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Chapter 4

January 28th 1990.

Nick yawned as he stretched, sat up in bed and glanced over at the alarm clock on the night stand.
7:59 AM.

He smiled. She would be there soon.

And he was right. Just as the alarm clock next to him showed 8:00 AM, the door to his bedroom flung open, and Ali came running in.

“Happy birthday Prick!” She giggled as she threw herself down on his bed and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She was still in her night gown, her hair sticking out in every direction.
Nick blushed. “Thanks Ali.”
She smiled at him, positioned herself next to him and leaned her back against the wall.
“Mom made me wait until 8 to come over to see you. She said you would still be asleep, but I was like… ‘mom, it’s his birthday. Do you really think he’s asleep?’ But she still made me wait. Did I wake you?”
Nick shook his head. “Nah, I woke up right before you got here. You know me too well Al.”
“I know. I like it that way. Here!” She reached over to grab a bag that she had brought.
“This is for you.” She gave it to him and Nick emptied the contents onto his bed.
Two presents fell out.
He grabbed the largest one first, brought it up to his ear, and shook it gently.
Ali giggled again. “That one’s from my whole family. Mom and dad told me to say happy birthday from them.”
“Thanks.” Nick tore off the paper and seconds later, he held a brand new baseball glove in his hands.
“Wow, thanks Ali.” He smiled.
“You welcome. I picked it out myself. Mom paid for it though.” She smiled and handed him the second present. “This one’s from me.”

Nick looked at the present. It was small, and by the look of it, Ali had wrapped it herself. He looked at her questionably.
“What?” She asked. “Come on, open it.”
“You didn’t have to give me anything besides the baseball glove.”
“I wanted to, silly.” She giggled again and hit him playfully on his shoulder. “It’s nothing special though.”
Nick gently removed the wrapping paper, curious to see what she had gotten him.

In his hand he was holding a bracelet. It was braided, with colours of greens and turquoise, with small sea shells attached to it. Nick smiled and looked at Ali.
“I made it myself,” She said proudly.
“I love it!”

And he really did. From that day on, he never took it off. Not until he was 15 and the bracelet was too small for his wrist. He then gave it back to Ali so that she could wear it. It became a symbol of their friendship, and they both knew that as long as one of them wore it, they would always be best friends.

~*~

Nick looked down at the bracelet in his hand. It was braided, with colours of greens and turquoise, with small sea shells attached to it.
He knew he wasn’t mistaken. He would recognize that bracelet anywhere. It was the same one as the one Ali had given to him. Even though it was well worn, some of the shells were missing, and the colours had faded throughout the years, it was still the same.

“Ali…” He whispered to himself as he sunk down on one of the chairs by the kitchen table.
He held the bracelet firmly in his hands and brought it up to his face to smell it.
He closed his eyes.
It still smelled like her. He even thought it smelled a little like him.

How…? Where are you Ali?

Nick opened his eyes, letting a tear gently roll down his cheek. He had lost track of how many times he had cried over her.
This time, it felt different though. Somewhere between the tears and his pounding heart, he felt relief. Relief that he had finally received a sign that she might still be alive. Not that he had ever doubted the fact that she wasn’t, but a lot of people had, and the bracelet that he was holding in his hands was proof that she was still out there somewhere.

Nick sat still for a few minutes, holding on to the bracelet and looking down at envelope still lying on the table in front of him.

Russia? Is that where you are Ali? What happened to you?

He put down the bracelet and picked up the envelope, looking inside it to see if he had missed something, like a note maybe.
But there was nothing.
Nick sighed and picked up the bracelet again. He knew that he had to drive down to the police station and report what he knew, but at the same time, he was also scared of what they would tell him. The memories of the night Ali had been reported missing, entered his mind again.

“This case is closed…”
Closed…

He didn’t want to hear those words again.