*I have reworked and combined chapters 1 and 2! I think this is a much better beginning and I would love to hear what you think!*

Song of the chapter - A World Alone by Lorde

The drive from the small town of Wolf Creek, Montana, to the house Eliana's grandmother owned off of a remote back road was not as long as she remembered. It had been at least fifteen years since she had been in the house, or in the state of Montana at all. Eliana had never had a reason or a need to visit. Until now.

"Looks like grandma was a hermit," Eliana's best friend, Harper, said as they drove the road leading up to the house, adding her typical irreverent commentary. When Eliana told Harper about the trip back to Montana, Harper had insisted on coming along, always one for an adventure. "Did that lawyer give you the key?"

"Yeah, it was mixed in with the other stuff. I put it on my keychain," Eliana replied as she navigated the dirt road. They had driven to Aine's home directly from the lawyer's office after the reading of her will. Most of it hadn't made much sense to Eliana, but what she did understand had been a shock. And then there were the items included in the safe deposit box. But she couldn't think about that yet.

The car wound around the long, curving drive lined with large oak trees. Some things seemed so familiar to her, while others were new. She remembered the long dirt road, and had images of riding a tricycle along the path it took. The trees had always seemed large to her, especially because she was so young the last time she had been there. But even now as a twenty-one year old college student, they towered above her. Birds flew among the leaves and branches, singing as they soared. Summer flowers were blooming on both sides of the narrow dirt path, never having been paved. Her grandmother, whom Eliana had always called by her first name, Aine, liked to keep things as natural as possible, so didn't care to have a concrete drive.

As they passed a garden of wildflowers and perennials mixed in a haphazard way, Eliana had flashes of helping Aine tend to the different plants on the property. Aine loved the outdoors and spent as much time as possible weeding, planting and watering her precious yard. Eliana felt that the outside had been more important than the inside of the home to her grandmother. Although, that thought came into question as they pulled up to the house. It was massive, and made the tall Oak trees seem average in comparison.

"Holy bank account! Is this her house, Batman?" Harper shouted as the home came into full view.

"Well, technically it's my house now." Eliana replied quietly.

"That's right, best friend. Looks like grandma was rolling in it!" Her friend responded boisterously as Eliana parked the car right in front of the entrance. The drive had a circular feature with a fountain situated in the center, allowing cars to turn around and head back out. The carriage house, which is how Aine referred to her garage, was around the side of the house, keeping cars out of view. The house was patterned after a type of Nordic castle, somewhat out of place in Montana, which was known for its ranches and farmland. The side of the house had a two-story turret, reminding Eliana of a princess tower. The walls were stone blocks, some with carvings and designs. Windows and doors were all lined with a deep, dark wood, possibly mahogany, which would have cost a bundle to use.

"Now, why didn't you get to live here growing up?" Harper asked, not bothering to notice Eliana's growing anxiousness about now owning the unique home.

"Long story. I'm not even sure why, exactly," she said, exhaustion from the emotional journey now setting in. Although her mind was worn out, Eliana still had a burning desire to walk through the house, perhaps figure out what the strange key found among the items in Aine's safe deposit box unlocked. It was one of those old fashioned skeleton keys made of brass or something similar. She imagined a trunk or chest that may contain something precious.

"Huh, well, maybe you'll get more answers inside the house. Speaking of which, was granny a Viking? This place looks like a museum, or a movie set." Harper voiced the same thoughts Eliana had.

As a child it had never seemed unusual to her, the way the house looked from the outside. She found it homey, comforting. Even now, as she looked at the misplaced design style, so different from the homes in the area, there was a sense of belonging. Something drew Eliana right up the steps and to the front door, not wanting to wait or analyze the odd house anymore.

Eliana pulled the house key out of her bag and promptly opened the large wooden door. It had over exaggerated hinges and an enormous iron handle, reminding her of a castle gate. The door creaked slightly as she pushed it open, revealing a large entry way, There was an oversized staircase directly in front of them with a hallway to its left. Further down the hall, Eliana caught a glimpse of what she remembered to be the kitchen. As she glanced to her right, there was a large living room, complete with stone fireplace and a bear rug. Further to her left was the entrance to a simply furnished dining room. A large oval table was situated in the center of the room accompanied by oversized upholstered chairs.

As she moved further into the house, Eliana felt a strange sensation wash over her. She wasn't sure if it was due to nostalgia or something stronger, but a sense of belonging took hold, stronger than she would imagine possible. It was as if she was meant to live there, or somewhere similar. Those thoughts had never been part of her experience. Rather, most of Eliana's life was spent feeling like an outsider, someone who didn't fit in with everyone else. Even Harper was so different than Eliana, their friendship was interesting to say the least.

"Wow, I think she wasa Viking," Harper said. "This place is...cool," She mumbled, obviously not thinking it was actually cool.

"Yeah, it's something, alright." Eliana replied, not knowing how to describe the thoughts rushing through her mind. She decided the best course of action would be to continue to walk through the house.

"Let's just see where everything is," she told Harper as they continued forward, "then we can pick a room to look at more closely."

"Yeah, that works." Harper told her.

They dropped their bags at the bottom of the stairs and then proceeded to walk through each of the downstairs rooms. The entryway gave a pretty complete view of the living room, so the girls moved deeper in the house. They crossed the hall and circled the dining room table, looking for doorways or closets, something with a lock to match her odd key. One passage into a butler's pantry was found, which then led directly to the kitchen.

"I've never seen anything like this!" Harper cried as they continued into the kitchen. "It's like medieval or something. These gadgets are something else." She had picked up some kind of grinder and a brass pot.

"Aine liked to do things the old way." Or something like that, Eliana thought. She had never been a fan of modern conveniences, preferring to hand wash even her clothes.

They left the odd kitchen and started up the stairs to the second floor. A large shared bathroom was set between two equally sized bedrooms. Large, comfortable beds were found in both rooms, along with sparse furnishings. The house didn't have many extras. Everything was somewhat simple in design and use. It was more than just old and antique; it was more like it came from another lifetime.

"Well, this place is certainly all on it's own. And it's all yours, congrats babe, you own Thor's house." Harper joked. But she was right. It did seem like something out of mythology or a fairy tale.

"Now I'm dying to know what this key goes to." Eliana changed topics and held up the unusual key.

"Let's look!" Harper said, suddenly excited again. "I still say granny's got some diamonds hidden."

This time Eliana shook her head at her single-minded friend. "Why don't you look downstairs, and I'll look upstairs. Check for something with some kind of brass lock on it, like the key."

"Whatev's girl. I'll cash you down der." Harper called as she took the stairs two at a time.

Eliana proceeded to look in each bedroom more closely. One bedroom didn't have anything with that type of lock, but the other did. There was a small secretary desk on the far wall, slightly hidden by the enormous bed. The lock on the main drawer seemed to match the metal of the key. Holding her breath, Eliana pushed the key into the hole, finding that it fit. She turned the key to the side, successfully unlocking the drawer.

"Harper!" she called out. "It's up here!"

Harper's pounding footsteps could be heard as she climbed the stairs without hesitation. "That was fast! I thought we'd be looking all night, like some freaky psycho movie!"

"Should we look inside?" Eliana whispered, not sure if she was ready for whatever it was. Keeping a key to a locked desk drawer inside a safe deposit box must mean something seriously important was in that drawer.

"Um...Yes! What are you waiting for? Let's see them diamonds!" Harper had grabbed Eliana by the shoulders, shaking her a bit with each word.

"Okay, okay! Stop manhandling me!" Eliana protested.

As soon as Harper kept her hands to herself, Eliana pulled the drawer open. At first all she saw were the standard contents of a desk drawer: pencils, pens, paper strewn about the bottom of the drawer. Confusion set in, why would she lock this stuff up? She picked up one paper after another, examining it to look for clues as to what was so important. Nothing seemed to stand out.

It only took a few minutes to clear the drawer, not finding anything significant. Eliana grew more frustrated with the strange secrecy, like there was a mystery for her to solve. "What is it?" she whispered.

"Maybe there's something in another drawer?" suggested Harper. "Like locking the main drawer also locks the other drawers."

"That could be true," Eliana replied. She pulled open the small drawer on the right, finding similar items as the first drawer. Moving to the left drawer, Eliana also opened it, finding a small wooden box. She picked it up, noticing that it had carvings and a similar old world feeling, as the entire house seemed to exude.

"Jackpot! I told you she had diamonds!" Harper exclaimed.

"I haven't even opened it yet!" Eliana replied, irritation and exhaustion starting to fill her words.

"Well, open it and find out, then. Sheesh!" Harper put her hands on her hips, clearly starting to become equally irritated with Eliana.

Eliana unlatched the leather straps keeping the wooden box closed, then pulled up on the lid. There wasn't a hinge, but the lid had been carved to fit perfectly onto groves in the base, the leather then keeping the two parts connected. Both girls peered into the box and gasped.

"What is that?" Harper asked.

"How in the world would I know? I've never seen anything like this!" Eliana said in response.

"Neither have I. Pick it up so we can get a better look." Harper gestured to the small object nestled in the box.

Eliana reached in and pulled out an oval object, smooth to the touch and heavy for something so small. Placing it in the palm of her hand, the girls looked closely at it.

"Is it silver?" asked Harper. "Or crystal?"

"I don't think so. It's kind of both." Eliana couldn't figure out what it was. It seemed clear and opaque at the same time depending on which angle you were looking from. It was solid, but felt as though it could be hollow. The surface seemed hard, harder than stone if that were possible, and although it was warm to the touch, even though it looked something like a strange ice crystal, the warmth felt electrified and there was almost a sense of energy in Eliana's palm.

Eliana, put the strange object back in the box, but decided to keep it close by, feeling drawn to it. In fact, that feeling of home and belonging came over her the moment she had picked it up.

"I'm going to go read the letter she left me." Eliana explained to Harper, wanting to read the letter addressed to Eliana, left by Aine in the safe deposit box. "Why don't you look up some pizza place or something to order dinner. Then we can Netflix later or something, if I can get a signal here." Eliana expected that she would need some chill time after all the emotion of the day.

"Sounds good to me. I call Fear The Walking Dead!" Harper yelled over her shoulder as she went back downstairs.

Eliana took a deep breath and pulled the letter from her pocket, walking directly to the bedroom she had claimed. She whispered to herself on the way, "Okay Aine, what did you want me to know."

Sitting on the plush bed, Eliana looked at the outside of the envelope, at her name written in Aine's scrawling cursive, then turned it around, exposing the flap, and gently pulled it open. Removing the letter, she unfolded it and began to read over the last words Aine had written for her before she died.

〰🖤〰

Hi and thank you so much for joining me in the Ferlands! Those of you returning to this tale, I have decided to rework the original chapters 1-3 because these revisions flow so much better and give a stronger beginning to the story. I've chopped the entire first chapter with the lawyer and even my favorite scene with Harper's rant about Starbucks. It was worth the pain! I'm much happier with the way things unfold in the revised edition.

I kept the original chapter one song, A World Alone, because it's still perfect.

Thank you so much for reading, voting and supporting this tale!

https://youtu.be/NOKHEamtVXI