Leaving shortly after the management visit, I told Bob I'll return in a couple of days and that should be enough time for them to sort out what they need to. He gathered all my paperwork and returned them to the folder, including the two original keys. He also reminded me that I mustn't let them out of my possession.

"Thank you for visiting Ethereal Storage," Bob said waving goodbye.

When I returned to the outside world I noticed that nothing had changed; my car engine was just starting to make those cooling down noises and the courtesy headlights were still on. I must have been in the storage locker for a couple of hours, time really does work differently in there.

Once I got home I put the kettle on and sat down, trying to digest what had just happened. Secret storage lockers, time and space denying rooms, a lost and ancient key and the Fairies! Just who was Janet and why did she leave all this to me?

Looking through the paperwork, there were a lot of valuable items and most of it belonged to other people. From what I can gather, it looked she was charging a fee for keeping the odd family heirloom and such-like for safe keeping. I was lucky that Janet kept very good records; receipts, invoices, item ownerships and storage locations, it was all well documented. All those people that had something valuable, too valuable or special for an ordinary bank vault, came to Janet and paid for the service of keeping it safe.

It's going to take a while to sort though all this and see who it actually belongs too. And that strange key that had everyone worked up over. I'm off to bed!

* * *

Sitting quietly in her office, Miss Rafters, the head of Ethereal Storage was joined by the four heads of anxiously waiting for the arrival of the fairy representatives.

A double-knock was heard and the office door swung open, "Ma'am, your guests are here."

"Thank you, please show them in."

As they all stood, two bare-footed fairies walked in. They were dressed in casual clothes, one carried an ornate walking cane.

"Layla, Carpus, welcome. It's been a while, please come take a seat."

"Thank you Miss Rafters, you are looking well. It's been about three, no four hundred years I believe since we were last here," replied Lyla.

"You said you have an original key?" Asked Carpus getting right down to business.

"Mark."

The head of key management nodded and addressed the two fairies, recounting the events that happened earlier that day.

"That's it? Nothing else in the box?" asked Layla.

"No ma'am. Just the key and the note."

"Do you recall the number on the key?"

"Four"

Taking a small leather-bound book from a hidden pocket, Carpus opened it and skipped few pages.

"Locker four," he announced. "Records indicate it was originally rented by a human called Janet and it was continuously in her ownership until your company move into the ethereal realm. Upon which the locker was emptied and the key returned. It was then verified and destroyed."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

He closed the book with a little snap.

"Are you sure it was a genuine original?" he asked.

"Quite sure sir," Mark replied. "I verified it myself. However, before I could complete additional verifications, the paper note it was with started producing protective incantations. Only Bob and the new owner was allowed near it after that."

"Interesting. Where is the key now?"

"Still in the new owner's storage locker," Miss Rafters replied. "Company policy states that we cannot remove items without permission and suitable recompense. We are waiting for them to return."

"Very well. I will gather some testing equipment to verify this key. If it is indeed genuine, a full investigation will need to be performed, on both sides, to find out how and why this happened."

* * *

I was finding it hard to fall asleep with all the unanswered questions swirling around my head. The main theme that kept popping up was "why me?" I didn't even know Janet or even which side of the family she was from. I needed more information.

The following morning I was groggy from lack of sleep and called in sick at work. "It feels like the flu, I'll be out a couple of days" I told them. My first call was to my parents but they didn't know of any "Janet" in the immediate family. Next was aunts and uncles. After a few hours calling every one I knew, most of it spent catching up; i really should call more often.

I finally managed to gather some information about this elusive woman. We had met a very long time ago at another funeral; one I must have forgotten about. She immediately took a liking to me as I apparently reminded her of someone she knew growing up; she had been keeping tabs on me ever since - no one knew why specifically though.

She lived alone and without any immediate family. She seemed to travelled a lot, at least that is what people thought, she was gone for long periods of time, only returning to catch up on messages. When she spoke with distant family, she would ask about me often, ensuring I was keeping well.

It was a little disconcerting to find out that someone I didn't know was keeping their eye on me.

I also spoke with the solicitor that dealt with her will. It was a very simple one and only listed two beneficiaries. Myself for the folder I was given, and the very little in the way of possessions to be divided between various local charity shops. There was almost no money in her bank account; just enough to cover funeral costs and other small incidentals.

Friends said that she met a man every so often, but didn't know who he was or what relationship they had. Was it locker related and will this mysterious man now visit me?

The following day I returned to the storage locker to see if Bob could add any more detail.

"Hello and welcome back! I am so glad you decided to return." said Bob cheerfully, standing up to great me.

"Hi Bob. Thanks. It's still all a bit confusing. I was wondering if we could talk for a but about Janet?"

"Certainly! Have a seat, what would you like to know?"

* * *

So it seems that I have an extremely rare aura, one that Janet had picked up on when she first saw me. Apparently it makes me trustworthy to people that can see them, or so Bob said, and could influence people that can't. That would explain a lot of things that happened in my past; I just thought I was lucky!

Just as Bob and I were wrapping up our conversation, his secret door opened up and out stepped Mark, the head of key management and three other people I didn't know. Two of them were bare footed.

"Hello again," said Mark, "please allow me to introduce the head of Ethereal Storage, Miss Rafters"

One of the women behind mark gave me a nod.

"These other two people are representatives of the fairies, Layla and Carpus."

"Fairies? Um, hello," I replied. "Are you here to see the key again?"

"We are," Miss Rafters replied. "With your permission we would like to run some tests on it."

"Sure, Let me just open the door."

In all the time Bob and I were talking, not once did I notice that I had not opened the locker. The keyhole was there, constantly in my peripheral vision, I just tried to ignore it. I took the key out of my pocket and inserted it into the wall, the mechanical clicking noises started and after a few seconds the wall opened up as it had done yesterday. I stood back, looked at Miss Rafters and gestured towards the newly opened door.

"After you. It's on the table at the back"

I had left everything as it was the day before, there was little point in returning the key and note to the box only to get them out again.

As I followed them all towards the back of the locker, the male fairy, Carpus, had pulled out some equipment from inside his jacket. Keeping a respectable distance from the table, Miss Rafters and Mark were talking quietly while the two fairies were producing more equipment and setting it up around the table. After ten more minutes of this they finally stood up and took a step back.

"We are ready to proceed with testing."