7 Chapter Six: Part 2- A Chest, A Key, and A Picture Frame

Reginald P.O.V.

When we arrived at the church Matt left in a rush leaving an awkward silence between me and Father Joshua. Really, as soon as I see him I'm just gonna. I clench my shaking fist trying to calm my nerves, but I just really want to punch him!!!

"Come on Reginald, we better hurry if we want to keep these a secret from the others." Father Joshua said carrying bags of everything we thought they would like.

"Yes Father!!!" I took a few bags from him and rushed over to the back where we could sneak in the presents without anyone knowing.

"Hey Rege what are you doin?"

"Huh?!" I turn around to see Chris failing miserably at trying to sneak in. I hold the bags behind me and continued.

"Well you see uhh…" I look behind him where Father Joshua had just come in.

"We are just bringing in the Vegetables for all of us to eat." Chris looked up to see father Joshua surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Father Joshua!? You're back!" he puts his arms around the Father's waist and continues.

"It's okay I won't tell anyone." He turns around and skips away. Sometimes I wonder what that kid's got in his head. He won't tell what? Did he find out? It creeps me out sometimes.

*Fast-forward*

I enter my room and proceeded to look for my bag which I hid somewhere when I first came here. I'm sure I left it somewhere around here though. It took me a few minutes before I retraced my steps from that day and remembered something.

*Flashback*

I looked around the room while nervously squeezing the bag in my hand. From the otherside of the door, I could hear footsteps getting closer and closer. I desperately run around before throwing the bag inside a drawer, just as the door creeks open.

"You're Reginald right? Im Henry, follow me. I need to. . . show you how something. Since you're the new kid and all. There's a few things you need to learn about the things we do around here."

"Okay?"

I nod my head and follow after him. After a few steps I glanced back at the drawer, imprinting it's image into my mind, and shut the door behind me.

*End of Flashback*

"The drawer!"

I dash to the drawer, almost jumping in excitement. But instead of the old and ragged up bag, I see something glimmer… something… green?

*Flashback*

We went to a discreet place where barely anyone passes through.

"Here take it."

In his palm I see a sparkling green gem about the the size of my thumb nail embedded into a rusty key.

"What?"

"Oh. It's just something we do around here. We pass this down after every seven kids who get orphaned and comes here. They say it's bad luck if you don't do so."

"What do you mean?" I looked up at him wondering why it had to be every 7th person, and what 'bad luck' refers to.

"Just hand this over to the seventh kid that comes here after you. Don't leave the church before you do. There was once a kid who got adopted by a couple who just moved into the city a few months after he arrived. And since there weren't enough kids that came in, he wasn't able to pass it on. Seven days later, the couple vanished and the kid came back, refusing to tell anyone what happened. Another couple tried to adopt him, but he refused. We still don't know what happened to him. After the seventh kid came, he left the church in a rush. The priests and sisters don't know about it, and they won't believe you so don't bother.

Oh! and don't talk about it to other kids. Whenever I tried to tell them, they always forget about it the next day! Anyway. See ya around. Talk to me if there's anything up with the key."

Chills went down my spine and I couldn't speak a word. I went back to my room, and throw the gem into the same drawer. Strange. Why is everyone here so weird?

*End of Flashback*

I reach over the drawer and took the shining thing in my hand. "Key. . . seventh kid. . . Right!!! It's about time huh!" looked closer at it I tilted it this way and that, watching the rainbow that forms whenever the sunlight hits it in a particular way. The longer I stare at it, the more I notice that the inside of the gem felt almost, alive? Like water swirling around.

This key is very strange. The gem looks pretty expensive, but the key itself is so plain. It's also pretty rough from all the rust.

I placed it in my pocket to give to Matthew later. It's not like it will harm him anyway as long as he passes it down correctly right? Now where could the bag be? I trip over a floor tile that was jutting up, definitely uneven from the rest.

I lightly tap my fingernail on it as well as on the tiles around it… nothing unusual. I then used my fingernails to try and pick it out from the floor, it's not busting. maybe it just popped up when there was an earthquake or something. I look around, still in my lying down position, and spot something that wouldn't be spotted if I were standing up.

"Aha!!!" I exclaimed.

"There you are."

I walked over to my bed and lie down once more so that I could reach it. "tch, it's farther than I thought." I crawled under my bead and finally reached it… what was it doing there anyway?" I thought to myself.

"Hey Rege, what are you doing?"

"Woah." I bumped my head on the underside of my bed. I crawled back out to check who had come in. man that really hurt.

"Chris?... I was just getting something."

"From under the bed?"

"Yeah… I dropped it." he burst out laughing on the spot.

"How'd you drop it that far under the bed? It's pushed up against the corner wall! You're really weird y'know that?"

"Yeah yeah whatever you say."

"Here." He reached out his hand to help me get up and I grabbed it.

"So who are you trying to hide that from?"

"No one in particular." He looked at me as if to examine me and the truth of my words, before shrugging it off, disinterested.

"Well you better get down soon or you'll get only the leftovers."

I looked at him and nodded my head. As soon as he left I looked at my greyish-brownish bag and opened it. I reached into it and felt for something that would match what I was looking for… the chest. I gave up and just looked into it seeing the tinniest picture frame in the world.

"Hello there~"

I took it out rubbed the dirt off of it. Then I saw. . . mother. Or not?

The mother I remember had short blond hair with a natural tan. The woman in the picture was slightly stouter, younger, and was surrounded by her family, I believe. She also seemed very pale, with really dark hair that went down to her waist.

Strange, I could have sworn that. . . well maybe I just remembered incorrectly

But rather than her, the old man beside her is more important. My grandfather Thaddeus. Anyway, back to the chest. Now where is it~. I shuffle my hand around the bag to find anything hard and gold.

"Found it."

I take the small box from the bag and looked at it for a while before placing the bag back into the drawer. It even looks better than I remembered - over-embellished! I took a cloth and wrapped it around the chest and frame and tied it with some string just lying around in the room before throwing it under my bed sheets.

I rush out the door and down the stairs to dinning room. I'm starving!

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