Searching for the Key

Chapter 2

Swim practice was as rigorous as always but Katia hardly had to even stop to catch her breath. Swimming came effortlessly to her and she broke every record in the school. Katia probably could have qualified for the Olympics but she didn't have enough to money to pay for a coach.

Katia didn't really mind though. She just loved to swim. Winning was just an added bonus. Her favorite thing was to surf at the beach by the school. It exhilarated her rushing down a giant wave before it could crash on top of her.

Katia hoisted herself up from the pool and dried herself. Her coach came up to her with a wide smile on her face.

"You swim like that this weekend and all of the recruiters will be fighting for you," she said.

"I sure hope so," Katia said. She wanted to go to a university and getting a sports scholarship was her only chance. 

Katia lingered for a bit and talked to her teammates before packing her things and going to the school parking lot. She looked back across the street and breathed a sigh of relief when the car she saw earlier was no longer parked there. Katia shook her head slightly and chided herself. She shouldn't be spooked that easily.

She got into her car and drove over to Jason's house. Jason was Katia's biological brother and her only remaining family. He aged out of the system a little over a year ago and was going to the local community college. Even though she wouldn't exactly call her time in the foster system pleasant, it was a lot more bearable with Jason with her.

He always protected Katia and watched out for her when their foster parents neglected to. Because he was pretty tall and could handle himself well in a fight, people never picked on her. However if they were dumb enough to, Katia knew how to handle herself just fine.

Katia pulled up to the small, modest apartment in the neighborhood only a few minutes from Carrie and Sean's house. Jason was living with a friend who he met online playing video games. Katia thought the arrangement was a little sketchy but that was until she met Asher. He and Jason got along like brothers and knew each other well despite not meeting in person before a few years ago.

She rang The doorbell and Asher opened the door. His dark brown hair was askew like always.

"Kitkat!" He exclaimed. He pulled Katia in for a hug and let her inside.

"Hey!" Jason greeted from the couch where he was playing some video games. "Here let me get that."

He paused the game he was playing and took the lasagna Carrie made.

"How's it going?"

"Pretty good! I beat my freestyle record during practice," Katia said proudly. Lately she'd been beating her record every other week.

"Again?" Jason laughed. "I don't think you even give the other swimmers a chance."

"Their loss," Katia said without concern.

Jason asked when her next swim meet was. Katia told him he never had to go since they always took the whole day. But Jason would always make an effort to come, and despite her protests, Katia was secretly really happy. She never had her parents cheering her on, but she had Jason. Plus Asher cheered so loudly he equaled three people when he came.

"Since you two are just going to keep talking, might as well heat this." Asher swiped the food from Jason's arms and popped it into the oven.

The three of them sat around talking effortlessly. Katia wanted to come and live with Jason, but she didn't want him to have to worry about the extra financial burden earlier than he needed to. Katia had been saving up money, but she would need a better job than lifeguarding if she was going to pay her share.

The oven finally beeped, announcing the food was done and Asher jumped up happily.

"Hell yes!" He opened the oven and put his hand in.

"Dude! Oven mitts!" Jason shouted at his friend before he could touch the pan. Asher nodded and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Right," he said. Katia didn't understand how someone could forget to wear oven mitts but then again Asher was a little weird.

They ate the food Carrie gave and sat down on the couch to watch some TV. They let Katia choose the show as always. She scrolled through the channels and stopped immediately when she saw a Harry Potter marathon on ABC family.

"Again?" Jason joked.

"Duh," Katia responded.

Harry Potter had always been Katia's favorite, but that night she just couldn't stop yawning and thinking about her dream. No matter what, her mind always drifted back to it. That dream was clearer than the others she had before, and also a lot more sinister.

"Hey are you okay? You're not watching the movie and you always watch it," Jason asked, noticing Katia's blank expression.

"Yeah I just had another weird dream last night," Katia replied.

"What happened in it?" Jason asked as he turned the volume down so they could talk. Asher had fallen asleep in one of the lazy chairs and was snoring quietly.

Katia brushed her hair back and turned to face Jason. She started to tell him about the beginning of her dream before she was stuck in that cave.

"Well I saw a little baby girl in the arms of this woman. She was sitting with this man, I think it was her husband. Then there was this little boy that sort of looked like it could be you. Then the man started to lift the baby without using his hands. He was just floating there in the sky and the baby was laughing.

"Everyone there was looking at the baby like that happened everyday. Then the woman started making balls of water come out of a glass of water and the baby was trying to catch them in the air. The weird part was it felt like something like that happened to me before. I know you think it's ridiculous but it really felt like that was my life. It's hard to explain."

Katia looked at Jason from the corner of her eye. She was sure he would think she was crazy but she didn't know who else to talk to. Katia let out a loud sigh.  "They keep happening more often. Do you know what they mean?"

Katia noticed that Jason had a closed off expression and he seemed to be remembering something. She was thinking he could finally give her the answers to her questions.

But Jason only said with a forced smile, "No, you probably just have a crazy imagination."

He then quickly glanced at the necklace around Katia's neck that she was playing with. Katia had that necklace for as long as she could remember. It had a beautiful, azure crystal surrounded by an intricate pattern of silver, trapping the gem in a little cage.

Jason said it was from their parents. Katia never knew what happened to them. Jason said they died when she was really young in a car accident but that was about it. She had no pictures, only the stories she used to beg Jason to tell her about them.

"It's getting late. Maybe you should start heading home," Jason said after a while.

Katia nodded and thought it would be best not to tell him about the part where she died. He already thought her dreams were weird. She didn't need to tell him that one too.

"Okay I'll see you Friday for my birthday dinner right?" She asked.

"Yeah I wouldn't miss it for anything," assured Jason.

With that Katia hugged Jason goodbye, hopped into her car, and drove home. Jason watched as she drove away. He was so worried about the dreams Katia was having that he didn't notice that the three men that were watching Katia were right across the street.