Rushwick Grove

“What’s that”, Ericka called as she walked up the steps of my porch. I looked around her at a package wrapped in newspapers. I didn’t see an address label on it, but it looked old.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, stepping around her to open the door. “Don’t touch it though. It might be a bomb,” I joked, getting the side-eye from Ericka and she followed me into the house.

“If you think it’s a bomb you’d better call the PD and report it,” she held out her cellphone and I laughed. We set down our shopping and I went back out to pick up the package. It was very light, feeling almost empty. I tossed it to her, suggesting that she open it while I put away groceries. “I’m not opening this thing. It’s your house, your package. I’ll put away the groceries,” she tossed the package back to me and headed into the kitchen.

Honestly, I didn’t want to open it, but if my best friend was willing to put away the groceries then I wasn’t going to argue. I began to tear into the box when I began to wonder if it really were a bomb. I shook my head and looked inside the now open box where a small wooden cylinder lay with a note attached, addressed to Paige Michaels…me. I lifted the items and tossed the now empty box by the door and walked to join Ericka in the kitchen.

“It wasn’t a bomb, at least it doesn’t look like one,” I stated as I sat at the table watching her walk around the kitchen like she owned the place. Ericka had been my best friend for more than fifteen years and she probably knew more about where things were than I did. I never cooked, let alone bought groceries, but she had this idea that we were going to start cooking at each other’s houses in order to save money and get healthy. The idea terrified me. The closest I got to cooking was popping a frozen dinner in the microwave on my days off. She smiled towards me and nodded to the cylinder in my hand.

“So, is that what was in it?” I held up the item so she could look at it. She grabbed it from me and took a closer look. The cylinder was cherry wood and had marble letters around it. “Hey, this looks like that thing from The DaVinci Code. You remember when we watched that a few years ago? I think if you spin the letters around to make the right word it will open.”

She was right. It did look like that. Why would someone send me something like this? Better question, who would send me one.

“Right. Wasn’t it called a cryptid or something” She laughed, tossing back her head.

“No, smart one. A cryptid is a creature like a skinwalker. This is called a cryptex.” I nodded like I knew what she was talking about. “Was there a note or anything about who sent it and why?”

“Oh yeah, there was this.” I opened the note. The paper was delicate and written with a shaky hand. “I haven’t looked at it yet.” She stood behind me, looking over my shoulder as I began to read aloud, “Once upon a time typically starts the book but no fairy tales lie inside of this nook. This letter includes a warning and to open this puzzle I must first tell a …” She took the letter from my hands and held the paper up to the light.

“That’s it? Obviously the answer is a story, but who sent it and why?” I stood beside her and looked at the paper, shaking my head. I didn’t know and I’m not sure I wanted to play a game. I’d seen enough TV shows and movies to know that this likely wasn’t going to end well.

“I don’t know, but try it and see if it opens.” She set down the paper and rolled the letters on the cryptex to read STORY. There was a soft click and she pulled at the end of the cylinder. Out came another piece of paper. “Really, another note?” I sighed as she unrolled the thin paper and read it to herself. “Are you going to share what it says,” I asked, with an edge to my voice.

“Yeah, hang on,” she lifted it to the light like she did the last one, sighing. “There isn’t a name here either, but it is another riddle. It says, ’To find the story about what is ahead go to the building that is well read. Search the periodicals one, two, three and find the one dated 9/23.

A home that once stood oh so tall fell before us all. The family that everyone envied was one with secrets no one should know. Once you find what you seek, you will know the address of where next to peek.’ So, do you want to go to the library now or later?”

She gave me a look that told me that she wasn’t going to let this go. I shrugged my shoulders in response, telling her that I didn’t care either way and I didn’t. If she wasn’t here I would have called her and had her look at the stuff and probably sent her home with the box. I definitely would rather be eating my frozen dinner and watching Netflix, but when Ericka gets excited about something she always tries to drag me along with her, and had a feeling that this was one of those times where she wasn’t going to let me stay home. It was my box, on my step, so now it was my problem.

I gave her my sad puppy dog look and asked, “Can we have dinner first? I’m starving.” I could tell she wasn’t thinking about food. Mentally, she was already in the library and running the words to the clue in her head. “The library isn’t going anywhere. Isn’t it closed already anyway?” I glanced at the clock on the stove as she did too. It was 4:00 pm. If the library was like the bank they would be closing at five. I was really hoping it was closing at five.

“They are open until five. We can get a start if we go now,” her eyes pleaded to me that we go. I sighed, looking at the groceries that were still on the floor and back to her.

“Well, if we are going to go we have to finish putting this away. Come on,” I grabbed a bag and started helping put the groceries away. The smile on her face was worth it. She was beaming and I smiled back at her, letting her know that I was in this with her.

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