The Key

I had always boasted that I had never been caught stealing before. Most of my other friends had, but not me. I was too stealthy, too careful to be caught. But everything changed this stormy Friday night.



I inserted the bobby pin into the lock of the door, carefully wiggling it until I heard it click, and with a smile, I pushed the door open and crept inside.



I looked at the apartment around me in awe. It was all decorated with quirky pieces of furniture and art, but the floor was marble giving it a look that was somewhere between contemporary and Victorian.



"Sweet." I grinned to myself, and closing the door, I made my way around the apartment, looking for something of value to sell.



Okay, so I should probably tell you about myself. My full name is Ivy Catherine Harris, 16 year’s old born in Quantico, Virginia. My parents are Lillian Harris and my father is Samuel Harris.



When I was just 3 years old, my mother was killed in a robbery. Ha, that's ironic isn’t it? My mother was killed by a thief and now I am one.



Anyway, when my mum died, my dad apparently didn't want me anymore and gave me away to become property of the state. When I was 6, they sent me to a foster home. On the outside the couple seemed nice, loving, and able to provide me with everything I would need.



Except they weren't like that. They were evil. Well, maybe not 'evil', but they sure were horrible to me. When I wasn’t at school, I was to be locked in my room where I would be fed on a tray that came through the door at breakfast and dinner.



So when I turned 14, I decided to get the hell out of there. I went to school on day, caught a bus to Washington and I have lived in an abandoned warehouse with three other kids just like me for 2 years.



So here I was, stealing and selling things for a living.



I walked into the main bedroom, my pack slung over my shoulder, and my eyes widen when I see the amount of valuable stuff in here.



There are a number of priceless statues and painting all around the room, unfortunately some of which are too big to fit in my pack.



Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the bedside table, retrieving a small statue of a naked guy that sits there. It must have been about 3 kilograms in weight!



Carefully I put it in my bag, and after pocketing a few more items, I made my way to the next room. It was a study, with an old oak desk in the back of the room, tall book shelves lining the walls. I made my way over to the desk, pulling at the draws with my gloved hands. All bar one were locked, but I knew I didn't have time to pick them all so I open the one draw.



Inside is full of neatly arranged pens and stationary equipment. I shuffle them around, careful not to disturb their order. It must have been my lucky day because lifting a bundle of paper clips revealed gold, gem incrusted key that was the size of two of my thumbs.



"Whoa." I breathed, snatching it up. I admired it for a few more moments when I heard the front door slam and footsteps head straight for me.



I cursed under my breath, stashed the key and made a hasty retreat out the door to come face to face with a tall, handsome guy about 30 with brown hair and bright green eyes, standing in front of me.



"What the hell are you doing in here?" he accused, but I didn’t answer. I had already given him enough time to see my face, so instead I kicked him in the groin and raced out the door, onto the street.



I ran down the nearest alley way, scrambled over a few homeless drunks and made a run for it out onto another street, dodging honking cars that was beeping annoyed at me.



I ignored them, not game enough to look behind me for the man, and I ran and ran until I found the warehouse and I collapsed at the door.



Exhausted, I banged my fist against the door until, Kayla; a 7 year old girl opened it and saw me.



"Levi! Mark! She is back!" She called, and soon the boys arrived at the door, dragging me inside onto my mattress.



"Jesus, Ivy! What the hell happened to you?" Levi, the eldest of us asked. He was 17 in 2 days and little did he know I was planning on selling this stuff to buy him a present.



If he knew he would not be impressed.



"I...caught...came home." I barely managed to get out.



"Say again?"



I took a deep breath and tried again.



"I got some stuff, and the guy came home and caught me stealing. I made a run for it."



"Show us what you got." Mark, the smartest out of us, said reaching for my pack.



I let him have it, and took a large drink of the water Kayla had brought me.



"This stuff will go for heaps." He beamed. What I didn’t show him was the key. Don’t ask me why, I just didn’t.



***********************



He couldn't believe this was happening. Some young girl had broken in and stolen it. She had stolen the key. As soon as he recovered from getting kicked in the groin, he went straight to his desk to find the key missing.



They would be so angry. He had sworn to never let any harm come to that key, or what that key held the secrets to but now some punk had stolen it.



He couldn’t call the police either. They couldn’t do anything about the key going missing...after all; the government had ordered it destroyed some 50 years ago.



Angrily, the man kicked the wall repeatedly until there were pieces of the wall all over the floor.



With a sigh, he took out his phone and dialled.



"It is me. We have a problem. The key is gone."



*****************



I ended up selling the stuff all for $200 at the porn brokers we always sold stuff to. He was the only guy we could trust and he pays well. Most of the time.



I dint sell the key. I felt that I had a connection to it somehow, and that selling it meant that it would go to some loser who would buy it thinking that it looked nice, and then never see it again because he lost it.



It was 4 days after I stole the key, that I noticed it. Someone was following me in a dark black sedan.



One day, I went to sell some stuff at Eddy's shop, when I spotted the sedan again. Carefully ditching my pack in a bin in an alley, I approached the car and knocked on the window.



The occupant rolled it down with a creepy smile. He wore dark shades and his collar was buttoned all the way to his neck and he had a scar from his chin to his eyebrow.



"Why the hell are you following me?" I spat angrily, leaning against the car.



He just smiled at me.



"You have something that belongs to me, I believe."



I wouldn’t doubt that I probably did, but I want going to tell him that.



"Sorry. I think you have the wrong person. SO can you please just back off?"



He chuckled.



"The key, Ivy. I want that key."



Okay, so that creep me out. I mean, how the hell does he know about the key?



"I don’t know what you're talking about-" Suddenly, my mouth was covered, and I was loaded into the back of the sedan. And lucky me, because we sold our stuff downtown, there weren’t any people there to see me get abducted.



We drove for a couple of miles until finally; we pulled up in the driveway of a mansion looking place. Neat. There ought to be some good stuff.



The big guy who had been sitting beside me the whole ride tugged at the hand cuffs he had placed on my wrists.



"Okay! Okay, I am coming, Biggie." That was the name I had decided to give him...Biggie or Big Guy.



He led me into the mansion and before I could take too much time admiring the place, he took me into a large sitting area that was occupied by 5 men. Wow, these guys were kind of coming off Sexist. I mean, while being abducted, I hadn’t seen one woman. Maybe that was their preference?



Biggie pushed my into a chair near that faced the five men, and they each looked at me in a very creepy way.



"Does she have the key?" One asked. He sat in the middle of the others and seems to be the leader.



"Yes. We have detected its presence on her." Biggie replied.



"Oh sorry to disappoint, guys but I don’t have it with me, so you can just let me go-" Big guys hand connected with my cheek, and I winced in pain.



"Silence."



"Oh, you’re going for that evil guy thing aren’t you? Very clichéd." Again he slapped me, but it only wound me up more. I decided though, to keep quiet for now.



""Do you wish for me to dispose of her?" Big Guy asked.



"I’m hurt! I really thought we had connected you and me." Another slap.



The man shook his head.



"Show her what the key does, then kill her. After all, she is Samuels’s daughter."



That stopped me in my tracks. How do they know about him?



"My father?"



The man looked at me with a lopsided grin.



"The man you stole that key off, is your father Ivy. Ironic isn’t it?" He laughed, but I found no humour in the situation.



My father gave me up when I was three years old. How much of a chance was it that after 13 years, I would break into his house and steal a key that seeped to be super important?



"Take her." The man instructed.



Big Guy dragged me back down the hallway, to what looked like a dungeon.



In the corner, barely visible in the creepy candle light, was the man from the apartment-my father, I reminded myself.



He was chained to the wall, and blood covered his features.



Biggie left me in one corner while he went to get Samuel, and I could have run off right then and there but for some reason, I couldn't leave Sam.



Why not? He left me? Why could I do the same? I don’t know why, but I didn’t run, and soon Big Guy was dragging the two of us down the hall to a library where there was a large steel door that was locked more puzzles or locks then I had ever seen.



"The key." Big guy demanded, and Samuel looked at me then. He had been avoiding my eyes ever since big guy came to get him. He seemed to be pleading with me not to give over the key, but I had no witty remarks left to issue the man. I handed it over.



Big Guy smiled evilly, truly evilly, and inserted the key into one of the many locks.



The room rumbled, and shook and suddenly the door opened, and light burst from behind the door almost blinding us.



"Oh no." Sam sobbed, his tears mixing with the blood on his face.



"Go" Big Guy pushed us through the door, and Sam stumbled slightly, but quickly regained his footing.



Around us was a green field, the sky a perfect blue colour with purple flowers swaying in the breeze.



The sun was so warm and there were several people lingering around the field.



"What is this place?" I breathed out, and I saw Sam shudder.



Big Guy chuckled. This is your home for the rest of eternity. This is the spirit world."



And with that, he un-cuffed Sam and I, before walking through the door again and then it shut, and locked.



We were trapped. We were trapped in the spirit world?



"It's true, Ivy. All of it. This is where spirits of the deceased go after death and if we stay here for longer than 5 minutes, we will become spirits as well."



"Why the hell should I believe you? You left me when I was three. You let me live with those people!" Now that I thought back, he did look like my father. He was my father.90



"I thought I was doing well, by you! Everything would have been fine if you didn’t steal the key! None of this would have happened!"



We stood like that for several minutes, yelling and crying. Suddenly I felt pain tear through my heart, and I collapsed to the ground in pain. As my vision swam, I saw Sam do the same.



After a few moments, the pain subsided.



"What the hell just happened?" I asked breathlessly.



"We just died, Ivy. We are now spirits and we are trapped forever."