Innocence

Chapter Four

Sorry it took so long for the update! My laptop was being stupid again but my dad managed to fix it once and for all yay!! welll heres chapter four!! i am taking a definate turn in my story writing! like totally changing the story, it wont effect what i have already written tho, so dont worry...that all remains the same :) thanks again for reading! it would mean alot to me if you vote or comment...like alot. thanks guys!

I start running, although I’m not sure why. This boy is a stranger. We’ve held two conversations. Yet I sense urgency in his voice, and my feet start moving before I can stop them. Get Cripsen. Get Cripsen. Suddenly thats all that matters, all I can think about. Get Crispen. I slide into the room and jump on the bed, on top of him.
“Crispen!” My voice comes out in a hoarse whisper. “Crispen! Get up! It’s an emergency!”
My brother is, thankfully, a pretty light sleeper. I can’t count the times I’ve accidently  woke him up in the middle of the night while trying to get a drink or use the facilities. He gets so mad because once he’s up, he cant get to sleep.
Well, here’s his wrath, in full force.
“LACEY!” He storms, shoving me off with unblieable strength for so early in the morning. “What are you doing?”
My heart is pumping and all I know is I have to get him downstairs.
“Theres an emergency!” I grab his hand and pull with all my might. “Please, I need your help?”
“My help with what?” Crispen is one of those annoying people who thinks before he acts. He needs a full explanation before doing anything radical, such as getting out of bed at 3:30 in the morning.
“Come on, please!” I’m growing desperate. I don’t know what were running from,  Ijust know we need to go.
“Fine, fine,” He grumbles, pushing the covers away and sitting on the edge of his bed, yawning. “This better be important.”
The fact that he’s taking his sweet time is driving me insanse. He seems to be in know particular hurry.
“We have to go now!” At last I get him out the door. Maybe my exitemnt and desperatism is rubbing off on him because I even get him to run. Just two kids running through the hallways in pajama pants and bathrobes in the dead of night, nothing out of the ordinary.
    We get to the back door, and there is Mystery Boy, waiting for us, a potatoe  sack slung over his shoulder. “Three minutes. Bu t  that’s alright, we still have time. “ Without another word he swings open the door and flies into the dark night, and I start to follow, when I feel something jerk me back.
    “Lacey Kingston! What do you think you're doing?” My brother shouts as loudly as he deares, his eyes wide as saucers.
    “I...I don’t know.” The only words I can say. I don’t know. Why am I follwng this boy, this stranger? What has gotten into me?
    “Are you two coming or what?” Mystery boy sticks his head back in the door.
“Coming? Coming where?” Crispen cries, his face reddening like a tomatoe. “I don’t know what your problem is, Lacey, to think of running away with the hired boy, but you certainly aren’t doing it. Now get to bed before I call Uncle Jonathan!”
I yank my arm away. “No, I have to go!”
Crispen suddenly turns on Mystery Boy, his hands clenched into tight fists. “What have you done to her? Have you brainwashed her? With your ‘lightning eyes’?”
“My what?” Mystery Boy looks behind him, brow creased in worry. “Look, rather your coming or not, it doesn’t matter. But I need the girl.”
“You need the girl? What are you talking about?” Crispen reaches out and grabs my wrist again, holding on so tightly, I know theres no way I’m shaking free this time. “You’re a crazy physco, thats what you are, and there is NO way I am letting my little sister run away with a crazy physco.”
And then time stops. I take in the scene in front of me, Crispen and Mystery Boy giving each other a wordless stare-down.
“Let her go,” Crispen says, and to my surprise, my hand falls slack at my side. I turn around to gape at my brother, whose still staring at Crispen, looking angry and bewitched and enchanted and amazed, all at the same time.
“Are you coming or not?” Mystery Boy says, addressing Crispen.
There is no reply. He seems to be frozen, just staring at the boy ahead of him, his lips pursed in a tight line.
Mystery Boy sighs. “Very well then. Guess we’ll be back for you.” He turns to me. “Come on, we’ve wasted enough time already.” He starts running, and I have no choice but to follow him. When I look back, Crispin is still standing there, watching us, his golden curls looking white in the moonlight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where are we going?” We’ve been running for several minutes already, and its suddenly occured to me that I have no idea where this strange boy is taking me, and that it might not be completely safe.
“Away.” Mystery Boy, pushes through some low hanging branches and they fly back and smack me right in the face.
“Ow.”
“Be careful of those low tree limbs. They can really leave a mark.”
“Mind if I ask you something?” I say, trying to pull leaves out of my hair while keeping up with Mystery Boy’s quick pace.
“Depends what it is.”
“Where is ‘away’?”
He stops suddenly and I run right into his back and fall flat on my rear end. He turns around slowly, his finger covering his lips, motioning me to be silent. I clench my teeth and wait, although I’m not sure what I’m waiting for. And then I feel it, a tremble in the ground. Like an electric shock traveling through the earth. I jump up and my hand flies to my heart, where I can feel it beating 100 miles an hour. “What was that?”
He gives me a sideways grin, as though he finds my reaction amusing. “My parents.”
“What?”
“They’ve landed.”
“What?” This boy is psycho. I feel the urge to run back home as fast as my feet can take me, but something is holding me back.
“Right now, they’ll be breaking into your house. They’ll find your uncle, and aunt, and that one snotty girl, your cousin. And Crispin. But they won’t find you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Come on. We’re almost there.” He starts running again, but this time, I don’t follow. I turn around and stare in the direction we came from. What is he talking about? His parents? Breaking into my house?
“If you don’t come with me, they’ll find you.” I jump and spin back around. How did he sneak up on me like that? “Then all hope will be lost.”
“You’re crazy!” I shout. “You’re a lunatic! You’re mad! No, I’m mad. I’m mad for following you, a stranger, out into the woods, and believing all these stupid lies you’re feeding me! What do you plan to do to me, huh? Sell me as a slave? Hold me for ransom?”
“Listen-”
“No! Don’t touch me!” I smack his hand away.“Take me home, right now, or...or...” I fall to the ground, burying my head in my hands and sobbing. “I am a stupid girl.”
“I won’t deny that,” He mutters under his breath, but I still hear it. “However, there is one way you can redeem yourself. Follow me, and you can still save yourself.”
“I’m staying here,” I manage to choke out between sobs. “I’m staying here until morning, and then I’m going home.”
“Lacey, look at me!” His voice is so demanding, it takes all my strength to keep my gaze on the ground. But I will not look in his eyes again, because when I do, he can get me to do anything he wants me to. Just like he made Eva let him in, and Uncle Jonathan give him the job, and Crispin let go of me. But he will not make me follow him. Keep your eyes on the ground, keep your eyes on the ground.
And there it goes again. That shock, shooting through the dirt and traveling right up my spine. I jump out, letting a small screech of pain. “Why does that always happen when I’m sitting down?”
“They’re off again,” Mystery Boy whispers, his eyes searching the sky. Then he looks at me. And I notice something new in his eyes. Worry. And Fear. “Please, Lacey. Please, we have to go. You have to trust me.”
It’s like all the worry and fear in his eyes have transported into my heart. I need to get out of here. This place isn’t safe. I start running.