...Jonas?

It was a young boy, dressed in the usual torn jeans and hoodie of teenagers, whom Alex immediately recognized. It was Jonas, one of his cousin's friends.

"You're also here to help?" The boy asked.

"Yeah." Alex replied. "What can I do?"

The boy shrugged. "Don't know. We're supposed to sort out what can be kept and what needs to be let go, but there is just paper here. Mountains of paper."

Jonas was right. The room was fairly new and lacked some personality. There were barely any personal belongings here. With only a bed, a desk and a closet, it looked more like a cheap hotel room than a teenage girl's room. The only things that were out of the ordinary were the scent of paper in the air and the piles of notebooks and sheets everywhere. Drawings, mostly, but also some texts. The only things that she left behind.

Sorting things was never an easy task, but when the stuff you had to sort all had the same sentimental value, it was even more difficult. Considering the amount of paper there was, it was clear that not everything could be kept. But how were they supposed to choose what was to be kept and what was to be thrown away when it's all the same thing? Should they keep the oldest drawings or the most recent ones? The most detailed or the most beautiful? The only one who could tell was no longer here.

Unable to choose, Alex took a glance at Jonas, trying to determine how he was coping with the situation. He was silently chuckling.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

As the young man approached, Jonas shifted his attention on him and showed him the sheet of paper he was looking at, still chuckling. It was another drawing, slightly better than the one Alex saw just before. Stick figures again, except that this time, there was also a dragon. The reptile seemed angry, breathing fire in the air and holding a girl. Next to it, a man was wielding a sword. He had a crown drawn on his head, so he was probably a king, or a prince. And on the bottom of the page, a single word was written in capital letters: 'CHARIZARD'

"Can you believe that she was the one who drew this?" Jonas asked with a mocking grin.

"Well, she hasn't always been good at drawing." Alex responded, unable to hide his smile.

"Yeah, I can see that. Why Charizard, though?"

"Who knows?" The young man shrugged. "At some point, she used to be quite obsessed with Pokémon. Do you know what was the first thing she wanted to do after being discharged from the hospital?"

"Eating a hamburger?" Jonas tried to guess.

"Worse. Playing Pokémon Go."

The boy widened his eyes, clearly no believing what he just heard. He knew that his friend has always been a little special, but he couldn't believe that the first thing she wanted to do after years of being bedridden was to hunt pixels in the streets. For a few seconds, he just blankly stared at the young man, trying to guess if he was being serious or not. However, the awkward silence did not last, as they both soon burst out laughing.

Alex and Jonas never really got to know each other. They met for the first time a year ago, at the funerals. Back then, they didn't talk much. It wasn't exactly the best day to make new friends. After that, they bumped into each other several times. When you lived in the same part of the city, it wasn't that rare to see a familiar face. Still, their exchanges had always been brief, and somewhat awkward. Not wanting to evoke painful memories, they avoided talking about her. However, since they didn't know each other personally, they soon ran out of things to say.

Today was different. Maybe because it was her death anniversary or because they were in her room, but the mood didn't seem as heavy as usual. The two boys kept discussing for a moment, while continuously browsing in the piles of paper. After avoiding the subject for a year, they started trading stories and sharing memories about her. In the end, they spent more time looking for weird drawings to make fun of than to actually sort things.

"Uhm? I think I got something." Jonas eventually said, as he took out a small box, mostly hidden among the piles.

There was some dust on it, but even though it seemed like an ordinary cardboard box, Alex immediately recognized his handwriting on it.

"Congratulation, you've found me. What does it mean?" Jonas asked, reading the message written on with a broad tip marker.

"It's a gift. For her hospital discharge." Alex explained. "I had completely forgotten about it. I hid it here for her to find, but well, you know…"

"Oh…"

Jonas didn't add anything. He just kept staring at the box in silence, like a curious child. Alex could tell by his eyes that he was eager to know what was inside, but he didn't dare to ask, feeling that it would be rude, since it was originally meant for her.

"You know, you can open it if you want." The young man finally told him. "It doesn't really matter anymore."

As he said this, Jonas drew his head backwards, before a slight flush appeared on his face, showing his embarrassment as he clearly didn't expect me the young man read through him.

"Okay," he mumbled, trying to hide his reddened ears.

Using a pair of scissors, Jonas sliced the tape at the ends of the box and down the middle, being careful not to damage what was inside. Once the tapes completely removed, he unpacked the box and revealed its content. It was a small device, delicately wrapped in a piece of cloth.

"No way!" The boy exclaimed. "Is that…"

"A Galaxy S7 Edge." Alex interrupted him. "Pretty cool, isn't it? There is even the Gear VR included."

His mouth agape, Jonas stared at the young man with an almost stupidly dumbfounded face. "You bought her a cell phone?" He asked.

"I didn't." Alex replied, shaking his head. "Her parents were the ones to buy it, I only chose the model."

"Dude, she would've loved it! It's too bad she never got to use it…"

"Yeah," the young man mumbled with an almost inaudible voice.

His cousin never had a phone. The hospital forbade the use of cell phones since apparently, their signals could potentially disrupt medical equipments. Seeing so many teenagers using them, her parents always felt guilty not being able to offer her one. So once they learned that she would be discharged soon, the first thing they wanted to buy her was a phone. However, his uncle and his aunt were not familiar with all the new technologies, so they asked him to choose for them instead.

Alex did not have that much knowledge in phones either, but he was still in a better position than them to pick something that she would like. He ended up choosing a model that was popular among his friends. As long as it had a long-lasting battery life and a processor strong enough to run Pokémon Go, it was enough.

After that, David and Helen saved some money, and somehow managed to purchase the phone second-hand. It did not have its original packaging anymore, but it was still in perfect condition. Then, together, they decided to surprise her by hiding it in her room. Finding a surprise gift after returning home. It would have been the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, life decided otherwise, and they all forgot about it.

"Is it still working?" Alex asked. "It remained here for over a year after all."

"Wait a second, I'll try turning it on."

Jonas pressed the power button of the phone for a while. Just when he was starting to think that the battery was dead, the logo Samsung appeared on the screen, indicating that the phone was loading.

"Looks like it's working!" He exclaimed, a huge smile drawing on his face.

It took about a minute for the device to boot up, before the lock screen appeared. As he saw the phone's wallpaper, Jonas slowly shifted his gaze on Alex.

"Is that her?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

The young man nodded. "Yeah."

The phone's wallpaper was showing a family picture, taken in a restaurant. A couple and a little girl, who looked about five years old, were sitting at the table –David, Helen and their daughter. The little girl was turned away from the table and seemed distracted, not looking at the camera. Helen was trying to make her seat properly, and David was rearranging his posture. They didn't look very well organized, but they all looked happy.

"She looks so different here!" Jonas exclaimed. "The Ails I knew was depressive, never smiling and had this gloomy aura shouting 'don't come near me' around her. I wish I had known her then. How was she like?"

"Brighter," Alex answered, after thinking for a while. "Always smiling and running around, to the point that it was almost annoying. If you took your eyes off her for a second, she disappeared the next one. And once you found her again, she was almost always in trouble…"

Remembering the days where he had to run after her, the young man let out a loud sigh. Amused, Jonas chuckled. For him, who has always known her as a calm and indifferent person, it was hilarious to imagine her younger and hyperactive version.

As his chortles subsided, Jonas returned his attention on Alex, showing him the phone. "So, what do we do with this? I'm guessing that we're not throwing this away, right? It's still in a good condition."

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, pondering. "I'm not sure… I see no point in keeping it. It's just an ownerless cell phone."

"So… Sell it?" The boy suggested, tilting his head to the side.

While their daughter was still alive, David and Helen contracted a lot of debts in order to pay for her treatments. The insurance money wasn't enough to pay back all the loans, so selling the phone was not a bad idea. They needed money, even a little. Besides, even if they were to keep it, neither David or Helen would be able to use the phone. Theirs was digital, so Alex knew that they would not know how to use a smart phone. However, he was still a bit unwilling to sell the phone, considering that it was originally meant for her.

"Uhm… I guess I'll just ask my uncle and my aunt." Alex finally said. "They were the one who bought it after all. They might want to keep it, since it does have a sentimental value."

"Like everything else here," Jonas added before letting out a complaining sigh.

Ignoring the boy's last remark, Alex headed to the door. "I'll be right back, so don't make a mess," he said, half joking.

Without uttering a word, Jonas simply replied with a wry smile.

The young man left the room, closing the door behind him. Assuming that his uncle and his aunt would still be where he left them, Alex headed to the kitchen. However, he barely had the time to take a few steps when he heard a huge crash coming out of the room he just left.

'Just when I told him not to make a mess…'

Retracing his steps, the young man returned to his cousin's room.

"Jonas, you okay?" He called out, as he approached the door.

No answers.

Alex pushed the door, and as it opened with a creaking sound, a blast of cold air streamed past him. Without warning, he was suddenly blinded by the whitest light that he had even seen. The light seared into his eyes before he had even the time to close them. Out of reflex, the young man brought his hands before his face, in a useless attempt to block the light that was assaulting him.

After a few seconds, the flash disappeared. Alex blinked several times, trying to recover his sight. He closed his eyes for five seconds, and then opened them briefly before repeating the operation a couple of times. Slowly, the loose forms of colors became clear, and Alex regained his vision completely.

Confused, the young man looked around him, trying to understand what just happened. However, all he could see was just the same room a before. White walls, a wooden floor, a bed, a desk, a closet and endless piles of notebooks and sheets. Did he imagine it?

An unsettling feeling growing in his chest, Alex kept inspecting the room. After a while, as he started to think rationally again, he finally noticed something missing –someone.

"… Jonas?"

Gone.

He was there just a few moments ago, but now, he was completely gone, leaving no trace behind. He just simply disappeared.