your idea, so you should go first.”
She shook her head adamantly as she backed away. “Hell to the no on that idea. Y'all can go up first. That way if there's any spider webs or creepy crawlies, you'll have cleared them out of the way by the time I head up.”
I snorted and looked incredulously at her. “Ms. Bad Ass is afraid of spiders?”
She sent a smirk right back at me. “This coming from Ms. Horror Movie Chicken?”
“Touche!” I stepped onto the bottom rung and headed up quickly, trying to ignore Rose's warnings about spider webs, and trying not to think zombie bats. I stood up and looked around, frowning at the mass of assorted boxes and trunks lining the attics walls.
I could tell Mom's OCD had infected up here by the fact that everything was sorted by size. The smaller boxes and trunks started along the wall facing the back of the house, then grew in size as it wrapped around toward the front. The light from the window didn't reach into the corners of the attic, causing shadows to dance along the walls. I shuddered as a scene from a horror movie popped into my head. I eyed the shadows wearily, almost expecting a creepy dead chick to crawl spider-like from the shadows.
I brushed the thoughts away as I heard Brandon and Rose crawl through the opening. Reaching up, he pulled the chain to the ceiling light, thoroughly banishing the shadows, and what could lurk in them, away.
Rose strode with military precision to the middle of the room, clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention. She turned in a slow circle, taking in the amount of items that needed to be gone through. “Alright, Star and I will start going through the stuff up here,” she said, gesturing to the wall at the back of the house. Looking behind her, she pointed to a large armoire on the furthest wall. “You can start there.” She told Brandon. I watched as his eyes almost glazed over with the thought of all the clothes he'd find. Without saying a word, he took off to the armoire, opening its doors reverently and peering inside at all the lace and satin.
Turning back to me she grabbed my elbow, pulling me to the first set of trunks. “Alright,” she whispered, casting a glance over at Brandon. “This is what we’re going to do. There probably wouldn't be anything useful in the boxes, so I say we focus on the trunks.”
“Why just them? There should be clothes spread throughout everything.”
She rolled her eyes and knelt down in front of the first trunk. “We're not looking for clothes. We'll leave that to him.”
“Okaaay,” I drawled out. “Then what are we looking for?”
“Seriously? Jesus, please pay attention this time!” I shrugged and sat down next to her. I'd do whatever it took to get this over with. “We're looking for any type of record. Like a journal or something.” She began unlatching and methodically removing the items from the trunk.
My confusion grew as I watched her empty out the entire trunk without looking at any of the items. “Dude, you're not even looking!”
“You're the movie master. Where are all the important things hidden?”
I threw my hands up in the air. This was beyond exasperating. “You're freaking insane, you know that? There isn't going to be any secret diary or master plans hidden in a fake bottom!”
“Ugh! Look, you can either help me, or go help Captain Fashionista over there. Your choice. And since when did you start ignoring aspects of movies?”
“Since shit in my life started blowing up! Jesus, don't you think that I have enough going on without having to worry about what happens in a movie?” I cringed as I looked over my shoulder at Brandon. He was holding a lacy concoction in front of him. I prayed to whoever would listen that he wouldn't get the urge to try it on. “And no, I don't want to go help him. God, I hope he doesn't try to get us into something completely girly.”
”Agreed.” She brushed her cropped hair behind her ears and got back to work. A look of determination was stamped across her face. “So just help, okay? You can start on the next trunk.” She waved me off into the general direction of the next trunk. I felt like I was working with a Nancy Drew wannabe.
I blew out a breath and headed over to it. All of this was useless. We'd only be spending hours looking for something that doesn't exist. Hidden compartment my ass.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I sat back on my heels, wiping my dusty palms against my pants. What felt like hours had past and the single bulb in the ceiling had its work cut out illuminating the room now. I looked over and saw the orderly stacks of items lined up neatly next to their trunks. Rose said we needed to be fast about it so that way Brandon wouldn't question us. So we decided not to return the items until they were finished. Or rather she decided. I really didn't have a say in any of it.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and grabbed my mass of auburn hair, pulling it away from my neck to ease some of the heat. Rose was still digging away in the trunks, though she was going much slower than when we first started the hunt. “Okay guys,” I called out, “I think it’s time to call it a day.”
Rose slumped down and ran both of her hands through her hair, causing it to stick up in places from the sweat and dust. “I second that.”
“Oh, come on guys! I was just finding the jewelry!” Came Brandon's voice from the back.
I looked to where his voice came from and frowned. I couldn't see him. “Dude, where are you anyways?”
His hand shot up from behind a massive pile of puffy, lacy items. I cringed at the sight.
“Haven't you found anything we could use for costumes?” Rose called out, exasperated with his exuberance.
“Well, yeah, but there's so much more—”
“Nah, you're done. Start putting the rest back.” Rose stood and started to stretch out her back. I grinned as I took in her dusty appearance.
“Why don't you guys go head down and I'll take care of all this.” I gestured to the piles of stuff scattered around the room.
“You sure?” Rose asked with a hopeful look on her face.
I waved them off and nodded. “Yeah, go get something to drink and clean up. I'll be down in a little bit.”
“Aye, aye, captain!” she said smartly, snapping off a salute before fleeing from the attic. “Come on Brandon! You can bring down what you've found and we can fight over what your ideas are!” she called over her shoulder.
With a cheeky wink, Brandon followed Rose down the stairs.
I sighed and looked at the mess around me. Maybe sending them off wasn't such a good idea. I picked up the closest pile and slowly stood up, not wanting to tip over the wobbly stack of pictures. I took a step toward the trunk it belonged to and flinched when a small marble fell from the middle of the stack, sending the pile toppling to the floor.
“Damn it.” I knelt to pick everything up again. Out of the corner of my eye I watched the marble roll toward a trunk we hadn't reached yet. I turned my attention away from it until I heard the sound of it hitting the trunk. I paused and looked over. “What was that?”
I stood and followed the path the marble made through the light layer of dust. I knelt in front of the trunk, grabbed the marble, and looked it over. I frowned and rolled it toward the trunk and held my breath as it hit its base, causing a hollow thud to sound. I leaned forward and opened the trunk and found it jam packed with items. I looked at where the marble hit.
I rasped my knuckles against the side of the trunk, my eyes widening as it went from sounding hollow to full the farther I went up. I looked closer and tried to see if there was any visible seams, a hidden button, something. I didn't find anything. “Great, Rose's crazy ideas are taking root. Just what I need.” I stood up and kicked the bottom of the trunk, only to jump back in shock as the bottom section came loose, revealing a hidden cavity. “Well holy fu—” I lay down quickly and peered into the hole, trying to see if there was anything in it.
I tentatively reached my hand in. I felt around for a minute and almost screamed as my fingertips hit an
