A Perilous Match

A Perilous Match

Her fingers trace the outlines of each hardbound spine for rows and rows at a time. Down and up, to the right, skipping over ones she’s already read. Texture, material, withstanding integrity: all essential aspects of her hunt for the next notebook for her collection. Some may refer to them as “journals” but to her they are most definitely notebooks. Each book has a pragmatic purpose, even if that purpose is to hold pages of unspoken love sonnets for the clerk at the front of the shop.

Peri comes here during the ample free time she has these days; the free time we all currently have from The Dreaded Pandemic. One of the few privately owned “non-essential” stores in her community that has re-opened since this past summer, Declan’s Stacks offers much needed time away from her apartment jam-packed with anonymous roommates. Sometimes she comes here to read from the historical fiction section without purchasing (those sparse stimulus checks can’t buy everything one’s heart desires). The other times she enters Declan’s, it’s to take in the brief sights & quiet sounds of people coming and going, always so hushed and muffled.

More often than not, it’s for her.

She always wears a dark green apron, and Peri wonders if it’s to protect her from the dust on all the old books that line the walls of Declan’s. Perhaps it could be to protect her while pouring from the french press she keeps hidden behind the counter.

“I wish it had a fucking name tag pinned to it, at least,” Peri thought to herself staring at the store clerk’s front side. Peri always avoided solid eye contact with her; it was too bright to stare right into the sun like that.

Looking back to the path her fingers had found on their own, she noticed a smaller book with nice structure. Graying, but still showing its original all-black cover. The first page with lines for personal contact information, and then a line underneath saying:

“As a reward $ _lunch__,” handwritten in black ink.

“Huh, the rest is blank.” She said while flipping through pages, just barely outside of her own conscience.

“That’s probably my fault. Sometimes I mix up the journals with the novels when restocking, sorry about that.”

Peri felt a shock from her throat out to her shoulders, staticky feelers prickled down to her forearms. The store clerk gently pinched the outer edges of the black notebook, motioning to her harmless error that Peri was so thankful to be a part of.

“Oh, no, you didn’t do anything. You didn’t do anything wrong, I mean.” She paused to collect herself. “What I mean to say is, this notebook is great. It’s just what I’m looking for.”

The store clerk gave her a laugh and said, “So you come here, what, four-ish times a week, looking in the fiction section, just scouring these shelves for an old black journal?”

“Notebook.” Peri replied before she could stop herself.

“Notebook... Right, notebook it is. I think you picked a good one.” She was thoughtful and sincere in her response. Peri swore she saw her eyes glint with golden flecks when the clerk quickly looked back toward the front window. They must have caught the sun just so.

Peri had been treading water since their exchange began, desperate to keep her private thoughts private, to keep these ridiculous urges toward someone she doesn’t actually know from ever coming out of her mouth and into existence and embarrassment and inevitable heartache. But in that effort of censorship, she failed to reply to the cute store clerk whatsoever.

“Do you like coffee? I just made a fresh pot in the front and would love to share some with you.”

It turns out the cute store clerk’s name is Eve, and Eve makes absolute shit coffee.

“This is so good, thank you again for offering me some.” Peri spoke quietly over her steaming cup of sludge, sat across from Eve at a small table and chairs. There were grounds stuck in her gum line from the overpour, but Eve was gracious enough to ignore them and continue on.

“So really, what is it that you’re looking for in here?”

“You.”

Peri knew she would never say these thoughts out loud. They’d hide in her subconscious until she was old and gray. So, she played it safe and simply said, “Uh, well I like to scribble down tidbits here and there throughout the day. Random thoughts, observations, sometimes even short stories.”

Eve’s eyes lit up. “A literary prodigy! Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to read some of your work one day.” She shot a flirty look to Peri, who lowered her eyes and attempted to hide her rosy cheeks. Peri’s attention broke right as she noticed an odd little doodle in the bottom corner of the notebook. They seemed to appear out of thin air, written in black ink with a gentle golden glow around each line.

“Huh, these must have already been in here but I didn’t notice them the first time I flipped through. Do you recognize any of the symbols?” She was confused, she was almost sure of herself that there were no markings at all other than on the front page.

“Look there’s more on other pages too!” More and more symbols were appearing in the bottom left corner of each page they flipped to, materializing right before their eyes.

“What is happening?!” Peri looked up to Eve, questioning this supernatural phenomenon. Eve was unfazed.

“It seems that the time has finally come for you, Peri Carmichael.”

Peri looked up to meet Eve’s glowing eyes, the eerie voice echoing in her mind over and over again.

“I didn’t... How did you know my last name, Eve?” Peri looked terrified. Eve gently placed her hand over Peri’s to help calm her.

“I’ve known you for a very long time, Peri. Please, do not be afraid. I’ve been waiting for you to find the clavis to unlock your new life.”

Peri was completely floored by Eve’s admission. Was she possessed? Was magic real?!

“Listen, I have no idea what a clavis is, or whatever the fuck you just said, but this is really freaking me out. Are you… a human? What is all this?”

Eve kept a calm demeanor, her eyes dimmed down to a hushed golden glow. They were warm and welcoming, embracing Peri during her uncertainty.

“I am what I am, Peri, just as you are what you are. My people, my circle, we have been watching and waiting for you to find the last clavis. If you so choose, you are now one of us.”

Peri replied, “Clavis… so clavis means clue, then, or key? This book is a key?”

“There is no more for me to tell you, Peri. Now is your time to solve the next steps required. Once the clavis is complete, you will be rewarded with what you need most in this world.” Eve kept a steady tone and delivered these cryptic instructions to Peri without a single blink.

“What I want most in this world? Oh that’s rich, I have no clue what I want most. I don’t even know what I want to have for dinner,” Peri was exasperated. She flopped her head back and stared up at the ceiling fan circling above her before continuing on. But when she looked back to Eve, she had floated off to help other customers, as if nothing at all had transpired between them.

Peri started flipping through pages, noticing all of the different symbols sprinkled throughout. She tried writing them out separately on a sheet of paper, and started to notice a pattern appearing. Peri knew that she would need to match up corresponding symbols accurately to create an overall message. Without a moment’s hesitation, she started tearing out pages and laying them spread out all over the table she sat at. Shuffling and stacking, sliding and adjusting until she was able to see at least half of the image the symbols combined to make. After four more adjustments of the papers, it became very clear what she was looking at.

A feather.

Once all of the small symbols were aligned perfectly, each one connecting and creating one continuous line in the shape of a feather, it began to vibrate the table. A small golden glow coming off the pages, the image of the feather then began to hover a few inches.

“Holy shit it worked.” Peri could not believe it. She had questioned her method and if a simple feather was the desired image from whatever forces Eve and her people were a part of.

“Reach out and grab onto your calling, Peri. Take what is yours!” Eve had reappeared beside her, her voice grew louder to overcome the table’s vibrations.

Peri reached both hands out, cupping underneath the bow of the feather’s rachis. She could feel the wisps tickling her skin, but no noticeable weight upon contact. The feather solidified after lingering on her hands for a few moments. A small cloud of fog surrounded the feather before Peri could move her hands away from the sudden shift in weight, and a small brass skeleton key rained down from the small cloud hovering above her fingers.

“Peri Carmichael, if you so choose, your struggles are now our struggles. Your strife, ours. Your family, we will be. Your deepest desires, though this may be unknown to you on the surface of your consciousness, are for community and for financial stability. We welcome you with open arms if you will accept us.”

Peri felt a warmth in her chest radiating out to her fingertips. To feel a sense of belonging, of hope, of fellowship… Tears formed in her eyes. Eve’s original presence returned, her amber brown eyes devoid of any golden glow.

“I do, I accept. I don’t know much about this community but I know that I trust you. I know that I want to be a part of something bigger than myself.” She took a deep breath and decided to shift the mood back to their playful banter, always afraid to sit in an emotional moment for too long. “Now you said something about financial security..?”

Eve returned her question with a knowing look. “The powers in charge of the clavis know what you need to move forward with your life. Use the key the spirits gave you to find the reward meant for you. It resides in this very place.”

Peri started to walk around the store, looking at all of the trinkets on shelves mixed in with the books strewn about the store. Globes, wicker baskets, small figurines. Then there, off to the side, in her favorite section: Historical Fiction, she saw a medium-sized trunk with a small brass keyhole, an obvious fit for her new magical clavis.

Push, turn, click, release. The lid popped open once released, and inside she saw another small black notebook. She opened the front cover to discover a check made out to her name for $20,000.

“Holy shit! This cannot be real! Eve, are you serious right now?! This is a fortune!” Peri spun around to look for Eve. She was right behind her, waiting to reassure her.

“As I said before, Peri, we’ve been waiting for you. This money is yours for the taking, as well as this newer notebook,” she shot Peri a fun look, always jumping back into their first, simple conversation.

“This is unbelievable, Eve, I’m just shocked through and through. Though… there is one more thing I desire that the notebook didn’t mention.”

Peri stared at Eve, eyes moving from her eyes to her lips, and back up again. Eve looked down and smiled while taking a step forward. She pulled Peri into a warm embrace and whispered in her ear, “Yes, Peri Carmichael, you can take me to get a proper cup of coffee. I do believe you’ll be buying.”