“Come on Joe, there are other girls out there for you. Don’t just dwell on Keisha man, it’s not healthy,” Charlie carefully said.

He stood before his lifelong friend with his arms slumped to his side; an unfortunate by product of his attempts to cheer his friend up. Despite the years of friendship the two had enjoyed, this had been the one subject Charlie was unable to get his friend to get over.

“Its because I’m an ‘otaku’ isn’t it? That’s what she said Charlie! She said I wasn’t man enough for her! That she was tired of waiting for me to go up!” He cried out in-between his sobs, sniffing back a constantly running nose.

“Don’t worry about what she said. You shouldn’t have to change everything you like to do because of one person’s opinion.”

“But, look at me! I’m twenty-seven years old, I still live at home and I don’t even have a car! She’s right! I am a spoiled man-child, just a useless, spoiled waste of space…” He trailed off as he pulled off his glasses, wiping away the tears in his eyes.

Charlie could only look down in silent pity at his friend, knowing how sore Joe had been about his current life. His friend had remained at home over the years to take care of his ailing mother, refusing a number of job offers for the research he had helped pioneer in network coding and internet protocol languages. Instead, he remained at home, working from his computer almost as much as he used it for his off time activities.

Unfortunately, such a sedentary lifestyle had taken its toll over his body over the years, leaving him with some of the palest skin Charlie had ever seen. Joe’s hair was greasy, uncombed and constantly stuck to his face. His face was a field of blotches and freckles and his somewhat thick glasses had not left much hope for a handsome appearance. Not to mention, his much more frail body and lanky limbs. If anyone had ever looked up the word geek, Joe’s picture would undoubtedly be the stereotypical picture that would appear.

“You are not worthless Joe, there are other girls out there. You just have to come out to town with me one night all right? Please Joe, don’t keep berating yourself up over this.”

Joe looked back at Charlie with his puffy, reddened blue eyes and only shook his head in defeat. He slumped back over towards his computer and began to type away at the keyboard, completely ignoring the man behind him. Charlie only sighed and left the room. He slowly walked back through the small house’s living room and waved over to Mrs. Frederick. Just as he was about to walk over to the door, the elder woman waved him over, bidding him to her side.

“Charlie dear, thank you for coming. I know it is pretty late but Joe needed someone he could talk to, someone that could understand him at least a bit,” She said with a sad smile looking back at Charlie.

“It's no problem Mrs. Frederick, I would do just about anything to help him out. But I think this one might even be out of my league, it looks like this Keisha really did a number on him.”

Mrs. Fredrick only frowned when he mentioned that woman’s name, looking away in disgust as she rocked back and forth in her chair. Her nearly emaciated form could barely move about on it own, needing almost constant help from her son. However, this one movement was the one bit of freedom she could enjoy without burdening him; it had become the only way she could cope with the stress she now felt coming from her son.

“Keisha,” She spat with disgust before giving a small cough. “That woman tried so hard to make my baby into something he wasn’t. I might not approve of his ‘anime’ and whatnot but it has kept him out of trouble all these years. It’s one of the few things he still enjoys while caring for me.”

“I knew that harlot was trouble from the start, there was something about her that just… rubbed me the wrong way. Like she was a fake or something,” She stopped to take a deep breath, feeling a bit winded from her small speech.

“But now she’s gone and broke my son’s heart. I haven’t seen him like this since his father died, god bless him… Just please, be here for him. If you can please help my son get through this. No matter what you have to do, please promise me this Charlie.”

Mrs. Frederick looked into Charlie’s eyes with a strong, determined gaze, one the young man had not seen since she suddenly fell ill. For a moment, he forgot about the thin grey hair, the wrinkled skin and the extremely frail form, and saw her back in her youth in her prime. The memory of the strong woman before him made him answer before he even realized it.

“I will Mrs. Frederick, I will do whatever I have to help through this.” Charlie said resolutely, his own gaze meeting hers.

She only smiled and nodded before handing him an old ornate key; one that looked like it belonged to an ancient lock or chest. With an unusually strong grip, she grabbed his hand and forced the key into it. The instant the key touched his hand, a rush quickly ran through his body, filling him with a burst of energy before it quickly died down. He looked back at Mrs. Frederick and noticed his breathing had become noticeably more ragged, sweat beaded heavily on her brow and she appeared to be much weaker than before.

“This…opens a certain….lock in the….basement. Take the….contents home….and you will….know what to do….I will be….fine….now go…” She whispered in between each labored breath before suddenly falling asleep.

Charlie looked at the sleeping woman with a wide eyed gaze, his mouth wordlessly flapping about as he stepped away slowly. The key sitting in his hand with a slight tingle as he continued to back away until bumping into a familiar form. Charlie quickly turned around to see a tired and weary eyed Joe staring back over at his mother, only shaking his head before moving past Charlie.

“You could have told me she fell asleep, now I need to change her before I can take her upstairs,” Joe muttered tiredly as he set about grabbing a couple of nearby items from the pantry.

“I thought you left already, don’t you have work tomorrow or something?” He asked with an annoyed tone as he went about looking over his mother.

“U-um no, your..um..mother wanted me to care of some stuff in the basement,” Charlie replied slowly.

“Hmpf, well hurry up, unless you want front row seats to adult diaper changing,” Joe replied.

Charlie quickly nodded as he walked back towards the kitchen, taking the door out into the backyard and heading towards the basement. The backyard was a patch of short green grass that Joe had kept up pretty consistently, it being the only time ever spent outside aside from shopping and the occasional trip out. He quickly walked across the slightly damp grass, smelling a bit of fresh greens as he made his way towards the twin metal door leading into the basement.

The large, rusted doors lifted open with a loud groan, releasing a few moths out into the night air. Charlie took a look into the dark expanse before him before taking a few timid steps into the darkness.

“How the hell does anyone one see anything down here?” Charlie whispered to himself as a light suddenly came to life above his head. He looked up in surprise at the sudden light before looking around the room. He then noticed he the sensor right above his head, flashing softly as it registered his movements.

“Okay…I really need to lay off those horror anime shows. They’re really messing with me.”

The room before him held a soft yellow light, barely illuminating the entire space. All around him were a number of random knick knacks, dust covered boxes and the occasional mannequin. Despite the creepy feeling that tingled down his spine, he continued to peruse the various items in the basement. The musky air held a dour smell of old paper, mold and mildew; various specks of dust flittered about his eyes as he continued to search about.

After a few moments and what seemed to be an unending amount of dust and dirt, Charlie finally reached his limit. He hacked and coughed about as the dust started to irritate his chest, and redden his eyes.

“Shit…I can’t believe the things I promise to do… I really am an idiot sometimes,” He muttered as he tried to feel his way out of the basement. Until his knee hit something hard and wooden, nearly falling over in the process.

He looked back at his feet and noticed a medium sized, wooden chest sat next to his prone form. He slowly picked himself up and walked over the wooden container, examining it for a bit before picking it up. The chest it self seemed old, much older than any of the other items in the room; lined with some amount of metal fittings and a large iron wrought lock. He quickly tested the key and breathed a sigh of relief as the key slid into the hole smoothly. Just as he was about to open its contents, the voice of Mrs. Frederick suddenly entered his head. He quickly shook his head before grabbing the box and exiting the basement.

Charlie quickly closed the doors behind himself and headed back into the house. He quick gait took him through the various rooms in the house before reaching the living room and the front door. Both Joe and Mrs. Frederick were nowhere to be seen, assuringly having gone off to bed during his little foray.

With the chest in arms, he quickly left the house and hopped into his simple mid-size car. The trip home only took a few moments, as he only lived on the other side of the neighborhood. He quickly pulled into his driveway and left the car behind, locking it before running into his house with his prize in hand. For some reason, the chest seemed much heavier than it had when he left Joe’s house; requiring him to use both hands to carry it further into his home.

By the time he reached his room, he could barely keep the container up as he let it and himself fall to the ground in unceremonious heap. He quickly picked himself up and tried to move the chest once more; however, it refused to budge only groaning against the carpeted floor. After a few minutes of effort, Charlie released the handle and sat down to catch his breath.

Soon his curiosity began to get the best of him, the need to know what reside in the suddenly heavy chest burned in his mind. He pulled out the small key from his pocket and crawled over towards the chest. With a small breath, he inserted the key and turned it gently. To his surprise, the lock cleanly snapped open and fell to the floor with a gentle thud. Looking at the chest, he slowly lifted the top and gazed inside at the contents.

He quickly recoiled back in horror and shocked, nearly falling to the ground in his flight. His breath seized in his chest, refusing to leave despite the effort he made towards the contrary. Slowly but surely he forced his body to respond, his chest ever so slightly moving once more. After another few tense moments he forced himself back towards the chest, his curiosity suddenly outweighing his fear.

He was soon greeted by the hollowed, flattened face of a woman, but it was not just any woman. It was the face of a young, and pretty girl whose skin was much darker than his. With a fair bit of caution, slowly poked the item with his finger and quickly pulled it back, feeling its unnatural warmth radiating towards his digit. The dark brown skin hardly moved from his touch, instead remaining completely immobile.

Charlie soon swallowed a quickly forming lump in his throat and reached into the chest, picking up the hollowed suit. His eyes quickly widened at the heft of the item, as it took a small amount of effort to pull it out from the chest. However, with a moment’s work, he freed the suit from the chest and laid it upon his bed.

THe suit itself appeared to be of a woman of african descent, barely reaching the end of the mattress as it seemed the suit was meant for a short person. Its nude form laid bare upon the bed, its breasts flattened up against its chest and it nipples following suit. Its hair appeared to be neatly packed in a fancy braid that rested atop one of the shoulders. Its lips seemed slightly pouty and looked as if they were covered with a light gloss.

“What the hell is this? Is this some kind of costume or something? Why would she want me to take something like this?” Charlie asked as he looked upon the suit.

He took another look back at the chest and noticed that there seemed to be more items inside the container. He shuffled about the contents for a moment before pulling out a dress, his brow frowning a bit as something seemed a bit off about it. He laid the off-white dress beside the suit and pulled out a few more items from the chest. One being a light brown sweater, a matching blouse and a long skirt to go along with it.

“What are these, clothes from the fifties or something?” He asked as he threw them on the bed. A few more outfits followed until he reached the bottom of the container.

It was what he found next that shocked him more than the suit ever could. At the bottom of the chest rested an envelope of old and yellow paper. However it wasn’t the condition of letter that shocked him it, it was what was on the front. The letter held two words on the front along with a certain date. It was his full name and the current date.