The store clerk looks up. “How can I help you?”
He smiles. “My daughter would like to buy this for her stepsister.”
“Just sister, Daddy!” Megan corrects him.
“I’m sorry. Her sister, but I don’t see a price on it.”
He hands it to the clerk, who examines the music box.
“Honestly, I don’t remember seeing this in here. Where did you find it?” she asks.
Brad glances at his daughter and then back to the clerk. “It was in one of the booths on a shelf.”
She shakes her head. “Well, if there’s no price tag, I can’t really sell it to you.”
Megan pouts as she works on finishing her cone.
He glances back at the clerk with his hands in a praying position. “Please. It’s for my daughter.”
The clerk looks over at Megan and then back down at the music box. She opens it and stares in the mirror. It’s almost like something spooks her.
“You know what, why don’t you just take it?”
Megan’s expression lights up. She is excited.
“Really? I can have it?”
The clerk hands the music box to her. “Only if you promise to give it to Shawna.”
Brad frowns. “How did you know her name?”
The clerk fumbles with a cup by the register. “I’m sorry, do what?”
Brad looks puzzled. “You said my daughter’s name. You said, ‘Only if you promise to give it to Shawna.’ How did you know my other daughter’s name was Shawna?”
The clerk put her hand on her hip. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Brad grabs his daughter’s hand. “Come on, Megan. Let’s go.”
The store clerk stands there with a smile on her face as they walk away.
Megan drops the napkins from her cone in the trashcan by the front door. The clerk’s smile turns into a grimace once they walk through the door. She hopes the woman dripping with blood that she just saw staring back at her doesn’t show up for the little girl who gets that box.
CHAPTER SIX
Nakia takes a break from working on paperwork to glance at her watch. It shows four o’clock, and she’s expecting her husband and stepdaughter to be home soon. She looks toward the end of the table where her daughter, Shawna, is playing on her tablet. The front door opens, and Nakia looks up to see her family coming into the house.
“Hello, babe.”
Brad walks over and kisses her. “Hello, beautiful.”
He then gives Shawna a hug and a kiss on top of her head. She is still focusing on her tablet.
Megan cannot wait to share the gift with her new sister.
“Guess what me and Dad found?”
Shawna places the tablet on the table. “Let me see!”
Brad smiles at their eagerness to use the gift.
“I’m going to jump in the shower before dinner,” he tells his wife as he starts unbuttoning his shirt.
Nakia nods. “I’ll get started on it.”
He acknowledges her response with a nod and goes to their bedroom. The siblings sit at the table to look at the new music box.
“I thought you might like it.” Megan hands her the box.
“It’s really pretty. Thanks, Megan,” Shawna says, turning the box over to examine it.
“You’re welcome.” Megan hugs her before heading up the stairs to her bedroom. Before she reaches the top, she stops and turns to ask Nakia, “Can we go to the mall tomorrow?”
Nakia puts her pen down. “What do you want to get, honey?”
Megan turns to come back down a couple of stairs. “I want to go look at the puppies in the mall.”
Clearing her throat to get her daughter’s attention, Nakia asks, “What do you think, Shawna? Do you want to go see the puppies?”
Shawna is staring at the mirror in the music box and doesn’t hear her mother talking. A woman in a bloody white dress is staring back at her.
“Shawna!” Nakia raises her voice, breaking Shawna out of her trance.
“I’m sorry, Momma. What did you say?”
Nakia is wondering why her daughter is acting weird, but she asks her question again.
“Do you want to go see the puppies in the mall tomorrow?”
Getting excited, Shawna sets the music box on the table.
“Yes, I wanna see the puppies!”
“It’s settled then. We’ll see puppies tomorrow. I’m going to get dinner ready. How about the two of you play in your rooms until then?”
She starts clearing her work off the table, placing it in her bag. She then walks into the kitchen, happy everyone is getting along.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Shawna takes her gift to her bedroom and sits down in the middle of the floor. She wants to examine it more. Opening the box, Shawna can hear the angelic music playing. It makes her sway, and she forgets everything else around her. She then stares into the mirror within the box like she is in a daze. The woman in the bloody dress is staring back from the mirror at her. As Shawna continues to stare in the mirror, the woman’s figure is now standing behind her. Shawna begins to speak to the woman.
“No. There’s me, Megan, her dad, and my mom. What’s your name?”
Megan, who is in her room reading a book, can hear her sister talking with someone. She listens but can only hear Shawna’s voice. She shrugs it off and goes downstairs to help Nakia.
“Will you help me by setting the table?”
Megan smiles. “Sure.”
She is happy to help her new mother. Since losing her birth mother four years ago, she initially wasn’t sure of having one again. However, meeting Nakia for the first time changed everything.
“When you get done, please go and tell Brad and Shawna to come down for dinner.”
Shawna is still looking into the mirror while answering. “I like Megan, and Brad is really nice.” She pauses before raising her voice. “He is not a bad man! He loves my mom very much!”
There is a knock on her door. She ignores it.
“I like school, but sometimes Ms. Carol can be a real…bitch.” Shawna giggles at what she just said.
There is a knock on the door again.
