"Wait, what?" Mark pulled me over, taking the plane ticket from my hand. "Are you actually going to Taiwan?"

I shrugged and scanned the note in my hands really quickly. It didn't say anything new. My mom basically told me to be careful and that if I get on this plane, I wouldn't be able to turn back.

This was it.
My last moments at living a somewhat normal life.
I got this far, and I wasn't about to back out now. Whatever my mom was hiding, whatever was this important that she couldn't just tell me straight up, I was going to figure it out.
Even if it did actually kill me.

"It says you'll take care of everything here if I decide to go," I turn to James, holding the note out to him. He didn't take it from me or even look at it. All he did was nod so I'm guessing all of this was old information.
He knew the role he was playing in all of this...exactly like that old man at the antiques store.

"The date is printed on the bottom of the ticket," he said, taking the tickets from Mark's hands and placing them back into mine. "Make your decision by then and let me know so I can make sure everything's ready."
My head moved up and down, nodding nonchalantly at his words. I don't know why I was believing in him so easily. It just seemed like all the words that popped out of his mouth made sense to me, even though Mark seemed to get more and more confused and anxious looking with every new clue.

"April 2nd," I read outloud. "That's like a week before my birthday."
"7 days before you turn 21," James confirmed. "If you choose to go, when you get to Taiwan, all you have to do is show them what's in that box and you should be okay from there."
I slid the plane tickets and the note back into the envelope and tucked it under my arm before finally opening the little velvet box. A small, gold ring sat inside of it. It was super simple looking, basically a single gold band. Nothing fancy. Nothing on it.

I took it out of the box and put it on my finger, letting myself be momentarily amazed at how well it fit around it. James noticed and smiled down at the slim gold band around my finger.
"That was your mother's. She used to wear it all the time before we started hiding clues," he sighed out, reaching up to ruffle his hair but stopping himself before his hand could even touch his overly waxed locks. "I know right now these clues may seem pointless and a hassle for you to find, but trust me, your mom does everything with a goal and purpose. Don't leave behind or look over any clue."
"So now what?" I snapped the box closed and blinked back the tears forming, threatening to spill out. "Am I actually suppose to just drop my life and let my mom drag me around from beyond the grave?"
"The choice is entirely your's. I'm not gonna force you into doing this and neither would your mom," James pushed the drawer back in and locked it again. "You can walk away from everything but just know that if you do, things could get really.....really bad."

My heart sank in my chest. 
Why?
Why would things go completely crazy if I didn't follow these clues? Why would a lot of people die? Why the heck am I so important to all of this?

I heaved a sigh so loud that I'm pretty sure people in the offices above us probably heard me, "So I've been told."
"The flight isn't until April. Think about it. If you choose to go, just show up at the airport and everything else will be taken care of."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," James nodded. 

I don't even know if I should completely trust him. Like who actually listens to a guy that they literally just met an hourish ago? Even if he claimed to have known my mother...
But strangely and stupidly enough, I believed him.
Every word.
Something in me was telling me to give in, to place my trust in him, to go along with everything. I wanted to go to Taiwan and get to the bottom of everything.
Even though something was telling me that I really didn't have much of a choice.

James took us back to the main hallway. Outside, snow was starting to fall onto the city of Manhattan, covering its busy streets and sidewalks in another layer of white. The snow from last time hasn't even melted yet and neither has the black ice.
Walking to the subway station is gonna be so much fun.

I thanked James before taking Mark's hand and letting him lead me out of the bank. His face was pale in the few remaining rays of sunlight that dusk brought, even with a huge scarf bundled under it. His gloved hand held onto mine tightly, almost as if he was silently telling me not to go to Taiwan. The look on his face bordered somewhere in between distress and worry.

"What's wrong?" I broke the silence after walking down a block, feeling the snow hit my face as I tilted it a little to get a better look at Mark. He returned my look and gave me a small smile.
"Nothing. I'm fine."
"Mark...we've been living together for 4 months. I think by now I can tell if something's bothering you. Tell me what's wrong."
"I'm totally fine! I promise," he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my cheek, almost if he was sealing his promise. "I'm just a bit tired. It's been a long day and it's freezing."

"What? Your inner Cali boy can't handle snow?" I laughed, watching the snowflakes stick to his wool scarf around his face. 
"Hey, snow is a big deal for me."
"Right," I rolled my eyes and let the sarcasm sink in before letting go to his hand and running ahead a little. 

Even though I wasn't a fan of how freezing it got in New York City during this time, the holiday season is always my favorite time of the year. Everywhere you went was filled with Christmas lights and people walking in and out of stores with bags filled with presents. The streets were especially crowded but none of that really mattered to me. I could stand in the middle of Times Square and close my eyes, feeling as if I was the only person standing there with the snow silently fluttering to the ground. Even with this crushing burden and expectation rest on my heart, in the snow, everything seemed to be covered up. 

Everything seemed to disappear.

But that wasn't reality. That wasn't even the least bit practical.
The burden was real and the expectation was definitely real.
Escaping it wasn't an option.

Author's Note
chapter title: Snow halation-μ's [x]
tell me what you guys think so far! :D comments are loved hehe.