A Rare Gem

A Rare Gem

(By Lux)

Chapter 1 – Moving Day

You drove down the unfamiliar city streets in the car packed with the last your stuff, alternating your gaze between a print out of the directions and the road while hoping that you didn’t miss a crucial turn or worse hit someone or something. It was bad enough that you mind was swimming with the past week’s events that you could barely hold a thought in your mind. Now you felt like you were in a maze navigating the city, trying to find your destination while wondering if the only thing you could do is get lost. No matter how many times you’ve been here with your parents or by yourself, finding your way around has always been a challenge. Maybe it was because you were so focused on other things those times that you didn’t stop to see where you were going.

It was a surreal feeling having all that you owned now packed up neatly in boxes and placed into the car you now drove. You had no regrets though for what you are doing, mainly because the decision was your own. You wanted to start a new life, one that was driven by your decisions and not someone else. This was not something you just woke up one day and decided to do, nor was it just one thing that made up your mind.  It was though a longing that started right after graduating from college and increasing through time. You pondered the options of following this path and risking everything or staying where you were and being in a state of comfort and yet not experiencing the world.

Your mind quickly jumps back to reality as your car approaches an all too familiar street in an otherwise strange city. As he parked the car and stepped out, you looked at the bookstore that stood out among the shops and other businesses. It was a small place, filled wall to wall with shelves like a giant maze inside and stacked floor to ceiling with books. You wondered how it could survive or any of the small stores in the city for that matter considering all the bigger stores that cropped up. But that place brought up wonderful memories with a certain person that you don’t know what you’d do without her.

Next to the bookstore an ordinary looking red door opened up as a familiar person stepped out. She was just like the last time you saw her, which admittedly was only a few days ago but it felt like an eternity somehow. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a purple shirt, as for whatever reason it was always something purple she wore perhaps to compliment her purple eyes. You weren’t one to judge as purple and green were strangely your colors of choice no matter how others tried to change you. Her long flowing straight dark blue hair with a streak of pink and purple, another fashion choice that she continued to do, floated in the breeze as she ran to you and embraced you with a hug.

“Twilight,” you said caught off guard by her hug that almost bowled you over.

“Hello Spike,” she said, “I’m glad to see you made it. For a moment there I thought you got lost.”

“I did a couple of times, some places that I don’t want to go back to,” you said with a chill.

“Well, you’re here now,” she said with a reassuring smile, “Do you have much to bring in?”

“Just a few more boxes,” you said pointing to the trunk, “should take one trip.”

“Alright then,” she replied as you opened the trunk and she grabbed a few computer boxes, making a rough tower. You grabbed the last of what was stored and closing the trunk followed her to the door. Luckily she had the presence of mind to keep the door open avoiding having to fumble with the keys and keeping the door opened while juggling boxes. With the first hurdle cleared you followed her up the stairs, carefully watching so you didn’t trip or bump into her. After much time and effort you reached the door to her apartment.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Twilight said as she closed the door behind her with her foot and set down the boxes.

“Yeah, not bad at all. Thanks for letting me stay here until I get things together.”

“Now how could I pass up helping my little brother?” she said. You cringed at the mentioning of “little brother.” You weren’t little at all, taller than even Twilight was, and as for age you were only a few years younger than she was. You remembered how when you were adopted into the family Twilight loved you at first sight and from that moment on you two were inseparable. She at times was like a second mother, caring for you when your adopted parents were out. Being the egghead she was she loved teaching you what she learned that day, turning your house into a virtual school. In exchange you helped her out by fetching books for her studies or helping her stay focused. She would always call you her Faithful Assistant, a title that you took with pride.

You remembered that fateful day when Twilight left for college. It was a sad time not seeing her when you returned home from high school. But she never forgot you and often invited you to the campus to hang out. It was clear that your relationship would last no matter what happened.

“Oh, sorry about the mess with everything I brought,” you said looking around the apartment.  The place consisted of a long room that acted as a dining room and living room. There was also a kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. There was no uncertainty in the fact that Twilight loved her books as her apartment looked more like a mini library with tons of bookshelves filled with every manner of subject as well as curious objects that made you think of far away and exotic places. But if there was one thing that you could say about the place was that it was always super organized, well, except for the occasional piles of books that hadn’t found their home back on the shelves after a late night reading time.

“Oh no need to worry,” Twilight said, “I didn’t expect everything to be moved in where it should be today. Thanks to mom and dad, I was able to get your bed set up. I hope you don’t mind that I still have some magic things in the room that I need to move into my bedroom.”

That was another curious thing that your sister had about her besides being an avid reader. You don’t know exactly when Twilight got into practicing magic, but you remembered once seeing her enchanting some crystal she had. When she caught you spying, she made you swear not to tell your parents for fear of them being scared. Admittedly you were a little creeped out by her new interest, but over time you realized that she was still the same sister you grew up with. And having magic actually came in handy especially when you and her got attacked by some robbers while returning from the movies. You still pictured the look on their faces when Twilight picked up the one thug with her magic and tossed him, causing all of them to flee.

“That’s no problem being with the magic stuff. Anyway, it’s better than sleeping on the couch.”

“Well how about we eat now. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving! I can order pizza if you’d like. It’ll be like a welcome home party.”

“Pizza sounds great.”

“Great, and while we eat we can talk more. Then if you want we can try to unpack more of your things. Oh, I’m so excited having my little brother here staying with me. We’re going to have so much fun.”

“I’m sure we are,” you said as you sat on the couch while Twilight called the pizza place, your mind focused on the future and its endless possibilities.