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Entering her apartment, Bri closed the door behind her with a sharp kick and tossed her keys up on top of her fridge. Her nose was already burried in the newspaper, but when she passed the kitchen counter where she had left the key a sparkle caught her eye. Closing the newspaper and stuffing it under her left arm she took a closer look at the key.

It just sat there, glimmering at her for a second before the colour seemingly drained out of it. The twinkle was gone from it and it seemed to lose any hint of 'life' the key once had.

"..The hell?" Bri commented under her breath, blinking and rubbing her eyes to make sure she saw what she thought she saw.

The key still looked the same way as it had before, dull and tarnished.

She rubbed her fingers along the length of the key, trying to make it shine again. For some reason that seemed like a good idea to her.

Blinking as the key suddenly shot back to life she picked it up from it's position on the cold counter top. She itched to hold it.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly to take in the enhanced beauty of the key. To her it almost seemed to glow within the confines of her hands, but that was just a trick of her mind. Warm in the cradled of her hands Bri moved her elbows away from her body to drop the newspaper, lowering herself to the floor. Folding her legs underneath her Bri tilted her head at the key that had so suddenly occupied her attentions.

Bri shut her eyes a moment before opening them again. The sudden gleam the key seemed to pick up and reflect from light sources that didn't even -EXIST- in the kitchen blinding her. It hurt her eyes, yet it drew her to stare at the exact same time.

Feeling the key grow warmer still in her hands, a strage thought hit her.

"This can't be normal."

Cupping the key in one hand she pushed herself to her feet with the other, making her way down the hallway to her room. Bri padded her way to her desk with hurried steps, eyes locked on the key, settling down and quickly noting and commenting on the odd occurances.

Bri nearly dropped her pen when the key began to vibrate, writing down what was happening in a quick and messy scrawl. Eyes watching the key as it started to dim and fade, she did truely drop the pen this time, she tried to close her hands around the key. It didn't do her any good because to Bri's horror and amazement it had disappeared!

"It's gone?" Bri questioned aloud as she opened her hands to reveal to herself that it truely had disappeared. "How can something just up and disappear? It can't.. No no no. I must have dropped it." Getting off the chair she was sitting in she began to search the floor around her desk.

It was futile, she knew she hadn't dropped it. But, she didn't want to believe the key just up and disappeared either.

Bri got up stealthily when she heard the sounds of booted feet on the wood flooring of the hallway. Sliding her feet against the floor, so she made no noise, she made her way to the bedroom doorway. 'This is getting too weird.' She thought as she peeked out down the hallway, catching a glimpse of the girl that stood at the end of the kitchen counter where the key had been when she first brought it into the apartment. Inspecting the girl a gasp emitted from Bri, she was wearing the key!

The gasp had drawn Kerryn's attention down the hallway, "Hello?" the young girl questioned of the eyes and black hair that could be seen from the room. Her leather apron swished and rubbed against her mint green peasants top as she approached the door the woman almost hid behind.

Bri was stunned, more than stunned actually as she stared at the girl who could be her twin, or clone, had she been about fourteen or fifteen years younger. "Hello. W.. Who're you?" Was all Bri could manage in the way of good manners, comming out into the hallway instead of continueing to just peer at the girl from behind the doorway.

"Kerryn." The girl's hand lifted to curl around the key hanging around her neck. "Yes. I came from the key, to answer your next question."

Bri had just opened her mouth to ask that particulare question when Kerryn answered, she just gaped. Not able to form any intelligent questions at that current time. Fighting to regain her composure Bri looked around the hallway, eyes inescapably drawn back to Kerryn.

"Are you going to show me to my room?" The girl asked with a raised eyebrow, "Acutally, I'd like to see Izzy." She nodded to Bri before turning around and headed back down the hallway, turning into the room Izzy's tank was in.

Bri was left to stand there, a look of disbelief written on her face, as the girl walked off. "She came from the key. I guess that means she isn't leaving." She was still stupified about how much the girl looked like she did. Except the hair, but her hair had looked like that too when she was younger.

"Hey, wait! Kerryn!" Bri called as she quickly moved after the girl, she needed to figure out what exactly had happened, although she had little hope that the girl could tell her.

Bri had given the girl a journal and set her up at the desk in her bedroom, it was all she could do to try and make sure that Kerryn didn't destroy the whole house while she tried to figure out where exactly she was going to put her. Despite the fact that she had asked Kerryn to call her Bri, the runt had insisted on calling her Brianna, obviously she had gained a little more of herself than was originally obvious.

"But, back to the matter at hand." Bri reminded herself, looking around the make-shift livingroom, wondering what exactly she could do with the girl. She knew that she would want her own space, and by no means did Bri want to give up her room and sleep on the couch for the next unknown amount of years.

It wasn't looking too good for Izzy and his jungle.

"Maybe.." She begain, trying to imagine the room divided, but it would involve her moving into the livingroom to give the girl 'her personal space.' "No, that won't work."

"I can hear you talking to yourself!" Kerryn called from the next room over.

"Yeah! I'm trying to figure out how to decorate the bathroom for you. I've heard bathtubs can be quite comfortable." Bri called back, the banter between them was boardering on an arguement but it was still friendly. What was it that they said, 'Do onto others as you would have done onto you?' Well, this really took the cake.

"Better not be, or else I'll make it so you can't use the bathroom - EVER! -"

"Fiiine." Bri said with mock dissapointment. "I've got an idea!"

"What?" Kerryn was curious, but she was a little afraid since all the ideas Bri had suggested were rather silly.

"I'll put the couch in Izzy's room, the television in mine since I don't really have guests anyways so it's just you and me, and you can have the books in yours. Sound good?"

"It works. I need a bed though." Kerryn responded slowly, having been distracted by a chinese stone latern on Bri's bedside table.

"I'll call a furniture store, they can bring your stuff up and move the other stuff around for me for a little extra." She nodded, padding out of the livingroom and down the hall to the phone that hung on the wall. Picking up the handset she entered the kitchen and pulled a phonebook from one of the drawers.

"Where are you.." She muttered as she flipped through the yellow pages. "Ah! Here we are."

She dialed in the number and sat down against the cupboards, digging out a pad and a piece of paper from the drawer above her head.

"Yes.. Hello.."

And so it began, the transition from single woman living alone with her lizard to single woman living with a child who appears to be her own and a lizard.

That would put a damper on things.

This is the final result.

"Hello..? Mrs.." Bri had to check the newspaper as she paced back and forth on the glittering tiles of her third story balcony, "Mrs. Redovan?"

"Yes. No.. Actually, I'm calling in response to your ad in the newspaper." Bri's features tightened as she looked through the glass patio door, Kerryn had taken Izzy out of his tank and she was inspecting him and the foilage that his room was filled with.

"Oh, you already filled the position?" Bri frowned, this was her fourth phone call, there couldn't be that many out-of work bartenders. Actually, there could, she reminded herself. The whole staff had the construction month off. "Alright, bye." Pressing the 'talk' button again to shut the phone off.

"Damn."

Walking over to the patio door, Bri opened it and peeked her head inside, "Kerryn, I thought I told you not to take Izzy out of his tank unless I was helping you." Her stern tone carried to the ears of her daughter and Kerryn looked up.

"But, Bri-"

"No buts, Kerryn."

"-Izzy wouldn't -"

"Kerryn.." Bri said, not wanting to continue the conversation.

"-hurt me. Reallyhewouldn't! And, besides! You won't let me go back to the shop to see if Yeste' is there!" Kerryn pursed her lips, an action Bri had often done herself.

"Fine, I have to make some calls, the key is on the fridge-"

"YES!" Kerryn called joyfully.

"USE A CHAIR TO GET THE KEY!" Bri yelled as Kerryn took off for the kitchen, "AND BE BACK SOON!"

"Yes, Bri!" Kerryn shouted back with glee and ran out the front door after retrieving the house key and slipping it onto her necklace.

Hey, Bri actually may be on to something with writing in this book nightly, it actually isn't that bad when you had a day worth writing about. Today I met three kids that are like I am. Yeste', Sarria and Kami. There was another, but I didn't feel like sticking around to meet him, guys are idiots. Bri doesn't like me using that word, or any of the other I hear when she hurts herself or is frusterated, but you won't tell on me will you?

Yeste' was nice, we sat and talked and she showed me her dagger and I showed her my key. They were the items we came from. Frankly, I'm not so sure I like weapons, but Yeste' seems to be in them and she's getting weapons training and I thought that maybe it'd be fun to try it. So I asked if I could learn how to use a staff, they're just sticks so they're not sharp.

I wanted to play with Izzy today and look at the plants in his room, but Bri doesn't like me taking Izzy out of his cage. I did anyways though, and then I went to the store again because Bri caught me. I want to learn what types of plants Izzy lives with, I like them.

- Kerryn