The Exception

Chapter 4

As Crystal walked through the forest, she had to duck to avoid the large branches hanging down. They covered the path, blocking her from the view of the police. Every once in a while, she would snag her shirt on a thorn or two, so she ended up with a few scratches. The leaves on the trees were a bright green, with a few dead limbs on the ground. If she wasn't trying to escape, it might look kind of pretty.

Crystal had to jog to catch up with James, who was quick as he slid through the trees. Crystal would get a small glimpse of him every once in a while, so she was pretty sure she was heading in the right direction. After a while, she stopped seeing James in the forest. She decided to keep going, hoping she would find her way. She walked for about ten minutes in a straight line before she realized that she was lost. She thought about trying to find her way back to her own house, but she didn't know where she was.

"James!" Crystal called out.

There was no answer. She kept walking, unsure of what to do.

<Where is he?> she thought.

She stop calling out to James, not wanting to take the chance of the police, or other unwanted company, hearing her.

She would have kept calling out to James, but she didn't want to take the chance of the police, or other unwanted company, hearing her.

Crystal heard the crunch of leaves in the distance. She slowly backed up, putting her back against the tree, trying to listen. Her heart started to race and her breathing increased in sharp intakes of breath. She closed her eyes, waiting for something to happen. Her eyes darted around, following every small sound she heard, even if it was just the wind.
The sound of the rustling leaves grew louder and louder. She walked away from the tree, unsure of which direction the sound was coming from. Suddenly, the noise stopped. Crystal looked around again. Even though she still couldn't see anything, she knew someone was nearby. She just didn't know where.

"I hope you know that if you're trying to capture me, it's not exactly going to work out for you," she echoed through the forest.

"Good thing I'm not trying to capture you," a man said as he stepped out from behind the trees. Crystal recognized him as James.

"Where were you?" she asked. "I couldn't find you!"

"The real question is, "Where were you?" I couldn't find you anywhere," James said.

"I got lost," Crystal said.

"Doesn't matter," James said. "Just come on."

"Go slower this time!" Crystal called out to James as he started to creep through the forest.

They walked through the trees once more. James would occasionally look back to see if Crystal was following him. After a while they came to an clearing blocked by a thick patch of branches.

"Here it is," James said.

He pulled back the branches to reveal a small house. It was in front of a short road, with many turns. The house was the only house for for a while, but another house could be seen in the distance. It was small, with only one floor, but it was wide. The roof was slanted, with dark black panels on it. The wall was painted a cream color, with rectangle windows. The house looked new, with no scratches or chips in the paint.

"Is this house yours?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah," James said. "It's all mine,"

"How? I mean, interns don't exactly make money, do they?" Crystal asked.

"Well, no, they don't. I mean, I get payed a little, but not enough to actually afford anything," James explained.

"Then how did you afford this house?" Crystal asked.

"Uh..." James started. "Well, uh, I actually, uh..." he trailed off. "I actually won the lottery."

"Seriously?!" Crystal exclaimed. "How much?"

"Two-hundred thousand," James said. "Except, I spent a lot of it buying this house, but the rest I'm going to use to pay for future bills."

"Does Glenda know?" Crystal asked.

"Well, no. Not exactly," he said. "I didn't want to act ungrateful, for the money she does give me. It's really all she has."

"You still should have told her!" Crystal exclaimed. "You could quit your job, or get a better one."

"No. She's given me a place and as much money as she could for the last couple of years, so I owe her one," James said.

"Ugh," Crystal growled. "Sentiment."

James ignored her. He walked towards the house. When he got to the door, he pulled out a shiny, metal key. It looked new, just like the the house. He put it in the key hole, and turned.

As Crystal stepped inside, Her nose was filled with the aroma of new furniture. Her nose wasn't wrong, as she saw a bunch of furniture, that looked relatively new. On the left was a small living room with a small, black couch against the wall. It was made of cloth, with a metal frame. A flat screen television was right on top of the couch, sitting on a wooden stand. To the right of the living room was a short hallway with two bedrooms, one on each side. To finish the house off, a kitchen stood at the farthest right, one with a wooden floor, and granite countertops.

James started to walk down the hallway. He pointed to the room on the left.

"This one is mine," he said. He then pointed to the room on the right. "And this one's yours."

"Mine?" Crystal asked. "Who told you I was going to trust you. The door's wide open, I could leave whenever."

"You're right," James said. "Here's why you won't leave. There are dozens of cops in town right now. You won't be able to step a foot outside without them knowing where you are. But let's say you manage to escape through the forest. Let's say you manage to get back to your house. There are dozens of police officers and FBI agents who are dying to investigate your house. They'll look at every item. Every last one. For the next couple of months, there won't be a time when cops aren't at your house. If you try to find a warehouse to settle in, they have that covered too. Every warehouse within twenty miles is being checked, for victims or weapons, machines, anything! They won't stop. Even if you can manage to get past all the cops swarming around, people aren't afraid of you anymore. If they see you, they'll call the cops immediately. No hesitation. People won't stop until they find out how you make people fall in love with you."

"They won't find out how," Crystal said, as she smirked down at her watch.

"You're right," James said. "All I'm saying is that if I were a cop, it'd be pretty obvious to me. Good thing I'm not. Now, you're going to stay here until things die down. It may be a few weeks, it may be a couple of months. I don't know. All I know is you're not going to leave. Unless you prefer that cold cell. Enjoy your room," he said as he walked into the left bedroom, and closed the door.

Crystal stood there, speechless. She didn't think James could be like that. A silence filled the house as her body seemed to freeze in place. She was not expecting that.

After a while, she decided to move again and find out what her room looked like. She walked in. Inside was a queen-sized bed. The cover was white, with green and blue dots all over it. There was a small shelf, with a few books in it, but not much else. The closet was empty, with many empty hangers hanging up.

<What did he mean that it's obvious?> Crystal thought. <How could he possibly know?>

She decided to stop thinking about it, he was probably just saying that to get in her head.

<He's right though. There's no way to escape.>

Crystal walked over to her bed and plopped down, wondering what to do next.
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