Key to the World

Chapter 1

Julia woke up from the same nightmare she had been haunted by for the last fourteen years of her life. She gasped, trying to get her beating heart under control. As usual, the nightmare was about her parents' disappearance. Her father and mother had hid her in the closet, telling her not to come out under any circumstances. Only two years old, she had complied, innocent and sweet. But then she had heard the struggle, her parents yelling. She had heard the gunshots, and peeked around the closet door. All she saw was the most horrible face, scarred and cruel. The person's eyes were steel gray and commanding.

She looked over through her window, sighing. Even though she hardly remembered them, she still missed them dreadfully, and was determined to find them again. All she really remembered about them were their names: Delilah and Julius.

It was Monday morning and I was getting ready for school when my adopted mom came into the kitchen, rushing out the door to go to work. I frowned. "Mom?" I called. "What about breakfast?" Mom never skipped breakfast. Ever. My mom poked her head around the door. "I'll skip it today, Julia. I'm almost late for work."
I checked my watch. "I thought that you didn't have to be at work until nine."

"The bosses screwed up my schedule. See ya." With that, she was gone. I shook my head ruefully. I wished that I could be just like my mom, working in covert operations. Then I thought of Delilah and Julius, my birth parents, and an unexplained shiver crawled up my spine.

As I walked to school that day, I tried to remember everything I knew about my birth parents. I tried to remember my mother first. Her name was Delilah, and she was… tall? Brown-eyed? Brown haired? I shook my head. I couldn't remember. Next was my father. He was definitely a blond. I remembered that because it had been such a vibrant colour, and I had often tried to pull it out of his head.

Suddenly I noticed that a van was driving very slowly beside me, matching my pace. I frowned and sped up. The van sped up. I began to run, and the van followed me. I turned away from the direction of the school down a side alley, a narrow one that a van couldn't follow me through. But then I heard footsteps. I looked behind me to see two figures darting towards me. I came upon a fence backing someone's backyard, and vaulted over, thankful for having been a good gymnastics student.

A dog rushed towards me, snarling. It tried to bite my arm, but I gave it a kick and ran on. Normally I wouldn't have done that, but I was fleeing for my life, and a snarling, vicious dog was not my style.

Even though I was on the track team, and could run for a good solid hour, I was beginning to feel tired. Perplexed about my mother's behaviour, I had scarcely eaten, and I was feeling the effects of my choice. I had to slow down, or else I would run myself to death. Then I realized that I had come to a brick wall, with nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. I turned to face my attackers, holding up my fists to fight. My stalkers stopped, holding up their hands in a peaceful gesture. "We don't want to fight you. Just come with us," said one, obviously male. I glared at them, although in the dim light I'm not sure they saw it. "I don't think so," I snarled. "Now watch out, I know karate."

The other, a girl, smirked. "Sorry, but so do we."

I attacked first, starting with a roundhouse kick that sent the girl flying. But the guy dodged, cornering me against the wall. But instead of using karate, he tried some type of tackle that I'm sure only football players use, although I'm not quite sure. He threw me to the ground, although he did it gently, which was surprising. Then he put a cloth over my face. I thought he was trying to suffocate me, and so I started screaming. I must have inhaled some type of gas, because I passed out before I could do anything more.

A/n: Hey, this is my first D&J fanfic, so I hope you like it. I'll try and update soon. Please review!-Becky