The Mysterious Box

It was a typical winter day in downtown Los Angeles. As it was the eve of the new year, coupled with temperatures that were reaching an unbearable 32 degrees and below, the number of people that could be found on the streets was few.

Everyone was inside their houses and staying warm with their families as they awaited the coming of the new year and anybody that found themselves outside on a day like today could only be said to truly be unfortunate.

The new year was supposed to be a day of hope for everybody, a day where everybody started a new chapter on the story that was their lives, but for Arran, it was a day like any other day, filled with misfortune after misfortune.

Arran as a 19-year-old hormonal teenager had dreams like any other teens his age had. Dreams of picking up girls and establishing a world-class harem, dreams of being every girl's favorite wet dream.

Some would say he had the making of a popular harem king, with great looks and bronze tanned skin reminiscent of an ancient god, powerful and lean limbs with broad, strong shoulders that he could fit into every woman's most embarrassing fantasies.

But, even with all these qualities, misfortune just seems to strike.

Arran came to live in Los Angeles three years ago and although throughout his life, this may not have been the longest he had stayed in a single place, it was by far the most stable and the most normal ever. Well, that was if you didn't count the fact that his parents have been missing for the past 2 years.

Arran's mind was wholly preoccupied right now, reeling from all the things he had learned today.

It wasn't that it was really shocking what he had learned, No, given the kind of life he had lived throughout his short 19 years, it was safe to say that not many things would ever be shocking to him.

What was getting him so worked up was the little mahogany and oak box sitting quietly in his backpack. Ever he received it from the two police officers assigned to his parent's case, his mind and heart had been greatly unsettled.

Thinking about the box, Arran's mind went back to this morning.

As a freshman in college, and with nothing to do during the holidays, Arran made it a point to attend extra-curricular classes with the rest of the destitute and unfortunate ones who for one reason or another chose to do so even though he was not learning anything new. All this in a bid to keep himself busy during this holiday season.

Listening to the 50 something-year-old lecturers droning on and on about certain historic relics, Arran never expected to be called out of class by uniformed police officers, much to the disdain of the hook-nosed old crone of a teacher and the ridiculing and suspicious looks of his classmates.

One could literally feel the contempt on the faces of his course mates and the judgmental look that could only belong to a lecturer who had deemed you as a bad apple and someone not worth saving at all.

After an uneventful ride to the station, Arran had to wait for a very long time before the cops deemed it fit to inform him of the reason he had been called out of class.

After much hemming and hawing, he finally figured it out.

As it turns out, a short while after his parents had been reported as missing, the cops found their will which Arran's parent had left for him which in turn was promptly confiscated by the police in the name of evidence while not deeming it necessary to inform him of this piece of potential evidence. Now after 2 years on the case, it was finally being returned to Arran.

Frankly speaking if not for the fact that there was an internal review that took place this new year's eve, it would have taken much longer to do so.

Arran was not really concerned about this as he knew how his parents worked. If they ever left something behind for him, then he was confident that it would have been of no use to anybody other than himself, and judging from the sour behavior of the cops then it appeared that whatever they had gave them no new leads which prompted the present situation.

To be honest, Arran pitied these officers who were stuck working on a holiday like today as they were not spared from living the mundane lives that others had to live, nor were they able to kick back and relax while they waited for the new year to arrive.

Arran who was bored out of his mind was finally handed his parent's will and inheritance which amounted to a letter a few deeds to property all over the world and a well-polished mahogany and oak 20cm square box.

It had already gotten dark by the time Arran escaped from his thoughts. Glancing at the time, it was already 9 pm and he had been walking aimlessly for more than 4hrs.

Feeling a little tired and finding himself in a park, Arran then looked for a park bench and sat down to cool off a little.

Arran's physique definitely exceeded the boundaries of ordinary humans by far and it was able to compare to those peak athletes if not exceeding them. So even with the unbearable cold night wind on this winter day, Arran was not affected too much.

Walking for as long as he did normally wouldn't have been a burden for him but considering the tension of the day, it was enough to bum him out.

Arran after resting made sure he was alone in that corner of the park, and after doing so opened his backpack to check its contents. To be honest, Arran's effort could be said to be excessively cautious as this was the time of day when everybody else was In their homes sitting cozily before the fire and warming themselves with a warm bowl of Eggnog.

Apart from that, preparations were being made to welcome the new year as the whole streets were decorated with dazzling lights with the only dark spots being public parks like the one Arran was in.

Separating the items meant for school, Arran picked up the letter written by his parents to him and looked through it thoroughly and finding nothing of note, just his parents informing him that should anything happen to them to never forget all that they had taught him. It could be seen from the tone of the message that his parents had been expecting to go missing for a while.

After a thorough read to make sure he didn't miss any coded messages and finding none, Arran moved on to examine the deeds.

There was nothing much to see there as they belonged to properties he remembered visiting with his parents and the only thing of note was that they were located in the far reaches and corners of the world. Other than that there was nothing much.

Finally, after another thorough examination, Arran packed up the deeds and the letter and secured them safely in his backpack before moving on the cause of his high tension, anxiety, and frayed nerves.

The 20cm square mahogany and oak box.