Grabbing the door handle, I purse my lips. Should I ask Dante to stay outside? It makes little sense to deny Ares entrance. He’s been in there several times already, but Dante hasn’t. There’s no real reason he needs to now. I also don’t want to issue him an order, especially after what we were just talking about. I don’t really want to talk to him at all. Not to mention, Ares has probably already told all of them or showed them the inside of the camper with his cameras.
Dante opens the rear door and exits, so I do the same. Ares comes around to our side, and we all just stare at the only home I’ve ever known. When I take a step forward, Ares grabs the back of my neck. “We go in first, but I want you to really look around. Someone has been here—we need to know who it was, and what they were doing here.”
I nod, falling back behind them as they approach the door. “Dante, anything?” Ares asks, looking over the screen door like it might be booby-trapped. Dante’s shoulders hunker down low as he closes his eyes and inhales deeply. His nose pinches up in a sneer as his head moves to the left, and then to the right.
“There’s something there, but it’s just on the edges—like I get a hint of it, but not the entire profile. I’d know it if it were someone familiar, or if I smelled it again.” Dante opens his eyes; they’re more golden than normal, and the pupils have shrunk down to a tiny pinprick. “Whoever it was tried to cover their scent, and I’m only getting one,” he adds letting his eyes fall closed again.
“Maybe it was my mom?” I ask, a hopeful note in my voice.
“I would know if it were her; she’s all over everything inside,” Dante answers, taking a few steps closer to the door.
“Wait, you’ve been inside?” I shuffle my feet. My worries about him seeing how I lived are needless now that I know.
Dante looks over at me, his eyes squinting a bit. “Yeah, we helped Ares with the camera setup.”
“Oh.” I nod my head, looking away. They were all here, what were they thinking? Did they all talk about my tiny, little house on wheels and feel sorry for me? I can’t stand the thought of them pitying me. My back straightens, and I walk over to Ares who’s still examining the door.
He’s completely absorbed in his task, and he barely notices my approach. “What are you looking for?”
“Anything. I want to make sure nothing has been tampered with. My equipment is still functioning, but I need to make sure it isn’t compromised.” Ares stands and, looking over his shoulder, he tells Dante, “See if you can get anything else, walk around the trailer.”
A few seconds later Ares produces my key from his pocket, and until that moment, I hadn’t even realized I didn’t have it. Something that was so vital to me such a short time ago, and now I didn’t even know, or care, where it was.
“Let me have a quick look around, wait here for a second. I’ll call you when I’m ready for you,” Ares announces as he steps into the camper without waiting for my response. I look over my shoulder, noting Dante isn’t in sight. Inching up on my toes, I peer into the open door, watching Ares and his ever-present shadow move around the small space. I don’t know if I’m more aware of his shadow, or if it actually takes on a life of its own.
“Come on in,” Ares calls from inside. Entering, I take a quick look around. Nothing looks out of place, but something feels off. Glancing over, I see Ares coming from the back area, my bedroom. His brows are drawn down as he peers around. Crossing my arms over my stomach, I rub the exposed skin of my forearms. “What do you think?” he asks as he looks around.
Scanning the room again I narrow my eyes. There’s something here, something that isn’t supposed to be, but I don’t know how, or where to find it. “It feels…” Dante hops up into the RV before I finish, and his head jerks back like something hit him.
“Fucking weird.” Dante begins to shake, the quivers starting at his head and working down his body.
“Off,” I finish. “Something feels off, but I don’t know what. It’s like I can hear something—a whirring sound—or feel a buzzing vibration.” I spin around slowly and close my eyes.
“That might be my surveillance equipment,” Ares offers. Stepping over to the kitchen area, he feels along the top of the built-in cabinet and retrieves a small black object. Moving in his direction, I shake my head in denial before even reaching him. The feeling isn’t coming from what he’s holding. I didn’t even know I could pinpoint it until he offered the little device.
“That’s not it.” I turn toward the front of the motor home. The driving area has been sectioned off for ages. Mom hung those heavy drapes and kept them closed all the time, but the weirdness is coming from up there. “It’s something up there.” I point to the curtain, uncertain if I want to go up there. The buzzing feeling is intensifying, making my ears ring with pressure.
Dante slinks up beside me, his head tilting in different directions like a dog. “I can feel it too.” Making his way past me, he finds the part in the center of the drapes and pulls the heavy fabric back. Holding my breath, I expect to find a big machine, like a computer network or something, instead I see a small, white, ornate box, very similar to the one my mother kept her ring in.
Dante is still staring at it as Ares brushes past me to get a better look. When he reaches down like he might grab it I shout. “Don’t touch it!” I don’t know why I don’t want him touching it, but I don’t want any one of us near that thing. There’s no way that thing is just a simple box.
Dante and Ares both turn to look at me. “Do you know what it is?” Dante asks, his eyes already back on the box.
“No, I don’t. But it looks a lot like a box my mom had, though hers never felt like that. At least it never did to me before.” I back away from the box without any real reason other than I feel like something about it is wrong.
Dante backs away, coming over to stand near the door with me. Ares picks up a pencil from the dinette table and gets closer to the box. “Are you sure this isn’t your mom’s box? What’s different?” Ares questions, taking measured steps near the box.
Wringing my hands together, I watch as he uses the pencil eraser to open the lid of the box. “I know it’s not the same box. Hers was round with a little gold bow painted on top. Is there anything inside?”
The lid swings back on tiny gold hinges, but I can’t see inside. Ares’s shoulders fall and he turns to face us. “It’s empty.”
I take a few steps toward him and look around him. It’s not that I doubt him, but how could a small marble box be causing this feeling of dread in me? Dante wraps his hand around my fingers. I look back at him, and there’s a small part of me that wants to shun his comforting touch, but a bigger part of me wants to grab onto him with both hands and not let go.
Keeping my hand in his, I make my way over to Ares where he stands to the side so I can get a better look. True enough, the box is empty. The smooth bottom is lined with thin grey veins, the fake marble giving off an iridescent sheen.
“You said your mom had a box like this. Where is it?” Ares asks after giving me a few seconds to look over the trinket. There’s no way I’m touching it though.