Between being not all there and being sick, I just stared at him. "Come again?" I asked. The sun was shining brightly into the doorway. I enjoyed it for the moment for it felt good on my shivering skin.

The delivery guy just looked at me like I was stupid. "Um, yes I have a delivery for Emethyst?" He said, as he looked down at the box he was holding. It was a decent size, but I was now confused. I didn't order anything, and I was for sure all of my belongings were shipped here from Lavender Town already. I was almost tempted to tell him he had the wrong Emethyst.

"Uh, sure.. that's me." I said, hesitantly. I looked at the address closely on the box, and it was indeed my dad's, and the spelling of my name was correct. "Sorry, not feeling well." I said, as I took the box from the guy. It didn't seem very heavy, but because I was sick it felt like a box of bricks.

"No problem, have a good day!" He exclaimed, as he walked back to his truck. I immediately set the box down by the doorway, and closed the door. My throat was now throbbing even more, as I swallowed sparingly. Looking down at the box, I wondered what was inside.

With all the strength I had, I picked it up and climbed the loft with it. I didn't know if it had anything fragile in it, so I gently sat it on top of the loft, as I continued to climb up. As soon as I reached the top; I sat the box on my bed and just stared at it, as if it had come from a dark place. There was something about it that just gave me an off feeling. I wanted to put it off, but I knew my curiousity would kill me.

I looked down at the seal, and saw it looked very easy to cut into. I used my little bit of nails to cut it open like a leaf blade. I hesitantly opened the flaps of the box, and was met with a bunch of colorful tissue paper, like it was my birthday. But, the only problem was my birthday wasn't for another six months. There was a purple envelope on the top that had printed on it in beautifully in thick black pen. I didn't recognize who's handwriting it could have been.

I tore open into the envelope, and there was a note. I reached in the envelope, and took the note out. I quickly unfolded it, and braced myself for what it could say. In the same handwriting that was written on the envelope, the note read:

.

There was no signature, or nothing telling me who this person was. I then put the note down, and flipped the flap on the box to see if there was a return address; which there wasn't.

I was dumbfounded, and felt defeated. It felt like every time I tried to push forward; Something just kept pulling me back. I almost wanted this box to remain a mystery, but I knew the curiousity would only kill me.

I took a deep breath, and pulled the tissue paper out of the box. I was first met with a photo. It was of my mom and dad side by side. Snorunt was by my mom's side, and there was a black and red cat Pokemon by my dad's side. My mom was clearly pregnant with me, and my dad had his hand on her belly. They both looked super young, but I knew this was the case because my mom told me she had me when she and my dad were both sixteen years old. I also noticed my dad hadn't changed a bit; Because he was wearing no shirt. This made me snicker a little, however my throat stopped me midway because it was hurting.

I looked closer at the photo, and noticed my mom appeared to be a little bruised on her right arm and her face. Then again, it could have just been age spots on the photo. I then looked at my dad, and noticed these 'bruises" were also on his arm and neck. Age spots. I thought. I put the photo down, and began sifting through the box some more.

I took some more tissue paper out of the box, and was then met with CD cases and video cassettes. I took a look at the tapes which were all labeled as follows:

Lavender Town Therapy - Crystal appt 4

I then came across a sixth tape; That looked to be damaged. The label was torn off, and the tape on the inside looked to be severly tampered with. The tape in particular gave me a really uncomfortable feeling looking at it. My mother went to therapy? I thought, bewildered. This made my heart and stomach sink a little bit.

I put the tapes back into the box, and then began to look at the CD cases. There were various CDs with different song names on them. All of them had 'Cover' written on them after the song title. A few of the songs I knew, but some of them I didn't.

The only sound that filled the house was my pounding heart. I felt scared. Who was this person? Why did they have my mother's belongings? Something felt seriously off about this. I wanted to go to my dad with this, but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. My stomach churned with nervousness.

I didn't want to keep looking, but my arms kept sifting through the box. It felt like I was being controlled. I then came across another CD.

I looked down at the clear reflective CD case that was labeled scribbled in permanent blue marker. I could tell this was my mother's handwriting. Now that I recalled, my mother loved to sing and do covers of songs she got inspired by. I never actually knew she recorded them though, and she never really shared any of them with me or anyone for that matter. I swallowed, my throat recoiling in pain from the Strep I had caught.

My heart was in two different places. Part of me wanted to find out more about these mysterious tapes and CDs, and listen to all of them. But, the other part wanted to just leave it be, and just continue on with life as normal. Every time I tried to move on, something always stopped me in my tracks. I didn't understand it.

Suddenly, I heard the front door knob turn and the door open; the sun letting more light into the house. "Emethyst!" My dad's familar voice called. "I'm home!"

Shit! I thought. I immediately took all of the box's contents and threw them back into the box quicker than a quick attack. I then slid the box underneath my bed, and immediately climbed back into bed. I grabbed my phone, and made it look like I had been on it this whole time. I was sure I looked suspicious, but I had to play it off the best I could.

I heard my dad's footsteps climb up the loft, and saw his familiar white hat and green framed glasses peer over the loft. "How are you feeling?" He asked, as he stepped onto the loft and came over to me.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Hey dad. You're home early." I croaked, as I noticed the time was 2pm on my phone.

"Yeah," He nodded. "I couldn't stop thinking about you and wanted you to have this medicine as soon as possible." He said, smiling, as he held up a bottle of liquid medicine.

"Lovely." I mumbled, as I looked at it with pure hate. I didn't know what it was, but I hated taking medicine with a passion. I knew it made me feel better, but most of it smelled and tasted like a Gardboder's veno-shot. Sometimes the taste and smell would be so bad that it made me vomit. My mother would get it flavored for me so it wasn't so bad.

"Relax," My dad said, as he sat on my bed side. "It's Pinap Berry flavored." He said, as he opened the bottle. "I know you don't like taking medicine." He said, as he poured an amount into the cup that came with it. It was yellow, like Pinap Berry juice. "Just a heads up though, this will make you really drowsy to where you'll barely have any energy." He said, as he handed the cup to me.

I scrunched my nose at him. "Why should I take it then? I don't want to sleep my life away." I said, as I looked down at it as if I were about to drink piss.

"Because it'll make you feel better." My dad countered. "Now, take it." He said, kind of sternly.

I rolled my eyes, and braced myself as I tipped the cup into my mouth. I was surprised that the medicine didn't taste bad, and actually tasted pleasant. "Wow. That didn't taste half bad." I said, as I looked down at the now empty cup.

My dad smiled. "Yeah, I had Mallow flavor it for you with the Pinap juice from her family's restaurant. She told me to tell you to get well soon, by the way." My dad said.

I smiled at that kind gesture. I'll have to tell her thank you when I see her on Monday. "Wow, I'll have to tell her thank you when I see her Monday." I said, smiling.

"If you're feeling better by then," My dad added. "Which I hope you are. Akala Island will be a fun time. Hopefully that medicine knocks the strep out of you by then." He said, as he got up. "That medicine shouldn't kick in for another hour, so I'll make you some soup in the mean time so you don't go to sleep hungry." He said.

"Thanks, Dad." I said, as I smiled over at him.

"Soup should be ready in ten to fifteen minutes." He said, as he climbed down the loft.

It was then I got an idea. Olivia. I thought. Olivia might be able to answer the questions I have...