The Music Box

Chapter 11: Rachel

So apparently Wattpad decided not to publish chapter 4, which is where things kick off (and kinda one of my favorite chapters. Screw you too, Wattpad!). So I'm sorry for that. If you're reading this and you haven't seen chapter four, please please please go back and read it. Hopefully things will make more sense for you, and hopefully it would be a better, more enjoyable read. Thank you!

Once she got inside her house, she made her way up the stairs and stood in the hallway, before pulling the dangling latch to the attic and unfolding the ladder. She climbed up the steps and looked around the musky room, finding suitcases, baby clothes in boxes, a rocking horse they didn't use anymore, an old baby mobile, a basket full of sunscreen and beach towels, and other such things. A light fixture was above her head and Rachel took a minute to find the switch to turn it on. After she did, she began her search.

There was a box in the far corner of the room, right above a small secluded window. The box was labelled Anden in a thick sharpie. As she made her way towards it, she spotted one of her dad's old hoodies, and she looked it over before swapping it with the holey one she had on. The hoodie was red and had the faded words Jeep 1941 written in white. She dropped her own hoodie where her dad's had been, then went to the box. She climbed past other boxes and various items and opened the dusty box in the corner, looking over the things inside. There was a stack of baby pictures of her brother, an old certificate from his 'Kindergarten Graduation', a candle from his first birthday, his old ukulele, his baptismal candle and garment, some books he wrote as a kid, old lyrics that Anden refuses for anyone to see, and a few other pictures scattered around inside. One of them was of Anden sitting in the recliner downstairs, a wide grin on his and his band members' faces, his friends huddled around him. His leg was wrapped up in the leg splint she was looking for, and was propped up on the built in leg rest of the recliner. Rachel picked up the picture and turned it over, finding the date in one of the corners. February 15, 2015.

She put the photo back down and sifted through the box some more, unable to find the splint. Finally, she gave up and closed the box, only to find that the large leg splint had been lying in the shadows of the box the entire time. Oh... Well I'm stupid.

Taking the splint, she turned off the light and headed down the ladder, going to her room. She put the leg splint on her bed and looked through one of her drawers, finding a bit of adhesive tape, Band-Aids and some bandages. The reason she had those things in her room was because she often got cut when she was in the  woods, along with... something else. She stuffed the things in an old backpack, the splint poking out of the top of the bag. For a moment she stood there in thought, then closed the attic on her way to her brother's room. She knocked lightly on the door.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, do you have any leftover deodorant you don't use?"

"Uh..." A bit of rummaging; "Yeah, I guess. Why?"

"Dad needs some."

"Oh." The door opened, and Anden stood in the doorway with a stick of unopened Old Spice. "Here."

"Thanks." She took the stick and headed off to her room, seeing that Anden closed the door as soon as she turned around. Rachel tossed the deodorant in her bag, leaving again and walking into her parents' bedroom. "Hey, do we have anymore toothbrushes and toothpaste? I'm all out."

Her dad turned away from his book. "They should be in our bathroom."

Rachel got the supplies and returned to her room, putting the things inside the pack and throwing it over her shoulder. On her way out, she picked out a book from her shelf, then placed it in the bag and headed on her way to the store.