The GateKeeper of Atlantis

Chapter one- in which Anya throws a ring

Anya couldn’t help but stare at the ring, as she had many times before. It was a beautiful ring, made of mica and iron ore. An odd combination, yes, but Anya wasn’t one to complain. It was the last thing she had from her grandfather, other than the mysterious letter, a credit card, and a list of things to have before leaving for Siberia.

What was he trying to prove? All this ridiculous stuff about Atlantis and her being the gatekeeper, it had to be some awful joke Grandpa Gav was pulling.

But why would he do such a thing? Why would he want to leave her in the dust, as her favorite family member passed into the next life? Did he hate her? Was all this ‘you’re my favorite granddaughter’ just a buttload of crap?

Anya sighed and tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, ignoring her throbbing heart. This wasn’t the time to start crying, she wasn’t ready for another day lost as she sobbed up in her room, locked inside. It had been days since the funeral before she could pull herself out of her funk and get back to her studies.

Crap. She had an exam on singularities in an hour and she definitely wasn’t ready for it. 

Anya reached over and pulled a book on black holes out of her bookshelf and forced herself to take in the words before her.

But her grandfather kept slithering back into her head.

“God dammit!” she yelled, and grabbed the ring off her finger, flinging it towards the door. It hit it with a plunk.

“What the hell was that old geezer thinking?” She roared, slamming the book on the bed. “What idiotic plot was he pulling? I can’t go to Russia! I’m fourteen! Jesus!”

Anya could hear footsteps, so she stopped ranting. A minute later, the tentative voice of her mother leaked through the door. “Anya? Are you all right, dear? Would you like some tea?”

“I would not like tea!” The black-haired girl growled.

Her mother opened the door and poked her head in, her milky blue eyes flitting back and forth. “Darling, remember. You have only about forty minutes to study for your-“

“I don’t care!”  Anya screamed and threw the book at the door, startling the older woman. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to take out her anger on her mother, but frankly, at the moment, Anya really didn’t care in the least. “Grandpa Gav keeps popping into my head, and his stupid letter too! Why the heck did he give me this credit card? What am I supposed to do with this money? I don’t want to go to Siberia!”

“Siberia?” Her mother repeated dumbly. “Why would you go to Russia?”

“Because of Atlantis!” Anya threw up her hands and fell back onto her bed. “Because Gav thinks it a good laugh to give me a false letter and say that I’m the next stupid gatekeeper of a stupid city. What the hell is he talking about? Atlantis? The Disney movie?!”

Anya’s mother moved slowly towards her bed, picking up the discarded book and placing it next to her as she sat down. “Anya, sweet, calm down. I’m sure Gav meant well. What was he talking about, Atlantis? Well, we know that Atlantis is an underwater city-“

Anya plugged her ears. “Shut up! I’ve had enough! Enough! I’m sick of this stupid Atlantis thing and this goddam ring too!”

Anya’s mother, Emily, put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder and sighed. “I suppose you want to go to Siberia, huh? To see what Gav was talking about?”

“No,” Anya grumbled stubbornly.

Emily smiled slightly and un-tucked a strand of her daughter’s hair from behind her ear, “Well, it is up to you. If you change your mind, we can see how much money you have on that credit card Gav gave you. Remember, we do have relatives out there we could contact.”

“Dimitri and Viktoriya.”

“You’re older cousins,” Emily agreed and stood up, her blue eyes looking down at her daughter. “Study hard, my sweet. We’ll be leaving for the education center in thirty minutes.”

Anya looked away, her doggedness undeterred. “Fine. See if I care.”

With that, her mother was gone, and the Russian girl was alone again.

She sighed and looked out her window, staring at the rain as it slinked down the glass. 

As she watched, she saw that one drop wasn’t as fast as the others as they slid down, and a bigger, faster one ate up the slower drop. Anya sighed. 

Raindrops have to go through evolution too, huh?

Without another moment of thought, Anya reached over and switched on the radio, listening as her favorite Indie band came on.

Only one branch of the Dombrovski family still lived in Russia, and that was Anya’s older cousins, Dimitri and Viktoriya. She was related to Viktoriya by blood, but related by marriage to Dimitri.

Dimitri was awesome.

Being around thirty years old, Anya’s Russian cousin was her favorite person in the whole world (except for Gav, but he wasn’t with them anymore). He taught her some Russian when they first visited the family during Christmas a few years ago, and she immediately was taken by him. 

Anya likes to tell everyone that it was her that made Viktoriya ‘keep him,’ but in reality, it was their unwavering friendship and love that did.

Sappy. 

Whatever.

The wedding was in Russia, which made the twelve year old girl (at the time) very happy. The cool Russian weather was enough to keep her satisfied before going back to warm California. She hated Cali with a passion.

Later in the trip, Viktoriya told Dimitri about her inability to have children, but he didn’t bat an eye. He said that he loved her no matter what, and for that, Gav proposed a toast to them. 

Everyone in the family (excluding Dimitri) had known about Viktoriya’s weakness for years. It happened when she was around fifteen years old (about four years before she met Dimitri), she was in a car accident and then ‘bam!’ no children for her. 

Anya was always jealous of Viktoriya. Even though she could never have children, she was always the sight of the party (or the family gathering, but not in the creepy incest way), with her long black hair and striking blue eyes. Dimitri really was no different.

Spending years in cold, Siberian Russia can turn anyone bitter, but Dimi always had a smile on his face. A smile that matched his light (very light) blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Anya didn’t visit them often, but when she did they would always go out to the ocean to sit and have picnics, only daring to dip their feet in the freezing water once or twice.

The tall Russian girl never knew the reason why they would always go to the sea, or why it seemed there would be people watching them as they ate their stuffed peppers. Now, after reading Gav’s letter, she did.

As the rain slowly subsided, Anya brushed a piece of her hair out of her face and sighed. “I wonder who they were. Those shadows that would watch us.”

Her mother called up again, signaling the five minute mark. It was time to get ready to leave for her test.