The Little Black Book

Loading The Truck

“You’re sure that’s everything?” Kirsten asked her boyfriend, Phoenix, as he loaded the last box onto their moving truck. “Positive” replied Phoenix, with a hint of agitation growing in his voice.

“Okay, just start the truck, i’m gonna go double check” She called back to him, already halfway up the stairs.

She hurried into the empty apartment, checking every room, closet, and cabinet in sight for anything they may have forgotten. It was going to be a long drive to Seattle and she had no intentions of coming back.

After discovering there was indeed nothing left to take, Kirsten placed the house keys on the marbled countertop, said her goodbyes to their once humble abode and left.

“Huh? How did I miss this?” She thought as she closed the front door behind her, noticing a box on the ground.

“Kirsten! Come on! If we don’t leave now, we’ll be driving all night!” Nix yelled from his driver-side window.

Startled, she picked up the box and hurried back to the truck.

“Positive, huh?” she grimaced as she placed it on the floor between their seats and climbed in.

Phoenix smirked from ear to ear, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of them, only turning to say “Away we go!”

Home Sweet Home

“Wake up, we’re here!” Kirsten whispered as she gently shook her exhausted boyfriend.

“Five hours and twenty seven minutes later, but we made it”

“Five? The GPS said we wouldn’t get here until 10 o’clock, exactly how fast were you driving?” A now wide awake Nix questioned as he searched around the dark of the truck for his cellphone.

“Kirsten, it’s 8:56, what in the world?”

“Hey, I got us here alive, didn’t I?” She protested. “We’re both still intact, so you’re welcome”

“Yeah, remind me to just stop at a rest stop next time i’m too tired to drive, okay?” He commanded as he unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out of the truck.

Kirsten did the same.

She walked to the back, where Phoenix met her with a renewed sense of drowsiness, but began undoing the latches anyways.

She placed her hand atop his.

“Hey, it’s getting pretty late and you have to work early tomorrow, remember?”

“Why don’t I start unloading all the boxes I can carry alone and you can help me with the rest after work”

“You sure you’ll be okay out here alone?” Nix asked concerned, while rubbing his eyes.

“There’s not another house for miles, Nix, I’ll be fine” she assured him. “It’s just us out here.”

“Yeah, with an occasional bear or two” He added.

“Pshh, a bear? Come on! I think I can handle a little bear, I learned from the best, remember” Kirsten winked as he chuckled at her poor attempt at a fighting stance.

Nix pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead and they stayed silent like this for a minute or two until Kirsten pulled away.

“Seriously, go! You need to get some sleep, i’ll be up in an hour or so” She stated bluntly.

“Just open the garage for me whenever you get inside, it’ll make unloading a lot easier”.

Nix nodded in agreement as he made his way towards the front door.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Kirsten called after her now sluggish lover. He spun around only to find an obnoxious grin spread across her face as she dangled the keys overhead.

Mystery Box

“Ugh!” Kirsten groaned as she placed the last box of the evening into the garage. “Finally.”

She locked up the truck and headed inside for the night, immediately going upstairs to make sure she hadn’t woken Nix with all the commotion. Nope. Out like a light. Perfect.

Curious about the time, she reached into her sweater pocket to check her phone only to find it was not there. “Nooo! I left it in the truck” She realized almost instantly. She grabbed the keys off the counter and ran outside into the freezing cold. She peered through the foggy glass window and sure enough, there it was, her phone, sitting on top of a small brown box.

“Oh shit, I forgot about this one” she shivered as she opened the passenger side door. Leaving her phone on top, she lifted the box from the bottom and carried them both inside.

Back in the warmth of her new home, Kirsten checked the time: 11:37PM.

“Oh, it’s getting pretty la-“ she started to say, but just as she spoke, she tripped over a pair of Nix’s shoes and collapsed onto the floor.

The box she was once holding fell to the ground with a loud thud, bursting open & releasing its contents.

Old CDs, Old CDs & more Old CDs

She hurried to put everything back inside the box, but something caught her eye. A tightly wrapped plastic bag hidden under a couple of the CD cases she picked up. Grabbing a box cutter from the counter, she sliced it open and four stacks of cash fell onto the ground. She counted it: $20,000. Confused, Kirsten quickly gathered it all and put it back inside the now-ripped plastic bag. As she went to put it back inside the box, she stepped on something.

Her eyes trailed down to look at it: A plain little black book. She opened the book to the first page and just as she did, 2 words began to appear: LEAVE. NOW. As she stared at the book in disbelief, the sound of creaky footsteps began getting closer and closer, so she grabbed the book and threw everything in the box & hid it under the kitchen sink.

TO BE CONTINUED...