Cabinet (Chapter 8, Story 1)

"I'll come too," Kella said, following her sister into the den. Laura was sprawled on the dingy beige carpet, holding one hand in the other. Blood trickled down her arm. "I fell," she said simply, her voice shuddering. Michelle bent over her younger sister, asking to see the cut and telling Laura that it wasn't too bad. There was a filing cabinet in the den which was used predominately as a skyscraper when the younger girls played Barbies. None of the children were sure if anything was inside it; it was kept securely locked at all times. Apparently, Laura had climbed on top of the cabinet and it had fallen over, causing its two drawers to burst open and their contents to fly all over the room. Kella began to clean up the myriad of papers and envelopes that littered the floor, examining everything as she did so. Most of the papers were credit card bills, but there were also report cards, letters from the landlord, and receipts. Kella had no idea how all the contents of the filing cabinet had been organized, so she simply began to stuff the papers back into the cabinet's drawers. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the last bill had been put away and both drawers had been put back into the cabinet. Kella pushed the heavy cabinet back into the corner, praying as she did so that her mother wouldn't notice that it had been tampered with. "Kella," April said, "you missed one." There was a bright red envelope on top of the TV. Kella wondered how she's missed it. Picking it up, she noticed that it was addressed to James and Karen Jones, whereas the other letters had been addressed only to Karen. There was no return address on the envelope. It's probably just another bill, Kella told herself. But, just to be sure, she lifted the envelope's flap and pulled out a folded piece of white paper. Unfolding the paper, she saw that the Scottsdale Research Institute letterhead was at the top.