Haven

Author's Note: Something I wrote long, long ago for a contest. I meant to turn it into a series and never got around to it. Found it on an old flash drive today and thought I'd share. Enjoy! :)

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 There was nothing unusual looking about the box. It was small, square, and wrapped in ordinary, brown paper. The fact that it been left for me by my dead Aunt Rose was what made it interesting. I held it carefully between my hands. I wasn't sure if I should open it right then and there, or wait. I wondered if there had been a mistake. There really was no reason Aunt Rose would leave something to me.

"It was sitting on her kitchen table." Uncle George explained.

I turned the package over in my hand and saw the slanted handwriting scrawled across the top. 'To my only niece, Gem'. My real name was actually Gemma. Aunt Rose was the only one who had ever shortened it to Gem. I didn't feel like I knew her enough to tell her I hated the nickname.

"Open it, sweetheart." My mom encouraged, her voice thick with tears.

I shook my head. "I think I'll wait." I took the small box up to my room and shoved it underneath my bed.

Aunt Rose was the type of person you only had to meet once to know you would remember her for the rest of your life. She had long, ginger colored hair, always twisted up into a pile on top of her head. Her skin was pale and fragile looking. Almost like paper. Most of all, I remember her eyes. Big and doll like, they were the type that could just look at you for hours without even blinking once. Every time she looked at me, I swear she could see right through me and was evaluating the condition of my soul. It was unnerving and I was careful to never really look her in the eyes when I had to talk to her. I never understood much of what she said to me anyways. There she'd be, sitting in the corner, staring dreamily off into space, before those big, unblinking eyes would flicker to me. 'Don't worry, Gem, they'll call for you when they need you. I told them you'd come.' I'd nod. If I didn't know before, then I certainly knew it then. Aunt Rose had gone off the deep end.

She had made herself somewhat of an outsider in her own family. My mom called her a 'free spirit'. I called her weird. She never bothered to show up to any reunions or Christmas parties. Even when my Uncle George, her own brother, got married, she was absent from the wedding. Mom said she never really left the house at all. I probably would have never known she existed, had I not been dragged to visit her once or twice during the year. That had stopped nearly five years ago. Maybe my mom had finally realized it wasn't healthy for me to be around someone who lived in their head, talking to themselves constantly.

After we stopped visiting, we didn't hear from her at all. I don't even think she had a phone. Which was why when Uncle George showed up on our doorstep with a brown package tucked under his arm, that it came as a shock to hear she had passed away.

"From what?" My mom asked, her eyes watering and arms clamped tightly around her middle.

Uncle George shrugged. "Natural causes. There was nothing wrong with her."

It was a weird answer to me. She had been two years younger then my mom. Other than that, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel. I hadn't known her well, and really I doubted she would have remembered who I was anyways. That was, until Uncle George handed me that small, brown box.

I didn't know why I couldn't open it. I think apart of me was afraid to know what was inside. After all, Aunt Rose hadn't been the most conventional person. Especially when it came to giving gifts. A week had slowly passed and guilt was now beginning to slowly eat away at my insides. I wondered if it would be considered an insult to her memory to never open the stupid thing. Probably wasn't anything that interesting anyways. There was a good chance it was a birthday present she had forgotten to give me on fifth birthday or something. It would have been just like her. I'd have to open it.