Chaotic Good: An Anthology of My Imagination

Deutsche Liebe

Crystal Mathers was your average 25-year-old who lived off of the money that her parents left for her when they died two years ago, totaling around eight million dollars. They also left her a big house on ten acres of land on the island of St. Vincent where they were both from. She invested two million of the eight and decided to travel the world and try the best wine and food in different countries with the other six million, even though she would still have a lot left afterward. She thought about saving some for her kids, but she wasn't even sure if she wanted any in the first place. She also plans on going back to work at some point so money won't really be a problem.
The place she wanted to go to the most was France, however, she saved that one for last and started a little closer to her home state of Maine. The first place she decided to go was Canada, which usually is not the first place you think of when you hear wine, but they are known for having interesting food like poutine, which she had been wanting to try since she heard about it. Her plan for each country was to stay in the best hotel in the country and go to the most expensive restaurant. She offered her two best friends, Rachel and Koraline, to come with her, but they said they will only go to countries that interest them and Canada was not on that list, so she was all by herself for the first trip. She did not mind though because that meant more food and wine for her, and less money she would have to spend.
After leaving Canada, she immediately made her way to Greenland, passing through with her food and wine routine, once again by herself. She gave herself three to four days to actually explore the countries and get tours. After Greenland, she passed through Iceland with Rachel, taking so many pictures they had to end up buyirng another camera. With Koraline meeting them there, they went straight to Ireland. Kora and Rachel actually managed to get the numbers of two very handsome dark-skinned Irishmen, with the hopes of keeping in touch with them and even considering moving to Ireland for the men along with the country itself.
Altogether, the girls headed to the UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and then Denmark. Crystal went to her second to last stop in Germany by herself because the other girls had to go back to work in Maine. Unlike her other trips, she decided to head straight to their best-rated restaurant after she dropped her belongings off at the hotel. Usually, she would take a nap from jet lag before heading out to scout the city and getting something to eat, but this time she was hungrier than usual and it was almost dinnertime anyway.
Now it may seem cliche, but as she waited outside of the hotel for a taxi, another man walked out behind her and waited next to her. He was about six inches taller than her five foot seven and had tan skin and loose, dark brown, curly hair. He didn't even seem to realize she was there as he was distracted by his phone. He only glanced up when he heard a car coming which resulted in both of them walking towards the first taxi that pulled up.
"Excuse me sir, but I was waiting here first," she stated politely as he grabbed the handle of the door getting ready to get in the car.
"There's room for both of you and I can put separate fares if you would like," the driver of the taxi intervened looking at both of them. The driver was a woman, so Crystal wasn't too suspicious of something happening to her. She still knew that she had a taser in her purse if they tried anything.
"That's fine with me. I'm Klaus Schnieder, a pleasure to meet you," he stretched his hand out for her to shake. She noticed that his German accent wasn't as thick as the others she heard when she got there, but she didn't know him well enough to ask him about his business.
She shook it calmly and said, "that's okay with me, I just want to get some food."
"Alright, then I guess we'll be carpooling," he replied, opening the door and moved to the side for her to get in.
She introduced herself and stepped into the car. He closed the door and jogged over to the other side and got into the car.
"So where are you each heading?" the driver asked, looking at them through the rearview mirror.
They both answered the same restaurant and looked at each other a little shocked. What a coincidence Crystal thought to herself. The driver just chuckled to herself and started driving.
"So where in America are you from?" he asked her glancing at her for a second before looking back out of the window at the traffic that they were entering.
"Maine" she replied plainly, looking out of the window herself not even glancing at him.
"Oh, with the lobsters," he laughed.
She couldn't help but think how nice his laugh was which caused her to just sit there quietly and not respond. He cleared his throat as he awkwardly stopped laughing.
"Oh yeah, have you been?' she asked, wanting to get rid of the awkwardness in the air.
"No, but I would love to."
They continued to talk the whole 20-minute ride getting to know each other well and both sensing the chemistry that was obviously there between them.
They even decided to sit together in the restaurant because Klaus wanted to get in on Crystal's little traveling adventure. They sat in the restaurant talking and laughing not even realizing that they had talked for hours. It wasn't until a waiter came up to them and let them know that the restaurant was set to close in a few minutes.
Before today, Crystal wasn't really looking for a relationship, but after this experience, she suddenly believed in love at first sight or first interaction whatever you want to call it. She even asked him if he wanted to go to St. Vincent with her to relax some more. He agreed but refused to let her buy the ticket for him since he would already be staying in her home.
For some reason, Crystal didn't feel uncomfortable around Klaus, plus he would be on her territory where she would feel safest. He was a big guy and if anything she felt safe around him while she was in Germany.
"I planned on leaving Germany in two weeks for France, so you can book your flight for then. I'll text you my flight information," Crystal said as she slid her room key into the slot and opened her door.
"Okay, I'll lookout for it. Do you want to go out for breakfast tomorrow?" Klaus asked as he looked down nervously and scratched the back of his neck.
Crystal held back a smile. "Sure I would love to. I won't wake up until about ten o'clock though, so I'll meet you out here at about ten-thirty."
"That works for me, I'll be awake before then."
"Okay, I'll see you in the morning then, goodnight." Crystal gave a small wave as she closed the door to her room, making sure to lock the door behind her and putting the latch on. She texted him her flight information before getting ready for bed.
The next morning Crystal woke up naturally at 9:58. She stretched and stared at the ceiling for two minutes waiting for her alarm to go off. What felt like the blink of an eye, two minutes went by and the loud alarm went off on her phone making her heart skip a beat.
She stretched and swung her feet over the bed.
She was able to get dressed with five minutes to spare. She put on light makeup with an oversized t-shirt, some jean shorts, and sandals.
By the time she closed her hotel room door, it was ten twenty-nine. She looked over her shoulder and there was Klaus standing there. She yelped putting her hand over her heart.
"Gee whiz, you could have killed me," she said properly standing to face him.
"I am so sorry, I just figured I would wait out here for you," Klaus responded looking down at his feet with his hands in his pockets.
"Well, you could have waited a little louder. And oh, did you see my text with the flight info?" Crystal asked his as they started walking down the hallway.
"Oops, I saw it this morning and forgot to respond. I plan to book my flight later tonight."
The two continued to have a small conversation as they walked to the restaurant in the hotel where the free continental breakfast was.
They got seated and ordered their food.
"You are so beautiful."
Crystal looks up at him with her mouth full of a waffle and mumbles a thank you.
"Would you like a tour of the city?"
Crystal sits and thinks as she chews her waffle. She wonders how she got here. Eating breakfast with a complete stranger in a foreign country.
"As long as you aren't taking me somewhere to murder me," she joked then took a sip of her orange juice.
"I make no promises," Klaus chuckled.
After the two of them finished eating they headed out into the city.
So far the tour has lasted about two hours and the couple was getting very hungry. They stopped at a cafe type of restaurant and sat down in a booth. Crystal was looking down when she heard the news playing on the tv.
"Breaking news! A body has been found in an alley outside of the Ritz Carlton in Berlin. If anyone has any ideas about what could have happened please contact the police as soon as possible. The body belongs to Annette Francois. She was 35 years old and was here for her grandmother's birthday."
The news droned on in the background as Crystal and Klaus sat and ate their lunch. They finished the tour of the city and headed back to the hotel. It was still a bit early so the two decided to just go back to Klaus' room and watch television. The news just so happened to be playing again except this time it was with a sketch of the murderer.
"Via camera footage caught around the hotel, the police have found their suspect. We will post a picture taken from the footage."
Crystal saw Klaus stiffen up in her peripheral vision as she looked at the picture on the screen in front of her.
It was him.
The person being suspected of murder just so happened to be sitting on the couch next to her.
She froze as she sat there trying to figure out what to do next. Before she could even say anything Klaus spoke.
"Are you afraid?" They sat in more silence, neither of them wanting to move a muscle while Crystal thought of her answer.
"Surprisingly...no, I'm not."
"Please don't be."
"Why not? Are you innocent?"
They once again sat in silence as this time, Klaus thought of his answer.
Klaus honestly did not know what to say, and Crystal was just sitting there waiting for his answer.
"I'm not. I don't want to lie to you because I really like you and I want you to trust me. I want you to know that I would never hurt you."
"Why did you kill her?"
Klaus couldn't think of a way to explain that he was sexually assaulted by his auntie for 15 years of his life until she died during his senior year of high school. She told him that if he told anyone no one would believe him. When he finally got the courage to tell his mother, she believed him in a heartbeat and confronted his auntie. This turned into a physical fight which led to his mother being brutally murdered in front of him.
Crystal reminds him of his mother.
The way she carries herself.
The way she speaks.
If he looks at her long enough she even starts to look like his mother.
"I was walking through the hotel when I thought I saw my auntie and I guess I got triggered," Klaus responded, fiddling with his ring that he had on his finger.
"I think you should turn yourself in."
"No!" Klaus jumped off of the couch and turned to look at Crystal. "I didn't kill her on purpose."
"You may be able to get less time if you plea for like psychological problems, or whatever it's called."
Klaus stood there frozen. Him and Crystal just staring at each other.
"If you don't turn yourself in, I will do it for you," Crystal threatened.
"Run away with me."
"No."
"Then I'll kill you."
"Then kill me."
Silence.
Klaus stepped closer to Crystal and stood in front of her.
Crystal closed her eyes as she felt his hands go around her throat.

This story was written and edited by Olivia Poleon.

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Yikes, I know I've been gone for a while, but I am back now. I really have had no motivation to write. I have also had writer's block, but I hope you all like this one. it is really short and I do want to write longer short stories in the future.