The Last Keyholder

by Jamie Summer

  “Ma’am?”

  I looked up at him, surprised he addressed me that way, and found his gray eyes watching me warily.

  “Yes?”

  “Nothing. Sorry. You simply look familiar, that’s all.”

  I stared at him. I may have forgotten about the letter, but I had a very vivid recollection of him handing it to me. How could he have forgotten? I watched as he shook his head, carrying the coffee over to one of the tables. I pushed down the sudden anger rising within me.

  When other customers walked in, I worked on their orders, never losing sight of the blond-haired man. What was his deal? Why did he not remember being here yesterday? He surely had to recall giving me that cryptic letter.

  “That’s three twenty-five,” I told the young college student currently getting donuts. She handed it to me before walking off with her sugary goodness.

  “Can I get a refill?”

  My traitorous heart skipped a beat at his voice, making me sigh in response. Without saying a word, I grabbed the coffee pot and made my way over to his table, then poured him another cup.

  “Did I say something to make you mad?”

  I arched a brow. “Why would you think that?” I was genuinely curious, but pretty sure my annoyance showed.

  “Well, ever since I sat down, you’ve given me the evil eye. I know you thought I wasn’t paying attention, but let me assure you, I was. You’re hard to ignore.”

  I worked on not blushing. For all I knew, he could be telling me I was loud and obnoxious. It didn’t work. I felt my cheeks get warm as heat crept up my face, and I wished my hair was still long so I could pull it in front of me to hide.

  “I’m sorry. Would you believe me if I told you I had a bad morning?”

  He shook his head with a grin. His reaction didn’t surprise me the slightest. “So, what did I do?” he asked, the words coming from his mouth lazily.

  That snapped me out of it. I had been staring off into the distance, completely ignoring him and his question.

  “You really don’t remember, do you?”

  His brows furrowed at my question. As much as he tried to hide it from me, confusion was clearly written all over his face.

  “Remember? What am I supposed to remember?” His voice portrayed the irritation I saw, and it made my resolve falter for a second. Was it possible he had forgotten? Did he have a memory problem?

  “You came in here yesterday. You talked to me yesterday. You gave me a cryptic letter yesterday. You don’t remember any of that?”

  His eyes widened. I saw the wheels turning in his brain. It became awfully clear to me that he, in fact, did not remember any of this.

  “Of course. I mean… Yes, I do. Sorry. How stupid of me.”

  My mouth hung open. I knew he didn’t remember. The surprise in his eyes when I mentioned him stopping by was genuine. Why pretend now?

  “What about that letter you gave me? Why did you give it to me?” I knew there was little chance he knew what I was talking about, yet there was a small part of me that hoped he knew exactly what I meant and would answer all the questions I had about the mysterious website and the random words.

  “A love note… Don’t women love that kind of stuff?” He was fishing, and it couldn’t have been more obvious.

  “Maybe some women do. Me? Not so much. But here’s what’s funny. It actually wasn’t—”

  “Emlyn, can you come here for a second?” Jeff called from the kitchen, and I wanted to strangle him for interrupting. Didn’t he see I was having a conversation? “Now!” I shot the mystery guy an apologetic look before walking into the back.

  “What is it?”

  “You’re supposed to be working, not flirting,” Jeff said. My eyes went wide at his remark, unsure if he were joking or not.

  “I wasn’t. I was merely talking with a customer.”

  “So you weren’t making googly eyes at that guy over there?”

  “I absolutely was not. He asked me a question and I answered. End of story,” I explained. With every word, his smile only grew.

  “But you don’t want it to be the end of the story, do you?”

  I sighed. “Jeff, if you want me to work, I should work.”

  “Listen. For once, let me give you some advice when it comes to men, okay?”

  I stayed silent, knowing I’d get whatever wisdom he had to share, whether I wanted it or not.

  “Guys who look like him are only out for a good time. They don’t care about serious relationships, so be careful.”

  “That’s what you’re going with? That he’s too good-looking to want something serious? And who said I did?” I just want to pretend we’ve never had this conversation in the first place. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have customers waiting.” Jeff didn’t say anything more. Part of me appreciated him looking out for me, but the other part was annoyed he’d even make it his business in the first place.

  The mystery man glanced up from his coffee cup. His eyes softened. “Did you get into trouble?”

  I turned my head toward the kitchen door and sighed. “No, all good. Nothing to worry about.” I brushed his question off, not wanting him to think Jeff’s behavior had anything to do with him. “There was a minor emergency in the kitchen. My boss always makes a fuss for no reason.”

  “Sounds like you got a great job here.” He smirked, yet his eyes showed something akin to worry. For me?

  “It’s a good job. The people are great, the work is lots of fun. The only thing I need to get used to, even after all this time, is the hour I have to start. Getting up at four a.m. isn’t what I thought I’d be doing when I started looking for a job.” Why did I ramble? He made me nervous. And I hated it.

  “I can imagine. I don’t think there are a lot of people who’d enjoy getting up at that hour. I surely wouldn’t.” He leaned closer.

  “Why did you lie to me about the letter?” The question was out before I even realized what I said.

  “The… Oh, the letter. The love letter?” He averted his gaze.

  “It wasn’t a love letter. It was far from a love letter.”

  He looked at me for a long time before replying. “It was a website, wasn’t it?” The shock must’ve registered on my face because he was quick to explain. “A letter that brought you to a weird website with random words on it?”

  I stepped back, bumping into the counter behind me, never taking my eyes off him. He met my gaze for a brief moment, then looked away. I saw regret and guilt on his face. It made me wonder what had put those emotions there.

  He nodded, still not looking at me. “I thought so. Look, can we just pretend I never gave you that letter and start over? How about we go out on a date?”

  I spent so much time trying to understand how he could’ve known about the contents of the letter, what he suggested took a minute to register.

  “On a date?” How he went from the cryptic letter to asking me out was beyond me.

  “Yes. We can do coffee first, if you feel more comfortable with that. But I’d like to go out for dinner eventually.” His eyes met mine again.

  I was pretty sure I stared at him with my mouth open, like a fish…and an idiot.

  “Is that a yes?” He grinned.

  I shook my head slightly, reprimanding myself for acting like a fool. What was it about this guy that made all my common sense jump out the window?

  “Will you tell me more about the letter if I say yes?” It was a long shot, but why not. He apparently knew what it contained, and I needed answers.

  “I want to pretend I never gave it to you, so no. Not sure why I even handed it to you in the first place.”

  There was something about the way he said it that made me question his honesty. It was stupid because he had given it to me. I might be a little out of it whenever he was around, but I surely remember that part. I wasn’t that crazy. Yet.

  “I’m not, either, but you did. I have a really creepy letter at home that I have no idea what to do with, and you
seem to have some answers,” I eventually said. A sigh came from his lips. Not that I’d been looking at them. Nope. Not at all.

  “You should leave it be. It’d be safer for you.” His voice was solemn.

  “Safer? I wasn’t aware getting a letter these days was a dangerous thing. I know it may not be the most modern way to communicate, but I actually like getting them.” While internet and text messages might’ve taken over, I liked the fact there were still people out there who picked up a pen and wrote on a piece of paper.

  “Not this one. Anyway, what about that date?” The smirk was back on his face. For about two seconds. Then he downed his coffee and pushed the cup toward me. “You know what? Forget it. It was stupid of me to ask. I’m not gonna be around much longer anyway, so starting something would be pointless.”

  Perplexed by his sudden change in demeanor, I watched as he stalked out of the bakery without a backward glance.

  “What did you do to him?” someone behind me asked.

  I jumped, turning toward Jeff, eyes narrowed. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “You had to have done something. One second, he wanted to go out on a date, then the next, it was like he couldn’t wait to get away from you.”

  I wanted to punch Jeff for pointing that out, but I couldn’t deny the truth of his words. He did seem as if he couldn’t wait to get away. It was very confusing. He was confusing. Everything about him was confusing.

  “Doesn’t matter. He was way out of my league anyway. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I got work to do. My boss is a real butthead and will throw a fit if I don’t get my stuff done.”

  Jeff sighed, seemingly wanting to say more. When he didn’t, I went back to work.

  Chapter Four

  Six hours later, I was ready for the day to be over. After my eventful morning, the afternoon crowd was exactly what I needed. I hadn’t forgotten about the mysterious stranger, but I realized how foolish I acted. I wanted to agree to the date, but I couldn’t shake the thought of the letter, no matter how much he asked me to. Something about how adamant he was about wanting me to forget it only pushed me to know more.

  What was so special about it that he couldn’t wait for me to get rid of it?

  “Emlyn, one more table before your shift is over,” Jeff called from the counter.

  I nodded before walking over to one of the three tables. The bakery was mostly self-service, but occasionally, I’d also take orders.

  “Welcome. What can I get you?” I hadn’t bothered to look at the new arrivals, considering it was my last table, so my head snapped up when his voice drifted over to me.

  “Can we have two coffees and a cranberry muffin, please?” he ordered, not meeting my gaze.

  “You want two coffees?” I asked, aware that there wasn’t anything wrong with his speech. I understood him perfectly.

  “Yes, coffee. And a muffin,” he repeated as he glanced at me, a blank look on his face. There wasn’t a hint of recognition on it. Seriously? He wasn’t alone this time, either. There was a guy about the same age sitting across from him, watching me unabashedly. His eyes raked over my body, the scrutinizing gaze making me uncomfortable. “Ted, knock it off.” He sounded bored, and anger rose in me. I wanted to punch something. “Can you just bring us our order, please?”

  I turned away before I gave in to the urge to yell at him. This guy was driving me insane. He had showed up three times in two days, but didn’t remember being here?

  Jeff looked at me as I came back around the counter. “Isn’t that—”

  “Yes. Drop it.” No need to be reminded of how weird this whole thing was. I got the coffees and muffin and brought them over. He was now alone, Ted nowhere to be seen.

  “Where’s your friend?” I asked casually, hoping my question didn’t arouse any suspicion.

  “He went out to make a phone call. Look, I’m sorry about earlier, but you need to stay as far away from that letter as you can. And the website. And everything else that comes with it. Do you understand me? I know you’re gonna think I’m crazy, and you’re probably telling yourself there’s something not quite right about this whole thing. But I want you to forget you ever saw it.” He stopped when Ted walked back through the door.

  “Hey, man. Everything all right?” Ted asked, his gaze bouncing between his friend and me.

  “Everything’s cool. Thank you for the coffee,” he said in my direction, clearly dismissing me.

  I walked back toward the counter, clearing off the other two tables on the way. Jeff was the only one left, and he’d be closing up soon. Busying myself to clean up, so he’d have as little work to do as possible, I saw the moment my mystery guy and his friend were ready to leave. I brought the check over.

  “Thanks. It was really good. I might stop by again.” His gray eyes shone brightly as he said it, but the underlying promise was hard to miss. Something about it conveyed he hadn’t been kidding when he told me to forget the letter. He’d just made sure I knew he’d be back to check on me.

  What the heck was going on? Until a day ago, my life was simple. Now I have a gorgeous guy show up at my workplace and tell me…in a strange, cryptic way…that I should forget about ever seeing the weird string of letters, the website, the random words, everything.

  It was always the same. Tell someone not to do something and they usually made sure to do exactly the opposite. Granted, maybe I should’ve heeded his words, but there wasn’t a part of me that considered it. If he wanted me to forget them, I needed to take another look at the puzzle. Maybe I’d find whatever he didn’t want me to.

  “Emlyn, go. There’s nothing left for you to do,” Jeff said while making a cup of coffee for a customer. After I made sure he only had the minimum amount to do, I went to change, exiting the room again a few minutes later. I called a goodbye to Jeff and walked out the back door.

  Instead of going home, like I had originally planned, I decided to stop by the coffee shop. The caffeine and different surroundings might help me see things I hadn’t before.

  Gwen was still working, waving to me when I entered. I went straight to the back table with the knowledge my personal barista would stop by with my coffee within minutes. No one ever wanted to sit at the table I chose. It had no window and was close to the bathrooms. I usually stayed as far away from this spot as possible, but being solitary was exactly what I wanted right now. Thankfully, I had packed my laptop in my bag. I never took it to work, but something made me pick it up this morning, for which I was thankful.

  It took a mere minute to boot up and another few seconds for the website to open. There was nothing different about it. It was still dark, bleak, and scary. Void of anything colorful or bright. Forget you ever saw it. His words came back to me. The longer I stared at the website, the more my conscience told me I should listen and stay away.

  “Venti vanilla latte. You look like you need it,” Gwen said as she rounded the corner and put my drink down.

  “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

  “I am? Well, that’s certainly new, especially coming from you.”

  I couldn’t blame her for the surprised tone in her voice. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Gwen, quite the opposite, but there were times she got on my nerves. I was a laid-back person, someone who didn’t get aggravated easily, but Gwen, with her nosy personality, was sometimes a bit much. However, ever since I moved here, she had been a great friend, so I definitely cut her some slack. After all, she was the first person in town to talk to me.

  “Sorry about that,” I apologized.

  Gwen gave me one of her trademark smiles. “No worries at all. Grumpy people are my forte.”

  I had no trouble believing that. Coffee shop customers couldn’t be easy to deal with. Not before they had their coffee fix anyway.

  “So, what are you looking at?” she asked, pointing to my laptop. “Do you mind?”

  It was the first time she ever asked, so I nodded. “Sure.” I had no idea what made me agree to it, but before I c
ould question my sanity, Gwen sat down and studied my laptop screen attentively. It was almost as if she were trying to memorize everything she saw.

  “These words… Do they make any sense to you?” she asked, looking at me.

  “No. I wrote them all down, though.” I searched for the notebook in my bag, fished it out, and pushed it over to her.

  Gwen scanned the list, her brows furrowed. Whether in confusion or because she was deep in thought, I had no idea.

  “Something about these words rings a bell. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Are you sure there aren’t more?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I tried Googling all of them together, but it didn’t amount to much.” My voice sounded deflated. I had hoped to find more answers, but all I found was a whole bunch of nothing. A certain disappointment settled within me, and though I tried to tell myself it was for the better, my curiosity wouldn’t let it go.

  He didn’t want me to continue my search, so I was going to try my best to solve the puzzle this letter presented.

  “Do you mind me browsing through the site?”

  I shook my head as Gwen’s fingers began working on the mouse. I watched in silence, surprised when she found a few more words I had missed. I could’ve sworn I’d written them all down from the sections she browsed. Didn’t I?

  “Did you see this?” Gwen’s voice made me refocus on the laptop screen and I leaned in, trying to see what she pointed at. A paragraph was highlighted on the website. Not just a single word, but actual sentences.

  “That wasn’t there when I checked yesterday.” She gave me a sideways glance. “I swear. I checked the whole website meticulously and that text wasn’t on there.”

  “Okay, I believe you. This part here tells the story of an old legend. Something about a keyholder.”

  “A keyholder?” I asked. What exactly was that supposed to be?

  “Yes. It says the keyholder has the ability to right a wrong.” Right a wrong? That sounded mysterious…just like the guy who told me to stay away from this. “It says once the rightful keyholder is found, he can bring back the dead,” Gwen added.