed in the shop for a long time waiting for his violin to show up, he noticed then that no one stopped him from touching anything, asked him what he was doing or to go out when the closing time arrives. Did he have a superpower?!! No one could see him that is why no one answered him when he asked for directions earlier.
Alan and Razel were on their way when the first noticed the card turning a bit darker as they pass by the park near their destination, while the other saw a resentment lingering in the air leading the way to the shop at the end of the road.
Alan got excited, "We were right!! He is there!"
"It's time for the real deal. We have to take him back whether he likes or not. Stay away when the card turns completely black, and don't get afraid when you see him."
"I can see him?"
"You are a soul; why wouldn't you be able to see other souls?", Razel said then a death Scythe covered entirely with a golden light appeared in his hand.