The Key ( #1 Anna Kippling Series) YA Paranormal Romance / Epic Fantasy Read online

  ANNA KIPPLING

  THE KEY

  By

  A.D. Duling

  For Christian, Isabella, Trey, Arwen, Evangeline & Sawyer…. my biggest fans…

  For those who influenced my life, either by good or bad interaction, I could not be the person I am today without that.

  Thank you.

  Text copyright © 2011 by A.D. Duling

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to owner and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Chapter One. 4

  Chapter Two. 10

  Chapter Three. 11

  Chapter Four 14

  Chapter Five. 17

  Chapter Six. 25

  Chapter Seven. 32

  Chapter Eight 37

  Chapter Nine. 39

  Chapter Ten. 42

  Chapter Eleven. 49

  Chapter Twelve. 53

  Chapter Thirteen. 56

  Chapter Fourteen. 60

  Chapter Fifteen. 64

  Chapter Sixteen. 71

  Chapter Seventeen. 74

  Chapter Eighteen. 78

  Chapter Nineteen. 84

  Chapter Twenty. 86

  Chapter Twenty One. 89

  Chapter Twenty Two. 92

  Chapter Twenty Three. 95

  Chapter Twenty Four 100

  Chapter Twenty Five. 104

  Chapter Twenty Six. 108

  Chapter Twenty Eight 116

  Chapter Twenty Nine. 118

  Chapter Thirty. 123

  Chapter Thirty One. 127

  Chapter Thirty Two. 132

  Chapter Thirty Three. 137

  Chapter Thirty Four 140

  Chapter Thirty Five. 143

  Chapter Thirty Six. 146

  Chapter Thirty Seven. 150

  Chapter Thirty Eight 155

  Chapter One

  Anna traced the rain drops trickling down the pane of her bedroom window as she watched in wait for her parent’s SUV to turn the corner. It had been only a month since her grandmother passed and today Mother Nature’s demeanor seemed to match her own somber one. It had rained heavy on the day of her grandmother’s funeral too. Anna could still recall the sound of the thick rain drops as they pelted the canvas canopy above her where she stood huddled with her parents amongst the other mourners. Standing mute and tear spent in the autumn cold to pay her final respects.

  Anna had not been there when her grandmother relinquished her claim on the living and passed to the heavens above them. Her dad had been the one to bring her the news and Anna had sobbed in his arms until her mother arrived home a little while later. Sleep also had not come easily for her that night. After being transferred to her mother’s arms, Anna had lain beside her in bed, staring out the window at the night sky throughout most of it; her mother falling asleep long before her. Anna had never suffered a loss and the loss of her grandmother was an immeasurable one. A month later, the pain lingered, but not as heavy. Time did heal, but the past month had been a rough one for all three members of the Kippling family.

  Just a week after the funeral, they had taken on the heavy hearted task of going through her grandmother’s belongings and moving into the inherited home. After her grandfather’s passing eight years prior, they had moved into a rental, to be closer to her grandmother. Two years ago they had to move her grandmother to assisted living as she was slowly slipping away from them suffering from Alzheimer’s. The house had meant a lot to both her grandparents and the memories within its walls were cherished even more by her grandmother. Watching her grandmother lose those sacred memories pained Anna and often she would help her grandmother revisit them through her own telling.

  During those six months, Caroline Kippling could not bear to move into her childhood home before her mother’s passing. The house had remained empty up until then. Sorting, purging and donating went easier with the downstairs, but upstairs, especially her grandparent’s room, it became a harder task; a slower one too. Anna helped her mother that day, being assigned to empty the dressers, while her mother took on the closet.

  Every stack of clothing she had pulled from those dresser drawers had been placed with the upmost care inside the cardboard boxes marked donation. Every article had smelled of her grandmother; a sweet mixture between the laundry detergent she had favored and the only perfume she had ever worn; Chanel No. 5. The task had not been difficult in the physical sense for her, but rather in the mental sense. Removing these items was like removing a little bit of her grandmother along with it.

  People passed away every day; Anna knew this. She also knew that in their passing, their belongings were left behind for family to sort through. Not everything could be kept. Many cared less about these material things and chose to leave it up to complete strangers to sort and dispose of, but for others, the ones like Anna and her parents, there was something sacred and personal that came with these acquired possessions. People like them chose to go through these items themselves and the task of going through them had to be done in the most thorough manner and with delicate care.

  Memories were rekindled with those left behind objects, making it difficult to decide which to part with and which to keep. That day, when Anna had grabbed the final stack of her grandmother’s clothing from the bottom drawer of her dresser, when she had lifted it up to add to the donation box, it had brought a surprise landing into her lap; one that didn’t seem all that surprising to her. Anna wanted to believe it was fated for her to find it. Almost as if her grandmother stood in wait to make the small wooden box no larger than an eye glasses case land there.

  When Anna opened it, inside, lying on soft velvet had been a skeleton key. Anna didn’t tell her mother that day about her discovery and continued to keep it a secret as she tried the key on every lock in the house in the days that followed. Her secret little key had not worked on any; a frustrating disappointment that had left her feeling defeat and the brass skeleton key returned back inside its box. It had then been hidden in the far back corner of her top dresser drawer, to be forgotten, if it had not been for the exciting discovery that came a day later.

  In the back of the hall closet, up a tiny set of stairs was another door; the door leading into the attic. Anna had forgotten about the attic. Years ago her mother had set the rule, the attic was off limits. Unsafe clutter and dust had been the reasons. Being a teenager now, Anna no longer felt the rule applied to her anymore, however, she still kept the secret in fear of losing her fun little adventure. She desperately wanted to believe this key led to something special and that something special was just for her to find.

  Anna waited a few minutes more to make sure her parents didn’t return before she bolted from her bedroom and down the long hallway towards the hall closet at the end. Plastic wrapped hung dry cleaning blocked her way as soon as she opened the door; her mother’s doing. Anna slid them over sending a screeching sound of metal wire hangers rubbing against metal rod to irritate her eardrums. After stepping over the two boxes marked shoes, another of her mother’s doing, Anna climbed the tiny staircase behind them up to the attic door. The door was closed and upon turning the brass knob, she found it unlocked. To her delight, she also found it too had a keyhole that matched her key.

  Anna pulled the key out from her jeans pocket and inserted the ti
ny skeleton key inside the lock. The key slipped in with ease, but when she tried to turn it, just as it did with the other doors, the key wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, Anna went to jerk the key out, but it slipped through her fingers; the key was stuck. No longer in the pleasant mood that had brought her up there in the first place, Anna tugged and jiggled on it, but to no avail, the little stubborn skeleton key remained fixed in place.

  “Oh come on!” she shouted in complaint.

  Anna tugged hard again on the key and with a Pop! -the key finally gave, knocking her off balance and sending her teetering back on the edge of the landing. In one quick reflexive movement, Anna leaned forward, away from the periling steps below her and fell down to her hands and knees upon the floor in front of the door. The little key in her hand flew out and slid under the crack, entering the attic beyond it. Her knees throbbing and hands burning, Anna stood up and wiped her tender palms on the front of her jeans. Mumbling her complaints, Anna grabbed the brass knob and opened the door.

  The attic on the other side was large and half full of forgotten things. An old couch, some lamps, random smaller pieces of furniture, plastic storage boxes sat untouched and layered with a thin film of dust. Anna wondered if her mother would ever venture up here. It was quite a bit to go through and thought perhaps her mother had chosen to leave it for a later time. Amongst the fillers of the attic, just a few feet beyond the attic door, an old steamer trunk caught her eye. Lying next to it, on the one inch layer of dust wooden floor, was her missing key. Anna walked over to it and picked the key up, noticing the old metal lock hanging from the front of the steamer trunk as she did so. The hole looked to be the right size to accommodate her little metal skeleton key.

  “Well, there’s only one way to find out…”

  Anna slipped the key inside of it and to her delight, the key glided in smoothly. She then turned the key right and the old lock popped open in response. Excited, Anna slipped the lock off and placed it on the floor next to her. She lifted the latch and then lifted the lid; inside she found a small stack of books looking to be journals and old clothing folded neatly beside them. Anna grabbed the top journal from the stack and opened it. Written on the first page was a journal entry:

  I will never be forgiven for the choice I have made, I know this. But I hope one day to be welcomed again to my home land. I do not regret my choice in leaving Tatania and will never regret going through the portal and finding my Jacob. Earth is a very fascinating world; not so very different from our own. I have fallen in love with this place and more in love with him. We are to be married in just a few short days…

  Anna stopped and wondered whose journal this was. Jacob had been her grandfather’s name, so it made sense to think they were her grandmother’s.

  “Tatania..?” Anna said the word aloud.

  What kind of place was this Tatania and where was it? And what had her grandmother meant when she spoke of a portal?

  Anna turned the page and continued reading:

  Mother wept; Father couldn’t even bear to look at me. I left a letter for them; I hope it can at least give them some comfort. The councilmen have allowed me to leave. I can return, but once a year; which is two years of Earth’s time…

  This entry only confused her more. Was this a story? This couldn’t be real. Anna skipped ahead a few pages and read a later entry:

  Caroline has grown into such a beautiful young girl and definitely has the spirit of Tatania in her veins. This will be her sixth visit to Tatania and possibly her last. Jacob has long known about my world and has been wonderful about my visits, knowing he cannot come along. Only a Tatanian may enter or leave through the portal, I can bring Caroline because she is part Tatanian…

  She skipped ahead a few more pages and read on:

  On our recent visit, Father and I took a walk while mother played with Caroline. It was then that he told me the disturbing news. He told me of a prophecy long ago when I was still a young child, made by one of our great councilmen. He had foreseen an evil man taking control over all of the lands surrounding, as well as my dear Tatania. He then told me of another prophecy had followed; telling of a girl not from this world coming to save us. My father told me this was why they had not fought my leaving, thinking I was the way in bringing her here.

  It ended there. Anna grabbed the next journal in the stack and searched its pages, finding every single one blank. The pages of the other three journals were also blank. Anna turned to the folded clothing inside the trunk and pulled the top one out. It was a dress and a very dated one. The style made her think of the ones from the early 1800’s or earlier. Anna gently laid the dress down on the floor next to the trunk and pulled out the second article, it too was a dress. Lying on top of the third dress was a leather satchel. Anna picked it up and untied the thin leather cord holding it closed. Gently pouring the contents out onto the dresses lying on the floor, Anna watched as a small dagger and a wrapped handkerchief fell out of it.

  She picked the dagger up and admired its handle; a dark stained wooded one covered in etches of beautiful wind blowing swirls. Jewels also lined the handle; in which some Anna did not recognize. When she slid the blade out of its sheath, she found it still sharp and the silvery steel still shiny. She slid the dagger back inside and sat it down.

  Anna untied the thin ribbon of the hanky and delicately unfolded it open. Lying in the middle was a beautiful bangle bracelet and matching necklace. Their stones, again unidentifiable to her, but looked similar in color to that of a Sapphire, but with a hint of a raspberry color to it. Anna tried the pieces on and was surprised to find them light; assuming the large adorning gems upon them would have made them heavy. Both pieces appeared to be made out of gold and were very beautiful. Anna wondered why her grandmother never wore these beautiful pieces, but instead had chosen to keep them locked away in a trunk forgotten in the attic.

  “Anna!” her mother’s voice startled her and she jumped. “Anna! What are you doing up there?” her mother called up to her, her voice tense.

  Anna scooped the items on the floor in one swoop and returned them back inside the steamer trunk.

  “Anna!” her mother called again, sounding upset.

  “I’m coming!” Anna yelled sharply back to her as she stood up.

  Chapter Two

  “Don’t use that tone with me!” her mother yelled up to her.

  “Sorry…I’m coming Mom!” Anna yelled down to her.

  “Hurry up…we bought dinner!”

  Anna grabbed the lid of the old steamer trunk and pulled it down, at the same time, the attic door slammed shut behind her, startling her. Anna jumped around and looked about the room. Nothing seemed amiss; only she and the forgotten treasures still occupied it. The only window to the attic, at her right, was closed. So what had caused the door to slam shut like that? She thought.

  Anna’s imagination began to wander as she realized it had grown darker outside. Dancing shadows played along the adjacent wall from her, in sync to the blowing tree branch outside the window. Scolding herself for being so childish, Anna rushed over to the closed door and grabbed the cold brass knob. When she went to turn it, she found the door locked.

  Instinctively, she went to call for her mother, but then remembered the skeleton key; she had left it in the lock lying next to the steamer trunk. Anna ran over to it and picked the lock up. She turned her key back straight and pulled it out. Throwing the lock onto the trunk, Anna ran back to the door. As the shadows played ruthless on her imagination, fumbling a little, Anna inserted the key into the keyhole and prayed it would turn.

  Thankfully the little skeleton key turned and the click of the door unlocking followed it. Anna pulled the key out and turned the knob; ready to bolt down the tiny stairs to the safety below. But when she opened the door, instead of the tiny stairway leading down, Anna found a forest standing before her on the other side.

  Chapter Three

  Anna blinked and gawked at the sight on the other side. What she sa
w had to have been her imagination. She blinked again, but still found the forest standing on the other side of the door. Anna slammed the door shut and stared hard at the brass knob. Breathing heavy, her heart and brain racing, Anna tried to think it through. What had just happened? She thought. Had there really been a forest on the other side of the door?

  Questions raced rapid through her mind and doubt quickly took its place in the game. Her imagination had gotten the best of her, Anna decided, but for some reason her hand still hesitated on the knob. Shaking, Anna turned it and jerked the door open; this time on the other side she found the tiny stairway leading down.

  “Anna!” her mother’s voice called up again for her, sending Anna leaping into the air, “What are you doing up there?” she asked her, her mother’s figure appearing at the bottom.

  “I’m coming,” she yelled down to her. Anna bolted down, yanking on the door as she did and took two steps at a time. The attic door slammed shut behind her.

  Anna stayed clear of the attic in the following days after the incident, but her thoughts however wouldn’t let her. Drifting her back often to the magical world she had seen on the other side of the door. It plagued venomously at her mind, tugging and pulling her focus back to it. Focus at school was almost non-existent for her in those days; Anna barley paid attention to her teachers and paid even less attention to her friends.