The Girl with the Paper Crane

Chapter 3:Temples and Turmoil

 My brother and Jason came out of the maze with a defeated look, much to my pleasure. "So what's my prize?"

"How do I know you didn't just get out?" My face lit up as I pulled up my picture, with the time stamp. His face was priceless. Defeated and surprised he rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Jason. "What do you think Jason old boy?" A dark curl fell slightly in front of his face when he turned to look at me. Oh god, those eyes. I do not like Jason, but to say that I wasn't attracted to him would be one big fat lie. Everyone was attracted to him. Tall, muscular with the cutest dark brown curls. His eyes were chocolate brown; deep soulful chocolate that you could just get lost in.

"Give her a ride home," Jason chuckled, hopping into the passenger's seat. And there is why I do not like Jason Cruz, he is a jerk when he wants to be.

"How bout... Hey, I know." I looked at my brother oddly not wanting to know what he was thinking.

"You know what?"

"You'll see dearest little sister, but for now we're going home." I hopped into the back of his truck as we drove off, staring into the floor. No way was I having that argument again.

It is now Saturday and I am blissfully doing nothing. Noah tried to drag me to the fields to practice at six in the morning! On a Saturday! He was mad. Someone knocked on the door and I begrudgingly went to answer it. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like who was on the other side of the door, but I expected it to be Jason.

"Elin Wright?"

"Give me a minute to change," I sighed, opening the door wider to a man, probably mid-twenties, who had a badge hanging from his hip. He stepped in and closed the door as I went to my room. I changed into jeans and a black V-neck and brought a hair tie with me. I didn't write a note, but as I walked out I noticed the man left something in the door. I assumed Noah would find it later. I thought about running, but it's never been my strong suit and who knows how fast this guy is. The man opened the back door of the... are you ready for this stereotype. He opened the door of a dark black SUV. Cliche, I know. I couldn't help but notice that he turned on the child's lock before he closed the door. Cars were the same as they were almost a thousand years ago. The council thought it best that they kept old technologies in the hands of the public. They had all the cool stuff, or maybe that was just propaganda I've never seen any of that stuff in real life.

We crossed D.C. and I frowned; the trees were bare. Would I be brought back in time to see them bloom into brilliant shades of pink?

"Your parents work in the city, do they not?" I jumped at the sound of his smooth voice which suddenly broke the silence. He smirked at me a little. "Jumpy much?" I've always been afraid of people being able to read my mind. I knew if they could I would've been taken years ago, but it still scares me to think about it.

"A little, and yeah; my parents are librarians at the Library of Congress." All I want to do is run down the hallways of that building without a care in the world.

"Really? I thought it was a mistake in your files. Is it really as grand as they say?" Most of the time librarians and their children are not supposed to have any ween for the unreal, just to make it harder for them to fall under the spell of ancient lore and magic.

"I think so: large arches, beautiful molding, rows and rows of books and manuscripts. Perfect place to get lost for a few hours." He looked at me quizzically, but who cares. I'm allowed to like reading.

"A reader then? What's your favorite book?" What was with all the basic questions? Basic. Baseline! Fork, he was testing me.

"Ummm. I don't know. Probably 300 Histories." Okay, so it wasn't an exact lie. I do love history, even though the past three hundred years have been kinda boring with the council and all, but before that, there were so many interesting things to do and people groups to meet.

"A long read for such a young girl. What stuck out to you the most?" Damn him. Think think.

"I always liked reading about the Incan tribes of Peru. Their government structures and roadways were really impressive for such a primitive people, technologically speaking."

"An ancient historian," he chuckled, pulling out his phone. He opened some app and began typing. Curious as I was, I stared out the window at the continually changing scenery. It went from the city of great architecture to a forest with large trees and rolling hills. We turned off the highway and went deeper into the forest. Every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of a squirrel. Cheeky little creatures, I once saw one stuff so many nuts in its cheeks they started falling out. I wanted to climb like a squirrel when I was a kid, I used to pretend they were Fae and could turn into humans at any given moment. I wanted to catch one so I could do it too, but they always outpaced me.

"Do you know exactly why you were reported," he asked turning more serious. I shrugged nonchalantly, if this was all they did I'd have no issues.

"I made it out of a maze. One of my brother's challenges," I add on, simple facts would make it feel like whatever it was wasn't significant.

"No one has ever made it out of that maze," he stated letting his voice lower ever so slightly. I went on to explain the mathematical calculation for finding your way out of the maze hoping to scramble his brain with it.

"That would still require you to know the pattern," he explained cooly. Would nothing rattle him?

"I'm a fan of architecture. Acien being one of my favorites with all of his ancient native South American influence." Spinning lies was too easy anymore. Always make sure to lead a trail; you'll remember at least one of your lies that would lead to the other if you use your own logic. Also gives an alibi.

"How would you know it's his work?"

"I didn't till I realized the way I was being pushed was similar to a Mayan temple. I took a chance." I eyed him with as much confidence and defiance as I could. He simply went back to typing on his phone. My world went quiet again except for the car moving against the road.