The Faerie Key

Chapter Five

Selcouth shivered as she gasped for air. She reached up to touch her neck, it felt moist and cool. It was probably the sweat, she thought but her stomach tightened as she looked around her apartment.

The castle reminded her of a scene from Harry Potter, but it looked abandoned.

She got goosebumps just thinking about it. As she covered herself with her fuzzy grey throw she glanced down at the key.

The flower from her dream and the imprinted flower on the key matched. Although in her dream it was much more vivid. She knew that it was all interconnected that if she found the flower she could find the door that Risa had mentioned.

She tried to google new age shops in Edinburgh, but a headache that threatened to turn into a migraine made her turn off her laptop. Selcouth knew would curl up in bed, with pain on her left temple, by the end of the day.

Too much stress always made her migraines emerge, the day after each wedding she would be in bed the whole day with the shades drawn. She tried to calm herself by misting Amethyst, named so because of the calming fragrance and color of the flower buds.

"All I need is a map of Edinburgh and then I can find the castle which will lead me to the shop," she said to her plant.

After taking a full breath of its aroma, her headache eased for the moment. She made herself an almond butter and jelly sandwich. She enjoyed the smooth texture of the butter and the sweetness of the jam. She had grown up eating it since her parents were either at the store or at a retreat. Julian was allergic to nuts so she stopped eating them while they had been together. She decided to make herself one more.

Selcouth sat down and ate her second sandwich. Her cellphone buzzed.

"Checking in," Tanya wrote.

"Eating a marvelous AB and J sandwich =)," she replied.

"How did the interviews go?"

"Didn't go." Selcouth wondered if she should tell Tanya about the key. She would probably make fun of her or worry about Selcouth's mental state.
When Julian had broken up with Selcouth, she had become withdrawn and depressed. Tanya started checking in on her since then. One time when Tanya had been drunk she had admitted that she had been worried that Selcouth would have tried to harm herself. Selcouth had laughed it off by saying she had been too numb to do that. For years after the break-up, she had felt like she was sleep living. She still felt that way a little, but the key excited her.

"Why not? Are you okay?" Tanya's replied woke Selcouth from her reverie.

"I decided to live and enjoy my freedom like you suggested."

"It meant to go have one-nighter, not to become a freeloader."

Like Lenny, Selcouth was tempted to reply but knew that Tanya meant well.

"I haven't gone freeloader yet and too many STDs for one-nighters."

"Prude."

"Hahahaha, I can't imagine why I don't want itchy genitals after awkward sex."

"Fair point."

"Tan, thanks for always watching out for me."

"Someone had to."

"Meeting up at the pub later?"

"Can't tonight, Lenny has an art thing. Tomorrow?"

"Sure. Have fun, Miss Money Maker."

"You too, freeloader =P"

Selcouth began her job search again. Nothing called out to her. She clicked on the no strings attached area of craigslist. After a nasty surprise, a picture of balls, she closed Craigslist.

She focused on finding the new age store in Edinburgh. After what seemed like hours on Google, she found it. Her heartbeat sped up when she saw the storefront, "The Faerie Key".

Selcouth grabbed her phone. "Impromptu trip, heading to Scotland. I'm going to find magic," she texted Tanya.

She grabbed the white velvet box inside her closet and the wedding vision board. One was going to the garbage and the other was paying for her trip.