Briar-Rose King (tribal_rose) wrote in astor_ridge, @ 2011-02-07 16:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | joe, joe and rose, rose |
Who: Joe and Rose King
What: The UPS works in Mysterious Ways
Where: Their apartment
When: Tuesday afternoon
Status: In Progress
Rating: PG-13 for imagery
Well, now what...
A teenage girl stood in the lofty living room of her family's new apartment, a lone figure of warmth and movement among no less than five stacks of large packing boxes arranged like a miniature city around their floor. Three men in brown jumpsuits had brought them in after interrupting Rose in the middle of drying her hair with poundings on the front door and an electronic device she was asked to sign.
They were all plain packaging. Nothing to hint at whatever lay inside that her father had apparently ordered in bulk. Besides the plain white 'addressed to' label all proclaiming ownership to Joseph King, they loomed like unfestive Christmas presents under his curious daughter's sunny green gaze and splash of freckles.
Maybe they were things for the shop? But why would they be sent here? Rose stood next to one tall stack of boxes with her hands on the snug pair of jeans she was still trying to break in. Watching it. Chewing on her lip.
Should she text him? Daddy didn't seem to like being texted (Baz had told her their father secretly didn't understand how to retrieve his messages. Of course, his sister believed him), but she was pretty sure he didn't want to come home to find a small city of unmarked boxes not put away after they had just finished moving the place in. She used this band of logic as fuel for her increasing wonder. Unmarked boxes (especially in such quantity) were like those plain 'door number one' things on old game shows.
The tape peeled away from the first box grabbed (pulled into her lap with a plop down on the couch), she peeked inside, pushing the static-y foam peanuts out of the way to find--
Well, Rose wasn't exactly sure what it was. At first.
It looked like a dog collar, or ...maybe a harness? With the big red rubber ball tangled in the black leather straps. The freckles on her nose wrinkled, the tiny stud on her nostril caught the light, just like the shiny chrome buckles on this...thing held up for a closer inspection.
"What in the world..." She knew she had seen this thing before--or something like it. There were bells ringing in the back part of her mind, recognizing the Thing in passing. Rose scoured her brain for the reference... then suddenly, with big, mostly innocent eyes widening as far as they would go, it dawned on her.
Hostel. She'd seen it in that horror movie, shoved in the mouth of an American boy about to be...
Ohmygod.