The Golden Keepers (The Golden Keeps Book 1) Read online

  “Can I walk you home?” he asked.

  That’s when I remembered. No one knows where I live. And I really wanted to keep it that way. At least for now.

  “Um, thanks but I think I am going to walk myself. I’ll see you tomorrow?” I said.

  “Oh, alright. Yeah I will see you tomorrow!” Dillan replied.

  As I turned to walk home Dillan grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I looked at him in confusion. And he didn’t quite seem like he knew what he was doing either. Then he started to speak.

  “Look Astra, I really like you but I don’t know what you want. I just need to know what’s going on in your head. It seems whenever I try to get close to you, you run away.”

  I stared at him then looked over at Cali and Josh. That could be us. A couple who snuggles next to the fire and laughs all night long, I wanted to kiss him but I’ve never kissed a guy before. I looked up at Dillan and smiled.

  “You’re not wasting your time. It will all be worth it in the end.” I told him.

  I leaned up on my tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Good night Dillan” I whispered in his ear then turned to walk home.

  Dillan smiled then started to walk back to the bon fire. I couldn’t believe I kissed Dillan on the cheek. That was way out of my comfort zone and I loved doing it! It was exciting.

  I walked up to the house and noticed that we had a shower in the bathroom. “Mom, when did we get a shower?” I asked.

  “This evening! I had a guy come and install it.” She said smiling. “Now you won’t have to go out to the ocean”.

  I looked around our home. It looked finished to me. We had furniture, a full bathroom and kitchen. It was a nice home. Maybe I could bring Dillan here sometime.

  “I love it mom. I’m going to get ready for bed.” I said as I went into the bedroom.

  “Nope!” Mom said laughing.

  “What?” I looked confused.

  “That’s my room. Your room is in through that door” She said.

  I turned and started to walk towards the door she was pointing at. I don’t ever remember looking in this room before. I opened the door and it was a completed bedroom. A queen sized bed that had a gray comforter on it with yellow pillows. The walls were gray and white and there was a picture of me with my parents on the stand next to my bed.

  I walked towards the dresser and opened the drawers. Clothes filled the drawers. I looked up on the top of the dresser and saw a picture of me and Sarah. I loved my room. I ran out of my room to mother and gave her the biggest hug that I could.

  “Thank you!”

  “You’re welcome Astra.” She said. “I figured you needed a new room since it looks like this will be a permanent place for us.”

  That’s when it hit me. This was our permanent home. And I was okay with it. I loved being by the ocean and having a small town where everyone knew each other. And I would get to be with Dillan still!

  “Now go get ready for bed!” Mom said smacking my booty.

  I took a shower and put on some new pajamas that were in my drawers. They were a light blue color. And the softest things I’ve ever warn. I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

  Revealing my Secret

  “Beep Beep” I turned over to look at my stand next to my bed. With me having my own room I was able to set my own alarm knowing mother wouldn’t wake up from the noise. I slapped the top of my alarm clock and got out of bed. It was 4 A.M. I went to my dresser and grabbed my swim suit and gray sweats. I put them on then put on my running shoes and snuck out of the house.

  I started to walk over to the spot where we had the bon fire last night. Dean and Shane were already there waiting for me.

  “Did you sleep in?” Dean said jokingly.

  “Very funny, I hope you two are ready for a run!” I responded.

  “I was born ready!” Dean said.

  I started to run in the direction towards the island and Dean and Shane started to follow. I could see Dean creeping up on me. I started to pick up my paste, but Dean was still on my tail. We were then neck and neck. I have never ran this fast. I was determined to beat him! I closed my eyes and thought about the explosions that happened as our planet was getting destroyed.

  I opened my eyes and took off. Dean was no longer next to me. I didn’t let that distract me though. I continued to look forward. I finally reached the trees that blocked me from continuing to run last time. Once I came to a stop I turned around and saw Dean and Shane. Once they reached me they looked around.

  “This is where you wanted to bring us?” Shane asked.

  “Not quite. I’m taking you guys there.” I said pointing out at the Island.

  “Woah! Have you swam there before?” Dean asked.

  “Yes, I swam there yesterday. It isn’t too hard once you get past the current.” I told them.

  “What’s it called?” Shane said looking at me.

  “What’s what called?” I asked.

  “The Island. What’s the name of the island?”

  I looked at the Island then back at Shane. I had no idea what to call it.

  “I don’t know.” I said.

  “Island Thrifty.”

  Shane and I looked over at Dean who seemed pretty confident with the name.

  “We will call it Island Thrifty.” Dean said.

  None of us argued with it. And I couldn’t think of a name for it anyways so we all agreed the island would be called Island Thrifty. I took off my running shoes and sweat pants and began to walk towards the water. Dean and Shane did the same.

  “You ready?” I said looking over at them.

  “We were born ready.” Dean said.

  We all jumped into the water and began to swim. I went under the waves and started to pull the water with the arms and kick my feet as fast as I could. Shane looked like he was struggling getting through the water. Dean pulled him under the water and pointed over to me. Shane got the memo and started to swim under water with us. I loved swimming under water. It was quiet and peaceful. And the ocean was beautiful. I looked over at Dean and Shane who seemed to enjoy themselves as well.

  I saw the rocks on the ground and new we had reached the island. I put my feet down on them and lifted my body out of the water. Dean and Shane proceeded to do the same thing. We walked up to the island and approached the palm trees that surrounded the island.

  “Wow, you can’t see anything on the island but trees.” Shane said.

  “That’s what it looks like now, wait until you pass the trees.” I told Shane.

  We started to walk towards the center of the Island and came to the waterfall I saw last time. It was still as pretty as ever. I looked over at the guys and they were amazed. I could tell they liked the island. And I couldn’t wait to show them the rest of the island.

  “See, I knew this was a Thrifty Island!” Dean said smiling at me.

  “I know it’s a beautiful waterfall but wait until you see what’s behind it.” I told them as I jumped into the water.

  “Where are you going?” Shane asked.

  “Just follow me!” I said while swimming towards the waterfall.

  They jumped into the water and started swimming towards the waterfall. Once we reached it we all went under it and came up on the other side of the waterfall. I started to climb up into the cave.

  “This is what I wanted to show you.” I said as they climbed up into the cave with me.

  “A secret cave.” Shane said.

  For some reason I felt that he knew we would be using it very soon. I looked at Dean and Shane. This is our island, our hiding place. Where we could train each other and test our abilities.

  We sat down in the cave watching the waterfall. It made the cave really loud. It started to become really annoying to me. I wanted the noise to go away. I could tell that Shane and Dean wanted the same thing. Then I remembered Shane was the brains of the group.

  “Shane, is there any way you could make the noise disappear?” I asked.
r />   Shane sat there and thought for a moment then grinned and looked at Dean and me.

  “I know exactly what to do, just leave it to me” He said.

  Shane walked up to the opening of the cave and touched walls. Than started to walk back towards us.

  “I will have it done by tomorrow morning.” He said.

  “What exactly are you going to do?” Dean asked Shane.

  “You’ll just have to see tomorrow buddy!” Shane replied.

  I started to laugh. I could tell Dean was a little annoyed. After sitting in the cave for a little while we climbed down into the water and started to swim back to land. I climbed up to the grass and waited for Dean and Shane to reach me.

  “Alright, there is one more thing I want to show you two.” I said as I kept walking towards the center of the island.

  Shane and Dean continued to follow me and we came to the two cliffs I had seen yesterday morning. I walked up to one of the cliffs, grabbed a crack in the wall and started to climb.

  “So, we are just supposed to climb this?” Dean asked.

  I looked down at them and yelled “Yes! You can do it. I promise!”

  Dean looked at Shane with a look of insanity.

  “If I die, I’m going to kill her.” He told Shane.

  Shane laughed then started to climb the cliff. Dean began to follow him. Once I reached the top I turned around and looked down to see where they were. Dean and Shane were right behind me. The climbed it pretty fast. Once they reached the top I could tell that they were amazed at what had happened.

  “I didn’t know I could do that” Dean said looking at his hands.

  I looked at over them. I wanted to tell them my plans. I just hope they will be on board. I closed my eyes and remembered the Captain hurting the humans claiming that this would now be his world. I opened my eyes.

  “I brought you guys to this island to help me.” I said.

  I then continued to speak.

  “Earth has given us strength, and powers that we never would have had on Saruta. The Captain from the ship is hurting the humans and claiming the world to be his. I don’t know about you guys but I am not okay with that. I brought you guys here to learn your powers and strengths hoping that we can use them for good. What do you guys say? Are you in?”

  There was a long silence. All I could hear were the birds in the air. Dean walked up to me and reached his hand towards mine. I looked down and gave him my hand. He started to shake it.

  “I’m in Astra” He said with a grin.

  Shane walked up to me as well and stroked his hair with his hand and held his breath. Then he reached his hand towards mine and shook it.

  “You can count me in as well.” Shane said looking relieved.

  “Great! Let’s get to work!” I told them.

  I started to run to towards the end of the cliff then jumped. I landed on the other side of the cliff and turned to look over at the Guys. Shane’s mouth was hanging opened. Dean looked excited and started to run towards the end of the cliff. His legs sprung off the ground quickly. It looked like he was flying in the air coming towards me. He landed right in front of me.

  “Holy Crap! I didn’t know I could do that! That was amazing!” Dean said grabbing my shoulders!

  Dean turned and looked at Shane. He waved at him to let him know he made it over safely and that it was okay for him to jump.

  “I don’t like this one bit. Not one bit at all.” Shane told himself.

  Dean and I started to laugh. I crossed my fingers and yelled out.

  “You can do it Shane! Just jump! You’ll make it!”

  He held his breath and started to run to the end of the cliff. We watched his legs spring off the ground and his body take off in the air. Shane was moving his arms and legs everywhere. Then put his legs together to land. When he landed he was crouched down looking at the ground.

  “Are you okay Shane?” I asked concerned.

  He stood up tall and looked at Dean and me.

  “I’ve never been better!” He said smiling.

  We all high fived each other and I walked to the end of the cliff to start climbing down. As I started down something past me extremely fast. Something fell off the cliff. I turned my head in panic to see what it was. It was Shane standing on the ground.

  “I don’t have all day guys!” He said smiling at us.

  He landed on the ground and was perfectly fine! I didn’t know our bodies could do that. I released my hands from the cliff and pushed off with my feet. I felt like I was flying, downwards, really fast. Once my feet touched the ground I could feel the pressure, but it was painful. I stood up straight and looked up. I fell about 150 feet and felt the best I had ever felt in my entire life.

  “Where’s Dean” I asked.

  “Just wait for it.” Shane said still looking at the top of the cliff.

  All of a sudden we saw Dean do a gainer off of the cliff and then landed next to us on the ground.

  “Show off” I said while walking back towards the water fall.

  “Astra, I can’t hide my talents. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t share them” He said as he put his arm around me.

  I grabbed his arm and twisted it thrusting it forward. Dean went flying in the air and landed on his back looking up at me.

  “Well, I guess you asked for it Astra” Dean said getting up.

  He started to run towards me with his arms stretched out to grab me. He then picked me up. I could feel his fingers dig into my sides. He then slammed me into the rock wall. I could feel dirt and rocks falling on my head. Dean was still holding onto me. I looked at him and smiled.

  “Not bad, if you were a girl.” I told him.

  Dean smiled and let me go.

  “I guess I better start practicing my fighting moves.” He said.

  We laughed and started to walk to the end of the island to head back to the coast.

  I looked over at Dean and Shane.

  “No one ever knows about this place. Okay?”

  “You got it Astra” Shane said.

  Dean nodded in agreement to Shane’s answer. We got in the water and started to swim back to the coast. Once we reached the coast we put our clothes back on and started running back to town. I loved running with them. I loved racing them. I felt unstoppable. I could feel my legs springing from the ground pushing me forward. I felt the wind in my face. I was already drying off from the water. Dean beat us back to town.

  “Alright! Tomorrow morning! 4 A.M.” Dean said as he was about to go back into town with Shane.

  “I’ll see you guys then!” I responded.

  “We will meet on the Island.” Shane said. “I will show you guys my finished project.”

  Shane was going to go back to the island later today to work on the cave behind the waterfall. I couldn’t wait to see what his brilliant idea was to get rid of the loud noise!

  “Alright sounds good!” I responded as I started to walk towards the restaurant.

  Breakfast

  When I walked in I saw my mother rushing to get customers their breakfast. She saw me and waved for me to sit down in the empty booth that was in the corner. I went and sat down in it. Staring at the T.V. although the volume was down I could hear it clearly and I could see what was happening.

  The N.C. News was on and on the bottom of the screen there was a head line that said ‘Alien Strikes again’. It showed pictures of the Captain robbing a bank in the main city of North Carolina and blowing up the building afterwards. The cops tried to stop him but he would extend his arm and hit them throwing them into the sides of buildings. There was something new that I could see. The Captain was no longer alone. It looked like a figure that was covered in black spandex and a black mask. I looked like a woman. It must be the tenth person who was freed from the ship when we landed.

  I kept thinking about being here on Earth. Mom and I had a nice home that we were living in. I had Cali, Josh, and Dillan. I loved them. I couldn’t let the Captain destroy
the humans and take over. They are good people. I remember talking to mom a few days earlier. “We can only use our powers and strengths for good and become friends with the humans.”

  “That’s it!” I told myself.

  I was going to save the people here. The humans don’t have the strength that my people and I have. They can’t beat the Captain, but we can. That’s the reason I was able to find the Island. That Dean and Shane were able to find me. We are supposed to save Earth.

  ‘Ding’ the door opened and Dillan walked in. He saw me sitting in the booth by myself and walked over.

  “Mind if I join you?” He asked.

  I smiled and shuck my head no.

  Dillan sat on the other side of the booth facing me.

  “So, today is Monday. And I’m pretty sure I owe you a date tonight?” He said smiling.

  I totally forgot about it, but I was not going to miss it!

  “Pick me up at the surf shop around 6?” I asked him.

  “You bet!” Dillan responded.

  Mother walked over and started talking to me.

  “Wow, today has been super busy! Who would have thought so many people needed breakfast.” She said looking at her note pad.

  I cleared my throat getting her attention then turned my eyes towards Dillan. Mom looked confused but turned her head to look at the other side of the booth. Dillan smiled at her and waved.

  “Good morning Mrs…” Dillan looked at me and didn’t know what to say.

  “You can call me Ms. Dunstrup” Mom responded with a smile. “You must be Dillan. Astra has told me all about you.”

  I could feel my face get red. I couldn’t believe she told him that. I ducked my face into my menu so he couldn’t see me.

  “Well, hopefully it’s all good things.” Dillan said smiling.

  “You know, we would love to have you over for dinner sometime, how about Thursday around six?” Mom said.

  “I would love to come! I will stop by the surf shop when Astra is done working and walk over with her.” Dillan responded.

  What was happening, all of a sudden Dillan and mom were best friends. This was not okay with me. I decided to but in and order food to change the subject. Mom took our orders and went back into the kitchen.