The Key Keeper

Chapter 3

The attractive boy stared awkwardly down at Ren, who laid, paralyzed in fear. "Uhh...meow?" he ventured, hesitantly smiling a bit. Ren snapped out of her shock and shoved him frantically off of her. The young man collapsed on the floor with an "UMPH!", smacking his head on the coffee table on the way down. He desperately tried to get to his feet, but ended up crouching due to disorientation. Ren scrambled away from him, grabbing the nearest heavy object, which happened to be a long, cheap, blue candle she got from the nearby furniture store. She pointed it at the boy aggressively, who raised his hands warily above his head, which clearly still pained him. "Who ARE you and why are you in my apartment?!" she demanded of him. "I, uh, was just....passing by?" he replied, clearly lying. Ren grabbed a metal baking tray and put it in front of her as a type shield.

Through clenched teeth, she moved forward a bit, holding the candle menacingly. "Tell me the TRUTH", Ren repeated. The young man flinched back a bit. Ren hissed, "I'm not afraid to hit you with this! You WERE a weird, water cat, and now you're not!" The boy's eyes widened in surprise and she hesitated, noticing the change in expression. She glanced down at his outfit, consisting of a sleeveless turtleneck and cargo pants. Blue tattoos with strange symbols marked his arms and an upside down triangle tattoo was faintly glowing on his neck.
"...this-this doesn't feel like a hallucination. You felt REAL, where the cat just felt... off." Ren contemplated aloud, still cautiously watching the young man. Then it wasn't a hallucination? I'm still hesitant to believe he exists, Ren thought. The boy reached out towards her warily, starting to say something, and Ren automatically lashed out at his arm with the candle.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she shrieked, but the candle never hit the man. Instead, it had fallen apart before it even touched him. "I guess it was cheap for a reason." Ren muttered. Both she and the boy stared at the candle on the floor for a minute. "For the record, I had nothing to do with that. Actually, I was just reaching out to shake hands, but now I realize that probably wasn't the greatest idea considering the situation." the boy now spoke, redirecting his attention back to her. He looked up at her, the eye contact with his blue eyes making Ren a bit uncomfortable. "First things first, you can see the water cat?" he asked, curiously. "Um...yes?" Ren responded warily, now weaponless. What was he getting at? First, he broke into my house, somehow disguised himself as a cat, and now he's asking me whether I can see him? she thought to herself. The slight smile disappeared from his face completely. The boy stood up, making sure he was a comfortable distance from Ren. He was about 6'0 and a little lanky.

He ran his hands through his white, messy hair nervously, tapping his foot. "This is BAD. This is very very VERY bad," the boy rambled under his breath. "What? First, tell me what's going on!" Ren insisted. The boy lurched forward towards her, pushed aside her baking tray shield, and grabbed her shoulders. He looked her in the eyes, ignoring her protests. "My name is Kai Shimizu and you're in danger." Ren stared, dumbfounded, back at him. "WHAT?!" she yelped. She pushed him away and ran to the kitchen, grabbing a steak knife. She pointed it at him, finally armed with a real weapon. "Don't come any closer," she warned. "You have 5 minutes to sit down and explain what's happening. Put your hands behind your head." Ren ordered.
Kai obediently sat down and put his hands up. "I'm not sure where to begin..." he mumbled. Ren made a threatening 'chop chop' motion with the knife at him. "ACTUALLY, I suddenly know exactly where to begin!" Kai gulped.
"To start off at something you may recognize, I've been here before, but I believe you saw me as something different at the time." he explained. Ren cocked her head confusedly, trying to remember if she had invited anyone in. "...does a tabby cat ring a bell?" Kai ventured. Ren's green eyes widened. "FISHER?!" she practically yelled, remembering the small stray cat, with a distaste for being held, that she had been feeding for the past two weeks. She had seen the little cat just this morning when Katashi had yelled at her for bringing him in. Kai looked at her, puzzled. "...Fisher? Oh, is that what you named me? Everything sounds weird in that form." he realized. "HOW on Earth are you Fisher?" Ren questioned, still keeping him at arms length.
Kai put his hands next to each other, forming two parallel lines. "To put it simply, you are familiar with the concept of parallel worlds, yes? Two timelines running next to each other but neither inhabitants aware of the other?" Kai said. Ren nodded. Kai continued, "Well, the theories are TRUE, but not in the way you think. We are from two different timelines. Your timeline is the main one, with normal people. We call your timeline the 1st World. The people on my side have certain...gifts that wouldn't be acceptable in this world. We call ours the Secondary. Our timelines actually DO allow us to see each other, but the people in my timeline's appearances are modified in ways that seem normal to your world. For example, you remember how I appeared as a water cat just now, right? Usually, to the people's eyes from your timeline, I would appear as a normal tabby cat, the form you know as 'Fisher'." Kai tilted his head, examining Ren. "You seem to be able to see my actual form now. Weird, I've never met a regular human who can actually see that. Earlier this morning, however, with that man you were fighting with, I don't think you were able to see my water form. Did something happen between the time I last saw you and now?" he asked. Ren sat down on the couch, overwhelmed. Ignoring his last question, she asked, "So why were you in my house for the past two weeks, and how is it that you're able to become a cat?" Kai smiled sheepishly. "Well, we're having a bit of a food problem in my world, and we aren't allowed to BUY food from regular humans in your timeline because we have different currency. Sooo, I've been kinda going door to door in the apartments through the cat flap to beg for food. You always gave normal food, though, and not cat food, so I visited you more." Kai rubbed his neck awkwardly. "As for the cat part, my 'gift' is that I've been possessed by a water spirit, so I can use water to shift into most small forms. Lots of elemental spirits can do that, actually. The reason I even ended up turning back into a human is because I have a weak point under my arm. If I'm touched there while I'm a cat, it causes me to turn back immediately, which is why I never wanted to be picked up as Fisher." he explained.
Ren's head hurt. This was too much information. It all sounds made up, but his actions and expressions seem genuine... she thought. "So, how exactly am I in danger because of this?" Ren questioned. Kai frowned at the floor, his long fingers fiddling with the broken candle. "Well, again, I'm not exactly sure how you're able to see this timeline. You literally are not ALLOWED to be in this timeline. There was a human a long time ago that nearly destroyed our system of government because they were able to see us. More about that at a later date, though..." he concluded, looking uncomfortable about the subject. "Essentially though, seeing this timeline as a regular human is illegal, and if the King finds out, he'll literally KILL YOU."
"So I need to stop seeing your timeline?" Ren asked, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "More than that, I think you're not just seeing our timeline, but are actually IN it. I think you somehow transferred worlds and are now in ours." Kai reasoned. Ren sat, stunned. Kai put his hands up defensively. "It's ok, though, I won't hurt you." he assured her. "I don't really care about you being in our timeline. However, the Royalty of our government and other certain people may try to attack you and turn you in for a reward if they find out that you are in our timeline." Kai leaned towards her, causing Ren to shrink back a little with her knife, his eyes serious. "So... did something happen between now and this morning that would have transferred you over?" he asked.