The Exception

Chapter 9

They felt their feet slam against the floor as they landed, sending a jolt through their bodies. The hard landing made James stumble backwards, as he tried to stay on his feet.

"Sorry," Crystal said. "I'm not exactly the best at this."

James laughed. "You're actually the only one who can do this. So technically, you are the best."

This statement humored her, making her grin, but also made her feel a little better about herself.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"About what?"

"About my magic," Crystal explained. "We know nothing about it. As far as I know, I'm the only one with powers. How are we going to learn about it, about what I can do, even how to control it?"

"I'm not sure," James said. "We'll figure it out together though."

"How?" Crystal asked. "How are we even going to know what to look for, or even where to start?"

James grabbed her hand, comforting her. Crystal flinched, which made him let go of her hand. "I don't know. We'll figure it out though. I promise."

Crystal didn't know how to respond. A thick silence filled the air.

"Are you hungry?" James asked, changing the subject.

"Starving."

James didn't respond, and walked into the kitchen. "Do sandwiches sound good?" he asked.

"Perfect," Crystal said.

She didn't have to face her hunger for that long, because it only took five minutes for James to prepare the meal.

They sat down silently, and started to nibble on their meals.

"Who are you?" Crystal asked, breaking the silence.

"You already asked me this," he said, giving her a confused look.

"I know. I just don't know. For all I know, you could be some sort of alien. I just want to know where you came from, and just who you are as a person." Crystal stared at him, waiting for a reply.

"Well..." he started. "I was born in an average house. And pretty much lead an average life, I guess."

"I don't believe you."

"Excuse me?" James said.

"No one is average. I mean no one. Have you ever met someone who got up every day in the most average way, ate breakfast in an average way, and continued to do everything for the rest of their life average? No. There's no "average" way to do things. Everyone's different. Everyone has a story to tell. So tell it." Crystal said.

"Where do I start?" James asked.

"Start with the least "average" thing that's ever happened to you."

He thought for a second, having not expected a question like this to ever pop up. After a few seconds of thought, he said, "The least average thing in my life was probably my dad."

"How?" Crystal asked, then taking another bite of her sandwich.

"He was just always busy with-" James paused. "-work," he finished. "He couldn't always do it on his own, so he'd make me help him. He couldn't think about anything else."

"Oh," Crystal said, not knowing how to respond.

Before she could think of a response, she heard tapping from the other room.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She darted her eyes to where the sound was coming from. James followed, as he also tried to find the source of the sound. The tapping continued, getting louder and more violent.

TAP. TAP. TAP.

"Do you have any trees near the house?" Crystal asked.

"Uh," James responded, finding it hard to think with the loud tapping. "I think there's one."

"I'll look. Stay here," she responded.

She didn't hear the sound in the living room, so she continued warily down the hall. The tapping sounded like it was coming from James's room, so she slowly walked inside. The taping now sounded like banging, the pace getting faster and faster.

TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP.

She yanked open the window curtains, desperate to find the source of the sound. Instead of finding a tree like she expected, she saw a man.

A very familiar man.

She contemplated on where she knew those brown eyes, that amber hair, or that crooked nose.

The man signaled to her from outside, but she was too busy trying to remember where she knew him from to try to find out what he was trying to say.

Suddenly, Crystal remembered. She was glad she wasn't holding anything at the moment, because she would have dropped it. Her eyes widened in shock. She tried to think of somewhere else she might have known someone who looked like that, but couldn't come up with anything. She couldn't believe her eyes as she looked at the man again, the man she had known longer than anyone.

Edward.

He signaled for to come outside.

Crystal paused for a moment, still trying to believe. She stared at him, not removing her gaze.

He signaled for her to come outside again.

This time, her brain seems to snap into focus as she realized what was actually happening. She held one finger up to signal "one minute", and started running towards the front door.

"Where are you going?"

James.

She had forgotten about him for a second.

"The tapping was a tree branch. I'm going to fix it so it won't bother us any more," she lied.

James nodded.

She ran out the door as fast as she could to Edward.

She bolted through the grass, which she realized, needed to be cut. Almost tripping, she continued to run but slowed her pace.

Once she got to Edward, she saw that he hadn't changed much at all from the picture in her house. His hair had gotten a little longer, but barely at all.

"You're here! And you're alive! How? How did you find me? How-" she rambled, her heart racing.

"I'll answer all your questions in a few minutes, we have to go," Edward interrupted.

"Go? Forever?" Crystal asked.

"For right now, no, but we will permanently leave soon," he explained. "Is that a problem?"

"Nope," Crystal said.

"Good."

"Where are we going?"

"I have a house about two miles from here. I've been living there for almost four months. We can go there for now," Edward explained.

"When do we leave?"

"Right now."

Edward walked off into the woods, sneaking between the trees. Crystal followed, not looking back.

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-Katie