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The mystery package

A mystery package is received and after much investigation, the sender is found.

By JPWrites.2Published about a year ago 13 min read
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The mystery package
Photo by Brandable Box on Unsplash

After graduating high school, young Lillian signs for her first apartment. In an effort to avoid any drama following her into her new life, she opts not to tell very many people about her new place. She shares the news and address with her family, cousins and her best friend Tina. She is nervous about leaving home and being on her own, though she is also super excited to be starting the next chapter of her life. Her brother and dad help her on moving day, they spend the majority of the day encouraging Lillian to branch out and try new things as she ventures into the next part of her life. Everyone knows this is the next step for her, including Tina, who planned to come over the next day to help her unpack and decorate her new apartment. The next steps everyone comes face to face with can be daunting to say the least, especially when people are young.

The sun had just started to set, and her brother had just carried in the last box from the truck. Lillian ordered pizza for dinner and in the meantime her dad and brother went across the street to the convenience store to grab some drinks, chips and extra napkins. They also grabbed some toilet paper and hand soap for Lillian to have in the meantime as she unpacks and organises everything. As they approach her building they notice an uber driver dialling up to her suite with pizza in hand. They explain it’s for them and so they buzz in and head to her apartment, suite 207. The three of them agreed that was one of the fastest deliveries they had ever had, which was a good thing since they were all super hungry after their busy day of moving.

By around 7pm they had finished and cleaned up from the food, so her brother and father decided it’s a good time to head out and go home to shower and rest before it gets too late. Lillian curls up in her bed with her blanket and pillows, too lazy to unpack the bedding box she sleeps with no sheets or anything.

Ring, Ring, Ring…. Her alarm sounds at 8am, eager for some coffee she heads to the kitchen and unpacks the box titled ‘morning needs’. Tina was supposed to arrive around 9am, so she brewed her coffee and made sure to leave enough in the pot for Tina when she arrived. No sooner than finishing her first cup of coffee she hears the buzzer, thinking it was Tina she accepted the buzz and allowed them inside. A knock at her door comes shortly after and she calls out to Tina inviting her to just come in. She waits a moment while she grabs her hoodie from the bed but her door never opens. When she walked back to the kitchen her phone buzzed, Tina was asking if she wanted anything to eat from McDonalds… She was a bit shaken by the fact Tina was not who she allowed in and invited to just walk into her apartment. Curious to see what was going on she crept towards the door, slid the lock into place and peeked through the peephole. She didn’t see anyone there so she slowly opened the door, to find a box sitting just outside with her name on it. Thinking one of her family members had maybe ordered her something for the apartment she sends out a text to her family group chat asking if someone had ordered something for her. She decides to wait until she hears back before opening anything, so she replies to Tina. Tina replies and says she got her food and she's about to walk in the building. She buzzes her in and when she gets upstairs she greets her warmly, following up with the question. She shows her the box, but Tina says she didn’t order anything. They agree that she shouldn’t open it until she knows where it came from, or who had sent it. Lillian sets it down by the door and the girls sit down to eat. Tina is clearly excited to help with the apartment, so they eat pretty quickly and proceed to start unpacking boxes. They start with the bedroom, thinking clothes and basics are top priority. By the time lunch had rolled around they decided to order some chinese food. Once it had arrived they sat on her bed to eat, and Lillian finally checked her phone. Nobody from her family had owned up to sending anything or ordering anything to her new address. In fact they all seem a bit taken aback by the situation. This was exactly the kind of thing she was trying to avoid.

As they ate their lunch she asks Tina what she should do next… Tina suggested they try to track back the package together and to just leave it unopened by the door until either they determine where it came from or until they decide to stop looking and they dispose of said package. Content with the plan Lillian suggests they begin unpacking in the washroom and kitchen next.

As the afternoon passes by Lillian begins to fill with anxiety and concern over the package. She asks Tina to stay the night and they can begin their search in the morning. Tina hesitantly agrees, even though she has no spare clothes or anything. She definitely picked up on the stress that was slowly consuming her friend.

Tina would never admit it, but even she was a little worried. It didn’t make much sense how someone knew her name and new address. She held onto some hope that it was just a surprise from her family or something simple like that.

They managed to get pretty much everything unpacked and relatively organised by that night, so they decided to head over to the supermarket to get some groceries, toiletries and also something for dinner.

When they get back to the apartment they begin looking at the box a bit more closely trying to identify a return address or name? Even a company name or what service may have been responsible for delivering the package… They inspect the box for a while and they aren’t able to come up with much.

The label on the box is as follows…

Suite 207, 1023 Lynwood Ave Cooksville MO 7UK 8I9

Addressed to Lillian Jonahs

Origin- 2499 Protten Street MO 9JT 3N6

They highlight the origin address and begin by searching that up online. The address is registered to a post office uptown. They agreed it seems strange to have the origin address of just a post office, so they decided to call hoping that someone there might be able to help track down what this box is and where it may have come from. However upon calling they come to find out that the post office at that address is no longer open. Even stranger….

Quickly Tina and Lillian become obsessed with the mission of finding out what the package was, where it came from and why. It’s wild how a strange delivery can overtake someone's life. The stress and anxiety was overwhelming to say the least.

After weeks of dead ends, no real leads, and a ton of frustration Tina comes across a post online about someone else who found themselves in a similar situation. Tina reached out and the information she gathered seemed to be the most promising lead they had found. She texts Lillian to tell her; and let her know she’s going to come by after work to start following the path that this other girl had provided from her similar experience.

That evening the girls begin tracking down the sender with help from the other girl's story. They begin making calls to every business within a 5 kilometre radius of the closed down post office. Eventually one of the businesses is able to provide some useful information. Evelynn’s quilts and more, explained they often have issues because they are the unit right above the abandoned post office. They tried to use their computer program to track down the package and see if it had been sent from them. After a while the young lady on the phone gasps…. The tracking number is indeed in their system, it came from them, but what caught her off guard was that there was no list of contents or seemingly any information about where it came from in regards to who may have purchased from them.

Their situation is a scary resemblance to what the other girl had gone through. She too was able to find the location it originated from but she too could not find the exact details of where or whom it had come from.

With the information they gathered from Evelynn’s quilts and more they decide to scour the internet trying to find any other information that may help them, or even other people with similar stories. To no end, they aren’t able to find anything substantial whatsoever. They sent a few emails to local businesses as well as to the corporate company that manufactures the products sold at Evelynn’s store.

The box still sat right by the door, haunting Lillian every day. At this point her and Tina have basically given up every resemblance of normal in their lives to investigate this mystery package. Day in and day out they would be making calls, sending emails and consistently trying to find any useful clues. They both begin seeing their grades slip during their first semester at college. Even still, they refuse to give up.

A few more weeks have come and gone and still no luck. They begin to contemplate opening the package to see if what was inside would be of any help to them. For fear of not knowing they agree to take the package and go to a public park to open it. The following day they set out to a local park, where they take a seat on the grass and begin to open the package. It wasn’t really a heavy box so transporting it wasn’t hard to do. Upon opening the box they both jump backwards realising the box only had a couple small items within it…

First they remove a paper with a hand written note on it, reading, ‘Unto new adventures dear Lily, good luck my girl and congratulations.’

They then remove a lightweight envelope which is sealed and they set it aside. Beneath that is a pack of hair ties, socks and a lanyard fit with a clip and key ring on the end of it. None of this really made any sense and they did not recognize the handwriting on the note, which appeared to be some kind of calligraphy. They collectively decide to open the envelope, which encases about 500$ in cash.

Super weirded out by it they take images of everything and once again hit a dead end. They throw everything back in the box and head back to Lillian’s apartment. Once they arrive Tina pipes up with a question

“Who would call you Lily?”

“Only my family and super close friends call me Lily”. She replied.

Tina suggests that Lillian should write a list of everyone from the past and present who would call her by that name.

The following day Lillian sends the list to Tina stating nothing stood out to her on the list. She explains that she had been racking her brain but wasn’t able to draw any connections or anything…

Tina decides to start watching documentaries and videos that might help her dissect the evidence and lead to a final solution. She hopes that with enough background she may be able to play detective and figure out where it came from, and more importantly who had sent it.

Weeks had gone by, the girls had done nothing as of yet with the contents of the package, and that’s when Tina finally figured it all out. The answer had been right in front of them the entire time, but given the circumstances it had never really crossed their minds.

Tina calls Lillian in a hurry and says she knows who sent it, and suggests they meet at the library after lunch.

When Tina sits at the table across from Lillian she pulls out her notebooks and begins to ask Lillian to pay very close attention.

She draws her attention first to the random contents of the box, asking who would know her favourite hair ties, socks and most importantly who would know her all time favourite band, which is what was on the fabric of the lanyard…

Next she brings the cash to Lillian’s attention, showing her the photos, she explains the serial numbers were all in sequence which suggests that it had been pulled out all at once at an ATM or bank. She asks her to think of someone who would have wanted her to have some cash for spending on her new place, but wouldn’t really be affected by giving away that amount of money. Tina suggests this was someone who knew her well, who made enough money that this would have no effect on their bottom line and most importantly someone who previously had called her Lily.

Then she opens her notebook to a page where she has dissected every letter of the note. She made note of some ink streaks that would suggest the writer was left handed. She also circled some letters throughout it.

The letters U, W, A, R and D had been circled. She also underlined the words ‘my girl’.

Her notes below read

University of West Allen Residence, with U, W, A and R underlined once again.

Darwin, with D underlined.

*Darwin, her ex from last year, a student living on residence at University of West Allen.*

Lillian jumped back and gasped for air as she read Tina’s notes. Suddenly it all made sense. The only question now was why make such a secret out of it all?

Tina called UWA and found out that in residence there is a group called The Men, sort of like a sorority. But for the guys.

She began to wonder if that other girl also had an ex or current boyfriend who went to UWA… The answer was yes.

After much investigating Lillian and Tina are able to deduce that the group referred to as The Men is actually a group of rich university boys who are out to get back at the women who hurt them, establishing some kind of dominance over them. Lillian reported everything to the local police who later arrested all but one member of the group… Some had been arrested on charges of stalking, drugs, and even assault. The only member who got off was Darwin, claiming his package was harmless. It wasn’t the package that did harm, it was the months of agonising over it that had. He claims that he sent the package as a show of support from a distance, because he worried she wouldn’t take his money otherwise… A restraining order was put into place, and ultimately Lillian moved to another building.

Almost 2 years later Lillian had Just graduated from her program, and as she was packing to move uptown for work there was a knock at her door, and when she opened it she began to cry. A package much larger than the last was sitting outside her door…. She called Tina, who also received a package, and upon comparing pictures it was clear that they got the exact same package…. No origin. No information. Just large boxes with their names….

Mystery
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About the Creator

JPWrites.2

Hey everyone! just a small town author here writing a bit of everything.

Feel free to email me ideas or just check out my socials!

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Insta @Jpwrites.2

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